Christmas....?

I don't know what it is,

but I just can't seem to get in the 

Christmas spirit.

Maybe it's because 

I truly think 

people should be in the

kind, generous, loving

Christmas spirit

all year long,

every single day.

I feel the same way about other holidays - 

Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day...

I think people should honor their loved ones

every. single. day.

Speaking of loved ones,

here is a photo of my beautiful, dear daughter

and her thoughtful handsome fiance,

and their great big goofy lover-pie dog.

 They were here with last Sunday night with the rest of my family 

(plus another big dog!)

for dinner.

We do this every Sunday.

It's always full of people, food, 

laughter, fun,

and LOTS of love.

It's absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

Well, what do ya know --- 

I guess I am in the Christmas spirit,

and have been all along.

20% Off Sale in my shop - Small Business Saturday through Cyber Monday

Who doesn't love a sale?

Now through Cyber Monday, ALL items in my shop are 20% off!

So many options from jewelry to various types

of mixed media items, even dolls!

(And who doesn't love to shop with their jammies on...:)

And so much more!

See you there :)

www.etsy.com/shop/myseptembermoon

Day of the Dead

Day of the dead is drawing near!!  

Those of you unfamiliar with this wonderful tradition, here is a brief description.

 

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all banks are closed. The celebration takes place on November 1, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.

Come celebrate this amazing tradition!  

These are three Day of the Dead items in my shop.

And stay tuned...more to come!

Weekly Challenge: Roses

This week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue

is all about roses.

Create anything that has to do with roses.

Well, the first thing (or person, really!!) that I think of that has to do with flowers 

of any kind is

Frida Kahlo.

This hanging jewelry box was already made, but I thought it would be a perfect selection for the challenge.
Click on the pics to view them larger and in more detail :)

You can find it here.

 

Full of Grace

Mother Mary Full of Grace.

This could be one of very favorite pieces.  

It was amazing to work on, and I think it turned out amazingly.

I could hardly wait to let a stage dry before I could work on it next!

I would wake up at night,

and I would want to go look at it or work on it.

Now it's done, and I can't stop looking at it.

Really I'm not bragging;

I just love making art!!

I hope you like it too.

Here are more photos of the other sides and angles

of this beautiful bottle.
(You can click on the images to make them larger.)

You will definitely see more of these in my Etsy shop

Can you imagine having a collection of beautiful bottles

in a special place in your home?

I can.

Fall is in the air!!

  I can see it, hear it, feel it and smell it!

And I'm excited because fall is my very favorite time of the year.

Little signs are popping up here and there in our wonderful New Mexico way.  

The chamisa is in bloom,
the green chile is roasting on the street corners,
fresh red chile ristras hanging from homes and buildings,
little bits of golden yellow leaves on the trees,

and there's a little crisp in the air.

Most people think of the New Year and spring as a times of a new beginning, 

but my friend Laura and I see fall that way.

It's especially that way this year for me.

One of our favorite places to eat in the fall is

El Pinto.

Yes, it has good mexican food and margaritas,

but you should see the sprawling outdoor patio and garden!

The colors, plants and flowers in the front

should give you a little hint of what

I'm talking about.   

Tomorrow, I'm going to make a big pot of green chile stew.

Now what's more 'fall' than that?

Weekly Challenge

I belong to an Etsy team called Inspiration Avenue.  Each week they have a challenge.  This week it's to create something using wheels or circles!

Well.....I LOVE circles!

And I'm into decorating candles right now, so....

It's made with vintage dictionary pages, tissue paper (cut into circles!), hand-dyed rich purple silk ribbon, a vintage key, and a charm bead.  The candle is unscented and it's available here!  When lit, the text AND the images on the tissue paper are illuminated.  Exquisite!

I had fun with this challenge, for sure :)

It's a Blog Party!

Come join us

on September 23rd

Fairies' Tea

Blog Hop and

Tea Party at 

Inspiration Avenue!

Click HERE for info on 

SIGNING UP,

FREEBIES,

AND

GIVEAWAYS!!

