Personal

we survived again….. Happy Spring to all!


have just finished this book and am feeling quite brave. encouraged that there is a big fabulous world waiting for me. am ready to fly. daydreaming about:

12:00 noon yoga classes

morning tea in a ceramic mug

afternoon visits with mom and abby

inspiration at midnight, following it ’til dawn

editing photos in the van, at the ocean on a thursday

For most my life I have really hated the month of March. I am always ready for spring but March is just a month in between, it isn’t winter but it isn’t really spring. It is rainy and chilly, and I am ready for change. I am always tired of my warm clothes, sick of boots and finding matching socks. When I go shopping to find something new, everything is much too lightweight and "springy" to wear right away. There are no fun holidays, except one involving green beer and I am not Irish. Sometimes Easter lands in March which makes it a little better.

Early on March 14th 2004, My Mom called to let me know my Grandma Jo had passed away. As I climbed back in bed after my Mom’s phone call, I told Jon about my Grandma and said "I’ve always hated March" and I cried myself to sleep.

The following week while we prepared for her funeral, I enjoyed staring up at pillows of pink blossoms with my puffy eyes. I was in a daze as Jon drove me around town, I would quietly stare out the windows. I had red sunglasses at the time with pink lenses. Looking through them I couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was, driving past one brilliant pink tree after another. As each blossom bloomed, I found more comfort in their beauty, I started to like March a little more.

Each year since then, I eagerly wait for the big pink explosion in mid-March! As I drive around looking at all the blossoms I think about my Grandma a lot. I remember going to horse races and movies together. I think about the funny little tasks she would ask me to do, so she could "pay" me. She believed in working to earn your money but never really wanted me to work too terribly hard. So I would do silly tasks like rearrange her furniture or address her Christmas cards. I often think about her trying to teach me to knit. With her by my side, I would knit and pearl away creating a little blue scarf. The minute I was on my own, I would get completely lost and mess it all up. She fixed my mistakes with ease. I remember not wanting to visit her when I was on a diet. I miss her extra cheesy macaroni and cheese and piles of homemade french fries served on paper bags. I know all my former roommates remember the miniature peanut butter cup cookies, carefully arranged on a styrofoam tray. She always sent an extra batch home for them. She would say "Now, Heather don’t eat all those, I made them for"….. Jon, or Ember or Cory, whoever I was living with at the moment. I think of her standing on her balcony, waving goodbye and yelling "Love You" with a HUGE smile on her face.

She pretty much planned her whole funeral for us, from the hymns to the prayer cards. She was always taking care of us. I made the beeswax collage above from her prayer card. It reads:

In Loving Memory of

Josephine D. Osby
1920-2004

God of Heaven and Earth, we rest in your love the life of our beloved. We pray, as you have always directed and consoled your children in this life, that you will be pleased to accept this one we send to you in death and through our prayers. May our beloved share your home with your angels and saints forever and ever.
                                                                                                                                            -Amen

collection: A group of objects or works to be seen, studied, or kept together.

"Look at what I just bought in the gift shop, it’s a New York snow globe. It was really hard to find one that wasn’t tacky. Isn’t this one so cute!?! I’ve been thinking about starting a snow globe collection for awhile." Michael looked puzzled and asked "Are you planning on being one of those ladies that has a big glass case with special lights that dusts their trinkets all the time?"  As I showed off my new purchase and shared my future plans of collecting, Michael may have seen my future in my snow globe like a crystal ball.

I remember my Grandma announcing that she would like to collect elephants. Everyone in the family was so excited to finally have something to buy her for the holidays. Quite quickly her living room started to fill up with a variety of elephants. Including some cheap wind chimes I had bought down in Mexico. A few of them broke in transport but she still hung them up. For around two years, the elephants just kept marching into my Grandma’s house…one by one. Then one day (I think it was her birthday) after she had just unwrapped a new herd, she announced, "No more elephants!" She explained that when she told us about her desire to collect elephants, she intended to buy them herself. There was a certain style of figures that she was interested in collecting. I realize now that she wanted to carefully select her own special elephants. She wanted to collect ones that made her happy and gave her energy. Instead we bought her whatever elephants we could get our hands on. We had the best intentions, but missed the mark. As quickly as it started, my Grandma gave up on her collection.

Because of this I have been hesitant to announce my desire for having collections. As I was unpacking from my little NY trip I realized that my new treasures made me feel energized. The other morning I shook my new snow globe on my way out the door and then skipped to my car. Feeling quite stylish, I kept looking down at my new funky ring designed by Michal Golan on my hand. The other evening I worked on journal pages from New York. I added special bits and pieces from the trip. Many of these little details would easily slip away if I didn’t glue them down. A new handmade Eiffel Tower arrived in the mail, it is made out of beautiful printed paper. It looks perfect on our mantel. After enjoying these items, I have decided to share the very beginning of my own special collections.

Upper Left- Journals, here is a small sample of my visual journals. May the pile continue to grow for years and years…..

Upper Right- Michal Golan jewelry. At the moment this is a small collection, but I picked up the catalog in NY and will be adding more to it soon. Her beautiful jewelry is available online at Stylism.

Lower Left- Snow Globes, these I am going to have to be VERY picky about! After poking around on Ebay I have realized that there are a lot of ugly snow globes in the world. Both of these are miniature and were found on trips to Venice and New York. Announcing this collection makes me nervous, I fear the elephant dilemma. I will only allow snow globes that make me happy when I shake them to be apart of my collection.

Lower Right- Eiffel Towers. I bought the first little metal one after a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower with my friend Ember. For Christmas, Em surprised me with a vintage charm bracelet. It has sweet little charms from all the places we had traveled together. My favorite charm is the mini Eiffel Tower. The large glitter glass tower is sparkly and beautiful, I use it in my display at wedding shows. The little paper tower is my newest addition which I think tipped this into collection status. The delicate tower was handmade by Studio Sharp. Check out the blog to learn more about the artist.