Happiness is a weekend complete with a $5 bunch of purple Lisianthus! Happy Weekend Everyone!
Showing posts with label Dreamy Whites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dreamy Whites. Show all posts
Friday, July 8, 2011
Lisianthus Love
Labels:
Dreamy Whites,
Floral Design,
Florals,
Flowers,
Green,
Lisianthus,
Purple,
Wicker
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Bringing the Outside In
After I posted the dragonfly pictures and video yesterday, I started thinking about how we incorporate elements of nature into interior design and decor, jewelry, and all sorts of accessories, both for our homes and for our wardrobes. And as I wandered around my house, I realized that my love of dragonflies extends far beyond my picture taking.
These are the pulls in my master bathroom. I bought them 4 years ago at Lowes to dress up the all white vanity. I never noticed it before, but their shadow casts a golden glow behind them when the sun hits them during the day, so pretty!
I love how designers will take something in nature and create a beautiful item for us to adorn ourselves or our homes with...
Like these earrings which I've had for years. I wore them yesterday without even thinking about it since they are a favorite of mine.
Or this carved rock that sits on my back patio. My in-laws gave it to me a few years ago, and I love the color and the dragonfly motif!
Apparently this little dragonfly sensed my love of his or her brethren...maybe it was the earrings?!
I even have dragonfly notecards. This lovely set from Papyrus was a gift from my daughter. I love how the gold foil accents the details of the dragonfly!
I'm also happy Jo, that you saw the post yesterday, but I'm sorry I made you cry! :-( Please send me an email if you get the chance, I have a little something I would like to send you.
In other BIG news, be sure to pop by Karen from This Old House 2's blog for her Dog Days Bid & Bark Sale!
She has some great items for sale to try and raise money for a local Shelter Dogs & Puppies Adoption Event to be held in August! You know how dogs are very near and dear to my heart, so I've donated one of my framed floral prints!
To purchase this print (which is framed in a distressed shabby chic frame and features one of my 8 x 10 white pitcher prints, the overall frame size is 17 1/2 wide by 15 1/2 tall), and to see all of the other great items up for sale, click HERE!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
What Do Ya Think About That
Today has been spent outside working on the yard.
Since my father died almost 4 years ago, we've been helping to take care of 3 houses and 3 yards. The task has been split mostly between my sister "M" and her family and us, and let's just say that when you are taking care of that much land, things tend to get neglected somewhere. Last summer my sister did all of the mowing at the other properties, including the farm which has 20 acres, and she is the most weary of all of us when it comes to doing weekly lawn maintenance.
This summer, we've been way behind on getting flowers planted and our front porch and back patio ready to go for the season. We've had bigger fish to fry with getting my parent's house on the market and trying to tackle the grape vine that had taken over one section of our yard.
Grapevine is some very nasty stuff my friends, and we really needed to tackle removing it because it was killing everything in its path, including the trees! So we yanked and pulled and ripped it from the poor little trees that were barely hanging on with their branches reaching straight up in an effort to escape the clasp of the vines. You could almost hear them breath a sigh of relief as we removed the suffocating vines from their branches. Once the vines were gone we could set about over seeding that part of the yard...just in time for the drought, our timing is always impeccable when it comes to this sort of thing!
This weekend we should be at the farm mowing and also tending to the yard up at my parent's house, but the big tractor is broke 'd broke, so that meant we could focus on our yard and our house for the entire weekend! The mower part will arrive on Monday from a dealership about 2 hours north of us. We were going to drive up to pick it up, but with the price of gas, the $12 shipping fee sounded just fine to us, so we'll have to wait until Monday to get the mower deck fixed.
This morning, Mr. Tide and I lingered in bed for about a half hour, and then reality set in and we got going on everything that needed to be done around here.
When we go about doing yard work, I have my priorities and he has his, and most of the time they mesh up pretty well. Today's chores included weeding, watering, potting, digging, and beautifying the porch and patio. By now, we usually have all of my favorite garden items out and about, but this year they have been tucked in the dark recesses of the garage waiting patiently.
While we were out weeding, a few of our neighbors came walking down the road. We live on a private lane with only 5 houses, so these neighbors live just up the road a bit, though we really all consider ourselves part of the same neighborhood...without the actual "hood" part!
As they were coming down the road Mr. Tide decided he needed something from the garage aka the he%# hole! I looked at him and said, "really?!, did you HAVE to open the door right then?!" He knows the rules...the door stays closed, because what people can't see, can't hurt them! ;-)
Our garage is our dirty little secret, the kind that only your closest friends can know about. When we moved here, we left behind a 5 bedroom home with an oversized 2 car garage that had attic space over the entire garage. We even installed a door in our bedroom for easy access to our attic, so our garage was always neat and clean (relatively speaking) and we parked both our cars in there.
