I am a Calendar Gal! well almost...every year Creative Homearts puts out a calendar, my bunny is April! Spring time cuteness is hopping everywhere! Margot Potter designed the cutest Peep bunny necklace for ILovetoCreate. Designer Eileen Hull's Sizzix Scoreboards TM are featured in another blog hop. The talented designers involved are turning out gorgeous projects. I will be part of the next one coming up in two weeks.

Heidi Borchers, "Eco Heidi" has begun a campaign to recycle Starbucks coffee cups into amazing art pieces. She has a video showcasing the wall art created. Thinking it would great for Tim Horton's in Canada! The numbers of cups thrown out everyday is staggering. In Canada we roll up the rim for prizes, thinking roll up the rim with a prize for recycling would work. How cool would it be to see recycled cup wall art in every Starbucks and Tim Hortons! Lets put the heART in ART! Debra, CEO!

My Mom reunited with my Dad a year ago today. His birthday was yesterday. I like to think of it being the greatest gift he received, both of them to be together again after thirty years. Theirs was a true love story. This week I am visiting a dear friend in the palliative care unit, another beautiful love story. Life is simply a love story, who we love, how we love and live. May you walk today in love, each and every day always. Debra

Crafty Spring roundup for this week! One of my very favorite crafting techniques is needle felting. In this week's Creative Buzz is a cute little chick in gardening gloves. The chick is half a STYROFOAM TM egg shape and needle felted with yellow Wool Wisps from National Nonwovens. Super easy and quick! A cute Easter gift.


(photo courtesy of Creative Homearts)

This week a new episode from WCK, When Creativity Knocks, a chat with crafting icon Carol Duvall. I saw Carol at the winter CHA show, she is still going strong!

Have a great week! Follow the JOY! Debra

Fowl Friday! Fran here without Freda today. She is nursing a twisted neck, nothing too serious but requiring an ice pack. She is not a good patient, quite demanding in fact! Bring me juice, fluff my feathers, scratch my foot, no the left one. Luckily I could escape with the excuse I had to write today's blog post. It is going to take me soooo much time to peck it out today! Then of course I have to clean the keyboard. Debra complains I spit or drool when posting. She is kind of a neat freak anyway although while she was finishing her book proposal this week things got a little on the messy side. The dust bunnies were getting scary, even the cats looked afraid! There was so much fabric piled up in her studio I couldn't see out the window! Yes I know I am not the tallest chick but still I usually have no trouble enjoying the view. There is a cute red cardinal who visits the old apple tree everyday.

However I digress...back to Freda and her neck. How did it happen, I am sure you all want to know and I can't wait to tell you! Last evening as we got ready for bed Freda decided to try something. I am not sure what she sees when she looks in the mirror but her body image is apparently not accurate. Beside the bed is a bird cage filled with dried hydrangea from the garden and roses which keep arriving regularly for Debra. (Another story for when she is away!) Well Freda decided to "stop and smell the flowers" and proceeded to do so by cramming herself through the bars. Apparently she thought she could fit easily but apparently she couldn't as she is slightly wider than the bars! Her neck was wedged and we had to pry her out. A little olive oil helped ease her out. The dove assisted and managed to be very sympathetic with only a small grin on her pretty pink face. Sigh I would give a million for those cheek bones! Anyway Freda's neck is slightly swollen but very soft from the oil. A weekend of resting will help, no Saturday night disco for her! Till next Fowl Friday! Fran  

My heart this week turns to remembering my Mom and this week last year spent with her as she left this world. Now a very best friend who has battled long has entered the palliative care. It is a place where there is no room for anything else but the heart. She is a wonderful woman with a most loving family. She has been in my life for thirty five years and for that I am truly blessed. We shared our lives, there for each other on life's journey. All I know is Life is simply a Love story. Debra

Each season evokes a certain feeling and with spring comes hope, a promise of life, growth, renewal, a freshness to be felt deeply. I missed last spring, this same day last year I flew home early to be with my Mom and spend her last week gently and lovingly guiding her from this life into the next. All that followed filled my life and I do not remember spring's arrival. This year I have found spring again, I am arriving into this spring with a new love to share my heart. My lovely daughters are finding their way into their own lives and futures. Life is one of constant change, movement, journey and with spring's arrival there is a youthful carefree sense of impatience. I am embracing the heady exuberance of spring, of possibilities and promise, of new paths to follow.

With this delightful season comes the opportunity to freshen the house with feathery chicks, soft hued eggs, delicate ribbons and nature's accents. The tablescape pieces I created for Homearts magazine make a lovely seasonal table setting. In this "Make it Green" column any kind of reclaimed bottle or container can be used as it is hidden in a cardstock embellished surround. The table pieces use Mrs. Grossman's very sophisticated laser stickers. They are just beautiful! Create some springtime! Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!

(with Andrea Grossman at Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Company)

Spring has officially arrived and here in the Maritimes we like to celebrate with a little dusting of the white stuff once again! A light snowfall adds glitter to the colorful crocus! The latest issue of Homearts magazine just arrived in my mailbox, this bunny I loved making. I have to admit needle felting whimsical characters is my favorite craft! It is an easy portable craft, I have step by step instructions on my How To page!

