Winter Days at Our Mountain Home

Hello...

Winter greetings from the AZ mountains 

which is like a high desert.

We've been having many gray days here

with rain and snow. 

It's been wonderful.

Cloudy days are rare here in the southwest and being 

an Ohio girl, I relish them.

I haven't been working on many projects lately because

I have been doing a lot of deep cleaning

and ordering of our home. And I've been obsessing

over music and playing guitar for hours.

Do you follow any of the music awards?

I don't always but some of my favorite singers and

songwriters are among the nominees so it's been exciting!

Lori McKenna is one. 

She wrote Tim McGraw's hit,

Humble and Kind.

You can watch her singing at the Opry here.

Beautiful words with a timeless message.

She has already won a Grammy and was nominated

 again today by CMA. 

Here are some winter moments of our life in the mountains.

 A little snow fairy..

 Ambushed!

 I had to laugh at this snowman. He looks look 

one that Pigpen might have made. When you don't have a lot of 

grass, this is what your snowman looks like. Haha!

But the giggles had so much fun making it.

 I'm not the only one who likes to huddle 

up close to the wood stove.

Just some cheering up in my craft room. 

That lovely pillow was made by my sweet friend, 

Stephanie from The Enchanting Rose. 

You can find many beautiful shabby, 

handmade items in her Etsy shop 

called Rose Petal Blessings.

 One of my favorite singers. 

I spend a lot of time listening to and playing her music. 

What a great inspiration she's been to me~

beginning in my early teens. 

Early morning visitors. When it snows, they are forced to come down from the high country to feed. Such beautiful animals. 

The other night, there was a herd of fifty in our field! 

It was quite a sight. 

They were running and frisking around.

*********

I hope your world is bright and full of hope as this new

 year is speeding ahead.

Please pray for my friend, Kris as

she heals from a knee injury. 

Do you have goals and dreams that you 

have resurrected in this new year? I hope so.

Never let your dreams die..

Fan the flames of your dreams with 

the hopes for your future and feel yourself soar~

Heres a quote that I'd like to to leave you with. 

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. 

Because if you are making mistakes, 

then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, 

living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, 

changing your world. 

You're doing things you've never done before,

 and more importantly.... 

you're doing something. 

--Neil Gaiman. 

Have a lovely weekend and thank you for coming by~

Tamara XO

Have Courage...Random Art Paint Collage

 How has your week been? 

I hope it's been a good one.

Mine has been a perfect kaleidoscope of 

 wondrous adventures~

A mix of work and play.

Music always...

Dinner with some of our girls

A movie with my Honey

And there's the floors...laundry.... watering

I'm so glad that I enjoy every aspect of  it.

I'm also still working on projects.

I'm working on an angel made from an old spring

and angel wing ornaments.

Every border of the gypsy camp is overflowing with

spicy scented, yellow flowers...

Jeff and I sat there this morning

sharing our hearts, 

having a little prayer time together and enjoying a cup of tea.

One of the things that we talked about was achieving our dreams.

And we concluded that we have, to some degree, done that or at least begun to.

The realization has begun in a small way and we will enjoy the journey.

What are your thoughts?

It's so easy to feel like things are never enough or just beyond our reach.

I believe that we rob ourselves of the joy of the hard work realized

when we set our sights too high and don't believe in ourselves or our dreams

when they are in their small beginnings.

The mornings there in camp are a perfect blend of sunshine

 and splashes of shade.

All the while as we sit taking in the beauty, tiny hummingbirds 

come and lite on the branches

and little Pine Siskins visit the seed feeders in the trees.

There's a happy chirping that fills the air around us.

(Remember the little area that I made for the birds and critters in the pines?

You can read the post here. Well, I found some very large footprints near the food and 

decided that it would be better to hang the seed in the trees if I wanted the birds to get any ;)

Below is an acrylic painting that I did awhile ago.

Do you have favorite words that find their way into your thoughts..

journals, doodlings or art?

Words that inspire or challenge you or that you might want to share with

others through letters or special little notes.

Aren't words powerful?

Here's a couple that I would like to share with you today.

 Life can hold some pretty hard things for us to go through.

But there's always a way to get to the other side.

Courage doesn't mean that you don't get afraid,

it means that you don't let the fear stop you.

Bethany Hamilton

Only those who will risk going too far, 

can possibly find out how far one can go.

T.S. Eliot

Success is not measured by what you 

accomplish

but by the opposition that you have encountered 

and the courage with which you have 

maintained 

the struggle against overwhelming odds.

