Guilt is a Beautiful Thing

Misty Belle and Mr. Quinn:  Mom, we're glad you decided to get a fresh tree and that you decorated the pencil tree in the living room.

Me:  Aww, you're welcome pups.

Misty Belle and Mr. Quinn:  Are you glad too mom?

Me:  Yes, I'm glad I was able to put my vintage French postcards on the living room tree, and I know I will love having all of the family ornaments on the live tree in the family room once I am done putting on the lights.

Misty Belle:  This postcard with the roses is my favorite!

Me:  This one is my favorite, the people are all dressed up like they are going to a holiday soiree!

Mr. Quinn:  I like the Bingo card that Linda sent you last year!

Me:  Me too Quinnie!

Me:  And I love the old felt stockings my mom made us, this one was for my Nanna, she would have loved you guys!

Misty Belle:  Mom, you said you felt guilty not decorating this year, what is guilt?

Me:  Well Misty Belle guilt is...oh nevermind, guilt is a beautiful thing this year!

Me:  Misty Belle?

Misty Belle:  Yes Mom?

Me:  You better take another look out that window and see if Santa is on his way!

Update:  A live tree, new stand, and new lights (though not enough) now grace our family room, so tonight's project will be getting more lights and trimming the tree.  Though I don't say this often, ok, never, the guilt which led to us getting a tree really will be a beautiful thing when it's all said and done! :)

Lovely Surprises

 

The past few weeks the UPS truck, Fedex, and our mailman's jeep have been paying frequent visits to our humble abode.  Between things I've ordered and happy little packages sent by others arriving nearly every day, it's been a little bit like Christmas.

Recently the lovely Tricia Rose of Rough Linen fame created her very own bread bag out of some of her beautiful linen.  After road testing the bag herself she offered to send a few out to her readers, and I was one of the lucky ones to receive one of her bags.

Now I know I've been mostly gluten free since January, but trust me, I will find a million and one good uses for this lovely bag.  And just having it makes me pine for Tricia's linens which are on my "most wanted to buy" list!  Thank you Tricia!!!

The next lovely package to arrive on my doorstep was one from The Polished Pebble.  Those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time know that along with my love for Rough Linen's wares, I share equal affection for Kelley and her amazing design talents!

Along with her design business, Kelley just opened a shop where she sells one of a kind vintage pieces and some of her homemade goodies, like soaps and potpourri.  Kelley was so sweet and sent me some samples of both her Lavender and Rose potpourris and to say they smell heavenly would be a bit of an understatement.

Each generous bag is filled to the brim with the scent of her Ojai Roses or snippets of the beautiful lavender she grows in the highly coveted yard of her California home.  Now my home can smell a tiny bit like what I image lounging in her backyard on a gorgeous summer day must feel and smell like! Thank you Kelley!!!

Last but not least are some documents I ordered from Oscar Naylor on Etsy.  Alwen, who owns Oscar Naylor was so wonderful to work with and helped find me just the right antique ephemera I was looking for.

These are beautiful vintage documents, many dating back to the 1700 and 1800s and I plan to get them framed to hang in just the right spot in my house.  And along with the items I ordered, Alwen gifted me with a few extra goodies...thank you so much Alwen, I will treasure these!

So as you can see, it has been like Christmas around here, with lovely little surprises showing up each week.  And with Mother's Day right around the corner I think there might be a few more surprises coming my way.

I hope you each have had a few pleasant surprises at your house lately, and for those of you who are moms, I wish you each a VERY Happy Mother's Day!

Patience is a Virtue

There is really nothing I love to do more than to manipulate images.  If you had told me a year ago I would say this I would have laughed, looked at you kind of funny, and then backed away slowly! ;-)

But it's true, I now enjoy pushing the bounds of my limited abilities and learning something new every day.  It's a form of relaxation and meditation for me, and the added bonus of maybe being able to sell some of these is like icing on the cake!

The biggest challenge I face when I start messing with my images is knowing when to stop, when to put the mouse down and leave well enough alone.  

I once heard a photographer who does lots of post processing (and whose name I have momentarily forgotten) say that he finds that some of his best work comes from images he has walked away from and then revisited later.  That by not feeling like you have to finish something in one sitting you can often find the true vision of the image.  I love that idea, and I now try and subscribe to it, even though I'm fairly impatient and like to get something done all at once.

The image above is a great example.  First I started with just the flowers in the vase, adding textures, messing with the hue and saturation, and then I left it alone for a bit.  Then I remembered a beautiful old french post card that I had that I thought would fit beautifully on the right side of the image which had a good deal of dead space.  And then finally, because I felt it needed a little something else and couldn't figure out how anyone would use this image, I decided to add the "Happy Easter" wishes at the top in pink.  Now I can see it as an Easter card.

Sometimes patience really is a virtue I guess!

Happiness Is...

Having no weeds in your flower beds...thanks to your husband!

Old French script.

Flowering Almond blossoms.

Finding time to take a few pictures.

I hope each of you found a little happiness of your own this weekend, and that you find even more this week!

Cherry Pink

I hope you each...

Have a...

Simply beautiful weekend...

No matter what you have planned!

And in honor of my trumpet playing husband, a little music to get you started.  I bet many of you have heard this song, but never knew what the title was..*Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White*...how apropos!

What Would They Say?

If you were run over by a truck tomorrow what would you want people to remember about you?



 

I know that's a crazy #$$ question, but I think it's one we should all really ponder from time to time.

Would you want them to say that you were an awesome blogger, or that you were an awesome mother, father, wife, husband, sister, brother, daughter, or son?  Or would you want them to say both?

Would you want people to say that you were kind, considerate, giving, helpful, loving or that you were cut throat, ruthless, and #1 at whatever it is you do?  Are all of these things incongruent with one another or do we each have a little bit of all of those things rolled into us as human beings?

Yesterday and this morning I pondered all of these questions...and more.  And as I looked in the mirror and wondered if my skinny jeans would ever fit again I had to wonder who I wanted to be and what I would be willing to give up to get there.  And I had to remember that every day can't be perfect and neither can we, but it can be pretty darned close if we focus on the positives and not the negatives.  Nurture ourselves and others, not try to build ourselves up by tearing others down...what a waste of precious energy that must be.

These are tough questions my friends, hard ones to answer and some that just can't be answered.  But I think that as we push and pull ourselves to succeed, be it on a blog or anywhere in life we have to also remind ourselves to not lose a bit of ourselves in the process...unless of course you are losing the bad things, then I think that would be a good thing.