I finally got a little bit of painting out of my system. I think I just needed to start, pick up the brush and paint anything, letting it grow on it’s own. That’s exactly what happened.

I painted in my red rosin journal and just started with a circle which turned into an oval and then a face. And without thinking too much, a house appeared, some trees, the sun and moon and finally an ascending path.

Sometimes I think too much! It felt good to play, let loose and rise above my own expectations.  Ahhhhhhh, pure bliss.

1. Untitled, 2. Wake up…, 3. Mr. Sun, 4. Mexicano pouch, 5. Untitled, 6. granny circles, 7. Laura’s Loop: Heart and Arrow Pincushion, 8. little projects., 9. Diana’s scarf

I never decided what it was I wanted to paint, but I did doodle a few things in my sketch pad and I created a mosaic from flickr favorites of things that are making me happy today.

I finally got to sit down and paint today.  It felt so good to get my hands messy again.  It’s been a while.

These are 3 x 3 inch canvas with layers of paper, paint and encaustic medium.

My hubby helped me hammer teeny little nails in the sides so that I could add wire for them to hang.

They will be are in my shop tomorrow now(!), in case you are looking for a gift for a special someone.

And check out these awesome socks that Michelle made for me.  She hand knitted them herself. Isn’t that amazing! I’ve never worn socks so beautiful in my life. I had to show them off so that she could see that they really do fit perfectly.

Thank you so much, Dana and Michelle. I really do love and cherish your friendship and kindness.

Phew! who knew that sorting through 300 pictures would take soooo long.  They are all done now and I can finally share the last of my favorites from day 3.

Day three was rainy and cold, perfect weather for ducking into a few shops and finding a sweet little restaurant for tea and a roasted veggie sandwich.

We also went to get yummy treats at Babycakes, a vegan bakery–pure bliss!!

Then we went to Dick Blick, Papyrus, Kate’s Paperie (with the beautiful paper flowers) and of course, Purl Soho. I was overwhelmed with the beautiful selection of papers, art supplies and beautiful yarns!

Then we just happened to come across the Chinese New Year Celebration.  It was so fun! There were so many people and it was hard to get better pictures, but we felt very lucky to stumble upon this wonderful celebration.

Here are some things we saw on the way back to the hotel.  I love that elephant sculpture.

Then we headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and fly home.

Thanks for sharing in this journey with me.

One of my most favorite things about NYC is its amazing energy.  We love going there just to walk around taking it all in. I love thinking about the history of the buildings and what stories must be hidden in the walls, streets and roads.

On Saturday, we did a a lot of walking and a lot of exploring.  We went to The Frick Collection which is housed in a beautiful building, walked around Central Park in all of its snow white glory, then we perused the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market.

One of my favorite things was walking along The High Line, which is “a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side”. I loved walking through, looking down on the streets below and peeking into windows and buildings nearby.

I still have one more day to share~ see you soon!

First off, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes.  I had such a wonderful birthday this year.

We had the most wonderful time in NYC. New York welcomed us in with snowy cold weather. Much, much colder than we are used to, but it really didn’t hold us back any.  We just bundled up and headed out.  This is our third time to NYC together, so we didn’t go to the usual places.  We tried to do things we hadn’t done before. We were there for only 48 hours, but we managed to do a lot.

The first day, we didn’t land until around 4pm because of snow delays. It was beautiful flying in, seeing all that snow everywhere.

We managed to check into our hotel, take the subway to the Guggenheim to see the Maurizio Cattelan exhibit. We got in 40 minutes before closing to see his amazing and very complex hanging sculpture.  There were so many people there, it felt like a big party.  After that we went to Candle Cafe, which was divine.  It’s not every day that we can go to a restaurant and eat anything we want on the menu, so we splurged.

We got to go the the rooftop of our hotel in Greenwich Village to see a very spectacular view of the city.  Breathtaking!

I have so much more to tell you, but I’m splitting this post up into small pieces. I still have 300 pictures to go through, sort and edit. Sorry, to have to put you through two (or three) more NY posts but I’d like to share and have a record of what we did.

I love New York! Love it!!

p.s.Thanks for all the birthday orders. All packages were sent out yesterday!  Yay!!

Today I am forty.

It’s not at all as bad as you might think. It’s pretty darn great, actually.

I’ve had the most awesome week.  Lots of mail, calls, text messages and lots of loveliness in general. I went out with my friends last night and boy did we laugh.

Tonight, more loveliness (and yumminess) with my beautiful and most perfect family.

Tomorrow, off to NYC with my hubby, Grandma’s in the house to take over kiddo duty and we are headed to cold weather and an AWESOME time.

What more could a girl want?

I have been wanting to hand paint rocks forever, especially now, with my new word~ Thrive. Plus, I had the idea to have a word-rock to hold and focus on when I’m feeling a little less than present.

I used acrylic artist’s ink. My ink is a bit old and sorta chunky making it difficult to work with. I need to get more, because I love using it. I still have to brush some clear varnish over these to protect them.

I love how they look in my wooden thrift store bowl (that usually keeps my garlic and onions). I might have to start looking for another wooden bowl to house my bulb vegetables.  A collection like this would be awesome, yes? I sanded my bowl just a tad, then rubbed it with oil when I first bought it. It is one of my most treasured thrifted finds.

P.S. Don’t forget to sign the petition to vote NO against SOPA/PIPA .  Learn more about it HERE!!!