Another Giveaway for You!

First of all let me tell you that with many inquiries from fellow bloggers lately I've updated my tutorial on templates and photos. Please click on my sidebar "Blogging, Photo and Watermark Tutorial" to view some help with those issues on your blog. It's definitely worth your time.
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Didn't I tell you there would be a giveaway? Yesssss, I did and here it is. Now, to be eligible you must be a follower of mine. It's that simple, truly. I'll draw the name on 3/17/10 in the evening and will announce it, but please leave me a way to get in touch with you. I wanted it to be short, chicks.

So that being said you have the chance to win the tassel pictured below by just commenting here on this post. The winner will receive this tassel I made. It's my first attempt so don't expect a perfect tassel. ;-)
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Making Ribbon Roses for Pink Saturday 3/13/2010

Welcome to Pink Saturday again. Visit Beverly at HowSweetTheSound for the other participants. Last week I visited Tobi at pinkpixieforest for the first time and it was adorable!
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I had a few strips of ribbon left over recently—and being one to not waste perfectly good ribbon, I tried a rolled rose with a 12" length of ribbon. It turned out rather well. I tied a knot in one end and just started twisting and turning tightly and then did a few stitches in the back to hold it together and am well pleased. Try it. You could even use smaller lengths of ribbon so as to not waste it.

This shows how big they are at 12 inches length. The one on the left is grosgrain and the one on the right is organza. Practice!

This is a piece of iridescent fabric I've had for ages not knowing what I was going to do with it. I probably got it out of the remnant bin at Joanns. Anyway, it wouldn't tear so I cut it about 1 1/2" wide and didn't measure so it's uneven but it was about 15", knotted the end and just started twisting and rolling it and putting in stitches as I went. Easy peasy and you have a really unique and pretty rose when you finish. You could even do this as you're watching TV in the evening. That's how easy it is. Just a few minutes per rose.

Finished it turns out to be about 2" or a bit less. I glued a tiny remnant of an embroidered rose to the center to hide a mistake I made. Beau, non?! :-)

And even some ticking ribbon can make the sweetest rose. ;-) BTW, how are you liking my new photos from the Canon Rebel? I'd truly like to know. I'm trying to perfect them, ya know. ;-)

And you thought I couldn't do yellow. Hah!

Just as an aside, this is late in the afternoon when the sun wasn't coming in the window across the room from this rose. See the difference from this one and the one just above it. I used no flash on this one and several of the ones above. I just let the natural light from the window flood in and then adjusted in my iPhoto—an Apple Mac application for photos. For this one below here I leaned in quite close so a bit of the light from the window was obstructed. The one just above here is where I stepped back and let more of the natural light come in. I'm nowhere near a pro, just a chick who wants to help y'all. ;-)

Flash on:

Flash off letting the camera use the natural light:

Now for one last statement and I promise you that's it. Don't think for one minute I didn't adjust the settings on all of these photos. I adjusted the exposure, contrast, definition, shadows and sharpness. And when needed, I adjusted the temperature and tint to get the most accuracy in the truest of all the colors that I could. It's all work no matter how you look at it, but you'll have some of the best looking and sharpest photos on the blogs, chicks. I can promise you that.
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Oooooh, and a giveaway is just "around the corner", gals. Keep very close watch. ;-)
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My Porch

Spring is just around the corner; I can feel it on my face. I went out to the post box this morning and the delicate drizzle just kissed my skin with dewy mist drops. It felt wonderful on my face and brought to mind evenings spent on my porch in the spring. We can't sit on the porch comfortably during August for the most part because of the heat here in the desert of Idaho. But I thought you just might like to see what I have on my porch. It's relatively large by some standards in our neighborhood and covered with a little fence railing across the top, but very protected from the sun and elements. I do love it though. I plan on putting shear voile curtains up there for the spring and summer. Hmmmm, maybe that could be a "honey do" for Love Bunny today. Ooooh, I can hear him now. Sigh......

