Gratitude Friday

5 Things I am Thankful for/that...

1. the dishwasher isn't really broken - at least it seems that way now.
2. clean sheets...always smell so good and just feels nice to slip into a freshly made bed
3. simple pleasures - Jelly Beans
4. the package I received this week from my family.
5. Michael is HOME! I always miss him when he is gone but this time it seemed harder so I am very glad he is home.

I recognize that I have much more to be thankful for in my life.

(image from a calender I made)

Gratitude Friday

5 Good Things in my Life...

1. New warm pj bottoms that keep me warm that I got a Kohl's on clearance!
2. Making a friend happy by being able to send a friend something I had just sitting around...that she has wanted and will use.
3. The library having a website to order books online and they will have waiting for me! Easy pick up - especially since I never seem to find things where they are suppose to be in our library. I am anxiously awaiting Eat, Pray, Love and the 2nd book to the Twilight series!
4. For Godiva Chocolate -- Sao Tome Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs - oh yums!
5. Michael always seeming to know what to do when I am overwhelmed and struggling.

I am grateful for each of those things and so much!

** Cropped image from a calendar that I made for a Christmas gift. It June's image.

Calendar - September to December

September 2006 - Measuring the Stars. Those rubber stamps has that 30's film star feel to them. Then the measuring tape and actual stars making up the name. The very background is tea stained paper and on top of it is a paintchip sample that I got a home improvement store.














October 2006 - It can come undone... Basically the girl in the piece is coming undone...her world that lets her look so princess like...can come undone just thread by thread.
















November 2006 - Caught There are pieces in the background - cutout placed in like a grid like pattern. The butterfly just feels like it caught between it all. It was the process that made it feel that way. And the 3 has meaning to me too.







Close up....










December 2006 - Amid the Stars The little tag says "And he hid his face amid a crowd of stars."













January 2006 - April 2006
May 2006 - August 2006

Calendar - May through August

Pictures from a calendar I made for some dear friends....



May Flower...I have several of those paper dolls. And I love them...the colors, their costumes, their whimsical quality and I wanted to use one for the calendar so May...came to mind when I saw the one holding a flower. I also did the calendar part different doing the days of the week down the side instead of the top.












June just all cut out from junk mail and magazines. And then a quote from Jack Kerouac.














I did July during a hard time so I think it came out a little emotionally raw...lots of red and antiquing glaze. I did the collage before I decided what month it would be and then saw the flag and well of course made it July...very cliche of me. It is made from a lot of different collage bits -- magazine, collage packs, found paper and then the measuring tape ribbon.













August is really kind of boring...but the stamp image is beautiful - just really hard to see. It is hard to find a paper and ink to make it stand out enough. I did the image on gold tissue with bronze ink. Because the image has oriental flair I added a fortune about fishing that I got at restaurant once.


Here is January through April's.

Calendar - January through April

I made a Calendar for some friends for Christmas....

Here is several pictures of it....click on images to see a bigger view....