Orison Swett Marden

Courage, dear heart~

C. S. Lewis

I hope that whatever you face that you can find the courage within 

you to press on and come to your place of triumph!

Remember, He is always near. 

 Volunteer Marigolds..

Who's that hiding in the beddy by basket? 

Who wanted to snuggle with the lamb and the bunny?

None other than BRUTUS~

He's such a character!

I have a really cute picture of hm that 

I'll share soon.

A sweet little one just crawled into my lap and it's time to start 

making popcorn for our traditional

MOVIE NIGHT.

Do you have Friday night traditions?

Have a wonderful weekend, dear friends...

Many blessings to you!

Thank you for your visit.

Tamara XO

of feathers..lace and French sheet music

Happy greetings from the Az. mountains!

The weather has been sunny and so warm.

I have been secretly wishing and praying for snow but I'm getting past that point.

It may still come. 

The mountains are like that. 

We are just in such desperate need of moisture.

But these days have been beautiful and I've been getting outside more. As so many of you have, I've been working on getting my flower beds and herb garden cleaned up. Since we have the possibility of getting very cold

weather again, I try not to clean too deeply. 

The plants still need warmth and protection.

***

Here's some little pieces that I'm very fond of

 and so I put them together for our table centerpiece.

My favorite way to create a focal point is by 

using what I have. These are usually

 found and thrifted treasures.

I found this lovely piece at a thrift store. 

The shape, tones and details caught my eye.

I turned it over and this was on the bottom.

I covered some plastic eggs with some French sheet music..

Part of the joy is letting some of the beautiful details show.

I'm fairly obsessed with and inspired by

 many kinds of music. I collect as many of the lovely aged books and sheets of it as I can.

{Here's "la musique" 

that my daughter is working at on the piano..

It's written by Patrick Doyle and 

is from the movie Sense and Sensibility.

It's very beautiful and listening

 to her play delights my heart.}

Sweet found feathers~

He will cover you with His feathers and His

faithfulness will be your shield~

Psalm 91:4

Let me be as a feather.

Strong of purpose but light at heart~

ABLE to bend.

~Anita Sams~ 

Best wishes for enjoying whatever season is 

knocking at your door. 

 And may your cup be filled to overflowing 

with hope and inspiration.

Thank you so much for coming by!

I appreciate you. 

Tamara xo

Linking up at 
Simply Neutrals

Art Inspiration: My Quest .. Insecurities, Commitments and Guarding Your Dreams

Hello friends.

I hope this day finds you inspired and at peace.

Today, I'd like to share some thoughts and

revelations that have been on my heart for some time.

I call this my journey.. my quest.

 I have been blogging/journaling

about it because someday, I may want 

to re-trace my steps or share.

This involves many aspects of my life. 

There are the personal parts that

involve my own discoveries about myself

and how I have lost layer after layer

to get to who I really am.

Finding my heart.

Silencing the noise.

Unloading the clutter.

And it's also about:

CREATING

I hope that you don't mind my sharing.

(I guess that's partly why I title it like I do.

So readers can filter.)

I must say though that I find such inspiration

and feel a real connection when people

share their stories. 

Sometimes, they can be 

gritty and raw.

 I like raw. 

Raw is real.

And real is authentic.

It's where we live and learn. 

**********

This part of my journey has been difficult.

This has been a choice.

And a hard one.

But sometimes often times it's necessary to 

make hard choices to get you where you

want to go and it's wise to count the cost.

I'm not trying to be mysterious.

It's just difficult for me and it pricks my heart 

and brings tears when I think of it.

I have had to begin guarding my time very

carefully in order to 

protect it from being whittled away.

Please don't get me wrong,

I love people and doing what I'm able to 

help ease their burdens. 

And just spending time with people.

(With Quality Time being 

my first Love Language,

cutting my time with others

 has been very difficult!)

However, sometimes it can be 

unhealthy for others and yourself

if expectations and motives are out of balance. 

Recently I have begun to notice that

after hours of phone calls and texting and

visits that there is very little...and I mean

VERY little time to work at what

God has put in my heart to build on and work at.

  IF YOU DON'T 

BUILD YOUR DREAMS,

SOMEONE WILL HIRE YOU

 TO BUILD THEIRS.

Why I do what I do.

And here is the not-so-fun part of sharing. 

~Transparency~

I can be very insecure.

