BEING GRATEFUL

Hi All :)

I hope I find you all well and your Wednesday is going well :)

So, a few weeks ago in my blog post I started to tell you a bit about our failed move to San Diego. :( 
I thought I would hold off talking too much about it this week, as I can only handle so much of it, so I am sure you could possibly feel the same way. ;)

I will get back to it but I truly have to process it too ;(  I don't want to sound too whiny so...............................pausing for now :)

But if you read that week's blog post you know that my 2015 SUCKED!!!!!

So, I wanted to share with you a simple process I go thru every day that makes getting out of bed in the morning a whole hell of a lot better (noticed I didn't say "bounce" out of bed, as I can't remember the last time I did that, except when I needed to go a pee urgently, lol :)

Anyway, lying in bed, after I wake, is a troubling time for me, as each part of my body wakes I become aware of the pains and challenges going on in my body and sigh, I think, well here we go again, another day of dragging thru life. It would be so much easier to just pull the covers up over my head and go F... it I ain't moving, I'm just going to lie here and feel sorry for myself all day. But that is just plain selfish (don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of days when I wasn't physically able to get out of bed, so that is where I stayed) but there are other people to consider not just me, so after a while I give myself a little pep talk in the form of Being Grateful. :)

 Of course it would be so much easier to stay in bed than getting up and pushing myself thru each day, so much easier to feel sorry for myself than to be grateful but I count this as a good exercise for my mind, it might not be earth shattering, but I do believe that there is a slight paradigm shift and a motivating message to my body that it is worth it to push thru and try and live as best a life as I can that day. :)

So, I tell myself 10 things I am grateful for, they don't have to be big things, they shouldn't be the same things as yesterday, although of course there is a constant theme to this. :)

My number One gratitude statement is; I am thankful I woke up this morning :)

Simple but so important, right?!?! :)

Followed closely by being exceptionally grateful for a loving family :)

Being grateful is not a new concept, I know, but being consistent with it, is what makes it worthwhile and strengthens my resolve. :)

I try not to be grateful for superficial things in my 10 morning Gratitude statements but I will include being incredibly grateful for a roof over my head, I never take that for granted.  

One of the things I am very grateful for is still being able to be creative and I love to share my photos/artwork for you to enjoy :)

Here is something I have been working on recently :)


My Children found this Feather one year while we were on vacation at the beach, they kindly presented it to me and it has been a part of my art space for a long time now. It has been used for drawing lessons, writing and even to move paint around a surface (notice there are a couple of tips that have ink on them :) A few Summers ago, I decided to work on an outdoor still life photography project, the Feather was a part of that :) This year I finally had some time to work on creating the images I wanted from that shoot :)

Hope you enjoy these :)


Click on photos to see larger images :)

Have a Lovely Wednesday :)

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.

I WON :)

Hi All :)

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Holiday Season :)

Yesterday, I got a message to say I had won this amazing Book "The Quilt Block Book" by Nancy Wick from the wonderful Blog TOTALLY TUTORIALS :)

I am so excited I just had to share it with you :)

I was planning to get some sewing done over the Holidays when I hope to have some down time from my online stores, so this will be perfect. :)

Hopefully, by this time next week I will be happily flicking thru the book, trying to narrow down which Quilt Block I want to work on and write a tutorial about, so stay tuned because I will be sharing :)

Stay Warm :)

Have a lovely Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

My Lovely Little Pink Suitcase :)

Hi All :)

I hope your week is off to a great start :)
Although I can't believe it is Wednesday already and the last day of July at that; where does the time go?!?!

I think I had the idea for this blog post about a year ago but as you will see I had to take a trip, by plane, to actually bring the story to fruition :)

The story starts a few years ago when I was in an airport and I saw a Woman walking along with 2 suitcases gliding along beside her in one hand and her handbag in the other. "How does she do that?" I thought; it wasn't like they were little suitcases they were "check - able" size suitcases - I noticed that the man accompanying her, was also maneuvering 2 suitcases, with ease, in one hand. These suitcases were vertical and not like the rest of us, dragging our "Two Wheelers" behind us. I had to find out where they got these "magical" cases from and I wanted one :)

And so, one day when I was in the Portland Airport saying "Goodbye" once again, to one of my children (you will have to excuse me for not remembering which one or when it was, because they come and go so much, I sometimes think the Airport is my second home, lol :)

Anyway, I digress, as we were walking along thru the shopping area in the Airport, I glance up and I saw one of the "Magical" suitcases on the shop floor of Brookstone. 

I have been into a Brookstone Store before but usually following a male who was goo-goo eyed over the electronic devices available :) I had never really taken much notice of anything else in the store, it seemed a gadgety store that didn't really cater to me, until I saw My Lovely Little Pink Suitcase :)

Pink is my Fav. colour (just in case you haven't noticed, lol :)

The only problem was they didn't make the Pink "Magical" suitcase in a size bigger than a "carry on" and even though I try to pack lightly when I travel, you know you don't get much in a "carry on" (and don't get me started about people and their "carry ons" because that is a WHOLE other Blog Post, not so lol :(

I stood in the store and ummed and ahhed; it was a rather expensive  suitcase but oh so cute :) I kept taking it for walks around the shop and it was so easy to maneuver, it really felt like "Magic" :)

The assistant assured me that within 2 years I could return it, no questions asked if it got scratches on it or anything ever happened to it they would switch it out, so I went ahead and bought it :)

