Noise or Music?

After once again waking close to 5:00 am by an incredible, almost deafening, chorus of birds singing outside our bedroom window, and noticing that my dh was also awake, the conversation began…

Me: Why do the birds sing in the morning?

Hubby: To piss people off!

Me (trying not to laugh hysterically!): No seriously, are they greeting each other?

Hubby: It is probably a territorial or mating thing.

Me (thinking that is such a typical ‘man’ response): I seriously don’t get it! It is like one big party and they are all talking at once!

Hubby: I just don’t understand why they have to do it before the sun even rises!

Me: Maybe they feel responsible for making the sun rise. Maybe they think they are cheering it on!

Hubby groans…

So what is the answer? Are they just greeting the dawn? Are they simply happy to be alive? Or is there some other more complex reason for the loud but joyful singing of birds in the early morning? Is it noise or is it music?

Have a wonderful day!

I ♥ Faces Weekly Challenge

The photo challenge this week at I ♥ Faces is all about having a reflection of a face in your photo. Since I did not have any photos in my archives that fit this theme, I decided to have a fun photo shoot with my niece when she was in for a visit last weekend.

Because the weather was so nice and sunny, I set up a mirror outside and took the picture of her reflection in it. She is such a beautiful young lady that it was easy to get a good photo of her, but I did have to play a bit with the angles and the lighting. This is the one that I chose to enter into this weeks challenge. (There is such a sweet innocence in her youthful face and yet true wisdom in her eyes.) I desaturated the color just a bit to obtain a gentle, soft feel.

Love and hugs to my niece Danielle for being so cooperative! You can see other great entries at I ♥ Faces.

And The Winner Is...

First of all, thank you to everyone who left a comment on my 10,000 hits blog post! You are all so very kind!

In order to pick the winner of my giveaway, I used Random.org. The lucky number was 18!

Congrats to Kat C! I hope you enjoy the goodies!

Friends

Rosanne, my sweet blogging and scrapbook friend, kindly gave me the 'Friends' award!

It came with the following description that accompanies the award: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more."

Such a sweet sentiment! The eight bloggers I would love to pass this 'Friends' award to are:

Carolyn

Karan

Christine

Lynn

Brenda

Bridget

Laura

Heather

Thanks Rosanne and thanks for all the interesting blogs ladies! Hugs to each of you!

Empty or Full?

Lent is over and my fasting from chocolate has come to an end. I have once again been enjoying my favorite indulgence in all it's various forms!

As I thought about refilling the empty tea cup that sits in my scrap space (remember my post about my special tea cup and M&M's?) I realized how much that tea cup represents my heart.

When I emptied it of chocolate at the beginning of Lent, it was out of a true desire to be filled more with God and His graces instead. Throughout Lent, as I emptied my heart of the things that crowd Jesus out, I once again experienced His loving presence deep within my soul. I have come to realize that things of this world (yes, including chocolate) will only fill us with a momentary happiness, but God fills us with a lasting joy and a peace that the world cannot give.

As Easter approached, I felt God inviting me to come to His banquet table and enjoy the feast He had prepared for me! And on Easter Sunday my heart was full!

As I looked at my little tea cup today, I realized it is far from empty. Truly, my cup runneth over!

I ♥ Faces Self-Portrait

The photo challenge this week at I ♥ Faces was "Self-Portrait". When I saw that this was the theme my first thought was "no way"! The rules stated that "you must take the photo and you must be holding the camera when you take it (you can’t use a tripod or anything else to hold the camera for you)."


Seriously, I have a hard enough time letting someone else take my photo, but a self portrait? After some thought I decided to at least give it a try. I started by holding the camera towards myself and taking the photo (you know, like all the teens do!). All I can say is that I ended up with some really awful looking photos; they reminded me of those funny greeting cards with the dog who has his nose too close to the camera and is all distorted!!!

Then I tried taking the photo of myself in the mirror. That wasn't much better! It took me about 50 pictures to even get a photo where part of me wasn't cut off! (I am seriously challenged!) I finally got a couple of photos that weren't too bad and I chose this one to enter into the contest.