Anyway, here is a clock with the temperature and humidity of the day I took this picture. It was given to me by my brother when he came to visit a couple of months ago and each time he comes he feels he has to buy me a little something for the house. I appreciated it but I had no place indoors to put it so it went on the front porch. Actually, I love it out there so I can see what time it is when sitting there.

This is one of two faux geraniums I have sitting out there in pots. The pots are concrete so I don't move them around a lot! I did do a verdigris paint job on them though.

This is the wreath I have hanging on my front door. I showed this just after I made it last fall but maybe you didn't see that post. It is stunningly white and pink. This photo is very true to the color of my door and the wreath.

This is the other concrete pot with more faux geranium bushes in it. Trust me, nothing will live in this summer heat and winter cold but faux plants!

I purchased this at World Market a couple of years ago. Since I'm sooooo into the shabby chic, flea market, romantic ME style of decorating, I think this fits right in.

I also love these little oil paintings of the Italian countryside and impressionistic style of flowers. I bought them for a wee amount at World Market also.

My mother bought me this little plaque when we moved to Idaho. She was so proud of the huge, fancy home we bought there, but I'm thrilled to have left it behind! I am so much happier in this small house in the larger town. I'd never live in a small town again. I'm a "suburban" chick from the word GO. I want to be able to shop and eat without running into just about the whole town. ;-)

Yep, these are my humble attempt at roses and bird nests. Not beautiful, but I can at least say I did them. There wasn't much wall space left in the house but I decided I'd like to display them for all who enter this house to know I tried in my own humble little way.

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Pretty Home

Today I went visiting teaching to 2 women in our ward. This is one of them and she is a real sweetie with a school teacher hubby and 4 munchkins—2 girls in school and these 2 boys with whom she stays at home to raise.

The other lady didn't want to be photographed but allowed me to photograph her home. I though you all might like to see what a lovely place it is. It's situated out in the country and has a fantastic view sitting up on a knoll overlooking a lake in our area. I live about 12 miles away but near that lake. This view is approaching her home in a very large cul-de-sac.

Her family room is in the back of the house just over a counter top from the kitchen.

The kitchen is a dream kitchen of course, but you'd have to want to cook to have it. I don't!

Pantry door is on the right side of this room. It's truly everything most people would want in a kitchen.

This is the formal dining room on the left just as you enter the front door.

Her daughter and two grandchildren just moved back in with her so it's a bit crowded and some adjustments have been made to accommodate the 3 extra people so her small formal living room has a danish sofa bed in it at the moment. The bed is called a "click-clack" because it makes that sound when you pick up the bottom to make it go all the way down into a bed. Not something you'd want to sleep on for a long time but for company for a few days it works fine. Most of the antiques in her house are truly antiques from Denmark where she is from. Most of the paintings are done by her family and very old.

The master bedroom is large but not overly so. It accommodates these two love seats and her bed, chair, 2 night stands and large chest of drawers rather well. I wish my bedroom was as large.

This is the master bathroom and it's absolutely huge. Probably her whole bathroom is about 1/3 the size of my whole house. You would not bump into your hubby at all in this space. The toilet is in a separate room and the walk-in closet is also very large.

The shower is a walk-in with no doors or curtains. The floor is soapstone. Very, very large. It would fit 2 people easily.

The tub sits in the center of the room as you can see.

She wanted me to show you this beautiful hanging in her front entry way. It is really beautiful.

From this angle just off her kitchen you can see the dining room, the front entry and her home office just to the left in the photo through those french doors. It's small but certainly works for her. It's beautiful inside but at the moment has a baby's crib in there for her granddaughter.

A large bird cage she has in her entry. On the other side is a bench.

This view lets you see into the kitchen on the left and the formal living room on the right.

I thought you'd love seeing it and hope you enjoyed the tour.
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Mosaic Monday 3/8/2010

My lovely laundry room has these letters I made from wood and fabric. If you would like some, get in contact with me.
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