Tag Archives: nature

The Language of Love

I don’t often talk about my husband here on the blog. I tend toward privacy regarding the relationships in my life in order to remain professional but occasionally I think it’s a good idea to let my readers in on some of my personal life.

We all speak our love in different ways. My husband is very good about telling me he loves me verbally. But it’s the quiet little things he does that speak the loudest to me. Recently when I was working on my Maple Seed Butterfly project, I was trying to finish up in time for the Double Dip Flip deadline. I had thought I saved up more than enough maple seeds (a.k.a. helicopters) to complete the project. On the day I should have been photographing it I was scrambling to try to find some more seeds. Some of my stash had torn spots and others weren’t dried out enough and were still too green. I didn’t have enough good ones to finish. I went into resourceful mode and scoured the yard to no avail. We even checked the gutters on the house but found none. I decided I would try to make do and resigned myself to using some of the funkier shaped seeds that I had previously rejected. I continued to work, sorting through the seeds to find any that would pass. I began gluing the first few layers, hoping that I would have enough.

A couple of hours into the process my husband came home from mowing grass at our son’s house. With a grin on his face (that handsome devil!) he presented me with this:

Beaming with pride, he told me how he found the pile of maple seeds under the car port at our son’s house. Can you stand it?! He rescued me. In his quiet, sweet way he provided for me. He hunted and made the kill. He used his hat to bring home the spoil.

I was able to use several good seeds from the pile he brought me and honestly the piece would not have turned out as nicely with some of the seeds I was going to settle for. His gesture was a project saver but more than that it was an act of love that I will always treasure.

Have you ever read the book The Five Love Languages?

I read it years ago and still find myself applying the principles contained in it. One of the five languages talked about, and the one that I have determined is my husband’s language, is “acts of service.” While this is not my love language I have come to appreciate (after many years!) his demonstrations of love expressed in this way. I found the book to be very helpful in our relationship and would recommend it to anyone desiring to be more connected to their spouse, children or friends. (This is NOT a paid endorsement, I just wanted to pass on information that might be helpful to my readers). Have you read the book? Do you know what your love language is? Any guesses what mine is?

Linking with: French Country Cottage

DIY Double Dip Flip: Maple Seed Butterfly Art

Welcome to DIY Double Dip Flip! Heather and I are excited to share our fourth project in this series where we start with an inspiration piece from either fashion or decor, then we each show you our unique take on how to use the idea to create something entirely different in decor or fashion. For this month’s inspiration I chose a Butterfly Smoking Slipper by Jon Josef.

………………………………………………………………………The Shoes

I first fell in love with these adorable smoking slippers because of the style and colors. Then the butterflies jumped out at me. I had been planning on making some art work using a bunch of helicopters (a.k.a. maple seeds) I had gathered and I knew a butterfly would be the perfect subject.

And now I give you my flip for this month:

I picked up an old window at the flea market for $10. I decided on a coral color scheme and created an ombre effect by mixing the paint myself.

I love the way the helicopters look in their natural dried state, so I chose to leave them that way for the outer and inner borders of the butterfly.

Now for the how to portion of the post. To create your own maple seed butterfly art you’ll need:

1) Maple Seeds (a.k.a. helicopters)
2) Old Window or Framed Glass
3) Craft Paints
4) Glue (I used E-6000)

Spring and fall are the best times to gather maple seeds. After you collect them you’ll want to allow them to dry out. You can accelerate the drying process by laying them out in a single layer in a window sill. After a few days they will fade to the desired color.

Decide on a color scheme and buy or mix your paint. If an ombre effect is desired you can start with the darkest paint as your base and then mix in white or cream to lighten the formula each time you paint a new layer.

Draw or print out an outline of a butterfly sized to fit the frame you are using.

Place the drawing beneath the glass, centered within your frame. Begin gluing the helicopters around the outer edge, following the general shape of the outline as shown.

Once you have finished the outline you are ready to start on the second layer.

Glue the second layer, overlapping the first layer and covering the seed pod.

Continue gluing each consecutive layer in the same manner until your butterfly is complete.

Thank you so much for stopping in. Heather has her own unique project to share with you using the same sweet slippers as her inspiration.

She always has something creative up her sleeve! Visit her at Woods of Bell Trees to check out her interpretation of this month’s flip!

