Quote

                                     photo by me

"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal"   - Thomas More

I have been thinking a lot about the devastation in Joplin.   Praying for a quick restoration, healing and finding those that are missing.  

                                                                       

My First Friday Photo Feature

Well hello! Tomorrow is finally Friday and a long weekend! Yeah!  It's been a very slow moving week.  Do you agree?
I thought I'd hop on board to a linky party that will challenge me to get out and use my camera more this summer.
I'm joining up with the lovely blog A Rosy Note.  I love the photography and gain so much inspiration from the photos that Tricia posts.  We haven't chatted yet but I'm hoping to make some new friends who also enjoy photography.  Wish you could see me smiling right now!

** Update 5/29/11 It looks like the party is over before I even got to join in. Today Tricia blogged that the First Friday Photo Feature has been unplugged due to the amounts of time it's taking out of her life.  I understand her need to do this and although I'm disappointed there are other fun parties I can join up with or maybe I could just make my own someday.   She was very sweet to leave me such a nice comment on my blog the other day so it was a bit of a surprise to hear it's now kaput. I had to laugh because it's just the way it goes sometimes when I get on board with stuff a day late and a lots of dollars short.  I don't know what God has planned in my life but I have to trust that He has every single teeny minuscule part of it in His capable hands ***

An old friend of mine has asked me to take photos of her daughter's wedding this July!  I am both flattered and nervous at the same time!
Last summer I took photos at a wedding for the first time, ever.  I posted a few of the pictures here.  The couple was looking to save some money by using a new photographer (or student) and I was looking to add some experience under my belt and some new pictures to my "portfolio" (even though I really don't have a portfolio ...yet)!  It was a great learning tool for me and even though I was a bit stressed I was happy with the results.
I love weddings but it was very challenging to do everything on my own.  I also had to rent a flash for the indoor church photos, use a tripod, and have nonstop energy and ideas!  Wow!

                                                 photo by me

I'm very glad this next wedding is small, outdoors (gotta have that beautiful natural lighting) and for a good friend who wants to encourage me in my photography. She blesses me with her wonderful compliments... 
The link party theme is "flowers" and I have so much fun photographing the lovely ranunculus.   I always feel like I'm misspelling that word!  I think they are also called buttercups, too. Below is a pretty vintage canning jar that I bought my mom and a single flower bud laying on top.   It's fun to try unique ways to photograph different items. 

                                             photo by me

All my photos have minimum editing and I try very hard to take a good picture with natural lighting so I don't have to do a lot of clean up. 
I would  very much like to try Piknik and Photoshop because there are so many pretty layers I could add to make the photos have more character as well as give them a vintage aged look.  Photoshop is not in my budget and I hear it's hard to learn.   Piknik is free, though!

                                                 photo by me

I couldn't resist re posting a previous photo I've used earlier this year.  Love the pink, white and brown combo!

                                               photo by me

I've been missing your comments lately!  If you stop by please say hello!  I'd love to meet you.   Have a fantastic weekend.  Remember our soldiers who fought for our freedom which we are so very blessed to have!

Much Better!

                                               photo by me

I'm back and feeling much better! Thanks for the kind words and offerings of prayers for healing, too.  I really really appreciate it!  My doctor gave me some antibiotics and I've continued taking some allergy meds, too.   They are reporting it's one of the worst allergy seasons and that people that normally have minimum allergies (like me) are pretty miserable.

Yesterday I felt so much better and my energy returned!  I was able to get a lot of things done and it was a nice change. 

I even hand-washed my car!  You know what that means... it will inevitably rain!!

                                               photo by me

We had a storm that blew through our city last night which brought some hail, too.  It was short and thankfully my car was under the carport for protection from the pellets falling from the sky.   I ran out with my camera after it was all over.

I just love how the clouds look here.  I see the shape of Africa, do you?

                                          photo by me

I really enjoy seeing the clouds move along quickly by the stormy winds and I hoped to capture the lightning up in the sky but it was quicker than I was as well as being a little unpredictable!  I'm not sure if I'm camera savvy enough yet, anyway!

Today was a perfectly sunny day hitting almost 80 degrees.  The sky was blue and the clouds were puffy white.  I should have taken my camera out with me so I would've captured the beauty after the storms... 

Isn't that just like our lives?  Once the storm passes we can see the beauty around us again.  Have a blessed week!

Soothe

Soothe  - I just love that word.  Saying it just evokes calmness.  I am longing for a nice cup of hot tea with agave nectar or honey right this very moment.

I have been taking allergy meds for about 5 days and hoping my throat and cough will be soothed soon!  The windy and cold weather has arrived and lots of pollen has been blowing everywhere.  All the changes have been hard on everyone.   Healing is another of my favorite words.  Praying for healing as well...

Bear with me as I take a little rest and get better!  Have a blessed week!

Happy Mother's Day!

May all of you lovely mamas out there have a great day today! You deserve it!!

Yesterday I was invited (along with another friend)to take photographs for our church Mother's Day brunch.  We were instructed to take shots of the mothers and daughters as they arrived and once we were done a person went out, had them all developed, then gave all the prints as souvenoirs as each of guest left.  It was sort of being like paparazzi but it was fun nonetheless!

My mother and I were able to also enjoy the delicious food, fellowship and guest speaker.  

Here's the card I made her:

I used some beautiful vintage lace trim to frame the heart and really like how it turned out.   Prima flowers make everything beautiful, too!

Right now Michael's has a dollar bin full of alphabet stamps.  I grabbed up a couple that had nice fonts.

May your all your days be full of precious moments like these... hugging and bonding with your children and being the the most loving and best parent you can be.   God bless!

Tag You're It!

Wow!  What a week!  So much going on in the world and sometimes it's a bit overwhelming.  The highs and the lows.  The heights of celebration and the sadness of loss.   Tornadoes, romantic royal wedding, and Bin Laden.  Gotta say it again- wow!
I've decided to press in and focus my attention on family and a bit of creative time for some healthy and positive outlets!
The recent Easter swap got me in the mood for making more tags!  Using some of my vintage card images I decided to do a couple " thank you's" ...

I just love this cute bear with its sweet eyes and big red bow!  Gingham, polka dots, and fun embellishments.

It's hard to see in the picture but the flowers are pale yellow and creams.  I also added some Stickles glitter to the ice cream cone, flowers, and bow.

This one I decided to add an actual red bow and keep it more simple.   One of these days I will try doing some 3D effects in my cards and tags.  So many options with such a sweet array of images.  

Friday I'll be working on a Mother's Day card and hoping to make it feminine and pretty just like my mama!

I'm also hoping to plant these pretty perennials in my flower bed this weekend.  They have been inside for protection from frost, believe it or not!  The cold just wants to hang on for a long time!  Before I do my planting I will first have to buy fresh fertilized soil to help in their success.  Please work out!

 

 

I'm not the best gardener but I couldn't resist getting these plants because I like the tiny delicate petals and they also are supposed to be attractive to butterflies!
My butterfly bush did not make it last year! It's just a little dried stick in the soil!
What can I say?  I don't give up!  I love having flowers around my humble little home!  Have a great day!