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

Our new little corner of the world!

It has been a crazy couple of months.

I mean it.

Moving is never an easy task but when you are an artist

and a lover of all things beautiful...well...

chances are you have WAAAAY too much stuff!

Anyway, who cares.

I love my stuff and believe me,

I've let go of a ton of it.

Donated, sold and discarded so, so very much.

That's good, right?

We are finally settled into our new home and

I'm finally getting to the fun part!!!

Decorating and making it feel like "HOME".

Here is my view as I sat at the computer a few mornings ago ~

These photos are not that wonderful but here is our new living room!!!

We are fluffing and getting ready for Thanksgiving next week!

There is still so much to be unpacked and the studio has been put on hold

until after Thanksgiving but it really is coming along beautifully!!!

One last photo.

Our youngest granddaughter Tilly is now 9 months old and

is such a sweetie pie!!!

I hope you are doing well and getting ready for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Whether it is big or small, it doesn't matter.

Just to be thankful for your life and all that you are blessed with

is truly what Thanksgiving is all about!

Thank you always for stopping by to visit me ~

Hugs and love,

Dawn

I'm so loving this new chapter sweet friends!!!

This is the last artwork I created for a dear friend the end of this past September.

She was so pleased with it.

Thank you precious Mary for supporting my creativity dear friend.

I was closing up shop and preparing for a huge move to our new home.

And believe me.

IT HAS BEEN HUGE.

What has happened between then and now?

Caring for my precious grandbabies....

Look at baby Tilly, now 9 months old!!

REALLY?

Clara is 9 going on 10....Murray is now 6!!!

They love their baby sister so much!

Our middle son Brad sold our 2nd son David and his wife Heather their new home!!!

PLUS...they are expecting a new baby in May!!!!

Owen is going to be a big brother!!!

We are so loving that our family is growing.

And their new home is closer to us and is just beautiful!

My precious mother-in-law...Grandma Jackie had her 80th birthday party and

we all celebrated with her!!! Baby Tilly loves her as we all do!

Little Miss Ellie is so loving our new digs...

The gorgeous arrangement that sweet Tammy made for our holiday table this year...

These sweetie pies came to Trick or Treat in out new neighborhood too!!!

They had such a blast!

Our beautiful new front yard:

Don't you just love the blue fall skies?

The new studio in the making ~

Always remember ~

Life is like a chapter book!

Stay tuned for my next post...the new studio is going to be GORGEOUS!!!

Thank you always for checking in on me sweet friends!

hugs and love,

Dawn

In my little corner of the world ~

It's been a busy month around this old farmhouse!

I've managed to get several creative projects finished along with

going through the studio to find a few more things to sell.

It's amazing how much I've hunted, gathered and saved over the years!

I'm finally realizing that I don't need it all and it really feels good to purge.

I started a Facebook group over a year ago and simply post the photos,

price and shipping there!

It's worked out wonderfully.

SO...if you are on Facebook and would like to join my Studio De-Stash Group

come on over!!!! I add things regularly!!

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE GROUP!

I finished this little family of paperclay bluebirds last week!

Just perfect to welcome spring too!

Our sweet Clara turned NINE years old March 23rd too!

She had started painting this ceramic cat and

asked me to finish it for her ~

Of course I would!

I was able to get it painted just in time for her special day.

The cat is her favorite character in a book series she's reading!

A few of the things that I've been selling in the De-Stash Group...

some are already gone, some are still there.

Another project I finished was making a couple of simple slipcovers

for these old rocking chairs.

They are on our front porch and some animal was clawing them

every. single. night!!!

SO I thought maybe if I covered them it would prevent them from getting

to the straw they love scratching.

So far so good...I still may have to buy some repellent spray though ~

The fabric I used on these was one half-priced curtain panel from Hobby Lobby!

It had that farmhouse look and worked perfectly for the project.

A recent find at Michael's!

A neat chicken wire bird cage, fake lavender and little terra cotta pot.

All HALF off too!

And lastly...

THIS PRECIOUS GIRL.

Our youngest little granddaughter Tilly

turned 2 months old a few days ago!!!

She's such a sweet baby and growing like a little weed!

Well, that about sums up my March!
Stay tuned sweet friends...I'm going to be hosting a little giveaway
right here on my blog very soon!!!

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

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