SOJOURNER

Save Picnik!

2012-01-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

Window Gazer

Have you heard? Picnik is closing up shop! One of my favorite photo editing sites is going away with all of its fun, touch of a button special effects. If you'd like to sign a petition asking Google to reconsider, I'd appreciate it. There is also a save Picnik face book page you can visit. I've taught myself so much about digital art at Picnik...am feeling nostalgic already. The good news is, that all of the premium effects are free until it does close in April. So hurry on over and make some beautiful art fast!

Window Gazer was created sans Picnik! I'm going to have to learn to re-create some of my fav. Picnik effects at GIMP. I was able to get this impressionistic quality using several filters including depth merge, oilify, impressionistic line art and finally, VanGough effect....Am liking the result.

Blessings friends,

Simplicity

2012-01-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

"As I grew older, I realized that it was much better to insist on the genuine forms of nature, for simplicity is the greatest adornment of art." - Albrecht Durer

Blessings friends,

credits:

personal photo
Kim Klassen texture
Gimp Light effect
Picnik frame and fancy focus effect

Our Lady

2012-01-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:
God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have.

Luke 1:42

Blessings on your Sunday friends,

credits:
Inspiration: Lex
photo: personal photo
textures/filters: Picnik

all ya need

2012-01-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

playing with one of my favorite photos
and a new Kim Klassen music lovin texture
thinking ahead for
one of my favorite holidays

Blessings friends,

wide-eyed

2012-01-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.

- Luke 11:34

A collage using art from the last couple of years... a theme I'll be pondering this year,

Blessings friends,

The butterfly effect

2012-01-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

The butterfly effect is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

credits:
original photo
Picnik: script texture, butterfly stamps
Gimp: fuzzy border soft glow light effect
Kim Klassen rejoice texture

dream bench

2012-01-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

Working with Julie's beautiful photo again. Like the longer crop and new Kim Klassen lola texture.


photo by Just Jules

inspire

2012-01-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

You inspire me Julie. Your snow bench is one of the prettiest I've seen in a very long while. I know I'll have lots of fun playing with it. Thank you for sharing with me my friend.

credits:
original photo by Just Jules
'water stained frame' texture by Kim Klassen
text, frame, orton effect by Picnik

brave art

2012-01-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year my friends!

I'm starting off with a review of art made last year. I've come across a couple of great posts lately talking about the risks involved in creativity. About giving ourselves permission to make mistakes and be transparent in our art. And so, this coming year, I promise to continue to risk failure, make mistakes, and to create for you, for me, for all of us. Because I believe...creativity is a gift from The Creator...what I do with that creativity is my gift to Him.

and let it begin with me

2011-12-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.

-by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller

Peace to you my friends,

credits:
DW challenge photo
KK music lovin texture overlay
Picnik text/frame

love was born

2011-12-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

Today's DW challenge was to answer the question, "What does Christmas mean to me?"
My answer to that question has changed many times over the years...from Santa and presents, friends and fun, family and food, children and memory making, and now...the simple yet soulful, birth of love.

Blessings on your Christmas reflections my friends,

humor

2011-12-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while it happens...
I crack myself up...
it's a good thing!
Think Darling Daughter will like her holiday costume?

Blessings on all your laughter my friends,

Little Brother

2011-12-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

I've always loved this photo of my younger brother and me. The fact that I wrote our names on it when I was just learning to print only makes it more dear. Doesn't his sweet face exude fun? I made this gift tag as part of our DW Christmas Celebration. Today's challenge was to create a tag using a vintage photo of a relative. Well, here we are..vintaged! Join our party won't you? Here are some of the activities we'll be doing:

December 14th - ATC swap
December 15th - Vintage Tag with photo of family member
December 16th - Make a Christmas Card for someone close to you
December 17th - Round Robin Christmas scene
December 18th - Dress a snowman
December 19th - Christmas Flowers
December 20th - Do a scene of your favorite Christmas Carol
December 21st - Gingerbread Man Cookie - Digital Art Challenge
December 22nd- Favorite Christmas recipes with photos, member can add theirs
December 23rd - Lacy Tutorial
December 24th - Santa Stocking
December 25th - "Peace on Earth"

Blessings on your holiday preparations my friends,

Mom's Tag

2011-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

DW Christmas Party Challenge #2 is to create a tag for a family member using a vintage photo...This one's for mom...did you hear this expression while you were growing up? Think she'll get a kick out of the tag!

