Currently it is 1 degree here in Norfolk & freebie

The temperature is in part due to wind chill factor. We didn't get the additional snow the other day but the previous snow is ice now and most roads haven't been cleared. I just set the bathtub to drip again tonight because we were told that sometime after midnight the temperature is expected to drop to -7 degrees! I haven't been out all week even though I should have gone out to start my car at least. Didn't want to trudge through the snow or breathe that cold cold air for fear it would cause me to have breathing problems. But my husband has had to work every day. On the worst day he carried less than a dozen people on the bus all day. At some point this weekend we will have to go out for a few supplies so I really hope there is a warm spell. Still, we don't have 90 inches of snow like Boston, so shouldn't complain. I can't imagine what those people are going through.

Above (depending on blogger lol) you can see what I did with one of the journal cards I've been posting. Honestly, I haven't been doing much of anything. All I want to do is crawl back under the bed covers and hibernate with my heat pack. Finally resorted to using a little Voltaren gel on the painful shoulder last night so I could get some sleep. Don't want to be taking Tylenol every day. And several times today I resorted to lying down with the heat pack on my shoulder.

Stacey responded to my comments about personal symbols saying (hope you don't mind?) she doesn't think she has any but admitted to having some lions of some sort around. I'd say there is a reason we are attracted to certain images and things. I was pretty sure lions have been used to symbolize power and royalty and the Leo sun sign, and courage. Of course, I love doing research so checked out possible symbolic meanings for Stacey's lions. Here is a good summary of what I found: (from http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-meaning-of-lions.html ) Wisdom Power Royalty Dignity Courage Justice Ferocity Dominion Authority I found it interesting to learn that allthough the lion is a nocturnal animal, it has been associated with the sun. Which made me recall that Stacey also loves sunflowers. The name alone tells us these plants are associated with sun and turn their blooms to face the sun. The cheerful bright yellow is bound to make us think of warmth and sunshine. It's a cheery flower that also produces, in its seeds and oil, a good source of nourishment. Picked up a few tidbits on sunflower symbolism from Teleflora: "It's said that the natives of the Inca Empire worshipped a giant sunflower, and that Incan priestesses wore large sunflower disks made of gold on their garments. Images of sunflowers were found in the temples of the Andes mountains, and Native American Indians placed bowls of sunflower seeds on the graves of their dead. The Impressionist period of art is famous for its fascination with the sunflower, and this striking flower remains today a commonly photographed and painted icon of uncommon beauty." They also declare it the flower for a 3rd anniversary. A lovely spirtual symbolism I found was that "because the blossom (bright and bountiful) is always seeking out the light. Symbolically, this is spiritually akin to the heart/soul of humankind always seeking and attaining unity with the light of faith and keeping a connection with the Source/God/Goddess of one's own understanding." (http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-sunflower-meaning.html) Other possible symbolic meanings are: Faith Longevity Healing Nourishment Focus Good Luck Magic Worship Flexibility Spiritual knowing (ibid.) For fun, I played around with these 2 images and here is what I came up with as a calling card (lots of space to add whatever you want.).

And now another Bohemian Boudoir freebie:

You will find it here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/qaYim1Pcce/ws_BohemianBoudoir_chairframe.html?

Bohemian Boudor freebie

Imagine you are a young lady with Bohemian tastes and a love of jewel tones. Painting your bedroom one color is just too ordinary Why not paint each wall a different color? I wanted to put silver stars on her ceiling but couldn't get the perspective to look right. Here is a room view then with furniture to slowly follow.

http://www.4shared.com/zip/iFTdHh_Nce/ws_BohemianBoudoir_paper_6.html? I tried downloading the first journal card direct from blog and it wasn't 3" x 4" because it gets converted to 72 dpi. So, I've zipped the first card with the new one I'm giving today. Didn't bother to add my TOU. These are personal use only. Here's the new journal card:

http://www.4shared.com/zip/cR-Kxztfce/SherryD_journalcards_12.html? We got 6" of snow the other day and more is expected tonight but less than an inch. However, the temperatures are dropping into single digits with it expected to go to -2 degrees! Even more unbelievable is that the forcast says temperatures may be up to 60 on Sunday! Being stuck in the house . . . nah, won't make an excuse. Sometimes I just like to surf on ebay and see what's available. So I was doing that the other day and came across something I really wanted. We all have certain images we tend to gravitate to, certain things we like, certain colors. You might even say (some do) that we all have personal symbols. Sometimes their meaning to us is pretty much standard - that is, widely recognized - and sometimes their meaning is more personal. I've been exploring this a little, thinking about what my personal symbols might be and one that I've been drawn to as long as I can remember is hands. My symbolic meaning is that hands remind me of friendship and affection. They also make me think of honesty and integrity as in a handshake to close a deal or a promise. And certainly, of creativity and the things we make with our hands. I love the symbolism of the Irish Claddaugh with it's hands, heart & crown; the hands mean friendship there. There is also the use of a stylized hand to represent the hand of God (think of Michelangelo's Sistene chapel & the Hamsa Hand in Jewish tradition). If you watched or read Game of Thrones, you know that the hand was also a symbol of power, as in The King's Hand who was a person of great authority and who wore (at least in the novel) a necklace of golden hands to denote his office. If you go looking for recognized symbolic meanings, you will also find that the hand is the part of the body most often represented symbolically. If you are curious about hand symbolism, here are 2 interesting links which mention some meanings I was unaware of: http://www.ornotmagazine.com/project/symbolism-hands-from-gargas-to-elsa-schiaparelli/ http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-hand-meaning.html All this to tell you that I spotted a vintage sterling silver bracelet of hands on ebay, bid on it and won it. I won at a price higher than I wanted to pay but actually reasonable and I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

Freebie alert

It's snowing! There are a couple of inches on the ground (beautiful!) and when I looked out the kitchen window while setting up coffee for morning, the sky looks white. We are told that later tonight the snow will probably change over to a mixture of sleet and rain. That's pretty typical around here. Still, it will make for messy travel in the morning. A lot of places have already made decisions to close but the transit company my husband works for will only close if the authorities request everyone stay off the streets. He actually got 3 snow days last winter but I think he will be working tomorrow.

I've decided I'm also going to be making some journal cards to share. At firsst I was planning to go with ATC size (2.5 x 3.5") but saw that most journal cards are 3" x 4" with some at 4" x 6" which I feel is too big. So 3" x 4" it is. Today's journal card was inspired by the random color scheme that was on my blog when I opened it - vermillion. This card is for personal use only.

You should be able to right click and save. I'm getting ready to make a preview for another piece of Bohemian Boudoir but first need to send a message to a freebies group I'm part of to alert them to the kit series. More later.