"Believe and you may see miracles all about you"
Read on to learn of a fantastic 29 days of giving that a friend of mine is doing. If you've already heard - read on anyway.
"Believe and you may see miracles all about you"
I wrote these words a number of years ago after realizing that the huge challenges our daughter and we, were facing could be turned into something totally different.
I have shared the words with the people that helped me get to the realization. Now I am sharing them with you.
Besides believing in miracles and angels and faeries and Santa Claus, I also believe in magic. And that is mainly what this post is about.
To me "Santa" encompasses the entire aspect of giving - to others as well as to yourself. I think the giving to self is about love and respect for self - body, mind and spirit. If we can do that, we can be a more grateful giver, of body, mind and spirit, to others.

In the July, August 2007 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine

I found an article by Chrysti Hydeck. It was called "Get the skinny on mixed-media books". I was intrigued by the methods for doing backgrounds. Chrysti had commented in the article "I am madly, deeply, head-over-five-inch-stiletto-heels in love with creating backgrounds." I wanted to learn, had been trying. I kept going back to the instructions that Chrysti presented. I'm surprise I do not have paint all over the magazine pages. I particularly fell in love with tsukineko walnut ink spray. Living in rural Saskatchewan I had a bit of a challenge finding the supplies required. I was not into on-line shopping.
It took me a while to figure out that I could do things my own way and did not have to follow EXACTLY step by step what Chrysti was suggesting.
The following pictures are some of my results from Chrysti's article.






I had also encountered Chrysti along the way at flickr and found her collage images group there. I began to learn what a wonderful spirit is this Chrysti person.

I was later invited by another friend to participate in a swap at Chrysti's blog for doodle ATC's. I was fortunate to receive a creation of Chrysti's.


So what's all the excitement about, you may ask. The wonderfully gifted Chrysti is doing a fabulous "29 days of giving" give-away. She wants as many people as possible to be recipients. She is giving away fabulous creations of her own, as well as gifts of others - gifts of art lessons, gifts of books, gifts of prints, and the list goes on and on. I have been unable to post about this sooner and so you may have missed some wonderful opportunities for winning already. There are still more gifts to be received however. Chrysti also says she will be continuing the sharing after the initial 29 days have passed.
I said initially that this post is about magic. Chrysti talks of magic. She wants everyone to be recipients. She wants to allow others the opportunitiy to give also.

So as this Christmas day approaches I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and ask that you watch for the miracles and angels all about you.
Wendy

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not on this earth for eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake."
Marie Beynon Ray (Adapted)
American Author
Inspiration Peak

"Where is it written that we should be so serious all the time? The God who made giraffes, a baby's fingernails, a puppy's tail, a crooknecked squash, the bobwhite's call, and a young girl's giggle, has a sense of humor. Make no mistake about that."


Catherine Marshall (Adapted)
American Author
More Quotes About 'God' Today's Story: 'The Pretty One'


from "Inspiration Peak"

I choose courage
the previous week's prompt at inspire me Thursday was nervous. these days I have a hard time relating to that thought. I decided that the opposite of "nervous" would much rather suit my present state of mind. this art journal page reflects that choice, together with a tiny touch of what "nervous" has done to me in the past.


a couple of journal pages from recent days. we've had very much wind and so i start thinking. all my own words



a couple of sunset captures from late Saturday afternoon on our way home from Saskatoon



my good buddies relaxing in the sun


The world does not remember us by our style or by our wit; it does not remember us by our knowledge or our words; no, the world remembers only one thing: The world remembers love.

Author Unknown
Inspiration Peak

biding time:
I'm working on a new video but until that is done I'll share this celebration of a wonderful young lady who directs our St. Peter's Chorus. She celebrated a special birthday a couple of weeks ago. We surprised her with a song for her birthday at our spring concert. Greg was able to videotape it and one of our members put together this video for youtube. Please watch to the very end to see the photo of Max taken at her actual party



I feel especially proud to know Maxine as she too has faced many challenges in her life.
Happy Birthday Maxine.

The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern.

