It's as easy as a Picnik!!!

I have an obsession photographing things!  Birds and flowers mainly (with the exception of the bazillion photos of my littles!!)  So my 14 year old had been using this editing program to make rather interesting pictures out of generally ordinary pictures of her friends.  I tried it out for a while (it's Free, Free, FREE!!!)- and decided that it was something that we would use alot - so I paid for the upgrade.  Did I say it was FREE???  There are a lot of super great options available in the free categories - and way more available with the paid upgrade!

If you haven't heard of Picnik - go check it out!  It is so much fun!
http://www.picnik.com/  



You can make cards, scrapbook pages, collages, or fun edits to your regular photos!  I was playing with some of my flower pictures this weekend and discovered the 1960's button!  It puts a little antiqued look to the photo and rounds the edges!  It is my new fave!!!

I will leave you with a few that I absolutely loved!

Snowball bush

tulip after a rain

I have 4 peony bushes - they bloomed beautifully this year!





double rainbow over an old farm!

BLESSED

It's the simple things in life that give me peace.

Spending time looking at my flowers.



The quiet things that relax me.

Feeding my birds!  I love it when my littles yell to me from the other room - "red bird is back!"

The little things that bring me back to my childhood.

These were my granma's favorite!  She had them planted around the big pine tree on the hill that the glider swing was on.  These are on the West corner of our house, the smell brings me back to my granma's!

The littlest miracles that make all your worries disappear.

These little babies need to have prayers sent their way.  We have had terrible wind the past couple of days.  I was out in the yard with my boys tonight and saw this clump and flipped it over to find it a nest.  Lying close were these 3 robin eggs!  We gently placed them back in the nest and put the nest high in the tree.  We have been watching out the window to see if we can notice a mama coming for them.  I hope she comes back.!



God Grant Me The Serenity,
To Except The Things I Cannot Change
The Courage To Change The Things I Can
And The Wisdom To Know The Differance.

COLORS!!

sorry for the poor quality in the photo - I had the digital zoom on!

I haven't had this much color at one time in our yard EVER!  I find it so calming to sit and watch out the window some of God's tiniest creatures.  Here are a few pictures of the lovely colorful birds that I have had the pleasure to watch between yesterday and today!




I actually had 3 indigo blue buntings but one flew as I snapped the picture!




this one was taken through a cloudy window - every time i had the window open he would fly away too soon!



we have the mama cardinal as well - but she must have been hiding!



We also have a handful of gold finches but they weren't anywhere to be found when I had the camera out!

This is also the first year in many that I have had any luck with my tulips growing!  Usually I am lucky if I get 4 of them to grow!  This year I have 15!!!!!!!!!!  Here are a few shots of those beautys as well!!! 

Blue sky, my white rocking chair on the porch, birds and flowers......I am at peace!

*EGG*cellent Easter swag!!

We raise chickens so that we (and when I say *we* I mean my husband!!  I stear clear of the barn!) can have a fridge full of farm fresh eggs!  We have over 20 hens that produce anywhere between 9-16 eggs a day! We have one big, no, HUGE rooster! (he's the reason I stay clear of the barn!  I don't like the way he looks at me!) 

isn't he cute?  to bad he turns into this.......

YUP......told ya he's huge!!

So I had been thinking about what I could make using some of the eggs.  We use these eggs when it comes time to coloring them for Easter!  The brown ones turn out so much richer and country looking!  The yellow is more like a gold and the blue turns out a deep teal!  So here is one project that I came up with.....

AN *EGG*CELLENT Easter Swag!!!

The supplies you need to start out with are... A big bowl of beautifully colored eggs!



remember - brown eggs give a deeper, richer color!  Some of my eggs are white and some are brown!



Start out by blowing your eggs empty.  If you haven't done this before it is a very delicate process.  Use a large eyed needle and gently poke a generous hole in each end of the egg.  The flowers and beads will cover the holes.  Over a bowl blow the insides of the egg out until empty.  Then wash very well before coloring.  I used an egg coloring kit from the store the first time and they turned out gritty and my finger prints showed up on them.  So the next set I colored I used the good old fashioned  boiling water, vinegar, and food coloring (I used the paste coloring and stirred it well.)  Dunk your eggs completely so they fill up with water and sink!  This way they get full coverage at the same time!  Using the wire egg scoop remove the egg from the dye and rinse in cold water and drain any water from the inside.  Let dry on cooling rack.  Make sure they are completely dry inside and out before you mix them together -otherwise your colors will drip onto other eggs and make yucky colors!

Next you will need.....a strip of fabric, a pile of disassembled, brightly colored, silk flowers, a large eye needle, ribbon, pony beads.



I went to the dollar store to get my flowers!!  They pulled apart very easily!

First start out with a strip of fabric the length you want your swag plus about 10" - 5" for the loops on each end.  My strip was about 1" wide and I used the pinking shears so there was less fraying.

You will need a good pile of disassembled silk flowers.  Make them bright and springy!

I chose a bag of pearl pastel pony beads to separate the flowers.  You could use many things here I suppose. Maybe buttons - if you can find some that the fabrice will fit through!

Then 3 strips of pastel colored ribbon to tie the bows on each end and to tie the single hanging egg in the center.

Next tie a loop on one end of the strip and thread your needle with the other end.

I chose plane white fabric because the loops are the only thing that shows!

Now comes the fun part!  Start with a few flowers then a couple of the beads, gently pushing them to the knotted loop.  Next choose your egg and gently pull the needle through the 2 holes on each end - slide down to flowers.  REPEAT this step until you have reached your desired lenght!

After you have reached the desired length, knot the loop on that end as well.  Then tie a pretty bow on each end between the knot and flowers.





Finally cut a length of matching or coordinating ribbon and loop it over the middle egg.  Then thread BOTH ends of the ribbon through your needle.  Thread various flowers and beads then choose your very best egg and thread that on.  Finish with more flowers and a bead at the bottom.  Knot the ribbon, cut the ends and

VIOLA!!!



You might want to add a dab of glue to keep your ribbon from slipping!



You have yourself a bright, colorful, Easter/spring swag to proudly hang!  You could alter this and make it just hang straight, but then you probable wouldn't have a single egg dangling!

Well I hope that you enjoyed  my very first blog!  As well as enjoyed my Easter swag!  My next project is going to be with my day care *littles*.  We will be making EGG heads!!  Watch for that post coming soon!

Happy Crafting!

Steph