Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween
Originally uploaded by Windy Angels.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I've been tagged by Nance, who was tagged by Mary Ann, to list 9 items of weirdness about myself. Ooh, might be tricky. I think some of these things are not so weird but maybe typical. OK, so I'll say they're weird for me:

1. I am quite used to being "on the edge" and though I am much advised to take time for myself ~ I continue to take on new projects. (We'll not include procrastinating as weird but of course you recognize that by taking on new projects, all the other unfinished will probably be set aside for another day or two, month or two).

2. I lay down on the kitchen floor sometimes after I've just come in from exercise, activity, fun and tiring stuff like cross country skiing. Greg, DH, comes and offers me a hand.

3. I like to lay down on the trampoline and just look up at the sky sometimes ~ (when I'm taking a moment from being on edge, or on the edge).

4. I often go back to bed after breakfast on Saturday to sleep-in. I have to eat my breakfast cause of the diabetes.

5. I get irked when I've minimized something and it seems to disappear after Greg or Cat have been at computer.

6.I have this habit of running my hand through my hair, especially if I'm tired or frustrated. (And I should be surprised after I say I'm tired and Cat says "I noticed" or Greg says "Yaaahhh").

7. I sometimes pull at my eyebrows with my fingers when frustrated (as she removes her hand from her temple).

8. Though I have a preference for more easy listening types of music or to silence, I occasionally have a yen for Ray Charles (and I'm not talking "What a Wonderful World").

9. I need to have my feet washed every night before I go to bed. Typically I sit up on the counter and Greg actually washes them for me. I'm quite spoiled but I don't see that as weird, definitely not weird to be spoiled by DH.

Your turn only if you want. It's fun. (Especially when blogger won't upload my halloween picture and I can't find all the prepared ATCs that I need to finish. Double grrrr. Oh yes, weird - sometimes I growl when I'm upset. I learnt that from Cat (our daughter, in case you didn't realize)

Dawn whispered in, on the breeze. She was near frigid in her gray and cheerlessness. At least no feathering of snow slipped thro...

Continued - windyangels and you

windy angels and you ~ my new blog: I've started a new blog, something I've been planning for a time. I have MUCH writing that I want to share. I've been writing for the past two and a half years specifically, probaly informally since I was a child. I've shared only a few of the pieces with you. On windy angels and you I hope to share many more. I will try to remember to include approximate dates. Forgive me, ask me, if I forget.

HAPPY JOURNEYS!

Wendy

" The reason you’re ‘here’ is not to be good, to be better, to
be perfect, to get ‘stuff’ done, to save the world, to save a
person, to prove something, or to be anything... other than
YOURSELF. That’s all you have to work on. That’s all you
can do. And by doing it... all those other things will happen
anyway.”

Mike Dooley

Inspiration Peak

Collections ~ of life, love, art, history: I'm a bit late for this week's theme of "my collections" for Studio Friday but I absolutely could not resist. I have a feeling most artists would have difficulty with resisting, not sharing, for this week's theme.

The items on this collage are all items from "about our place". I love to collect as do my hubby and daughter. The pieces on this collage are all mine. Though I love vintage, I have newer collections as well. The old chair, with the purple blanket, is from the family farm and was one of the few items salvaged from a fire in 1935. I'll be doing better images of the pillow covers, hanging on the cupboard doors, another time. They are from a family cottage at Manitou Beach and are very old. I'll try to include more history then.

COLLECTIONS

Thank you. I feel so loved, by so many. Nance and Suzie ~ you're terrific.

Love you,
Wendy

FAITH:


"Doubt sees the obstacles
Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions 'who believes?'
Faith answers, 'I.' ”

