Photographic Friday...

Yay! Signs of spring:) The Saturday before Easter we were at an Easter egg hunt and I spotted this little pink flower braving the cold, cloudy weather. It's like he was shouting "hey! spring is here!".

I love being able to catch soft colors, hazy light, and early morning dew. It's as quiet outside, as my house is inside, during the wee hours of the morning. Before children and birds wake...

I also love it when you cannot tell how old a picture is. Was it taken yesterday? Or a hundred years ago?

Finally - I caught this the other day; Alexa having a tender moment with Simon. This is rare with him as she usually chases him around all day and he runs from her. He is very good about putting up with all of her hugs and cradling once she catches him. However, if he can avoid her he will! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I have a birthday party to get ready for tomorrow - Fiona will be seven:)

Playing with Mixed Media...

I did a little decluttering of my studio space last week and came across several of these small 4x4 mini canvases. I just knew I had to play around with them.

I did some collaging on them with tissue paper, book papers, some of the girls' old school papers, even some leftover fabric scraps...

I was in the mood to create something that could be displayed just about anywhere for just about any reason...

I really resisted the urge to add some embroidery because I wanted to broaden my horizons a little bit. Not to mention the fact that I wanted this project to be relatively quick and easy. As much as I do not find embroidery difficult - it does take time.

I hope you enjoy this little bit of a departure from the stitching! I also hope this week finds you dry; it has been raining non-stop here in northeast Ohio for several days. My backyard can now be called Lake Shella:) Have a wonderful week.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I wish everyone lots of Blessings for this wonderful spring season:) JOY!

Photographic Friday...

It has been a VERY rainy spring here in Ohio. As much as I want the sun to come out and shine, there is a real beauty in the rain. I find it very calming most of the time. However, being that the girls are on spring break this week a little sunshine would be nice!

On Tuesday we baked Easter sugar cookies, the girls went to town decorating them. I love to take pictures of their baking experiments, it's a lot like their artwork - they do it with complete abandon.

Here's some sunshine! When the sun did decide to peek out this week, I made sure I got a picture of it. There is nothing more beautiful than the natural way the sunlight makes everything sparkle. Hope you have a Blessed and sunny Easter!

Giada's Collage

My sister has been after me for a long time to make her a collage using a picture of my niece, Giada...

Well I finally made one for her and gave it to her this past weekend at Giada's third birthday party...

The poem was written by my sister a few days after Giada was born. I thought it appropriate to include it in the collage. My sister has written poetry since we were in junior high. I keep telling her to start a poetry blog; but she keeps coming up with excuses not to. (I write this as I am shaking my head.)

I'm hoping she will see her poem here posted on my blog and that will motivate her to start her own:) I hope everyone is enjoying the week, my girls are on spring break right now, unfortunately, it's been cold and rainy. But we have managed to make Easter cut out cookies, and are working on dying eggs later in the week. Thursday - we are taking a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art - we can't wait! Blessings.

Photographic Friday...

Well here it is, my first Photographic Friday. I really Love taking pictures of the everyday mundane. Those little moments in time, that throughout the day, give me a sweet chuckle or cause me to stop and think a moment...

I caught Big Boy taking a nap in the basket of recycled newspapers. If you look at his mouth you can see he is smiling in his sleep:) This is one cat that is overjoyed with finding a family to love him, how peaceful...

With life as crazy as it is today, sometimes we have to remember that it's important to take time to stop and "smell the roses". Not only is it important to us, but it's important to our world as well. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, go take some pictures!

Fiona's Art!

Fiona came home from school yesterday with a bunch of art projects that she had completed throughout the school year. (The one above is an embellished letter "F".)

The second one is her version of "Starry Night". They had learned about Vincent Van Gogh and used a marbling technique to create the night sky...

This is a monster they created with "squishy paint". I am SO INSPIRED by the girl's art work. Complete serendipity; look at those colors! Do you think she sat there beforehand and said "now what colors do I need to use for the best look?" NO! She just created with utter abandon and the wonderful color combination just appeared- straight from her heart:) I already told her I'm going to scan her artwork and use portions of it for my collages -I can't wait. What are you inspired by?

Photographic Fridays...

I really want to blog more often, I enjoy it, it's therapeutic, and it makes me happy:) So I am starting Photographic Fridays...

With the start of the warmer weather, I plan to do a lot more picture taking. I love photographing simple, basic things and making them look pretty. Makes me grateful for all that I have. I can't wait to get started, have a wonderful week!

Finishing an Embroidered Collage...

I finished a collage this week for a friend. I always start off with paint and old papers. I got this book from Lee at http://www.webersworld1.blogspot.com/ I love the papers in this book. I'm thinking about just framing some of the pages. Once I get the first layer going - then I layer with some paint, more papers - usually tissue and wrapping paper (some of the wrapping paper out there is fantastic!)...

Once the collage part is finished, I add the embroidered piece, buttons, and usually a quote...

This one is going to friends of ours that had a baby girl in January. And yes, God's work is definately beautiful! Hope you all have a Blessed week:)