Come on over and join our creative celebration. There's lots of fun activities for everyone.

Blessings on all of your holiday preparations my friends,

Photo credits:

newspaper photo

Kim Klassen laddered background

Picnik frame/text

You're Invited

2011-12-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

Join me and my online digital art group, Digital Whisper, for a Christmas celebration beginning on December 16th and lasting until December 25th. I'm hosting a party the first day where the main activity will be an angel themed Artist Trading Card Swap. I'd love to see you there!

Blessings my friends,

art credits:
original photo of angel statue
Kim Klassen texture: musiclovin
Gimp Light Effect
Picnik Text/Frame

less is more

2011-12-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

Simplifying Christmas is very appealing...Contemplating the most important things...
Focusing in on those.

What is most important to you at Christmas?

Blessings on your preparations my friends,

Happy Days

2011-12-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

think this design might appeal to the non-traditionalists
or the existentialists among us?

Hope you're having fun with your holiday preparations too my friends,

reindeer chat

2011-12-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

What do you think they talk about all day?

Blessings my friends,

first season

2011-12-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

Blessings on your advent season my friends,

art credits:
original photo
Kim Klassen texture
Gimp light/depth merge effect
Picnik text/frame

independent lens

2011-11-20T20:57:00.000-08:00

“The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations.”
― Julia Cameron

Continuing to work with this photo DD generously shared with me. I'm loving the balance of layers and light on "independent lens"... There are approximately a zillion different effects on this one:

from Picnik:
orton, boost, crop and sharpen
from Gimp:
added Kim Klassen's new 'musiclovin' texture
VanGough effect
flare light
back to Picnik:
sharpen
text and frame

Blessings on your original voice,

Julie's Bliss

2011-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

My dear friend posted a series of beautiful photos on her fab blog, Just Jules and she very generously agreed to let me play with one of them. Now it was impossible to improve on her image:

Gasp! Isn't it Gorgeous! But I had a great time 'arting it up'...with layers of texture and text. Thanks Julie.

Blessings on your blissful autumn friends,

credits:
original photo: Julie Saari2011
texture: KimKlassen ladder
text: Picnik
quote: Emily Bronte

golden day dreams

2011-11-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Reverie is not a mind vacuum. It is rather the gift of an hour which knows the plenitude of the soul. ~Gaston Bachelard

Did you happen to catch the famous portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. on David Letterman the other night? She was talking about how fabulous digital photography was and said 'photoshop is the new darkroom'. Got a kick out of that.

Blessings on all of your reverie my friends,

full of light

2011-11-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Knew this was meant for me today:

Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light.--Luke 11:34

My eye is continuing to recover nicely. Feeling better every day and am so grateful for the tender loving care of friends and family.

Am enjoying my current burst of creativity....busy making holiday greetings for a charity bazaar next week.

Blessings on your health my friends,

gratitude

2011-11-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

So much to be grateful for.

Friends that share their photography with me...

thank you Lex.

Fun new textures to try...

thank you Kim.

Nature's beauty surrounding us...

thank you God.
Eyes to see it all..
thank you Dr. Craven.

Blessings on this beautiful fall day,

credits:

original photo, Lexanne Leonard

texture, Kim Klassen autumn burst

text/frame: Picnik

fear free

2011-11-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

So, I am back and delighted with my eye surgery...it was a success and my recovery is moving right a long..I am free to resume my normal life sans heavy lifting, headstands and deep sea diving! I can live with those restrictions.

I'm finding that with the surgery over, so much creative energy is swirling around inside of me. Will get to work and create now! Ahh, how often I've found the fear of the thing so much worse than the actual thing...Am determined I will be victorious over this worry-mind.

Your prayers and well wishes lift me up!

Blessings friends,

loving beauty

2011-10-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tara says it so well...beauty is marginalized in our culture...
but it is central and core to who I am....
please visit and read...you'll love Tara's blog!

And so...
I'm off to get my eye operated on
so I can continue to love beauty
create beauty
and be beauty

Thank you for your prayers and good wishes...

