Lovely Lovely card from a friend :-)

Had to share this beautiful card I received from dear Tammie over at Beauty flows.  If you haven't had a chance to visit, do head over and enjoy her lovely artistic creations,

ethereal and magical each and every one!

For an additional treat, be sure to stop by her photography blog Spirit Helpers ~  Tammie is

an amazing nature photographer!!!

I love to send and receive actual hand-written letters ~ I would put that near the top of my list for things that make my life wonderfully sweet.  They are even more dear in this age of instant communication, where letter writing has become a lost art.  And an unexpected letter in the mail is the very best kind, a treat you did not know was coming!  So thank you Tammie for such a beautiful card and lovely letter.  I truly savored it!

Smiles my dear friends

Julia

...and dances with the daffodils

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

Yes I am still working on this piece...! :-)

I think the title of this post says it all...Yes! I am still working on this massive piece! :-)

The amount of detail is staggering, (even for me!) and it is such a large piece that it's just taking me forever.

I am well over the couple hundred hour mark and there is still quite a bit to do.  I've set quite the bar for myself this time for sure.  Not sure if I will do a piece this size again but I know I will have a lot of satisfaction when I can finally say it's done!

Oh the details! :-)

And...

yes I've been sewing again ~ These cute little outfits are for the two little girls of a friend of mine.  I Love how they turned out ~ I got to see them on the girls yesterday and they were soooo sweet!  It is really fun to sew for girls as I don't get to very often in my house full of little men. 

Big news!  I sold a canvas the other day!!!  I was so excited to actually have someone enjoy my work so much they wanted to buy it!  Fun and just really made my week!   I also donated a couple of prints and some bookmark cards to my sons school for a fundraising auction they are having.  It felt good to support that worthy cause and it will be fun to see how those pieces are received.

Life continues to be a whirlwind, busy always, but always I start my days realizing how fortunate I am and what a privilege it is to get to be home with my boys, working on my art,

sharing tea, giggles, cookies and gardening.

I was just thinking this morning as I was cleaning the huge wood floor on the main floor of the house, cleaning out the fridge, washing sticky little finger marks off the counters and furniture (for the bajillionth time!) how much I dislike cleaning.  And then I remembered how quickly this huge house will be quiet, how soon they will have all moved on to their own lives, and what a treasure it is to just enjoy each day as it comes, celebrating them and our life, crazy as it is at times. 

I hope you are all enjoying the first day of March and that this Spring brings lots of Joy to you!  I'm off to see what you have all been up to...

Life is good, so...

S m i l e s

Julia

Latest work in progress...progressing...

 

Having fun with this lovely Lady Tree - I am seriously thinking about making this piece two panels as I'm not feeling like I will be able to 'finish' her with the paper size shown here... 12"x24".

Love to know what you think as always! :-)

We are enjoying 6-7" of snow here and life has really slowed down as a result!  Still we are warm and cosy and spending lots of time baking and basking in front of the fire ~ kids are out of school and out playing in the snow and then rushing in for hot chocolate breaks.  So reminds me of when I was a youngster, sledding and hot chocolate and fresh cinnamon rolls.  YUMMMM!

What did you do when you were young and you were gifted with those wonderful 'snow days'?

Hope you are all enjoying the first month in this new year wherever you are!

Hugs and s m i l e s!

Julia

Latest WIP...

Happy January Everyone!

Here are a few pics of my latest work in progress...

Feels lovely to be back at my drawing table!

This lovely lady is taking a while, but I am enjoying the process!

Hoping your New Year is off to a wonderful start!

Smiles

Julia

Happy Christmas and New Year!

Happy Happy Christmas to you All my friends!

And the very best to you in the New Year!

Thank you for sharing all of your joys, triumphs, artistic accomplishments and

sometimes rough patches too ~

And thank you each and every one for your encouragement and sweet visits and comments.

Hugs and Smiles!

Julia

Starbucks Art, Little Gems, and Holiday Baking!

Had to share - just hung my canvases in the local Starbucks this morning! They look wonderful and I'm so proud they asked me to share my art in such a fun location!

Aren't these little bookmarks cute! 4"x2.5" - great stocking stuffers! $4 each  ~ I've got these in a local bookshop and one local coffee shop - We'll see how they go. 

i'magine, dream, believe, explore'

My favorite!  So tiny and so cute!

