Been Too Long

This shot, taken in August, seems to sum things up perfectly. A lovely warm, summer glow has settled over me these last few months and I suppose that's why it's "been too long!"

- i've immersed myself in iphonography with instagram, hipstamatic, snapspeed, and a few more of those addicting photo APPS! Soooo, lots more photography to follow!

- we spent a blissfully perfect vacation with my extended family at the south jersey shore resort of Ocean City (see above)

- many productive hours spent in the summer studio, both in solitude and with friends!

- been to Fenway Park a couple times and go again in a few weeks!

- my husband and i celebrated 22 years of wedded BLISS <3>

- lots of lazy days making art while my honey makes music in one of three bands (2nd from right, lead guitar)

- and my morning walks, as well as lots of other wonderful things, have inspired me to begin writing poetry again.

All is well, in my little corner of the world and i hope the same goes for you, my friend! 

Winds of Change Are In the Air

First I want to say, unfortunately, I lost my last post! It was about the latest Ancestry.com discoveries which led me to an adventure in a pennsylvania cemetery that I promise to share more on later!

Back to more personal stuff. Lately, I feel a soft wind is beginning to blow in my life and I've been experiencing a loosening and breaking free of "debris" in several areas..

(1) now that summer has finally arrived, i've been able to take over a section of my summer kitchen table out on the porch. This has me feeling extra P.L.A.Y.F.U.L. as it's allowed for a constant flow of creativity.

my happy place!

(2) in June, i began my morning walks again and this weekend i experienced renewed determination to get healthy/lose weight.

only a bicycle ride away!

(3) I decided that I can no longer postpone an interstate road trip with my sweet mom to pay a visit to my favorite aunt laura. She is 95 and my mother just turned 89! We leave next week and will take a brief detour for an overnight in our favorite south jersey shore resort.

sisters-in-law

(4) I am thisclose to booking my first out-of-state art journaling classes.. hoping to pull it off! If I can, it will be at ink about it in westford, MA with the one-and-only kelly kilmer.

page from kelly's "New Directions" journal

(5) i just activated my first iphone!

(6) there is so much more life out there for me to sample, I'm not going to wait another MINUTE!



Preserving History

This is another creative outlet that truly "speaks my name." In addition to taking pictures, I seem to thrive when editing/tweaking and especially restoring them! I'm certain part of that equation is the sentimentalist AND the preservationist in me.

I began to realize my affinity for restoration when I made the domino photo pendant, above, for a friend to give to her mom for Mother's Day, in May 2010. (This service is available through my Etsy shop)

As the self-appointed family genealogist and photo curator I've documented up to 120 ancestors on my family tree at Ancestry.com (always a work-in-progress), added 80 photos which include FIVE great-grandparents and restored over 100 photos. I'd love to share another very precious photo restoration completed today. A hand-painted photo on porcelin, of my mother, age 3 from 1926.

A Return to Cardmaking

January 2011 was catharctic for me. I made a plan to put my jewelry making on the backburner for a few months and take the winter off to focus on making ART AGAIN! The real change began in November when I reorganized my neglected studio space and that's when I couldn't ignore the "call to return" growing louder and louder, inside of me... (actually it was SCREAMING) so I listened.

A mother's day card that started with a new ATC, a quotation from a book on Roses and a pretty pink rose "popped" on top of a piece of foam tape and sprinkled with some german glass glitter. The final touch was a length of vintage handmade lace from one of my ancestors.. believed to be made by my great-grandmother, Laura Adella Murphy Farquhar (1859-1911) pictured below.

I've been told...

....that I am a very sentimental person and, I suppose, that is why so many posts are reminiscences! Today is no exception!

June 2, 1945 my parents were married SIXTY YEARS AGO today. Even though my dad passed away in 2005, I still call my mom to let her know that I'm thinking of her and have told her I will always celebrate this day in my heart, forever!

They left quite a legacy of love that I'm blessed to be a part of.

I am back to more scanning/restoration of treasured family and ancestor pics. here's one from yesterday..

Treasure found! - I always WISHED I could find a pic of my parents dancing, and surprise! Both of them were "clear-the-floor" ballroom dancers in their day. An accomplished gymnast, Dad taught dance at sumer camp in Maine when he was only 19 years old. He also taught square dancing in the philadelphia area throughout my childhood. Mom, 86, recently told me there was NO WAY she was going to marry a man who couldn't dance ~ and boy, did he have the moves!! ♥

"Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime."

~William Shakespeare

For my sweet, precious mother. You are a TREASURE and we love you so much. Happy 86th Birthday!
soft gel txr image, heat embossed handmade frame.

HEALTH UPDATE: mom was diagnosed with rectal cancer in may. Her CT Scan, Laproscopic Ultrasound, a physical exam, and soooo many prayers, indicated she is one of the lucky few that did NOT require either a colostomy, chemo or radiation! On June 11 she was scheduled to have "SAME DAY SURGERY" in her home state of Vermont with approximately 4 weeks needed to heal while she stayed with me in CT until she could sit and/or drive comfortably.

She was kept overnight for observation, most likely due to her age and physical condition as well as the face down positioning for surgery. Mom was discharged the very next day...... back at our house it was a different story.

Unbeknownst to us, she began to develop "aspirational pneumonia" that first night and around 9Am the next day, we called her surgeon followed by 911 and got her right back into a different hospital in a different state! She had fantastic care, throughout the 13 days she spent in the hospital and while regaining her strength at the Rehab Center. She is back in her home in Vermont and has just been cleared by her doctor to drive... only one month after surgery.

I have all of the faith in the world that she will be completely back to her former self in the next few weeks and, no doubt, begin contemplating the 3 annual trips we take (when we can) to the south jersey shore in September, to her next Boston red sox game and this time we're planning on seeing The Cloisters in our annual mother-daughter trip to NYC!

Thank you again to all of our family and friends for your steadfast love & support and for all of your prayers, flowers and good wishes. We truly appreciate you and know how important a support system is to health, healing and general well-being! Added to that I had a friend that was travelling to her family home in Brazil for her brother's wedding right before mom's surgery. She was able to include a special blessing for our mother in Basilica of Bom Jesus Lord Iguapea. She brought back 2 prayer ribbons from this amazing church that has been recognized, for several hundred years, as a location for religious pilgrimage. "Eunice, you touched our hearts! - xox"

So, please schedule a colonoscopy today if you are 50 or older and consult your doctor to schedule one sooner if polyps run in your family because ~ PREVENTATIVE medicine ~ saves ~ lives! ~

All I am I owe to my mother

Cradling her babies in a soft embrace

Rocking them to sleep

The epitome of serenity and grace

She is my mother

Fairytales & princesses

Elves and toads and gnomes

Lullabys and kisses

That was my childhood

A loving wife for 60 years

Positive, loving and strong

Raised her children to have no fears

She is my hero