Giveaway....

Ok guys..... With the economy the way it is I have to have a giveaway on my CopperTone House blog. We need to rent it as much as we can!!!! All you have to do is go to the blog and sign up under Giveaway and I would love it if you rented a week while you were there!!!

Remember, both of my children are getting married,

one May the 29th and the other June the 19th.

Money, Money, Money.......... YIKES!!!

I will have the same picture above the post so that you can find it.

The PRIZE...

I will be giving a $25.00 gift certificate away from Walmart.

If you rent the house for a week,

I will make the gift certificate $50.00 on the Giveaway day!

The final day for getting in on the action is February the 28th!!!

Go to..... http://coppertonehouse.blogspot.com/

to make a comment to win!

Beach House Rental....

CopperTone House

http://coppertonehouse.blogspot.com/

on

St. George Island, FLORIDA

Great house for multiple families!

Sleeps 9-11: 3 kings (2 with tubs and shower each),

1 triple (double/twin), 1 queen sofa sleeper

And has an elevator to get the groceries, suitcases and everything else to the top floor!

We only have a few weeks in the summer open~

If you are interested go to

CopperTone House Blog

http://coppertonehouse.blogspot.com/

to get more information on the house,

what to do on St. George Island, shopping, restaurants, etc.

It will be a summer that you will never forget!

Enchanting Starfish...A tutorial

My Enchanting Starfish!

Vacationing at the beach, I found a wonderful picture of a starfish that was decorated with trinkets! I loved it, vowed to recreate it one day and have one of my own! After doing one, I think many more are to come! I love this little piece and I guess my love for the beach made its creation come so easy! I hope you enjoy it and I hope that from my instructions you can soon own one for your home too!

Step 1. Select various seashells to use as the base of your piece!

One should include a very large starfish stretching approximately 10" across. I also like to include a couple of smaller starfish, olives and sand dollars.

Step 2. In a well ventilated room, take your larger and smaller starfish and spray with 2 coats of white primer paint. After this is thoroughly dry, spray with 2 coats of white gloss spray paint.
Step 3. Now for the FUN~ Let's start collecting our supplies! Either on wax paper, a beading tray, or however you are most comfortable we will start applying glitter and very tiny beads! Using a foam brush, I like to use my matte medium to apply my glitter to the starfish because of the consistency. Step 4. We will also need a wonderful stash of vintage jewelry (of course in much needed repair) doll parts, chandelier parts, large beads, metal words from our art supplies, broken anything that looks good....
Step 5. To apply the large beads and jewelry parts, I will use my glue gun and my special glue~ E6000!Yes, E6000 the glue that will hold anything! I start building my piece with my seashells, then fill in with a few smaller beads. After that I add a few special pieces. I continue adding smaller pieces until it tells me that it is happy and I can stop! To finish off the piece, add a small hanger to the back of your choice!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask...

Happy Creating!

Meme...

Meme Tagged Me

The loving and faithful mom that has been rebuilding after Hurricane Ike, Beverly at http://www.rrmama.com/ has tagged me for a Meme. I feel so honored for her to include me in her tagged blogging friends!

***First of all, To All of our Blogging Friends, Please be in Prayer for Beverly and all of the other victims of Hurricane Ike that are still trying to pull their homes back together! They have strength like I have never seen. Only through faith and prayers can they get through this.

I loved all her responses on how blogging has affected her life and will now try and come up with my own original ones and ignore the tendency to copy hers!

Here are the rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. Link back to the person who tagged you
3. Link back to this parent post
4. Tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. Post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

1. Faith~ The greatest gift that blogging has brought to me is my growth in my Faith! I have met some of the most incredible women through blogging! Everyday I am able to grow stronger through God's word in watching how God is using me or someone else in His ministry. I find myself sitting here saying, "Praise God", or either praying for someone that I have not even met. So many of these women I have developed a sisterly love with because of our shared love of Christ and strong Faith! Only God can do that! I am blessed daily by these women and that leads me to the next way that blogging has affected me...
2. Friends~ I know these girls are praying for me and with me, laughing with me and thinking about me! What more can I say! I just wished they lived closer so that I could meet them... but if they did would we still have that close bond? I truly have developed a kindred spirit with some of these girls and I know I can say I love them!
3. Redecorating Diva~ All of the pictures of the ladies homes has encouraged me to redecorate certain rooms in my home! I love the little vignettes that the ladies create and the softness of the shabby chic. Since my children are away at college, I am in a major throw away phase of life! Pantry's Beware!
4. Creativity~ I love sharing my artistic side with everyone and I love going to everyone's blog to see what they are working on! I have certain artist that inspire me with their work and their homes!
5. Love of Writing~ I have always had a love of writing. This gives me an outlet to write and teach others about what I enjoy doing! I also love throwing in little love notes for my husband to read (I know that he sneaks a peek every once in a while at my blog)!

http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/ Dawn is one of my favorite artist. I love to watch her work on her home and her art. She has so many great ideas!
http://sherrysrosecottage.blogspot.com/ Sherry's blog is so great! Just looking at the pictures you are filled with ideas. Witty, creative & just plain ole sweet.
http://countrychintz.blogspot.com/ Always shares her faith and makes me think. I have fell in love with Kathy and can't wait to meet her!
http://jamiescottage.blogspot.com/ Jamie is a wonderful friend who worked on my CopperTone Blog. You will love her creativity and faith!
http://tadpolesandteacups.blogspot.com/ She has a wonderful blog and a very interesting writer. I love to see what she has to say! Cathy is also a great artist!
All of these girls have inspired me in some way. With their creativity, writings, or their love of life! All I know is God has sent each one to me for a reason and treasure their gift!