Author Unknown

from Inspiration Peak

Very not perfect; very unfinished; how to proceed: Please don't laugh. The star piece was done with gel glue technique (ages ago). There were a couple of things I neglected to ask about ~ like how to use the dye ~ I found exactly the same dye Terri used BUT did not realize to add water. Oh well. I LIKE the green. At Terri's suggestion I let the piece soak for a few hours or more like a few days (I was busy with other stuff). The glue came off quite handily. I then embroidered the star piece. I think I got the hang of french twists BUT have probably forgotten again this many weeks later.
The background fabric on the left was done with caran d'ache crayons (Neocolor ll - water soluble). I found the directions in Quilting Arts magazine, (summer 2005), after I think Sue B, told me they can be used on fabric. I borrowed the magazine from library (may have to break down and buy it if I can figure out how ; ) I think I learnt to wait till the fabric is dry to darken the colours.
The stitching on the star ~ I'm hoping it's still a problem with the tension adjustment and not something more serious. It actually fits with my imperfection attempts BUT...
OK ~ maybe we should all just laugh. It might feel better. I should have used the wonder-under before I put the star onto the background. Hmmm ~ could use that bottle of wine now. Oh, oh, it's all gone. I think there's chocolate though. Wait a minute. I'll be back at ya.

Ummm.
Let's see. I better remember the picture.
I'm not certain what to do with this once I have time to get back to it and do the wonder-under and peltex. I guess I need to do some quilting ~ never did anything but straight lines on a patterned piece of fabric. I'm brave though. What would you suggest ~ straight lines, what about thread? Decisions, decisions.

IMPERFECTION, meet my SEWING MACHINE ~ NOT:
With my most recent collage I spoke of imperfection, how I'm trying to look more to imperfection. Welll ~ my thirty year old sewing machine did NOT like that I have not cleaned it for, ummm, probably a few years. I think I recently read that a sewing machine should be cleaned daily. DUH! No wonder I was having problems. I thought I might finally get to doing some thing with these two tiny pieces of fabric I've worked with. I thought I might even try making a postcard. SIGH.

Sorry Terri, you'll have to be patient a little longer to see one of the pieces I was trying to do the gel technique on. If this takes much longer I may just have to show the piece after I worked with it.

AND with the cost of postage in Canada and the time of year, it may just arrive for recipient post Christmas. It's not even a winter piece. SIGH.

Emotional: Those of you that know me will recognize that this is a part of me ~ voluminous emotion.

After recently doing the collage and post about "me", an angel was walking beside me and I came to find this post for "self portrait challenge". It sounded so like me and with reading the comments I found many that identified with it.

I have put a link to be present, be here. I hope to visit often.

I was also reminded of the quote on the right side of my blog. Dr. Leo Buscaglia reminds us of life and its risks. If you've not taken time to read it previously, please take time now. If you have read it before, I suggest you feel it again.

Fear not emotion.

About "ME": Continuing on this road to self-discovery. If you desire to learn about the purple birds, or maybe do not know the story of orange, you may wish to immerse yourself for a few moments.

"They say I wear my heart on my sleeve. Maybe you've noticed that too.

Forty-five years and six months ago, when I was but a child of three and a half years I was found to have sugar in my blood, too much.

Treatment for diabetes involved diet, and daily injections of insulin.
Those syringes needed boiling regularly and the needles were kind of fat. They only
needed to go under the skin, but where do you poke a skinny little runt? They also needed boiling. Memorable was the idea of them requiring sharpening.

Time passed. Needles became disposable. The need for injections became just a typical part of life, mine.

What affected me more were the lines and lines of orange. The sugars needed testing. That many years ago the only testing available in the home was for sugar in the urine. What I remember are lines and lines of orange. Rarely did a beautiful blue or serene green appear.
Inadequate. That's what those lines of orange, in the book where we recorded results, meant to me.

Inadequate, inadequate, inadequate. I think I was always trying to achieve ~ probably perfection. I felt so much as a child, looking for reassurance, looking for someone to tell me it was alright. It was alright that my tests were frequently orange. We would just keep trying.

And so I seek imperfection now. I realize how unhealthy it is to always be seeking perfection. I realize I need to laugh more, be more childlike in a playful way, and "dance my pants off" occasionally. I need to dream more and worry less, perhaps think less, maybe just let myself "be".

As I have grown to have more an appreciation for art, for beauty, I have come to learn to seek more orange. I love colour and have learnt that orange frequently represents joy. And so I seek more joy, more orange, more imperfection.


Sometimes the brick walls get in the way. Do you know brick walls? They are not something visible, not something physical other than the negative way they may affect your well being. Brick walls for me are in my mind. I think you understand. I build them to protect myself but in so doing I shut myself out ~ from feelings, from joy, probably from more love (maybe especially of myself), most certainly from others recognizing my true self. They may only see this tiny slice of me, a tiny slice which is mostly about pretending, but is probably quite un-natural.

