Christmas Arrangement

I had an idea...my planters were still out from this summer and I thought, "why not make a festive arrangement for Christmas?" I decided to use what I had on hand and create an arrangement from my stash. Who knows, maybe this will start a new trend...I don't decorate in blue, but I like how this turned out. What do you think?

Miss Cabana

I made Miss Cabana for a friend for her birthday. I thought she turned out "fun" and very colorful.

Mrs. Peacock

Isn't she fun? Face is handpainted and she is accessorized in geniune peacock feathers.

Here Comes the Bride

This is a fun gift for a beautiful bride. It can be hung anywhere. She is adorned in sequins and tulle and her face is handpainted.

Cindy Lou

Cindy Lou has been a creation in my mind for several years now and just was recently born. I'm glad she could join the world because she turned out so darling. She has a red glittery body and a red sequined topper on her head. She has big innocent eyes and red pouty lips. I really enjoyed creating her.

Miss Pumpkin PIe

Miss Pumpkin Pie has been in my mind for a couple of years now but recently just made it in person this past summer. I really like how she turned in. She is dressed in vintage bright green fabric, orange stockings with purple polka dots and a purple boa around her neck. Isn't she fun?

Camp Gay

I spent a week at "Camp Gay" along with Dr. Gay Hubbard and Elle. We had an amazing week of learning and strenthening our lives. Gay loves plants and works her magic on them. This flower was just blooming when I was there and so I took a close-up of it.

Outside decor

I had to take some close-ups of the flowers in her yard. Aren't they lovely? ahhh....summer in northern Wyoming.

The Living Room

Here is just a peek inside Carol's living room...

Ever day is Christmas in the guest bath

This bathroom was done in black and white tile and so Carol decided on a retro vintage Christmas theme to go along with the wall and floor decor...she added some funky yellow light fixtures to give a nice contrast.

Red Chairs

Carol took about 6 chairs and painted them red with bright designs on them. Now mind you, none of the chairs match but they LOOK like they all go together because how she can pull things together. I love going to her house - it is a treat around every corner...

Carol

So, this is my dear friend, Carol. She is a woman of many talents. This summer I went to visit her and Bert (husband) in Pinedale, WY. What a beautiful place. I could live there. I took several pictures of the scenery there - both of the Wyoming countryside and of Carol's home. Carol can take anything and make something incredibly, magnificently creative out of it. I'll explain...

UFO?

What is it you ask? Well, I came downstairs one night and you know how computers have all of those buttons that light up? My glass was in front of some of the colored lights and I thought that it was so pretty, so I decided to take a picture. Evidently, some of us don't have enough to do......

First fruits....

I just had to share a picture of the first fruits of my garden (I guess I should say first vegetables). This is the first zucchini of what looks like many. Guess what we are having tonight for dinner. =0)

Coming Soon...

Coming soon to a website near you is the Woman of Hope website. This website will be full of items handmade by various artists. I am excited to share this with you and hope that you will be inspired by your own journey of hope. I wanted a website with that name in it because it is a word that has always been important to me. There have been many, many times that all I could hold onto was Hope. It is what kept me going. Every experience we have can be used by God if we allow it. I am thankful for the experiences because it has given me insight and compassion for others who also might be going through difficult times.

So, stayed tuned for what I hope will be a wonderful place to come visit....

The Garden and Standing Stones

I am learning how to garden. I started a little later in life. I guess you could call me a "late bloomer." We have some beautiful roses blooming in the middle of the yard. The rest of the pictures are of "standing stones" and different flowers.

So, are you wondering what standing stones are? Read on...