STYROFOAM TM brand foam is so easy to needle felt with. Paper craft brads are ideal for eyes and noses. If you stick an eye in the wrong place you can always move it!

I am busy finishing up a couple big projects, the outcome you never know! I am doing my best work I can and the rest will be decided. All I know is to "Follow the JOY!" Debra

 It is FOWL FRIDAY! Fran here with Freda as we all know by now the dancing fool! She has been trying some new moves which have resulted in her putting something out of joint! We have been immersed this week in a heated debate with a couple of apparently adorable "chicks" that Debra has out for her so called spring decor. Just what we need more birds and eggs around here. Freda & I seem to be lacking apparently in the too cute factor. We think cute is vastly over rated. Sassy and smart is in, that's us well that's me anyway, Freda is a little iffy at times but does surprise me often with her in depth analysis of the agricultural news. She keeps me current on how many roosters are within a 100 mile radius.

Back to these chicks who are barely dry out of some very strange looking eggs and yet feel they know everything! The big debate has been of course "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" They hold the position of the egg coming first or there wouldn't be any chickens. Freda and I maintain the chicken came first or how could there be any eggs to begin with. It isn't like a reptile one day long ago laid its usual eggs and surprise,  a chick popped out of one. What ever anyone believes we all came from some where to start this whole planet and so did a chicken! We are working on tracing our ancestry to settle this debate with these chicks who definitely need a feather cut!

The only break we have had lately is when one of the in house felines decided to "entertain" the chicks. They disappeared and were found later under the couch a little dusty and damp but fine. Now they are back perched on the sideboard waiting for more chicks to join them. Personally I think the chances of those "eggs" hatching anything else would be a miracle! So the debate will continue while Debra is busy finishing a book proposal and several deadlines. Her studio is, what did she call it earlier this week "creative frolic", we are thinking it looks like a fabric explosion! Follow the Fowl! Fran & Freda!

Earlier today brought a lovely surprise! I was nominated by the talented artist Jen Goode  for the Kreativ Blogger award. Jen draws the most delightful whimsical penguins! The info on the award comes courtesy of Jen which came from the also very talented artist Tara Reed who nominated Jen!

Apparently the "Kreativ Blogger originated in May 2, 08 in a post by Huldas Verden as noted by Clay Garden author in this April 2009 post: Finally I found that it was started in Norway by a blogger named Huldas Verden." (courtesy Tara Reed) It definitely is a small world one that reminds us how close we are to each other, there are no barriers of distance and language. 

For this lovely award I am to:
1. Thank the person who has given me the award. 
     Thank you Jen Goode, both very sweet & talented artist!
2. Copy the Kreativ Blogger logo and place it on your blog.
     The pretty logo is in my sidebar.
3. Link back to the person who has nominated you for the award.
    1st line of post
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. 
    1. Bunnies, birds & snowmen are my favourite characters to create. (big surprise!)
    2. I eat the same breakfast every single day. (boring I know!)
    3. My studio is either very neat or a creative chaos. (sometimes the door is open)
    4. I choose not to drive, preferring to walk or fly. (I hide my wings well)
    5. I have to work facing a window, sunshine is very inspiring.
    6. I dance around the house almost everyday to very loud music. (the cats scatter everyday too at the same time!)
    7. I love to play Scrabble. (my girls humor me & play with me on my birthday)

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
My choices are wonderful warm generous talented artists, designers & most important of all to me, my friends who continually inspire me!
Margot Potter-Amazing & inspiring!
Eileen Hull-Delightfully creative!
Candie Cooper-Charming & very cool design!
Tiffany Windsor-Spreading the love of Crafting!
Brenda Pinnick-A color genius!
Sarah Hodsdon-Inspired sweetness & cool creator!
Phyllis Dobbs-Fanciful, fun & generous artist!

This has been a lovely surprise to be nominated and to be able to nominate some of the incredibly talented artists that I am so grateful to know! Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!

Inspiration is defined as a "stimulation of the mind or emotions to a higher level of feeling or activity."  We see it happen all around us, the generosity or character of someone like Mother Teresa inspired millions to be more caring and selfless. Music inspires emotion often expressed through the joy of movement, dancing. Loving inspires lives to connect, to change, to make a difference. 

Inspiration & Creativity. The artist captures feeling, the message on canvas and the audience is continually inspired to feel deeply when they experience the piece. It is all about the emotion, the quieting of the thoughts and the falling into the feeling. The ordinary is transformed into the extraordinary. Those are the moments that infuse life with excitement. "Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away." 

With my work, what exactly is that feeling, I would describe it as a mix of imagination and excitement. Something I see inspires an idea for a new design, a kind of "aha" moment and an impatience to try it out immediately! Sometimes just doing nothing, letting the mind wander brings all kinds of ideas. In the mornings the view outside my window in the dappled sunlight is always inspiring, a tiny lively world lives in the branches of the apple tree. With each season the colors, the shapes change and it is constant source of inspired delight. It is barely spring here so the branches are stark in the sunlight, silhouettes are striking. The early morning finds many small birds flitting in the branches. Their energy is catching and the scene is one to be captured perhaps in a pillow design. Always Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!