I found James Preller's Valentine to the Earth and loved it.  (James Preller is an American writer of children's books including Bystander, Six Innings, and the Jigsaw Jones Mysteries.   Wikipedia) 

In this current world of bad news, do you look for positive news to cheer you up?  Positive news is out there, but doesn't get a lot of attention in the midst of all the depressing news and events.  I need hopeful.  Sometimes desperately.  When depression and/or anxiety threaten to overwhelm me, a few "good news" items can perk me back up.  A friend posted the following on FB, and I didn't have to time to view it when I saw it, but kept the link--and I'm so glad I did.



I have written a few letters and have some to answer, but it seems I have gotten behind in so many things lately.  Happily, I'm still on target with my three goals and have yet to miss a day of yoga or walking or weekly getting out of the house.  

 used vellum to make this envelope; next time, I'll decorate 

the letter inside so it will show through :)

on back of Max's - another pun

On back of B.E.'s

I expanded on the embroidered mandala using the tart tins again and some small circles.  

I don't know if I'll continue to add to this piece or not, 

but I've enjoyed using the beautiful variegated pearl from Stef Francis. 

 The pearl cotton is so fine it is hardly bigger than sewing thread.

After knocking my good scissors off the counter, I decided to make a scissors keeper.  My first attempt, ended up with the addition of a mother-of-pearl button before being sent off as a gift.  I'm making another one for me.  I have a lot of scissors because I cut a lot of paper, but my good scissors are another thing entirely and deserve more care.

Sisters in Innovation: 20 Women Inventors You Should Know  

Mail, Embroidery, and a Valentine Poem

Such a strange winter.  A couple of days at 79 degrees, then back to the 40's in a matter of days.  We've had a great deal of rain this winter after several pretty dry winters, so hopefully the water table is being reestablished for when summer arrives.   

Outgoing Mail

 Incoming

Filling in the spaces

It is fun to run my fingers over it and feel the texture.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day 

and here is my favorite Valentine Poem

by Naomi Shihab Nye:

Mail Art --

February was a busy month and now there is some catching up to do.

Valentine's Day has come and gone, and I hope everyone at least indulged in a little chocolate.  I made some Valentine letters and postcards.  

Look at that dirty water and that mess!

Postcards, mostly for the grands

I made more Valentine postcards,

but it was too late to send them.

Oh, well--they will work for next year.

 A couple of Valentine letters--

B.E. is in love with Prim Paws, her kitten,

which gives me the excuse to use the little cat-related stamps.

I added more scrap blocks to the studio shirt, made more envelopes, wrote more letters, read more books, and worked in the garden during February.  Worked in the garden?  Yep, temperatures were up and down, but mostly in the 70's with several days at 80+.  There were a few cold days, but even though the temps might rise or fall by 20 degrees from day to day, it was a very warm February!

And now it is March-- hope your March will bring good surprises!

Heart to Heart

Before Christmas, I started making hearts 

from scrap fabrics, lace, yarn, etc. 

 I'd work on them when I needed a little handwork, 

but no serious thinking.  

Then with the advent of Valentine's Day, 

more hearts were in progress.  

Some I stuffed with flaxseed and lavender

 (what a pain, flaxseed and lavender do not go easily into the hearts, 

they cling to the fabric and struggle to escape); 

others I stuffed with polyfill, a much easier process.

Now, I have a basket filled with fabric scraps, 

some with hearts drawn on them already,

and lots of scraps of lace and other embellishments,

and I can work on hearts when I feel like it.

 Making the hearts is a soothing process.

I can listen to NPR

or watch Drama Fever or Netflix,

choose embellishments,

and embroidery floss,

thread needles,

and

stitch on machine or by hand.

 As I've been trying to de-stash, dispose of clutter,

and re-organize lately,

when I become overwhelmed,

I sit down and work on a heart.
Using up some of the scrappy stuff
in the "heart basket."

Flow Blue and Pears

Since I never managed to find backing and quilt the table runner I was planning to finish, I dug this one out from several years ago.  Then, some pears in one of my grandmother's flow blue soup bowls-- Mother treasured these bowls, and so do I.  There are only four of them left, and although they are certainly not for everyday use, they should not be tucked away all the time.  The colors on the table topper look good with the pears, I think.

