Pink Saturday

Stop over to our hostess  sweet Beverly and check out all the other linked blogs.
http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Random pinks today, as I'm sitting outside enjoying the warm weather, movement of the pond water and sun glistening upon it, and listening to the sounds of summer.  The wind is blowing a sweet breeze, the birds are chirping a song, and it is peaceful in the neightborhood {there are lots of kids not a peep, not even any lawn mowing}.

Love these late blooming annual zinnias, and they last long once cut!

Come clematis decided to creep down and join in some conversing with the black eye susans.

A little sneak peak at a quilt I've been working on for myself, with all my favorite rose prints and quilting roses!

Another pretty new daylilly I planted this year, I was so thrilled they even bloomed this year.

My coleus took off like crazy this year, they are about at least 2 feet high, and I kept pinching them back so, they are pretty bushy too.

Happy Pink Saturday, have a great week! Hugs, Michelle

Granny Square Blanket Update #3

Thought I'd toss the blanket in the garden for a photo or two, just for some added fun.

Since there seemed to be lots of flowers around with multiple colors just like my blanket!

The larger it gets the slower the color changes go, I think I'm in row thirty something, here, I have since surpassed the photos.

Starting this project, I was thinking it would be nice to have a blanket that was a different texture than all the quilts, but I do have to say I am really loving this project, very addictig, I used wool-washable.  You can scroll down to see previous posts on this.

Texture Tuesdays-Movie-"The Holiday"

http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe
Stop over to Kim's to check out all the other links. 

This week's theme was is A MOVIE.. pick any movie, your favorite movie, the photo just has to go along with the the title or scene from the movie.

I picked the Movie "The Holiday" because it reminded me of my photo I wanted to use, of course I could have picked the movies Home Alone, but the photo really went straight the the other movie for me.  The movie had one location  featuring a cottage in England and hence my slection for today.

The Holiday - In London, Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and nurtures an unrequited love for her colleague Jasper Bloom. Near Christmas, she is informed that Jasper is engaged to marry another colleague, and her life turns upside down. In Los Angeles, the movie-trailers maker Amanda Woods has just broken with her unfaithful boyfriend Ethan and wants to forget him. Through a house exchange website, Amanda impulsively swaps her mansion for Iris' cottage in Surrey for the holidays. While in Surrey, Amanda meets Iris' brother and book editor Graham and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, Iris meets her new next door neighbor, the ninety year old screenplay writer Arthur, who helps her retrieve her self-esteem, and the film composer Miles, with whom she falls in love with.

I photographed a friends gardens and she has the most adorable 1940's cottage style home. I applied a couple of textures and I'm very pleased with the result.  Blessings, Michelle

Pink Saturday-miricle makeover

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/08/pink-saturday-and-a-miracle-makeover-august-13-2011.html

Well, intranet kept me for posting for 3 days, now I lost my post, so I'm trying again.

Please stop over at the above link and view the videos and leave comments on the other blogs that have linked up.

help to raise money for another Miracle Makeover.
Welcome to Pink Saturday. Please link and join in the fun. Please join us by linking your Pink Saturday post permalink using the linking tool provided at the bottom of this post.
Linking begins at 3 p.m. EST every Friday and continues through midnight Sunday night.
So, be sure to link and show us your Pink and share your blessings. Be certain to link using your pink post permalink. And please remember to include a link back to my blog within your post so that your visitors will be able to visit here.

And,
the big news is that your blessing post will earn another $5 donation toward the next Miracle Makeover. You just need to e-mail info@miraclemakeover.org so they can count your post toward the total.

I want to thank those of you that take the time to leave me a comment.

Each comment you leave here and at each of the other Miracle Makeover host blogs earns a $1 donation for the next Miracle Makeover.

