Shredding Papers

Hi All :)

I hope your Week went well and are now enjoying the Weekend :)

I am :) 

Because my Hubby just came home to celebrate my Birthday with me, so sweet. :) It seems weird that we are doing the whole B.Day thing backwards this year, we usually go to San Diego to celebrate but as I am in the middle of getting the house ready to sell, it was easier for K. to fly back to Oregon from San Diego, at least we get to be together for the Sunny, if chilly Weekend in the Northwest, YAY!!!! :)

So, I like to think of myself as a very organised person but there is one thing that always gets the better of me and that is the amount of paper that arrives at our home every year. :(

Thankfully with the advent of  paying bills online the stack of paper bills has lessened but still all the credit card application offers that arrive is ridiculous, plus the catalogues and the junk mail that has our names and address on it, etc., my poor shredder has its hands full (well, I guess teeth really, lol :) dealing with all of it. :)

Anyway, for most of this past 2 weeks I have been doing my "Filing" :(

I only file once a year, this is where I "File" things to start off with, in my "Pending" bowl, (also occasionally used as designed as a Pasta serving bowl, lol!!! :)

"Pending" Bowl :)

Then, once a year as the bowl starts to overflow, there is a defeated sigh on my part and a scurry to sort all these papers into "file-able" piles (that is when having a pool table comes in very useful :) (oops! I forgot to take a pic. of the pool table covered in paper, oh, well, you get the idea right, lol :)

As I take out each file from the filing cabinet to put this past years bills/papers in (in reverse month order of course, lol :) I take out the oldest years bills and shred them. 

trusty old filing cabinet, full to bursting point with files and papers

But this year as we are planning on moving home in the next few months I am going to be shredding more than one years worth of paperwork, I really hope the shredder can hold up to the 
challenge :)

One thing I do like to do, but maybe it is depressing to do so, is that I have kept just one bill from each past year. It is amazing what we used to pay for different things, like 25 years ago our cable bill was $25.00 a month but of course we didn't have a bundle package with internet (what internet?!?!) and phone and TV but seriously, I would LOVE to go back to that simplicity :) 

No On-Demand, pay per view, Streaming, Netflix or Hulu.

 Going to Hollywood video to rent a movie was a fun family excursion and picking up a pizza on the way home just added to the fun of Family night :)

But I digress................

Anyway, so even though I am organised I may have been holding on to more paperwork than necessary and so after clearing out the filing cabinet and then going thru all my art files and several drawers full of  the "kids" school phone directories and school paperwork in different places around the house here are the piles of papers I am going to have to shred :(

and I have recycled maybe 4 times this amount as well, I am so glad we have curbside recycling :)

Shredder and the piles of shredding to be completed before the movers arrive

My shredder is nearly 2' tall, I can not believe I have so much to shred, it appears that even organised people might be paper hoarders after all, lol  :)

Fingers crossed my paper shredder is up for the challenge :)

It is a good job I find shredding a peaceful and cathartic pastime, lol :)

Here goes :)

I hope everyone has a Wonderful Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Birthday Ocean Photos :)

Hi All :)

I truly hope you are all doing well and enjoying life wherever you are :)

So, I keep promising myself that I will blog more and then that "life" thingy just keeps getting in the way, lol :) I know you haven't heard from me much recently but I will get around to telling you all about the "WHY" a little later on in the year (I know it all sounds so mysterious, doesn't it :)

Well, anyway, as some of you know I LOVE to go to Sunny San Diego every year to get away from the Dark, Cold, Windy and Rainy Pacific Northwest Winter and usually this trip takes place around my B.Day at the beginning of March. :)

Well, this year was no exception and I went to San Diego to soak up some much needed sunshine, the only problem was it was Dark, Cold, Windy and Rainy in San Diego on my B.Day :(

I have never seen this Beach and Ocean deserted esp. on a Saturday, there are usually lots of happy people on the beach and lots of surfers in the Ocean, yep the weather was that bad. No a person in sight.

Of course the view was still gorgeous to look at and reminded me so much of the Pacific Northwest (which, BTW, I love too :)

So, I was going to show you my photos of the huge and crazy waves crashing across the beach but they are all so gloomy and dark. Then I had an idea, why didn't I show you just one shot and how I quickly worked on it to make it a "Happier" photo :)

Here goes :)

Click on photos to see larger images :)

Here is the Original Shot :) 

Now, I was out shooting this with my "big" lens and no tripod in what felt like a gale, so a little shaky image but.........

