Happy New Year dear friends!

Yes...I know. I know.

I've been gone a long, long time.

But I really do love this blog and SO pray

that I can connect with you all

much more here this new year.

The transition of moving was so easy, the move?

Not so much.

I hate to keep harping on that fact but it truly was a hard thing.

We are now settled in our sweet new home and now that Christmas is over

I feel like I can now concentrate on decorating AND

of course working on the new studio!!!

When you have the amount of STUFF that I have, because believe me

when you are an artist you really need the items, materials and supplies

to create what comes to your mind...it's a daunting task to organize it all.

So that is my goal for the new year!!

To get the new studio organized and ready to make beautiful things!

My muse is poking me and I am ready to create!!!

I pray you had a beautiful Christmas, we really did!

And now that it's the new year it's time for me to shake off the old

and begin with the new.

Our small tree with big love...

I watched our precious grandbabies while mom and dad had appointments.

Can you believe baby Tilly??? She will be a year old Jan. 25th!!!!

Nine year old big sister Clara is always willing to help! Tilly loves her like a second mama!

And brother Murray chills watching his very favorite show!

Then the princess Tilly sleeps!

We decorated for Christmas...

We celebrated our sweet grandson Owen's 2nd birthday too!!! Born on Christmas eve

and now his daddy and mama, David and Heather are expecting a baby girl in May!!!

We are all SO excited!!! Her name will be Lily...how beautiful is that??

Happy New Year precious friends,
I'm praying for a wonderful one for each and every one of us!!!

So now I will get back to getting my new studio in order because
I am so ready to get back to creating!!!
Wish me luck angels!
I'll share progress soon, promise!

Hugs and love,
Dawn

A slice of life & returning to the studio!

Soooooo.....it's been kind of a long time since my last post here.

I don't know what to tell you except that life happened!

(Warning: TONS OF PHOTOS in this one!)

With Christmas, then sickness, then watching Clara and Murray

waiting on their new little sister to be born, then Tilly's birth and 

a huge soap order during all of that....

I'm finally coming up for air!

It really has been a busy couple of months around here.

And guess what???

February 11th was my ELEVENTH blog anniversary!

YES!

I've had this ol' blog now for eleven years ~

Even though blogging has changed over the past few years

I still enjoy having it and love sharing what's going on in my life!

December and January were filled with

multiple OB visits for our daughter-in-law Emily

so I watched these precious grandbabies, Clara and Murray, pretty regularly.

They are so techie now...both loving their tablets.

But we'd watch movies, bake cookies and even have a few craft days!

And then Tilly was born January 25th!!!

These sweet kids were SO EXCITED to head to the hospital

the next day to meet their baby sister!

Daddy Brent (our oldest son) admiring his precious little daughter Tilly!

It's truly been a wonderful time in all of our lives!

She's now almost 4 weeks old and growing like a little weed!

And speaking of growing...

our second born son, David

and his wife Heather's son and our grandson,

Owen is now one year old!!!

His birthday was Christmas eve and he's so precious ~

so happy and loving too!

And now I've finally made it back into the studio!

I've been cleaning and straightening up

which always helps get me motivated to create.

I decided to finish up a book project

that I'd started months and months ago.

This is my very first handmade book/journal!

I created the signatures, embellished the pages and

even sewed them each into my handmade book cover.

It's nature inspired (my favorite) and filled the pages

with pressed flowers, ephemera and images from nature.

Here's a peek inside!!!

It's now been added to my Etsy store as well ~

SO...there you go!!!!

I've got to make more of these!!!

Maybe with different themes even.

If you'd like, I've created my own YouTube channel and you can

view 3 very short videos of my flip through the journal!

~ HERE'S THE LINK TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL ~

And lastly...

Our grandbaby Tilly this past week!

She's just beautiful and growing so very fast.

Four grandbabies now,

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

Each one is precious in their own little way too.

Sorry for the gigantic photo filled post but it's been awhile.

And thank you always for stopping by to see

what's going on in my little corner of the world!

Hugs and love,

Dawn

Happy October dear friends!

Every new month that comes along always seems to surprise me!

What happened to LAST month???

As time flies by so very quickly,

all it takes is for me to look at my saved photos

and I realize it's flown by because I've been so busy!

I thought I'd share a little bit

of what's been going on in my neck of the woods.

We had our sweet granddaughter Clara over to spend the night

and also to create a little artwork!

I can't believe she is 8 going on 9 years old!

Such a pretty princess ~

And just LOOK at her beautiful artwork she created!

She gathered all of the elements, I provided the sheet music and

wooden backboard. She placed the elements and

I simply glued them down for her ~

I LOVE IT!!!

Another project finished?

We have a small gap in the wall between our kitchen and dining room

So visually it's just yucky looking and cluttered.

SO...

I whipped up a small curtain, used a piece of screen molding and nailed it up

with only four nails. It can easily be removed and laundered too!

Problem solved.

I also put together this wonderful nature inspired shadow box.

And this one as well...

Both hung in our living room gallery wall!

A dear neighbor friend gifted me these beautiful limelight hydrangea blooms

to dry...they STILL look this gorgeous too!

Potted up some curly ivy in this long planter I found at the thrift store!

I purchased this nautical style wax melt lamp at Wal-mart and it has a glass tube

that slides right behind the metal framework.

I simply printed this beautiful French label onto vellum, taped it on and

it instantly looks so much more interesting and diffuses the light as well!

I sewed a new curtain for our back door which also happens to be our laundry room.

This piece is from England and was originally a laundry bag!

I love the way it looks with the light shining through ~

Another project that was finished was a pendant lamp that I made with

an old birdcage top!

I purchased the lamp kit with plug and switch on Amazon then proceeded to

put it all together. I just love how it turned out!!!

A small arrangement I put together and hung in our living room ~

I finally framed a treasured piece of sheet music I'd had for years

in a gorgeous antique frame that I'd had for awhile as well.

They look so beautiful together!!!

AND THIS BIG NEWS!!!

Our family is GROWING!

We are expecting a new grandchild the end of January 2018!!!

AND...

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Here is a pic of Clara and Murray finding out!

Her name will be Kathleen Tilly Edmonson and

she'll be called Tilly.

I LOVE IT!

Our little grandson Owen came for a visit and we had the best time

playing with him!!! He's already NINE months old!!!

Then I hosted a wonderful flower day party the day before

Heather and David's wedding September 28th.

My dear friend Tammy came over and gifted her talent

and arranged ALL of the flowers for the wedding!

Thank you so much sweet friend, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

And one little shot from the wedding that I took...it truly was so beautiful!!!

A few ideas that I had...

Printing images onto vellum and applying them to

glass cylinder candle holders!

I've sold a few but need to make more to put into my shop!

And lastly, my current project!

Bleaching pine cones and transforming them into Christmas ornaments.

It's a work in progress, I'll be sure to share them finished!

Good grief.

This post is ridiculously long.

I need to post more often for sure!

I'm really going to try to do that too...

So now I see why September flew by so quickly!!!!

Thank you always for stopping by to see what I'm up to ~

hugs and love,

Dawn