A girl can never have too much tape

 

My newest friend, washi tape. It was love at first use - in my art, on envelopes and packages. It would likely adorn my body if it was socially acceptable.

 I LOVE ephemera of any kind. Here is a box prettied up with bits and scraps of beautiful what-not and sent to a friend.

 My affections are varied. Vintage wallpaper has also stolen my heart. Another box.

 

 This is a poor photo of a pillow made for mom for her birthday. 

 And, saving the best for last.... here is the office/computer room in our home before the makeover.

 Here is my new studio after Glynn installed wall shelving and I began the preliminary stage of organization.

If I had a picture of myself doing a happy dance, I'd post it here.

A bit of magic

source: sanctuairesoulssanctuary.com

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”  Ronald Dahl

I love the above mentioned quote and experienced a wee bit of such magic yesterday in a most unlikely place - Fred Meyer. 

I was one of what felt like 2,000 fellow grocery shoppers skillfully and patiently navigating my shopping cart through gridlocked aisle ways, working hard to keep my cool while surrounded by near palpable pre-holiday stress.

  source: www.cleanme.us

The aisle containing flour and sugar and other baking goods felt like I-5 in Friday rush hour traffic! Yet, in this chaos, surrounded by all this adult tension, two little boys discovered a bit of magic. 

A bag of flour lay split open on a shelf and a small pile of flour lay next to it. The small boys gently placed their hands in the flour, coating their palms, then clapped their hands together gleefully creating a cloud of white dust.

The smallest boy noticed me noticing him. Hurriedly he plunged his hands into the flour again, walked over to me, clapped his hands together and giggling said, "Poof! It's magic!" 

And it was magic for immediately this little boy's happy dance dispelled my impatience. His innocent delight in finding magic in pile of plain, white flour touched me in such a way that felt sacred. I was the lucky one for having witnessed such pure delight. 

I'm happy to report that because of this little boy's experience with magic, my eyes have been refocused to look for magic in unlikely places. (I found magic today while painting a room in my house, a task that I find most unpleasant.) After all, it's all about perception.....

Maid service

source: 123rf.com

A recent blog post from a young military wife living in Afghanistan got me to thinking. 

It's customary for the wives to hire a maid who stops by the house three times a week for an hour to 'straighten it up'. The writer eventually let her maid go because she felt too much 'American guilt' for hiring someone to do what she could easily do each day.

American guilt. Hmmmmm..... 

 

For the past five years, Hazel arrives at my house, twice monthly, to clean it. Although a housekeeper is a bit different than a maid, please know I feel NO GUILT WHATSOVER for her services! This is Hazel's livelihood. It pays her rent and puts food on her table. 

I work outside the home and choose not to spend one of my non work days cleaning my large home. I can afford Hazel's services an, in a very small way, I am contributing to the local economy.

Hiring a lawn service, a personal trainer, having one's oil changed at Jiffy Lube, hiring a painting contractor... the list of professionals who do our work for us is long.

Now, if only I had the wherewithal to hire a personal chef, I'd invite you all to dinner. 

artsy fartsy