I created this little angel because it seems that when I choose a theme to use in a design, I begin to learn more and more about it. I want to learn more about joy. I want more joy in my life and I want to actively pursue it.

I first began to look back in my life and remember the especially joyful times. I know that the birth of my daughter, Caitlin, was at the top; it was a rich and exquisite joy like I had never experienced before.   I looked carefully at this experience and other wonderful times of my life so I could boil joy down to its essence, so to speak. I want to be able to practice with more frequency the basic tenets of this golden emotion.

I have heard many times that if you are feeling down, go out and do something for someone else and it will lift your spirits. I believe there is a lot of truth in this, but I also believe that you need to be filled up with some good things before you can give away anything of value.

When I wrote the enclosure & website copy for this Joy Angel, I wrote, “In the receiving and giving of love, joy wells up inside and blossoms in our hearts.” I put receive first because I believe this is the right order. When we receive love, we are then primed to give it. After that it just goes back and forth and back and forth and joy complete is the final result.

Check out this new angel and the new 3” Love Angel on my website by clicking here.

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An antique gold frame gives this sweet little botanical an elegant home and its deep molding is the perfect shelf for a miniature botanical still life.

The tiny tree is the skeleton of a topiary thyme tree that I had in a pot outside for a four or five years. When it died, I rinsed off the soil from the roots and brought it inside to find it a new home. I had trained this thyme tree from a cutting and didn’t want to assign it to the compost pile. I get rather attached to these dear little trees. I was glad to crown this framed botanical with this stately little tree.

A dried lime that I silver leafed is the sphere form next to the tree and completes this rather dramatic addition to the framed print.

I have this desire to add top decorations to the art, prints, collages etc. that I have framed on my walls. Once I have framed and hung a picture, I realize I have this mini shelf all ready for a touch of whimsy. The fun part is that this is nothing hurried or too intentional. I will simply have gathered something from the garden or the sea or maybe something from my little piles of vintage collections. If the color and or texture match and maybe even the subject matter match, I’ll balance or tuck it on top and see if it works.

Here I have framed a little collage I made from seaweed that I collected on the beach. While the seaweed was still wet and pliable I formed and glued several pieces into an M for my own distinctive monogram.

For my top decoration, I added a dried flower head from garlic chives and a feather, both from my back yard. It’s a color and texture match and I enjoy it everyday as I cook and work in the kitchen.

I am introducing the love 2 u necklace just in time for Valentine’s. Tiny forget-me-nots surround roses on my new heart charm: Love Remembers.

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Miniature boxwood wreaths dress up an old, iron candelabra for festive Christmas entertaining. For small wreaths and garlands, boxwood is the ideal broadleaf evergreen to use. Its tiny dark green leaves are adorable, shiny and stay green for a long time inside.

I love using greens from my own garden to decorate my home for the holidays. It is so satisfying to grow your own, to use live decorations and to “shop” in your back yard.

To make each wreath I used single branches about 3” long. I wired each one to the previous one until I had a garland about 7” long. I then overlapped the ends and wired them together to form the wreath.

It is important to use soft clippings – no woody stems – so the garland is flexible enough to form a small circle.

Boxwood loves to be pruned any time of year to let the light in, so don’t be shy about gathering lots of boxwood clippings for wreaths of any size, garlands and green arrangements.