In the Book of Joshua, we find one of the mighty miracles of the Old Testament that just doesn't seem to get the "same amount of press" as the parting of the Red Sea has gotten over the ages. Joshua was now leader of the Israelites, "God's man on the ground". He was given the responsibility of leading Israel into the Land of Milk and Honey. Now, it was time to move into the Promised Land! Yet, a big river stood between the Israelites and the Promised Land - the Jordan River - at FLOOD stage, no less.God being, well, GOD, seized this opportunity to show these sons of Israel how MIGHTY He is! God instructed Joshua to have the Levitical priests take the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the Israelites into the Jordan and then the Jordan's "waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap." Sound a bit familiar? Off they go - those Levitical priests and the Ark to stand in the Jordan River, at FLOOD STAGE. Just because Joshua told them to do it, at God's command. They did it. The faith lesson here is that they stepped down into the water AT FLOOD STAGE and then the water stopped. How many times do we ask God to stop the water and then we will do what He has asked or do we, like the Israelites trust that He will do what He has said and take that STEP OF FAITH. And they stood fast until every single Israelite had crossed.What happened next? As you know, the Jordan River did "stand up in a heap" and the Israelites crossed over, with none of their feet touching water, but walking on dry land alone. Now, once the Israelites crossed over, God instructed Joshua to have twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, to take up a stone each from the riverbed of the Jordan and to carry it out of the river. There on the eastern border of Jericho, at Gilgal, Joshua placed those twelve stones, to remind us all, the future generations of Israel, of just what God has done for His children. While those twelve stones may not stand there still today, the evidence of everything that God has done and continues to do for His children remains. How great a miracle is what He has done for us and continues to do!

So, I wanted to honor God by putting some standing stones in our yard. We have gone through some difficult trials and each one God has seen us through and provided more than we could ever ask or think.

Dotees for Swap

I belong to the Dollstreet Dreamers (great group by the way). Judi asked if we would be interested in doing a swap of dotees. She gave us a link to flickr to see what dotees are and I was hooked. These are the three that I am going to send. i really like how they turned out...they were kind of hard to part with. But, I will be receiving new dotees and will look forward to them. I'll post the picture when they come in. I can't wait to see my new dotees!

Once Upon a Time Challenge

At the Pueblo Quilt and Stitch Expo they had a Once Upon a Time Challenge where each participant was given 6 fat quarters to use. We could make either a quilt, wearable art, doll, or miscellaneous. I entered the doll section and made a princess and a frog from The Frog Prince story. I won 2nd place...that was pretty exciting. Then I made a wolf from the story of Little Red Riding Hood (you can see him here reading the story) and he won 1st place. That was really exciting. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them.

Meloneer

I live in a rural community that is famous for its' melons. Of course, the high school mascot has been named after the melons. We are affectionately known as the meloneers.

Every year at the school district's end of the year banquet there is an auction of items that people bid on and the money goes to a student who has won the scholarship award from the high school. I decided this year to try my hand at making a "meloneer." I think he/she turned out pretty cute. It was also an opportunity to try a new pattern by Sweet Meadows Farm. What a delightful pattern this was to do.

Anyway.........the meloneer was auctioned off to $70 so I was pretty pleased. I might even make another one next year.

Kansas Farm Girl

About 2 years ago, I took an online class from the wonderful doll artist of felt dolls - Sue McFadden. It took me a long time to make the doll but now she is done. I wasn't sure who or how she was going to turn out, but here she is. I didn't use felt but rather a suede over a paper clay face. I used vintage fabric for the dress and a vintage handkerchief for the apron. There is a story that goes along with this particular doll which I will post later. I made it as a gift for someone because they have been so instrumental in my life.

Pink is the new black

This is my newest piece on etsy. I bought this vintage footstool at a yard sale. I enjoy going to yard sales, auctions, and flea markets and looking for something that others might miss. When I worked at a residential treatment center, I ran an art therapy group and encouraged the students to look at things not for what they are but what they can become. That is what I did with this vintage footstool. The ironic thing is, people are like that too. So often I can get so focused on my shortcomings now t hat I forget what I can become. All of us were given tremendous gifts and purpose and we simply need to bring out the shine within us.

Okay, on with the process of this footstool....