Max Lucado
Inspiration Peak

Angels be with you dear friends,
Wendy

another busy day:







These are not new. I can't remember exactly when I did them. I just thought they were something different to show that I've worked on in the past couple of weeks. They are backgrounds for journal pages in case you didn't realize. The two with blue I actually used watered down ink. I had tried with undiluted blue and they got way too dark. I love playing. Unfortunately I often don't know how to repeat the steps to get EXACTLY same effect. LOL

I did some rearranging in my studio today again. I love to do still life photos. I'll share them in a couple of days. I've also done more experimenting with transfers. One of these years I might get lucky and actually get some kind of results. I was going to check at "The Good Neighbour Store" for a little crock pot for wax BUT the thrift type store wasn't open WAAAHHH :( tomorrow :D

Sometimes we stare so long at our balloon in the sky we forget that our ice cream is melting on our plate.
Author Unknown
But Greatly Appreciated!

From Inspiration Peak

Angels be with you.

Talk happiness; talk faith; talk health. Say you are well, and all is well with you, and God shall hear your words and make them true.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1850-1919
American Author and Poet
from Inspiration Peak

I truly believe the above words. I'm not sure why I so frequently forget them.

While spring is probably a number of weeks away yet (four - six at least), I am enjoying the warmer weather we've been having. The crocuses (as we've always called them) are one of the things I recognize and especially enjoy to see welcoming spring.

Stay tuned for an announcement - I'm thinking as it's leap year - well, we'll see what I can accomplish.

Angels be with you,
Wendy XO

Identify God's emissaries
By the light in their eyes,
By the lilt in their song,
By the glow of their skin
And the joy within;
Not with the face of a dried-up peach,
And a voice that would teach
Of doom and sin.

Elias Penn-Smith

Inspiration Peak

Swaps and right brains: Yipes. They don't fit together. I had signed up for the vintage Christmas stocking swap hosted by the wonderful MaryAnn. I'm two weeks past the date for sending and I'mstill not quite ready. Hopefully everything will be ready tomorrow. My very right brained self is having an extremely difficult time completing anything for the swap.

Until I've any pictures to show I'll share this quotation from Inspiration Peak which I love:

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at a college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, 'You mean they forget?'

Howard Ikemoto

Thursday: At least I think it's Thursday. The days seem to blend together at times. I realized I would not be able to complete the journal page or the quilt. I'm trying to check enlargements of some of my photos. It's quite frightening. One of them turned out very well but Greg is picking up four more this evening. I was kind of upset when I realized the double rainbow picture did not quite cut it. Oh well.
I'm preparing a number of projects to take along to the farm for the long weekend. We have an extra day holiday because Sunday is Remembrance Day in Canada. Tomorrow we have to go to Saskatoon for appointments. That seems to use pretty much the whole day.
So I'll just show you this photo which I worked with on photoshop. I won't tell you what I have planned for it. That would spoil the surprise.That's all for AEM this day.

A quotation I've been wanting to share for awhile which arrived from Inspiration Peak:
"Anything you do from the soulful self will help lighten the burdens of
the world. Anything. You have no idea what the smallest word, the
tiniest generosity can cause to be set in motion. Be outrageous in
forgiving. Be dramatic in reconciling. Mistakes? Back up and make them
as right as you can, then move on. Be off the charts in kindness. In
whatever you are called to, strive to be devoted to it in all aspects
large and small. Fall short? Try again. Mastery is made in increments,
not in leaps. Be brave, be fierce, be visionary. Mend the parts of the
world that are within your reach. To strive to live this way is the most
dramatic gift you can ever give to the world."

Clarissa Pinkola Estes
American Author, Poet and Psychologist

Angels be with you,
Wendy

Thoughts for today:
I absolutely love today's calendar page from Mary Engelbreit.









Do you remember the doodle I'd shown a few days ago with the heart?










I was busy carving on the weekend and this is the result.











I'd forgotten to take any ink along to the farm so didn't get to try it until last night. I was so pleased. I hope you like it too. I'll be doing more with this fabric but not for a few days.





