There is Harmony In Autumn...

A Matter Of Memories has downloadables and freebies, including this lovely Autumn quote....print it out, frame it and display in your home~

Pin Keeper~

My goodness, how can it be approaching the end of September already? Fall is here and October is on the way.

Ode To Autumn

by J. Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
    Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
    With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
    And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
        To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
    With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
        For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
    Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
    Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
    Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
        Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
    Steady thy laden head across a brook;
    Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
        Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
    Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
    And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
    Among the river sallows, borne aloft
        Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
    Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
    The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

One of the nice things about Fall and Winter is having a bit more time for crafting.  I have half a dozen candles in my Sewing/Scrap Room which I light each evening and then start creating~ The phone stops ringing, I hear the evening fireworks exploding over Disneyland in the distance, and the neighborhood is quiet. My favorite time of the day! Tonight I made a gift for a friend. She is a scrapbooker extraordinaire as well as a sewer. I got the idea from a magazine....just pick a small frame you like, get a little piece of fabric, and some batting or stuffing. I also used a glue gun to complete my project.

I removed the frame front (glass or plastic), pushed the toile fabric in from the back, added a small wad of poly stuffing, trimmed the excess fabric, then glued the back on. I pushed a few decorative stick pins in it and it was ready to giftwrap. Now I want to make one for myself! lol~

I Am My Mother's Garden~

As a Design Team member I made this Gothic Arch for the Bella Creations Tres Chic Challenge. When I saw the Mariposa papers I was to work with I knew I wanted to include some deep red mulberry paper and parchment to the mix.

I gathered up several edge punches, sheer ribbon, thin stiff cardboard, then suddenly got the idea to include a white moire frame to the front! I found the Moire frame in the bridal section of Michaels.

 Here are the steps to making this Gothic Arch~

*cut a house shaped piece of firm cardboard to the size you like (mine was approx 7"x 8")

* tear paper into strips and punch one edge, if desired

*starting at the top, glue paper to Arch overlapping each new strip. Ink edges.

*I used Velcro to attatch the white moire frame to the front. This allows me to remove the frame to place a photo inside, then re-attatch without disturbing the floral spray!

*I added a ceramic floral spray and single red Prima paper flowers. Add Prima crystals.

*I added the last 4 lines of a poem to the front. The entire poem is on the back.

*I added an additional piece of cardboard to the back for strength and cut an easel stand at an angle

This was so fun to make!! You could make several, decorate the backs, and bind them together into an album. Here is the poem I printed on the back~

My Mother's garden

My Mother kept a garden, a garden of the heart,
She planted all the good things that gave my life it's start.
She turned me to the sunshine and encouraged me to dream,
Fostering and nurturing the seeds of self-esteem...
And when the winds and rain came, she protected me enough--
But not too much because she knew I'd need to stand up strong and tough.
Her constant good example always taught me right from wrong--
Markers for my pathway that will last a lifetime long.
I am my Mother's garden.
I am her legacy-
And I hope today she feels the love
reflected back from me. ~~~Anonymous