Photo Challenge Week 11 & 12

Here is are two more weeks of my photo challenge. 

Week 11 St. Patrick's Parade Mar. 19th

I know St. Patrick's Day is well done but I had to do a page on that experience.  Of course, it is the one with my son who was in the parade and I love this picture of us next to his float.  It was a wonderful day and experience.  Plus, since I love clowns and this guy posed for me I just had to include him.  I used all kinds of glitter just to make my page look/feel like a float!

Week 12 Wisteria Mar. 26th

This week's was on the wisteria growing right now but because the bees where there as I was trying to get the right shot they also became part of my focus.  I included three circles on the right to represent the three bees I was trying to get a picture of, how fun it was!!!  I was in another persons yard on the outside and in the alley with this one and luckily no one asked me what I was doing!  This climbing shrub is just like the pink magnolia because it really doesn't have many leaves, just a bunch of bare vines and blooms.  I really didn't capture the pretty purple in this picture It just wasn't the right conditions and location for the shot I was going for but pretty none the less.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my photo challenge pages.

xo

barb

Vintage Cookbook Page

I love vintage cookbooks with all the old color photos they have and I was going to show you this one earlier but time got away from me.  This photo is from my Hershey's 1934 Cookbook and  I have this one on display for the month of March because of the calendar it displays on the page.  

I found this cookbook at a thrift store but have seen one like this in an antique store.  Doesn't the pie look divine?  I haven't tried to make anything in this cookbook I mainly got it for the photos.  This is one of my favorites in this book and love everything on the page from the vintage lady, the color, and the old phone and typewriter. So maybe the next time you decide to go to a thrift store make sure you check out the cookbooks they are so fun to look at!  Thanks for stopping buy and looking at my vintage cookbook with me today.

xo

barb

chocolate is cheaper than therapy and you don't need an appointment.

Happy Birthday To Me!

It was my birthday on Saturday but because my hubby caught the BIG one I decided to post his big day first.  So today is all about me just so come along and see how I celebrated it.

Another year older?!  Yeah, I guess it gets the best of us but I didn't let it get the best of me I had fun so off to the store to get the ballon, candles and cake! (fresco option done on picture)

When I was looking for candles I was so excited to come across these beauties!!!  Aren't they just plain fun!  My hubby (God love him) made the comment when I said "I wanted candles on my cake" and I found a box that were all pink he said "yea but how many are in the box I don't think there is enough"!!!   Well, was that the right answer ladies?!!!!   I had to tell him that I was only going to put one on and he said oh.  Do you think he felt bad, I hope so! lol

 

I tell you don't forget the cake no matter how old you are!!  My favorite cake to have for my birthday?  Well, I really have two favorites cheese cake and carrot cake.  This year as you can see I chose carrot cake! YUM YUM

 

Yes at this age you kinda feel guilty eating the cake and really don't I look silly in a birthday hat!

Then there is the wish to make, what will it be? 

 Did I mention that I got married to my hubby on my 19th birthday!?  Yeah, he said "what better gift could you get on your birthday then me"?!  I thought it was the most romantic thing back then, now I am not sure he may have had ulterior motives?! :) I would have to say I wish we did get married on a different day kinda hard to celebrate to wonderful days together and make them both special.

We have been married for 29yrs and the cake I made was a red velvet with cream cheese frosting, in my favorite heart shaped pan, with almond extract.  Plus, did you notice the figurine?  That was are cake top when we got married and this is the first time it has been on a cake since then!  My hubby was being funny and put it on the cake before I frosted it (I brought it out for our anniversary) and took a picture and when I saw it I thought yeah great idea! I know the picture isn't clear I edited it and used the fresco option to make it look different. Cool huh?

Plus, we had a wonderful dinner at home and kept it simple.  We had fish, baked potatoes, broccoli, grilled shrimp, and hush puppies. YUM   The reason for the hush puppies is because when we went to his prom he took me to Red Lobster and they served hush puppies and I loved them! So kinda fun for our anniversary. 

So as you can see for this special day I found the funnest candles to use on my cake and only put one on.   I wore a silly birthday hat for the pictures,  and yes I enjoyed the birthday cake and just made it the best day ever!  Really, who cares how old you are you are celebrating your birthday that God gave you and I was enjoying it!!  Plus, I had lots of fun with my hubby taking pictures with my new camera until I got just the right one!   So I hope you enjoyed my birthday in pictures you know I did.

P.S. I want to thank all my family and friends who:  mailed presents and cards, called on the phone, sent text messages, and the many bday wishes on facebook! You all made it the best day ever THANK YOU!

Hubby's BIG Catch!

