Welcome to the New Baby and to the Granny Club for Christine

Well, my Taiji Quan student, Christine has just become a granny for the first time... so I have made her a card... don't know the parents all that well, so it's more important that she has it!! The image is from a Joanna Sheen CD and also the papers, which were cut into strips and glued diagonally... I added some paper lace and a ribbon from my stash!! Hope she likes it... Thanks for looking.

Stamp Addicts Retreat Weekend 2

Penny for them, Wanda... you thinking about sleeping in??

Aww, arn't they playing nicely!!

Julie looking very surprised when I told her about Fred!!!

Stamp Addicts Retreat Weekend 1

Vicky working hard... or is she giving out the sheets for our comments???

Sarah is in this background, overseeing the shopping!! Can I see Jenny and Cynthia buying stuff?? Surely not!! Here comes Lesley too...

Jenny crafting quietly on her own...

Elizabeth and Cynthia shopping - again!!! Fill that bag, Elizabeth!!

Here is my entry for the TIO #8 challenge this week - simplicity and serenity... it was inspired by the work we did on the Stamp Addicts Retreat, at the weekend... fantastic time and wonderful projects. More to come shortly!!

This tag was simply stamped on to cream cardstock. I used dusty concord to stipple the corners and added the ribbon, which was provided. The border is what I call "coming and going" because the gaps in the lines come and go as you draw!! I have coloured in the gaps with a pencil, and when I got home, I stamped with field of sky, also in dusty concord. And that, as they say, is it!!! Thanks for looking...

My Heart Song Poem

Here is a poem I have written, in response to events in my life. Almost 2 years ago, my beloved husband died, very suddenly. I was bereft, and my heart was completely broken. Recently, I visited a wonderful lady who gave me healing, and discovered my broken heart in a red casket... I loved the metaphor, so decided to write the poem. She told me I would meet a wonderful man, who would be very important to me, and who would walk with me along my path, because he had known I was coming for a long time... None of this made sense at the time, but then I met Fred, and now I understand so much more...

My Heart Song

The casket lay long-buried, deep
In boundless caverns, lost to sight and memory.
Blood-red and girdled round with iron,
Strong padlocked,
Sealed tight,
Locked down,
Walled up, and hidden from plain view,
To be forgotten…

Inside the blood-red box, was velvet
Soft-folded,
Padded,
Moulded into mounds.
The crimson creases caressed each other
And held the secret, broken life within.

In all the angles of the casket,
As if scattered to all four corners of the world,
Lay golden, gleaming, shining shards.
Bloodless pieces,
Pale shadows,
Locked away from light and love…

These precious pieces once formed
An object of desire,
Whole and hale – a heart
Fast-beating,
Slow-languishing,
Quick-tempered for love and hate and pleasure,
A treasure, honoured beyond price.

All suddenly then,
It shattered,
Snapped and split apart.
Broken, fragmented into pieces,
Crushed, compacted, cracked until
No longer could it be recognised as
A heart.

Cold, asleep, undreaming,
Fast-held in vicelike grip of unawakening,
It’s component parts most perfectly protected,
It lay in that blood-red casket, filled with so-soft, crimson velvet...
Nor song nor shout could enter and arouse it.
Nor animal nor insect could penetrate it’s gloom.
No love was felt inside there.
Nothing could cross the threshold
Of the box that held the
Secret of the heart.

But one came who had the knowledge of unbinding.
One came who dared unlock the iron padlocks.
She came, who understood the secret power of unsealing.
She came, but not alone, to that blood-red casket.
Together they lay bare, and set aside the crimson velvet
And, together, they lifted out the broken pieces
So they could heal them…

The heart that had been broken
Was unfettered.
Slowly, it began to dream
And then to sing.
It learned new dances and bright energy
All sparkly
And was haloed round with friends
And everything!!

It tripped along its path and was delighted
To see new sights, to make new friends and
Hear clear music.
To have happy days of light and pure enjoyment,
And peace, at last again.


But who is this now,
Bright and shining,
On the new-found path of light and laughter?
Who is he that he stands right in that way?
What does he want with this heart newly awakened?
What does he know
To come here in this way?

Oh, joy!
He brings love and understanding.
Oh sweet…
He brings hope and happy dreaming!
Oh love!
He knows the heart song and will dare to sing it
To restore the broken balance,
To enfold the beating treasure,
To cherish the shining jewel
In full measure.

We will sing my heart song
Together … maybe
Forever?


copyright F. B. Gaywood
9.06.09