The Sweetness of Roses and Friendship

Hello friends,

My garden has given me some outstanding roses, and I've been reflecting on how friends are like roses - roses awaken our senses and nourish our spirits with their gorgeous scent and beautiful blooms, and friends bring special moments of connection with others that we can cherish.

'A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.'

                                                                                        Leo Buscaglia

Having close friends makes such a difference in our lives. There are some who are like our soulmates, people we may not see often, but when we get together we just pick up from where we left off, offering a warm connection, enjoying listening to each others' life stories, and a mutual affirmation of who we are and where we are in our journey. 

Whether or not you have a loving partner or family, friendships can offer a safe space for us to be ourselves, and the chance to reach out and grant that same gift to others.

'There is no friend like the old friend, who has shared our morning days... friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold.'
                                         
                                                                                 Oliver Wendall Holmes

Our long-time friends who have stood by us over years are like the best wine, laid up to mature. Sadly, we, or our friends, may move far away, making it hard to see each other, but just knowing they are there helps us to feel that we are not alone - just a note or a card or a phone call away...

The connections we can make online can also nurture us, and we can reach out to others to affirm them, too. We mustn't underestimate the power of our online comments - for positive or negative affect.

So thank you to those special people who have taken the time to read and respond with thoughtful and heartfelt comments - you have left a special gift at the bottom of so many of our posts, and helped make our day brighter, like the scent of a rose.

Here are a few of my favourite roses from last Spring...

Mother's Love (palest pink), John F Kennedy (cream) and First Love (pale pink)...

Summer Memories (cream) and the full-scented William Morris...

William Morris again...

Climbing Cinderella...

Champagner...

An apricot and gold selection...

First Love...

David Austin's Windermere in my favourite vase...

A collection of vases from last Spring's bounty...

Come on Spring, I can't wait to see my garden blooming. My rose-pruning is finished and I've started mulching. 

I'm joining Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party # 47. Join us over at her blog AppleApricot for a gathering celebrating life's neutral colours...

Sending love,

Beauty Quotes

Hi Friends, 

I've been going through all my photos in Lightroom, trying to sort years of disorganised chaos into a sytem where I can find my photos easily. Like Spring-cleaning, I've come across lots of images I forgot I had. This gorgeous cracked paint texture was just crying out to be showcased...

While sorting through my blog images, I came across a few that perhaps not many of you have seen. So I've picked out the neutral-shaded ones to share with you today.

A vintage vase given to me by a dear neighbour, Mary, filled with roses from my garden...

A spider web on our deck - there are many, and the blue wrens love raiding them...

A moth on my daughter's hands...

Windermere, a David Austin rose in my garden...

A beautiful furry bee...

A coincidence, that many of these quotes are celebrating beauty? Now, let's go over to Wen's blog, AppleApricot, for Simply Neutrals Tuesday to see some more neutral beauty to lift our hearts.

Hugs from Jesse XX

Simply Neutrals #15 Sea Urchins and a Bed Make-over

 It's time for Simply Neutrals Tuesday - except it's Friday here. I'm on school holiday time!

I thought I'd share with you my bed makeover. It was a pine country style, and we couldn't afford a new bed, so I decided to paint it...




Here's the bed as it was before...

The first coat was flat white, then I distressed it by rubbing it in parts with sandpaper. Then I wiped it over with Porters Black Antique Wax, which was later polished off, leaving a satiny creamy finish. The roses were plaster casts bought on eBay.

It really changed the whole feel of the room to light and airy, and the bed doesn't seem so solid and heavy-looking in the lighter colour.

This week has been hot here on the South Coast of NSW. Today was 33 degrees Celcius, and I took my children (11 and 13) for a swim and snorkel at one of our favourite local beaches. The tide was out and the waves and rip was gentle, so we ventured out to our favourite wonderland which we call "The Valley of a Thousand Sea Urchins". The children have not seen it often as the conditions need to be safe. They were amazed and didn't want to return to shore after an hour in the colder water. My back was sunburnt! 

I wish we had an underwater camera! I have borrowed a couple of images to show you.

The left photo comes from a local blog:

https://morselsandscraps.wordpress.com/tag/seaweed/

It is like one we held, but ours had a fuzzy layer that waved under the water. It felt strange, and attached to my thumbnail gently. We put it back safely. 

The right photo comes from:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/8224831/Sea-urchin-could-lead-to-knives-that-never-need-sharpening.html

This is what the scene looked like, but our sea urchins were black. 

