Monday Morning re-set

Monday morning was hard for Chica and me today.

Okay, much more for me than Chica. She’s just hanging out like her 10 year old doggie self.

I, on the other hand, am dragging my butt.

The kind of butt dragging that even purple Chucks

a shower and getting dressed in some comfy duds doesn’t even help.

David and I worked really hard this weekend,

painting, cleaning, sorting, and making multiple trips to Home Depot for supplies.

That’s going to the new normal here for a while.

This I know.

But I got strong reminders this morning that even in the midst of busy and a million “have to’s”,

there still has to be time for creative juicy living.

That is my purpose here on this planet, so that has to be a priority, no matter what !

So I took a half and hour and did this little journaling exercise inspired by a Pinterest pin I saw.

And then I took a bit of time to create this blog post.

Ahhhhh…

Feels good.

Like a soak in a tub,

or putting on your favorite jeans or shoes…

Giving thanks to my beautiful creative soul for the reminder !

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

Remember to breathe…

Rock Fairy, Rock Fairy, Where have you been ? And where are you going ?

Oh, Kimbo, where have you been ?

I haven’t been blogging very much since 2014 was rung in.

That is because the beginning of the year was taken up spending a lot of time with this little Monkey.

Helping his Momma, my niece Amanda, out with caring for him, watching him grow every day,

and falling madly, and completely in love with him.

Jayden and his mom have moved on to another home now,

but our time together was one of the most precious life experiences I have ever had.

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
-Winnie the Pooh

Love you guys !

Spring is finally, finally, slowly arriving here in New Hampshire.

The wearing of the parka is being let go in favor of the lighter coat and pretty scarves,

and best of all, the snow has melted enough to allow the Chucks to reappear !!!

Creatively, I have been focused in stitch love,

making these little stitched pillows for a swap with my amazing friend Deb Taylor, and a bunch of other stitch happy artists.

We each had to make 16 pillows in a shabby chic style.

These are some of my favs in my batch.

That was a whole lot of stitch love in lots of little packages !

Other than my swap contributions,

my creative time has been kind of limited of another important reason.

The Queen of Arts Studio and the Rock Fairy are on the move !

Along with everything we are keeping from the yellow house on Orange Street!

David and I and our furry babies are purging and packing up to move

way down south

to Tampa, Florida !

Yes, Beautiful Ones, the Rock Fairy has just lived through the last New England winter she will see for a good long while!

David has been transferred to the Tampa offices of the company he works for,

and in June, we are off to start a whole new life

in sunny and warm Florida !

Of course, we are very excited, though we are going through the huge stresses of packing up and arranging things here in NH, finding a new home in the Tampa area from a long distance away, and dealing with the details of getting all of our belongings moved about a 1000 miles away.

The other hard part is leaving my family and friends in Montreal really far behind.

It will mean less frequent trips north to spend time with them, but hopefully longer and special times together in the Sunshine State to make up for it!

So time for blogging may be still kind of scarce until we get settled in our new home down south. I look forward to reconnecting and diving back in from there, and sharing my new arty adventures from tropical locales !

Big love, Beautiful Ones,

and may your living be full of things that make you feel ALIVE !

Springing forward...

I am feeling the pull of spring.

Renewal, rebirth, changes, big ones...

But the momentum feels good and right.

When I am not spending time loving on this little monkey loving 4 month old,

I am decluttering, streamlining, making space for the new.

I haven't been creating nearly as much as I would like to, but I joined in this awesome Stitch and Swap project with my bud, Deb Taylor. (http://diddebdoit.blogspot.com/)

I really got started last night, listening to tunes and hanging out with my fabric bits and thread.

And this morning, at 9:30 that feels like 8:30, I hurried back to the studio for Sunday morning sunlight stitching!

The birds are singing that "it's almost time" song out there. 

Let's joyfully spring forward, beautiful Ones!

The Month of Impossible Waiting…

How does a warm weather loving Rock Fairy spend the dull, cold days of February ?

Rocking a new hairdo and puffy, chapped lips.

Lighting candles and sending love to friends in need.

Painting rocks.

Trays of them.

For a spring wedding of an old friend.

