A Little Positive Goes a Long Way!

I spent many hours today working at my computer, cleaning up folders, deleting tons of files. Why do we keep all that stuff, it’s gone, no turning back now.

Then I backed up all my files to both the external hard drive and the flash drives. Never hurts to have important files in at least a couple of other places.

While I was doing that, I was making notes for a positive post that I planned for New Years day. Thinking I could come up with something profound that might inspire others wasn’t so easy because you don’t want to sound sappy or a know it all. ;o)

Rather than risk that happening, I decided on this. I have this affirmation taped to my cupboard door and it serves me well. I posted it a while ago now when I finally had that “aha” moment when you really come to realize who and what is important in your life. It says it all, better than I could for sure.

At those times when I might for a millisecond doubt something or struggle with “what to do” or just feel kind of out of touch with things, I read this. It resides right above me while I’m at the computer, so no getting away from it. I hope it will help you. I can’t remember what site I found it on, but if you recognize it, let me know and I will add a link to the source.

If after reading it, you want to print this out, click here for a pdf file I made for it. I printed mine on card stock.

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AFFIRMATION

YOU focus on the people who love YOU

Your life is full of people who love you and want what is best for you.  Instead of worrying about negative people, you devote your time and attention to those who are a positive influence in your life.

You know there are people you can call when you need to talk.  You are blessed with friends who lend a listening ear and are quick to speak the truth when you are in need. You appreciate the people who are always there to encourage you when you need them.

You have friends and family who rejoice with you when you celebrate a success. You seek to be around these friends because success is sweeter when shared. You let go of concern over people who choose to envy you, rather than support you.

When you embark on a new risk, you hear the voices of your loved ones cheering you on in your thoughts.  You hear them say they believe in you and you shut out negative voices from your mind.

There is no room in your thoughts for people who dislike you, you do what you can to live in harmony with others, but you understand there are people who are difficult to please. You relinquish your desire to please critical people.

You stay away from negative people to keep your spirit uplifted.  You refuse to allow critical people to bring you down.  As long as you know that you have done your best, you are peace with yourself.

Today, choose to be thankful for the people in your life who are true friends. As you reflect on your life, you remind yourself how much you matter to those who love you.

Happy 2014

My last doll for 2013 is Fiona Froglace. She came up from the lower ponds where life was dull and meaningless. She felt the need to better herself and knew she would one day be a super star if only in her own mind. And she is, and this is the first day of a new year and what better way to celebrate than have Fiona brighten your day. You may need glasses, she has gone all out for you…

This was a class with Linda Hollerich, and was just so much fun to make one of her creations. Linda has such a great sense of humour and her own distinctive style.

Fiona was meant to have a petal skirt, but I took my inspiration from Martha May Whovier, from the Grinch movie with John Carey. Hilarious movie.

Martha May wore a young Ms. Claus type of costume with the white trim, a Santa hat and this type of swirly skirt. Fiona was ecstatic, she wanted a skirt just like it. The only difference is that the white fur trim is missing. I chose the ruffled ribbon instead as the white looked to heavy in proportion to the character and size of the dolls frame.

As for the pickle. I have no excuse. She was to have a gift box in her hand, but I couldn’t do it. I saw the pickle and knew it must go with Fiona. I tend to use only a few adornments with my dolls as I don’t want the embellishments to become the focal point and lose the doll in the process. In this case, the bright colours of her costume, the leggings and hair, made the embellishing easy. Less is best here.

She has a lovely fascinator made from a part of the leggings fabric, some of the ruffle trim and tinsel and of course just a touch of bling. It’s finished off with her poofy boa/ostrich feather trim. Enjoy.

 

As for my 2013 Roll Call. My journal for the year has been put to bed. I photographed and made a list of everything I accomplished. It’s wrapped with a ribbon and my new journal is ready to go. This will be my 3rd year of keeping a journal of everything I do. It was fun to go back over this years and last, to see just exactly what I did. I had even forgotten some things, so it helped to document it in pictures and words.

