...mermaid grotto ~ part 1

...can you hear them?

do you hear the sirens call??

...come to the sea,

~ the sea ~

the beautiful sea...

   

   

oh mere ~ maidens,

my heart longs for a way to be there with you.

but,

that is not always possible.

so

to ease my siren desire,

i designed these paper dollies to delight!

 until i can get back to the sea,

 those mighty waves,

 the warm soft sand...

 and the mer's.

   

these elegant creatures have long entranced me.

yes,

they are a part of me ~

their mystery,

and

OH!

those beauteous tails!!

 

  

  it is no wonder

 really,

that they have found a way into my creative outpourings once again...

 

 

for it is they

who inspired my romantic ship,

from the very heartbeat i laid eyes upon it...

i think THEY brought it to me

with their mer tides

and filled my mind's eye with what a romantic sea worthy ship should look like...

i am truly mesmerized with how they turned out

a paper santos/mermaid creation.

and to see them dance ~

why,

it is poetry in motion...

  

with every spin

they will lull you ~

and with every glistening sparkle,

they

will

woo

you...

chanting their mermaid melodies

u

n

t

i

l

you surrender.

now,

it just so happens

that

my dear mother will be arriving for a short visit this week

as Nathan will be graduating HS.

a right of passage that she simply was not going to miss!

i am sooo very proud of my dear son,

and

i am thrilled she is coming!!

  

i love when she comes 

so i can transform a special space for her to spend time and rest.

(well, there is one bonus in renting, you never are stuck with the same room over and over!!)

can you maybe

guess the inspiration of this room?

hhhmmmmm....

  

did you perhaps, guess ~

MERMAIDS??!!

and do you also spy,

SWANS?!

as that is one of my adored fascinations too! 

elegant and oh-so graceful...

   

 

i am calling this room the "mermaid grotto"

and these lovely mer's and sea swans will reside there.

but,

you will have to wait until next white wednesday to visit were they will water dance  :)

tee,hee!

sharing this post with:

Faded Charm's: White Wednesday

here's to siren calls!

...a "rose"y note

hello lovelies!!...

today ~

i had every intention

to show you my

(duh, duh, duuunn...)
((dramatic music!!))

{santos mermaid grotto} 

but alas...

that was not the theme for this weeks
photo challenge over at Tricia's - A Rosy Note

sooooo,
with a song in my heart,
i switched gears
and took photos of a few flowers from my garden instead.

hence,
my "rose"y notes:
tee,hee!

i have

loooooong

been inspired by beautifully taken photographs,

on so many different blogs,

by so many talented women...

i'm sure you have your faves!!

   

i too,

truly wish to be able to take

"those types of photos"

and have challenged myself

to get to know my camera

 a little better!!

   

Tricia takes some fabulous close-ups!

that are crisp, clear and perfectly lit..

she has inspired me to learn to do the same.

it is my endeavor to capture the same results in my images...

    

 as i wish to share beauty with all of you

the things that i see in the land of odds...

the way i see them ~

and the stories they have to tell...

   

 perhaps,

after much diligence

i may come to understand just what "ISO"

and "depth of field" are

and more importantly,

HOW to use them!!

  

   

yes,

there is much to learn ~

and it seems a bit overwhelming...

i do better with being shown

rather than reading "how to" about it.

  

but

i.

will.

learn.

   

so thank you Tricia

Kristy, Laura, Mira, Tracey

just to name a few, 

and all those other talented girls

takin' fabulous pictures out there!

you inspire us all!!

   

and who knows,

perhaps one of these days,

you will be inspired by what i see through my lens...

  

even after i sprinkle a little magic on them :)

 

sharing this over at:
Common Ground's: Vintage Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage's: Feathered Nest Friday
A Rosy Note's: Photo Feature Friday
Life-n-Reflection's:  Weekend Texture Twist
all my pictures were taken using
a canon rebel xs
with a 90 mm macro lens
no further processing was done to these
except to lighten them.
well,
excluding the very first and last picture :)




here's to striving to meet and rise above a challenge,
even if it takes awhile!!

...my ship has come in!

...hello dear readers!

well,

my ship has finally come in!

~ lol ~

but seriously,

what do you think of her??

