A Collage for Baby...

My friend Amy had a baby girl, Julia, earlier this summer. She lives in New York so I didn't get to see her until last weekend when she and Julia were in town visiting with family. Julia's room has an "under the sea" theme...

I wanted to make her something that she could use for Julia's room, but I also wanted the gift to be able to grow with her. I wanted it to be something that she could look at forever...

I've been trying to look at everything with new eyes lately. I'm trying to see the beauty and wonder in all of the plain everyday things that we take for granted. I wanted to let Julia know that as she grows she must remember to look around at all the wonder in the world; the sunrise, the dew on the morning grass, the dog curled up on his favorite chair...

If we all took a little time to see the wonder in our own lives, we would be a lot happier and a lot more grateful for everything that we have. Even during tight financial times we should be thankful. I'm trying to be more thankful...

I hope everyone has a truly Blessed holiday weekend. The leaves have just started to change colors here - a couple more chilly nights like tonight and the oranges and reds will soon be popping out!

Seeing Beauty Everywhere...

For me, the start of the new school year is kind of like January; time to decide how I'm going to make this year (in my case this school year) the best it can possibly be. One thing that I can do, is to see the beauty in this wonderful universe everyday. . .

So many times we rush around daily schedules, meetings, activities for the kids, and a to do list a mile long that we forget to just look around and see the beauty. . .

Fall is my favorite time of year. I think God shows off his remarkable talent for color during this season. Everything is bursting with a last moment of splendor before we all settle down for winter. Last year, I woke up one morning and fall had come and gone. I realized that I had been so busy I had forgotten to look!

I'm not going to do that this year! Get ready to see lots of pictures of this remarkable fall season. My wish for everyone this week is that you remember to take the time to look!

We survived the first week back to school...

Yes we survived the first week of school! Fiona is officially a first grader and Alexa is officially a four year old pre-schooler. I'm always amazed at how fast time seems to go by. Sometimes I think that it's just no possible that I am the mother of an elementary school student! I hope everyone else out there who has young (or older) kids starting school has a wonderful start to the new school year!

A long weekend at the farm...

For some reason, the farm is like this magical place. We don't look at our watches, or worry about keeping a schedule, and we certainly don't stay connected (cell phone service is spotty and there is no internet connection). All this being said, we truly feel like we are away from reality when we are up there...

Lots of flower picking goes on...

And lots of apple picking too! The trees in the orchard weren't quite ready to give up their fruit but the tree on the south east corner of the property was more than ready to let us take its' fruit. There was plenty of proof that the deer had been bedding there, enjoying the apples too. We brought home enough apples to last all year, I have already made one batch of apple butter and will be making more before this week is over. I love the smell of the house when the apples and spices are cooking on the stove...

It's okay if the kids get dirty (plenty of hot water for baths!) and we are so far north that it's almost ten o'clock at night before it really gets dark. When they finally do get to bed, they sleep like logs, comfortably asleep in old farm quilts and blankets...

I'm already counting down the days until we can go up there again...

A Fairy Collage...

"We might live with the Angels

that visit us on every sunbeam,

and sit with the fairies

who wait on every flower"

Samuel Smiles

I was finally able to take some time this week and finish the fairy collage. I used an 8 x 10 stretched canvas board, painted, stamped, and glued lots of layers. I used all things that I already had around the house; tissue paper, old sheet music, an old sewing pattern, and other pieces of left over ephemera. The paper flowers were from a wedding invitation that we attended last spring, the butterfly is actually part of a hair clip of Alexa's that had broken. It's definitely nice to know I did not end up spending any extra money...

I really wanted it to look whimsical and light hearted. The girls had so much fun the day this picture was taken that I wanted the collage to reflect that. They are only little once, and I wanted to create something that will remind me of the absolute joy they have had this summer with all of this fairy magic! I hope everyone enjoys the last little bit of summer.

I'm trying some complimentary colors...

In the color class that I am taking we are now learning about complimentary colors. These are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. I normally don't use complimentary colors, at least I didn't think I did...
If you look closely at these orange flowers, you will notice that the muslin they are embroidered on is painted teal/turquoise blue. Blue is the complimentary color of orange. When I selected the color orange for the flowers, I wasn't even aware at the time that I was selecting complimentary colors, I just liked the way they looked together. I guess I know a little bit more about color theory than I thought! (At least subconsciously.)

Almost finished...

A couple of weeks ago, my girls were on the biggest fairy kick ever. Because of that, I was inspired to create something that would remind me of this special time in their lives- when everything is wonderful and new...

I created a collage using a picture I had taken of them at a Fairy Festival. It's not quite finished yet but here are a couple of sneak peeks...

I will post pictures of the completed collage as soon as the glue is completely dry! But for now I hope everyone has a wonderfully Blessed week!