Rag Dolls 2 Love

Mary Page Jones, who lives in Vermont, had an idea and goal to create 200 rag dolls for children whose lives have been traumatized by war, natural disasters, and disease. Rag Dolls 2 Love has grown to an organization that has sent out over 30,000 dolls to countries around the world. If you can run a sewing machine and have some materials you can help too!

My mom had seen this site either on the news or in the paper and since she doesn't have internet access asked me to print out the pattern for her.  I think I have found yet another project. :) This one just seems so rewarding. You need to follow the pattern and directions as the dolls are universal. Meaning, they don't represent an ethnicity or religion. The dolls support and love children of any religion and origin. Absolutely brilliant and simple in its design, the doll instructions are easy to follow.

Please check out the site.. such a peaceful project and you know exactly where your hard work and time is going to end up. In the arms of a child who could really use a big hug and loving heart to care for them.

xoxo~

Abbie

Thankful Project continued..

I have some catching up to do.. is anyone else not ready for the holidays? I am completely lacking the spirit I guess.. just overwhelmed by the tasks ahead. I have decided to make the kids gifts this year instead of buying them. Such as, for my 4 yr old daughter, I picked up an antique box the other day and I am going to convert it into an art supply box for her. But it all takes time and it just seems  like there aren't enough hours in the day. I almost decorated for Christmas yesterday. I thinkI'll pull out the Christmas things before Thanksgiving. Perhaps it will help me get in the holiday spirit abit more. Also, most of the family is around on Thanksgiving and tend to go their own way at Christmas. Then they can see the house all decorated and it should make the day more festive. We'll see if I am up for it. I have some serious catching up to do on my blessings.. not that I haven't taken a moment each day to think on them, I just haven't sat down to type them out.

10. I am thankful for my children's love of dance.. and that they grab my hands and make me dance too.

11. I am thankful that my son and I love the same music. That way I can listen to his IPod. :)

12. I am thankful for the frost in the mornings.. it means winter is moving in, then it will be moving out..

13.                           .... sunshine on cold days.

14.                           .... a full pantry.

15.                           .... my creativity.

16.                           .... that my 2 year old is potty trained. No more diapers in this house!

17.  I am thankful that my parents dragged me all over Europe as a child. Oh the memories I have now!

18.  I am thankful for my very warm bed at night.

19.                            .... for the rain yesterday. The sound is lovely and soothing.

20.                           ..... sidewalk chalk and bicycles.

21.                           ..... my camera.

There..I have written them down. Spoken them 'outloud'. 

I hope that you are counting your blessings..

xoxo~

Abbie

Thankful Days 6-9

Following the Thankful Project, I have some catching up to do.

Day 6:  I am thankful for my parents. As hard as my childhood/teen years were on me, I wouldn't be who I am today without every struggle and challenge.

Day 7: I am thankful for Taylor's absolute love of drawing. They are whimsical, simple and perfect. (she is 4)

Day 8: I am thankful for my right shoulder. It hurts almost everyday but it hangs in there and I still can use my right arm and hand. So, I am thankful for the pain. It means I have a right arm and that it works. (most of the time)

Day 9: I am thankful my daughters are sisters and have each other. Their relationship is so foreign and amazing to me. I could sit and watch them play, love, and fight for hours. Oh, wait, I do. :)

 

The images above 1.) Girl with Hood  2.) Mouse  3.) Butterfly and Tree. 

xoxo~

Abbie

Time to be Thankful... Day 1 & 2

Prompted by my dear friend, Amanda, I have decided to join her in The Thankful Project. She is right, so often the hectic, overwhelming tasks of the season blind us to the truly important moments and blessings that surround us everyday.        

Day 1 ~ I am thankful for my children. Without them forcing me to pause, I would miss so many thrilling things...   

 

Day 2 ~ Thankful for small, quiet moments when I can be alone with my needles, hooks and strings.

   

Who knew such simple things could create such loveliness... What are you Thankful for?

Don't tell me, tell yourself.. over and over.

xoxo~

Abbie

Jon Rawlinson and Owl City

I was surfing blogs the other day.. (yay.. I do that too..) and ran across this video by Jon Rawlinson. It led me to peek at some of his other videos and he uses the band Owl City is several of them. Their music is wonderful. Clean, calm and perfect 'float away' music. Something this momma is in desperate need of. I noticed the other month that I had completely stopped listening to music except when we were driving in the car. A horrible thing to say the least! Since then I have added a music player to my studio space and try to have it on during the day and TV turned off.

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

(If you watch the video, I would recommend hitting the four arrows and expanding it to full screen.)

Now you can float away with me when you visit.. I have added Owl City's tunes to my sidebar. Slide down a bit and you can shut it off for watching the video above.. hope you enjoy it too.. do you have any other music suggestions? Something that's not spattered all over the radio and TV? Let me know, I'd love to check it out!

xoxo~

Abbie

One World ~ One Heart Giveaway!!

