With Humble Thanks

I woke up this morning to an award and a feature ~ so
much better than waking up to more snow, don't you think?

  What an honor and I don't know what to say

except "Wow!" and "Thank you!" and I

am truly humbled by your gracious kindness.

~

First of all I want to say "Thank you" to Mary at

Boogieboard Cottage for featuring me at last weeks

Masterpiece Monday.

I love all things beachy as you can tell by my office decor,

and I absolutely never tire of looking at anythingwith a water, beach or nautical theme.~Next up is a big "thank you" toLisa at Sall's Country Lifefor awarding me the "Stylish Blogger Award".

What an honor for which I am truly humbled.  Style isn't exactly

my middle name, but something I continually strive for.Be sure to visit Lisa and see her stylish country life and blog.Be sure to check out her photos and the beautiful workshe does with Photoshop.~And now it's my turn to pass on this award and this is how it works: 

1.  Thank and link back to the person/persons who awarded you.   Thanks Lisa!

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

3.  Award fifteen recently discovered bloggers with the award.
4.  Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

 So here goes ~ seven things about myself you never knew before: 1.  I love gardening with a passion and spend most of myfree time outdoors tending to my beloved gardens.2.  My daughter, Katie, is my best friend and it's been justher and I since she was 6 months old.  Although she livesin town on campus, she has accepted a summer internshipat a Marriott Hotel in Hilton Head, SC and I will soon be anempty nester.  Not sure how I'm going to handle that.3.  I am from a large family of eight children, with twoboys and six girls.  Thank goodness I will have my sisters and parents here to help me deal with myempty nest issues.4.  I was raised in a Christian home, where God and faithare always first.  I am a Christian work in progress withthe emphasis on "in progress".  Thank God for hisabundant grace which never ends.5.  Ever since living in Maryland 21 years ago,  I'vealways wanted to live near the water again ~hopefully when I retired.  I just may get that chanceif my daughter stays at Hilton Head.6.  I've always wanted to be a "Southerner".  I may havebeen born and raised in the North, but I surely don'twant to die here :)7.  Many years ago, I had a story published about achickadee that would eat out of my hand inFocus on The Family's magazine "Single Parent Family".
Next up ~ 15 stylish recently discovered blogs:

Maggie at Normandy Life

 Shirley at Shirley's World Laurie at Heaven's Walk Sarah at Cozy.Cottage.Cute.   Summerland Cottage Studio  Dining Delight  Susan at Ash Tree Cottage Holly at 2911 Jeremiah Avenue  Four All Seasons  d Reyne's  Sharon at Elizabeth & Co.  Linda at French Hen Farm  Connie at Hartwood Roses  Rebecca at A RE-purposed Life  Sharon at The Sweetest of Days ~And last, but not least, I wanted to thank Brenda Kulaat Cozy Little House for featuring meseveral months ago on "Welcome Wagon".I thanked her personally, but being a new blogger and notfully aware of blogger etiquette, I never thanked herpublicly.  So thanks again Brenda for your kindness and thewarm welcome you show to all of us new bloggers. 

A Thank You Giveaway

Well ~ I've finally done it ~ I've hit my first 100

followers (otherwise known as friends) and in

appreciation,  I'm doing a "Thank You Giveaway".

~

This giveaway includes a lady's slipper embellished with 

chippy, rusty flowers and purchased from

Linda at The French Hen Barn Sale.

The next item is a rusty aluminum wall hanging with

embossed hearts and curled edges I found at

the Columbus, Ohio Country Living Fair and

made by Urban Farmhouse.

The last item is a lovely vintage linen table runner with

lace edging from a local antique shop that

measures 35 x 15 inches.

If you would like to be the winner of this lovely vignette,

all you have to do is leave a comment and be sure

to leave an email address so I have a way to contact you.

Since this is a "thank you" giveaway, it is limited to

"followers only", but it is never to late to become a "new follower"

and join in the fun.

Giveaway ends on January 22th and the winner will

be announced on January 23rd.

Good luck ladies and thank you all who I now count

as very dear and cherished friends.  My life has

been much enriched by meeting each and every

one of you.
~
Linking with

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Pretty in Pink

I found this little LED flameless tea light last nightwhile grocery shopping and thought it would bethe perfect thing for using in my new mercury glassvotive candle holder that I bought right after Christmas. 

 It gives off maybe a little too much of a yellow light, but foronly $.99 what can one expect.The votive sits on my bedside nightstand next to aan artificial arrangement and a photo of my sweet daughter. 

  I know my opinion is biased, but I think she looks"pretty in pink". 

 She'd die if she knew I was posting her picture, but fortunately she doesn't read my blog.  

 

 

A little pink softness on this cold winter day warms

the heart right up.

Find more pink loveliness over at How Sweet the Sound

for Pink Saturday.  

Winter Surprises

Inspired by all my Southern friends who seem soenthralled with their snow, I decided to take a stroll around theyard to capture some of the winter beauty that I, as a Northerner, have simply not noticed.  Rather than just endure winter and wish it away, I'm trying to embrace its beauty in all its splendor.  Here are a few pics to share from our storm today.~First are my urns that set on each side of my garagestill displaying their Christmas greenery.

The pyracantha bush is still sporting its orange fall berries.

