My Discoveries

'You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.'  

 -  Nate Berkus

This eucalyptus plant from Trader Joe's has been decorating my table all week, I thought it deserved a portrait.  

I found the cutest fluted metal tray at www.patchnyc.com, a photo prop I am sure I will use often.  The tray looks great with my daughter's old keys. :)

This past weekend my husband drove me to take pictures of a snow covered barn.  He stopped on the side of the road so I could get some good shots.  We had several people stop to ask if we needed help getting out of the snow, but once they saw me with my camera they just smiled or said sorry for getting in my way.  There really are nice people in the world...

I also found a good cookbook, Martha Stewart's One Pot.  I have made the Chicken and Dumplings, it was a hit (you can find the recipe in the book sample here at Amazon.com).   I also roasted a chicken for the first time and it was good too.  Definitely a cookbook I would recommend.

Today I am joining Kim Klasssen's Friday Finds.  I used Kim's textures waterfront7_magic and sybil on my top image and painterly on the tray images.  My Finds this week are a good quote, eucalyptus, a new photo prop, a barn, and a new cookbook.  

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Have a great weekend!!

Michelle

Texture Tuesday

February is always our worst month for winter weather.   Last week the kids were off several days because of  extremely cold temperatures or snow covered roads.   Friday was another day off school for Megan, my daughter.  Since it was too cold to go outside in the snow we decided to make origami.  I saw on Sylvia's lovely blog Cosiness a link on how to make origami love birds (you can visit her blog here).  Sylvia's love birds were so pretty and Megan loves birds, so I thought it would be a fun activity.  We did have a lot of fun making the love birds and I also made the banner above.  Megan googled origami and our love birds then had samurai hats to wear... as well as everyone else in the house. 

The sky was clear and blue yesterday which means cold temperatures to come.  Sure enough it was -9° F actual temperature when Megan went to the bus stop this morning.  They couldn't have a 2 hour delay because they are starting their standardized testing today.  I asked if she had enough No. 2 lead pencils for the test, she said she didn't need them.  She needed to bring her ear 'buds' instead  because they are taking the test on a computer.  How things change...

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday and the class Be Still.  The assignment in Be Still was to ... add a little hanging something.  I added a banner I created on Megan's snow day and also the texture sybil.

 

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great week and stay warm!

Michelle

Little Miracles

'There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle, or you can live as if everything is a miracle.'  -  Albert Einstein

Can you guess what it is?  

It is not something found outside in Ohio during the coldest week of winter.  I found these at a florist.  I bought them at the beginning of the week having intentions of drying them, but forgot.  So they hung out in a vase of water... and flowered.

Oh... I haven't told you yet... they are pussy willow branches.  

 

It was a pleasant surprise to see them flowering.  I grabbed my 60mm macro and shot away.  I love macro photography.  I get lost in details I would normally not even notice.

This week has been the coldest week of the winter.  Tuesday was the only day the kids went to school, they cancelled school due to snow and then the extreme cold temperatures.  The 5 inches of snow we got this week was just the right amount.  I enjoy how the sun reflects off the snow and everything is brighter, the inside of the house too.  They say more is on the way...  

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds, my images were textured with Kim's texture sybil.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Have a great weekend and stay warm!!

Michelle

Finding A Spark

My family and I went to an Antique Mall this past weekend and found some 'treasures'.  Megan, my daughter, found some tiny keys perfect for necklaces.  John, my husband, found some tools.  I found a few silver pieces and something new to collect, inkwells.  I found a stoneware inkwell and ink bottle, both with a great finish, screaming to get their picture taken. 

I chose the inkwell and bottle for The Studio's prompt this week, 'find your own spark'.  Since they were old I thought they would look great on my Coke-a-Cola crate.  I added a pussy willow branch and put the little inkwell on a butter paddle.  I used Kim Klassen's preset chocolate in Lightroom, adding saturation and reducing contrast, and one of her textures too. 

I shot this bouquet with the Be Still class in mind.  Kim Klassen showed us a layout from an Anthropologie catalog and told us to let that be our 'spark'.  It had green leaves on it.  I wanted to take a picture of green leaves, since there are none in my yard right now I had to find some at the florist.  

It snowed last night!  We got about 2 or 3 inches of the white fluffy stuff.  It is incredibly  cold, -2° F at the moment.  The kids got a 2 hour delay because of the cold.  I can't wait to take a few pictures, but right now I need to go shovel the driveway... 

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday, The Studio and the class Be Still. 

Thank you for stopping by!!

Have a great week!!

Stay warm!!

Michelle

Texture Tuesday

Hi!

I picked up some flowers at the florist that remind me of spring... 

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  My images were textured with Kim's texture simple.  

Thank you for stopping by!!

Have a great week!!

Michelle