I have decided to participate this year in the One World ~ One Heart Giveaway. The wonderful people I have met through blogging have helped me survive some rough spots in my life and as a thank you, I will be giving away four of my Sweet Abigail PDF files from my Etsy Shop. The giveaway is open to anyone! You must leave a comment on this post to be eligible to win. The contest will end February 12th, you have until that day to enter. I will announce the winners on February 13th. For more information about the One World ~ One Heart Giveaway please visit their blog.

Good Luck! Don't forget to leave a comment!

xoxo~
Abbie

Thank you..

Bev, Lisa and Anke passed along this very lovely Marie Antoinette award to me and I thank them dearly!

Instead of passing the award along, I am going to highlight some of most favorite friends, artists, photographers that I have had the honor to get to know through blogging. Please visit them, you won't be disappointed!

1. The Collage Diva herself, Kathryn, her art is full of color, form and passion. Someday soon I hope for her and I to meet, chat and share.

2. Randel Plowman if you haven't had the chance stop by to see his work, please do, it is nothing but collage and FABULOUS!

3. Amanda Churchill -a magnificent pro photographer and momma all bundled into one gorgeous package! I have watched her develope and grow her dreams! She is an inspiration for any woman wondering if they can do it all.

4. Anke Martin - another woman who does it all! Pregnant with her third child, she just opened her art studio for instruction. A marvelous photographer and mixed media artist from across the ocean. Hugs Anke!

5. RhondaMum - Honest, true and lovely, I have watched Rhonda start her blog, open her shop and blossom as an artist!

and a few giants in the land of blog that are so huge most have found them but if you have not, their blogs are worth the visual journey...

Sandra Everston, Vanessa Valencia, and Amanda Soule.

The list goes on and if I highlighted everyone I'd be here for days! :) Every blog on my sidebar is worth visiting. The blogs I follow in my profile... there are so many! and so many more that I just can't add to the list, it's not that they aren't fantastic, I just get dizzy thinking about it! If I had hours and hours to spend just browsing my time could be swept into Bloglandia forever.. as it is, I spend too much time here.

Thank you for the award Ladies!

xoxo~

Abbie

The first day..

Well, this morning I shipped my three year old off to preschool for the entire day! My 15 month old is sleeping and the house is completely still. Not something that happens very often.. even the dogs sense the peace and quiet and dare not disturb it. (they love to bark at the passing vehicles on the road) So, for now, Mondays and Wednesdays are my 'quiet, regroup, find my sanity' days. Something I found that was missing from my day was music. I LOVE music. I'll listen to anything but prefer bands like Depeche Mode, the Killers, etc.. We have a rediculous number of music channels with our cable so I have been putting it on my favorite (turning the TV off it plays through our stereo system) and letting it run all day. It helps. I have been happier and the girls have been playing, eating, and interacting better without the TV in the background. It is the small changes that seem to be helping my days. It will be nice when my wee one starts walking. 15 months and still nothing. She can stand by herself so it's coming, but it is quite exhausting hauling her all over the place. I am working on a giveaway over at Button Floozies and still posting images daily (or trying) to The Vintage Moth. I'd love to reopen my Etsy shop someday but not exactly sure what I'd offer. The antique papers, etc are all over Etsy and I'd like to do something a little different. Not sure what yet. Something handmade perhaps.. We'll see.

Off to enjoy more quiet time..
xoxo~
Abbie

Busy hands...

I have been busy working on crafty bits to decorate my home for the upcoming season of 'Boo!'. the mood has struck, and if I don't go with it, I'll never get anything done! so far I have made several (4) pillows (embroidered and appliqued), painted two grungy boxes, assembled a witchy portrait, created a ghostie from some vintage lace and antique Victorian jet buttons and made several rag garlands. There are so many more ideas in my folder! So this is where I have been lately.. creating for my family and home. It is more enjoyable than creating things to sell.

I hope at some point to post some of the templates that I created.

Hope everyone else is enjoying some creative time!

xoxo~

Abbie

Growth and RAK gifts..

Our seeds are sprouting! In front you can see the start of mammoth sunflowers and behind, the red wispy sprouts are radishes.. We also planted pilgrim tomatoes and pumpkins. None of those seeds have germinated, perhaps they are too old. Isn't the red of the radish stems fantastic? Speaking of fantastic, I received the most fabulous gift in the mail on Tuesday!!

The above creamer was a gift from Mary at the Little Red House. You have no idea how excited I was.. I was tearing at the tape that held the box closed in the van.. my son kept asking questions (One, because mom was VERY excited about something and, two, he was very curious about this 'stranger' who sending gifts) It made my day, week, month!! I finally go the box open (note to self.. keep scissors in the glove box) to discover that the package was wrapped with more tape and bubble wrap! Aaahh! The anticipation nearly killed me! I wanted to take some pics, honest. To show you the process one takes when opening gifts from internet friends. Nope, couldn't do it! I ripped into that sucker like I was child in a candy store! It is lovely! A beautiful pitcher with.. cherries!! Just perfect for my kitchen! Thank you, Mary! It was a thoughtful and wonderful surprise that just took my breathe away..

So, I was RAK attacked.. (hit with a random act of kindness). I think it is time to pass along the love!