Interestingly, they have self-honing teeth that can cut through rock! They are considered a delicacy and are expensive to buy. I've not tasted them.

These are some dried sea urchin shells I have found on beaches locally:

To finish, an inspirational quote in a lovely simple frame...

Thanks Wen for hosting the Simply Neutrals Tuesday. You can join in the fun at Wen's blog AppleApricot

By the way, I have just managed to add Google Friend Connect to my blog if you would like to follow me that way.

Have a creative week!

Jesse

Bears and Roses for Simply Neutrals # 14

Happy New Year! I wish you loads of creativity and time to enjoy arty expression and just 'be' in the present moment... that's my New Year's resolution - to be where I am in each present moment and enjoy it.

Here's a little hat I made recently for one of my bears using scraps of doylies, lace, flowers and beading. The band was cut from an op shop top, and the embellishments were hand-stitched in place.

Here's Edwina in her new hat. The frame is from Angela Wolf of JoesSistah.

Now for some of my glorious Spring roses. They are mauve, but I've 'neutralised' them with a textured background I purchased from 2 LilOwls.

I then added a frame from The Coffeeshop Blog. 

I added another texture as a frame, too.

I'll showcase more of my rose photos from this year soon, but for Simply Neutrals, I've played in Photoshop to 'neutralise' the vibrance of their colours, which is subtly beautiful, too. I've used the same Coffee Shop frame with a texture from Jerry Jones. The rose is called 'Climbing Cinderella', one of my favourites.

This next rose is 'Champagner', textured with a texture from Jerry Jones.

Now for a little mobile phone fun using an app called Kaleidoscope. Watch out, it's addictive! It's a great activity when you are waiting around somewhere or on public transport with kids in tow... It uses a photo on your phone or you can take a shot to play around with.

An inspiring quote for the New Year...
The background texture is from http://farfarhill.blogspot.com.au/

Happy creating!
hugs,

Jesse

Thanks Wen for hosting the Simply Neutrals party. You can see more neutral beauty at AppleApricot .

P.S. A little hint for those new to blogging (like me!), I've noticed that when I return to past Simply Neutrals posts, some of my links didn't link back to the actual #post on Wen's blog, or to my own #post, so make sure you click on the post title to get the specific link address to use, rather than the main address of the blog. Otherwise you have to search manually for it and others who may be browsing our blogs can't easily find the posts.

Day 39 A Week of Inspired Quotes

Inspiration word: Focus

I used Kim's texture 'Crackerjack' to illustrate my quote below:

Inspiration word: Intentions

I used Kim's texture "Graduation Day'

Inspiration word: Change

I used Kim's texture 'Cinnamon' and added a frame.

Inspiration word: Peace

I used Kim's textures "Pumpkin Grunge' and  'Confidence' and a mask from Jerry Jones.

Day 42 Adding a quote

My favourite David Austen rose still bloomed in my garden in Winter! It's in a beautiful vase that had a broken handle so now it has a bow to hide the handle. I used Kim Klassen's 'kimklassenlove' texture and a free brush from http://aka-joe.deviantart.com/art/Floral-Swirl-Brushes-107859186. You can't really see the gradient added to the text area because of the texture, but I liked the effect.

Day 39 Life Quote

Wish

I am wishing I could catch up on Kim's great course. I have done some work, but not had time to post. So I will endeavour to at least post some images I've completed, even if late.

We must work to make our wishes come true, for there is no fairy godmother to wave her magic wand....
I used Kim's artjoytexture.

Day 4 Vision and Blur - Treading lightly

I love it when the moment is captured so I can remember it for the rest of my life - a life-defining moment of deepest love. I first worked on this picture in Kim's Art of Texture course but never showed it.

I thought I would try again, with the aim of simplicity in mind. I tried to use the textures to create the negative space in the composition by fading out the background. I used Kim's textures Charmed, Plastersquare and Crackerjack. It seemed I needed to use more textures to get the 'less' I was aiming for.

I tried to take a photo with the task of simplicity in mind, and chose my red roses. I learned from my mistakes here! The background was fussy and dark - I was trying to catch up on a few lessons and this was a shot from the photostory of my day.

This was a challenge as the lighter textures didn't seem to work, so I used Kim's textures Earthenwareframed and Burntpumpkin. I do love the textures I have purchased from you, Kim, as well as the freebies you so generously share with us. I love to have so much wonderful potential to choose from!