Grape vines fallen in the snow.

Evergreen boughs bending low.

My neighbor's new garden shed.

Rose hips ~  so pretty in red.

I was over at Kim Klassen's Cafe today enjoying her post 

"Finding Fabulousness in the Simplest Places" whereyou can view her winter photos and a video tutorialon how to apply textures to your pictures in Photoshop.She was the inspiration for my post today and mymost pleasant surprise of not only seeing winter's splendorwith new eyes, but also learning new techniquesin processing my photos ~ a double blessing.~Now it's time to get back to reality, get out thesnow blower, and deal with all the snow in the driveway.~Be sure to check out my "Thank You Giveaway" HERE ~Linking with
A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday~Faded Charm for White Wednesday ~The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays

Winter Sailing

Ready for another office peek?

~

Opposite side of the room today with a tray 

set for one and a little more sunshine to

brighten this wintry day.

Enjoying dinner on my comfy office couch

that I told you about in yesterday's post.

The furniture in my office was meant to go in the living room

of a rental home on Lake Erie, but instead ended up in 

my storage shed.  Piece by piece, I brought the extra 

furniture inside and found a place for the pieces I couldn't 

bare to part with.  The couch came from a furniture store 

going out of business and was covered with an ugly and

inexpensive fabric.  I reupholstered it in denim using 

coordinating fabrics for the pillows.

The inspiration piece for this room at the lake, and later

in my office, was this beautiful picture of a sailboat I 

acquired from my sister.

 

 

My trayscape is also inspired by the painting and sailboat

theme, from the blue and white boat-shaped bowl, to

the matching homemade napkins.

The dinner plate is a lovely octagonal ironstone plate 

purchased from Goodwill.

The salad plate~ made by Windsor Browne ~

another Goodwill purchase.

 This sweet little boat dish produced by Chantal,

 was a slightly pricier purchase from Goodwill,

but of obvious quality.

The napkins were made from fabric purchased at a thrift

store and the stemware was purchased at a yard sale

last summer.  The lovely white tray was a long

ago purchase for the lake house.

Window treatments are shutters covering the bottom half 

of the window for privacy and a board-mounted valance,

made to match the pillows.

Rounding the corner of the room is my beautiful hutch,

also continuing the sail boat theme ~ but now I'm

getting ahead of myself ~ that's a reveal

for another day.

~

Linking with

~

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

~
A Stroll Thru Life  for Tabletop Tuesday
~
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

Winter Blues

I am enjoying winter, getting all snugly in mylittle house, lighting candles, reading novels and making hot soups.But ~ I am also longing for sunny beach days again (not that I live anywhere near a beach).~S0 I decided to show you a peek of my office which is decorated in a blue & yellow beach theme.  I love my office ~  it's a small room with my desk looking out onto the back yard,a big comfy couch, and a TV.  I could live in here and when I'm not in my bedroom ~ I'm in my office.~ I found these buoys at Goodwill last week for $1 eachand just had to bring them home for the office.

I have a long shelf with pegs that runs the length ofthe room.  It comes in handy for hanging things anddisplaying items on the shelf.

I found this colorful beach bag at Barnes and Noble
last summer for only $10 and knew it was destined to hang on an empty office peg.

It's packed with a beach towel and sun screen
and is ready to go.  All I need is a beach.~My cheery colorful buoys and beach bagmake me smile and remind me that summer willcome again even though it's snowy and frigid outside.

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek and the bright 
colors have brought a little ray of sunshine into your winter as they have mine.

More office peeks to come later.
~Linking with~Little Red House for Mosaic Monday~Boogieboard Cottage  for Masterpiece Monday~Smiling Sally for Blue Monday~The House in the Roses for Show off Your Cottage Monday~ 

Knit Pillows

I saw the best idea over at Jermaine's blog  ~

French Kissed.  Her post "Cashmere Epiphany"

describes how she made pillows out of her old

cashmere sweaters.  After reading her post, I could hardly

wait to get to Goodwill to see if I could find any usable sweaters. 

Now I didn't expect to find any cashmere sweaters at

Goodwill, but I did find several good quality sweaters that I

thought would make nice pillows. 

I picked solid color sweaters with knit patterns whose

interest comes from their textures.  I also wanted

rather neutral colors since I am planning on selling the

pillows as soon as I get my Etsy Shop set up.

I used a 12" x 16" polyester pillow form for the inside.

I also attached each side of the sweater pieces to a 12" x 16"

piece of solid fabric to keep the knit from stretching

and losing it's shape while sewing and with future use.

 ~

Here are a few pics of how they turned out.

What do you think?

I love the texture on the pillows and their softness.

Using a sweater for your fabric limits how big your pillow

can be, but I find that the 12" x 16" size is perfect

for a lumbar pillow to set on any chair in your home.

~

Linking with

~

Fingerprints on the Fridge for Feature Yourself Friday

~
Southern In My Heart  for Inspiration Friday
~
Frou Frou Decor  for Fabulous Friday Finds
~
Funky Junk Interiors  for Saturday Nite Special
~
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
~
Cottage Instincts  for Make it 4 Monday
~
Dittle Dattle  for Amaze Me Monday
~
Keeping it Simple for Motivate Me Monday
~
C.R.A.F.T. for Making Monday Marvelous Day