 

 

you may remember this "before" shot

i took of her when she first arrived

 

 

uhem,

blah!

you must be joking...

i was NOT going to set sail to the future

 in something that looked like that

yah, no!

give me everyday romance

or

give me death!

whoa!

dramatic much?!

* i blame it on johnny

* ie. jack sparrow

 

anyhoo,

 for months,

(hey, i'm a busy girl!)

i've been working on transforming her into a romantic vision

that i'd be delighted to set off in

seeking a new adventure...

  

 

her sails are completely made out of silk

as,

this is my dream ship :)

this sail has been printed with "toile de sea"

i adore the whimsy that it brings

and if i were ever stranded on a deserted island,

it would make for a lovely dress to wear,

for when i was rescued,

i'd want to look my best

don't ya' think?!

(NOT bringing it to me, just being prepared!!)

   

 

the larger sail is made out of silk crepe

and full of ruffles!!

love it!

 

  

 

and a sea horse is always nearby

to ride for a day of splunkin'

sound fun?!

    

 

 

and my deck?

why ~

crushed pearlized shells of course!!

 

...and even the driftwood would be covered in lace and sparkly rhinestones!

beause many of you know my feeling about lace...

and yes,

at first i thought i may paint my ship out in white

but

i really liked how the lace looked on the wood

so

i covered my ship in lace instead...

  

 oh yeah, baby!!

from the top...

  

 

to the bottom!

  

and just in case you missed it 

here it is again:

~ before ~

and 

~ after ~

 

which one would you embark a journey on ~

hhhmmmm??!

now,

as for my destination?

well ~ that's a whole other story!!

i wonder if johnny/jack would loan me his compass?!

~

sharing this post with:

Faded Charm's: White Wednesday

Kim Klassen's Cafe: Texture Tuesday

for my lacey pirate ship picture

i used her textures:  

yesteryear, not to shabby and kk2

here's to a beautiful adventure at sea ~

want to come with??

...chocolate bar couture...

...hey mr. wonka!

if you're really out there...

how 'bout making a few of these??!

~  chocolate art bars  ~

when i was attending college,

i also was working as a manager

in a candy shop.

it was sooo much fun!!

usually, everyone that would visit,

would be delighted to be there

shopping for some type of treat.

 around christmas time,

the local newspaper

would always come to take picture of my display windows

(LOVED that part of my job!)

so

from then on

i have always desired a quality product

packaged artfully and most beautifully.

i've been looking for some prettily wrapped chocolate bars.

so naturally

when i could find nothing that delighted my eye,

i set out to design some chocolate bar wrappers of my own :)

  

here are a few couture chocolate bars i designed.

it's hard to see,

but ~

there is a dusting of

flavored marshmallow sparkle powder on these wrappers.

not sure if that what the marshmallow powders purpose is

but

  

i'm into those kinda details

so i seek

high

and

low

for details to delight

and in this case,

marshmallow tastin' sparkle powder

 was for me!!

so when you tear open that wrapper,

and break off a piece of that chocolate,

you're gonna be tasting chocolate covered marshmallows

or

errrr,

ummmm,

fingers!!

* lol *

either way ~

it will be delicious!

i also tied each special art bar

with metallic thread

and a vintage bauble

 a rhinestone montee,

a freshwater pearl, a tiny heart shell button

just for a little extra decadence and whimsy :)

  

who amongst us

 wouldn't love to see a few goddess bars lined up

in a chocolate boutique somewhere??!

i sure would!!

  

honestly,

i'm surprised Lady Godiva hasn't thought of this!!

  

so ~

if your listening mr. wonka...

  

i'm available for hire!!

but

ONLY if i can visit the fizzy lifty drink room whenever i wish :)

so,

let's see,

today,

 i brought you chocolates

and

last week i brought you flowers...

and you know why??

just because i adore all of you so!

hhhhmmmmm.... 

i wonder what next week will bring?

~

until then,

sharing this over at:

Common Ground's: Vintage Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottages: Feathered Nest Friday

A Rosy Note's: Photo Feature Friday
* children with roses statue pictures *

shot with a canon rebel xs

90 mm macro lens

program used: photoshop elements 8

processed with kim klassen's textures:

kkluminous and silence.

here's to beautifully wrapped chocolate bars!