Ahh, those were the days my friends, when scorching heat, rain, sleet, and snow didn't phase us, because we rested comfortably in the knowledge that our cars were safe and comfy in their little garage.
This house on the other hand has NO attic and 3 bedrooms, are you getting the picture? Sure we got rid of a lot of stuff when we moved, but not quite enough, so our garage has become the black hole where everything that doesn't fit inside ends up being smashed, jammed, and dumped into it!
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not OCD and need my paint cans to all face the same way or anything like that, and our recent cleaning spree did put a bit of a dent into the mess that is the garage, but we are talking major undertaking, so a dent "ain't" gonna cut it if you know what I mean!
So why worry about a few neighbors seeing our "dirty" laundry so to speak?! Well these weren't just any neighbors. Oh they are really nice people, and I'm guessing they could really care less, but they just happen to be the people in the neighborhood that have gorgeous homes and immaculate yards...and I'm betting garage floors that you can eat off of...yikes! One of them even owns a local nursery, so maybe their lawn implements are all neatly lined up and color coded...I don't know, but I do know that that garage door of ours came down in a mighty big hurry...get my drift?!
Mr. Tide found all of this quite amusing, except for the dirty look I threw his way when he opened the door at a most inopportune time, according to moi! He looked at me and said, "this is real life," and then asked, "are you not ready for real life?"...and I had to stop a moment and take that comment in to my heat seared brain.
I wondered if the Osprey and Eagles get freaked out when a neighbor bird flies over and sees that their nest is a complete mess?! Or how about the spiders, do they talk about another spider's web if it's not perfectly symmetrical? The truth is, we are all imperfect, whether it be a garage or whatever, but that's what makes us perfect!
Oh, and I love this quote! "No one is perfect, that's why pencils have erasers!"
Below is my new anthem...and I'm betting this is how some of my neighbors would think about us if they could only see inside our garage!! ;-)
Labels:
Decor,
Dreamy Whites,
Flowers,
Gardens,
Geranium,
Hydrangeas,
Petunias,
Pink,
Planters,
Southern Maryland,
Summer,
Verbena,
Yard,
Yellow
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Manic or Maniac and a Giveaway
Orchid #1
Yesterday after posting about my bedroom, I casually read the post again and saw that instead of the word manic I had written maniac. I had to laugh because I did it every single time I was supposed to have written manic, so I went back in and corrected it before you all thought I was a maniac. And after the last few days I've felt a little like a maniac, so I think it may have been subliminal!
Orchid #2 Original
(this is for Sherri! or those of you who might not be in to textures)
(this is for Sherri! or those of you who might not be in to textures)
I loved reading everyone's take on making their bed or not making their bed. I try to keep the public areas of our house nice and tidy, but the bedroom often takes a back seat! Sorry if this spoiled anyone's illusions that I'm the perfect housekeeper, I just know how to position a camera so that you only see the good stuff! ;-) I think a lot of us bloggers do that! And it's why you don't get to see my bedroom that often. I figure you probably don't really want to see my unmade bed and the pile of laundry waiting to be done!
Orchid #2
Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments about my bedroom and the wall color. It's funny, the paint color was something I chose almost 4 years ago and I'm SO tired of it! I'm amazed that I've kept it this long with my penchant for change, so as soon as the weather warms up and I can throw open the windows, I'm thinking the walls in there will be sporting a new color.
I've been so inspired by some of the beautiful white rooms I've seen in blogland and in Fifi's new book Romantic Prairie Style, especially Maria's beautiful home from Dreamy Whites, that I'm thinking I might try white walls in there for a change. I know I couldn't have an all white house, not with 3 mostly black dogs and my love of color, but my bedroom might be just the place to try my hand at living with and loving white!
Sailing #1
And speaking of Dreamy Whites, be sure to stop by Maria's to see the wonderful giveaway and interview she did with Lori from White Flower Farmhouse. I've long admired Lori and have even purchased things from her shop, so you won't want to miss this wonderful giveaway!
And speaking of Giveaways...
Sailing #2
You may be thinking that I've completely lost it by posting such a hodge podge of pictures, some of which are repeats. There is a method to my madness though I assure you.
You'll notice that all of the photos have a name underneath them and that's because I'll be doing a giveaway of one of these prints to 2 winners and you'll be able to select which photo you would like to receive.