The Hummingbird Vine...

This summer I had a wild hummingbird vine come up from seed in our fire pit that I let grow and grow and grow. I could not bear to cut it. It kept growing all over our deck chairs that surrounded the fire pit and the beautiful red flowers supplied nectar for the hummingbirds outside of my studio window all summer long. With the children away working all summer long, I knew the fire pit would not be used, so I allowed the vine to continue growing. When my daughter returned home, I realized what a beautiful place this would be to take her picture. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

The Art of Gift Wrapping...

Purchase good wide ribbon that will make good fluffy bows!

Watch your craft stores for sale on ribbons.

Collect objects during the year to put on your packages

and don't limit yourself to the size.

If you find something that you think the person will like

and the price is good, go for it!

Usually you can tie it any object on with ribbon.

This package used wired small ribbon looped many times

and an brooch purchased from a dollar store.

When you give dish towels as a thank you gift, tie them up pretty with a ribbon. A book with a wide ribbon a brooch attached is always a wonderful gift!

Tulle fabric gathered around a basket and tucked under. A wide silk ribbon pulled around and pulled into a beautiful bow and a silk peony tucked in.
A plastic Rubbermaid container full of kitchen utensils for a bride is covered in tulle and gathered at the top and tucked under to look like a wedding veil. It is finished off with a with a pink flowered brooch.
Pick out Christmas Ornaments that you think the person will like and use that on the package as the tag! I also like to use craft paper as wrapping paper. The edges always make a smoother edge when wrapping.

I truly believe there is an art to gift wrapping, but I believe it can be easily achieved. To achieve it, one only has to take the time to think about the person that will be receiving the gift! What color do they like, what are their hobbies, their interest, basically what do you know about them? It is taking the time to find out about the person that you are gifting and going that extra step of finishing off your gift by making it special in the presentation. Many times they don't care what is inside because of the way that you have presented it! They know that you have taken that extra step to really make their gift special! The next time you have a gift to give, try it. Take a little extra time to make your gift extraordinary!

Tuesday's Tips...Christmas is not far!

My Favorite Tradition (25 years) When My Children Were Younger!

Creating our Family Village!

It has all of our homes, our business, hopes and dreams of our children and their schools!

September is here and for many of us, Christmas is right around the corner! I know for me, I really have no desire to shop in the months of November and December, so all of my shopping has to be done by Halloween! I enjoy using the months of November and December to decorate and spend the time with my family! Buying and making gifts for me has become an important task.... I try so very hard to take into account the person, what they are like, what their year has been like, and what the desires of their heart are. Basically gifts for me are very important. I think there is a "True Art of Giving" and one has to work hard at finding it. But it can be found through God's word. Here are just a couple examples to use~

Acts 20:35 “The Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

And my favorite...

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

I challenge you today~ take this time to sit down with your children and plan out some special gifts for family! Go ahead and try to make or purchase as many as you can so that November and December can be family time.

Ironing....

I guess I am one of those old fashioned girls or maybe my mother just taught me well, I'm not sure.... but I love to iron!!! Ironing for me is an escape, a time to think! My mind seems to wander and ponder over things! I seem to use my iron as a way to mesmerize my way to a place that allows my mind to go one on one with God to find HIM! We talk about things I am doing, how my daily life is going and if I am treating others well. I sing praise and worship, and sometimes going back to sing my old childhood favorites that I would sing in the pews with my mother and father. My Sunday School teacher's wife reminded us the other Sunday that we should find JOY in doing all things and that included ironing our clothes. She is so right!! My mother use to say when she ironed her sheets that when she ironed out a wrinkle, she ironed our a problem. Maybe that is some of the problem of our younger generation~ they are not slowing down long enough to find the JOY in doing the small things liking ironing! Slow down ~ Find the JOY in ironing your families clothes. It is a gift for you, for your family and a gift to God!

Journey's of St. George and more pics...

I looked out the back porch door and found a wonderful surprise sitting in the Gulf...

Whitney and Mallory working at Journey's of St. George...

Nick jumping into the pool... He had to have pictures of it!

Nick is almost taller than the pool!

Part of the crew of Journey's... Looking for Nick and Wes!
Mallory, Chase, Dale, Russ and Whitney
I know Chase and Whitney are really going to miss these guys...
I know I will just miss all the memories of the stories they tell me!
And the dog stories too!

Chase invites us to dinner at their house on St. George...

The view off the porch after dinner ~ So relaxing...

As you can tell Chase's meal (with the help from his assistant Whit) was excellent....

Reid and Danny playing Mancala on the back deck...

Let's Eat....

Chase on the Grill...

Chase invited us to dinner last night and it was wonderful! The house they are being blessed to stay in is a dream! It is on the bay and you can see the sun setting in the evening. I would have never imagined twenty years ago when my father and mother in-love invited us to this beautiful forgotten coast that this would become such an important part of my families memories. I can never thank them enough for creating that memory for us! It was a life changing event for my family!