Stone of the Week

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth

The peace that was meant to be.

With God as our father

Brothers all are we.

Let me walk with my brother

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now.

With every step i take

Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment

And live each moment

With peace eternally.

Let ther be peace on earth,

And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth

The peace that was meant to be.

With god as our father

Brothers all are we.

Let me walk with my brother

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now.

With every step I take

Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment

And live each moment

In peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.
Wishing all a happy holiday filled with peace and joy!!

Stone of the Week

I am back after recovering from oral surgery. I am glad I took the whole week off, I was not functional until Thursday and there is no way I could have worked or been able to see patients. I can't believe how much time I needed to recover and get my "sea legs" back. I have been lucky that the pain has been minimal, but I have bruising that showed up on my face today! Good timing with starting a new job, they are going to think I have domestic violence issues! To celebrate the beginning of what may be my dream OT job and honor the loss of a tooth, I have picked another double sided stone that resembles a tooth. This stone has the word BELIEVE on one side and DREAM on the other. This is also a new stone in my shop added this past weekend. Two very important words in my world!

The past 3 years have been very difficult years for me on top of an already difficult time. In 2006 I had taken a position of Director of Rehab at a skilled nursing facility. I thought it was the opportunity of my life. Well it ended up being my biggest mistake. I left that facility in the winter of 2007, after spending months interviewing up and down the seacoast not finding work anywhere close the the town in NH I live (and was adamant about continuing to live). I took short term contract work in various parts of the state while continuing to interview (I have plenty of headhunters). After a lot of soul searching I decided to change my focus from administration back to clinical and refocus on out-patients/hand therapy. Then the economy tanked. After 4 months of unemployment, I basically have been surviving on contract work that can be very unstable, along with starting my Etsy shop. I have been exhausted commuting 1.25 hours in 1 direction and the work environment of acute care is stressful and physically demanding. I am too tired for my art, and too tired for Etsy.

Well I have been saved by a dream opportunity! A wish I made in January has been granted for me: I as of today, I will be working in out patient/hand therapy at the local hospital in my town(temporary for now with possibility of becoming permanent). Yes! And the coolest thing is that this opportunity came to me, I was not searching (I kinda gave up) one of my recruiters found it for me. So I must honor the words "Believe" and "Dream" on 1 stone.

Stone of the Week

This week's stone is a unique double faced stone of Ancient Egyptian images that stands up by itself. I was lucky to acquire a handful of stones that "stand on their own." These stones are flattened on one side allowing he to "stand" or have height to them. Because of the unique shape I can put a different image on each side of the stone, creating a two-in-one beach stone! To me this stone looks like a giant whale tooth. The colorization of a light granite gray speckled with dark grey granite. The unique shape of this stone gave me two work surfaces for creating. Playing around with some of my images I wanted too combine two great Ancient Egyptian icons: the Eye of Horus and Isis. In another time-space dimension I would be an Egyptologist. My beach stones allow me to create artwork based on one of my passions. The Eye of Hours is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities. The Rx sign for pharmacies is derived from the Eye of Hours. Isis is a goddess from Ancient Egypt that was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patron of nature and magic. Isis is the mother of Horus. She was instrumental in the resurrection of her husband Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Isis is usually portrayed as a woman, wearing a headdress shaped like a throne. I love his stone because of the natural beauty of this stone. But I love it more because it allowed me to combine two images on one stone. The Isis image is delicate, fine and detailed contrasted to the bold and simple Eye of Hours. The cool shape of the stone allows it to sit flat on a desk or alter an either image to be displayed.

Stone of the Week

So far, so good. I am keeping up my end of the bargain here, a weekly entry about a stone listed in my Etsy shop. Today I am picking my Sasquatch Beach Stone. Two summers ago I started traveling down to Rockport, MA with a good friend who introduced me to the coolest beach. It is completely covered in stones! The stones I find here have the most amazing colors and are incredibly smooth. This particular stone has a lovely milk-like translucency with a hint of yellow veins. The symbol is a right footprint. The footprint has many meanings from the celebration of a birth, inspiration or hope, or a super-natural creature. My little joke is that my brother had a very particular nick-name for me as a child and as a teenager, I used a footprint as my "symbol." The unique thing about my "symbol" footprint is that mine only had 4 toes!

Stone of the Week

7 Circuit Labyrinth 1.75x2.5" Beach Stone: This unique stone was collected from a beach in Rockport, MA. It is oval in shape and fits nicely in the hand. It is colored light sandy brown with black inclusions throughout. It is decorated with a seven circuit square shaped labyrinth. This labyrinth image is very primitive in nature, and is similar to the types that have been found in cave paintings.

Stone of the Week

To get me to blog more regularly I have decided to add some structure to my blogging. I am one of those people who work hard but I am also a great procrastinator; I do great when I have a deadline or someone else is involved. So to add structure and a sort of "deadline" I have decided to create a weekly blog entry: "Stone of the Week." Each week I will pick a beach stone from my shop and blog about it. My description's for my beach stones are pretty plain, this will allow me to tell you stories about each stone. When I create my stones it is a truly intuitive process; each stone tells me what design it wants before I decorate it. The rock tells me if it wants a word or an image. And if it is not meant to be, the design falls apart and I have to start over. I am always surprised at how lovely they turn out. I have so many favorites! You will find lots of beach stones tucked away in various corners in my home!

This week I am picking one of my favorite stones in my shop right now. My "Shanti" beach stone turned out so lovely. It is very smooth and fits nicely in your hand. It photographed nicely showing off it's unique colorization. I like how the font compliments the foreign nature of the word. Shanti means peace, so this stone is special by he message it conveys.

Halloween Collages

Today I posted several more of my Halloween collages bringing the total up to 5, a number requiring blogging. My Halloween collages are made on 4.5x6 inch by 1/4 inch thick plywood. I take images of my mother as a young girl alone and with her family and alter them with silly hat or outfits. Some earn text! I then make a paper collage of vintage images and di cut shapes of current paper and other found halloween based items. Glow in the dark glitter was used on several of the college pieces & look very cute glowing in the dark. Each collage is topped off with a hanger accented with a raffia or satin bow and wooden beads.

Current Projects

Here are a few samples of my newest creation for my Etsy shop. These are called Collage-Assemblage Wooden Tag Ornaments. The tags are plywood wood shapes including a traditional star, primitive star, traditional heart & primitive heart. Each piece is first painted with Jacquard Iridescent acrylics. Once dried I decoupaged torn papers over the shape, I accent this with a word cloud quote about love, life, laughter & friendship (the most important ingredients to life). The tags are further decorated with glittered paper hearts, stars, dragonflies, cupids, butterflies & sun & finally embellished with various beads & ephemera including butterflies, birds, bees, dragonflies, butterflies, leaves & MORE! Finished with an organza ribbon for hanging.