After a few weeks almost completely devoid of Etsy (and Pinterest), and a lovely evening walk with my sweetie and my pups, I decided to look for some black and white art that’d steal my heart.  (Sorry, I had to go for that.  I just had to.)

Anyway, it didn’t take long to come across these beauties… No. 4 and No. 5 from Jessica Durrant‘s series of watercolor world maps.  Now the only question is which color do I like best?

White?

Or black?

(It’s pretty much the decision I face every weekeday… regarding shirts.)

In all seriousness, these breathtaking pieces are exactly the calming bits of art I think will be perfect for our office area.  And, I think I’ll go with white… And keep wishing I were in the Atlanta area so I could take one of Jessica’s art classes.

I’ve been dealing with a heart condition flare up that’s had me holding off on just-about everything; I could use a little something to accelerate my dive into the festivities.  So, I googled “holiday craft tutorial.”  No dice.  I googled “holiday gift card tutorial.”  Worse than no dice.  Tacky dice.  Finally, I googled “holiday garland tutorial.”  Sweet, mild, heart-pleasing dice on the second result.

dottie angel: a vintage recycled, ‘whatnot’ holiday garland tutorial…

Just look at it!

She takes this:

Does this:

And does this:

And, after a few more steps, ends up with this:

Just perfect.  A simple and calming way to start the season.

Go ahead, head on over and give read to Tif’s inspiring blog.  After you’re through the aforementioned holiday garland tutorial (blogged on my birthday, no less), check out the other gems on her blog.  (I love this and this.)   Maybe you’ll even take her challenge of the utmost kind and pick up a few Christmas gifts in her Etsy shop.