See you there!

New old earrings

What a beautiful pair of antique sterling silver earrings.

From the 1950's.

Who wore them and where did she wear them?

When I see or find antique items, I always wonder about their story and their people.  

I have my idea about these.

What's yours?

(Available in my Etsy shop.)

Santa Fe Doors

This previous blog post inspired me to join Inspiration Avenue's Weekly Challenge!

I'm sure you've heard of or seen the beautiful doors throughout Santa Fe, NM.  In fact, it's been said that to build a house in Santa Fe, one must start by selecting a door, then build the house around it.  Here are a few jewels I came across last weekend.

(You'll notice I have interspersed some non-door beauty as well...)

This one is my personal favorites --- bright pink with milagros adorning it!

One of my favorite buildings on Canyon Road

It wouldn't be New Mexico without seeing the charming groups of mailboxes!

Beautiful, aren't they?

Just one of the hundreds of reasons I love living in New Mexico.

A little bit of Taos

Will and I love to go to Taos, NM.  And one of our favorite places is along main street right off the plaza --- The Adobe Bar.  It's located in the Taos Inn.  We were lucky to get a table outside.  This is the sign they've had since I can remember, probably since it opened!

Delicious food and drink.  They have the best margs!!  I would recommend the Cowboy Buddha :)

Another beautiful late summer evening in Taos.  I love New Mexico.

Notes, love letters, and diaries....

I frequent estate sales. With my mom.  She and I always go home with completely different things from one another.  She leaves with normal things , and me, you can't ever tell WHAT I'll come home with --- old books, lace, fabric, old photos, used and new art supplies --- you know, things I can use in my art!!  I love estate sales.

Well, one day my mom and I were in the open backyard of one, when I spotted a trash can with LOADS of old letters.  Just thrown away!!!  I grabbed as many as I could and rushed to the car.  When I got home I spread all the letters out in front of me, amazed at the moments in theses peoples' lives that were just thrown away.  I felt a little guilty reading all this personal mail, but I loved it too. They were wonderful!!! Such beautiful lettering and just LOOK at the decorated envelope in the picture above (you can click on the pic to make it larger)!

It made me sad because this is a lost art.  I remember letters and notes being very important to me.  I loved writing notes to my friends in junior high, gushing about my crush at the moment.  And remember folding them in all kinds of ways?!  Too fun. And I loved getting them!!  When my friends  would leave for the summer, we would exchange letters and I'd get so excited when I saw a letter in the mailbox just for me! And secret diaries!  Remember?!  I was always experimenting with different lettering and working on my signature.  Now you just select a font. Sigh. When my boyfriend left for college in a different state, we exchanged lots of love letters.  Every letter I found in my mailbox from him sent my heart aflutter.  And waiting for them just added to the excitement.  Now we can send someone a letter in a different country and, with just a push of a button, it is sent immediately.

Don't get me wrong; I love technology and its conveniences.  I just really miss letters.  I'm glad I rescued these letters from the trash.  To me, they're truly treasures.

The creative act is the secret to joy.

There's truly nothing more fun to me than painting, cutting and glueing.  It's just like being in the second grade again!  I sat down this morning with no more than a black small stretched canvas and a vintage photo of a darling little boy.  A few hours went by, and I was astonished --- I thought it had only been about 20 minutes! And this little piece lay before me.  'Tis now in my Etsy shop.

As Teesha Moore said, "The creative act is the secret to joy."

Late night wonderful chaos

     :)

Santa Fe Folk Art Festival

If you have never been to the Santa Fe Folk Art Festival, you are missing something WONDERFUL!!! Artists from all over the world come, many of them in their traditional garb.  Every bit of it is filled with culture, color, and beauty. It is held every July.

Sit back and enjoy.  And give yourself a real treat and click on the pics to enlarge :)

 Above is my sister,Julie (pink top), at the entrance. 

                                                          

                                           I fell in love with this jewelry!!!

                                                             Beautiful people.