It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Mr Rogers Neighborhood

“Imagine what our real neighborhoods would  be like
if each of us offered,
as a matter of course,
just one kind word
to another person.”
-Mr. Rogers

Over the holidays, Hubby and I made a visit to our local Pittsburgh Smithsonian-affiliate museum – the Heinz History Center.

One of the highlights for me was the special exhibit of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood – one of my favorite childhood television shows.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was filmed in Pittsburgh for three decades from 1968 – 2001.   The compassion, patience, morality, and advocacy for important public causes Fred Rogers taught is embedded in my heart and soul.

As I viewed the exhibit,
reminisced about the home of X the Owl and Henrietta Pussycat,
gazed at the castle of King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday, and Prince Tuesday,
and was transported by Trolley to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe,

I dreamed of a World neighborhood where kind words were spoken…..
and love was shared….
and this song stayed in my head…..

“It’s You I like.
It’s not the things you wear.
It’s not the way you do your hair.
But it’s You I like,
the way you are right now,
the way down deep inside you.
Not the things that hide you…
Its You
I like.”

Can’t we all get along?
Can’t we all accept each other?

Thank you Mr. Rogers.
Your wisdom transcends time, age, color, race, gender, identity, religion, ethnicity.

It’s You
I
Like.

Cheers & Hugs
Jodi

A Christmas Deer, Dear

Watercolor deer

It’s a Christmas Deer, Dear.

One of the best things about art and painting and watercoloring is the freedom to create an image however you want…

Christmas Reindeer can be purple with a turquoise ear right?

This is one of my Christmas card designs that I learned how to print and duplicate.  Yay me! 

(It is inspired by some artwork I found on Flickr, but darn if I can find it now to cite!)

Nevertheless, the countdown is on, and we are into single digits until the BIG day.   I have never been so late getting cards done, gifts bought, cookies baked, food made….. and I have never enjoyed it more!

Whatever gets done, mailed, baked, cooked is what it is.  As long as I get to spend time with those I love is all that matters.

Cherish the moments.

Merry Christmas Deer/Dear!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

My favorite shade of love

ella blue flower

My favorite shade of blue
is a flower picked
on a brisk Autumn day
by a sweet little girl
who found this gem
amidst the orange and brown and red and yellow.

She picked it
and handed it to me
with a heart of gold
that dreams of rainbows
and finds the beauty
in moments shared.

This is family.

This is love.

This is my favorite shade of blue.

I love you Ella!
You are my favorite shade of love.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Happy Birthday Dad!

PP249 Birthday Color Challenge

It’s time for another Paper Players Challenge Guest Designer Post.  This week’s challenge (PP249) is a color theme using Real Red and Blue Shades of Pool Party and Indigo Blue.

pp249

My Dad’s birthday is coming up in a few days, and we are going to visit him today to celebrate, so I thought I would use the opportunity to create a birthday card for him.

PP249 Birthday Color Challenge 3

Instead of using those colors in ink, I used them in creating shapes and cut-outs of some beautiful StampinUp designer series paper (DSP) with the StampinUp Star Framelits Dies.

PP249 Birthday Color Challenge 2

I wanted to give it a bit of a “vintagy” look too, so I sponged each piece with Tim Holtz Tea-Dye Distress Ink.  I popped the stars and sentiment (from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler) on with some dimensionals.

Looking forward to celebrating Dad’s birthday and Father’s Day with him today.

Love you Dad!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi