Thursday, November 24, 2011

Ripples--Thanksgiving Day Thoughts

When I was very young, my grandma taught me to pray at bedtime. The prayer began with "Now I lay me down to sleep" and ended with " God bless Mommy and Daddy, and Eddie, and Aaron, and Elliot, and...." The "God Blesses" were always my favorite part. I would start by asking for blessing on my family, my parents, my brothers, my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, and cousins, (I have a lot) and then I would just think "all of my family, and all of my friends, and all of their families and friends, and all of my friends' families and friends, and all of their families and friends, and all of their families and friends... " I would drift peacefully off to sleep imagining an ever expanding circle of blessings, like ripples that surround a single drop of water on a pond.

At the beginning of this month, I planned to countdown to Thanksgiving on Facebook by listing one at a time things for which I am thankful. I got as far as day one, and became too busy to visit Facebook much. However, I didn't stop thinking about my blessings. While I am blessed in so many ways--I have plenty to eat, warm clothes to wear, a home, a rewarding career---what I am most thankful for is the people God has placed in my life. I think first of my husband, Sean, and my sons, Alex and Brendan. Then I think of my parents, my siblings, Sean's parents, his siblings, our siblings' spouses, their children, my cousins, their spouses and families, my friends, my students, the teachers I teach with, my fellow artists, the collectors who enjoy my bears, and on it goes until I am reminded again of a pond with it's ripples. This time, I don't imagine just one drop of water, but many drops, with many intersecting ripples which create a beautiful pattern across the whole pond.

So, I am thankful for you! Whether you are a ripple close to my center, or whether our ripples intersect somewhere out in the pond, you are a blessing to me, and for that, I am thankful!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Busy

I have been so busy making bears for my last two shows this year that I didn't even get to photograph some of them before they found new homes!

I did want to share some of the ones I had at my recent shows though...All of these have found homes.

Stocking Bear Ornament






Nathan




Dickens (A Christmas Karl)





Cashmere





Harold





Pippa



Polly


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Christmas Treasures!

The Christmas Treasures online Teddy Beas show at http://www.teddiesworldwide/ starts tomorrow at 4:00 EST! Visit the preview which is open now, if you have not already, to vote for your favorite preview bears, and see who will be there!

Here is my preview bear Pippa!