Parting in such sweet sorrow...

One of my closest friends is moving.

This is inevitable when you are associated with the Armed Forces. It has been my entire way of life.

I made her this lovely gift:

She and I were both on the USS Kearsarge together, and spent many hours with each other - both underway and on liberty. She has become part of my family, my sea-daughter.

I have been saving this book for an occasion such as this. It is titled "The Sea Around Us." Very fitting, I think!

The purple block is a flash drive with copies of pictures from our time together on the ship.

I hope she remembers her time on board fondly. We went thru a lot, personal and professional pain. But have both emerged much stronger for it.

I love you, Christina! You have made me proud.

Finally...!

My muse is back!  I had allowed daily stress to push her out of the way.   Oh, how I missed her!  

But this weekend was a busy one.   On Friday I accomplished  a goal that I had set for myself.  I have been feeling very successful since then.  And on Saturday I spent the day in the studio.  

And today my husband and I buckled down and did some good old fashioned cleaning.  Whew.  Busy like a bee, I tell you!  

But let me share some of what I have done:

I bought a dictionary at a used book store - just so I could cut it up. I love the look of these little flowers. They would be perfect on a librarians desk.

And this little number is my first real attempt at paper piecing:

My mom and I have been playing around with the idea of opening up an Etsy store.   These were made with the thought that maybe they would be worth sharing with the world.

We'll see!