sketch for a community of hope

I am thrilled to have been asked to do a commission project that will hang in the Boston Children's Hospital in their Cardiac Unit. This is a working sketch for the piece. The size has not yet been set. I have designed it to work as a triptych but that is optional. The hanging "clothes line" across the front of the heart is designed to include tiny notes, words or images inside tiny vellum envelopes. The piece will speak to the community that one suddenly finds themselves in when their child is sick. This community exists to all patients and families who are touched by a child's' illness and it can prove to be one of the most powerful forces on our planet . Going through the stress of a child who needs surgery or critical care in the midst of caring professionals seems to me to make the seemingly impossible, possible. I hope this piece will express this gratitude on the part of the children and families who are helped and healed by the Children's Hospital staff.

gettin' my jolly on

It's the busy season! For me that always means trying to do more than humanly possible but try to tell that to a creative mind who just wants to do nice things for the ones she loves!

These are gift bags that I knit up for girlfriends who I've known since we all lived in the same townhome complex when our families were just starting out as married couples and or new parents.
I have a standing tradition of making gingerbread houses with my best friend and her daughters every year. I am responsible for making the dough, cutting out the shapes and assembling the houses. I've gotten it down to a science!

We also have a tradition that I take my friend's Christmas card picture every year. Her girls are so used to "Aunties" camera and are very patient!

We only had one cave-in this year but were able to rescue the disaster without the use of a hot glue gun - take that Martha Stewart!

Good friends are worth celebrating and staying up late to get it all done!