My Christmas Prayer

Lord, in this holy season of  prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold His glory, and are bathed in its radiance.

Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wisemen. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen. ~ Http://www.catholic.org
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To my Friends and Family, this Christmas and New Year, may God bless you with health, prosperity & happiness. I am thankful for each and every one of you. You have all touched my life in some way or another and make my life richer & fuller.  I treasure your friendship and love.

A Ghostly Image

Most of you know that I've been involved in restoring St. Vincent Cemetery in Baltimore, an abandoned cemetery. I've been up to my eyeballs in researching those buried there and cataloging tombstones. Other people have been photographing the stones as well but it's so hard to just transcribe the stones from photos so I like to go there to do it.

I haven't been able to get there for a while. It's been so cold. Recently someone uploaded some photos from our clean up day.  I was particularly interested in the stones because I wanted to see if she got some stones I hadn't photographed. As I scrolled through her photos I was astonished to see that one of the photos had the image of a person on it. However, if you click on it and drag it to a larger size you cannot see the image. 

I cannot read the name of the woman who's stone it is...but is says: ...beloved wife of Patrick Horan and she died in 1899........so as you look at this photo of Mrs. Horan, remember her and say a prayer for her.

We beseech Thee, O Lord,
in Thy mercy,
to have pity on the soul of Thy handmaid;
do Thou, Who hast freed her
from the perils of this mortal life,
restore to her the portion of everlasting salvation.
Through Christ our Lord,

Amen.
(Prayer from Catholic.org)

Friday Feature

Today I'd like to feature Deborah O'Toole or Sunnyplainquilting as we know her on Etsy and in our Designing Artists Womens Group (DAWG Team). She joined Etsy this summer and then became a part of our Team.

She is a Nurse specialized in critical care.  Her stress reliever is her sewing machine.  She loves working with fabric on or off the machine. Very detailed oriented, you've got to see her work. It's beautiful.

I love her quilts but her shop is not just limited to quilts. You can find fabric wreaths and even glass blocks decorated with fabric.  The quilt pictured is one of my favorites in her shop.  So....grab your coffee and go check her out. Here's the link to her shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunnyplainquilting
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Friday Feature

Today's Friday Feature is Painted Prose by Patricia. Patricia is a long time friend. We met doing a craft show together and became fast friends.  She introduced me to painting ACEO's and encouraged me to be a part of the Ebay ACEO group for which she was a moderator. Later I invited her to join the Chesapeake Bay Decorative Painters & taught her china painting and encouraged her to become a part of the China Painting Artists of Maryland.


Patricia is a wonderful painter and crafts person. Her style goes from Prim to Cottage. And lately with her dabbling in lusters on porcelain, she's even done some more modern pieces.

The photo is some of her hand molded porcelain. So check out her shop: http://www.paintedprose.etsy.com

Took-ees

I'm thinking how much I am looking forward to going to St. Leo's in Little Italy this weekend to learn how to make Italian Cookies from a chef. I'm doing this with my daughter Jackie. Then we are going to find a day (ha ha ha...you are laughing if you know us and our schedules) to make more for Christmas. 

I'm hoping it's going to be nice Saturday so we can also have lunch while we are down there.

Oh and you are probably wondering why my post is called Took-ees -- that's because Mason, my grandson calls cookies took-ees. And he is quite possibly the cutest kid in the whole wide world...or as he would say 'out to outer space.'
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The Santa bell ornament is available in my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/listing/54409514/hand-painted-porcelain-santa-bell

And the WINNER is.....

.....ready to be announced! LOL  Well today is the day when I give away the hand painted porcelain place card holders! It's just in time for those upcoming Christmas or New Year's Day dinners!

This morning I didn't have anyone to draw it for me so I used a random number generator on random.org  So by now you are saying, "Joann, hush up and tell us who it is."  Okay, okay...so the winner is: Liz of Seattle Washington.  Her blog profile says she has a love for fashion, makeup, and fabulous eats. Her blog is:  http://crystal-lized.blogspot.com/

You should check it out. Her last blog post was on Lady Gaga Barbi's....you gotta see her creations! LOL Congratulations Liz.

I love doing these blog catalog's I meet the most interesting people. So you are wondering, "Joann, when's the next porcelain art give away?" Okay, okay....it's February 1. Something of the heart...that's the only clue you get!

But while you are waiting drop by my Etsy shop! Http://jywheeler.etsy.com

Friday Feature

So we go from craftsmen and artisans to music this week. This is someone I met on Twitter. Her business is Renagades of Music http://www.renagadesmusic.com/

Renagade's specializes in Indie music. She says "Every artist here has shown true talent and a drive to make every song, every performance better than the last. They also each have a unique sound and styling that sets them apart from the crowd. They are truly "Renagades of Music""

Renagade's also offers services in press releases, cd sales, bios, album liner authoring, reviews, image/branding, promotions & PR and DIY consultations.

Who is the REAL renagade? Her name is Susan Leak. She is an online dealer of music offering the best quaility vinyl at the best price.She and her husband have a DJ/Karaoke music service at www.2wolves.com They also offer a transfer service, where we can transfer your vinyl or cassette to CDs.

Renagades can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Ebay and Bonanzle (and likely a ton of other places I haven't discovered yet). Go check her out!

St Vincent Cemetery

Well we have come a long way since my first blog. The grounds have been cleared. We have researched a number of new names of burials. Cataloging of the tombstones has begun. We have a photobucket site up that shows all the stones we've photographed and the transcriptions AND we have a new website.

Please take a moment to look at the site I just put together. Check out the names. If you are from the Baltimore and are Italian, Irish or German, you may have family buried there. Check out our new site: Http://stvincentcemetery.tripod.com

Want to get involved? Join our Yahoo group for information sharing of current research and upcoming meetings and clean up events:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StVincentCemeteryRestorationGroupBaltimoreMD/

There was no money set aside for maintenance of the cemetery. It now relies on the generousity of interested parties for periodic mowing and upkeep.
To make a donation please send it  to:


St. Vincent de Paul Church
Attention: Rev. Richard Lawrence
120 North Front Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

In the memo portion of your check please write:
St. Vincent Cemetery Renovation Fund.

December Blog Give Away!

Time for another Give Away...to celebrate Christmas and the Birth of Christ. The give away this time are for placecard holders.  Use them for your Christmas dinner. Hand painted china bow shaped place card holders. Set of 8. Painted in blue and pink with raised enamel polka dots. Very versatile. Use it for place cards (blue for guys & pink for ladies), to display miniature art or even business cards.  Size 2 3/4 x 1 inch.

So here's the rules

 1)  Eligible to US Residents only.
2)  Time Period today until December 8th.
3)  One entry per person with the following exceptions.
4)  Two entries if you visit my Etsy Shop and post a link to your favorite item: http://jywheeler.etsy.com
5) Three entries if you visit my Etsy Shop, Post a link to your favorite item:
http://jywheeler.etsy.com AND follow my blog.
6)  Must post your email address in comment box so that the winner can be contacted.


Good luck!