It was a big day for my hubby that's for sure!  We went to the new park we found on Sunday afternoon so my hubby could try to catch some fish and me, of course, time for art class!  Well, you know the first time we came here last week he wanted to try his hand at fishing but didn't even get a bite but today was another story.  He caught a 3-4lb BASS and he was in heaven!!!!!  I was drawing at the time he said he got something, so I jumped up with my camera ready!  So here is our big event.

He started out with a worm and a bobber.

He was thinking I will just sit here and enjoy the day and let the fish come to my little bobber, so he sat and waited.  But after that didn't do anything he decided to try his hand at the bass. So glad he did!

I was doing my art thing but still paying attention to him, you know just in case and then he said "I've got something"!  I was drawing at the time and I jumped up with my camera ready!

Here he is as he is bringing him in hoping all the while that he won't lose him!  I was thinking the exact same thing since I know how much he loves to fish.   Although, I was also said I wish we had a net but he said you can't use a net when you catch a big one.  I said okay then. :)

Getting ready to grab him.

 YES mission accomplished!!!!  He is so beautiful and shinning in the sun.

 He was so proud of his catch and so were the trail walkers.

 He just had to laugh because he still couldn't believe it and he said "my legs are still shaking even after he let the big one go.

Even with my new camera, that I am still not sure of, I am glad I got some great shots for him!!!  I have changed our desktop just so he can see it every time he goes on the computer.

 Here is Donna and Francis who came to see the BIG one and they are the ones who got to take him home to eat.  They just couldn't let my hubby put him back in the lake so he gave it to them. Don't they just look so proud?  I know he really wanted to put it back but he couldn't say no.  They were really nice and glad they let me take a picture of them with the fish.

Well, I thought you might like to know what I was working on while we were at the lake.  I decided to bring my pastels and give them a try.  I have two brands Portfolio and Junior Artist.

 I had drawn this lady a while ago not sure how I wanted to paint her so today I decide to use the pastels as my medium.  Here I am smearing the colors in her hair.  I haded brown, yellow gold, and a olive green. 

 Here is what it looks like before I smear it, kinda like color crayons.

 This is what it looked like when I finished.  I can say that I am not really sure of pastels and I don't think I would use them a lot.  Here I used them over acrylic paint so maybe that makes a difference.  I will have to use them on the proper paper and then tell you what I think.

 This is the drawing I was working on when my hubby said he got something.  I think she turned out ok and can't wait to paint her.  This is in a little art journal book and I kinda wish I had brought my journal designed just for drawing women but I didn't think I was going to draw anything today but the pastel lady got done to quick.  This was a book I brought on painting skin tones that I used to draw the picture from.  Well, I hoped you enjoyed the big event you know we really did!

xo

barb

Sunday Devotional: The Perfect Gentleman

Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy.

Psalm 98:8 NASB

Most of us lead nearly frantic lifestyles in this busy world.   We hit the floor running to do all we have to do, to get the kids to school on time, to get ourselves to work, or to make an early appointment.  Hectic mornings turn to days, days turn to weeks, and weeks become months of a life squeezed tight by the busyness we call life.

     The old adage, " The squeaky wheel gets the grease", still speaks volumes to us.  The child that cries the loudest usually gets the first response.  The hottest item on our to-do list takes priority for the day.  With all the voices pulling at us, sometimes God's gentle, grace-filled voice gets lost in the crowd.  Patiently, He waits to be included in our lives.

     When we slow down and take a breath, we can discover the life He created for us to enjoy.  The waves of the ocean laugh all the way to the shore, racing to touch the earth, only to tickle it and run away again.  White, fluffy clouds sway to the whisper of God's song, changing shape and form to the beat of His music.  Even the soil, rich with the goodness of God, compels life and growth in everything it touches.

     It is the simple things like these that help us focus on what matters most-time with the Father.  He is the perfect gentleman, waiting to be acknowledged when we finish our list or decide to get it aside.  Take time to enjoy the simple pleasure of His presence today.

Barb's note:
As I was typing this I was thinking about all the beautiful flowers that are in bloom right now here in the south.  The beautiful pink, & white azaleas, the purple wisteria, and some flowering trees that I am not sure what they are yet.  To take them all in at once is more than words can describe, God really is a wonderful creator of all things, and then to mention the wonderful scent they give off, how wonderful!!! 


 So as I was thinking about taking the time to enjoy God's handiwork, the enemy is always there working to come in and steal the joy and beauty of it by causing all my allergy problems.  Right now I am sneezing like crazy until I want to rip my nose off, rubbing my eyes until they are so red that the eye drops burn like crazy when I put them in, and not to mention the stuffy nose too!!  The pollen is pretty thick right now you can just see the yellow dust sitting on your car!!  Even with all my allergies I will still open the windows in the house just to have the breeze come in and will drive with the windows down too.  I know I am causing more harm than good but I guess I don't want the enemy to steal the small joys that God gives in the Spring.  I will take some allergy pills to easy as much discomfort as it can and still enjoy the beauty around me, then thank God for them and for the beautiful colors around me.


 So if you are a allergy sufferer, go outside and take a picture of that wonderful blooming flower that causes you to sneeze, and bring it inside and put it up on your frig or mirror, so that you can take time to enjoy what God has created without the enemy stealing your joy!   Plus, let it also be a reminder to thank God for the beauty of them and to take some time to spend in His word you won't be disappointed.  May the Lord bless you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you, and give you his peace today.

xo
barb

Making Changes

As you can see I am playing with my header again and I think I like this one with an exception of the black font color so I may do some changing with that.:(  I chose this style after visiting another blog yesterday evening after spending all day messing around with different layouts on photobucket!  It just takes up so much time and wow does the time fly!!!   I was trying to achieve my personality when you see it and when I look at this one I see:  "A foot fetish,  floral nut,  picture taker, and vintage lover" which is definitely me!!  The only thing missing is my love for God and my arts/crafts. So you still may see some changes to this blog!


I am in a season of change right now with my life and some days I never know what will happen next(kinda like my blog).  So I keep trusting God and try to enjoy the steps. So I hope you will walk with me through the changes to my blog because I have more things I want to do so lets enjoy the changes together! :) Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

xo

barb

Art Journal Challenge Week 10, 11, & 12

I have completed three art journal pages and I am glad to be back doing them.  I so enjoy the process and sometimes they just go to fast for me!  I am glad that week 12 was simple because I really don't want them to all look the same.  On week 12 I decided, since it was simple, to show you the different steps it took to create that page.  So, welcome to art class I am glad you are here! 

Week 10 List of Me Mar. 12

This weeks page was on a list of words that would describe me and the first thought that came to me was subway art.  If you can remember this book had ladies pictures already glue in and this one was one I wanted to use.  I first painted over the magazine picture and began to paint in my style the lady.  

I first put floral tissue paper on the top since I am a floral nut and of course her shirt is pink!  I did a variety of stamps using ink pads, sometimes I would hand write, and others I would use a stamp with acrylic paints.  I love using the paints because it gives you that raised effect. 

Week 11 To Do List Mar. 19th

This weeks page was on my list of things I wanted to accomplish that week.  When I began this page I just started gluing down different kinds of scrapbooking paper, old book pages, and part of a old receipt on the page really without thinking. 

Then I used paint over the papers and a flower stencil in pink and white along with a paper plate holder I used as a stencil in the upper left hand corner in green.  The word Mar. was used using a clear stamp and purple metallic paint to give it that shimmer look and ended it with free hand swirls.

Week 12 Wings Mar. 26th

This weeks theme was on wings, and I chose to do it on the butterfly's wings.   Flowers all around here are blooming and I see all kinds of buds on the branches and that part reminds me of the butterfly so thus the theme.

The color scheme I wanted to achieve was what it would look like from the inside of a cocoon. So first I found some old pages from a play book with a title on one of them with the words WINGS!  Hard to see it hear but I do draw a black line around it and put the date there. 

After I glued the pages down I use a distress ink pad in Antique Linen around parts to give it that aged look.  Then I used brown acrylic paint around the rest of the pages.

Next I used cream and white acrylic paint with my brayer to give all that wonderful texture like inside a cocoon.  Then to start adding the poem, I used a variety of letter stamps with a distressed ink pad in Walnut. I really didn't want the poem to stand out so that is why I chose this color.

Then I glued down the wings.  I chose a bright color to represent the beauty of the butterfly as it emerges from the pale color of the cocoon.  I also, circled the title "wings" on the old book page to make it stand out.

I chose a poem as my text which I thought represented the page perfectly.  I used white acrylic paint around the wings and used a white gel pen to do some doodling inside the wings.  Then, I added the month and date in the box I created around the play title.  I really like this page a lot because of the simplicity of it.  Well, I hope you have enjoyed our art class today and can't wait for our next one together.

xo

barb

Art is the color and textures of the imagination.

author: unknown

A Piece of Minnesota

This weekend me and my hubby decided to stop at a park we normally just drive by and wow what we have been missing!!!  The feel I got right away was that I was back home in Minnesota at Lake Nokomis/Lake Harriet.  These two lakes back home were great for walking around and just enjoying all the people.  This one has so many things to do and we fell in love right away. So here is our weekend in pictures, come along you won't be disappointed.

This statue is at the entrance of the park and I thought it was a neat display of the wonderful walking trail.