Here we go for 2013

Dolls  39,  Ornaments  80,  Sewing Projects  7,  Christmas Decorations  6 and Paper Art  8,  for a total of  140 projects. Kind of makes your eyes twirl at the thought doesn’t it… Taking time off for a week or so and focusing on some personal sewing and a set of table runners that have been screaming for me to get them done for 2 years now. I may even pull out a table topper that is already cut out, I just need to put it together. How does that always happen anyway…. So with all this………..

Fiona and I wish you all, the best the year ahead has to offer and have a happy creative, healthy year filled with fun filled events.

New Years Eve

Just in the nick of time I have one last post for 2013. I had two more ornaments to make. One for a friend and one for our own Christmas tree. Every year when I make ornaments to sell, I make an extra one for our tree but this year I was very late due to extra sales I wasn’t expecting. But my March Hare got done at the last minute. He won’t make it to the tree this year, but he’ll be ready next time.

I also made these place mats for another friend. Someone gave me the fabric ages ago. She was having furniture recovered and these were swatches that the designer brought her. She still had them and thought I might be able to use them… Perfect for these mats. I couldn’t post a picture until she had them. Of course I didn’t remember to take a picture either, so had to make a trip over to her to get a picture. Haste makes waste…;o)

Tomorrow I’ll post my last doll of 2013 and my 2013 roll call of projects.

A New Year, New Projects, New Word

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope the New Year greeted you with promise of better things to come. Did you “choose a word to live by” for this year. Each year I decide what is most important to me to fulfil for that year and this time the word is discipline.

I was fortunate enough, just before Christmas, to be asked by another shop in town if I would bring in some dolls again. I did sell there before, but the theme of her store has changed and it’s more ethereal/whimsical now and is very much in line to be filled with Jesters/Clowns and so on. The other shop I sell from is a different type of customer and space wise more suited to smaller dolls. So where does the discipline come into play????

Well, I have been doing some assessing of my schedule every week and the things I have planned for one store were already set, so now with a second store I had to start considering what had to go, because a person can and should only do as much as they are comfortable with. That’s what I’ve done. I’ve reduced my work load by eliminating things that someone else will have to do instead.

I’m also going to be more disciplined in that, I will be less spontaneous about the number of online classes I sign up for, and choose more thoughtfully about whether I can live without them or make a similar project from the skills I already have.

My health will take front stage, making sure that I take care of myself, get the exercise I need and eat well. Junk food has pretty much been a thing of the past for a long time, but reminders to keep them in the past are a good thing.

I will be less spontaneous about signing on for challenges. They will have to be challenges that I really really want to do because they will really have to challenge me and not just join in for the sake of joining in. A friend and I are challenging each other this month, to make a doll from a greeting card we found a few months ago. I’m calling it the “Where’s the Ha” challenge. My doll with be clay, Maria’s will be cloth.

I’ll be working through my stack of fabrics for clothing as well as dolls…but mostly clothes. I’ve been procrastinating for too long and complaining even longer that my clothes are boring and I hate wearing them over and over, so with that, I did make a new top in the last few days and will post that on my other blog tomorrow.. I have fabrics nicely stacked up with their matching patterns and will be working through that during the year. The complaining and procrastinating will stop.

On this blog  I will be posting in a couple of days, a doll I made over the holidays which is a Valentine theme. As I go today to pick up the remaining ornaments and dolls from Christmas, I will at least have a new doll for the shop already made up for Valentines Day, with hopes she goes to a new home.

Discipline round up.

• stay focused on making dolls for two stores now
• keep things off my schedule that I just can’t do and learn to say no without guilt
• stop procrastinating and complaining about the lack of new clothes and get sewing. Use what’s there before venturing off to the store for more fabric
• use the doll fabrics I have and don’t be tempted to buy more, unless it’s absolutely necessary to do so
• keep scratching things off my 2013 to do list. It was very successful last year, so keep it up this year.