Iris #1
The prints will be your choice of either one 5 x 7 or one 8 x 10 print on archival paper and then mounted on single weight matboard. The matboard adds to the sturdiness of the photo and makes it easier to frame. The print also won't have my lovely watermark on it!
Iris #2
So all you have to do is pick out the picture you like the best and leave me a comment letting me know which one you would like and in what size, either 5 x 7 or 8 x 10. If you don't like any of these, you can visit my Etsy Store and pick one of the designs from my card selection instead of one the ones pictured here.
I will announce the winners on Thursday March 10th. And I have another surprise giveaway coming up soon too, so keep your eye out for that one sometime this week too!
Iris #3
And before I go, I would like to ask you all to please send some healing thoughts our way. Last week, our son Bugs did something to damage the cornea of his eye, but he didn't realize it so by the time he was in any sort of pain his cornea had become infected.
Thankfully it was caught early on Saturday and he is now undergoing intensive treatment with antibiotic eye drops and ointments to help his eye heal and to prevent any permanent damage. Our wonderful ophthalmologist even opened up her office this morning at 9 am just to see him! You don't often hear of doctors going out of their way to see a patient on a Sunday morning anymore, but she is truly a great doctor! He's not out of the woods yet with this nasty infection, but he's not contagious and he's doing well. Any healing thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!
Spread the Love...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Unplugged, Watermarking and A Winner
Thanks everyone for all of the lovely comments you left about the house I posted yesterday, it truly is a very special house!
This weekend, I plan to be unplugged, no blogging or computers, and just enjoy some beautiful fall weather and get some things done around here. I've been so busy working on stories that I haven't had time to come up for air lately so I need a break. But I promise I'll be back and I will reply to the great comments you left, at least those that will allow me to...sadly for some of you I still get the dreaded no-reply thing when I try and email you back so I have no way to respond.. :-(
I was recently asked to explain how I watermark my photos. I use Photoshop Elements 9 currently but have used PS Elements 8, and PS Elements 2 (yes I was a little behind the times) prior to that. In each of them you are able to click on "File" then click "Process Multiple Files" and a screen will come up that will allow you to pick a font, the opacity of that font, the size, what color you want it to be, and where on the photo you want it to appear. There will also be a blank box on the right side which will allow you to type in what you want your watermark to say...ie. mine is Low Tide High Style.
I import fonts by downloading them from free sites such as 1001 Free Fonts, and several other sites. If you do a Google search, you will find lots of free fonts on the web to use. Once you download them and install them, they will automatically appear in Photoshop Elements (PSE) the next time you start it up. If you download them while the program is running you will have to shut down PSE before they will show up in your fonts list.
Because PSE lists the fonts alphabetically, it's good to try and remember the names of the fonts you've downloaded so that you can easily find them when you want them. There are other ways to create really cool watermarks, or place them in different areas on a photo, but I'm still learning that technique...so I'll have to get back to you that one, maybe in a few years! ;-)
I was pretty proud of myself today though. I actually learned how to download and install a few free actions from The Pioneer Woman's site!
Actions are things that allow you to do lots of photo editing techniques in one fell swoop. Like sharpen, soften, boost color, you name it. There are plenty of actions on the web, some are free and some cost money. The two sets from The Pioneer Woman were free, so I thought what the heck!
I have to say that I'm an old dog who doesn't really like new tricks sometimes, so I'm not sure if I love this idea or if I will actually use them a lot.
The first photo of the old pier piling has several actions applied to soften it and to give it that vintage 70's feel. I think it turned out nicely, so maybe I would use it on certain types of photos.
The water photos above show the differences between a photo with nothing applied and one which uses actions. The top one is straight out of the camera at dusk, the one below of almost the same thing, just a little tighter shot also has several actions applied. I used Boost, Slight Sharp, and Edge Burn. I also like the way this one turned out.
I think I will need a lot more practice using actions, and maybe I'll even go crazy and try a few textures just for fun. I know lots of other bloggers use these tools with great success. Kate from Chronicles of a Country Girl always wows me with the photos she applies actions and textures to, so there is hope for me! And Maria from Dreamy Whites showed us how beautiful her photos can be with Flora Bella Actions today on her blog...click here to see more.
For me the jury is still out. I will have to see if I like actions or if I just enjoy tweaking each and every photo I take on my own. Sometimes I'm weird like that!
And now on to the winner of the wonderful towel Giveaway from Lyla at Old Spool Embroidery!
It was lucky #124, Carolyn from Fab Shabby Roses! Congrats Carolyn, just drop me a line and send me your mailing address and I'll pop them in the mail to you!
I hope each of you have a wonderful weekend and find your own way to unwind and unplug for a few days!
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