In my last post I promised pictures of my Christmas projects,well you know what they say about the road to hell.I was steeped in making my projects at the last minute (terrible habit) when I received the call that I'd been dreading for months.My dearest friend of the last 47 years was in the hospital.You see she had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer three years ago.She had surgery, radiation, chemo,  and seemed to be fine ...for about six months,then came the chest xray that showed lung tumors,so it was back to chemo. She continued on chemo for the duration of her life.She faced cancer and the horrific treatments with courage, grace, and a sense of humour. She was a fiercely  independent woman, the thought of being dependent on others weighed heavily on her in the last months.She was always more concerned for others then she was for herself. An R.N. by profession, a giver by heart, the people whom she helped in this life professionally and personally was innumerable.Finally her health reached the point that she had dreaded...she would be dependent .I had always known that when she reached that stage that she would not be able to continue.I saw her alive  for the last time on a  Friday, I knew when I looked in her eyes that she had reached the end of her journey.We held hands and hugged we laughed and talked and then I said good bye for the last time, she was gone the following Sunday.I've been walking around in this fog of grief for what seems like an eternity.It is a terrible mixture of profound sadness and relief that her earthly suffering has ended. In this haze I just didn't feel like photographing and blogging about Christmas projects.I'm sorry to have missed joining in on the festivities.Every time something tragic or bad happens I try to understand what lesson I'm supposed to learn. I'm working on that lesson.To my beloved friend I say cheers to a life well done, until we meet again.      

Christmas Crafting

Hello everyone! I'm up to my ears in Christmas projects.I decided to do a white Christmas this year after many years of doing a Victorian tree. Because I have a small budget I've had to make the dollar store my friend as well as make my own.This is the first time I've ever made so many of my own decorations. I'll post pictures soon.Are you guys making ornaments this year? Do you wish you had started sooner like I do?

Christmas Wreaths

I finally got some shots of the wreaths I've been working on.I opened my etsy store last April and its taken me this long to get the courage to put something in the store to sell.My picture taking skills are not the best so the pictures don't really do them justice.So without further adieu here are the pics.

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Faux Flowers

I'm a floral designer .My medium is silk or faux flowers or permanent botanicals whatever name you choose.I often come across decorators on t.v  in blogs or magazines who diss silk  flowers and consider them a decorating don't.Its not my mission to try and convert anyone... if the sight of a faux flower arrangement makes your teeth itch then I respect your feelings. However there are many people who are able to incorporate silks into their homes in very tasteful ways. We deserve respect too. Todays faux flowers are not your mothers faux flowers. There are companies  who make very beautiful and realistic faux flowers, sometimes you have  to touch them to see if they are real and sometimes touching wont  reveal that they are fakes because they've  been designed to feel real.I'm not an advocate of filling every nook and cranny in your home with silks or the dreaded stringing of greenery garlands atop kitchen cabinets, but a nice tastefully arranged flower arrangement on a side or hall table can look quite elegant.During the holidays a beautiful faux wreath can rival the real thing.To see some examples of very elegant faux designs check out NDI.com or DianeJameshome.com.  You'll see how beautiful silks can be.

Hello its me

Hello everyone, after reading the  blogs of so many talented people and being so inspired I have decided to join this wonderful community.I'll be sharing my projects and chatting it up with all of you wonderful loving and generous spirits that I feel I've come to know from reading your blogs.Hopefully I'll have pictures of the Christmas wreaths  that I'm working on this week....that is if the sun ever comes out here again and I can get good pictures.I hope you'll all come by and say hi.