#77 My new shop!

I would so go shopping here, wouldn't you?

I had to laugh when I walked into the dining room tonight after clearing things out of the music room; it looked like it could be one of my favorite shops! It's a good feeling to  know that the things we have collected (well.. that should, in all honesty, read "... I have collected...") over the years still make my heart sing!

My plan is to do some serious editing before I put things back in the music room. I'm not getting rid of anything, just not putting it all out at once; maybe rotate things with the seasons instead. My way of simplifying. I'm working my way up to a huge yard sale, but not this year with the wedding to get ready for. Maybe late fall. Maybe Spring 2012. Maybe. Or not.

"But why is everything out of the music room?" you ask? 

Well, because it is finally time to:

!!! PAINT !!!

Yes, indeedy, it's true! Tomorrow I start washing the walls and woodwork and then repairing/patching/priming as needed. I hope to start painting on Wednesday or Thursday. Somehow I've got to move the piano out of the corner so I can get a ladder over there. Hmmmm... Anyway, here's what it looks tonight:

Looks pretty grim, huh? (And, yes, we DO have a lot of books and magazines - but I'm going through those, too - really, I am!!!)

It's going to be so pretty and fresh when it's repainted a creamy white...I think the rugs will really be happier...and when I get all the slipcovers made it will really be the way I want it...until I want to change it all again!

I'll get to repeat the whole process in the living room when this room is finished; there'll be a whole new shop in the dining room!

-karen anne

# 76 Oh, I love my kiddos!

My Mama heart is getting filled to overflowing!

My sweet girl Emily came home yesterday so we could celebrate her Pop's 61st birthday. She spent the night and then headed back to Philly this afternoon. I loved having her here even for that short time! She is such a beautiful and thoughtful young woman and I love, love, LOVE her!

And, a BIG surprise: Megan and Andrew decided they had had enough of traveling and living abroad and are flying home tomorrow - arriving in Newark NJ just before 9pm! Can you believe it???? I'm soooo excited! YIPPPEEEE!!!!!

It seems live she's been gone forever even though it's only been about 4 months. Dean will drive over to pick them up (hopefully Andrew will come to Carlisle for a couple of days before heading to Rochester) and bring them back home.It will make for a long day for everyone, but it will be sooooo worth it!!!

Can't wait to give them both a HUGE hug!

I love having my kiddos here - and even though he hasn't married Megan yet, I consider Andrew one of mine already. Hope that's okay with him!

Anyhoo - Mama's happy with all the kiddos plopping in the nest again!

-karen anne

#75 Another warm day...

Yesterday was such a tease and today, with temperatures near 70, promises to be the same. Tomorrow's prediction is for the cold to return for the weekend.

I don't care...it's already Spring in my mind.

This is what I see when I close my eyes:

image from FRYD & DESIGN

Take that, cold weather!

-karen anne

#73 Saying goodbye...

Winter is on its last legs. Snow is melting, temperatures are rising...as are my spirits.


Before I know it the snowbells will be lifting their little heads toward the sun and the long dark winter will be just another memory.

As I say goodbye to the cold, here are a few memories I will keep:

 

 

 

 

 

Saying goodbye is never easy when such beauty is involved.

But Spring is in the air and I'm feeling fickle...how about you?

-karen anne

#72 Just for YOU!

Happy Valentine's Day!

-karen anne

#71 Trusting...

I found this yesterday while going through some things in the studio. I wish that I could truly take the idea to heart and put it into practice more often...

Let go. Just let go of what you thought was real or important. Allow what is truly real now to enter your space and your reality. Take time for yourself…make it all be about yourself now and what you need to do to rest, self-nurture, exhale, be in the moment, let go of responsibilities, and just stay in your own sanctuary and bask. Find a way to re-charge your battery, rejuvenate, and allow time for you. Say no to commitments, gatherings, appointments and have-tos as much as you can.

Allow yourself time for you, have a willingness to no longer make anything happen, and you will find that everything will simply happen on its own without you needing to be at the helm. Letting go of what no longer feels good or right will allow the new to arrive and place you in a very new space at the same time. TRUST.  - Karen Bishop
                                                                                                                                                             

 Icy Morning. Digital photograph. 2011

-karen anne

#70 Pure pleasure...

A warm and sunny studio on a cold February day...and time to choose, combine, edit, and complete:

Necklace. 18". Stone, glass, fiber, rubber, resin, pearl. 2011

- karen anne

#69 Good news!!!

I have three bits of great news to share, the first of which is:

Our daughter Megan said "yes" to Andrew Hoyt Kless on a snowy hill in the Ukraine on 1 January 2011! I think she definitely wins the Best Way to Start the New Year award, don't you? The wedding will be in August; a small affair starting at our church two blocks away and ending at our home/garden where we'll host the reception. I've already designed the invitations and will get to start making her dress when she returns stateside in April - I can't wait! Dean and I are both so happy that these two found each other and fell in love! Here they are right after the proposal:

My second bit of wonderful news is that our daughter Emily (who will debut as Maid of Honor in August) got the first, of what I'm sure will be many, acceptances to graduate school!  Texas A&M will be lucky to have her attend if she chooses to go there, but for the time being she's continuing to wait and see what other schools she applied to will have the wisdom to send her acceptance letters!

My last bit of news came in the mail yesterday: I've been selected to have a show of my work at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center sometime during the summer of 2012! I will share the show with one other artist. I'm thrilled to have this to look forward to and excited to have something to work toward. I love knowing I have such a good chunk of time to work through ideas, experiment, edit, and just enjoy the process of it all without feeling pressured. As wedding details keep trying to consume me, it's nice to have something else to think about when I have a minute!

Good news is, as Martha would say, "A Good Thing!"

-karen anne

#68 Penumbra...

Litle did I know when I wrote my last post that the word I wrote about would describe my life since then: "...partial shadow between regions of full shadow (the umbra) and full illumination..." Penumbra.

I've been neither here nor there, yet everywhere in between. It happens sometimes. And, gratefully, it always seems to happen when it's most needed.


Shadow time, while it comes unexpectedly for me, is not at all negative. A bit like pregnancy, I find it to be a time of watchful waiting; a time of looking inside and wondering. It's the shadow times that keep me in touch with my soul. I'm grateful for the bit of sacred respite they provide. So, even though it would appear from the outside that not much was going on, I accomplished quite a bit. I seem to get more done in the quiet these days.

Anyway, I'm back now, happy to find myself  in the region of "full illumination", ready to let my little light shine again!

I have some good news to share tomorrow - so please, if you haven't totally given up on me, check back in to see what it is!

-karen anne