And how about you. Will you find a word that fits your life for this year. Will you make a list of things to do or hope to do throughout the year and stick to it. I’ve really caught hold of and stuck with the de-cluttering mode over the last few years.

On the first day of the year, I take one spot in the house and de-clutter. This year it was a shelf of books in the bedroom. I filled a big bag and they will go off to the library shortly. During the year it’s a regular routine now, so once you get used to the idea of de-cluttering, it becomes something to look forward to. Start with a drawer and go from there, don’t take on a massive project all at once, you will most likely fail.

Keep it simple…. and with that, I’m gone for now. Have a wonderful day. If it’s snowy and cold at your house, stay in and create something wonderful, it’s sunny, cold  brisk and not a snowflake in sight, like it is here today, get out and enjoy it, breath in some of that nice fresh air and let Mother Nature rejuvenate you…..

Taking Inventory for 2012

At the beginning of 2012 I got this great idea to pick up a journal and each project I do throughout the year, I would photograph and glue into my journal, write a little note about it and at the end of year, see just exactly what can be accomplished.

So that’s what I did and when I took stock today of all the projects I did, it kind of made my head swirl a little. I wasn’t sure what a years worth of creativity would look like, but here it is. Some of these projects can be seen on my other blog if you follow me and can’t remember seeing them all. I’m not going to post pictures of everything, just give you a rundown.

I filled 55 pages of the journal for starters and in those pages are:

Dolls

• Cloth   18
• Clay   7
• Ornaments   47
• Bugs   2

The following on are my other blog  Northbrook Stitches

Needlework

• Finished a UFO Angel for the first project of the year
• Created 2 free cross stitch charts based on two of my dolls
• 6 Needlework Buttons
• TAST – which I didn’t finish. Started off strong, but had to let it go when I got to busy

Sewing Projects

• Gift package for a friend which contained: tote bag, wallet, pin doll, pin cushion, Kleenex holder, CC holder
• Two sets of curtains
• Altered a shirt for hubby
• Small purse
• Polar Fleece Vest and Jacket
• Set of 4 place mats

Knitting

• Two scarves
• 1 pair of fingerless gloves
• 4 shawls

Paper

• Set of 5 bookmarks from an Alice in Wonderland challenge

Crochet

• A really bright almost fluorescent green vest

And that is all…..I have my new journal in hand ready for 2013 and we’ll see how that turns out. So this journal is ready to be put to sleep now, it’s been busy and needs the rest.

Wishing all my blog readers a very happy, healthy, creative and peaceful 2013. Surround yourselves with only positive things and the year will be amazing….. Remember to get some good sleep to make you feel rejuvenated to create.

Make sure to take time out to meditate and practice your OM’s…. Do what the animals do, they seem to get it.

Keep well and see you soon, Romona

Saying goodbye to 2011

For me, saying goodbye to 2011 is a mixed bag. The year started off great. I was in the throws of organizing 5 days of workshops with Colleen Babcock and for a doll maker it doesn’t get much better than that. What a great experience it was for me and by all accounts for everyone who attended. A small glitch in the first minutes by someone with bad manners, but quickly erased by 5 days of intense but so satisfying doll making and chatter. The silly factor played a big role in class but we composed ourselves now and then, kept our heads on and got through it all…

Not long after Colleen left and for the next few months, things just went crazy. To sum it up, hubby had an opportunity to go to a new job. He retired from the military and prepared for the new job, but unfortunately that didn’t play out as planned. No matter, it obviously wasn’t meant to be.

Also during the time between June and September, not one, but both of his brothers passed away making for two trips home for funerals. While away for the second one, the reno’s got underway and that concluded a few short weeks ago. The house was upside down for many weeks, but the end result was all worth it and our guys were amazing and so is their work. In this day and age it’s very hard to find people to do work that well, so we feel very fortunate to have made this connection with Guy and Luc.

In October after Ute Vasina had been here, I decided to leave the doll club. Among other things I felt that I was losing myself as far as my creative journey. I could feel things piling up on me, and between dealing with “people” who are ill mannered and my duties with the club, I seemed to be out of focus where my doll making and other interests are concerned, so I pulled the plug and left.

