tomorrow i will be off to another adventure in foreign lands via cruise ship and incredible family generosities. Mexican Riviera here we come! so strange to uproot myself in my incubation and hibernation of winter-land (so important for the resting of me) and enter a warm sunny-land. my brain can't quite compute that yet.

Feeling so grateful for the opportunities of the "do nothing days" of another cruising vacation where i can be alone with my thoughts more of the day and ignore the voice of responsibility. the disconnection feels so lucky.

this time i feel nothing of having a creative project with me like i did for my last vacation (though my yarn and hook for tiny crocheted leaves with surely stow away in my pack when i am not looking : ). my creative motivations feel so extinguished and slow in the winter months. close-knit time with my family feels my only goal this time of year. Four of us in a tiny cruise ship cabin... perfect! : )

my copper clay pieces came back from firing a few weeks ago via metal clay artist Mary Lee Nevers who fired my work. she mentions bronze clay is neat too....why did she have to mention that?...if she only knew of my purchasing vulnerability when it comes to new creative materials....: )

copper clay is perhaps the most fulfilling creative project ever. three cheers for copper clay!!!! (before firing and finished pictured above) i may put some pieces in my spring collection of miss t...if i can part with them : ) loving how i can shape and mold something and finish it into something that looks dug up and raw and ancient. must look into kiln ownership so i don't have to pester anyone else for help with firing and i can carry on with an unlimited mental list of copper metal clay (and bronze :) details and imaginings.

i am beginning what i call "intention tags" for my Spring Collection (a signed tag used to explain my intentions for the creative work that i do). as i was cutting and clipping and punching and stamping and sticking the details of my intentions last night, my son was preparing a dinner of mac and cheese for our family from his new cookbook (Mollie Katzen's "Get Cooking") and my daughter was laying out and cutting a Simplicity pattern for a swimsuit cover-up. warm excited feelings erupted as i was remembering my fond adolescent memories of cooking through Mollie Katzen's "Enchanted Broccoli Forest" and using my first sewing pattern, a Simplicity pattern for a wrap skirt. it felt so dreamlike and lucky to be sitting observing that parallel life happening in my children, like life coming full circle.

savoring their embrace of domestic creativities and competences. encouraging to my "too often" insecurities of slowly, patiently being and seeing with my children through our chosen path of "learning at home". reading, math, science and history all rolled nicely into life skills and the fine art of domestic arts and crafts. home economics is blooming well here in the world of miss t and it's a magical life: )

dollys delight me and so i must recommend a "look see" at a party going on at http://fuloflyfe.blogspot.com. Wanting to live in that captured world of vintage pastels and dolly delights. Simply scrumptious. How do you do what you do? a magical mystery. Happy Birthday my dear fuloflyfe. You inspire me so, in so many directions. You are a joyful blessing.