Now, I don't expect to come anywhere near winning - after all I am competing with all levels of photographers (including amateurs and professionals). But, I have to admit that I did learn a couple of things while taking my photos this week and that is why I am following this website and their challenges. Lighting, backgrounds, angles... all of these things make a huge difference in how a photo will turn out.

You can see other great entries at I ♥ Faces.

10,000 Hits and Blog Candy Giveaway!

I was so surprised and very delighted to see that I have had 10,000 hits on my blog! Wow! I really appreciate the many visits I get to my blog and the fun and encouraging comments that are left for me.

To celebrate, I have decided to offer some blog candy! Of course, it is some yummy scrapbooking products and M&M's (does that surprise you?). All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Friday, April 24. Then I will use a Random Generator to pick a winner and I will post the winner on my blog on Saturday, April 25!

Having this blog has been fun. I enjoy writing about anything and everything and sharing my love of scrapbooking with all of you! Thanks for reading!

Craft it Forward!

I read an interesting post on Karan's blog this morning and thought I would take up the challenge! The first three people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (but I'm sure you will!)
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It’ll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it’s going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
6- Y0u need to post whether its for a girl or a boy! (That way I can really make it personal.)

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they have it up on their blog....will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Ok, so, who's in??

Easter Joy!

Our Easter weekend was lovely! I finally downloaded my pictures yesterday and as I looked at them, it made me realize all over again was a great celebration we enjoyed. We were richly blessed with Easter joy as we gathered together as a family and shared worship, food, conversation and fun!

Sunshine. Flowers. Chocolate.

Aunts and Uncles. Cousins.

Laughter. Chocolate. Easter Eggs.

Birthdays and Ann's Dad on the piano!

Did I say Chocolate? Yes, it was truly a day filled with the joy of the Resurrection and lots of love! I hope yours was equally blessed.

Retreat Creations

Despite how busy we were as we hosted our Spring Retreat Weekend, I did manage to complete a single page layout and a card! I am just thrilled that I was able to scrapbook at all and that I have another layout to add to my album.


I completed this layout using papers from Basic Grey's Granola line and my new favorite photo of my dh.

Then with the leftovers, I created this card that was based on a card sketch by Karan Gerber.

Thanks for looking!

I ♥ Faces Photo Competition

I have decided to post my first entry ever for the I ♥ Faces weekly photo competition. I ♥ Faces is a photography site focused on the art of capturing faces and their various emotions. I hope that by entering their weekly contests, I will become more aware of my photography skills (or lack thereof!) and possibly improve the photos that I take.

This week's theme is Easter/Spring.

This is a picture of my very sweet nephew, Nathan, as he is diligently searching for Easter eggs. You can see other great entries at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

Wish me well!

Happy Easter!

I recently made an on-line purchase of some delightful acrylic stamps from Elzybells. These are just the sweetest stamps that I have ever seen and I was so excited when they arrived that I made up four cards! I even pulled out my watercolour pencils that have been stored away for a long time.

This last card is for Audrey who agreed to work for me today so we could go home and spend Easter with my family in Michigan. I can't tell you how much I appreciate Audrey's generosity. She is one of the most giving, hard-working and caring women that I know. Thank you Audrey! I am truly blessed to count you as a friend!

It was so much fun working with these stamps! I am sure that I will be making up a few more cards as this is just a sampling of the stamps I received.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed Easter!

Good Friday

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

I'm Back

This past weekend Carolyn and I hosted our Spring Scrapbooking Retreat Weekend for 110 women and we had a fabulous time! It was very busy as we packed a lot into our 3 days away. These photos are just a sampling of what our weekend included!

An on-site store...

great demos...

fun contests...

layout challenges...

games...

delighted winners...

amazing pages...

fabulous food...

and a Saturday night pajama party

complete with popcorn!

Even though the weather was not the best, the sun did come out and many of us were able to take a nice walk down to the beach. It was very windy out, as you can tell by the waves (and my lovely hair!), but it felt so good to see the sand and the water.

I was so happy that my sister Mary was able to join us. She is always such a welcome presence at our events as she is such a fun and extremely helpful person and our scrapbook friends always enjoy the opportunity to reconnect with her. Plus we were able to enjoy some 'sister time' as we scrapbooked together.

It really was a great weekend and we are already planning for our next retreat in the fall. Maybe you could join us!