thank you

I want to thank everyone who is reading these posts and seeing the message and getting it.

As a person I feel it is one of the most important things I can get across at this time to all who visit.

Its not easy being ..........

This came to me because I wanted to say its not easy being a caregiver...but then I heard Kermit the Frog singing in my head ...along with the other little voices....that live there.



anyway .. I decided to write that Life is Not EASY ...PERIOD. But you know, what if you don't go through the rough patches even the really scary ones... you won't learn to appreciate the good ones and great ones even more. I have asked for and received 3 miracles...John's first diagnosis and 2nd and 3rd. We may not have wanted them but they found them before it was too late.

So we hope and pray.



For example ...when John was diagnosed with the lung cancer inoperable and the doctors at Duke said sure we can get rid of that ...and they did. A unfortunate side effect of lung cancer is the cells travel to the brain during the treatment and lay dormant ...then pow you find out you have a brain tumor(this is called a brain metaste). This happened to John in January 2007. That one was removed and treatment was performed to keep any others from coming back, at least we hoped ...so We enjoyed life together...then on Valentines Day 2008 we were told another tumor was found.



That tumor was removed on February 21, 2008 John's 60th birthday. He is doing good but unable to work as the brain and the body has said enough is enough. This is hard for someone who has worked all of his life...So he gets grumpy. But I have to learn to deal with it ...Because I love him and he is still with me

So appreciate everyone in your life whether they are sick or not...because you just never know.

Piece of Mind....!!

This was a Piece I worked on one week while at Caring House the Adult Cancer House in Durham where we stayed from May to September in 2006 while my sweet hubby underwent treatment for stage 3 lung cancer. Which he was cleared of by October 2006.

Anyway .. I did not take my sewing machine right away .. so much of the work I did was all by hand...and took alot of patience to design and create....while going thru the rest of my life.. a hubby who was sick from chemo ....a place that although restful was not my home.

I created Coyote spirit because he reminds me of how helpful and ultimate survivor he can be . He adapts to whatever surroundings he is in and not only makes the best of it but he thrives.

This is not always copasetic with those around him because he is a bit of a trickster ..but is also a teacher , he will pass on his skills of how to make do in day to day life. I learned this from my studies in Native American Art and ways and my tiny but very important link to Cherokee Nation. My Great Great grandfather was full Cherokee from Tanasi .. now called Tennessee and was part of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. but as I said my link is but tiny to the world but huge in my heart.

It is this that I use to adapt to what is going on around me and how I learned to have patience with myself and others ( most times) and to make the best of any situation. When people whether residents or visitors would comment on my work I was happy to share and explain what ever I was working on...whether it was this piece or a fabric Postcard or Artist Trading cards...which I gave away at least one a day to someone .

You need to understand we were staying in a house full of people and their caregivers who for the most part were unhappy people who just did not know how to get to the positive healing attitude you need to beat cancer and feel good each day. So coyote reminded me to teach and share what I knew . The first thing I did was to bring my beads .. I had so many left over from bead store closing in Sept 2005 that I just brought boxes of Fun stuff and Memory Wire to make bracelets with. It was something that could be created quickly once the beads were selected,,,but selecting the beads were part of the fun...everything was in a big tray ...all mixed up the therapeutic aspects of sorting and feeling the beads between your fingers takes your mind off your troubles at the same time there was always someone else to sit there with and talk and commiserate about their lives with. Many Wonderful Friendships were born over that tray.Do to donations from people all over the world the tray has continued and expanded .. and local High school kids have come and helped...I visit everytime we go to Durham to see my friends I have there still. The tray will 2 years old on May 31, and it is still doing so much good.

So I took something so simple as a tray of mixed up beads and gave people the initative to think about something else other than the BIG"C" and helped them get into a new mindset on how to deal with the illness affecting them or their loved one. It also created a in house support group for everyone who wanted to be a part of it .

So Coyote spirit is more than a Art quilt it is a inspiration for a way of life and PEACE of Mind...

Ok here I am

Friends have asked me many times because there are ones I have never met what do you look like.

Well I turned 50 in January .. I am not ashamed ....my mother actually looks better than me at age 70 when we are together people think she is my sister ... so she either looks really young or I look really old .. so I take that one. But you know .. you are only as old as you feel and If I was as old as I feel most days .. I wouldn't be here.. but you just cannot let yourself react ... you just jump forward and do what has to be done.

This Picture was taken yesterday at the quilt show where my message in a bottle quilt is hanging. This is one of my accomplishments for the year with many more to come.

Have a wonderful day .. and tell the aches and pain and bad moods to go sit in the corner.

Why FairyGodmother??

There are new people reading my blog who do not know much about me or who I really am...the block above was something I was working on for SAQA 12 inch block auction but she needs work so this one is a new piece for my studio.

I have been creatively involved in life since I was 4 years old ...and because of that I am able to decipher and solve many things that leave other people wandering. One of my gifts was that i was raised in a huge southern family 13 great aunts and uncles and cousins and family tradition and sharing was a big thing.

I have always tried so hard to make sure people are taken care of... I would share my lunches at school ...this training for lack of better words put me in a place where when I started creating I loved to share the things I made, if someone fell in love with something I made at a show I would work it out for them to take it home ...depending on the financial reward or not. Children especially have always made me melt. I love to share. But I also like to problem solve, and to me given the challenge I will rise to it. ok so I digress...

When I had my bead store and then bead store and art gallery ...we had such a huge following because we taught our jewelry basics for free and could prove to people even those who swear they could not make anything that indeed they could. and a short time later they would leave with a gorgeous necklace that was just perfect for them because they made it. We would help people of all ages the youngest being 2 yrs old to 90 yr olds learn to create. People would come back again and again to Ocean Beads to make gifts, or get help in starting their business because they knew I and my daughters would share gladly. It was then they started calling me their fairygodmother and the first year we were in business I created the saying "NOT all of us can be Cinderella But some of us can be Fairygodmothers" which basically ..maybe your not perfect in the model since ...but you can give your heart to those around you who need it.

Then when Hubby had to be at Duke Hospital in Durham for Cancer treatment I would take my small wallhangings to work on and give them away to patients and caregivers..then it became ATCS artist trading cards so I could make more and give away more...made it a point to give away a least one a day. I also started the Bead Tray at Caring House ( avery special place for cancer patients to stay when far away from home) and taught people how to bead and make jewelry and get their minds off their disease or loved ones disease. The tray will be 2 years old May 31,2008 and High school students have been going in and helping the residents. Also bead donations have come in from all over the world after I posted on bead sites about the need.

It is so much easier to smile and be nice than to be grumpy all the time and it is the best thing you can do for your health.

So my love of random acts of kindness are what garnered me my nickname FairyGodmother...

and I will always be happy to hear someone call me that.

Amazing Fabrics

This was a challenge swop in Surface Design where we had a to chose a color that represented something to us. I think of Orange and yellows bright inspiring colors.....wakes you up and say hey look at me .. make me beautiful.

Well these Batik Flannels did just that along with another one of my word fabrics collected to my stash and treasured.

If you have not investigated batik Flannels do so you will be amazed at the VIBRANT colors and texture....it makes you want to play with it... the photo just does not do it justice...I love the flannel aspect because it frays and you can cut it out as I did here for the flowers and the edges just add to the project. also because of the softness of the fabric when you machine stitch it quilt or embroider it adds to the livcliness. It is great for many project .. from ATCS to PCs and journal pages and of course Art quilts. They are whatI used in the Looner Love quilt posted on my blog. I have collected many colors and can seem to do so much with them. So next time you are out stash building ... look for them... you will be glad you did.

Create ....and follow your heart