Flowers And A New Blog!!
A special thanks goes out to First Floor Flat Freebies for making the beautiful free background and banner that I saw and had to have for my new blog! When you get a chance, go visit her web site because she has made some really beautiful Christmas Backgrounds and Banners, plus a cute Santa button too!
AND WHILE I AM AT IT...
I am extending a HUGE THANKS to the rest of these hardworking ladies who so graciously supply us with free vintage images to help fulfill our desire to create and our frequent urges to accessorize with free backgrounds and banners!
Also their tutorials are very helpful when first learning to navigate your way around your new website !! These women have really inspired me!
THE BACKGROUND FAIRY
ELGIA'S BACKGROUND GARDENS
ITKUPILLI--FREE BACKGROUNDS AND OTHER BLOG STUFF
SHABBY BLOGS
And a NEW SITE that I just found:
MY STYLE BACKGROUNDS
If you haven't visited these ladies and viewed their inspiring art work and wonderful blog sites, please refer to my sidebar where I have all of their blog buttons and links !!
Is This Heaven? No...it's the Magical World Of Altered Art where all of the nicest people live!!
HOW DOES MY GARDEN GROW?
Is it Spring In Tennessee??
Did you think that I would ever post anything other than Halloween art images? Whew! I didn't realize Halloween Altered Art could be so addictive!! Now that I have most of it out of my system, I can begin to focus on other things, such as Thanksgiving (TOMORROW) and Christmas ( WOW, it's almost here)!
But first, I have pictures I want you to see, showing what can happen if the temperature in our area is nice and the weather mild in November! I live in the upper part of Tennessee, which is only 200 miles from where I grew up in Virginia. Believe it or not, for a range of 200 miles, the weather is really different! Even though we live in the Foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains, our winters here are really mild. We get plenty of cold and windy rain and, if we are lucky, one snow fall per year (that barely covers the ground)! When I grew up in Virginia, we had snow all winter long! I got so tired of the snow that I hoped whomever I married, might someday, be willing to move to a warmer climate! Honestly, the winters could actually last until the middle of May!! My Dad used to say that Spring was so slow in coming that the poor hummingbirds would fly around until June with snow on their wings!
So, here it is, November 25, and Guess what????? I still have pretty flowers growing in my mulch beds and roses that are blooming!!! I wish my blog had "scratch and sniff" because this big, beautiful rose smells heavenly! And it's not my last one either, there are more rosebuds coming out to bloom!
Amazing!
Isn't this a beautiful Rose!
More flowers growing!!
And still more!
Cosmos!
Black-eyed Susan!!
Gerber Daisies!
My Mexican Sage Flowers!!
Sadly...my Hydrangea flowers are gone!
This is my Tropical Hibiscus Tree that my husband buys for me every year. I used to bring my Hibiscus Tree in the house after the first bad frost in hopes of getting it to live through winter! Try as I might, they always died right after Christmas!
My mother keeps her Hibiscus trees, well-covered, in her basement throughout the winter months and they always survive to see spring!!
Really pretty right now!
This is the one flower I hate to say goodbye to!
Maybe I'll bring it inside this year and try
one more time to get it through the winter!
Another favorite!
Ornamental Japanese Maple Tree!
The leaves stay a bright scarlet red all through summer and fall!
It's hard to see what is tucked under the fallen leaves but, I promise,
underneath the foliage lives a small community of white and pink pansies!
See it really is Fall! We have lost almost all of our foliage!
Except for the Bradford Pear Trees, which loose their leaves last!
It's always the smallest things in life that make some significant importance to our lives!
This week, these flowers really helped me to slow down and take time to consider all that I have that I should be thankful for! Even with Winter so close, I can still smell the "roses" and enjoy a few more days of "Spring"!
FOR MY MOTHER
I also made some Memory Collage Photos of my children this month because I am the most thankful for them!! I found the file in Picasa that only shows the faces of people that are in your photo album. When I first clicked on the file, what popped up first was all of these "little smiling faces" that just made my heart melt! The little face pictures are about 2 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches so I had a brainstorm!! Yeah!! They were perfect for the Inchie and Twinchie challenge ...plus... I thought my Mother might enjoy a few Memory Photos Sheets of her grandchildren as a special gift for Thanksgiving!
DEAR MOM,
Here are your Memory Collage Photos, finished just in time for Thanksgiving!! You can use them with some pretty vintage frames to enjoy as my gift to you on Thanksgiving and throughout the whole year!
And yes, I am very thankful for you and Daddy too! Hugs and kisses to you both!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Kym
Meghan made the colored sheets all by herself on the computer and wrote the little messages so I couldn't resist and used them as part of a collage for her !
In Remembrance of Delia Mae Farley
My Great-Grandmother
Thank you for teaching me how to knit!
My Prayer of Thanksgiving!
Thank you, Dear Lord, for your bountiful blessings and your loving kindness . Help us to love one another with the love of Christ in our hearts. Help us to forgive others with that same love! Watch over us and care for us as we look to you for all of our spiritual needs!
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen!
Credits: I would also like to thank The Vintage Moth, The Graphic Fairy, Victorian Vignettes, and Dover Publishing for being so generous in supplying free vintage images to inspire and enhance our altered art work!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
AND REMEMBER...Please do not copy these collage sheets for your art work ( I know you won't)! This was a project of mine and they will be given as a gift to my family! But you can definitely use the idea and make your own to show off in your beautiful vintage frames!!