Blessings my beautiful friends,

film star

2011-10-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Dressed for the Halloween Ball, my Black Swan is not evil or confused...she's just having fun dancing.

If you haven't tried Picnik yet, now is the perfect time...The special effects buttons are amazing...everything from vampire teeth. ghost effects, face paint, to the cool frame overlay and film strip frame I used to capture Darling Daughter's fun event.

Blessings on all of your creativity my friends,

fear no evil

2011-10-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I participated in a Digital Whisper challenge. This week's portrait challenge hooked me in with it's lovely image (from Lisajen stock at Deviant Art)with instructions to take the image and 'think Haloween'. So the challenge for me was how to balance the theme with my own inner directive to make positive, affirming art. I placed the lovely face in a cemetery but gave her an inner glow and light. Think it works!

When I noticed that the 'coffee stain' overlay was placed over her right eye, I chuckled to myself. That's the eye I'm going to have surgery on. Seems I was doing a little art therapy for myself.

Even though I walk through the dark valley of death,
because you are with me, I fear no harm.
Your rod and your staff give me courage.

Psalm 23 GOD’S WORD Translation

Blessings as you face your fears my friends,

art credits:
stock image of woman: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/?q=Lisajen stock at DA&order=9&offset=24#
cemetery background and tree/frame overlay: Picnik
light/fuzzy edges frame: Gimp

photo texture tutorial

2011-10-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Pip of Capturing Beauty asked me about the special effects on the pic I posted a couple of days ago.

I want to share with you how easy it is to do!

Go to Picnik , and sign up for this free online photo editing site that can do wonders with a touch of a button.

Step one:


original photo by Rose Ruth

Upload your photo and do basic edits for size, color and exposure.

I've cropped and lightened the photo exposure.

Step two:

Add this overlay by locating the 'effects' tab. Select the 'texture' button and look for this corner overlay in the selections. Choose and apply.

Step three:

This bokeh heart texture is found under the 'seasonal' tab. Go to Valentines Day, find the hearts and slide the radius to 6, and apply.

You can stop here or add text:

Step 4:

Under the 'text' tab, type in your desired words, choose font style (this is Daniel in overlay blend mode) and adjust for size.

Step 5:

I've also added a frame by going to the "frame" tab, choosing the 'drop shadow' button.

Viola! Wasn't that easy and fun? Love how Picnik makes photo editing so quick and versatile. Let me know if you try it. I've got some other great photo overlay/texture sites if you are interested, I'd be glad to share.

Pip, hope answers your question...that's how I did it!

Blessings on all that you are creating today my friends,

precious

2011-10-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

what a gift

these beautiful eyes

to see all of God's good earth

glaucoma is a silent thief

stealing sight

with few symptoms

have you had your yearly exam?

please don't procrastinate

Blessings on all that you are seeing today my friends,

made with love

2011-10-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

-Blake

credits:

photo: Rose Ruth

textures: Kim Klassen, Gimp, and Picnik

ready or not

2011-10-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

lit the furnace today

made a large pot of soup

closed the bedroom drapes early

turned the table lamps on

ate the last of the pumpkin muffins

it's officially here

Blessings on your fall my friends,

art credits:
Thank you Jules for the original maple photo
Kim Klassen ladder texture
Gimp fuzzy frame and text

lovely things

2011-10-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

Blessings on all that you are thinking about today my friends,

artwork credits:
kk texture personal photo, gimp light/frame, picnik text

up

2011-09-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Care is taken that trees do not grow into the sky.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Blessings,

Let the sun shine in...

2011-09-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

This piece was inspired by Annie, my friend and neighbor. So happy Annie has joined Digital Whisper. Check out her page for some beautiful digi-photos of our area.

Blessings,

light

2011-09-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

"I am the world's light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in." John 8:11-13

Blessings as you enjoy His light today my friends,

sun bather

2011-09-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

The real voyage of discovery

consists not in seeking new lands

but in seeing with new eyes.

- Marcel Proust

Blessings on all that you are seeing today friends,

personal photo
Picnik frame and watermark
Gimp oil painting filter and flare light effect
Kim Klassen's water stained frame texture

sunny air

2011-09-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

We wove a web in childhood,

a web of sunny air.