I think the trail is three miles long and goes all around the park with the lake in the middle a great way to get some exercise.  It was such a beautiful day to be out for sure.

There were tons of people but you never felt like it was crowded.

It has tennis courts and a handball court which I am excited about because I will use this for practice hitting a tennis ball against.  I loved doing that as a child and my hubby and I used to play some tennis back home so we will start that back up again since this place is about 15min. away.

They even have a track just for electric/gas cars and this was fun just to stop and watch.  The color of the track is just so bright and the shot was cool too.

They have a sailing center.

Loved the red on this boat against all the white n grey.

This sign was one that really got my hubby!!  When it mentioned the large mouth bass, which he loves to fish for back in Minnesota, he was already talking about getting a licence and finding his fishing pole and tackel box for the next day.

He was so excited about the bass he had to go on the dock to see if he could see any.

The water looked so green here but it really was clear in most places.

Then there was all the wildlife which we both loved.

There were soooo many turtles and I was lucky to get the shots I did because they are so jumpy.  When were looking at them we heard a boy counting them and he was up to 80!!!

This one was so cool with all the turtles just piled on the branches getting some sun.

Take a look at the turtle on the far right he is just hanging there and I thought it was so funny to look at his legs not even holding on to anything.

 

My hubby had to stop and talk to this guy just to see what the fishing was like.  He said last year he caught a 15lb. bass and put him back and had a replica made at the Bass Pro Shop.  He also showed us his current catch of the day which were three catfish.  He was so nice and I was glad he allowed me to take a picture.

Now when I saw this I couldn't believe it, a wild rooster!!!  He allow me to get close enough to take a picture and isn't he just colorful!  I looked around just to see if there was a owner but there wasn't so we both thought it was funny. With all the wildlife we thought we were at the State Fair!  Since this lake doesn't allow dogs the wildlife just hangs around and waits for us to feed them, which is another story. :)

At the end of the day we made a point to watch the moon.  On the news they were talking that the moon was going to be 16% bigger n brighter and we decided to go to Tybee Island to experience this.  After waiting for the sun to go down and the moon to come up we just couldn't see any difference, did you?  Well, it was fun anyway since we weren't the only ones out there taking pictures!  I don't have a real good camera so this was hard to capture but I am okay with what I could get none the less.  I wanted a shot of the palm tree with the moon and I liked this one after I enhanced it some so you could see the tree.

When the moon first started coming up it was this beautiful orange color and was glad for this shot even if it is fuzzy.  The color of the moon and the black background was cool.

Well, you know we got my hubby's fishing licence on Saturday and decided to come back on Sunday just to see if he could catch something.  I really don't fish so I decided to bring along my self-portrait journal to play in.  I had had some pages that needed to be done so this was perfect.  He fished and I painted.

I started this journal last year when I saw a youtube one done and I thought how fun.  You learn to draw yourself and use crayon's and watercolors.  This causes a resist between the two and I really haven't got the hang of it yet.  I was working on the left page which I started a year ago and the one on the right I did on my birthday.  I didn't like how far down the hat ended up but I did like how my bouquet of flowers turned out.

This day was cloudy so I loved this shot because of all the colors.  I found out that it wasn't easy painting without my blow dryer to kick up the speed of drying.

My hubby didn't catch anything but he did talk to a guy who was fishing from a boat and he told him that there was going to be  a bass tournament going on there in two weeks.  I think he will be working but I will have to check it out just to see what it is like and what they catch.  When he was done fishing we decided to go and feed the birds and this was fun!

Most of the birds are tame since people do this all the time.

Enjoying his treat.

We were trying to feed the ducks but these annoying seagulls would come in and steal the bread! 

At first my husband was not happy and called them flying rats until he discovered something. Hmmmm

Doesn't this shot remind you of the movie "The Birds" that is what I tought when I was taking these pictures kinda creepy.

My hubby decided that he would try to throw up the bread and see what would happen and the funny thing was they would catch it in the air!!!!!  If you look up in the right hand corner I was lucky to get a shot with one of the birds with a piece of bread in its mouth!!!!  Cool huh?

It was neat to have them just hover over you waiting for you to throw the bread.  You could look in their eyes even, so cool.  So now my hubby thinks they are cool.

These two geese were not happy with each other, I think one to many males.

I was glad that my camera captured this moment since it happened so fast.  They chased away the intruder!!

Well, Martha I think we finally got him to leave, I would say so Bell whew! :) lol

When I was in the restroom my hubby took these two pictures.

Well, I would say it was a great end to a great weekend and don't you just love this one?  He really did capture a good one.  Thanks for walking with us through this wonderful park, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

xo

barb