And so sometimes I do things for people 

because it feels safe. Then I will be liked. 

Or it makes me look good or if I am helping someone 

else, surely that makes me a good person.

Or maybe I wouldn't be liked, if I said no.

(And unfortunately, the latter has happened.)

But anyway

It's been very enlightening and freeing

 to work through all of that.

Facing my own insecurities.

The anger and disappointment of others.

The loneliness.

Sometimes it can be very lonely.

But the quiet is what I need to focus and create. 

Some understand and respect the need for

time and space and it's beautiful when that happens.

It's been a matter of serious consideration,

 getting over feelings of extreme guilt and feeling

selfish because I have had to begin to say.. 

I'm sorry.. I can't right now.

(And it's not easy because I really do care.)

 At times, it's not even people asking.

My personality is that of a nurturer

  and so it's been a combination of 

wanting to and feeling obligated.

In order to guard the time that I have to study, learn 

and create, I have had to consider my motives for and

commitments to others very carefully. 

Being very sensitive but paring down. 

Anyone who wants to dedicate time to learning and

creating knows that it takes a lot of time of focusing

and hard work!

THE ARTIST IS NOTHING 

WITHOUT THE GIFT

 BUT THE GIFT IS NOTHING 

WITHOUT THE WORK. 

Emile Zola 

I am happy to say that the most difficult part of this 

journey is past. I have come to a place where I can 

give time to people in a more pure and balanced way. 

My husband and I talk a lot about these kinds of things.

And one of the things that I want desperately for my

children to get is to be wise in their decisions.

If you have dreams, and most people do, be careful

not to create a life that locks you into spending 

most of your time doing what you HAVE to do,

 instead of what you want to do. 

Those have-tos can be created

very easily and it's SO very difficult to 

then carve out time for your...

~DREAMS~ 

Some people spend literally hours every day

working at what they love and pursuing their dreams

and goals. I would have been very grateful as a young adult

to have these nuggets of truth safely tucked away

in my treasure chest of wisdom.

But I know as I have said before, 

~I can TRUST GOD with the 

TIMING of MY LIFE. ~

I do so hope that this has been encouraging to you

today. I hope the rest of your week is filled with peace

and fulfillment.

As always, I'm grateful for your visit here.

Thank you!

Tamara Xo

mixed media collage..vintage sheet music and gray lumber

Hello everyone..

I'm posting from my creative space where I 

dream and dream some more.

In this cozy and sometimes, very cluttered room,

I also create. It's the place where I am learning to

define the gypsy soul that dwells inside of me.

I am seeking.

I am striving.

I am in it with all my heart.

Vincent Van Gogh

My thoughts and ideas stumble over each other and try

to find a place of validation through the work of my hands.

BLISS

Here is the place where I escape one 

reality to enter another.

Both are places of contentment but they 

are usually worlds apart! 

Upon occasion, they find a way

to blend in perfect harmony.

Today, I'd like to share with you one of the few 

mixed media projects that I've done.

I love to work in this realm.

It's like a reckless abandon through

 my creative spirit.

What would life be if we had no courage to

attempt anything?

Vincent Van Gogh

These projects usually take me a long time

because I have not yet learned to fully

let my heart lead and I worry about

making a mess or mistake. I also am

learning about color, texture and balance.

And I am always open to suggestions

 and re-direction :)

I have been thinking of beginning a

sort of study of the Masters.

Any suggestions or recommendations here?

I love this quote by Vincent Van Gogh.

I long so much to make beautiful things.

But beautiful things require effort,

disappointment and perseverance.

Does it speak to you?

******

There is so much going on here 

(maybe too much) that it would be too 

lengthy to explain the entire process. 

But here is a list of the "ingredients"...

vintage sheet music

gray lumber

gesso

acrylic paint

glitter

stamping ink

hot glue

tacky glue

matte gel

alcohol ink

rubber stamps

stencils

sissix dies

paint brushes

silk

paper

brads beads

string

rusty nuts

rusty washers

carpet tacks

fabric 

lace

buttons

old bookbinding

zipper

tulle

silk

 Gesso was brushed on the sheet music

 first and then I painted over it with

a creamy white paint to soften the white.

I painted a red heart and chose my

co-ordinating colors and began to build.

I'm learning to thin paint and to use it

to splatter.. I love the look.

Expression without a box.

Still in the planning stage..

Adding some sparkle and glitz...

All finished..

Wishing you good things and 

thank you so much for stopping by.

Tamara xoxo