- Charlotte Bronte

fall memory

2011-09-20T23:38:00.000-07:00

There is but one history

and that is the soul's.

- William Butler Yeats

speed bump

2011-09-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

A rainy Saturday morning was a perfect day to visit the library...picked up a copy of Bailey's Slowing Down to the Speed of Love and then drove to the health club where my husband was working out and proceeded to walk into a supporting column while trying to carry a conversation with him on my way to the bathroom!

It hurt! And it slowed me down! Yes, I got the message...look where you are going...love yourself and others enough to focus on one thing at a time.

So, I'm going to take it easy tomorrow...I'll let you know how the book is and at what speed love really travels.

Blessings,

Annie's flowers

2011-09-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

photo credit: Annie Gibbons

texture: Kim Klassen autumn script text: Picnik

This beautiful bouquet was a gift from a neighbor and friend....she also took the photo which I swiped to play with. Found a new texture source to try out: Kim Klassen.

Thank you ladies!

Blessings,

Answer

2011-09-12T23:12:00.000-07:00


photo credit: PE Daley

Today is a holy day for the Lord. Don’t be sad because the joy you have in the Lord is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10

Blessings on all of your questions and answers my friends,

joy in the journey

2011-09-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

photo by PE Daley

There is a joy in the journey

There's a light we can love on the way

There is a wonder and wildness to life

And freedom for those who obey

Michael Card -

Sometimes I have this nagging feeling

that I am not 'getting it right'.

That my purpose here is simply

to enjoy the gift of life.

I wonder if I disappoint Him

with my apathy or inability to

embrace life fully and freely.

Is it like giving someone a present

that you've chosen very carefully?

You know it is absolutely perfect for them

and will bring them great joy.

You watch as they open it quickly

smile politely and then set it aside for later.

What's in my way of receiving

appreciating and celebrating this gift?

Help me God to see clearly

open my heart and mind to

simply enjoy the gift of life.

slow

2011-09-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

spent some time in a city recently

everything seemed so fast and so loud

it's me

I've slowed and quieted

I like that

Blessings my friends,

Smiling

2011-09-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

Blue skies smiling on me
Nothing but blue skies do I see
Blue birds singing a song
Nothing but blue skies from now on.

-Irving Berlin

Blessings friends,

following the sunshine

2011-09-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

photo by PE Daley

Like the sunflower

I'm keeping my face turned up

Following the sun

Soaking up every last golden drop

Blessings my friends,

pixel play

2011-08-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

Impressionism A theory or style of painting originating and developed in France during the 1870s, characterized by concentration on the immediate visual impression produced by a scene and by the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,

Blessings on all that you are seeing today my friends,

art credits:
original photo
photo texture: by Bonnie
Gimp lighting and frame filters

shine

2011-08-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Luke 1:78
God's love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky.

Blessings,

puzzled

2011-08-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Why? Because we have been created and saved by love, and it is only in love, the love which desires and seeks the good of others, that we truly experience the meaning of life and find happiness in living it, even amid difficulties, trials and disappointments, even when it means swimming against the tide. -Pope Benedict XVI Recent Message to the Youth

photo credits:
personal photo
Picnik filters: pencil, sepia, puzzle, panorama, text, postmark and frame overlays

well watered garden

2011-08-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places … and you shall be like a watered garden … whose waters never fail. --Isaiah 58:11

Blessings,

Summer Time

2011-08-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

One of these mornin's,
You's gonna rise up singin'
Then you'll spread yo' wings
An' you'll take to the sky.
- Sam Cooke

Blessings on your summer time my friends,

lovely light

2011-08-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

have you noticed

the light changing

with the earth's tilting...

lovely, lovely

late summer light.

summerlicous savoring

2011-08-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

I first discovered Jennifer Louden through her best-selling, "A Woman's Comfort Book" and am thrilled to follow her online. Today she posted about "being astonished by the extravaganza of love being laid out for us"...and asked "What bounty have you savored this day?"

When I pondered this question, I had to admit my day was pretty summerlicious.

