Look to the Sky

Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio lost an amazing friend in June and asked her readers to go outside and take a picture of the sky.  She was making a memorial to her friend John.  I immediately went outside with my i-phone--I'm a daydreamer who loves to just gaze at the sky--I wanted to participate in her project.  My daughter's name is Isabella Sky, so you know how I feel about the sky. It mesmerizes me, relaxes me, makes me feel grateful...so much I can't even put into words.

She has put together this sky-filled and moving memorial that I just watched with awe.  326 readers submitted their sky photos for her memorial - she put it together with music, her painting and a tribute to this man in her life.  I feel subdued and wowed after watching it.  She's asking that we blog about someone in our life we've lost and also share a picture of the sky here.   Five years ago I lost my dad to lung cancer.  We found out he had cancer and lost him three weeks later.  Too fast, too quick to process.  I do look up at the sky sometimes and talk to him and wonder if he's with us in spirit.  I ask for a sign.  I usually don't notice any except the day we planted a tree for him on the land near his beloved up-north cottage in St. Germain.

A big group of us, my family and his up-north friends decided that planting a tree near the lake would be an ever-lasting memory of him.  As we stood around quietly looking at the tree, some of us adding water to it and some adding beer (my dad loved his beer before he got sick), a beautiful bald eagle came soaring around us above the tree.  It seemed like a sign to me.  It had to be.  It was at the perfect moment and the eagles usually stayed closer to the water and to their nests in the evergreens, not near us on land.  To this day I keep that moment with me as a sign that he was watching us celebrate him that day.

Thanks for doing this Connie--it is a reminder to remember our loved ones and to notice this beautiful sky that we are connected under.

Photo Highlights from this Amazing Week

This has been an amazingly beautiful week.  First of all the weather has been theeeeee best!  Sunny, birds chirping, no mosquitoes yet and amazing temps in the 70s and low 80s.  It has been heaven in my book.  Oh, and school is officially done for me as of tomorrow, so I have the summer off to enjoy my daughter and my art!

I want to share a few of the highlights through photos I took with my i-phone this week, starting off with a peek at my "new" desk I got from the local thrift shop.  Since the weather is nice now I'm going to paint in our sunroom that is connected to our bedroom, except when it gets too hot because there is no air conditioning in it.  So far I love painting out there because there are tons of windows; I can hear our outside fountain and the birds singing.

We also enjoyed taking Mazie to the dog park.

Saw this great message on a shirt at Target.

Yesterday after going to the library Isabella and I took our books and magazines to the park nearby and sat by the lake and read for about an hour.  I honestly felt so relaxed and at peace there and on the drive home.  I cannot remember feeling that serene in a long time.  I guess "they" are right about the power of nature and being outdoors.

I hope you had some beauty this week as well.  If so, I'd love to hear about it!

May Flower Challenge with Lori Moon

One of my creative friends Lori Moon, whom I met through an online course, is starting a beautiful flower challenge on her blog for the month of May.  The minute I heard this I knew I was in--I love flowers!  I love to paint them, photograph them and of course smell them, grow them and be surrounded by them.  May is one of my favorite months in the year.  I got married in May and the flowering crab apple trees were in full bloom on that day which made it even more memorable.

I'm going to start by sharing two of my favorite flower photographs that I've taken and still can't believe they are actual photos that were not touched up even one bit with any photo editing software.

This beautiful pink tulip was taken of one flower out of a bouquet I bought for myself when I was home sick from work for a few months.  Again, it turned out amazingly just with my zoom on my Nikon Minolta and no editing.

This is a flower from my climbing rose that I believe is called Polka.  It's not only soft and pretty but it smells amazing too - almost like exotic, perfume-y tea is how I often describe it to others.

I hope you enjoyed the flowers I shared today.  Please stop over and visit some of the other challenge participants if you can.  Their flowers, whether photos, paintings or drawings are sure to brighten your day.  Thanks for visiting!

Etsy Love - Erin's Artwork!

Here's another beautiful etsy shop that I have added to my favorites--it's Erin's Artwork!

She has sweet and charming decoupage products that really caught my eye.  Many of them are recipe boxes, jewelry boxes and wedding gift card boxes as well as others that all have these amazingly eye-catching papers decoupaged onto them.

I just checked out her shop again today and noticed something that's new to me which is her custom personalized photo box.  I love it!  It can be used as a wedding card box or since I'm already married, I'd just use it for anything because I love having photos around me as much as possible--maybe a photo of my daughter and husband.  It would be great in the kitchen, on my painting desk or even my desk at work--so great!  



I hope you enjoyed one more of my "etsy loves" today.  There will be so many more to come because I have so many favorites there! 

Farmer's Market



I finally went to our local farmer's market after living here for nine years and got two bouquets of vibrant flowers, one for $7 and one for $5.  They're so big I actually divided them into four different vases.  I just have to share some photos because I think they're so cheerful.

Enjoy!

I'm going to enjoy these last few weeks of warm weather and fresh flowers here in Wisconsin.

August Break - First Sunflower

This is the first year I decided to plant sunflower seeds and this is the first sweet flower I got just the other day.  Isn't she pretty?



August Break - My Two Babies

Here are my two snuggly babies getting cozy on the couch. 

August Break - Photo Day 2

My daughter Isabella sound asleep on our 2009 vacation to Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  My little sleeping baby girl.

Ahhhhh....what a rough day.