Linking with:Shabby Art Boutique, French Country Cottage, Funky Junk Interiors

Sea Shell Summer Project

Happy new week! I’m guest posting today over at the talented Megin’s of VMG206. She has a 30 Days of Summer series going on right now with all kinds of great summertime projects, recipes and ideas for making your summer fun and memorable. I hope you’ll go over and check it out.

And please come back tomorrow for what looks to be my

ALL TIME FAVORITE

DIY project I’ll be sharing on Double Dip Flip!

Peonies in 5 Different Vessels (Part Two)

My peonies are about to breathe their last but I managed to get shots of all five bouquets in my home before they bit the dust. In my last post I showed you an arrangement in an old wooden ice cream bucket as well as a vintage coffee percolator perched on a rocking chair. I prefer to use unconventional vessels to display my flowers. Don’t you? I think of peonies as an old fashioned flower so I think it’s fitting that they hang out in vintage containers.

I chose this silver trophy coffee urn for a bouquet I placed on one of my dining room buffets. I’m not quite ready to show you the full view of the dining room until the transformation is complete. It won’t be long now!

Ahhhh, if only they could last forever. Their scent is amazing. It reaches me each morning as I approach the top of the stairs to come downstairs.

For this simple arrangement I used a bottle that I picked up at my last flea market jaunt. It sits in my breakfast nook window. I once heard peonies described as the queen of the garden. A well deserved title I think. Reign on beautiful blossoms.

I have one final bouquet to show you. It will be featured in my Phrase Art Phriday post, where I share my own photography overlaid with an inspirational phrase or thought. Hope to see you then!

New Camera and Peonies Shots

I got a new camera! It’s a camera I have wanted for a long time. Well three years feels like a long time when you have a creative yearning to capture images in the way they deserve to be captured and your cheapie camera isn’t doing them justice. I’ve never had an expensive camera. I don’t make major purchases impulsively. I mull them over for a long time, in large part because I don’t have the budget to spend money frivolously. During that time I try to do my research until I have decided which brand, model, etc. to buy. So after three years of waiting, researching and yearning, I finally have my beautiful new Canon EOS camera. I have been playing with it for the past two weeks and I have to tell you, it’s amazing! All the tiny details I could never capture clearly with my old camera are easy to capture now. Yay! So here are some of the shots I took of the heavenly peonies I picked last week.

The bushes were loaded down and overflowing, so much so that I picked enough to fill five different vessels, give away a bouquet and still have tons outside to beautify the yard.

I bought this enamelware coffee percolator at the flea market in March knowing I would put it to use holding various bouquets throughout the year.

I have so much to learn about the camera it’s mind boggling. In the meantime as I experiment with it, taking photos indoors, outdoors, far away and close up, I can tell it’s going to be a game changer for me. I am so excited to use it every opportunity I get. I have more peony shots to show you but I decided to break them up into three different posts to avoid photo (and sensory) overload.

Phrase Art Phriday: Path of Life

Happy Friday (or should I say Phriday)! Welcome to the 18th installment of Phrase Art Phriday, where I share my own photography overlaid with an inspirational phrase or thought.

The path of life will have weeds. Period. This photo was taken on the side of my house several years ago. I love the way previous owners of our home at some point in its 160 year history took broken chunks of marble and inlaid a mosaic path. Though I love the path, when I looked at the photo recently all I saw were the weeds. They became the focus and I cringed at the sight, feeling somehow guilty for not being a better caretaker. Then I reminded myself that I have many good qualities and gardening/landscaping just doesn’t happen to be one of them. But I digress. What you can’t see in the photo is what lies at the end of the path. It’s something that gives me great joy each and every spring. At the end of the path are four big healthy peony bushes. Pink peony bushes that yield lush beautiful blossoms every year. What is noteworthy is that those same four bushes sat in a dark wooded area on our property for years, never growing beyond a puny size and never producing flowers. When my husband showed them to me one year I suggested we move them. So he dug them up and planted them in a sunny place on the north side of our house. From that time forward the bushes thrived. The first year it blossomed it was exciting to see what color they would be. I was thrilled when it produced blooms in the perfect shade of pink. The peonies now reside at the end of that mosaic, weedy path and will remain there as long as we are here. It’s their right path.

Tarnished Royalty

Design Your Life