Today I...

lunched on chilled gazpacho with chunky yellow and green squash

gulped fresh brewed iced tea with honey poured from a bear

embraced a wild wiggly Copper-dog

napped on a cotton covered couch under a breezy fan

inhaled the perfume of a white rose tipped with pink edges

admired Christy Turlington-Burn's international crusade, No Mother, No Cry

laughed over Picker Sisters (they re-purpose junk into amazing things)

Blessings on all the bounty that you are savoring today,

photo credits:
personal rose photo
Bonnie's texture "Gauze Sheers"
Picnik text and frame

napping

2011-08-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

Blessings on your day of rest my friends,

shortcut

2011-08-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking my new summer haircut is a masterpiece! You can create your own gallery portrait too! Visit FunFaceCam.com and start clicking. This template is located under the 'frames' tab.

Blessings as you keep cool this summer friends,

who needs wings?

2011-08-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

pixie girl

is soaring

living her dream

dancing in the air

Blessings on all of your soaring my friends,

Magic

2011-07-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

Pip from Capturing Beauty let me play with one of his fabulous photos. It is beautiful in its own right, but I wanted to bring out the fantastical shapes and the sparkling sunlight.

Photo by Pip

Blessings on your garden play my friends,

layers

2011-07-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

There is such generosity in my digi-art world. The founder of Digital Whisper, Kimmie, posted a fabulous work entitled, Someone to Love and I did my best to emulate her somber toned palette using one of my favorite photos. I needed a text overlay and used a sonnet as well as a texture(je me souviens) given out by the fabulous Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art. Thank you Bonnie and Kimmie!

Blessings on all of your support systems friends,

Summer Blooms

2011-07-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Been uninspired to create digital art of late...all it took was one super snapshot to inspire "Summer Blooms".

Blessings on all your inspirations friends,

dream holding

2011-07-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a dream...to feed hummingbirds from my hand. I was inspired by this video and went outside today to do it. It took some patience...but was not difficult...the birds know me by now and are familiar with my presence around the feeder. I held quite a few female black-chins and one beautiful rufous similar to the one pictured above.

It was quite a thrill to feel their wings beating the air, hear their nervous chip, chip, and look them straight into their eyes at close range! Life is good.

Blessings on all the dreams that you are holding,

heart wisdom

2011-07-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

I will give you a wise and understanding heart. So here is what will be true of you. There has never been anyone like you. And there never will be.

1 Kings 3

Blessings on all the ways that you are wise my friends,

Sojourns

2011-07-24T02:13:00.000-07:00

Sojourns in the Parallel World

We live our lives of human passions,
cruelties, dreams, concepts,
crimes and the exercise of virtue
in and beside a world devoid
of our preoccupations, free

from apprehension--though affected,
certainly, by our actions. a world
parallel to our own though overlapping.
We call it "nature"; only reluctantly
admitting ourselves to be "nature" too.
Whenever we lose track of our own obsessions,
our self-concerns, because we drift for a minute,

an hour even, of pure (almost pure)
response to that insouciant life:
cloud, bird, fox, the flow of light, the dancing
pilgrimage of water, vast stillness
of spellbound ephemerae on a lit windowpane,
animal voices, mineral hum, wind

conversing with rain, ocean with rock, stuttering
of fire to coal - then something tethered
in us, hobbled like a donkey on its patch

of gnawed grass and thistles, breaks free.
No one discovers
just where we've been, when we're caught up again

into our own sphere (where we must
return, indeed, to evolve our destinies)

--but we have changed, a little.
~Denise Levertov

Blessings on all of your sojourns,

Many thanks to Bonnie at Original Art Studio for sharing this poem with me.

newspaper clipping turned portrait

2011-07-20T22:10:00.000-07:00


colored portrait

Isn't she beautiful? Mom in her early twenties, featured in a newspaper article. Think she's ready for a frame now!

Blessings on all the things you are restoring friends,

grandmother make-over

2011-07-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Meet great-grandmother Aly. This photo is all that remains of her. It was hard to tell what she really looked like from the washed out, blurry photo. So I enhanced the photo as much as I could and then let my imagination do the rest. Thought you might like to see the photo progression too.


original photo scan


exposure darkened


add hair/skin color


add facial/dress detail/shadow border


mute tones for vintage pallette

Blessings on all that you are working on today friends,

fresh

2011-07-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

More than ever before,
I am appreciating knowing where my food comes from....
that it is pesticide/ herbicide/hormone free...
has not been cleaned in a chlorine bath.
that it has not traveled long distances and been packaged up for weeks...

