Tuesday thoughts ...

Hello, hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!

All has settled outside after a full day of snow fall yesterday.  I watched all the lovely fluffy flakes fall past my window as I painted making for a restful, no need to rush kind of day. 

***

Apologies to all who left such lovely comments on my last post and Birthday greetings for my beautiful girl on her 30th!!

I clicked on Delete instead of Publish :-((  Have never done that before in 8 years of blogging.  First time for everything ! Tried to retrieve them, unsuccessfully ... not sure if that can be done. 

Have added a few new items to Vintage Sparrow Studio, my little Etsy shop.

"Sleep with the Earth" is #20 in my ©Women of the Woods Series.

Painted with my daughter in mind.  Kate has the most gorgeous long Auburn hair, so Sleep with the Earth was painted with thoughts of red twig dogwood.

I've offered two options with this print.

One plain, and the other, if you wish, is filled with all the things a Mother holds in her heart ~ "I Wish You" sentiments are written in white ink.

Honour Your Calling

~the bird's whispered in her ear ... Honour your calling~

This print has a foggy, misty feel, painted in rich, deep colours and embellished with white ink.

I've a few ideas for the perfect handmade frame to put the original in to hang above my studio altar ♥

and finally,

a Valentine set of cards {4}

to send thoughts of love and friendship for February 14th ♥♥

Each card is also ideal for framing to create a small piece of artwork.

~*~

Skiing small ...

Does anyone else absolutely LOVE anything in miniature?

My daughter is turning 30 {where did the time go?} and knowing how much she loves skiing and mice , I had a look through the internet for a mini mouse pattern.

Made a tiny green ski coat with sparkly green pompoms and added a knitted cowl.

Went through my box of bits and bobs and found two pieces of wood {no idea where they came from} :-D but they looked like skis to me.  Placed in the perfect "V" shape to represent the snow plow technique. Then I  added some toothpicks to her arms and little wooden beads for ski poles.

Sat her on a bed of snow with some sparkly snowflakes and a few mini trees & she is all ready to decorate the Birthday girl's table ♥

Beau ...

I've had hares and bunnies at the end of my paint brush lately.

Seems every time I sit to paint, a wild hare appears :-}

Maybe it's spotting Beau, our resident Garden hare in his "shelter spot" in our garden.  When it's snowy or rainy or icy, he can be found there.  Last year, during a dreadful ice storm, he stayed there for more than a week.  We brought him out carrot shavings and poured bird seed with corn into lettuce leaves for him.  Hubby managed to create a roof out of cardboard to further shelter him ♥

After I scanned and created a print from the original, I thought with Easter approaching, that I would create a few cards as well.

Beau {short for Beautiful} certainly lives up to his name as you can see ♥

Both the print and card set are available in my Etsy shop Vintage Sparrow Studio.

Blessings,

Beau , Deb & the Sparrows

xo

Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

One day 25 years ago, I was walking through a Nursery at the end of Summer.

Pushed to one side was a "final sale" spot which is where I spotted our Lilac.

It was looking a bit worse for wear after a few months no doubt of hot humid Summer days, little water (and then too much all at once), and quite a bit of handling.

If memory serves me ... it was priced at the final sale of $1.99

It came home with me and I knew exactly where it would be planted.

We have a spot next to the stairs of our cedar deck that I thought would be perfect.

Imagining big lush blooms of lilac that would hang over the our kitchen window.

I would hang bird feeders on it's branches and sit with my tea watching the birdies come and go throughout the day.

Over these 25 years it has done all of that and more.

Big lush blooms in the Spring ~ I open up the kitchen windows and it perfumes the entire house.

I snip a few branches off for inside and have mini vases scattered here and there.

We have two suet baskets, a bird feeder, an apple holder and a peanut holder hanging from the branches.

I love to sit with my tea at the kitchen window

and watch all the comings and goings of birds and squirrels.

Over the years, the squirrels have nibbled at the branches, sharpening their teeth.

Some of the branches have broken with ice storms and high winds.

The blooms aren't as many or as big as they once were and the scent has faded.

But my Lilac is one of those " Thankful for " mentions.

I've been able to look at birds close up & really admire their beauty.

And I am pretty sure the birds and squirrels are Thankful for it too ♥

Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday xo

Memories ...

This is how I feel  after spending a lovely day yesterday getting home just before midnight  ♥

Hubby had a surprise for me in the evening. We were going out after dinner ... I had no idea where.

After driving for over an hour we arrived at our destination.

At this point I knew we were seeing a live show and tried desperately to look for a sign or billboard letting me know what show :-)

I was even more baffled when John Stamos walked on stage and sat at the drums!

And then realized that we were going to watch THE BEACH BOYS!

The last time we saw them live was in the '70's :-)

They were absolutely fantastic playing straight through for over 2 hours ... taking us down memory lane xo

A few new listings in the Shop ... painted White Hare Hug with my childhood rabbit Cinders in mind ~ accompanying story is included with purchase of print ♥

It's been a couple of days of walking down Memory Lane ... I suppose  Birthday's do that ♥

~~*~ have a wonderful weekend~*~

Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

flowers in January ♥

all my favourites ... especially daisies :-D

"A common thread"

combines some of my favourites ... my daughter Kate, Sparrows, flowers and Ancient beliefs.

Print available in my Etsy shop ♥

~*~

An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance.

The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.

May you be open to each thread that comes into your life ~

the golden ones and the coarse ones ~

and may you weave them

into a brilliant and beautiful life.

~Ancient Chinese Belief~

 

Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

My Guiding Word for Twenty Fifteen

is

GROW

This year my word came to me differently.

Normally I will hear a word over and over.  I'll hear it on the radio, on the television, find it crop up while reading over and over, see it on an advertisement while shopping etc...

I was surprised that this did not happen this year.

Instead ... it was before me in my art.

I had been painting my Word :-)

through my © Women of the Woods Series filled with trees and branches and roots ...

through all the flowers and blossoms and blooms

it was there all along.

♥

Welcome January ...

January ...

one of my favourite months

the beginning of Twenty~Fifteen

we celebrate the New Year,  Birthdays & an Anniversary this month

♥

 

We have a huge squirrels nest in our garden & the squirrels have been spending most of their time it seems either chasing one another around our yard, or sitting in our lilac tree and eating :-)

Trying to keep them off the feeders, I've put out peanuts and made peanut butter sandwiches ...

but still ... they just love the feeders!

While all the  Christmas decorations have been taken down and packed away {including the cedar & pine cone spray shown} :-),

the twinkle lights remain in our kitchen year round.

I just love the glow of tiny white lights.

We were thankful for our fireplace, when the power went out for a few hours last week.

After lighting all the candles, and putting flashlights on the fireplace mantle, we roasted a pan of chestnuts & marshmallows which we turned into smores (Yummy)

I was so happy to have just made a big pot of coffee before the power went out!!!!

Coffee, smores, roasted chestnuts, candlelight & a roaring fire ... made us forget we had no electricity :-D

country drives

sweet friends

a little bit of snow {hoping for more}

Welcome January ♥

Do you choose a Guiding Word for the New Year?

I will post mine in a few days xo