STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN

Boy, has my life changed....I am currently in a rehab center...I am learning to walk again. I had a by pass in my right leg, due to lack of blood flow. The surgery failed and the post op care was bad and I developed a major infection that I was unaware of. I went to a new doctor for a second opinion and was admitted to the hospital immediately  I spent two weeks in that hospital filled with antibiotics. I had gangrene in the toe and into the bone ...the first doctor never looked at me from March til June.....by then it was too late.   I am pleased with my new doctor and have had my leg amputated below the right knee...thus the rehab...He saved my life! I am infection free! God is good   Ii often wonder why things happen. Surely did not want it....and I am learning so much. I am getting into shape and I hope to return to the gym when I leave here. I am 70 yea

Moving on Alone

I have sadly neglected this blog. I have had 4 years of substantial growth in self as well as in business. My path is new and different and I am following it gingerly....making sure my footing is steady. My business has grown. I still do my Primitive Folk Art and I also do Metaphysical   Art in the form of Spirit Dolls and Dream Catchers. I find my life is totally Spirit led and God is at the center of all that I do. I have always been a seeker and my art has reflected my thoughts.

The last 4 years have been new territory for me. I am learning to be alone (Benji, Rosie and Willie, the cats) are still among the tribe I belong to!  The Spirit Dolls have led me on a journey of beauty...lace glitz and ribbons now surround me. The child inspired Primitive are still my primary focus and I still sell on ETSY under Chancery Laae Prims.

I am developing a new shop for the Metaphysical items, but it is still slow going on my part. It is my goal for 2017.  I have learned self love since my hubby passed. I study and follow new ideas that bring me comfort. I am alive and well and all the stronger for it. I hope to share more of the positive side of my new journey and I hope you choose to walk along my path for awhile.  Right now it is snowing and 16 degrees and I am pondering a cuppa of hazelnut chocolate. Stay warm and ........         Blessed Be.

An Amazing Year of Changes

The one thing I know for sure is that nothing is forever and there is constant change. On January 8, 2014, my husband, Charlie,  died of a massive heart attack. He left for work and I never saw him alive again. It has been a long and lonely year.  It has been a difficult year. It has been a healing year. It has also been a good year. Nothing lasts forever ....except natural stone and old Fords ( According to Willie Nelson). I am learning to be alone....I am learning to smile....I am learning to appreciate every breath I take... ..I am learning to work very hard on my Primitive Creations... and I am learning to take one day at a time and to cherish all that comes my way.

I Have Been in a Fog

I HAVE BEEN IN A FOG......I can't believe I have left this lovely blog project in the dark!

Let's turn on the lights...

So very much has happened in the past year....we moved...UGH....still not settled and life is different. My hubby is a cancer survivor and is battling the "left overs" of chemo. The platinum in the chemo destroyed his kidneys. During the last 10 years they have slowly stopped functioning....he is now a dialysis patient for the rest of his life. He is unable to under go a transplant because of the lack of integrity of his blood vessels (also due to chemo)....so we move on and thank the good Lord for machinery that keeps him alive and healthy. My world crumbled....he is so much better at this than I....he deals with it daily and plays the hand he has been dealt....I question everything...I let my creative world fall apart.... I was moody and easily irritated...I struggled daily wondering which way to go. My love is PRIMITIVE.. so that decision being made I begin to step forward...begin again...goal in sight...I have worked on dolls and have created a few of my own....but mostly relied on other designer's patterns.....thank you all... I have established a facebook page both personal and for Chancery Lane Primitives. I am selling on etsy and Simply Primitives. I have not been idle...just absent mentally and emotionally. I am a positive person and I am again indulging in my creativity. My praise is for my God who has sustained me and continues to bless us during these trying times. I plan to be a more active person in my cyber world and I ask for your prayers as I move forward one more time....Blessed Be.....

Angels Amoung Us....

Most people will admit to believing in angels. There are real life angles and we see these in the faces of those we love. There are also the Spiritual angels that we sometimes recognize after we have been touched by one...that uncanny feeling that something wonderful just happened...we just can't put our finger on it. I have been interested in angels since I was a small child, I was anything but an angel, but I believed they existed. I have created a series of what I call TOMB STONE angels....the Primitive version, of course. The first one is named Anne, which means "Gracious and Merciful." She is Welsh....She is a strawberry blond and has beautiful green eyes. I used a vintage quilt for her wings. The design is a portion of the wedding ring design from a vintage quilt piece. I used The Gentile Art wool thread....which I happen to love for all my Primitive stitching...so soft and the colors are yummy. Her wing span is 14 inches and she sits 6 inches tall. She is my own original design. Anne is for sale for $30.00. If you'd like Anne to fly to your nest....email me...sfogle@rochester.rr.com

Choices

Every day we get to choose. We are a combination of our choices from the beginning. I have always been an artist. I have had a calling in my soul for as long as I can remember to create. Even as a little girl growing up in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, I lived with the magical world surrounding me. "Being an artist is not practical." "You need to really be focused." "Stop daydreaming." "You are not good enough." I still hear it all each and every time I step forward to create, but the scoffing voices are getting quieter. I pay very little attention any more. I look at what I do...make dolls, critters, pin keeps, and I love them. I know those who purchase my work love them too. Many do not. I was once told, "I'd be hard pressed to like anything that you do." I was shocked to be told that...then I smiled. It is about the creative muse, not the critic. My biggest complement was from a gentleman who continually came to buy my dolls. One day I asked what he did with them...were they gifts? He laughed and said they decorated his office. He was an engineer. He said he was collecting a group of creatures to help him keep perspective of his own work. He said that all of his purchases had formed a dysfunctional family with way too much inbreeding! When he looked at them...he smiled and remembered what was really important...SIMPLICITY. He said my work made him smile, especially a rabbit I had named Festus...he was sure he had turned into a Blue Grass fan because of Festus's face!  No greater complement than that!
    So I say choose to create and let nothing stop your journey. I am 65 years young and I am finally starting to "Get It" Choose all that is good for your Soul. Choose to be unstopable. Choose to dream. Choose to use God's gifts. I choose to be a Folk Artist......Blessed Be !

Benji Comes of Age

I haven't written since we had Benji move in with us. I really have been speechless. He is like living with an ANIMAL!  I know that is hard to believe, he is just so darn cute. I have been captured by this ball of fur and I no longer have a life of freedom. He consumes everything, I mean literally. Benji eats every thing that has the misfortune of falling on the floor. It might be a morsel of food, today's mail, a photo, a paycheck, Benji is not choosey. It enters his mouth and come out in slivers of what used to be. He is my constant companion as I sew, paint and create...he creates as well. I designed a beautiful angel with delicate wings...he ate the wing pattern. I wrote a story for one of my Simply Primitive offerings... Eaten....I feed him chewies, he eats my linen thread. I talk to him endlessly about manners and he eats my used tea bag. My Primitive offerings have a whole new look to them...aged by little teeth... and puppy mouth.  I seldom yell anymore...but I do laugh a lot. I did cry when he ate my hearing aid, I must admit, but he never heard me, he was off to a new adventure...chasing a kitty. I am glad to have this fur ball in my life, mess and all. I just have the feeling like I am living with an ANIMAL...and that surely can't be..can it?