I’m more than ever convinced that is was the right thing for me to do and that being a solitary crafter works far better for me. I can have my quiet time, my thoughts are more organized and I get so much more accomplished. I can get more done in 1/2 hr. of focused time, than if I plan a whole day. It’s finding or at least, realizing what it is that makes you your best, I have now gone back to that.

While cleaning up my computer (as one of my projects for getting back to being organized), I found some very funny moments in time. I made this doll years ago in an online class with Allison Marano and true to form I found a way to share the moment when I was working on Henley. He’s been living in Oz and from all accounts, very happy.

I will be carrying on with my finishing up of UFO’s and have already been organizing my schedule for the year. Not that it’s set in stone, but it’s working schedule and it’s open to change. My Hope to Do List is on the wall, I’ve been working on my website, and the Christmas decorations are put away for another year so that I can start off on a clean slate and clear mind.

So it’s been a crazy mixed up year, some very good moments to start off the year, and some very sad ones in between and ended on a happy note with the the house being brought closer to the year 2012 with the updates. Hopefully those will continue in the New Year with some updates to the kitchen and a new floor in our bedroom, but time (and money of course) will tell the tale.

We don’t  go out for New Years, but for those who do, be careful and be safe, but have fun. Apparently drinking a glass a water in between alcohol drinks helps ward off hangovers. Heard that on Dr. Oz.

2012 you’re just about here and I can’t wait for you. To all my followers and readers, I wish you nothing but the best for 2012. A clear mind, happy days and whatever you wish for that would make your life or someone’s close to you, that much better. All the best, Romona

Happy New Year to all my readers

May the New Year bring a bright positive feeling that lasts the whole year. The New Year has begun in other countries. Do you watch as the other parts of the world welcome it in. I’ve done that a couple of times, it’s fun to see how each country brings it in. Not always as we would expect.  We stay home and enjoy it on tv, so much safer and quieter…..lol

I love these vintage pictures, I could spend forever looking through pages of them.

Watch our for those bubbles, they really do tickle the nose.

Even the elves are out enjoying themselves after the Christmas preparations.

Isn’t this a gorgeous picture. No story here, just lovely graphics. Perhaps the New Year baby is thanking the moon for all it’s hard work throughout the year.

Father Time passing the job to the next in line. Keep well everyone and be safe….

A New Year is coming!

Here's wishing you all a great New Year. Poor ole' Santa is ready for a respite. He's worked pretty hard this year especially getting through all those weather systems. That must play havoc on his whole routine...
All the best to you who follow my blog and I'll see you in the New Year. Bring on 2010, I think we're ready for a fresh start...

Happy New Year Everyone !!!

Wow I had a busier day than I thought I would... I guess that might signal the type of year it's going to be and that's a good thing. I hope it's filled with tons of creative days. Today I spent it with a friend that I'm helping to build a website.

I don't make New Year resolutions, I stopped doing that a lot time ago. I think it's a recipe for disaster. It puts a person under to much pressure. A few years ago I decided that the only thing I would do each New Year, is promise to do my best at whatever I put my mind to be it personal or creatively.

Following my friend Serena, I've added one more concept. Serena found this post on Christine Kane's blog. The post talks about choosing a word for the year, that best applies to you and your intentions and what you see for yourself in the year ahead. The word I've chosen is Nourish.

I have since August been on a health and fitness program with the help of my Naturopath and GP. I'm doing very well with it, and so I will continue to Nourish my body with good food and exercise.

I will continue to Nourish my mind with good creative thinking and work to keep negative influences and people away from me, and surround myself with positives that keep that creative flow going.

I will also continue to Nourish my relationships with those who mean the most to me because good friends are hard to find and those relationships need to be nourished to stay healthy. With that, I will sign off. I wish you all a fantastic year ahead. Make every day count, fill it with all the things you enjoy and always find time to play.....



Happy New Year Glitter Pictures