The best cure for boredom is crayons!

From the Fortune Cookie Journal
"The Best Cure for Boredom is Crayons"

Today is National Crayon day!
Crayola has announced that one of their colors is going to be retired!

In the spirit of crayons and art ---
Liberate Your Art 2017 is underway.
I received my first postcard last week --
all the way from Ireland -- Connemara Cottage, an acrylic painting.
The artist is Jacinta Moore.
You can find more of her artwork and photos here.

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It's been busy around here.

Spring cleaning outside.

The last of the freeze damaged plants are gone.

I found some very old flower and veggie seeds 

that I've "thrown" out into the bare garden spots.

If they come up -- great -- if not -- that's okay, too.

The pond/water garden has been cleaned.

All the water out, the fish out, the plants out.

Power wash and then everything back in.

Two pretty, new water lilies.
One pink and one purple.

Some fun floating grass for the fish to play in.
Now I'm waiting for the fish to spawn.

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The balcony is ready for spring and Easter.
The Gerbera Daisy and geranium are blooming.

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A  very handsome visitor stopped by.

At least once a year there is a hawk in the backyard.
They know I feed the birds in the morning.
No critters were harmed during his visit.

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I've been busy weaving in the ends on the Cottage Charm lapghan
and trying to decide what I might like to tackle next.
I have yarn for more shawls.
Never too early to make Christmas/Birthday presents.
Be prepared!

These are also calling:

I enjoyed the Cottage Charm lapghan.
I found another pattern with similar flowers.
Or
Some cute potholders.
Both projects should be good stash busters!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five On Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Monday Social

Craft On

This and That

The Liberate Your Art postcard swap has been announced.

I've participated for a number of years and it is a lot of fun.

In the past I've sent one of my photographs.

This year I decided to send one of my art pieces.

Since so many are dealing with a harsh winter,

I thought they might like seeing a little "Spring Fling"! 
Watercolor on Index card.

Before the big freeze,
this little guy came to visit.
I think he enjoyed the buffet.





The green you see in the photo is now brown. 
I would have had to cover the whole back yard in preparation for our big freeze. 
Seeing what makes a triumphant return to life will be an adventure!

I'm going to Commit To Sit!
Now in it's seventh year, this free 28-day challenge is an exploration of the tools of meditation led by teacher,
 Sharon Salzberg.
I joined this group several years ago and I need a refresher course.
It starts February 1.
If you are interested, you can find more information here.

I'm still reading The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel.
I found my copy of Real Happiness and am ready for the Commit to Sit month.
Paintbrush in Paris is about a cat in Paris written by illustrator Jill Butler.
Seems like I've been looking for a copy for ages -- adorable and a fun look at Paris.
Last, but not least, by Leisure Arts, Mirror Image Scarves. 

Rainy days were made for reading and crocheting.
So far, I've made two of the Mirror Image Scarves.
I'm using up my stash of Caron Cakes -- bought when they were on sale.
I'm liking how they are looking. 

When I work on a pattern from a book,
I make a copy of the pattern.
Do you do that?
I like to mark up the copy (instead of the book) ---
marking what row I'm on ... any "funny" directions that I had to figure out,
notes to myself -- even about the yarn. 
Just wondering!!!!!!!! 

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Yarn A Long

Hooking On Hump Day

Five on Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Liberate Your Art 2015

Liberate Your Art 2015 has come to a close.
The official postcard swap is over.
It was a lot of fun this year and now
It's time for the annual blog hop to see all the wonderful postcards.

The FaceBook group was very active and a lot of fun ... still is!
What a bunch of talented generous folks!

A big thank you to Kat Sloma and her helpers for putting this swap together each year.

Now, for the "official" postcards that I received:

The Eye by April Rocco. April lives in Cocoa, Florida.
The second card is a view of Notre Dame Cathedral from the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. The photograph by Deanie Houghtaling.

Kat asked us to photograph our cards around our house and that's what you see with cards number three and four.
The beautiful shore scene is by Darlene Cunnup.
"There is never one sunrise the same or one sunset the same." ~ Carlos Santana

"Just Dandy" is by Kelly Warren at Happy Shack Designs.

Postcard number 5 is photographed on my "crafty/arty" table. It is from Sharon in New Zealand. I believe it is the Maori design for the seahorse. Cool!

And last, but not least, is "Imminent Downfall" by Kat Sloma at Kat Eye Studio.

Leave room in the garden for the fairies to dance is the postcard I sent during the swap.
I hope everyone enjoyed the plumeria blooming in my garden and could see the fairies!

And then there were the side swaps.

They are all beautiful.
How did so many of them know I love birds???!!!

Thank you, Sheila Delgado, Siobhan Wolf, Marsha Leith, Sherry Harmes, Terry Owenby, Michelle Matucheski and Kat van Rooyen. Many hugs to all of you.

This was my third year to participate and Liberate Your Art just gets better and better with each year. So much fun to dash to the post to see what treasure has arrived. So much fun to "meet" new folks and make new connections. So much fun to have the video return! I'm already looking forward to 2016!