Spending time with fast growing and oh, so sweet little Jayden and his Mom.

Trying to take good time for myself and get back to some creating just for me.

A great therapy and escape from winter blahs.

Which I remember whenever I put myself into the studio and give myself a little push !

Creating without any goal in mind.

Letting the spray ink blobs guide me…

Adding in color where it wants to go.

And on this page, finishing it off with some found poetry.

Grabbing a bit of text from a book and circling words that want to fit in…

Leading to a little tale of impossible waiting.

A tale this warm weather loving, winter weary chickie can relate to.

I hope your impossible waiting time is filled with love and light, and sweet creating, Beautiful Ones!

Looking up to the Winter Night Skies...

Ah, winter...

It really is the harshest season, isn't it?

Especially in the North, though its harshness has spread more south than usual in the US this year as well.

I am feeling very blessed this year.

My usual depression brought on by lack of sunlight and my hibernation mode hasnt really appeared.

(Knock on wood !!!!)

I think some of it may have to do with this incrediblely cute little boy ladybug baby.

There is something so instantly soothing, calming and heart filling about holding a little guy in your arms. 

And this little cutie definitely has my hearts strings all tangled up !

I have been spending a lot of time with Jayden, helping his mom, Amanda, when she needs childcare.

I am so grateful that my niece and I have developed a trusting, caring relationship and that she genuinely appreciates the bond that I have made with her son.

It has brought so much joy to my life.

I haven't been spending much time creating artwork these days though.

I am missing that.

So yesterday in the midst of a busy day full of prepping for a trip to Montreal, 

I made the time.

I grabbed my old Rock Beings journal, sprayed some inks, sloshed some paint, and made some marks...

then I collaged a Rock Beings shape made from old dictionary pages, and some found poetry on to my page

and "Winter Night Skies"  came into being.

"Winter Night Skies" - Rock Being Art Journal, February 12, 2014

It felt good to get my hands a little dirty and to dwell in that creative place for a little while.

I need to keep making that time happen !

David and I have headed north to Quebec early for a Valentine's Day weekend with our other favorite kiddos, Kate and Thomas, and my sister Kristina and her hubby John.

We wanted to miss driving in this next major winter storm that will hit today in the North East.

Today, David is working from my friend Suzanne's place and I am just hanging out. Tomorrow, we will head two more hours north to be with our peeps in their winter wonderland of La Conception.

Looking forward to seeing Katie's new smile, minus her front teeth ! That famous kindergarten smile of cuteness !

So to those facing the storm, espcially those in the south who are far less used to its kind of wrath, please be safe.

And to all of you Beautiful Ones,

a Happy Valentine's Day !

Be kind and loving to one another !

Where you been, Queen of Arts ?

I am missing blogging.

But life has been keeping us busy around here.

Surviving winter…

Kind of fitting that I started the month and the year with a barefoot romp in the snow,

and that I just ended the month poking my toes outside this morning.

I was letting out the dog and felt the warmth of the sunshine on the back deck and had to step out

and play with my shadow for a minute.

Not ready for bare feet walking out there at all but the minute I spent out there reminded me that warmth and spring will get here eventually !

Little Jayden has been conducting our lives a little as we help out his mom where and when we can,

keeping our hearts all mushy and filled with baby love !

That, and some major house de-cluttering, as well as some big life changing decisions coming down the loop,

have kept me from getting to making much art these days either.

I am feeling the itch of that though, as I always do when I go too long without getting messy.

Making a promise to myself to get back to that asap.

 

I was thrilled to receive my contributor’s copy of this beautiful new book by Patti Digh,

the Geography of Loss in the mail yesterday.

 

I was so pleased with how my art work was featured on page 19,

with a perfect “Embrace what is:” inspiration.

It is so special to see your own art work in a published work of writing like this !

I so appreciate how Patti encourages and supports artist in such special ways.

Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Writer-Lady.

There is more in store for us as collaborators coming soon !

 

So yes, big changes look like they are on the way for David and me.

If things work out as we think they will, this will be the last winter we spend in the North East US for awhile…

More news when things come clear.

Happy Friday, beautiful Ones !

Big Love !