the tree dilemma...

but not...

i wasn't going to put up a tree this holiday season.  since last october i've been working on a project of getting things organized and purged out a little bit.  it's super hard for me to do because everything i see is "hmmm...could i use this in my art?" or "how can i repurpose this for something else?"   hahahaha

but i've been cleaning out old (20 year) files and shredding like a fiend.  re-organizing art and crafting supplies that includes paper, fabric, beads, etc...

i wasn't going to decorate for the holidays at all, but then i decided to host the family holiday meals. the old tree is just too big to put up, so i decided to see if i could find something small to use.

2018's tree...

2024's Yule Tree...

i really love this tree. i'm thinking of using it all year and decorating it for each season/holiday.  i haven't decided yet, though.

anyhoo...guess what we had today? 

the first snow...

it was brief, and just dusted things, but...it snowed!

i guess that's all i have to share for now.  hopefully, i'll have something fun to share soon.

thanks for reading...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

keeping up 2024...

one of the things i did, sort of, keep up with was my yearly journal/planner...  i could never figure out what to call it.  it is a journal, it is a planner (calendar pages, etc), i put art in it, it's part bullet journal too.

i started working with these a few years back, inspired by a favorite art teacher.  it starts with just a plain composition notebook and grows from there.  when i first started i would switch to a new notebook whenever the current one was full.  then in 2023, i took the covers off a second notebook and taped the books together so it is all one book per year.

as you can see in the photo below, it becomes quite large and unwieldy.

2024's planner/journal

near the end of october i started thinking about how to make this a bit smaller, not necessarily in bloom but in just general size.

so this is what i came up with for this year.

last year (on left) and this year (on right)

so far, i'm really liking the smaller size.  the new one is a Moleskine Cahiers lined journal. they only have 80 pages so i have no idea how many i'll end up needing to get through the year.  but i decided i would glue covers together and just keep building the depth.

only three days into the new year and new journal/planner and it is already blooming wonderfully.

after spending a year calling it my planner/journal, a journner, and my life; i've decided to call it my collective.  it's not a grimoire or a book of shadows, so collective sounds nice.

anyhoo...that's it for today.

though i did want to let Debra know that i agree with her comment, chocolate is definitely the way to go. :-)

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

 

guess who's back? back again...

yep...it's me...

i'm still alive and making my way back into the world of blogging and well, the world.  let's just say that 2024 was not my best look.  i was pretty agoraphobic there for a while, but i was able to get some help and am feeling much, much better.

anyhoo... here are a couple of pictures from the end of 2024 (ie: yesterday) and the first day of 2025. 

Death by Chocolate Cheesecake my sister-in-law and i made yesterday. 

Ours isn't very pretty, but it's only our second ever attempt at a cheesecake, so.  Click the link above if you want to see what it is really supposed to look like and get the recipe.

ps...it is soooooooo good!!  

 

new year's day sunset...

I laughed when i got to my blog and saw that the last post was also a sunset, but new year's eve.

that's all for now...i've really missed being here and missed reading all the blogs that i follow/followed.  i wonder who's still here in bloglandia.

happy new year to you and i hope that this year will bring peace, love and hope into our lives.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps...anyone else have "Houdini" in their head after reading the title of this post?  :-)

new year eve sunset...

 wishing you a happy, healthy, magical new year!

love & magicks

~*~

 

magicks are real...

december already?

wow...

i'm here again, finally.  

so...five things friday? 

1 - i love walking in the woods. it is one of my favorite things and equally as special to me as walking along the shore of the ocean.

2 - sometimes, when i get what i call a 'wild hair' i just go with it and 9 times out of 10 i love the results.

3 - magicks are real

4 - i'm already missing winter. i know to most of the world winter doesn't officially begin until dec 21. but to me, winter solstice marks the middle of winter. living in the south it is hard to really have the kind of winter i love, full of cold weather and tons of snow. so knowing it is almost over makes me sad.

5 - this goes back to #3 above. this week, while walking in the woods, i kept hearing these strange sounds. my first thought was dear antlers cackling against each other. i stopped and looked, but could never find anything. then, i kept wondering if it was the trees creaking in the wind. today i heard the sounds again and still couldn't see anything. i made my rounds through the trees and paths and i kept thinking how much i would love to see a deer. i had the thought (when i heard it again) 'the bucks must be playing. i wish they'd come down where i can see them.'

as i passed onto the last trail, headed back to my car, i heard the sound and it was close. i stopped and looked into the trees. and up on a ridge i saw movement. then i heard it again and saw two young bucks playing! i couldn't get a good look but tried to get a photo (the first photo in the post) but then i stopped and just watched as they played.  it felt so magical and special that i was in tears as i made my way back to the car. 

yesterday i saw a post on IG about synchronicities and how if we pay attention we can see the magic in the world. :-)

so i'll reiterate #3 - magicks are real!

well...that's what i've got for this second friday in december. before we know it, it will be january and a new calendar year.

how've you been?  how was your november? 

thanks for being here...

love & magicks

~*~ 

 

really sleepy...

 a painting from last week, part of my book of days art journaling for last week.

it's been a pretty quiet day. i ran a few errands this morning and spent the rest of the day arting and cleaning the kitchen in preparation for delivery of my new range. my delivery window is 7:30-11:30 in the MORNING. ugh!

on my walk this evening, i had another scary low. not as bad as the last one. i was able to finish my walk and get myself home, though.  maybe i need to eat before i walk. idk...

that's all i've got for today. i'm really sleepy and i need to get up really early to get everything done the delivery.

thanks for being here...

love & magicks

~*~

 

lifeline...

it was a weird day. i had a super early appointment with my diabetes educator. everything was great, my numbers are fabulous. but it seemed like a waste of time. i really thought it was something we could have talked about over the phone. 

before i left i headed down to the imaging department to schedule my yearly boobiesmash. as luck would have it, they had an opening within 30 minutes. so despite not being dressed for easy off and on, i went ahead and signed up. as i was changing my top for the sexy gown, i realized i couldn't find my phone. 

immediate panic mode. i tossed my top back on, ran to get the tech to tell her i needed to go out to check for my phone. she looked through my bag, tried calling it and everything. no phone. we went out to the waiting area and one of her coworkers said they'd found a phone. luckily it was being held at the check-in desk. 

it took hours for me to calm down and i was more uncomfortable than usual having my scans. 

my phone is my lifeline. pretty much literally. it is how i monitor my blood glucose and control my insulin pump. without it, i feel completely vulnerable. ugh...

in an effort to calm down after i arrived home i went to the art table and my art journal. yesterday i'd watch a video about abstract art. so i thought i'd give it a try.

when i was done with the first layer, i hated it. abstract is just not my thing. i've tried it several times and my luck is hit or miss. 

what do i do when i really can't stand what i painted? i paint over it. i usually use gesso, but i went with titanium white. after i covered it i pressed the pages together to give it a bit of texture. i have no idea what will happen once i go back to it tomorrow. hopefully i can find something i like.

so, that was my day today. honestly, my anxiety is still a bit high and my walk didn't help this evening. we'll see.

so, how was your day?

thanks for being here...

love & magicks

~*~

ps...for Debra: i spray my finished painting with Krylon low odor gloss, once that is dry i rub it with a thin coating of wax (tealight or beeswax) and buff it down. it keeps the pages from sticking together. :-)