Thanks again to Kat for another wonderful year.
See you in 2016!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

An InLinkz Link-up

This and That

The good news:
One of my favorite bloggers is back
Along with Random Five Friday!
YeeHaw!

Welcome back, Nancy!!!

- I am taking part in Liberate Your Art 2015. This is the third year I've signed up for the swap. It's lots of fun and I "meet" new folks. This is my postcard for this year. Do you see the fairies?!

- I think everyone is getting tired of winter. This week, I am sure, confused even the weather gods. The one thing that was constant -- the cloudy skies. Otherwise, cool, cold, damp except for two days in the middle that brought heavy fog and 80 degree temps. All I have to say is: Old Man Winter -- MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

- St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner. I have my leprechaun flag flying from the balcony and Irish Luck hanging on the front door.

- Major League Baseball Spring Training has started. There were three games today on the MLB Network. I'm happy!

- For Downton Abby fans: the lovely young lady who plays Rose is the beautiful Cinderella in the new Disney movie.

And that's my Random Five for this Friday.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Liberate Your Art 2014

Liberate Your Art 2014 has come to a close.

This is the second year for me to participate and I had a great time again.

It's always fun to see what surprises might be in the mail box.

Kat Sloma puts this swap together each year and it is because of her that it is such a big success and so much fun.

Last year, I made five different postcards to swap.

I only heard from two of the folks who received my cards and I was disappointed.

So, this year I picked one image and had Moo make the postcards for me.

They did a great job.

This is the image on the cards I sent to Kat for swap.

Two of my favorite things: the baby Buddha and Iris.

The first card I received was from Lynne Foerster of a lighthouse near Cape May.

She used the pallet effect on photoshop.

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The cute little shore bird is a photo by Annie Kelleher of Crimson Cove Photography.

I love shore birds. They are very entertaining. So much fun to watch.

The second photo is by Eric Muhr. 

He was in the right place at the right time to capture the morning sun along the crest of the young fir trees.

Both of these cards speak to the beauty of nature, contemplation, quiet. 

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The watercolor circles are by Carlyn Clark.

I love watercolor and the colors on this card are so bright. Cheerful!

The mixed media LOVE postcard is by Tina.

Clicking on Tina will take you to her Flickr page.

Unfortunately, I have not received Kat's postcard.

I'll keep looking and hoping that it is just slow or that the mail people

are enjoying it before they deliver!

I'm already looking forward to Liberate Your Art 2015.

I hope Kat will be able to put together a video of all the postcards like she did in previous years. This year she was unable to do so. 

See you next year!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Namaste

An InLinkz Link-up

Potpourri

It's Friday.

Another week has flown by.

My Christmas trees are still up, but the outdoor decorations are put away.

I spent a lot of time making sure outdoor pipes were ready for our hard freeze.

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Now that the temps are on the rise, the rain is here and a drip has arrived, too.
This one is in the fireplace.
I have a call in to the roofer.

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I LOVE mail-call.

Information for the Liberate Your Art Swap for 2014 is up.
I participated last year and I'm going to do so again this year.
Last year I handmade my postcards.
They were all different images.
In theory we should hear from those who receive our cards.
I only heard from two.
So, this year I made my postcards at Moo -- they did a wonderful job.
And, only one image.
I'm ready to go as soon as the postcard rates change and the stamps are available.

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Another reproduction vintage postcard featuring a snowman.
I'm getting the idea that the postcard theme for the month is Snowmen! 

The artist is unknown as is the publishing date.

I really like this one.

You think the little girl and the birds are looking forward to spring?

Thanks to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday each week.

*****

For all you purple lovers.

Did you know the Pantone color of the year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid?

Thanks to Nancy for hosting.

Wishing you well and much joy!

More Mail Call

I'm still trying to catch up with Mail Call!

Here are two more Liberate Your Art postcards.
Both of these were made by blogging friends.
We thought we'd continue the fun of Liberate Your Art.

By Sherry at Becoming.

By Tracey Fletcher King

Tracey and I are both tea lovers
and along with the wonderful postcard she sent me a print of her beautiful watercolor header.

One of the blogs I've been reading for years now -- even before I started blogging

is Colette Copeland's Blog.

I've always admired her lovely art.

 She had a give-a-way and I won! 

And last, but certainly not least is the bracelet I won on Face Book
 from Diane at Snigglefritz.

I think I'm all caught up.

Another big thank you to Sherry, Tracey, Colette and Diane.

I love all my goodies.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap 2013

This was the first year that I participated in the

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap.
There were 216 participants.

Kat Sloma is the brains behind the swap and thank you Kat!

It was loads of fun and I'm already looking forward to the swap in 2014.

Zen Mind by Valeria at Zen Mind Photography

Abandoned Rail Car by Jenny Tucker

By Kelly Ishmael at Minding My Nest

By Karin Wei (unfortunately I have no link for Karin)

By Mandy Kopelke

"Abandoned and Alone" by Kat Sloma at Kat Eye Studio

Another big thank you to Kat and to all the participants.
I can't tell you what fun it was to check the post everyday and find the next surprise.
Kat is hosting a blog hop.
You can visit with Kat and see a video she has put together of some of the art.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!