kandeland

"Teach us Delight in simple things"    -Rudyard Kipling

evening

"I thank you God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes"   E.E. Cummings

 

 

the last 48 hours in photos

a trip to Build-a-Bear

out to lunch with my girlie

french toast in the morning

13 pieces of jewelry (photo for June 30 Day challenge)

Homemade 6 Bean Salad

Museum of Science

skinned knees from falling at the museum which caused much drama as she screamed through the museum: "My whole body is bleeeeeeeding!!!!" and turned many heads

sunset through my kitchen window

steak, mushroom and spinach salad

a teacup canvas Ellie gave me from Michael's that I "embellished"

Homemade Tabbouleh...yum!

my yard

today in photos...

It's Saturday. Humid, warm and cloudy. Here's what today looked like.

enjoy your day...

Tuesday Trades

My local BFF of 20 years, Ellie, has been getting into the whole ATC thing lately. I'm so happy she has been getting her creativity fueled with these! I chose the theme "Indulge" and made Ellie this card:

She made me this super fun card..(love the colors!)

Next up for Ellie and I: "Forbidden Love"! Should be a fun one...think I might make it tonight!

And of course I'm still snapping photos for the flickr 30 Day Challenge! Today's theme: Fruit. I used this strawberry photo:

My second choice was going to be this one:

Happy Tuesday.

Fairy Girls and The Joy of Sewing

Once again I have some ATC trades between Kimberly and myself to show you.

The first theme this time around was "Fairy Girls". Kimberly made this beautiful card...

And I made this one...

Theme two was "The Joy of Sewing" and Kimberly made this cute card...

And I made her this one...

Never do I get sick of making ATCs, so again, if you are interested in a trade with me, let me know!

Today was one of the most gorgeous days we've had yet. I'm Debbie Downer at the moment because I did not get to enjoy this perfect day of weather. I only managed to sit out on the patio for a little bit and try to suck up a little of the atmosphere.

I really hate it when I can't seize the day. Responsibility really tends to force itself on me on the best weather days, I'm telling you. Well enough of that. Let's keep it short so as not to dampen your mood too!

Be back soon...

June Journal (and it's my 4 Year Blog Anniversary!)

Hello! So, on my last post I was talking about the 30 Day Photo Challenge that I'm participating in over on flickr. (Link to my pics on my sidebar)

Right now there's just over 300 people posting a picture a day with the same daily theme. When I do these photo groups I like to print the photos and put them in a journal sometimes. Since this challenge is only 30 days I thought I'd make a journal for all the photos.

I used gameboard that for the covers that I decorated with fun, bright scrap papers. Cheery like June! Each page inside will be a different bright color and I will glue a photo on each of the 30 pages as I go. I used to do a lot of monthy or seasonal fun journals like this so I'm glad I whipped this one up cause its been awhile.

Went to the beach again today! Got to take some pics for today's challenge/theme: From a High Angle...

It was the most beautiful day outside. The beach ended up being full by mid-afternoon!

Yesterday was a complete rainstorm and guess what I was doing?!? Having a huge yard sale! Pictures to come....

OH!!! And it just hit me after I hit "publish" on this post that today just happens to be my 4 YEAR blog anniversary to the day! SO I had to come back and edit to say THANK YOU to all my wonderful blog readers and friends! I seriously don't know what life would have been like these past 4 years without this blog. It may sound crazy, but really, I have had SO MANY incredible experiences that I would never have had if it wasn't for this blog. I know my blog friends agree that artful blogging has enriched their lives beyond what they could have expected. I often wonder how people don't blog! The connections I have made, the places I have gotten to go, the inspiration I have received, and the friendships I have made are truly priceless to me. So thank you blog, and thank you readers!! 

Thursday Hello!

It's Thursday! Scarlet is staying at Grammie and Poppy's and I'm heading out for some fun! But before I do I wanted to have some show n' tell! First, thanks to the heads up from Jenny I joined the "30 Day Photo Challenge" on Flickr. (I think Jenny's blog will link you up to it.) I love photo challenges, and 30 days is about all I can commit to! I had tried the 365 challenge last year and got through about 150 days of photos and fizzled. 30 I can do! (fer shizzle.) Day one was "Self-Portrait"...I took the above photo in my kitchen in front of my fridge because there was some light... Not a real artistic backdrop!

On another note, took some pics in the garden the other day.

Look at these big white iris! I wish the flowers lasted longer....

Hydrangea head from Tera...

And Fairy Girl...

Some more flowers...

And look at these two pics Scarlet took!...

Not bad for a 5 year old eye!

(thank you random bird for crapping on my fake bird's back)

What else....another ATC trade of course! This time with Deborah, all the way across the world in Australia. She picked "Beauty" as the theme for 3 cards. Deborah made me these 3 great cards. On the first two you'll see she used bead medium, which is a fun idea that I will try on one of my next cards.

I made these 3 cards for her....

So that's what I have for ya today! Sushi and high-quality alcohol are calling my name...

be back soon! Happy Thursday! xo

flower power and two more trades

Hello! I'm so happy to say that I haven't been around the last couple days because I've been at the BEACH!! My favorite place! Swimming in cold-ass Lake Erie! I was there until 9pm last night soaking up the fun! I can't believe it's really that time again. I always daydream that I had a house directly ON the beach. I'm quite close, but I would love to be steps away from the sand. Anyway, I have been quite happy with the fact that summer has finally rolled around.

Anyway, I have been enjoying my real flowers in the garden as well as fake ones. I've started making these crepe paper roses to decorate with for my Garden Art Party in July. They are so pretty! Need to make time to make tons of them!

I also took apart that millinery hat I just found last week and added some of the flowers to this journal I made. (image from Dollface Design)

I also completed two more ATC trades. The first trade was with Jacqueline from Quebec who chose the themes this time around. She chose "Birds and Nests" for the first one and made me this card:

This is the card I sent her...

Her second theme choice was "Vintage Writing" and she made this lovely card:

This is my interpretation...

Then I did a trade with my local BFF Ellie, who picked the theme "Black and White with a touch of color". She made me this awesome card:

I made her this one:

I love using old photographs for ATCs. I happen to have a couple of this particular guy who I like because he has a sense of humour! On the back of the photo, dated 4-22-45, he wrote "deep in thought..deciding the fate of nations, Raoul" or something to that effect! I wrote it on the back of the card so as not to lose his words! What would Raoul think of his crown and heart tattoo? HA! I think he'd like them!

So today is beautiful but too windy for the beach! I guess that's good cause I have other things that need my attention today!

Thanks for stopping in!