Friday, August 30, 2013

Blending Anyone?

I've been taking a class by Linda Sattgast of Digital Scrapper.  While I have learned so much from my guru, Kim Klassen...I was interested in seeing what other things I could learn from another source.  It's been eight weeks (and STILL not done) and it has been a wonderful learning process.

I learned how to make a texture by combining color and other textures...FUN!

Our homework was to create a texture and then add it to a photo...


This is the texture I made using a pale yellow-green base, then added three textures:  one of Styrofoam, one of distressed wood, and one of metal in various blend modes.


This is the original photo...not remarkable... (This is a veterans' chapel at our local oldest, active cemetery...lots of history here!)

But then some edits and desaturation...and then add the texture I created...



MAGIC!!!  (Kinda Gothic...remember Dark Shadows?)

Such fun!  And I had to create a folder of textures that I have created...so far I have a grand total of one!

Fading Friday Finds

As summer wanes and we begin its last hurrah as Labor Day weekend begins, I peered out the sliding glass doors to the backyard. Picking up my camera, I head out to the two large mounds of sunflowers...


And I find that my glorious sunflowers are fading fast...


Their golden petals stripped away...and the bumblebees no longer find the pollen they crave...


But their busyness has reaped a harvest...


A harvest gleaned by the goldfinches as they pull the seeds out one by one...


Setting them on the top of the sunflower head or a large leaf where they have time to savor their find...


And even the squirrels devoured the heads full of seeds, like this one, that they chewed off the plant for their own feasting...


And yet...in the middle of these fading blooms of sunshine...I find one still in all her glory...

I am grateful...

It's been a glorious summer!



Friday, August 23, 2013

It Began With a Need ~ Friday Finds

My daughter and her family have moved back to the area...but she was in need of a bed!  We had the nearly new bed, mattress, and box springs that had belonged to my parents we weren't using...but we were using the other pieces of bedroom furniture. Yeah...let's give those, too.

We have this gorgeous antique dresser...would need some transformation...but how do I replace the other pieces?

It was off to Seville, Ohio...to the Funky Junk Boutique...the only area shop that carries Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint.  That's all...JUST some of this infamous, glorious paint...


Wow...what a wealth of antique stores and upcycled shops in this tiny town within a 45-minute drive!


Here was my chest of drawers...


...four drawers will do nicely, thank you...


I loved the detail in the hardware (although the third drawer isn't the same as the other three)...and the keyholes on each drawer.


There was evidence that it had been painted red...and Edster thought steam might have been used to strip the paint off as there was evidence that wood glue was no longer effective in some places. But my Edster is a genius and can repair...

...especially when we only paid $50 for it!

But I still need a nightstand...



I remember seeing this idea on Oh My! Creative for a side table...

I had saved the piano bench on which I sat for years learning and practicing piano...priceless to me...but...


and there it was!  A suitcase...an old vintage suitcase.


I got it for $8!  Yeah, the handle is gone but I'll figure that out later...


Diamonds in the rough, I say...just waiting for that glorious paint!

Stay tuned...


Friday, August 16, 2013

Friday Finds - Appalachian Style

Today's Friday Find was found in Appalachia...

West Virginia...land of my blood.

This piece of handmade pottery was done by a West Virginian artisan who markets her work through Mountain Made and Tamarack - Best of West Virginia.  Both of these venues are extremely picky about the quality of work they accept for purchase by their customers.  I love the variance of shades and the pitting texture.  This baby's breath (remaining from one of the arrangements at my mother's funeral) is perfect.


And while I collect pottery from West Virginia artists for the sake of art, I am also attracted to pottery because it is a reminder of what I am.  I am merely a lump of clay the Potter has placed on the wheel of His will.  And when I feel the pressure of His hands and fingers on me, pushing and probing, sometimes through pain...looking at the pottery reminds me that this is the work of my beloved Potter, molding me into who He wants me to be for purposes He determined long ago.

I am grateful to be the work of God's hand...in progress, of course.


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A Curly Texture Tuesday and Muse

I saw this sunflower from the side in our backyard...

Two words came to my mind immediately...


Do some processing...add a Kim Klassen texture...insert some text...

There ya go!

Sunflowers are SO fun!


Sunday, August 11, 2013

Takin' It To The Streets - Sans the Doobie Brothers

I'm a little behind in my Beyond Beyond course...but I took it to the streets today!  Kim challenged us to take our camera out around people...and snap some candids...

So Edster, Arthur, and I wend down to the Cuyahoga Valley today for a Sunday road trip...

Indulge me for a second here...


You have to see how Arthur takes road trips...NO not in the back...ALMOST in the driver's seat...


With his head out the window...as if he could fly.

So we headed to Szalay's...which I knew would be hoppin' on a Sunday afternoon.  It's a produce farm known particularly for their great sweet corn...and have other attractions.  Very folksy!


I was amused by this young lad's despair...then became envious that my age doesn't allow me to squat like this anymore and get up gracefully!


