Brilliant Sweet Surrender

Autumn's Surrender

"When life is hard and I grow weary,

when all I have known is slowly fading,

I will be as each leaf

and blade and tree.

I will leave that place willingly

 but not

with a dying gasp of grief or pain,

but with the brilliance of sweet surrender."

Karen

Orange Challenge #4

Pumpkin Cheesecake (with a ginger snap crust)

I used gluten free ginger snaps so that

I can have it too!

Yummy!!!

Pages in Time

Here are some of my latest scrapbook pages,

several of the photos were not the best,

but I wanted to keep them so I embellished

them as much as possible to distract from the

so-so image!

The Lord is My Rock

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer...

For who is God, except the Lord?

and who is a rock, except my God...

The Lord lives!

Blessed be my rock!"

Psalm 18

Sewing Little Bits at a Time

I have been sewing away to finish my

"Bits and Pieces" line for the

Artisan Fair.

I called it that because I tried to use up

lots of the bits and pieces from my fabric bin:)

So there is a variety of fabrics and sizes.

Now to move on to the

"Butternut Farm" line that

is cut out and ready to go!

Orange Challenge #3

I found this orange tape measure and silverware

caddy at a garage sale for $1.25

 So I glued the tape measure around the top and sides,

and now I have a cute thread caddy in my sewing room.

I also found this clever idea in a sewing magazine for

keeping your thread from getting tangled. Use

colored hair bands and wrap around the spool

when its not in use.

What Does Country Living Mean to Me?

 1. It is watching the strawberry fields of last year become

the wheat fields today.

 2. Buying fresh produce from the corner farmstand

 on the honor system

 3. Rusted mailboxes all in a row and knowing

your neighbors by their first names.

 4. A big red barn way out past the town with the sheep dogs

who are bigger than the sheep!

5. Apples hanging so close to the road you can pick them

from your bicycle.

6. Watching the old man on the tractor who has been

milking cows on that same farm since he was 3.

7. Things changing more slowly than the rest of the world.

 8. Having space to just breathe.

 

9. Slowing down enough to hear bird song 

and watch the flowers listen too.

Fall Morning

"Each season of the year

is like opening up a brand new

box of crayons."

Tea for One

This may be a concept that some of you will

find strange, but if I want to have a

tea party, I can't walk into a cute tea shop

with friends and settle in for a lovely time.

That's because there are no tea shops that

are gluten-free!

So If I want to have an elegant and tasty

tea party I have to do it myself...

While I was at the beach alone

I enjoyed a very nice tea for one,

the conversation was somewhat one-sided:)

but there was no arguing at least!

I had scones, sandwiches, and "sweeties"

as the English say and many cups of

hot tea...

I felt very vintage in my dress, pearls, and shoes.
(Oh, and by the way, all the lovely dishes
I have are Goodwill finds:)

Orange Challenge #2

Here is my craft challenge for week 2 at last!

I can't seem to get anything done these days, and

hope I'll have some time soon to get all

the sewing done for the artisan fair in early Dec.

This romper and hat, size 2

will be for sale at the fair in my

"Bits and Pieces" collection!

Fall Scrappin

Here is the scrapbook I put

together at the recent Fall Scrap Retreat.

It is of my birthday back in May

and I really like how the vintage

style papers look on a black background.

The paper is "Thrift Shop" by October Afternoon.

Psalm 107 and a Trip to the Beach

"For He commands and raises the stormy wind,

which lifts up the waves of the sea...

He calms the storm ,

so that the waves are still."

Psalm 107:25 & 29

I enjoyed a wonderful few days @ the beach!

The first days were 70* sunny and no wind...

the next days were battering wind and rain!

I have loved these verses ever since I realized

what they said.

God SENDS the storm and CALMS the storm,

in our lives and in the sea.

There is nothing that is not in His hand

and He can be trusted to know

when we've reached the end of our

resources and need the storm to end.

Orange Challenge #1

Things I love in orange!

Dress design for Shabby Apple dresses

Here is my dress design for the contest currently going on @

Shabby Apple dresses

It is a wonderful website with modest yet stunning clothing

and definitely worth a look!

Brown Challenge #5

All of the pictures above are from my

picnic basket project.

I found an old basket, covered the inside with

fabric, made padded handles, painted

a blue caddy, brown, found

silverware, plates, thermos, tablecloth, etc.

at thrift stores and just in general redid the whole thing!