Next, I very slightly brightened the image by 5% and contrasted by 25% to enhance the definition of waves, spray and foam :) 

I then enhanced slightly with an auto "cool" setting which added a much needed blue tone to the Ocean and Sky :)

Then I added this layer from my collection that I have created over the years :)

I laid the layer on top of the photo and put it to about 68% opacity :)

So, I feel I got my Sunshine at the beach on my B.Day after all :)

What do you think? :)

Have a wonderful Tuesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

FRIDAY FLOWERS! :)

Happy Friday Everyone!

Although the rain has returned, hopefully briefly, to the N.W. it can't dampen our spirits today because we are celebrating a B.Day today, my son turns 19 :) Happy B.Day Sweetie :)

People have been so generous this week with sharing the Love! I am in 5 Treasuries on Etsy, so if you have a min. pop over and share some more Love too :)

1). DOORS By Jalinde
2). WINDOWS XP OR VISTA?!?!? By Mandala Magic1
3). HELP SAFE THE GULF COAST By Beat Up Creations
4). TRIBUTE TO AMERICA By Such a Pretty Dress
5). GOOD MORNING STARSHINE By Amber Alexander

Thanks Guys this is awesome :)

And now to this week's Friday Flowers! :) All these are blooming in my Garden right now :)

I hope you enjoy them :)

Here are more of the Marigolds that have been coming back year after year for 20 years :)

I love how the light bounces off and thru these petals :)

This Passion Flower is a vigorous grower in the Summer but if you saw it every Winter you would think it was dead. We planted this for our daughter a few years ago, she first saw it in Amsterdam. We thought it would help hold on to some of the wonderful memories she experienced in her study abroad programme.

I love all the shapes and colours. They are beautifully whimsical.

Lupins to me are a very traditional English Summer Garden plant but only in purple and pink when I found these multi coloured ones a few years ago I just had to have a couple :)

Campanula, what is not to like about these, they are delicate, a beautiful Periwinkle Blue and just remind me of little Pixie Hats :)

I love Tiger Lillies, they are vivid and colourful and add a great POP to any Garden :)

My Peonies were gone before they started (because of all the rain) This was the only one I got to photograph and believe it or not this was kinda smushed on the ground, I am so pumped this came out so well, almost like a Georgia O'Keeffe. :)

Coreopsis are wonderful to have in the Garden, they are easy to grow and have such cheery little faces :)

I love them with Daisies growing near by, gives it that casual almost natural setting look.

And finally, Lavender in the elusive Sunshine :)

I really hope you enjoyed my Friday Flowers! :)

Have a Wonderful 4th of July Weekend. :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thank you.

I just wanted to say a BIG "THANK YOU" to everyone who wished me a Happy B.Day, that was really sweet :)

Small section of artwork by Brian Miller.

I would also like to say "Thank you" to my Blogging Buddy Annette at So Many Memories blog for posting about my Photo Giveaway! Still time to enter :)

And lastly, I am intrigued to know how people feel about blogging. So, I posted a thread in the Etsy forums just to hear people's thoughts. Mainly, I am interested to know if anyone feels there are any unwritten protocols or etiquettes to the process of blogging. Here is the link to the thread or please leave me a comment with your thoughts here on this posting :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Birthday Candles and Flowers.

Yesterday was my B.Day :) YAY ME!


I love B.Day's I think they should be celebrated to the fullest. My Hubby takes the day off work to celebrate with me and it is great to have a day completely devoid of obligations and commitments. But unfortunately I was not feeling so great so the big plans were put on hold. I really wanted to go out and do something, so we managed to get to the Pearl District here in Portland for a late lunch. OK, it was "Happy Hour" but who's checking. :)


After a sufficient time getting "Happy" we drove around and I took some photos of the great blend of architecture that has become the Pearl District. (Will be sharing those another day :)

It was, for a long time, a section of disused commercial buildings and home to a major N.W. brewery but over the past 20 years has grown into one of the biggest urban re-gentrification project in North America. A wonderful mix of beautifully renovated warehouses and innovative modern structures, a blend of offices, restaurants, housing, shops and so much more, it is a lively place.

Birthday Candles and Flowers on the table for dinner at home. So, even if I didn't do what I planned I still got to celebrate my B.Day only in a different way. :)

In other news :)

NorthernLodge kindly put my brooch in this beautiful treasury

Also, Stacey at Artsnark blog awarded me a Sunshine Award for my Blog, Thanks Stacey. :)

This means a lot to me coming from an Artist I admire. Check out Stacey's Etsy Shop Artsnark see why I admire her sooo much :)

And last but by no means least, a special "Thank you" to my Blogger Buddy Anna over at

A Beader's Blog for blogging about my latest Giveaway. :)

Talking of which, if you haven't entered my late February Giveaway to win an 8 x 10 photo of your choice from my new Etsy shop you can do that now there is still time :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful week :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.