A Busy, Fun, Creative Week!

 I've had a busy, very creative week!  How has your week gone?  Hope everyone is well and adjusting to the start of a New Year!

Can we talk about the weather?  Wow, this week has been gorgeous.  Much warmer temperatures, bright sunshine, and a feeling like spring can't be far away - even though we know there is not a chance of that any time soon.

Still I have that "feeling" coming over me.  You know the one that happens when you open up a new seed catalogue for the first time.  I get through the vegetable section without a twinge, but then when I hit the flowers section - well, then I want to get out the pots and start planting.  Of course I didn't do that  - but I did haul my seed starting greenhouse up into the south window of my studio.  I did not however put the cover on it - for now I am using it as a drying rack for some pretty crazy fun project I discovered this week.

I am taking a bit of a break from knitting for awhile.  Even though I have some socks on the needles that I should finish, for once I am listening to my body when it tells me (via lymphedema in my arm, and carpal tunnel in my wrist) to stop for awhile.

So stitching and journal making have come to the top of the list for awhile.  

I finished a very simple Gratitude Journal, and have been writing my gratitude of the day, every evening before I head off to bed.  I thought it might be a challenge to think of something positive about the day, every day - but that has not been the case at all.  I could fill a page a day if I let myself, mainly because I am letting the negative go and concentrating on the positive, in the process realizing that there is so much in my day that is truly good!

I started my stitching journal as well, which is another calming activity.  Every day I stitch a tiny block , letting myself just enjoy the stitching, wether it is perfect or not ( usually it's not).  I have stitched a full week now, and it is really pretty. ( I will share a photo next time)

I also started a new cross stitch piece.  I'm doing the Fox from last year's  A YEAR IN THE WOODS, by Cottage Garden Samplings.  I love this piece and making really good progress on it.

 

MY PROGRESS

But the most fun this week, was the new thing I discovered.  Did you know you can make Faux leather from paper?  Oh my gosh, what fun I had using really pretty wrapping paper and turning into a beautiful fibre that I can use to make covers for the journals I am going to be making.  If you are interested in seeing how it's done, check out the video below.

Well that's it for this week.  If you have a few minutes, check out my video ( below).

Stay well, and I will see you next week!

https://youtu.be/NMi_daoHNJY

Happy New Year! 2023

 Happy New Year Everyone!  

It's been way too long since I have been here, but my plan is to get back into the practice of updating my blog on a regular basis.

Since I have started my Youtube channel  (Erndales), I have neglected this platform in order to get that one up and running.  While Vlogging is fun - I still prefer to write my thoughts and stories instead of speaking them.  

So lets catch up - 2022...

Good place to start....

I started the year under another threat of cancer.  I had been to see a new family doctor and she had sent me for some tests that suggested I might have cancer of the Uterus.  That was finally confirmed in early May after some surgery, and I was booked for a Total Hysterectomy.  In the meantime, my oldest brother who had been battling leukemia for over 4 years really started to decline.  He lost his eye sight, then the use of one side of his body, and worse of all - he lost his spirit.

Spring came and went - I started my garden with enthusiasm, but after the surgeries started happening, my garden plans just seemed to vanish.  Summer was eaten up with major surgery - fall disappeared while I recovered from surgery, and the world came to a screeching halt for me when my brother passed away in October.

My brother Wayne and I

To say I am glad to see the end of 2022 - is the understatement of all time!

This Christmas season has been a reset for me.  I didn't put my tree up ( first time ever), I didn't cook a big turkey dinner ( first time ever),  I just allowed myself feel the emotions that I have been storing up all year.  It was overdue, and it was a peaceful resolve to re-invest myself back into the life I have with Gary and Jonathan, our son.  

I challenged myself to do Vlogmas on my Youtube channel during the month of December.  A different video every day for 24 days.  I reached deep within myself and shared so many wonderful Christmas memories, which really helped me find the inner peace I so needed.  Sharing my passions for music, writing, crafting, story-telling and most of all, family - reawakened my own spirit.

I'm ready to take on 2023!

Today I am spending the day, preparing a nice meal for Gary and I.  I am delving into my seed catalogs and making my list of seeds to purchase for the gardens.  

I will be making the first entry into my Gratitude Journal, and filling in the first square of my Stitching Journal... both activities I plan to continue all through 2023.

I have plans - lots of them - but I promised myself my first activity of 2023, would be to write this blog!

Mission accomplished - and it feels so good!

So, I hope you come back to me  - my friends and followers out there in the vast cyber world we call the internet.  Lets get this year going together!

I did a little Video yesterday, on making a Gratitude Journal and a Stitching Journal... Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/iwXWWVr2Vwo