Fresh, clean, pure food is beautiful.
Fresh, clean, pure food tastes better.
Fresh, clean, pure food is better for me and for those I prepare meals for.

I'm in love with my garden.


baby lettuce salad

Blessings on all that you are growing and eating my friends,

antiquing

2011-07-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

Jane's comment on my last post reminded me of the similarities between photo-shopping and hand-tinting of the past. Certainly PS can be used to color or improve the photo. I find I use my tools to add elements, texture, or special effects to my photos as well.

'hand-tinted'


original photo

original photo


'distressed' Blessings on all that you are creating today my friends,

touching up history

2011-07-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

This photo of my paternal great-grandfather recently came into my mother's possession. She agreed to let me have a go at scanning and then photo-shopping it. I was able to clone out many of the stains in the background and clone in skin and hair where they were stratched off. As I was using the 'airbrush' tool to even out the skin-tone, I had to chuckle at the thought, "If he could only see what we can do with his photo now." We've come a long way since this hand-tinted portrait was taken.

I love portraits, they can tell us so much about people...this man had a 'difficult' past. Choices were made that changed lives forever. Things that could not be air-brushed away.

What will my portrait say to future generations? Hopefully not too many dark spots will need erasing...I'm sure there will be a few that need forgiving and understanding.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:10

Blessings on this Sunday friends,

musings on mother nature's artistic abilities

2011-07-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

I once read in a biography of Georgia O'Keeffe that in her later years she decorated her home with only natural artifacts. She displayed skeletons and bones of animals, shells, rocks, branches and leaves. The subjects that she painted became the only decorations she desired. The paintings were imitations of the real thing and belonged in the studio, galleries or hung in other people's homes.

I'm finding, to my surprise, that I'm attracted to many of those things too. I'm displaying shells in my bathroom, rocks in my living area, dried lilac wreaths in my bedroom and the kitchen has a shelf for my recovered bird nest collection. The cabin's big double-hung windows only let so much of the outside world in. I apparently want more.

The saying, art imitates nature, comes to mind. Perhaps nature is the purest form of beauty and mother nature the greatest artist of all. But then you already knew that didn't you!

Blessings on all of mother's nature's gifts to you my friends,

2011-07-07T13:52:00.000-07:00


patriotic berry cake

There's nothing like ten huge cannon shots ricocheting around a canyon followed by a chrysanthemum shaped pyrotechnic filling the entire night sky with shimmering light to remind you that life is good, fun, surprising and sometimes...simply amazing.

Hope you had some wonderful fireworks in your part of the country too.

Blessings friends,

Most important

2011-06-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Darling Daughter and I on her 16th Birthday

At the Denver airport last month, our porter was from Ethiopia. He had moved to this country less than a year ago and was saving money to bring his mother to the United States too. On the long trek to the baggage claim I asked him if he thought his mother would be happy here. His answer was a definitive yes! He said, "If I'm happy she's happy. What makes me happy is most important to her. That is how it is in our country. The parents live to make their children's lives better and children live to make their parent's lives better."

This young man's direct language hit home. Yes, that's how it is in families. We love, and care for each other. Around the globe, the message is the same, your happiness is my happiness.

Blessings friends,

flourish

2011-06-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

just add:

light

water

food

and

love

Blessings on your flourishing friends,

Credits:

photo by Kimmie, texture by Bonnie

Growing

2011-06-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Flowers for the spirit
Vegetables for the body
Peace for the soul

-D. Daley 2011

Blessings on all that you are growing my friends,

fresh start

2011-06-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sunrises do that...
make me appreciate the miracle of a new day...
fill me with wonder for the gift.

Blessings on your day my friends,

prayer

2011-06-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

My God, I pray better to You by breathing.
I pray better to You by walking than by talking.

- Thomas Merton

Blessings on your prayer today my friends. Especially all of you who are fathers,

It Is Better To Have a Friend

2011-06-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. If you sleep alone, you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, "A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break."

