365 Photo of the Day

365 Photo(s) of the Day & International Women’s Day

First buttercup and butterfly/moth (?) of 2015 just so happens on International Women’s Day and I extend a warm hello to my Sistah’s all around the globe!

Technorati Tags: butterfly,moth,Osoyoos BC,spring,March,buttercup,International Women's Day

365 Photo(s) of the day Less is More 214 Card

Doesn’t it look totally swimmable already…

Lilac are in bud. 

_{Less is More Week 214 Challenge}

Colour Challenge 

YELLOW and GREEN

Supplies – Designer Paper: Recollections (polka dot) the green DP not a clue, twas a scrap)  Butterfly Die – Memory Box Stamp – My Favorite Things Gems – Recollections

MTF Wed Sketch Challenge 216 & 365 Photo of the Day

“Honeycomb won’t you be my honey, Honeycomb won’t you be my gal?” 

Well, its not really a honeycomb because I happen to know these are wasp nests.  But they make me think of honeycombs.  These came out of a neighbor’s mailbox and I couldn’t resist taking them and spraying them gold.  They decorate little niches of my home and I’m sure they will be repurposed yet into something very cool. 

But now I’ve got honeycomb on the brain and I think of Pooh Bear getting stung all up all to have a good taste of sweet honey.  And I think of my sweet Mr who eats all his cereal, including Honeycomb, dry, as a snack.

And I think of Proverbs 16:24

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,

sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Which is utterly sound thinking to the point of if you don’t have anything good to say, perhaps being silent is a wiser choice yet. 

But now I’m thinking wasps again and it makes me remember when I was a child and was fascinated by the wasp trap my Grandma used to make out of a plastic bottle.  First she would cut a porthole in the lower half, then he would put a bit of fish (like a sardine) or meat on a string.  The string was held in place by the cap of the bottle and dangled half way down into the bottle.  Then she would add an inch of water in the bottle and hang the whole works up in a tree, not too high. 

The wasps would come and eat their fill, fall into the water and drown.  It really worked!

Anyways…

******

MTF Wednesday Sketch Challenge 216

I made:

Supplies:

Stamps – My Favorite Things, Stampin Up, Studio G

Designer Paper – My Mind’s Eye

Tombow Markers

Wink of Stella

I got a little carried away with the swirls and things on the side.

Technorati Tags: 365 photo of the day,My Favorite Things

365 Photo of the Day

I did monkey with this photo in that I added a rain texture over it as if you were peering inside a window on the way by on a rainy day and you forgot your umbrella and were kind of soggy wet and cold.  You know that feeling when you’ve been walking at a good clip so you’ve built up a bit of steam in your clothes and they are beginning to cook you like a Dim Sum in a steamer tray.  And as you stop you’re beginning to lose your heat and cold is trickling down your neck and making you shiver. 

So these umbrellas are a very welcome sight!  You only have a few dollars and you’d rather buy a second hand good quality one and it looks like at least one in this bunch should do for you. 

Well, my imagination got away on me again. 

So glad you came in out of the rain to enjoy my photo of the day.  (virtually as it was sunny here today)

365 Photo(s) of the Day

It was a lazy old no ‘real’ camera day for me but I managed to snap a few shots with my iPhone.

I ♥ mail.

Well I do like email, but I’m talking about real paper FOR ME, in an actual mail box, delivered by a flesh and blood person.  Specifically, not flyers (don’t get any) nor bills (those seem to populate most of my mailbox days) but letters that are written to me.  From my Compassion child, or family, or friends. 

I can never quite decide whether I want to just rip it open (thus some people who know me well add statements which read like a finger shake “wait till the day”) or do I wait until I get in the house to open – calmly, after making a coffee and all that. 

Do you like getting letters?  Do you write them? 

 

This scene captured my attention through the windowas I saw the light reflecting on a candle holder on the dining room table. I decided it would make a wonderful little moment as a photo.

 

big here…

Mr Miles has beaten me at Scrabble a gazillion times lately.  As you can very well see.  One more loss and my name shall not appear at all.  He wears his glory and wisdom with such merriment, such glee.  I hear great echos of “Suck it Up, Buttercup”

Sigh. 

365 Photo of the Day

I see the shapes of eyes. OR I think of my Mother in Law’s homemade cinnamon buns.  (digging one out of the freezer)

REGARDING my files: Thank you for those of you who are letting me know if some of my files are not downloading.  I have fixed the link for the Clover Leaf.  Please continue to let me know if you can’t get them.  PJ  - I cannot locate my flower file in SVG format, I could remake it for you in png or svg if you have patience.  Please send me an email at lalalime(at)hotmail{dot}com and we can talk!

Simon Card, 365 photo & a FREEBIE cutting file!

