Paging Dr. Bronner

First it was Burt and his Bees. And now Dr. Bronner is living in my shower. The label on the packaging is a bit creepy, weird, odd, and way amusing. A few months ago this product was featured in my favorite magazine in the know written universe...BUST. My sister can tell you that we are both suckers for "new-to-us" products, even though we usually resort right back to our toiletry staples that we have been using for, um, decades. Sometimes we hit pay dirt. This liquid soap smells a bit on the hippie side...IE very natural instead of artificial sweet. So far I have scrubbed my face with it, made a bath soak, used it as a shower wash...and used it to wash my sensitive hair. It super cleans the hair, thus I have been using it once a week. It makes my scalp tingle....and so far that is the best thing to happen to me this new year. In other news my schedule changed big time at work (I start a seven day stretch on Tuesday night), a flu bug has found my nose, and the windshield wipers have stopped working in my car (so I am clueless as how to get them fixed over my seven day stretch...). I do have a few resolutions this year and I will reveal them with my next post. ... :)

Gnew

My new Gnome (a Christmas gift from the in-laws). He looks so calm and collected. As if he would rock back on his heels and start whistling as soon as I would leave the room. Note: He knows not that he is a cookie jar ;)

Rex

Adam Rex: his work makes me smile. And his little take on the holidays does just that. And for one that is a bit blue this holiday season because her tree stayed in the box in the attic, this illustration helped put things into a lighter perspective.... just a bit. May you find a reason to smile this holiday....

Magic

There are some little magic things that are helping me get through December so I can start again. Michael Parkes happens to be one of those things. Pictured above is his painting of Tuesday's Child. His work is described as magic surrealism...something I thought I would typically stray from. Alas, his lovely work has eased my troubled brow...just a bit. How I love the light of his skies and the weight of his forms. The other is the joyous writing of my favorite author in the whole wide know world of fiction, Jeanette Winterson. This season she has written a few superb words about her thoughts on Christmas....plus a new short children's story that was featured in Time: The Lion The Unicorn and Me. She is one that I would love to sit in front of a fire, sip tea, and have her read to me the thoughts that roam her mind....

Pledge

Dear Friends and Family,
This year I am taking the Handmade Pledge. This is my promise to the world of arts and crafts that I will support the creativity in others as well as myself. Trying to budget the time for inspiration is tough this time of year. I feel it will be worth the challenge for you and for me. It is with this hope and promise of art working that I plan to stave off the holiday blues. Wish me luck...Oh, the goodies that await each of you!

My Honey Bee

Ohio winters crack my hands. Sounds painful, and it is. To boot my skin is uber sensitive to just about everything (from lotions to types of fabric blends in socks...weird, huh?). Lotions for sensitive skins usually induce horrid winces of agony on my flesh...so I would rather have the cracks ache. Until today. I was out on a quick errand to grab The Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory ( an inspiring journaling man) when my poor hands had had enough. I knew the book store sold lotions and I braved the frilly section by the checkouts to seek something for relief....even if it would sting like crazy. What I discovered was Burt's Bees Beeswax Hand Cream. I was doing the I am in pain dance while I waited in the afternoon holiday lines at the checkout. And once I forked over the money...I opened the jar to find a bit a Bee Heaven. OH! It is the best stuff ever! It soothed and conditioned my poor chapped hands. AND it smells like bananas (a scent that I typically believe should be left in bread and ice cream pops). But in this little jar and on my hands the aroma was quite pleasing and calming. Oh, how I love my little honey bees....pray it may be fiction that they are in trouble

Sweet Home

This is my very first gingerbread house (kit). It looks completely different than the picture on the box. Surprise. I wanted to make my own house from scratch and thought it wise to pop $10 in order to experiment with a kit on the first go around. I was a little disappointed when I opened the box and the house was pre-assembled and only awaited decoration. My favorite things are the gum drop trees and bushes I made to animate the flat space on the house's little acre of snow. Even though the house was pre-assembled this sweet little house took me many many many hours to create. And it is now waiting for tomorrow in order to go outside and get sprayed with glitter and sealant.