Ecclesiastes 4 (Contemporary English Version)

Happy Anniversary my friend!

a few moments in the morning...

2011-06-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

sunrise service

Click on the link above to see a 30 second video of this sunrise.

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

-Chris Tomlin

Surf Report

2011-06-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

Click on this link:

Surf Report

to visit Animoto and see a video of my boogie boarding experience!

Blessings friends,

Woo-hoo!

2011-06-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

I learned how to boogie board! Great fun. Received the CD with our vacation pics in the mail today! I'll have fun with them and post more later.

Blessings on our your play this weekend friends,

stretch

2011-06-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

learning to be more flexible
go with the flow
loosen up
stretch

Blessings on all of your growth too my friends,

Beauty in motion

2011-06-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

I like to post my own art on my blog. However, this was so inspirational I had to share it with you too! There are times she reminds me of a hummingbird! (I recommend viewing in large screen format.)

Blessings on all the beauty in your life my friends,

heart knowledge

2011-06-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Did you hear? One of the smartest men on our planet said that there is no God and that heaven is a fairy tale.

I can't prove that I posses a spirit...or that any other Spirit or God exists. Yet I know. I feel. I experience His presence. Just as my heart feels joy when I see my daughter dance or love when my husband smiles....my heart knows when I'm in His presence. I may feel love or peace, gentleness, conviction, strengthening...any number of things.

I can't prove my love for someone else or their love for me. But I know it exists.

Father Mike reminded me that faith is a gift. I have been gifted.

Blessings on your faith my friends,

Home, Sweet Home

2011-06-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home, home, sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home, oh, there's no place like home.

John Howard Payne

southbound

2011-05-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Be back soon.

Blessings friends,

being

2011-05-10T21:35:00.000-07:00

"What if you have a genuine and captivating beauty that is marred only by your striving?"
— Stasi Eldredge (Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul)

That's me taking a picture of the ocean...
last year after a week at the beach.
You can see the sun on the shoulders...
what you don't see is the lack of tension in the shoulders.
The waves coaxed me into relaxing, letting go... just being.

It is beautiful to just be.

Blessings friends,

gift

2011-05-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choice-less as a beach waiting for a gift from the sea.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh,
Gift from the Sea

I will be there again soon...This amazing ocean...with all of its gifts!

Mom asked what I did when I visited the beach. 'Not much' was my reply.

Made me think...Maybe this shore is for being not doing.

Yes, I walk, wade, splash and collect shells...

But mostly I sit, listen, watch and wait... for stillness.

Blessings,

legacy

2011-05-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 49:15
The LORD answered, "Could a mother forget a child who nurses at her breast? Could she fail to love an infant who came from her own body? Even if a mother could forget, I will never forget you.

As a young woman making my way in the world, my mother would say to me, "I love you, and God loves you even more." It was comforting...when she couldn't be there physically, He could and was. I find myself thinking this often as I pray for my own daughter these days. What a beautiful legacy faith is.

Blessings on your Mother's Day,

credits:
Deviant Scrap Colorsplash: background, birds, teal border
Picnik: texture overlay

a beautiful day

2011-05-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today my eyes allowed me to see:

a female humming bird dipping her beak into a feeder
husband's soft blue irises
tight yellow rosebuds
pretty packages opened by darling daughter via Skype
bright green asparagus stems made into soup
a puppy splashing in our sprinkler
pink sunburn on the tops of my shoulders
yellow corn chips covered in salsa
dandelion seed heads dancing in the breeze
prism rainbows on the hardwood floor
smiles on my mother's face

Blessings on all that you are seeing today friends,

birthday wish

2011-05-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

today
the universe listens
    close your eyes
      open your heart
        ask and receive

- D Daley 2011

Birthday Blessings Darling Daughter,

Radiant

2011-05-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

Inner Peace Affirmation
I radiate peace with every thought, word and action.

Blessings on all of my radiant friends,

body and soul

2011-05-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

Body is not veiled from soul, neither soul from body.
- Rumi

Blessings on your body and soul,

credits:
personal photo
picnik filters: orton, flower stamps, tint, hynotize

full heart

2011-05-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

"If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart. And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett

Has spring sprung in your part of the world?
Are you filled with excitement about the new green everywhere?
Is your mind spinning with gardening plans?
Have you visited the nursery and picked up your treasures?
So much joy in such little packages!

