Some of the Little People Hangin' round the Home.

These girls are two fabric teddies dressed alike as I made them to represent my mum and her twin.I did not name them after our girls though as I already have a Thelma and Joyce porcelain twins.These ones are named Letti and Millie. One is dressed in Debbie Mumm fabric abd the other just in country check,they have underwear ,petticoats the whole works and their little jackets are appliqued and hand painted name brooches.The other is little Mimmi she is lovely and just perfect the way she is a no frills girl just like me lol.

The stool they are sitting on was made by Bob and painted by me it is our family tree(needs a couple of names added Imust do that!),and they await in the hallway for something exciting to happen.They have been waiting a long time lol.


I thought I would share with you just a few of the lovely little people that share our home.In an earlier post I talked about learning a new craft each year,These girls are from one of those years.I just love making dolls and teddies.Although I have not made any for some time,it is a rewarding thing to do as you never get 2 the same.You watch as they form into shape and then the most exciting is when the face becomes alive almost.

These girls are also hangin' in the hallway just up from the others.They were a lot of fun to make.I have many hanging round on the walls I love them all,Lord knows where they will end up when I leave this world.

It is lovely to have things around us that we love or have made or painted etc but at the end of the day they are just material.They give us great joy when we look at them and sometimes pride but if they were taken away would we really miss them?
It brings the thought to  my mind about words.What it has to do with all this I do not know but I am going to run with it.
Lately I have been sharp in speech,not feeling well is that an excuse?It is not!...would I like my family to remember me by harsh words(not so much words but tone)   NO!!!or the gentle soft caring person that is really within YES PLEASE.

Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

How true are those words...have you been grumpy today? if you checked out for the wonderous heavenly place that awaits us what is the last memory your loved one would have of you today...BLUSH!! BLUSH!!
I think I better go say sorry for being grumpy,and put in place some sweet honeycomb for my loved ones soul.
Thank you for listening to me ramble ,in all of that a lesson came to me,whether you are of Christian faith or other it does not really matter ,for me the Holy Spirit used this post to remind me of that verse,if you listen to your inner self it is the same thing,the hardest part is being obedient to the message.
Have a most beautiful day.

                                                 Who's that hanging round my chickens?

On Thursday at the op shop I spotted a little person with no clothes and looking for somewhere to live.
I decided the buy the small child sized doll and shopped for some clothes for her at the same time.
All up she cost me $10.00 for shoes,shirt,overalls and a lovely little hat.
Our old scarecrow is looking delapidated and worn and lonely and my first thought was this little person would make him a great friend.
When I got home I rested Cloe (as I named her) against my new chicken house,The dogs next door went crazy barking, my Mum came out and said who's that? and then I realised that I had placed Cloe as if she were looking into the chicken pen and she looks just like a small child,she fooled the dogs and Mum!
Well it looks like I will have to make my scarecrow a new friend when I go shopping next week and buy some old clothes as Cloe loves looking at the chickens and looks like she is there to stay.
Cloe is serving 2 purposes,she gives Mum so much joy as she looks from the window in the kitchen she can see her,and as for me...well I miss my grandchildren so much that I have a little fantasy that it is one of them looking at "our girls". So for Mum it makes her 89 year old face lite up and for me Cloe just makes me happy,and she is so well behaved!

Would you believe the chickens like her too.How often do we think it is the big things in life that make us happy,when all along a little person someone else disposed of got a new life at our home,has filled us with joy this weekend.

God sends us little mysteries all the time,things to make us be thankful,things that make us smile,I believe he knew this weekend I was more fretful than usual missing my family who all live away and thought to himself "this will cheer her up"

Thank you Lord for all the lovely little joys you bring.

Each day is wonderful,full of surprises and although not feeling the best now for some time,I did not even think about that today.

Praise you Lord.

                                   Reflection on the gifts He gave us


Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts
 to be used in the service of others.
Use your gift well.
1 peter.4:10 cev


I was reading my little book that my grandchildren gave me sometime ago "His Princess..Love letters from your king" by Sheri  Rose Shepherd, in it is the verse above and I was thinking about the gifts that God has bestowed upon us. I am not actually talking of the  Gifts of the Spirit,(by the way have you been blessed enough to find yours)? I am talking about the little arty things we can do. It made me realise that we do many things in life and move on never realising that we weren't so bad at it.At the age of 47 I decided I would like to learn a new craft each year and I began with Folk Art.

 One of my first attempts at folk art( well good enough to hang lol).There were many things that were very bad and they are still around,in the garden,door stops etc lol where people will not notice them ,but to remind me that things do not have to be perfect to bring joy,because even those items gave great joy at the time of painting.

This was a fine brush type of work that was a joy to do, it ended up looking like tiles but it is actually timber squares with layers of gesso sanded over and over to a lovely smooth surface.

This is mt first cottage I ever did, it is not perfect but I loved doing it.

This was a really challenging work,the faces needed to be realistic and it had many textures and I still look at it and cannot believe I did it!

This is my first lamp and lace work with roses it sits in our loungeroom on a little table that belonged to a friend that has passed over,the cherrubs we call the twins,Mum is a twin and her sister has passed and this is in memory of Aunty Thelma,it is our little memory table.

This is our spice cupboard ,Bob made it from the back of an old wardrobe that we had,and this is my favourite rooster,he is my first one, I have painted dozens of them, on clocks on books,tables you name it! His tail alone always took a couple of days as it is layers and layers if hair fine brush work,he is a lovely fellow.

I rarely paint anymore,I moved on to bear making,quilting,embroidery,crochet,knitting so many wonderful crafts too many to mention,I have stayed with my idea of learning something new each year, sometimes it has had to do with outside the home in the garden but it has always been a great journey, I am perfect at none of them but it does not matter.As I moved around our home to decide which work I would take a photo of I did not pick the best or worst I just picked the ones with the vivid memory of being painted.I have asked myself today why did I stop?There is no real answer to that as we all change from time to time what we eat, wear,methods of doing things we change habits etc so therefore we change to another craft.

I have to say though that looking around me my family will be able to say one day,"gee Mum had a go at anything didn't she".All of them have a special something painted for them male and female alike,so a little bit of me will live on.

I am feeling a little sad though as I realise that God gave me the gift to do these things no matter what they turned out like and I am so grateful for the gifts he has bestowed upon me in everyday life,I wonder did I take them for granted then I realise that he opened another door for me and gave me the oportunity to learn much more,I have taken his blessings with open arms.Thank you Lord.

PS. A little post script for those who understand the gifts of the spirit,when I was baptised,born again,made my promise to our Heavenly Father and gave my life to him,I was told that my gift of the spirit was the gift of giving,I make sure that I make full that blessing I have been given and each day I give of myself,quietly,gently,I pass through each day ending it knowing I did something no matter how small for someone else.How wonderful to get some much joy from something that costs me nothing.Praise God.

Have a lovely sweet blessed day.