Let it Fly

Merry

Hello hello! Sorry to have been absent here for a bit. The holidays have swept us up and there is baking, wrapping, volunteering and all the things we love most about this season going on here.

I do want to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday and wish you all the best things for the swiftly approaching New Year. I love to hear from you and I thank you for the minutes you've spent visiting here in the past year. It is such an inspiratuion to connect with artists and friends from all over the world and it is one of my favorite things about having this space. 

You are good, kind, and inspiring and have brought me many smiles. Thank you so much :)

All the best to you and your families!

~see you back here in the New Year

~Andrea xox

This dream

I had this dream last night. So beautiful that I am finding it difficult to put into words. Real , concrete beauty and what I mean by that is that everything in it actually exists in life. Nothing imaginary like you might expect in a dream. Nothing fantasy. Real life beauty in a dream.

Gorgeous daylight pouring into a never ending expansive interior .....floating, transparent featherlight fabric draping languidly from shining copper tubes at the center of the ceiling . Warm, cozy golden bathed wooden floors and walls. And delicious glass. Rich, melting jeweltones of ruby, emerald and sapphire. Goblets and urns and finial topped decanters lined up row after row on amber shelves reflecting all the light hovering around the room and sending strands of colored light out into the air to catch dust particle confetti.

Man it was gorgeous and I'm pretty sure it will be with me all day. 

Grateful :)

P.S. I was going to attempt to give you a photograph here to invite the scene into your mind but came to the conclusion that my words and your imagnation would probably do a better job of conjuring. I hope you get a glimpse !

Advent Calendar

After surfing around the internet and gathering some ideas about advent calendars, we ultimately went with a simple but fun project. Envelopes!

My daughter and I decorated and numbered each with markers and I filled and hung them all up on a burgundy ribbon with clothespins. Very homemade, not elaborate, and just the way we wanted it.

I got some great ideas of things to put in the envelopes from here and here if you need some inspiration for your advent calendar. We put treats inside for some of the days, and also notes about volunteering at the food pantry and working at a local charity this season, as well as plans to spend lots of family time together baking cookies, decorating and playing games. 

Should be a fun way to enjoy the days leading up to Christmas :)

Re-Arrange

Something about getting organized for the holidays makes me want to move pictures around. Such a relatively simple way to infuse some newness into the house, so why not go for it? 

This is the largest wall space in my kitchen and this is how it has looked for months (years??)

I painted the wall a creamy white (it was a celery green) about 3 weeks ago and the wall has been bare since. This ironwork piece has always been a favorite but it needed a new home and ended up in the living room.  Gathering 3 pieces from other parts of the house and then 1 that I just created on my last trip to Squam makes a collection I really love for this wall.  Warm and cozy colors for the warmest room in the house.

The two paintings on the right are by an artist named Lorainne Skelskey Chapin and the photograph on the left is of Antelope Canyon taken by an artist from Stoughton, MA whose name I cannot remember unfortunately! Here are some close-ups:

(sorry about the flashy photo)

Always imagining walking down this sweet garden path......

Or climbing up into this magical canyon.

Or back in Pixie Campbells class spreading the pastels around with my finger tips :)

My decorating philosophy is pretty simple. The things we see every day should make us stop and gaze, smile,  and feel good. 

This wall fits the bill :)