A Pile of Scraps

Becky sent me this quote a few days ago:  

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." Henry Ward Beecher

I couldn't agree more....I do try and find joy in simple...everyday...and common things.  But I chuckled as I reworked the quote for the purposes of this post to say that the art of simple joy lies in the power of extracting an idea from a pile of common scraps.

I've been trimming things up for a couple of weeks now...and I finally had to pause and sort through the precious little scraps looking for useful bits and pieces. I had to make room so I could do more trimming.

This is what my cutting table looked like last night....I sorted through all of it looking for gems.  And you'll never guess what little scrap caught my eye to use first. You might not even notice it.

There at the bottom of the photo was one piece of gold thread....and I can't even remember what project it was from.  I just couldn't throw it away....so I wrapped it around one of my collage hearts....and secured it with a layer of glue on the pieced background.

I trimmed it up and it became a unique scrappy Art Heart with a little shimmery texture.

Speaking of scraps....I try and use every scrap of a collage so I cut the tiny hearts from the corners and spaces.

You can't really stitch around these tiny hearts (I tried).....but you can stitch across them. I think this is a sweet trio.

This whole piece is just a few inches.

And I'm pretty sure Becky got my February calendar page....and if you remember the theme for this year is "whatever is on my table." 

Of course there were Art Hearts on my table.....and I found a little fusible tree leftover from another project.  

I think it's a sweet little combo for February 2024!