Imagine winning this ?!!!

Dana at Old Red Barn Co. is giving away this magnificient quilt ! How could any one give it away ?! It is so very lovely ! Imagine snuggling up in this beautiful thing on the porch watching the night stars ... or when the dreaded season (winter..blah!) returns, cozy under your oh so girlie quit watching Grey's Anatomy or House or some other silly t.v. show ? I want to win this ! You can enter too. Just visit and leave a comment for Dana by July22. Good luck to us all ! (But I want to win !!!!)

Thursday's Three Beautiful Things

Today's three beautiful things :

- A Yellow Lab in the lake! Ain't my Chica beautiful !

- Two goddesses floating in the pool , celebrating friendship

- My first Orange Rose of the summer

It was hard to stop at three today, which is a really, really good thing.

Hope your day is full of beauty !

Wednesday's Beautiful Things

David and I by the big "pool" - the Gulf of Mexico, St.Pete's Beach, Florida

This is what was beautiful to me today :

-me and he smooching in the pool

- our kitty cat sleeping in a heart shape

- the electric blue of this gorgeous summer sky

Hope your day is full of beauty !

Tuesday's Three Beautiful Things

HOPE - collage from 2007

Three beautiful things

- A man's tears

- A good friend's ear and shoulder, even if it is only over the phone

- A bluejay's sqeekyclothesline call in the morning

Hope your day is full of beauty...

Three Beautiful Things

Detail of my first ever collage - made 7 years ago out of a 15X20 canvas

and a pile of magazines.

So I have decided to do a mini post everyday (or so) listing three beautiful things that have touched me each day. A gratitude journal of sorts, inspired by what inspired Hanna at iHanna's Creative Space.

Here are my three beautiful things for today :

- the bowl of nectarines and blueberries with a little milk that I had for breakfast - Summer in a bowl !

- the excitement and joy in my mother's voice this morning when she told of her weekend with her new beau (She's 62 and he's 65, they dated when she was a teenager, and have reconnected after 45 years or so. It's never too late for love !)

- this video that Susan Tuttle had a link to at Ilka's Attic. It is so beautiful ! This is how I dance in my head.

Hope your day is full of beauty

Digging for the Courage

The creative prompt of the week at InspireMeThursday is "Healing". Melanie included some "Healing" quotes and the first one that struck me was this one from Tori Amos - "Healing takes courage. We all have courage even if we have to dig a little to find it."

I created this page in my art journal, portraying my own "Big Dig", looking for courage to heal myself. Some people in my life think I am courageous, many of them tell me I am strong, stronger that I think I am. Some days, I feel like I am in that hole, digging away, looking for the courage to change, to rise up, to heal. Others, I am the "Tiny Bird with a Big Song" on the top of the world, singing my song with my whole heart. I think that is the thing aboout healing...it happens a little bit at a time, not always as quickly as we wish it would. And it does take courage...ah well, maybe in the next shovel full...

(original "Tiny Bird with a Big Song" - collage from 2007)

Cheers and happy Friday !

Home Again

Latest art journal page - "My heart is always looking for it's home.

It has forgotten that home is where the heart is."

So I am home again after what seems like a long, long time. I had a great time in Montreal and the beautiful Laurentians, visiting with family and friends. While I was there enjoying all that social time, I was missing the Hubby and he was missing me, big time. What is so wonderful about him is that he knows my strong ties to "home" and always makes me feel completely free to go for a "peeps fix". At the same time, it is hard to leave him and our "home" life behind. I also really, really, really miss my bed ! My bed is the best bed in the universe ! The best part of coming home is being in my man's arms and the second best thing is sleeping in my sweet, cozy, comfy bed ! Yes, David, it really is in that order !!! ;-)

One of the many highlights of my trip was some bonding time with this angel :

Baby Kate - 2 and a half months and oh so gorgeous !

Kate is my sister Kristina's baby. She was born on Earth Day, and I know she will be (already is !!!) a gift to this world in so many ways ! Kristina and John (Kate's Dada), have asked David and I to be her godparents, which makes me feel so very honored. I mean, just look at her !

Check out this mega-smile !

Katie-Cupcake fell under the spell that all babies held by me do - the magic of Kim's Pillows. Somehow, as soon as a baby is in my arms and nestled against those boobs, it is inevitable...they sleep....

Auntie Kim's Pillows - Heaven for both of us !

I had many more very special moments while I was away. I got to be part of my other sweet niece's big event - 17 year old Jessica's High School Graduation Ball. I followed my sister Natalie's beautiful girl throughout the day's preparations and saw her off in the limo with her 7 friends as she headed out to celebrate (safely, thank God !) the end of that phase of her life and the beginning of the new. I am gathering the pictures and momentos of the event to make her a special memory album as my graduation gift to her. Here's a few :

The sophisticated Princess ! So beautiful !

Proud Auntie

The proud Momma - a knock out herself !

So many fun things happened while I was away... I guess there would need to be a few more posts if I wanted to cover it all. We shall see. For now I am home, settling back in to the rhythm of summer, work in the studio and my sweet, sweet married life. All that with a renewed energy that comes for truly embracing life's moments with the one's you love ! Ain't life grand?