MDS Monday - Kindness is my mom

Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend?

I think people across the nation are ready for spring. It's been a long winter, with more snow than most of us have seen in a long time - or colder temperatures for a more sustained amount of time than we can remember. So I wanted to share this page. :)

Mom mom and yellow go hand-in-hand in my thoughts. So this is a page for HER. These are flower photos from our trip to Oregon last year; if you want to look at our galleries for wall art - or to just enjoy them! :) - just click on this link. Heavenly Perspective Photography

OK, I'm outta here! :) Have a WONDERFUL day! It's warming up here in middle TN; I know a lot of you are still under a ton of snow. Please take care, and keep warm! And stamp something. :D

One of my favorite photos of us :D

I just love this shot. And It's on some of our Christmas photo cards. What do you think? Those of you who know us, what do you think of what it says about us?? :D And here's the link to our Christmas newsletter!P.S. I've just started with Smile.ly and can't wait to see what it's like! :D

It was a beautiful trip!

We had a GREAT time when we got to play, and we worked HARD when we were working. :D I HIGHLY recommend the Huntsville Botanical Garden - it was BEAUTIFUL! Such an interesting, beautiful place! HOT, though. I still prefer my Pacific Northwest beaches. :D

This picture, of course, isn't from there. :D This is Fort Walton Beach, at the top of the stairs down to the beach from our hotel. I got to spend about 5 minutes there, taking pictures and videoing the water with my FLIP before a rainstorm chased me off and we had to leave for home.

I got some new toys today, and I'll be playing with them for future classes. :D Stay tuned - tomorrow will be another great post. :) Enjoy the photo today - and be sure to take the time to STAMP something! :)

Please stand by...!

We shot a wedding Saturday, and Kenn took my flash card and battery. I found another flash card, but NO BATTERY - he's out and about. :D As SOON as I can get a battery into my camera, I'm ready to tell you all about a card I made JUST FOR YOU. :D Stay tuned!

Have you found YOUR tomato?

Please note: I know this is not stamping-related, but we're really excited about this project. I will post a card later this afternoon, but first thing this morning is our launch for this whole idea. This is from Kenn's perspective, in case you have trouble at first. :D

So! Will you tell me about YOUR tomato?

Not long ago, I posted a story on Facebook about how God provided a small but tasty miracle for me in the Kroger parking lot. We received many great comments about the story, and Lori and I believe that many of you have similar stories to tell. (For your reference, if you have not heard the story, it has been posted at the end of this message.)

I feel that I need to "invest" this story of God's providence, and the dividend I am looking for is the testimony of His provision and blessing in your lives. I know that God has touched all of you at one time or another, and we want to hear about it!

Lori and I would like you, our friends, to send us your stories. We have opened up a separate email account for this purose; it's myfoundtomato@aol.com Please email your stories to us there. If you send your story, you are agreeing to allow us to use it for a book! We're going to see if we can find a publisher for this project.

I attend a men's group from our church that meets early Tuesday morning. We spend an hour together; we worship, praise God, and then listen to a testimony from one of the men who attends. This week it was our worship pastor, Pastor Wayne, who had just returned from Africa.

This year, Pastor Wayne has been encouraging us as a congregation to be "sensitive" to the daily miracles that God provides for us. To emphasize this, he told a remarkable story of such a miracle that happened on this trip to Africa . Then our missions pastor, Bruce, told us of a small "miracle" that he had witnessed this week as well. Both of these events could be classified as divine appointments.

I do believe that God is at work in our lives constantly and continually. In the rush and hurry of our lives, we often overlook these workings, or sometimes even put them in the "luck" column; when something "bad" happens to us we either blame our bad luck or blame Satan. We rarely see how God is using even our misfortunes for our good.

The photo above is from the Nashville Farmers Market. I think tomatoes are one of God's miracles! Imagine: a seed placed in the ground has all the instructions in it to produce these lovely fruits. The seed lies next to its neighbor, is nourished by the same earth, watered by the same rain or irrigation, and basks in the same sun as its neighbor - but soon it's a tomato, not a cucumber.

Anyway . Tuesday afternoon, after The Gate, Lori and I meet for a rare movie event (rare because movies cost money and we have very little!). After the movie, we decided to save money on the day by eating at home instead of eating out, as was our custom before poverty. I would grill hamburgers, and we had some precut French fries in the freezer. I asked Lori if we had a tomato, but she said no; tomatoes were hard to come by - and, if you came by them, they have been really expensive.

Lori and I went our separate ways, and I decided to run over to Krogers to see what a couple of dollars could buy in produce. I was thinking maybe a grilled zucchini, or something similar.... I parked the car in the Kroger lot and was calling Lori to let her know where I stopped, when I looked down.

There, right in front of me in the Kroger parking lot, was a tomato. A beautiful, ripe, pristine tomato, no dents, no bruises; so perfect I could use it in a photo shoot, and it was right there in front of me.

I picked up the tomato and looked around to see if I could find who may have dropped it. With no one even close, I returned it to the car and thanked God for this little but greatly-appreciated miracle.

Versatile Vinyl!

Good Thursday morning! It's another beautiful day here, headed on its way into the high 40s! What a great day to stamp! :D And I'm gonna - I have LOTS to do today, so let's get right to the samples, shall we?

(Please note: although I neglected to put the copyright ON the photos, the letter design is copyrighted by Stampin' Up!®)

Here's the very first use I did with both the vinyl and my new Sizzlits alpha set, Timeless Type - USING MY BIG SHOT, OF COURSE. :) (Can I hear it, all together? "I LOVE MY BIG SHOT!!!" :D)As soon as UPS dropped the alpha set off, I pulled everything out! :D

Not only are all the letters included, but lots of other things, like an @ sign, so you can put your email address somewhere.... The heart is part of the alpha set, too! And that's the Real Red vinyl from Stampin' Up!, along with the Whisper White. Isn't it fun? This is one of Kenn's travel mugs that I just pulled out of the cupboard. :D I probably won't put it through the dishwasher, but I can certainly hand-wash it!