Springtime blessings friends,

Cyber Love

2011-04-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to act as Digital Whisper's official welcoming person. When a new member signs on, I send them one of the three art pieces I created for this purpose. (Thank you Kimmie for letting me play with your beautiful DW icon.) Today I messaged 30 new members for the month of April. I hadn't noticed how global our group is. I sent welcomes to France, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, and Venezuela, as well as to members in our own beautiful country. Pretty cool to be sending love out around the world this way!

Sending love out to you and your world today too,

Springtide

2011-04-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

I am thinking of the lilac-trees,
  That shook their purple plumes,
And when the sash was open,
  Shed fragrance through the room.
        Mrs. Anna S. Stephens—The Old Apple-Tree.

Blessings on your spring,

Blessing

2011-04-26T22:17:00.000-07:00


golden bough

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-Rumi

Finished reading An Altar in the World just as Easter arrived. The final chapter, entitled The Practice of Pronouncing Blessings, tickled me so.... I've been closing my posts with a blessing for quite a while now...What does it mean this 'Blessing'? ...I've thought of it as a prayer for all my visitors...After re-reading Barbara's words I'm thinking of it as much more than that......It is a celebration and reverence for all of you... and for our time together.

Blessings on all of the ways you are kneeling and kissing the ground today my friends,

Credits:
personal photo
DeviantScrap Colorsplash butterfly
Picnik orton filter, gold texture
Gimp Xach Filter
RC7 Overlay (RGB IEC61966-2.1)

Easter Egg

2011-04-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Still coloring eggs, not from chickens this year, but from a weekly Digital Whisper challenge. I've always loved the creativity of the Easter ritual. Chose to use different tools this year.


challenge egg

Credits:
egg DW
background DeviantScrap ColorSpash
flowers/frame Picnik
lighting/lens filter Gimp

Blessings on this season of new life,

Rejoice

2011-04-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Psalm 118:24
This is the day the Lord has made.We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Blessings on this Easter Sunday my friends,

ah-ha moment

2011-04-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

It happened when I was a young adult...finding my own faith...or maybe re-finding...deepening my faith.

Anyway, It was an ordinary Sunday, I was standing in a new church, surrounded by hundreds of people singing passionately, lovingly about Jesus...and I asked myself, "So, what's the big deal about Jesus?"

In an instant, I had a very graphic image show up in my mind. It was me hanging on a cross, naked and very dead....then it was gone. The shock was brief, because this image was followed by a tender knowing. An understanding that the 'big deal' was that what he did was for me. The theology of the cross became real in that moment.

Not sure what to expect at mass today...but I do know He will meet me with what I need to know.

He's like that.

Blessings to you on this Good Friday,

Practice

2011-04-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

The longer I practice at prayer, the more I think it is something that is always happening, like a radio wave that carries music through the air whether I tune in to it or not. This is hard to talk about, which is why prayer is a practice and not a discussion topic.

- Barbara Brown Taylor author of An Altar in the World, A Geography of Faith

Blessings on all the ways you are practicing this holy week,

Straight to the Heart

2011-04-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Read this paragraph this morning and was overjoyed to find words for what I've experienced this lent, wanted to share with you:

When I look up from feeding the outside dogs to see the full moon coming up through the bare trees like the wide iris of God's own eye, when I feel the beam of it enter my busy heart straight through the zipper of my fleece jacket and fill me full of light - I am in prayer. When I spend all afternoon chopping onions, stewing tomatoes, and setting the dining room table with every piece of silver I own for a supper of soup and bread with friends, I am in prayer. When I am so sick that I cannot do anything but lie in bed with a jar of Vick's Vaporub and a blister pack of cold pills lost somewhere in the sheets, with all the time in the world to remember whom I love and why, I am in prayer.

- An Altar in the World, A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor

Blessings on your prayers this Holy Week,

Early Easter Memories

2011-04-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Posing in a pink polka dot dress

covered with chocolate smiles

strawberry kisses

and jellybean hugs

-DDaley2011

Sending light and love to my far-away bunny and to all of you this Easter week,

credits: personal photo, Picnik stickers, filters and frame