"I want you to know, Anna, that I've ordered up another year for you.
Think I'll call it 2010.
I'm going to put most of the same people of 2009 in it, since you all think so much alike. But there'll also be a few new, very cool cats coming to play - give them some time to grow up though.
And I'm going to have things start off pretty much exactly where they left off in 2009, for continuity's sake. Flips folks out too much when I don't.
All in all, 365 more days in paradise... and only one request of you:
DREAM BIGGER."

Sharing with all of you my TUT Note from the Universe today... So, let's, shall we?  Happy first day of the year! 

As I reflected on the decade that passed, I thumbed through Julia Cameron's Blessings, in search for a prayer with which to begin 2010 and end 2009.  Here is what I was led to:

"New, wonderful experiences now enter my life.  I am safe."

-Louise Liltay

I WELCOME THE ARRIVAL OF NEW LOVES

I give thanks for my new friendships.  I welcome my new loves, my new acquaintances.  Knowing that we have intersected as part of a higher plan, I extend my heart and my hand to new people and new events, welcoming them home to their place in my world.  Rather than live in a closed, insular, and distanced manner, I fling open the doors to my heart.  My life is a courtyard filled by the sun.  My courtyard is peopled by those I love and those whom I am learning to love.  I bless my capacity to love.  My capacity to love blesses me.

- Julia Cameron

Amen to that!  As the decade draws to a close, I am in huge, heartfelt gratitude for all the lessons learned, events that have urged my heart where it needed the extra softening; where I needed to listen to grace; claim my inner voice; heed the wisdom of guidance... I know for a fact that I am being honed and molded everyday as I partake in creation.  I am always humbled and in awe of the possibilities.  Thank you, everyone! Thank you, 2000-2009 and everything before that!  2010, here I am!

Christmas at the studio was a very fun and busy one.  Two posts earlier, I showed original paintings, and hinted that there will be other incarnations of them.  Well, here they are:

Prints mounted on wooden plaques, with a film of beeswax splashed on to seal the deal!  I am loving architectural appliques, and have been using them a lot, I have noticed.  Here is a close-up:

Here are these prints' other incarnations:

Pillows!!

Still, there were other projects for each person on my list:

Painted and stamped letters +

or, here's another one of these cotton candy babies...

and another one (I can't resist, I have to show them all)...

and...

=

Painted and stamped letters with their very own cotton candy girl attached to them.

All of these gifts came in red and white houndstooth packaging finished off with red velvet ribbons and sparkly red ornaments:

Here are the full-wrapped versions:

All wrapping courtesy of Hobby Lobby!  Of my Hobby Lobby loot, I particularly lover these red tissues with white swirlies.  Here's one of my creations snuggled in them:

        I can't help but admit how much I love giving handmade presents out, and I love it even more that people generally do not want to open the packaging in which the presents come.  Topping that is the reaction I get from people when they've opened their gifts... "Priceless!" as one credit card ad says...

It never fails to happen... it's this time of the year when, for some odd reason, I think I'm Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson, Frida Kahlo, Rosa Rosal and Oprah all rolled into one woman-- I plan on all these things being accomplished, only to wonder why I didn't start these projects in June. I really wanted to write something meaningful, elegant, touching and warm (and sort of goopy) for all of you in my FB network, and guess what? I found the very thing I'd like to say to all of you in my gmail inbox today. It's ironic that it really veers from my tradition of personalized, crafted and made by me, but it says everything, so here's my TUT note from the universe today...

"If it's not yet obvious to you, the real reason for this, and all seasons, is you. A more perfect child of the Universe has never lived. Until now, only celebrations cloaked in myth and mystery could hint at your divine heritage and sacred destiny. You are life's prayer of becoming and its answer. The first light at the dawn of eternity, drawn from the ether, so that I might know my own depth, discover new heights, and revel in seas of blessed emotion.
A pioneer into illusion, an adventurer into the unknown, and a lifter of veils. Courageous, heroic, and exalted by legions in the unseen.
To give beyond reason, to care beyond hope, to love without limit; to reach, stretch, and dream, in spite of your fears. These are the hallmarks of divinity - traits of the immortal - your badges of honor. May you wear them with a pride as great as the immeasurable pride we feel for you.
Your light has illuminated darkened paths, your gaze has lifted broken spirits, and already your life has changed the course of history.
This is the time of year we celebrate all of you."

So... give beyond reason, care beyond hope, love without limit, reach, stretch and dream in spite of your fears... nice to remember for today and 2010... and I'll even add that perhaps this year, I feel like I've been blessed to have been taught these and execute them in one way or another. Thank you, everyone! 

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas.  Various decorative papers.  A lot of Christmas Cheer.  Gift giving.  To be reproduced in various forms.  Posting them in their other incarnations soon.   

Wednesday  last week was a delightful day by way of the psotman!  One of the things I love about being on etsy as a collector and an artist is the mailing aspect of it... the packaging, the waiting for things, the waiting for things to get to their owners, the reviews and the little extras I get or that I stuff with the orders that I receive.  Last Tuesday, my Heidi Burton finally came to me.  It was wrapped in the envelope which is photographed above.  Here's a close-up of the bonus illustration that Ms. Heidi drew on the packaging:

Here are my freebies:

And finally, saved the best for last on this post, the piece itself:

An original!!!  I love it!  Thank you, Heidi!  I want you to know that I wrapped it back in its original packaging because I am opening it officially on Christmas.  I love the personal note on it.  You're not one of my etsy favorites for nothing!  Thank you, thank you immensely!  

  The number 17 is a splendid number!  This was a birthday gift from yesterday.  Acrylics, oil pastels, charcoal, pages from a vintage dictionary, gel paste, stamps... I wished that it would bring with it many happy returns of the day.  Happy Wednesday to all!