Now I have been trying to break through those walls, those barriers within myself. I have come to appreciate art and music more. I have tried to allow myself to be more playful, allow myself to not let the mistakes matter. I have tried to allow the breeze, the presence of "spirit" in the wind, blow through me at any moment. I have tried to allow myself to relax, take time to close my eyes and float on the breeze. That is when the purple starts floating through my brain, sometimes as birds, occasionally as waves. The spirit just seems to want to allow me to be free to be creative. That is when I have done some of my most prolific writing. That is when I hope to do some of my most fabulous pieces of art.

That is when I may see miracles happening and I will know for certain that I am not an ugly duckling, I never was, and I do not need anyone else to remind me."

I have not mentioned angels at all in this piece. I most certainly believe in angels. I know for certain that if you are to recognize them through me, through yourself, about you or about me, it will happen by no intentional doing on my part.

Please forgive the quality of the image. I am tired, the computer & scanner have not been working and I just did not feel like doing a photo tonight. Maybe another tiny bit of imperfection ~ that's good.

The hour is late ~ twelve chimes I heard. The rest of the house ~ asleep.

Why do I sit bleary eyed by this machine, with its continuous hum? It's about me. I've just completed the seventh collage, for the seventh day, of the seven day collage challenge. It's about me. Some people might think I'm selfish. Some people might think it odd that I choose to share so much about myself. Some poeple might think I have a huge ego.

NO!

I am on a trip of self discovery. I am trying to break down brick walls within my being. I am trying to learn more about myself so I might get past the "I wish!" and "I should!" A part of me is trying to get closer to the "I am". Sharing it with you makes "I am" seem closer. Give it a try.

Till tomorrow...

FAMILY: This is for day 6 of the 7 day collage challenge. Family is extremely important to me, not just my own family but the total idea of family, for all.

As I was preparing this collage I was thinking about my cousin Patty and her son, David, 27th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan. To her immediate family, and to her extended family, this word, this institution, is important. Also it is important because of what David was about. He wanted SO much to help the people of Aphghanistan. Though I very much hate war, I am trying to understand why any young person would feel they must be part of this sad war. As I see it, the reason is largely about family, largely about love, largely about home ~ wanting a safe home for people, for children, for families.

I would also like to share this quotation which speaks about family in a somewhat different way:

"One way or the other, God, who thought up the family in the first place,
has the very best idea of how to bring sense to the chaos of broken relationships
we see all around us.

I really believe that if I remain still and listen a lot,
He will share some solutions with me so I can share them with others."
Jill Briscoe

Key to the universe:
"If you're looking for the key to the Universe I’ve got some
good news and some bad news. The bad news: There is no
key to the Universe. The good news: It was never locked.”

Author Unknown

Animals: For my day 5 collage I have done this piece titled "Animals". I have always loved animals.

Greg and I were very fortunate in 1989 to visit some friends who were missionary teachers in Kenya. Besides visiting with them in their home locale and spending some time in Nairobi, with them and without them, we were fortunate to go on two safaris. This was like a dream come true. I think my faves were the elephants, but I also came to truly appreciate the giraffes. I loved most of the animals. I was not so excited to see the "chase" as I understand many are. I appreciate that it is the way of nature but I prefer to see the lions yawning after wakening from a lazy sleep. I prefer to see them in their family groups.

Another show of imterest in animals has come with Christmas gifts of sponsoring endangered species ~ polar bears. I've considered writing letters but am so often dumbfounded with the number of species endangered. Someday...

The website on the collage is still active. Please check if you are interested.

Karma Action: I love to get parcels in the mail and postcards and nice surprises. This was the second package I got from Mary Ann in just a few days. Mary Ann you are so wonderful ~ thank you. This magazine looks like it was never opened and it's not just a regular magazine but a special edition. Well I was in Saskatoon yesterday and decided to pick up a few things for doing up some of my own surprise packages.

Fabulous imagery: I've just discovered faustinaimagery on the blog of SuzieQ. This is beyond words. Thanks for sharing it Suzie. This means time to relax ~ sit back and breath it all in.
Siiiggghhh.

Gifts: On this day 4 collage for the 7 day challenge I have left much blank space.
It represents time and how I would prefer to have us view it. So often we try to pack so much into the space of time we have that we do not allow ourselves to see the beauty within this gift.