The goal this weekend is 5,000 comments.
Please, Please, Please leave your comments here on this post.
One Comment From You Left Here & at the 4 Blogs linked below =
$ 5 Donation on your behalf from Design Gives
Design Gives Back @Design Gives Back/Kelee
Spiritual Sunday @Spiritual Sunday/Charlotte & Ginger
Country Wings in Phoenix @Country Wings in Phoenix/Sherry
Metamorphosis Monday @Between Naps On The Porch/Susan -
comments on Monday Only
Art Therapy/Expressive Arts @Art Therapy
*********************************
Following is more information you need
to put your comments and posts
to work for another Miracle Makeover.
Here is a special message from Kelee:

Here are some details for you:
There will be many places for folks to help earn donations by JOINING - Commenting - Like ' ing - Or Posting. Here is how it works in 4 WAYS:

1) Comments: Comments at any of the host blogs earn $1 each.
2) Joining Google Friend Connect: We have createding our volunteer blogger roster of the future thru Google Friend Connect.
We will Donate $1 for each person that joins Design Gives Back Google Friend Connect. PLEASE come by now to connect! :):)
3) Facebook: "Liking" Design Gives Back/or Guideposts Facebook earns .50 each donation from us and comments earn $1.
4) Anyone that does a post with something positive, uplifting, spiritual or miraculous and a link to the video or embedded video and link to us will earn a $5 donation from us to the charities!!!
They must email us the link to their post.--- So it gets counted. E-mail: info@miraclemakeover.org
Bless your 1,000 Times.....

HUGS with Gratitude and Anticipation!
Kelee

Texture Tuesdays

My first Texture Tuesday, I'm joining in.  After stumbling upon Kim Klasson's blog from another fellow blogger Arful Diva {Pat}, I tried for the first time using layers....need I say anything more, I'm addicted, so much fun and with Kim's tutorial, so easy.  Not sure about the rights and wrongs, but I am just playing around with textures and opacities until I see what I like.  Please stop over and
check out the blog and other posts.  http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe

Here's the before, hopefully someone will tell me how to post so you just run the mouse over it to see the before, until then I can only offer two photos to see individually.  :)

With a couple of alterations, here's the after.  .

This week's theme was "the little things".  To me just just one flower, any little flower can inspire to boost me up, even wildflowers.  The color, shape, fragrance, texture, all make me happy.  So a little Queen Ann's Lace with some of Kim's texture layers and what a difference.

Have a terrific tuesday! Hugs, Michelle

Praise God-You tell on Yourself

"the older women [are to] be reverent in behavior"
Titus 2:3
? am I, over 5 decades now, I guess I now started considering myself an "older woman"....

You Tell on Yourself


You tell on yourse;f by the friend syou seek,
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar and dime.


You tell what you are by the things you wear,
By the spirit in which you burdens bear,
By the kind of things at which you laugh,
By the records you play on the phonograph.


You tell what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat.


By the books you choose from well-filled shelf:
In these ways and more, you tell on yourself.


Taken from "A Woman's High Callling" by Elizabeth George

Blessings, Michelle

Pink Saturday-Photoshop Filters and Textures

Pink Saturday-stop on over to Beverly our lovely hostess and check out all of the links. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com//

Before and Afters...just for FUN--
As I was visiting Pat, Artful Diva, http://patkumicich.blogspot.com/,  from Last Pink Saturday, her post lead me to a new blog, http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe, which lead me to another new blog, http://pixeldustphotoart.blogspot.com/ and so on.  Before you knew it I was hooked on using layers/textures in Photoshop, I had used filters before but not experiemented with layers.  Kim Klassen has a wonderful tutorial video, two on using layers in photoshop, watched them for 5 minutes and I was off.  So watch for me joining in Texture Tuesdays that Kim coordinates, so much fun to come.

From my garden, Before.  {very sweet fragance}

And a filter and layer texture and a little adjustment with opacity and the After.

Again the Before with so many possibilities awaiting....

After...so which do you like the before shots or the manipulated afterward photos?
Happy Pink Saturday, have a great week, hugs, Michelle

The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers.  --1 Peter 3:12

Books...I love books. On my book shelf right now is this book by Stormie Omartian "The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children".  I can't wait to start reading this book today and praying for my  children.  Below are the titles of the 14 Chapters in the book.

I took this still life a couple of weeks ago, this is not the book I am referring to in the post, but I just thought it fit the post today.