I thought and thought (for a few years) what to do with this footstool. Like so many things that I have in my "studio" I had some fabric for a few years and always wondered what I would do with it....I like pink and black together, so I thought about making a ruffly footstool cover. I like how it turned out. It's quite girly and fun. It would look so cute in a studio or bedroom. I painted the legs black with bright pink polka dots. The underneath part is covered in a black and white fabric and the bottom of the footstool is covered in bright pink felt. If you would like to see all the pictures, you can go to etsy and look for my username: 2911JeremiahAvenue

Just Charming

I belong to a very talented group of artists and the latest swap is charms. We are each to create our own charms and swap them. I have two different types I made. The first group is shrinky dinks. I think that I have had the shrinky dink "paper" for about 4-5 years and like so many projects, I had not gotten around to using it. This was a great opportunity. So, I used the Unruly Girls stamps that I have also had for quite some time and stamped, colored and then shrank them in the oven. I used an 1/8" paper hole punch so I could put a jump ring in.

The next bunch of charms I made up using felt. I made roses out of them, added green felt leaves some beading. I really like how these turned out.

Cupcakes

I made these as gifts. They are yummy looking cupcakes and no calories!! The cupcake liner is made out of cotton fabrics. The cupcake is cotton or satin and trimmed with ribons, bows or orses. I finished them off by wrapping them in tulle and a bow!

Ta da!

Zuhdi Sardar

Throughout life we are given the opportunity to meet some incredible people. Several years ago I had the honor to meet my now wonderful friend, Judith, and her husband, Zuhdi. (I love you guys). I wanted to highlight this section to introduce you to Zuhdi's artwork. He just had an opening of his most recent artwork at High Studio in Moorpark, CA. This opening was called "Elements, the Bright Side."

Zuhdi has also created several pieces for the Jay Leno Collection.

If you click on this link you can look at some of Zuhdi's incredible work.

http://www.zuhdisardar.com/4436.html

Miss Lily Day

Here is my newest Message of Hope girl on etsy. Read on for her Message of Hope.

As a late bloomer, Miss Lily Day, felt frustrated that others in the garden had already bloomed and that everyone else was bringing beauty and purpose to the world around them. Just when she thought it was too late, all of a sudden she blossomed into the most beautiful lily. Yes, it was late in the season but it wasn’t too late for Miss Lily Day to burst forth with her own creation. She suddenly realized the words of English novelist, George Eliot,” It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

You can visit my place on etsy when you type in 2911JeremiahAvenue under usernames.

Mitzi

Here is Mitzi, one of our springer spaniels. She has personality galore. She loves to play fetch with the tennis ball and will not stop until you hide it. I had to show this picture because it came out so good.

Message of Hope Girls

Whenever we are going through a trial, we look for an answer...a message that is spoken just for us...a message that brings about hope. Those messages can come from a friend or a loved one or even a stranger. I believe that all are divinely inspired.

These Message of Hope Girls were created to bring others hope and inspiration. The ones you see here have all been sold but more MOH girls are being created. So many messages are waiting to be received.........

Our church holds an annual ladies Christmas dinner. It is quite an elegant affair. One lady will hostess a table and decorate it and then leave her guests with a small gift. This year we had Cody Reyestead come and present her gift of artistry with the audience. Her website is: http://www.studio2911ministries.weebly.com/
We also had some lovely young ladies dance as the talented Katie sang. What a wonderful evening it was. I hope that it becomes one of the annual events that people will not want to miss.
Here are some pictures of just some of the tables that were decorated. Wonderful job ladies!

Give Me a "C"

My daughter was getting older and wanted to paint her room. So, we painted her room in pink and white stripes with a monogram. Her room has a Paris feel in pink, black and white. She is using my grandmother's dresser set which is from the 1950's and it is quite lovely.
Here is the "C" I painted on her wall.

One of those God moments.........

One day when I was feeling irritated with my husband, I looked down in my coffee cup and noticed that the little bit of coffee that remained in my cup had taken on an interesting shape. It was a reminder to me that even though there are times that I get angry, that I really love him very much....by the way, I quickly got over it...........I call those God moments ~ gentle reminders of the truth