A gift ~
We have been given
this gift so precious.
Why do we do not
appreciate it?

Why do we not value
this gift,
hug it
more often,
embrace it
with our being?

When might I
find time
to truly grasp
this most wonderful gift ~
TIME?

AUTUMN'S RICHNESS: I have done this collage for day 3 of a 7 day challenge to use 1 magazine to do 7 collages for each day of the week. I will also use it for Studio Friday where the theme this week is Autumn Inspiration.

Truly Autumn abounds in Richness.

REMEMBERING: I've been spending a great deal of time this day going through, and through, and through again, one magazine to find appropriate items to use in seven collages for the seven day challenge in which I am participating. You might think this would be monotonous. I found it refreshing. I was remembering ~ remembering events from the past, what is important to me, and what it is like to have some time to reflect, to continue on my journey of self discovery. For day seven I will need a larger piece of paper for doing the collage. Regular cardstock will not be big enough. Day seven will be titled "me". I can hardly wait to put the piece together to see what more I might learn.

In the meantime I hope you will enjoy learning other pieces about me in my collages about time, animals and family. My day three collage which you will get to see tomorrow is about Autumn. If you've been following me you will know what autumn meant and then came to mean.

Wishing you happy remembering of your own.

GOTHIC: These two collages were made for another challenge to do 7 collages from 1 magazine in 7 days. I couldn't choose which one to submit from Day 1 or Day 2 for artwords, so decided to combine them digitally. The magazine I used was Martha Stewart Living, October, 2001.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

"Gothic" ~ Day 2 of 7 day collage challenge

A sweet sentiment from Mary Engelbreit

GOTHIC; 7 day Challenge; cheating? This is day 1 of a 7 day challenge to use 1 magazine to create 7 collages with cut and paste. Having chosen a Martha Stewart Living October issue from 2001, I truly felt like I was cheating. There are so many Halloween and autumn ideas. BUT, we'll see what I'm saying by the time I get to Day 7.

I was also thinking a lot about the Artwords theme for this week of "GOTHIC". At first I was thinking I would not participate this week but after looking through 2 of Martha's October issues I decided it would be difficult to decide which 1 to use.

In case the words are too small they read darkness, vampire, swoop and gouge.


YAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!

Ice: Truthfully, I love the snow too. But the ice is treacherous. I'm back at home after only one hour. A section of road we needed to travel on was disastrous. We were nearly in the ditch three times. Thank goodness for a good driver and angels watching over us. He, the driver, being the CEO of the regional College, decided to postpone the meeting. Apparently there were a couple of deaths in the southern part of the province over night because of the ice. Not worth the risk.

Most people don't have their winter tires on yet. We've an appointment to have ours put on tomorrow morning.

Now I'll wait to see when the decision is to actually do the meeting. Should mention we returned on a side gravel road, much safer.

After I get off these pins and needles I might actually get some art done.

I just got a call and apparently the meeting's going ahead. We'll join with conference call.

Later...

Halloween and other sharing: Halloween had never really been a favourite celebration of mine, because of the SAD and growing up with diabetes. A few years ago, after I'd started using the lights for the Seasonal Affective Disorder I became familiar with Martha Stewart and discovered some pretty "good things" to do for Halloween. I went all out with decorating and got dressed up myself for handing out treats. Because I also like to act I put on a pretty good show sometimes. I had youngstaers and teens returning occasionally just because they liked the little show I put on. One year I did vegetables as human organs in food coloured water and labelled with tea dyed labels. I was dressed as a witch. Some teens returned to the front door because they wanted to bring their friend to meet the witch. My husband had answered the door and then came to tell me they wanted to meet me. If I hadn't been out of costume we thought it might have been fun for me to sneak out the back door and come from behind to tap him on the shoulder. I never really tried to frighten anyone, just make it fun according to how they responded. Some came back every year until I grew tired of it and I think I actually scared someone accidently. It was NEVER my intention. NOW, I was not excited about Halloween again but I think my dear friend Darcy has tossed a little hint my way that maybe I ought to start thinking about it more seriously. I've got many projects in mind but thought in case I can't get to them before that hallowed eve I would share these couple of pieces from a few years back. They are actually batiked with parafin wax, acrylic paints and Rit dye on an old sheet. I got the idea from the little autumn book of Mary Engelbreit. I adore Mary's art.

