REMEMBERING MY MOM

Friday, January 6, 2012

A TRIBUTE TO MY MOM

My mom.

January 8, 1927 - May 5, 2013

http://mankatofreepress.com/obituaries/x6225257/Mary-Susan-Vose

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And my post from a year and a half ago:

This Sunday, my mom will be celebrating her 85th birthday.  

What do you get a woman who has everything . . . on her 85th birthday?  I decided the best gift I could give her would be acknowledgement of the reasons why she is so special to me.

So I made a simple little accordion book, and filled it with 10 things I love and admire about my mom.  

(There's a link to a YouTube video showing you how to make your own book, at the end of this post)  

My mom is an avid reader, so I used a great old book cover for the front and back of the accordion book.  Just tear out the pages and wrap the cover with some pretty papers. 

 Then, after deciding how many pages you want, fold a long piece of paper, accordion style.  My book needed 10 pages, so I had to use several pieces of paper pieced together. Then glue your typed script or photos on each page.

Fill up the book with memories of the most wonderful things you know about the person you're making the book for.

    
My mom and dad - right about the time they met.

Once the book was complete, I wrapped it up with a little charm made just for mom, with a birthday sentiment on the back cover.  She really is, one LOVELY lady!

A Christmas time lunch just a couple weeks ago, with my mom!

You can never repay your parents for the gift of life, but I think it's important to let them know how grateful you are for that gift and the many ways you love and admire them.

"Happy Birthday Mom!"

A little YouTube video showing how to make your own accordion book!

PURPLE POSIES and A GIVEAWAY WINNER

(This is a day on the road for us - on our way home from Leslie Saeta's palette knife workshop on Sandbridge - so today's painting is a "recycle")

It's April 1st and the day has started out great!  I checked my email first thing this morning to find that my painting, "Purple Posies and Chartreuse", will soon be on its way to California.  

I have paintings in my Etsy shop, but this painting sold from another site where I have my paintings listed . . . Daily Paintworks.  Daily Paintworks is an exciting group to be a part of.  There are some extremely talented member artists, weekly challenges posted by the site, and lots of great art tutorials.  After joining, each member starts up a virtual gallery with tools in place to help you sell and promote your work using an auction format or prices you set yourself.  If you're interested in improving your skills and being a part of a large community of creative people, it's a great place to start.

Purple Posies and Chartreuse - 24"x36"

 And my Giveaway Winner is:

Christina!  

Congratulations Christina - your Spring Note Card Bundle of 8 cards will soon be on its way to your door!

So, today?

Selling a painting is great inspiration for getting out the brushes!

BIRD AND HARE ORIGINAL ART NOTE CARDS FOR SPRING and A GIVEAWAY

For me, nothing says spring better than seeing all the creatures come out of hiding after months of dark, bitterly cold, and snowy days.  We can finally look forward to the change of seasons!  Hearing the first, brave birds singing their hearts out is a reminder that winter really is almost over here in Wisconsin.

So, I was inspired to draw some birds and rabbits in honor of the approach of warmer weather. The first two are sweet little birds - a robin in song and a wren gathering dinner.  Included on each of the bird cards is a snippet of some fitting poetry by Emily Dickinson.  

On the other two, I drew Belgian Hares, caught in a rare, still moment.   One is just a simple line drawing, and the other is more detailed and distinguished profile of the hare.  He is set in a vintage frame graphic I found at the Graphics Fairy.

Eight note cards are all wrapped up in a glassine bag
ready for use or gift-giving.

THE GIVEAWAY:
Leave a comment on this post by April 1st and I'll choose a winner via random.org to receive a free bundle of the 8 note cards - on its way to you on April 2nd!  Please email your contact information or leave it in the comment itself!  That's it!  That's all you have to do!  


And if you don't happen to be the winner, the spring card bundles
can be purchased at Gillyflower Cottage/Etsy.

Sharing on Graphics Fairy's
BRAG MONDAY

KEEPING TRACK OF BOOK CLUB BOOKS

How does your book group keep track of what you've read?  Does your group have a special system?  Well, over the last 13 years or so, my book group is forever trying to recall the many books we have read together.  We just never took the time to write them all down, but we always wish we had kept track.   

And the years marched on.  

That is at least 150 titles, and who could remember all of those without some sort of a system?  

So, for our last book group gathering, I made a little book tracking system for each of us.  It won't go back all those years, but there is a card labeled "aforetime" for some of our favorites from years past.

All of the cards fit neatly in a little folder made of cream card stock.

 The cover reads, "Books we've enjoyed and some we've endured!" and is made with this Sweet Birds With Nest Frame graphic from The Graphics Fairy.
(The font used is a mix of "typewriter" which is on my word processing program, and "The King and Queen" which can be downloaded free of charge here.)

The whole packet slips into a heavy weight gray wool case with plenty of room for more cards - for the years to come.

Now we have no excuse!

Want to make your own Book Club Record Keepers?  All the PDFs needed are available at my Etsy shop, Gillyflower Cottage.


To go to the 20% OFF SALE click  GILLYFLOWER COTTAGE.


Sharing on:
 The Graphics Fairy - Brag Monday
Made For You Monday
Market Yourself Monday

GILLYFLOWER COTTAGE

Just a post to show what is now available at Gillyflower Cottage . . .

DICTIONARY HARE TAGS

I've been selling gift tags in my Etsy shop for awhile now - angel tags made from my drawings of cemetery statues, sheep tags from my drawings of Suffolk and Welsh Mountain Sheep, and just recently I added some English Hare tags to my shop using graphics from The Graphics Fairy. 

 

I used my angel tags on a lot of Christmas gifts and the sheep tags work for any occasion.   

I've even made gifts of an assortment of the tags themselves. 

Every item I sell on Etsy is tied with twine and sent with a blank tag attached.  

Bakers' twine make a great tie also - or even a thread of burlap fiber.  

Now, I've added these rabbit tags that would be great for spring or Easter gift giving.  They're extra long tags with plenty of room on the back for your sentiments.  The printed tags come with a bundle of twine ties . . .

Or, you can make the tags yourself with the PDF - also for sale at Gillyflower Cottage.  They print out with three tags per page.

See them here.

  

VALENTINE BANNER

There may no longer be young children in this house, but I think one still needs to decorate for the "other holidays", like Valentine's Day, kids or no kids!  Big people love the holidays too!

  So, today I made a valentine banner for the front entryway, and also put a little valentine tree in the dining room.  I typed out some love quotes in the typewriter font, cut them in strips, and glued one onto each piece.  Then you can embellish to your heart's content.  I just used ribbons and some cut out hearts, but you could add buttons, charms, lace, sheet music . . . anything!  

 The quotes are easy enough to type out, but if you'd like to have mine sent to you, just leave a comment on this post, with your email address and I'll send you the PDF.

Enjoy!

And, of course you must have the essential Valentine's Day question . . .

Just a couple punches at the top of each piece, a little ribbon woven through, and you're done!  This is an easy project that would probably be even more charming if you let your young children help!

This banner is available for purchase at Gillyflower Cottage on Etsy.