 The mantle never really took shape.  The garland I made was more effort than impact (some people have such lovely valentine garlands). 

There are projects that are still in progress, but I'm all out of Valentine energy for this year.  Time is too short to worry about finishing them and there is always next year.  My first year to decorate for Valentine's Day provided me with a lot of pleasure, and now it is almost time to take it all down.


Poet.org has these wonderful valentines to print or email.  I chose these because they are favorite poems by favorite poets. 

Linking to Little Eme's Tute Yourself Tuesday.

Monday Musings

Still playing with Valentine crafts.  I've never decorated for Valentine's before, although I've often made a few things.  Next year, will be easier because I won't have to start from scratch.

This rosy little candy dish was Mother's and fits the theme now, as it will through spring and summer.

I've made some sachets and took some pictures of them in the snow, which is all gone now.  Stuffed with lavender, these little hearts smell wonderful.  I used images from The Graphics Fairy that I printed out onto muslin, then ironed onto the hearts before stuffing.  I even put one a rock for a paperweight.  It is a good thing I printed the images out over a week ago, because now my printer is out of ink, and I can't use any of the other images I've grabbed from TGF.

I

I put some of them in this little container I made for Christmas decorations.  I still have so much lavender left; more sachets will appear for different seasons.

The table runner I pieced a few years ago and recently rediscovered, needs to be backed and quilted.  The colors are just right for Valentine's, although that wasn't the original idea.  If I would just get up to the studio and quilt the darn thing, it would add some color to the table.

Linking to Brag Monday and while you are there check out all of her wonderful Valentine images.

Snowman

The little snowman I started in December and didn't finish was a perfect match for the wintery days we've had this week, and the little guy took on the Valentine theme with perfect aplomb.  I put him in a little wooden cigar box, added the Valentine touches and a paper butterfly.

I've tried to get a better pic of the Valentine Hearts Specimen and the little doll Mila and Max gave me for Christmas.  She's marked JAPAN, and she looks as if she was made in the 1930's.  I'm so in love with this little girl!

I have been thinking a lot about memory, lately.  Of course, there is the whole Alzheimer's thing, the family history of the disease, the fear--but no, I've been thinking about the things I never asked my parents that I wonder about now and have no way of getting answers.  I have little scenes in my head about the times they did mention their childhoods, but I'd love to know more.

Once, I gave my mother an excellent book that had hundreds of questions, and I bought her a neat little notebook for her to record her answers, hoping that she would browse through her memories and tell me things I'd never even think about asking.  She did begin and wrote a page or two, but she never went any further.  I should have asked the questions and written the answers myself.  The answers would have stimulated conversations, and I could have had much more information about my mother as a child, about her siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

After Mother died, I tried asking Laddie questions, but the AD was too established by then for me to get as much as I would have liked.  Now, there is no family left in his generation; he was the last of the six siblings.

When Mila was born, I started recording some of my memories, but that was nearly 7 years ago, and I only worked on it for a short while.   Maybe today, I'll try again.  I wish I'd known my parents better as individuals, not just as beloved parents.  It would be nice for our grandchildren to have a little insight  into our parents (their great grandparents), into Fee and I as kids,  into the twentieth century.  They are all twenty-first century children; we were twentieth-century children.

The sun is out, the snow is melting!  It was lovely while it lasted and even now as the sunlight reflects of the white blanket, but I'm ready to get out of the house!

Linking to  Favorite Things Friday, The Charm of Home, and Whipperberry.

Valentina Finished

Valentina loves red!  I finished this latest eccentric figure and added her to the grouping.

Sweet Tarts in a little Mason jar with one of the newspaper flowers on top.

The little inkwells, I got in London some years back.  They date from the 1800's and make a sweet offering to Ho Tai, who looks quite pleased.  This time, I just added tiny millinery flowers.  Last time, I had real pansies in them, and Bryce Eleanor pushed the flowers all the way down into the water; fishing them out of the little neck was a chore.

One of the red/pink clay hearts I made found its way to this neck.

Time to light a little lavender incense to honor this stormy day.  The cats and I are glad to stay inside!

Linking to Little Eme