And I've been making some trails in the basement cleaning process. Hopefully it won't take too much longer before I can actually show some photos of my space. In the meantime I have some heavy duty meetings tomorrow. Because of the weather we need to leave at 7:30 a.m. to get to the destination. My only "art" hope for tomorrow is to look through an old Martha Stewart Living magazine to try to get some ideas for the seven day collage challenge on the Cloth Paper studio yahoo group I joined. The idea is to make seven collages from one magazine. I'm looking forward to the challenge and hope to start it tomorrow or Wednesday.

Until next time, I want to share hugs. Please take a moment to check this video which I've seen already on a couple of blogs. I LOVE this idea ~ might consider starting it myself but may have to find a more busy metropolis than where I live ~ something to think about. Huge hugs for all.

First snowfall

First snowfall
Originally uploaded by Windy Angels.

Taken this evening at about 10 p.m. This is just outside our door. Would be quite beautiful if not October. Would be quite beautiful if we had not so much farming left to do.

HELP ~ I need Helen Buttegeig of the program NEAT to bring her crew into my basement and help me sort through all this stuff. In a family of three, all of which are collectors I am finding the challenge of our basement to be almost frightening. ACTUALLY, maybe I could just take some photos and submit them for this week's artword challenge ~ GOTHIC. NO! I'd be too embarrassed. Besides, I've already gotten a really good start and I just need to keep truckin'. My main concern is doing a huge majority of this by myself. You know what it's like picking berries or shelling peas or cleaning Church benches all by yourself! This is pretty much like that. At least I don't have to worry about the veggies or apples going rotten before I get them all done. This project can be put on hold occasionally.
Oh well, back to it. I think Greg might actually have a few minutes to help.

Here's an example of a marvellous, organized craft room I found when I was researching Helen Buttegeig.

Postcard from a beautiful angel ~ THE OLD DOOR ~ "It was slightly ajar...Wild horses could not have stopped us..."

I should say. It's only a postcard, yet I'm totally drawn within. Heligan ~ be certain to have the sound on when checking the link.
Thanks Suzie. Love you.

Crowns ~ seeing in a different way. Frequently when I have looked at the art of mixed media artists I have observed crowns on collages. I can admire, but I have reassured myself that I need not use crowns on any of my collages. When my daughter was growing up she had this enjoyment with making crowns. You are probably thinking ~ pretty normal for a growing child. The only problem is ~ my daughter has this tendency to repetitive behaviour. She chose to make crowns frequently even when she was more mature. In the past few years she has grown away from the interest in making crowns. She occassionally displays other repetitive behaviour as part of her sensory integration issues. Yet crowns would never be something I chose to use on my artwork.

Tonight, I discovered a crown in a totally different light. I will never see crowns in the same way again. I may even try in some way to encourage "Cat" to make yet another crown. Certainly our daughter deserves one for her beauty and for how hard she tries. I love you Beautiful Angel.

Thank you Corey. You inspire many.

Fear is something which was a huge challenge for me a few years ago. Now fears never seem quite so huge. This is my entry for this week's Studio Friday.

Brown is a colour for which I have very mixed feelings. At first when I looked at this week's theme for Artwords I had a feeling of aversion. Then I started to think of earth tones, which led to earth, which led to excitement and much fun preparing this piece.

Fear and Brown: Why am I feeling excited? Fear and brown are this week's themes for two of the challenges of which I am a part. If you know me very well you would not be surprised at all if I said my immediate reaction was fear. Because of fears I've faced over the past few years it is not an easy subject for me.
With my Seasonal Affective Disorder the tendency to the colour brown in the Autumn time of year when the leaves have fallen and everything turns a duller shade of that, well, you get the drift.
And of course the weather in Saskatchewan this week has been cold, rainy and very windy. This means the branches of the Mountain Ash trees of which I had the collage, are now totally naked.
But Windy has blown through many a storm. I've gotten beyond the huge fears. I am able to look back. I am able to see the beauty of brown. I am able to think of chocolate and my "chocolate eyed girl" when I start working with the browns.
I am able to see the light and the hope. It will blow me through even more storms.