Pray That Your Adult Children Will:
1.  See God Pour His Spirit upon Them
2.  Develop a Heart for God, His Word, and His Ways
3.  Grow in Wisdom, Discernment, and Revelation
4.  Find Freedome, Restoration,and Wholeness
5.  Understand god's Purpose for Their Lives
6.  Work Successfully and Have Financial Stability
7.  Have a Sound Mind and a Right Attitude
8.  Resist Evil Influences and Destructive Behavior
9.  Avoid All Sexual Pollution and Temptation
10.  Experience Good health and God's Healing
11.  Enjoy a Successful Marriage and Raise Godly Children
12.  Maintain Strong and Fulfilling Reltionships
13.  Be Protected and Survive Tough Times
14.  Walk into the Future God Has for Them

Blessings, Michelle

Pink Saturday-Photographs...What they can tell you and what they may not tell you!

Pink Saturday-stop on over to Beverly our lovely hostess and check out all of the links. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com//

Photographs...What they can tell you and what they may not tell you!  I was sorting through some recent pics I took and I was staring at them trying to decide if I accomplished what I was looking for or not and the longer I looked at them the more I thought.  Here are two different viewpoints to ponder.

1.  What this photograph I took can tell you about ME the photographer.  As I look at this photograph I see ME, I went to college for Fashion Merchandising {appreciation of the vintage photo}, I was a wedding/sports league/children's portrait  photographer {I love B&W photography and P. in general}, I've sold fabric on-line/long arm quilting as a P/T job {doll quilt BG}.... so right there are a few avocations I've done over the years.  I love COLOR, can you tell, I love pink {flowers in the vase, gardening, BG quiilt a little colorful},  pearls are one of my favorite pieces of jewelry {still life accent} and the bud vase was my mother's {my father would give her one each place they visited that was her gift, I never knew he was so romantic}.  Did you know when you looked at this photograph all of these details about ME?  Photographs can tell much about the photographer.

2.  What they may not tell you!  Looking at this antique vintage photo...leaves me with so many questions.  Who was this lady, what was her name {Lily, Violet, Rose?}, did she have a happy marriage or end in divorce, did she have children and grandchildren {how many}-{who didn't keep her wedding photo in the family}, did she work outside the home {if so what was her career}, what hobbies did she enjoy {did she quilt, embroider, bake?},what was her favorite color/flower, where did she live {in the city or country}, did she have a long life, was she happy, sick, what stesses did she have in her life, was she a Christian, did she volunteer, etc.  What dreams did she have, did she achieve many of them?  What was HER STORY?  What words of wisdom woud she offer me? 

Some Pink for pink saturday!

Happy Pink Saturday, have an awesome weekend, Hugs, Michelle

Summer Sale-Kaffe Fassett Yards cuts $7.00

All yard cuts $7.00, Kaffe Fassett fabric, check out my etsy site!  No extra yardage available, closing out!  Don't miss out!

We pray because...

Lillies from my garden, praise God for all the beautiful flowers this year.

We pray because we want to thank someone or something for the beauties and glories for life, and also because we feel small and helpless and sometimes afraid.  We pray for forgivenes, for strength, for contact with the One who is, for assurance that we are not alone. {from Yancey's book Prayer}

A few Prayers in the Bible {from Yancey's book Prayer}
Genesis 18:  Abraham's plea for Sodom.
Exodus 15:  Moses' song to the Lord.
Exodus 33:  Moses meets with God.
2 Samuel 7:  David's response to God's promises.
1 Kings 8:  Solomon's dedication of the temple.
2 Chronicles 20:  Jehoshaphat prays for victory.
Ezra 9:  Ezra's prayer for the people's sins.
Psalm 22:  A cry to God for help.
Psalm 104:  A payer of praise.
Daniel 9:  Daniel's prayer for the salvation for Jeursalem.
Habakkuk 3:  A prophet's prayer of acceptance.
Matthew 6:  The Lord's prayer.
John 17:  Jesus' prayer for his disciples.
Colossians 1:  Paul's prayer of thanksgiving.

Blessings, Michelle

Pink Saturday-perfect morning/one hour

Pink Saturday-stop on over to Beverly our lovely hostess and check out all of the links. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com//

I had the most lovely Saturday morning two weeks ago, or should I say rather 1 hour, I grabbed for myself, and this is how I spend it::

I created a little outdoor "teatime" space, simple-simple... one green  chair amd a small metal outdoor  table, placed a pretty pink "butterfly" quilt as a "tablecloth"  added a lovely vase with a daylilly, it was quiet except for some birds singing.