Here is my lovely Pink Suitcase :)

Some of my Fav. places to visit :)

She has a wheel at every corner that swivels in any direction I need; they create a fluid motion for very easy movement :)

 I have always been a fan of the old fashioned shipping trunks with all their stickers on from far off lands and so I put stickers on my suitcase from places that are close to my heart (I guess once I did this I knew I would not be returning the suitcase, so I was placing a lot of faith in it hold up :)

I used it a few times on overnight trips locally but it didn't get an outing to the Airport until we took our Son to Ohio in 2009 for him to start college :)

We arrived at the Toledo Airport pretty late, around 11pm or 11.30pm and I was pretty exhausted. My Hubby went off to find someone to get our rental car from; the place was deserted and then it was back to pick up our luggage and that is when I saw my lovely Pink Suitcase all scuffed up :(

I have to say, I was really sad, silly really, it is only a suitcase after all, but it is MY suitcase, it stands out in a crowd, it is easy to spot on the luggage carousel, it has all my stickers that I have collected from my trips. I know I was tired and I was a little stressed but it really got to me :(

So, when I got home, I decided to scrub my lovely suitcase and sure enough all the black scuff marks and messy stuff came right off and apart from a few scratches that were hardly visible it was my Lovely Pink Suitcase again :)

And so, for the past 4 years, several times a year, me and my Lovely Pink Suitcase go off to the airport, knowing full well what will happen but also knowing once we are home again she will be looking almost as good as new :) 

I Hope you enjoyed the story of My Lovely Little Pink Suitcase :)

Have a wonderful Day :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

DETROIT!!! ( PT. 2 :)

Hi All :)

I Hope you are having a lovely week :)

So, our life is in a constant state of change right now, people coming and going, graduating college, starting new careers, new jobs to enhance careers and moving to other cities, so I feel as if I have been doing laundry all week (well, actually I have, lol :)

So, as I say "Goodbye" again to one of my Sons I thought it would be a perfect time to share with you Pt.2 of the photos I shot in Detroit. Knowing that change is inevitable, we must embrace it and change with it or we crumble and fall :(

Click on Photo to see larger images :)

These 1st 11 photos are of the magnificent Michigan Central Station, you can read about it HERE

These next photos are of some lovely brick buildings with the late afternoon sun glowing on them, they truly were/are beautiful, still standing against the odds :)

I guess because of growing up in England I have a strong connection to buildings made from bricks and mortar :) 

You can see they have already put in new windows and doors, I think these are going to be condos, this is about a mile from Downtown, so great urban living. We also noticed some blocks of vibrant restaurants on the way to Downtown, so this is a definite sign of optimism and "re - gentrification :) 

Just before we turned back towards Downtown we saw this beautiful Sunset and it really seemed to offer hope, I feel that Detroit will return like a Phoenix from the ashes and I look forward to be able to take photos of that in the future :)

If you get the opportunity to check out DETROPIA it is an amazing film. I watched it on Independent Lens on P.B.S. it is really an eye opening Documentary about what has and is happening in Detroit.

I Hope you enjoyed these photos; seeing the beauty in the decay and the optimism for rebuilding is very exciting to me :)

Have a lovely Tuesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Blogiversary number 4 YAY!!! :)

Hi All :)

Happy Thursday to you all :)

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

Well, today, my little old Blog turns 4, YAY!!! :)

I can't quite believe it. One, that I lasted this long (admittedly there have been a few brief breaks, lol, :) and Two, that the years have gone by so quickly. (If this was a child they would be prepping for their second year in preschool already, lol :) and Three, that I have such wonderful loyal followers who are respectful, caring, encouraging, loving and funny in their comments; it really makes a girl very Happy  :)

So, as with any B.Day celebration there has to be gifts, right!!! :)

So, I am going to have a lovely Giveaway for you all :)

I never like to just give away One gift, if I can give more and that is just what I am going to do :)

The main gift will be a 16 x 20 or 16 x 24 photo (depending on original photo chosen :)  from my Etsy Shop; 

PhotosByChipperfield

Go to my Etsy Shop and see all the wonderful choices you have to decorate your home or give as a gift to a friend :)

Maybe one of these???

Let's not forget those Dads (Father's Day isn't that far away and every Dad should have a Train or a Roller, He! He! :)

and a GIRL always LOVES FLOWERS :)

So, Once you have decided which photo you would like (from my ETSY SHOP ) if you WIN the Giveaway, come back and comment on my blog and let me know which one you would choose :)

(Value on that is $85.00, yep you read that right, lol :)

NOW, 

to the other little Giveaway :)

Here is a cute collection of matching Bags :)

Largest is approx. 7" x 9" and the littlest approx. 3.5" x 5.5"


So, what I would love you to do is share this CELEBRATION AND GIVEAWAYS wherever you can and come back and tell me with another comment and there will be another entry in the GIVEAWAY for you, every time you come back with a shared link it's another entry in the GIVEAWAYS, let's spread the LOVE  :)

These GIVEAWAYS will run until Midnight (PST) Friday May 31st 2013. (So, you have plenty of time to look, share and comment :)
(TWO SEPARATE GIVEAWAYS, TWO SEPARATE WINNERS)

HAVE FUN!!!

So, my Dear Blogger Buddies, thanks so much for 4 awesome years  in Bloggerville :)

Have a lovely Day :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.