Yesterday ~ Thank goodness for karma action and Mary Ann. I got my first goodies from Mary Ann yesterday and they couldn't have arrived on a better day. What a sweetie is Mary Ann! We're especially liking the looks of that dip. Daughter wanted a sticker immediately soon as she saw them. Sorry dear. I was kind of going into that panic mode again. My Etsy shop is SO close. I've been working on a major decluttering of basement in preperation of my very own space ( a spare bedroom) and hopefully not so much art stuff spread all through the living room. I've recently joined the clothpaperstudio yahoo group and am so thrilled to be part of it. These ideas also keep popping into my brain saying "pick me, pick me." Alas, I have this wicked cold, yeast piece happening right now and am supposed to be getting more rest and breathing more often, more deeply. Besides that I have away meetings tomorrow and Friday as well as next Tuesday, all day, away Monday night. WAAAAH! Then drops in Mary Ann. THANK YOU, THANK, THANK YOU. I also picked up a couple of fiber goodies downtown ( when the going gets rough I tend to shop). Thank goodness I'm not a shop - aholic, quite). May the good Karma shine brightly.

"Angel on the Roof" ~ Please don't tell anyone but I've started listening to one of my Christmas cd's. A very kind friend sent me an e-mail about angels this morning, and I was reminded of the song "Angel on the Roof". Though the song is not essentially about Christmas it is on a Christmas cd. What could I possibly do? Besides, with St. Peter's Chorus, a wonderful choir of which I am so happy to be a part, we start practicing for Christmas in late August.

"Angel on the roof, watching over me."

Kahlil Gibran ~ Exactly two weeks ago Bryan, a friend, was recommending I read the book, The Prophet, particularly the portion on parenting. He told me of how parents are the bow and children, the arrow. We can point them in the right direction but then they will go wherever the winds and their makeup will take them. I knew this, but it was a wonderful reminder. In my busyness I've not taken time to find the book and read it. I know it is an easy read but I've just not the time. This morning I found some angels had conveniently placed this quotation on Inspiration Peak, our homepage for the internet. Bless the angels.


"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters
of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
and though they are with you,
and yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.”

Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931

AUTUMN ~ Mountain Ash Collage

As Thanksgiving winds to a close in Canada I will share this prayer from Inspiration Peak:

“A Prayer Of Thanksgiving ”
Written by Reverend Max Coots
Minister Emeritus of the Canton,N.Y
Unitarian Universalist Church
© Reverend Max Coots

Let us give thanks...

For generous friends...with hearts as big as hubbards and
smiles as bright as their blossoms;

For feisty friends as tart as apples;

For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers,
keep reminding us we had them;

For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as
indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and
as elegant as a row of corn -- and the others -- as plain as
potatoes, and so good for
you.

For funny friends, who are as silly as brussels sprouts and as
amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, and serious friends as
complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;

For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as
summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill,
as endless as zucchini, and who -- like parsnips -- can be
counted on to see you through the long winter;

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time,
and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;

For loving friends, who wind around as like tendrils, and hold
us despite our blights, wilts, and witherings;

And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past, that
have been harvested - but who fed us in their times that we
might have life thereafter;

For all these we give thanks.

Amen.

"Be Thankful" series ~ digital

Happy Thanksgiving!
Original 8 x 10

Sometimes I feel like a fountain
Gratitude bursting forth
From the core of my being -
Shiny, glimmering threads
Of gratitude
For all that is,
And for all that has been.
Mostly they burst forth
For those who have heard
My pleas for help.
Those threads spread out
For you, for many.

Wendy Burton
January, 2005

"The most radical act anyone can commit is to be happy.”
Patch Adams
American Physician, Entertainer, Clown

From Inspiration Peak

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving: In Canada, Thanksgiving is on Monday October 9. I have chosen the theme ~ "For ALL gifts be thankful". I have put together this piece digitally for the Artwords theme of food. Watch for more entries with this theme over the next few days. HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

I almost forgot to mention ~ I hope you will notice the abstract faces from which the words "For ALL gifts" & "Be Thankful" are being spoken.

"Whosoever may torment you, harass you, confound you, or
upset you, is a teacher. Not because they're wise, but
because you seek to become so.”

Mike Dooley

Found this morning on Inspiration Peak

sunset reflections

sunset reflections
Originally uploaded by Windy Angels.

