Indulge Your Shelf

 I love Valentine's Day!  I recently decorated for it, and wanted to show you all the beauty: When I took the Christmas ornaments off the tree, I replaced them with valentine decor -- hearts, tags and even some antique valentines! I never tire of these decorations!  Happy hearts and flowers day!

When you live in a cold climate, January can really be tough.  Even though we get a lot of sunshine in Colorado, it's still frosty, and that chill can travel right down to your bones.  We stay indoors alot during a normal January, but this year it's that much worse because we've been doing it for so many months now. This photo came up in my memories, from when Ben was a toddler.  We'd been given a hand-me-down snowsuit and I couldn't wait to use it, so on one cold California day I dressed him up in it!  We were so innocent of real extreme weather conditions in those days!  The photo is over 20 years old, but I remember that day so well, and I can still feel the weight of Benjamin in my arms. Art Garfunkel My cats are in winter mode.  If you love a cat of your own, or ever have, I don't have to tell you how much they enjoy a sunny window... Hey Jude or a sharing your blanket on a winter night!  Both of them have grown in their winter coats and are spend...

I made this banner so many years ago, using cards created by artist Julia Syndor (sadly, she no longer has a shop.)  I decorated it with some flimsy things like dictionary book page rosettes and crepe paper, which have deteriorated, so I needed to revamp it. It was a long project!  I didn't realize how long it would take me to create more rosettes, etc.  But now it's finished, and it's hanging up in my office: I don't think I will ever get tired of it!  Above it, I hung a rag wreath I made a couple of years ago, to which I pinned tags I'd made or received in a valentine swap!  Here's the rest of my work decor: I know I've shown you this before, but the large fabric collage is "inchies" from a swap from 2014, where we each made a heart-themed patch.  It's one of my favorite things! I love my office right now, all full of color and sweetness!

I love to decorate for Valentine's Day; it takes away the blues of having put away all the Christmas things! That big vintage honeycomb heart is new this year!  I found it at the thrift store recently. A Valentine I made for my husband a few years ago!  I think a small box like a jewelry case or a sewing kit makes a cute display -- especially if it's red! That beautiful heart box on the end with the stripes contained a sweet treat from a faraway friend!  I just love how she did the box and I've cherished it!

Happy new year!  I hope you ended last year on a happy note and find yourself comfortably introduced into the new year.  I did, and I am.  Tell me, did you pick one of those "words of the year" for yourself? The word of the year has been kind of "a thing" for the last several years on social media: choosing one word that describes what you'd like to focus on in the year to come.  I normally don't commit to one word, and I typically ignore all suggestions to do so.  But TODAY, about the 8th time someone (the yoga instructor at my free Wednesday class) asked me to do so, I decided I would choose a word: Over the last several years I've had some health challenges, and I'm just now having another, new one.  Nothing serious.  But, I'm beginning treatment for it, and have decided that it needs to be a priority.  I know I will enjoy improved quality of life once I've got it under control.  I also know it's going to be a pain, and that...