response to the Lord’s song of love.

A.W. Tozer

Maple Tree at Our Cottage Hill Home

Delicious Color

Tree Jewelry

God is in the Details

May you know true joy as you absorb God’s palette of color this season!

Maple at Cottage Hill

Hosta

Ornamental Kale

Enjoy!

Jeweled Hydranga

A summer rain came in the night and gifted the garden with refreshment and sparkling jewels of dew.

Bleeding Heart Leaf

New Rose Leaves Edged With Beads of Dew

Early in the morning I went out to pick the crimson gladiolas that had such an abundance of flowers and moisture that they had drooped to the ground.

They Make My Heart Glad

Gladiola Jewels

I gathered the broken stalks and put them in a vase to brighten up the kitchen.

A Glad Harvest

Gladiolas

But before I brought them in, the morning sun peaked through the trees and made the arrangement glow.

Morning Gladiola

Bejeweled Petals

The freshness of the new day and the cheerful beauty and dainty bejeweled petals brought me great joy.

Sweet Pea

Sparkling Sweetness

The Shadow of a Dove in a Pansy

So, bedecked in my jammies and my most precious necklace (my camera), I puttered about the garden taking photographs of the summer jewels.

Royal Purple Pansy

Beauty in the Little Things

Nasturtium Leaf

For me, these moments are some of the happiest as I deeply appreciate God’s marvelous work, and my heart hums songs of praise to Him, wet slippers and all!

Lupine Beads of Joy

Marvelous Beauty of a Begonia

Rejoice and be Glad in This Day That God Has Made

Whale watching with my wonderful family. (Miss you, Jessica and Chris!)

Today is a happy birthday for me as I have the gift of a loving happy family and I’m feeling satisfied with my life. It’s my last year in my 40’s, and I think it’ll be the best one!

Twice this week God has given me the message through His Word in the Bible that we’re very special to him. He made us in His image, made this beautiful earth for us, and gave us the responsibility to rule all the creatures. He gave us honorable status just below the angels! But best of all, he gave us His Son, Jesus so that we might inherit the kingdom and live eternally with Him! Eternal gifts from God, nothing could top that! A happy birthday indeed!

I’m also grateful for each and everyone one of my friends in blogland, too. Thank you for bringing so much color into my life!

God Bless Your Day!

We let the children open an early Christmas present because they each got a “Snow Slinger” (Eddie Bauer) It makes perfect snowballs, and then you can launch them into the air, (or at someone). What fun! We just had to get creative with them, too, and decorate the railings and the arbors, and pile them in the bird bath and planter until our fingers were burning cold.

Then I enjoyed taking photographs of God’s delightful white creations, and ours, too. I hope you also enjoy sharing it with us through these photos…

Blue Sky at Cottage Hill

Snow Slinger

It makes me feel like baking! Wishing you all warmth & happiness!

Cottage Hill

Chilly Chair

Welcome Home

Grandparents Snowy Cottage in our Backyard

Tyler With a Santa Beard and Snow to His Belly
Snowballs Sticking to His Legs Like Velcro
Rain Chain is Now an Ice Chain
Beautiful Back Porch View

But, first a little story on how he got a person’s name. We had twin brother miniature poodle puppies. I wanted to give them names that would go together, you know, like Lolly and Pop, making them together, Lollipop. However, they were both boys, so since they were black, I named them Beau and Ty, as in my “Little Black Bow-tie”. Their birth certificates have formal names of Beauregard and Tyler. When Beau was no longer with us, Ty was given more significance by being called Tyler. And now he gets the special title of Official Blog Dog!

I haven’t given it a name yet, although it deserves one. It would have to be something that conjures up creative and joy filled thoughts. Because creativity flows freely from me, often like a rushing spring river, my art studio is more than another room in the house to me.

It’s my place to:

• Create, learn, discover and challenge my skills

• Transform plain into wonderful, participate in metamorphosis

• Escape from pain, find distraction and joy
• Dive into the beauty of texture and color
• Express how I feel, who I am and how I see the world.
• Make gifts that bless people and glorify God, the one who created it all!

Creating art is a celebration of all things learned and seen miraculously sorted and organized in the artist’s brain then expressed through the hands.

Although I most often work alone, creating with friends and family adds a new dimension to my studio. We learn from each other and spend half the time visiting and half creating. It’s wonderful to elicit excitement and encourage flops to be seen in a different light.

My studio is different from the rest of my house in that although it’s basically organized, it’s overly crowded. Every drawer is stuffed, every shelf full. I like it visually inspiring, busy with details and decoration, sunny and happy. When I work on art, I’m messy. Piles of papers and books, tools spread out all over the table, the floor at my feet covered in scraps of whatever materials I’m working with.

As I create, my table space gets smaller and smaller until I have less than the size of a piece of paper to work on. This forces me to take a break and straighten up so I can continue on my project. I always completely clean-up when I feel that I want to move on to another project or technique.

I haven’t named my studio but, I’ve named my art business Layers of Color. I’ve enjoyed professional success with various mediums and so this name works beautifully for them all. Many artful expressions I enjoy just for the pure joy of it, or to try something new. Here is a list of my favorites…

• painting, acrylic, oil and pastel
• painting murals, theatre sets, furniture and decorative accessories
• embroidery, ribbonry, crochet, fiber arts, sewing, doll making
• altered art, paper arts, card making, scrap-booking, rubber stamping, decoupage
• jewelry making, bead-work, PMC, bead-making
• polymer clay, mosaics, wood-burning, soap making, ceramic painting, small scale stained glass, basket making
• baking and candy making
• gardening, interior decorating
• photography

I’ve heard one can be a Jack of all trades and a master of none…well I’ve also heard artists say there’s not enough time in a lifetime to truly master one’s art either. I take each artistic technique to the level I feel motivated. Sometimes that means I’m skilled enough to make a living at it, have public displays, corporate collections, gallery shows.

My art studio is like a sure and steady boat that moves me down my river of creativity. It’s my quiet companion on my artistic adventures, whether it’s for a few precious moments or luxurious weeks at a time…

Other times it’s to put pretty things in my home, to show my love through handmade gifts, to serve God by giving my talents. And sometimes it’s just fun to play, to get messy, delicious to eat and share, or great for making memories with children and friends.

I have yet to name my special room where I joyfully float on a river of creativity, maybe I should give it a sea-worthy name. “Aye matey, I’ll hafta think ’bout that one!”

Well, Bon Boyage!…It’s time to cruise!

You can view more pictures of my studio in the Galleries.