I "found" this picture as I was reviewing images to print for cards. It was taken a few weeks ago close to our farm. The water is on both sides of the road we always took to get to our country church.

I've been tagged ~ couldn't have been much easier for me as I was working on my piece about self. I'll toss in a couple of extras just so it's not too repetitious from that post.
"Five Thoughts I Had While Creating"
1.Why did I cut my hair off so strange in number 2!
2. I like number four. I better write it down so I don't forget.
3. I need to use more bright. (I'll post on this another day)
4. I love this fabric. I wonder what I might be able to do with it?
FORGET that it's nearly a top!(See scanned background in this
post.)
5. Oh, how could I portray all these beautiful purple birds I see
floating in my thoughts? (Few of you will know about this yet.
Someday I'll share.)

Thanks Darc. Fun stuff.

Caran D'ache Crayons - Fixative - A comment was made about uncertainty for fixative to use with the crayons. Oh yes, the ones I have are exactly the same - water soluble, Neocolor II. I used this snippit of background and did a bit with the crayons - the white swirls, the hearts, and the blues on the top left hand corner. Then I used some of this Krylon product which has been around in our house for a number of years. I believe it worked very well. I have to be a bit more light handed though.

AND, I just did the link to the crayons. I see I can do much more than I was aware. YES!

All about self: Some people might view it as ego, but I see it very much as self esteem, and learning about self. I think a huge piece of it is about bravery. Inspire me Thursday has asked us to take photos of ourselves for seven days and to then present them. I decided to take up the challenge. Some days I nearly forgot and the pictures were done in a hurry. I was tired. Other days were better. Some days were bad hair days and others were OK.
Trying to put this together this evening was, well, what can I say? It definitely reminded me of twenty some years ago when I was studying nursing and had to tape record home visits with families. We then had to analyze the conversation. Yikes. I got SO tired of hearing my own voice, rewind and play, rewind and play. I didn't take so much time tonight. I think what looks like a bad hair day was actually being a bit sloppy with the scissors on my program. I just did not want to look so closely for so long at those pictures of me.
I will title this bravery.
For those of you that are not familiar, the birds ascending from behind my head are about hope.

Take life joyfully, tools of the trade, caran d'ache crayons, or my first ATCs ~ it was truly difficult to choose a title for this post.
I first read about the verstility of caran d'ache crayons in the Summer 2006 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors in Misty's article called "textured backgrounds for collage". I was so pleased to find the article as I'd discovered Misty's website shortly before and was totally blown away by her art.
When I read about her pleasure with the caran d'ache crayons I thought, "I have some of those". They were stashed in a cupboard for about the past ten years. I used to sell Jocus toys and these crayons were loved for their premier qualities for face painting. I'd forgotten about the crayons until I saw them again in Misty's post about "a few of my favorite supplies" on Inspire me Thursday. And so I pulled them out. I've used them only a tiny bit on these pieces but can hardly wait to have more time to play with them. I agree. They are excellent tools.
The gold pen in the middle is a gel pen I discovered in the house also. I can't find my most favourite gold pen. I think it fell behind a dresser. The modpodge is versatile. I use it for some of my gluing and I used on these ATCs to brighten the scanned images of our daughter.
I forgot to include my old credit card. It has been always handy for the backgrounds after my dear friend Nancy posted about "quick and easy backgrounds". And of course there are other uses for the card (artistically I mean).

YES, my very first ATCs are completed. I love doing them. Hopefully I'll have my etsy shop opening soon. My fave is "It's OK baby."

"Individuals can change things...If everyone will just do their little part, then we can make a tremendous difference in the lives of other people."
Sarah Purcell


I truly believe this. I have been so inspired by the efforts of my friend Kate and what is happening with
"Gather the women". Her most recent post is beautiful. Thanks Kate for sharing it with us.

Autumn colours

Autumn colours
Originally uploaded by Windy Angels.

This photo was taken creekside a couple of weeks ago. The little building is the water pump house which is situated about a mile from the farm. It provides a wonderful water supply. There are cattle in the mid right hand side.
You can tell that we've had a very dry summer by how brown the grass looks. Much rain in the spring, dry through the summer and now much rain again making it difficult to complete harvest. Such is the life of farmers.