Steeped a cup of my favorite tea "Bigelow Raspberry" and poured it in  the most beautiful teacup...the cup has a pretty gold print design , delicate handle, the top is wavy and has  flowers printed on the inside so you see beauty with every lift to your lips.   One of my faviorite magazines to browse and oogle the images and articles.

Toasted "beer bread" from tastefully simple made the most delicious toast, topped with homemade blueberry jam [canned last summer], mouthwatering on the tongue.

Relaxing, rhymic motion of crochet with the morning sun streaming its warmth.  Praising God in prayer and being thankful and wishing I could have stayed in my quiet time longer before I started another overwhelmed too much to do day.

Progress on the giant granny square, row 28 and counting!  Have a lovely weekend and thank you for visiting with me today.  Michelle

I Heart Quilts and FLowers

Daylilly's only last for a "day", hence the name....so I decided at the end of one evening I might as well pick some blooms off and have a little fun!

Yellow, spider variety named "Slapstick".

Color, so many colors, tints and shades!

"Dark Star" is the name of this beauty.

This is one of my favorite quilts I made easy as pie, 9-patch cut twice {large 10" squares I used} and Robyn Pandolph "flirt" fabirc in greens and quilted with a very detailed floral.

Large blooms on this spider variety, larger than my hand..."wildest dreams"!

Lighting at this time of the night is so serene, love it!

Profuse blooms on this plant, which I don't recall the name of, but I've had for a couple of years so it is established , can't wait until the newer plants I have get like ths one hopefully, now it's just a 1-3 blooms at a time open and not too many on a plant.  I sure am having fun photographing them all this summer.  Have a great day!

Pink Saturday-Giant Granny Square Blanket

Pink Saturday-stop on over to Beverly our lovely hostess and check out all of the links. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com//

I am participating in a Giant Granny Challenge, more of a crochet along really.  You can read all about it over here:  http://lemondedesucrette.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/giant-granny-challenge/ .  This is the first post and she has a few more since.  There is also a space on flicker http://www.flickr.com/groups/sucrettes-giant-granny-challenge and even one on https://www.ravelry.com/ and a button has been made.  It's been really nice to follow the posts and see how different people have help bring each piece of this together.  So come on what are you waiting for join in the fun.  Also, I remembered in my faviorite saves, I had saved a tutorial from Purl Soho that can be found here:  http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2009/3/24/joelles-giant-granny-square.html.  I'm at about 19 rows here, of course these are the fun ones, now they start to get a little more time consuming with each color row.  All is all, it is a simple no brainer project and just plain relaxing and fun, great way to use up those scraps, I happen to be using wool, but acrylic works just fine also.

Have a great day, enjoy the color...the color pink especially!!! Hugs, Michelle

Summer Sale-Nicey Jane-Heather Bailey

Summer Sale-Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey, all yard cuts on sale for $6.50, Fat quarters $1.50.  No yardages left, just what's listed.

Found this on someone's blog, sorry I am not sure now where to give credit to but isn't this a georgous use of this fabric, I love it. 

Summer Sale-Hope Valley-Denyse Schmidt

Huge summer sale of Hope Valley-Denyse Schmidt Fabric
All I have is listed in my Etsy shop, no more yardage available, just what's listed. Fat Quarters $1.50, yard cuts $6.50

Found this georgeous quilt on someone's blog and I'm sorry I can't give credit due, forgot which one I was at, but I just thought is was absolutely stunning work, both piecing and quilting.  I love it.

Happy 4th of July-Today is in God's hands and so are you

A few red, white and blue flowers from my personal gardens!

Today is in God's hands and so are you.

His hands are strong and will uphold you; His hands are great and will enfold you; His hands are gentle and will embrace you; His hands are protective and will cover you; His hands are reassuring and will quiet you; His hands are powerful and will defend you; His hands are parental and will train you; His hands are masterful and will conform you; His hands are compassionate and will care for you; His hands are healing and will renew you; His hands are calming and will comfort you; His hands are giving and will bless you.

The hands that hold you will never Let you dowm.

-Roy Lessin

Blessings, Happy 4th of July, Michelle