Now, to show you the real reason I'm SO excited about having both the vinyl AND the alpha diecut set!






(Please ignore the dirt and the frost! :D)

This is our main business, my husband's passion - our photography business. It's still trying to take off - we've been working at it for almost four years, and we just got a website done for it. I still need to get in and tweak several things, but it's THERE. We have a PRESENCE. And NOW, even though it's smaller than I wish, we are ANNOUNCING that we're out there everywhere Kenn goes in the car! :D

OK, I've GOT to get busy - my to-do list is INCREDIBLY long for today!!!! Have a WONDERFUL day, my friends, and be SURE to take the time to STAMP something! :)

What a Wednesday! :D

It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Middle Tennessee; it's supposed to hit 40° today! Woo, hoo! :D We're in a warming trend this week, so I expect no complaints about the weather near me.... :D

Don't forget! Today is the LAST DAY to enter for the BLOG CANDY for 15,000 HITS!!! Read that post for details!

I haven't shown you anything I've done with MY DIGITAL STUDIO (MDS) lately, so I thought I would. :) This is my beautiful stepdaughter and her husband on their wedding day.

Using MDS, I created an 8.5"x11" scrapbook page, then chose an Always Artichoke card stock layer. Because of the printing border, I made the AA 1/2" smaller all the way around than the Whisper White background. Next, I chose the Medallion stamp - which is available as a separate download, in case you, too, love the stamp and use a different program! - and shrunk it to the size I wanted, and colored it with Mellow Moss. (AA and MM are one of my favorite color combos!) Kaisa's heritage is very Celtic, and I feel like the color choices and the font reflect her and her personality pretty darn well. :D

Oh, and the three Whisper White brads in the top left corner are to balance the page. I'm afraid I'm not very frilly when it comes to my stamping OR scrapping - but I really love this page. Kenn took the shot; it was the last time we were in Oregon.

What do you think? Do you like the page?

OK, I'm off - I have many things on my TO DO list, and Kenn's not feeling well now. :( Please pray for him!

Have a WONDERFUL day! And please, take the time to STAMP something - or use MDS!!! :D

I've started a new blog!

If you like my photography, I hope you'll check out Heavenbound With A Lens. It's just for my photos - with maybe an applicable quote thrown in for good measure. :)
I hope you'll check it out! Let me know what you think!

Hi, everyone!

How ARE you? Is it just me, or is this year even BUSIER than ever???? Wow, I can't believe how much I've packed into this month already!

This is Sage; isn't she beautiful? She's SUCH a sweet little girl; her mommy is a good friend of mine, and Sage is going to have a baby sister soon. :) They're a wonderful family - daddy Tim is a pretty great guy, too. :D I just wanted to take a break from browbeating you about stamping your gifts and cards, and remind you of the joy, delight, and wonder that are SUPPOSED to be a part of our lives during this season.

Merry Christmas, my dear readers. May you find a moment to BREATHE, and enjoy the wonder of God's gifts!

BLATANT ad, but I'm SO excited!!!!!

I've had a few people ask to see the photos that are in the calendar; here are thumbnails of them. They're all TN landscapes, and the calendar is printed on matte heavyweight paper, so you can write on the calendar part easily. They're being printed as I type - I take possession in less than a week, and I cannot wait!

We are SO excited!!!

This is a private printing; each one will be assembled by hand at the printer's, just for you. It is a 12-month calendar, with each month having a different landscape from rural Tennessee. Each month's picture is printed with a verse from Psalms on it. The calendar is coil-bound, and the covers are laminated - it will be a GREAT calendar that will give you or your gift recipients beautiful scenery all through the year.

It's a real deal at only $17.50 plus $4.60 PRIORITY MAIL shipping. If it's for a gift, we will ship directly to them, so you don't pay postage twice! We're going to begin shipping as early as November17! We've kept the cost as low as we can! Enjoy, everyone! Please feel free to forward this offer to whomever you wish. Any questions? Just email or call us! :)

You can click paypal us at pooh0612@aol.com, or contact us at HeavnlyPhotos@aol.com for mailing information for checks or money orders.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your support and encouragement. Be blessed!!!

Another fast post!

OK, things are starting to settle down - I'm either ready for tomorrow, or I'm not. :D

ANYWAY. I wanted to make you dear readers aware of this opportunity!

Heavenly Perspective Photography (our photography business) is proud to announce that we are printing our first calendar this year for public purchase! This is a private printing; each one will be assembled by hand at the printer's, just for you. It will be a 12-month calendar, with each month having a different landscape from rural Tennessee. Each month's picture will be printed with a verse from Psalms on it. The calendar will be coil-bound, and the covers will be laminated - it will be a GREAT calendar that will give you or your gift recipients beautiful scenery all through the year.

It's a real deal at only $17.50 plus $4.60 PRIORITY MAIL shipping. If it's for a gift, we will ship directly to them, so you don't pay postage twice! We're looking at a possible shipping date as early as November 20!

If you're interested, you may Paypal me at pooh0612@aol.com, or email me at poohisstampin@aol.com for an address to send checks or money orders.

I am SO excited about this opportunity!!!!!! I hope you will be, too. :)

Next posting will be at least ONE photo from the Hostess Appreciation Luncheon! :) Have a WONDERFUL weekend - and don't forget to take the time to STAMP something!!!