There was a wonderful saxophone player making jazz with glorious style.


But THIS is Szalay's!  Buying a hot, roasted, buttery ear in the hull...and enjoying its succulent goodness!


Arthur had to settle for ice cream...life is tough...

The simple life is SO good!


Friday, August 9, 2013

Random Discoveries for Friday Finds

Life took precedent over last Friday, but the week that followed brought multiple discoveries, revelations, reminders, finds...gifts from the loss of my mother.  So grateful!


1.  The remainder of the life I have left is a gift...do what is important...NOW!


2.  People care much more than you ever realize...reach out for help!


3.  Be faithful always...consistent with your beliefs.  Repeated right choices, though small, speak loudly!


4.  A Christian mother is invaluable and impacts many generations.


5.  When it all boils down to gravy...only what is eternal is what matters.



Thursday, August 8, 2013

The Hug Lesson

I have come to the conclusion that handwriting in my journal is one of the most cathartic things I can do.  Since my photography took front seat, my journaling has been neglected...unfortunately.  I realized that that has been something that has been missing...and it has always been a way I use to process and work through things.


It was Saturday...I poured myself a glass of root beer on ice.  It was quiet.  I got out my journal and my pen.  Embracing the solitude...

My gel pen was breezing across the page...time seemed to crawl compared to the speed of the work day.

Interruption.

In walked my daughter and my grandsons.  Now I love having them over...but I had been wanting this quiet time for soooo long.

I stopped what I was doing...visited with them...enjoying it every moment.  As they were getting ready to leave...Noah started to give me a hug goodbye.


Bang!  He bumped the glass of root beer...spilling all over the table and my journal.  Scurrying for dish towels and paper towels, my daughter and I got it handled.

I turned to Noah...he was cowering with shame for the spill.  But I wasn't interested in the mess.  It was managed and who cares...

All I wanted was his hug!


After they left...I looked at the pages of running ink.   It occurred to me...it is the same way with Christ.  When we mess up, even in our acts of loving Him...He can handle the mess...

but it is not His focus...though we may cower in shame.

He wants our hug!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Honor Thy Mother

How do I put into words all the things I feel today?  Out of town family has departed, the formalities of receiving guests and the service have been accomplished, and the rest of the world goes on without hesitation.  This happens daily and how oblivious we are to it!


And Texture Tuesday is here...and my focus is honoring my mother.  I took this photo last night...cloudy sky, perfectly diffused light. This is the spray that was on her coffin and laid on her grave where she was laid to rest.


It was a perfect day...in the 70s...sun and blue sky.  It was if the world was happy that she was now free of her 14-year trial of sustaining the curse of Alzheimer's dementia.  Our sorrow was for ourselves...she was free, in perfect bliss, enjoying being at her Savior's side, experiencing something our human minds cannot comprehend.
Born in West Virginia (surprise!), living through the Great Depression and attending high school while our country was entrenched in a World War, she knew life was not perfect.  Her idolized older brother, Dale, was killed when she was only 12 in a car accident as he was driving back to Morgantown after working all Wednesday night, wanting to be with his family for Thanksgiving Day.  He fell asleep behind the wheel.  She knew the heartbreak of a father who compulsively gambled the paycheck away.  She knew what it meant to do without, making something from nothing, and to never take anything for granted.


My mother (on the right) experienced joy.  She knew the joy of having good friends and family close by...always welcoming those who came by for endless chats on the porch swing or at the kitchen table.



Her greatest joy was when she found Christ as her Savior at the age of 16, as the result of her mother's influence.  She loved and served Him the rest of her life.



And that same Savior led her to a man, my father, who also loved Jesus, who would become the love of her life.


She was a creative lady...sewing all our clothes, quilting, crafting, and always praising her Savior in music.



She was an incredible Grandma to my chidren; my stronghold through the roller coaster experience of having a child with a severe developmental disability.  I would have been lost without her.


She was always by my side...even if we weren't together.  Her love endured through my rebellious years...and she held her boundaries.  Her influence led me to Christ, as well.


Her dearest friend was Mary...they were such partners in crime...look at the guilty look on their faces!  They were always up to something.



My mother got her feist and acid wit honestly from her mother's side of the family...a true Null!


My mother, just like my father, was imperfect, sometimes exercised flawed judgment, and failed, at times... She was human...like the rest of us.


But she loved the Lord with all her heart, mind, and soul...
She was not allured by the idols of our culture...
And she spent her life worshiping and rejoicing in the love and grace of her Lord.


I do not know what heaven is like...  I believe it is beyond what our finite, human minds can begin to comprehend.  But my mother is there...she is perfect...and...


I would never wish her back, as I will join her some day.  I can only pray that I leave such a legacy behind.


If we could see beyond today
As God can see,
If all the clouds should roll away,
The shadows flee;
O’er present griefs we would not fret, 
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet
For you and me.