"What wouldn't you give... to live, love, and be happy... DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY... forever more?
Well, that's just it... you needn't give anything... JUST DECIDE... to live, love, and be happy... DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY... from this moment forward."
the Universe
at Inspiration Peak

When you think a new thought, entertain a new dream, or mentally choose a new goal, your thoughts "leave" you and go out, in every direction, to the farthest corners of the planet - on a mission.

They carry a life force all their own, like ripples created when a pebble is tossed into a pond, and their sole object is to reappear back into your life as things and experiences.

You can't change this... but, YOU CAN use it. VISUALIZE.



Mike Dooley

Something to think about:
Your ship was spotted off the coast this morning, slipping silently through the fog... coming around the cape she appeared in a shaft of sunlight... and what a sight to see! Glimmering as much as the ocean herself. Massive and beautiful beyond belief! Laden with treasures, happy times, friends, love, and laughter. Quick, you must PREPARE for her docking... you MUST make space in your life for her gifts... otherwise, just as quickly, she'll quietly slip back out to sea.

Mike Dooley

"There will always be dreams grander or humbler than your own, but there will never be a dream exactly like your own... for you are unique and more wondrous than you know!"

Linda Staten

O God, I thank You for this day of life
for eyes to see the sky
for ears to hear the birds
for feet to walk amidst the trees
for hands to pick the flowers from the earth
for a sense of smell to breathe in the sweet perfumes of nature
for a mind to think about and appreciate the magic of everyday miracles
for a spirit to swell in joy at Your mighty presence everywhere.

Marian Wright Edelman
Founder of the Children's Defense Fund
Author of The Measure Of Our Success

from Inspiration Peak


LIFE IS GOOD

Until later, after my dentist appointment:

A Candle in My Heart Prayer of An African Schoolgirl
	Oh thou Great Chief, Light a candle in my heart, That I may see what is therein, And sweep the rubbish from thy dwelling place

Too much: Too much to say (to you), too much to do, but mostly too much feeling tired. And so it is best if I don't do too much of anything.

On Wednesday night I got news of friends separating. Yesterday and today I had meetings and travel. Parts of the meetings were very stressful.

I do not understand what is happening with my friends. I am worried.

I am trying very hard to remind myself not to worry too much. But yet I worry. Yet I am sad.

I will be renewed after some rest. Tomorrow is another day. Wishing you a beautiful Sunday and for angels to be with you.


"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Mahatma Gandhi

"Give yourself a perfect day. Do what makes you happiest.
Look upon what gives you joy. Speak to those who warm
your heart. Listen to that which lifts your spirit. Surround
yourself with sights and sounds and people who give you
pleasure. For all the happiness you give to others all year
long, give yourself a perfect day.”

Author Unknown
But Greatly Appreciated!

"It is possible to be standing on one side of a door and
perceive the world as a dark and lonely place, while on the
other side of that very same door are countless people just
waiting to lend support and cheer you on. All that is required
is that you turn the knob.”

Author Unknown

"O God, I thank You for this day of life
for eyes to see the sky
for ears to hear the birds
for feet to walk amidst the trees
for hands to pick the flowers from the earth
for a sense of smell to breathe in the sweet
perfumes of nature
for a mind to think about and appreciate
the magic of everyday miracles
for a spirit to swell in joy at Your mighty presence
everywhere."

Marian Wright Edelman
Founder of the Children's Defense Fund

Inspiration Peak

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends from the South:


" Let us pray to the One who holds us
in the hollow of His hands,
To the One who holds us in the curve of Her arms, and
To the One whose flesh is the flesh of hills and
hummingbirds and angleworms,
Whose skin is the color of an old Black woman and
a young white man; and the color of the leopard
and the grizzly bear and the green grass snake,
Whose hair is like the aurora borealis, rainbows,
nebulae, waterfalls, and a spider’s web,
Whose eyes sometime shine like the Evening Star,
and then like fireflies, and then again like an
open wound,
Whose touch is both the touch of life and the touch
of death,
And whose name is everyone’s, but mostly mine.
And what shall we pray?
Let us say, ‘thank you.’”

Max Coots
Minister Emeritus of the Canton, New York
Unitarian Universalist Church