365 Photo for today (and a lovely poem to bring a smile as well)

 

HAPPINESS

 

Happiness is like a crystal,

Fair and exquisite and clear,

Broken in a million pieces,

Shattered, scattered far and near.

Now and then along life’s pathway,

Lo! Let some shining fragments fall;

But there are so many pieces

No one ever finds them all.

 

You may find a bit of beauty,

Or an honest share of wealth,

While another beside you

Gathers honor, love or health.

Vain to choose or grasp unduly,

Broken is the perfect ball;

And there are so many pieces

No one ever finds them all.

 

Yet the wise as on they journey

Treasure every fragment clear,

Fit them as they may together,

Imagining the shattered sphere,

Learning to be ever thankful,

Though their share of it is small;

For it has so many pieces

No one ever finds them all.

~ Priscilla Leonard

 

 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Card Challenge – Clover (I decided to go with the clover itself)

I chose to keep my card super simple with the clover (guess a shamrock counts, though I didn’t take the time to check if they are one and the same)  I used hunted and pecked through my stamps to find what I wanted to say.  The LUCKY is composed of individual letters from a Ki alphabet stamp set, the YOU’RE was 1/2 of a sentiment stamp from Michael Strong’s “Cloisonne Words and Phrases” (do you ever use just a partial portion of a stamp for your projects?)  and the MY FRIEND is from Stampendous.

And the lucky four leaf clover / aka shamrock is my own design. It’s a two layered cutting file and by gosh since I took the time to design it I may as well share it with you to enjoy as well.  The top layer has fold lines made into it so you can prop the petals up to look 3d.  (the reason mine is shiny is because I spritzed it with Goosebumps after I cut it)

 

Personal Use

DOWNLOAD

(please let me know if you have any problems downloading my files)

Technorati Tags: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge,Simon Says Stamp,FREEBIE,Mrs Miles Freebies,Barb Derksen,Barbara Derksen

Color Throwdown Challenge Card

The colors chosen for this Color #331 Throwdown Challenge evoked feelings of spring inside and I felt compelled to make a bright happy card to go along with the theme!

hot pink, light pink, green and kraft

I made this:

I used a teeny tiny stamp by My Favorite Things - flower stamp by Inkadinkadoo - a sheet of bright paper by Ki “Color Crush”

I have to say that of all the stamps I’ve used, I think My Favorite Things are which ones I reach for the most.  They just seem to appeal to me, inspire me.

I colored the flower image with watercolor pencils, neon gel pens and added highlights with a Star GellyRoll.

Thanks for stopping in!

Technorati Tags: My Favorite Things,Color Throwdown,Ki,Inkadinkadoo

Retro Sketches Card & 365 Photo of the Day

The Daily Grind

First take on that makes a bed feel all the more snuggly in the morning.  Ever notice that?  All of a sudden the blankets feel just right, even if you didn’t sleep well at night, the moment you have to get out of bed you feel like you could fall off the brink of consciousness again.  The “grind” has gotcha! 

But that’s not really fair in my case.  For My handsome Mr gets up even before the early birds are getting’ their worms and he gives me a two-stage alarm warning.  The first time he wakes me up he tells me the time to unglue my eyes is a’comin and he gives me an extra 15 minutes to fade off.  Ah, I seem to have all sorts of mini-dreams happen in that gap and I remember them!  But the best is yet to come for when I’m woken the second time it’s to a cup of the best ever freshly brewed just-ground coffee which has done it’s happy burble in the cafetiere. And chocolate.  Dark chocolate. 

So “grind” is not a negative thing in my house. 

But that’s just the point!  If you’re feeling like your morning routine is a grind, take steps to make it the best thing it can be.  Do something enjoyable, uplifting!  Enjoy a quality beverage.  Make sure you give yourself time to really appreciate it.  A sweet of any sort will have plenty of time to melt off with a little fitness later on in the day, and isn’t it worth it just for that? 

I like to listen to the Daily Audio Bible each morning while I sip and sup.  I ♥ the way it’s narrated and it keeps me centered in God’s Word each day.  I watch the day dawn while I lean back against my pillows and soak in the scripture and offer up my prayers before I even get thinking about what my plans may be for the day.  It brings such a peace and joyfulness to the very first important minutes of the morning. 

How do you begin your day?

Retro Sketches #155 Challenge

I enjoyed this simple sketch – it used up a few scraps I had at hand.

 

And I whipped up this:

I used a snippet of paper by Heart and Home Collectables.  The Sunshine stamp is by Imaginisce and the sentiment is from My Favorite Things.

I made a light wash of yellow and orange watercolor on well dampened watercolor paper.  I dried it and stamped the Sunshine.  Lastly I filled in the sun with Diamond Accents.

Technorati Tags: My Favorite Things,Imaginisce,coffee,Retro Sketches,Mrs Miles,Barb Derksen