Oh yes we've been baking!  Would you believe every one of these cookies was

gone the same day my little boys and I baked them! 

Love the frosting and sprinkles 'skirts on these angels!  This is about as fancy as I get :-)

All the kids contributed to this fun little house!  Turned out sweet!

What are you all up to this holiday season?  I hope you are enjoying lots of time with your families and friends - Such a joyful season! 

 

Wishing you the very best of the Season!!!

Smiles

Julia

Did you know you can open a shop on Facebook?!!!

Did you know you can open a shop on Facebook?!!!
I just opened one on my art page 'Serendipity Art'  for my bookmarks and canvases and prints - Go give it a looksee and let me know what you think!  It has a glitch currently where it won't take me to the individual item when I click on it, but I hope I can iron that out and get it working soon.

I have a lot more bookmarks and cards to add, but at least I got two added to the shop :-)
I am so open to any and all feedback, so let me know what you think!

Some of the custom bookmarks I just finished ~

An Art Show and Xmas with the Family!

Posing with one of my canvases - Amazing to see my work giclee printed on such a large canvas ~ the original work measured 12"x24"...This canvas was 18" x 36"!  It turned out so well!

All dressed up for the art show last Friday nite at Ryan Chanel's here in town!  The owner there put on a mind blowing hair and fashion show also ~ It was amazing!!!!!!  I got so much wonderful response to my canvases!  May have one possible buyer too so that is exciting!

My son Jordan and I - He is the only one of my boys (I think) that looks a lot like me ~ out of four you'd think there would have been more!  :-)

He's 6' 4" and was still much taller than me even though I had high heels on!  So wonderful to share my exciting night with my kids!

Probably the most exciting part of the past two weeks is that the local Starbucks has asked to feature a trio of my canvases in their main shop here in town!  STARBUCKS!  I went in yesterday and one of the barristas flagged me down and reminded me that the manager is anxious to get my art in there!  So I will head in there tomorrow to talk to her and set up a time to install them.  Pinching myself...!

                 ON TO CHRISTMAS TIDINGS :-)

 And on to Christmas - this was the whole group (except Britt who was snapping the pic) out to pick out our xmas tree!

Three cuties: Rayne, Amira, and Vidal - love the braces on the older two!  So cute!!!

We got to ride on a wagon pulled by two ENORMOUS black percheron horses - Eamonn, above, was a bit overcome...Not to mention the pressure of finding just the right tree!  :-)

A smooch from Papa made it all better!

With so many of us on the hunt we were sure to find just the right one...

Liam seems pretty optimistic :-)

Silly girls...

And we found the perfect tree!  ALL of the kids insisted on the tallest one they had! 

Liam, tuckered out after decorating the tree...He has been soooo looking forward to getting the tree :-)

Had to share this little bookmark I blinged out for my friend!  Oh I had so much fun creating this packaging!  The pink outer 'envelope paper had a velvet embossed floral pattern and has a velcro closure.  I glued lots of little crystals to the bookmark and the envelope - All hand made - The gold paper on the back of the bookmark and little crystals really make it extra special!

I hope you are all enjoying your holiday season!  May your lives be filled with JOY and PEACE and of course...

Lots of   S M I L E S!

Hugs

Julia

Getting ready for my art show tonite!

I'm so excited!!!  Above you see my canvases ready to be hung on the wall for a show during the months of December and January!  Yeah!  Tonite will be an event with a fashion show and my art - should be very busy!

I have been very busy in my little studio creating custom card/bookmarks for the show too...

Aren't these cute!  I love how they turned out!

Mass Production! :-)

My favorite!  Brown strip of paper has a velcro closure on the back of the card - so fun!

And this was our table at Thanksgiving - Had all the kids over and some friends and it was so fun!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

So many wonderful things happening this season - Have to say congratulations to Heather of Rose Hill Designs for reaching 100 fans on her facebook page!  She is creating some really magical holiday cards and paintings!  So is our dear Sophia over at Blue chair Diary!  Head over to each of their etsy shops to take a look!  Fun fun fun!

Smiles to you all and lots of JOY!