TattooDreams Wine Bottle Charms

These are new! New in the last few months and new to my etsy shop. This charm depicts a sensuous dragonfly fairy with the positive affirmation of the importance to dream along with a radiant sun. On the back, a message of peace.
These tactile handmade wooden beads can adorn fan pulls, wine bottle necks, Christmas trees, drawer pulls, gift packages - or nothing at all. For you to decide! Each collection of wood beads are hand cut and strung on black waxed linen
with small glass and wood beads interspersed. Both sides are designed.

Custom charms can be made. Please contact me for a quote.

Overall charm length from top of cord to bottom 11 inches tall. Actual length of beads 5" tall x 7.25" wide.

Please see my etsy shop for more original TattooDreams work.
Todays icons for tomorrows heirlooms.

$28.00 each- FREE SHIPPING

http://tattoodreams.etsy.com

Twenty Nine Winters Ago Today.....

Twenty nine winters ago John Lennon was doing what most of us do daily - he was on his way home from work. Home from working in his recording studio. Earlier in the day he signed an autograph for the man who hours later would end his life.
IMAGINE if things happened differently that cold night.

Twenty nine years ago I was unmarried, living in my first apartment in Florida. I was 20 years old. It was a warm night and I had the windows open. I recall the searing message that came over the tv, then the radio, then everywhere. I remember newscasters crying. Howard Kosell in tears. A hole was drilled right through me and pain entered. An unsettling silence.
The world mourned the loss of this amazing iconic individual. A visionary of peace who was far more than a musician or rockstar. He wrote of the world 'being one' and perhaps it took his bloody death for that to happen.
How sad.

I recall the days afterward laying on my living room floor listening and crying to every Beatle song played on the stereo and radio. So many possibilities ended with his murder at the Dakota. For a pacifist to die by way of a weapon of steel seems a fate worse than cruel.
Across from his home lay Strawberry Fields. Another irony is the sign posted there. "No playing of musical instruments allowed". Where better than there?

As a society, we allow guns to become available to people who have no business having them. Freedom to own a firearm........to protect yourself. A right of the constitution.
As a society we allow instruments of creativity to be purchased, but ban where and when they can be played. Why? To protect others peace?
This is just more madness in a world overcome by rules that 'allow' people to not have to think or take responsibility for themselves or others.

Some things make little sense to me.
Some things never will.
The legendary lyrics and music from the Beatles are dogma.
Time honored art that collectively became a prayer for peace,
a mantra to end war
and birthed hope for generations to follow.

Here we are twenty nine years later.
The music still resonates but now with a new generation.
To those who grew up with them, they are forever with us.

We need to give peace a chance.
We need to IMAGINE.
We need to Imagine Peace

Bubbling Bliss

Where do you find peace? Where do you unwind and let your mind relax? These cold winter days are followed by hour long soaks in our spa. It is here we solve world problems, life's irregularities and just listen to the wind and nearby chimes. The rustling breezes and howl of coyotes in the surrounding fields fills the air. Their calls a pleasant reminder of rural life and the wild life that grace our existence here on Purple Hill.
We light the nearby chimenea, a treasure we brought home from Santa Fe, with a chunk of pinon firewood and inhale deeply the aroma of the west.
Our hearts are there, and our bodies here.

Late last summer Jon took our old art fair display panels and gave them new life. He cut narrow strips of cedar and wove them between the metal holes to create privacy screens by our spa. They allow wind through and give ample seclusion. This 'green' approach is in keeping with using what we have and recycling existing materials.
I so appreciate Jons' abilities to build and create just what we need. He's a wonderful wood worker and designer! The warmest place we have found is not sitting inside by our wood stove, but sitting outside in 104º water! These words from a native Floridian are funny to hear!

So here's to problem solving and finding an oasis to relax.
An integral piece of staying well in stressful times.

Wishing peace this cold winter night,

Patricia

Bless the 'beasts'........

☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆*¨¨*:☆
From our home to yours......
Peace this holiday season!
May light fill your soul~
Love fill your heart~
and hope fill your tomorrows.
*:☆:*
Patricia & Jon
Fripples, Milo, Oreo & soon to join us,
Baxter Hecker
☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆*¨¨*:☆
Patricia & Jon

★ Peace and Hope ★

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Jon and I 'experienced' a wonderfully old historic neighborhood in St. Louis this past weekend, called Shaw. It was there we showed our work. A wonderful collection of work from high caliber artists ignited the public. The air was crisp and the leaves beginning to fall. Homes were adorend with Halloween decorations and potted mums.The recent doom of Wall Street had an impact on sales, but we anticipated that going in. We feel the need to continue to tempt people with our work.
I believe we did just that!
The neighborhood welcomed the artists to their annual event and into their homes and held a party Saturday after the show that left many drinking wine and dancing late into the evening, despite our economic stresses.
It may have been just the antidote!
What really struck us, was how wonderfully 'blue' an area we were in. Down the street from our booth, a grassroots movement of making yards signs for Obama took place. Large tarps covered the yard where signs were spray painted and decorated by children and adults. Bumper stickers were sold, ideas shared and poll numbers exchanged. The neighborhood children wrote messages about hope and Obama in the streets with chalk.
To be around like minded, intelligent, politically alive people was wonderful!
It gave us hope!
Hope Obama will win.
Hope for our country.
Hope of a return to people buying art.
Hope for so many lost feelings.

For the last 8 years I have watched our country become more divided every day.
The great 'uniter' has failed miserably in bringing this country together.
It reaches farther than that however. It has become a source of divisiness among
families who cannot bear to debate conflict.
This scenerio we know well.
Jon and I come from Republican parents who will not discuss politics.
Period.
I find this odd. I have long believed that it's when ideas, however different, are shared, that we can
all learn from one another.
I also was taught to stand up for what I believe in. I'm not afraid to speak my mind or think on my feet
and perhaps it is this that frightens them more.

I believe in leaving the world better than I found it.
I believe in helping the planet heal itself.
I believe in better tomorrows by carefully adjusting what we do today.
In taking responsibility.
I belive in the power of peace and the power of hope.
Without them I would be nothing.
Without them I could not put myself out there, weekend after weekend in such a wrecked economy
trying to sell my soul through my art.
Without them, I could not daily put one foot in front of the other without falling.
Without them I could not wake up to the atrocities the last wreckless 8 years of war, mismanagement and lies
have brough to our country and not curl into a ball sobbing.
Without them I would have given up long ago.
I don't want to be disappointed on November 4th.
I want change!
I want my livlihood back!
I WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK!!!

Like I said, I believe in the power of peace and the power of hope!
This is what I am casting my vote towards on election day!

Patricia

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

~~ Relaxing ~~

This last week, we took a few days to unwind with friends in the countryside of Wisconsin. With cumulous clouds effortlessly hanging above, our trip provided vistas of cornfields and family farms. A grand reminder of the bounty of the earth and the farmers who practice this time-honored profession.
After a few days of down time, laughter and tequila, we continued on to the shores of Lake Michigan. For this native Floridian raised on Gulf Beaches, the sand and sun did me good! We spent several hours basking in the wind and feeding the gulls. The soft sand was much like that of the sugar sand of the Gulf. Looming on the horizon was the skyline of Chicago. A reminder that this was indeed a lake!
Later that day we set up our booth for the show that weekend. The breeze off the Lake still with us, we prepared for a good show. I was the shows featured artist. The pre-show publicity with our images didn't hurt. Sales were few but we're following leads that we feel will pan out. By mid-Saturday, a second place red ribbon graced our booth!!!

There's nothing like the enormity of a body of water and endless sky to put things in perspective! I think sitting in our sand chairs for a few hours, being washed by the wind and sun did just that for us.
Managing stress has become a full time gig these days. We treasure the 'windows of peace' as I call them. Those often elusive moments when stress melts and peace flows.
...........Just breathing!
Some days it's easier than others.

Below a short Haiku poem I wrote:


Gulf beaches
were home.

Sun sand kissed love
endless warmth.

I began life there.

Happy week everyone!
♥
Patricia