Happy Holidays!

flickr favorites: holidays are here

Happy Holidays. I hope you are staying warm! Here are a few beautiful photographs to bring you holiday cheer. They are all works by either my contacts or Female Photographers of Etsy members on Flickr. To view them larger, click here.

I love friends. I love good thoughts.

My most favorite friend in the whole wide world, Katie, sent me the most thoughtful and beautiful message the other day. I just had to share it with you because I think she has incredible vision. Here's what katie said:

"Today, I suddenly became aware of the following, which no doubt will resonate deeply with you: EVERYONE in the U.S. today is feeling an emptiness. We see our parents working away their entire lives only to be allowed to come back to life once they retire. Then we're taught to get good grades, go to college, and get a job so we can do the same. Our parents don't like it; we don't like it; nobody likes it! A life like that is no life at all, and deep down, everyone senses that. But people are scared because "that's just how life is." How can it possibly change?

Well there was a time when "that's just how life is" meant that blacks and whites were segregated in every way imaginable. How could something rooted in HUNDREDS of years of history possibly change? And yet Martin Luther King Jr. dared to dream. Moreover, he dared to dream publically and peacefully. He brought to light what sat hidden behind fear in millions of hearts. He couldn't accept a future that reflected the world in front of him, and I believe that you and I (and no doubt countless others) are the same way. We can accept the quality of life as it exists in this moment, but we cannot accept it as our future.

Therefore, I have a dream that love and joy take precedence over work and money. People no longer seek salvation in things but recognize that their true worth lies in who they are. There is no such thing as rush hour or a nine-hour work day. Companies no longer feel the need to compete for power and dominance; they recognize that their livelihood does not depend on it. There is no longer an onslaught of advertisements. People take pride in sharing what they have and enjoying each other. Material expansion is exchanged for beauty and a slower, simpler, more earth-friendly way of life. Food, homes, and health care are readily available to all because people are happy to share and help. People recognize that it's truly the little things in life that matter. School, education, and information take a backseat to compassion, peace, and humanity. Children are encouraged to pursue only what resonates with them. People’s “physical attractiveness” as we know it is completely irrelevant. Money is plentiful in the absence of greed, vanity, workforce servitude, and mindless extravagance masquerading as “technology” and “convenience.” Retiring existing thought patterns opens the gates for joy and abundance to flow to all.

It starts with the little things, since all life really is is little things: taking our time and choosing peace and kindness over fear.

This is the only future I can stand to look at. Do you feel the same way?"

...and winter begins

I snagged a treasury in honor of winter. It's a bit blustery here today, for Tucson weather anyway. Well, I'm dreaming of white snow and the scent of pine. Hope you'll visit and click.

Thank you

Photograph by TraciM

So, the holiday season is upon us again. For me the holidays are about family and friends, warm comforting food, cuddling inside, and remembering to be thankful for everything I have in my life. Being thankful is something I try to remember year-round, but there's something about this time of year that brings it all into light. So without further ado, I'd like to share a few things that I am grateful for each and everyday, be it cliché or not:

* A loving and supportive family.
* Kind and caring friends.
* A roof over my head and food to eat.
* Some of the daily comforts I may take for granted like clean running water, electricity, and heat.
* The gift of and desire for creativity.
* Some of the luxuries of living in this day and age like the internet, a powerful computer, a car that gets me places, air travel to visit my family, and a digital camera to capture the world around me.
* All of you out there who inspire me with your work, leave me comments and encouragement, and spread the love.


















Photograph by me

Also, I'm having a sale in my photography shop from Black Friday (11/27) to Cyber Monday (11/30). Free Shipping on any 8x10 or smaller print! See my shop announcement for details.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

A great day!

Lots of great happenings today!

First off, I'm so excited to be the featured shop on Papernstitch today. Brittni is a fabulous curator and her site has a hefty readership. I'm completely flattered to have my work on her site. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd love for you to pop over to Papernstitch to check it out.
















Secondly, I made my second sale! And it was from someone who saw me on Papernstitch.

And last but not least, I've been featured in this gorgeous treasury by unflappableproducts over at Etsy.

Blissful Monday - A Day Late

It's amazing how time flies. I missed Blissful Monday last week and yesterday. Yesterday was the first day at my new job as a highway engineer (the last thing I though I would be doing right now)...wish me luck! So here's my belated bliss list:

*Cuddling up with someone I love

*Chocolate Peanut Butter Haagen Dazs Ice Cream

*Fall hikes in the desert

*A part-time job to bring in a little bit of money

*Finding goodies at garage sales

What's on your bliss list??

"The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. I have no wealth to bestow on him. If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward. Is not friendship divine in this?" - Henry David Thoreau

Blissful Monday

Last week Jess Gonacha Swift started a Blissful Mondays series at her blog, Treasuring, and I decided to play along. I love the idea of starting out each week with a list of things I'm thankful for. Here's my Bliss List for this week:

* Home-made soup with lentils and green peppers.

* Sleeping in late on a Monday.

* 80 degree weather in October.

* Winning these beautiful earrings in Ting Low's giveaway. Her jewelry is so beautiful and feminine. Here is some more of her work.






















Check out her shop: Ting Low on Etsy
And her blog: Stellar Features

Papernstitch

Good morning friends. I'm so excited because today is the first day of the papernstitch Exhibition that my photography shop, Create, Love, Laugh is in! It's the first time I've done anything like this and I'm hoping it gets my work more visibility. There are some really amazing shops over there, so I hope you'll go check it out. Brittni curates around 60 shops for each exhibit, from art and photography to clothing to home goods to supplies. It's a great place to do some Christmas shopping! The papernstitch blog is also great, so check it out. And, there are some really awesome give-aways going on there!

Hooray for Blissful Monday

Jess Gonacha Swift started this wonderful project at her Treasuring blog called Blissful Monday. I thought it would be a great opportunity to try to do a regular post here and to remind myself of all the wonderful, simple things I am thankful for.









In her words:

"Blissful Monday is a place for us to make our own rules. It's a place to talk about what makes us really truly happy. To ruminate on what we want our bliss-filled lives to look like, in all its dreaminess. To reflect on the past week and what we've loved. Memories. Aha moments. Insights. Touching compliments. A gorgeous breakfast. A smile. Gratitude."

What a great way to start the week, huh? If you want to join in, pop on over to her log and leave a comment.

So here's my BLISS LIST:

* Spending this Saturday with my friend's kids and we played in the park. We were running around doing cartwheels in the grass, playing with a hacky-sac, and goofing off. The sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and I felt like I was 8 all over again.

* Making my first sale in my Apples and Aardvark shop.

* Baking chocolate chip cookies from scratch and sharing them with friends.

* Hiking in the desert and feeling the cool October breeze.

* Singing out of tune with one of my closest friends and crying when the music becomes so moving and reminds you what life is about.

* Beat-boxing terribly and finding it incredibly hilarious.

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend. It's been relaxing for me. I went on a much needed hike in the Tucson mountains yesterday...it's so renewing to get outside. Then I played at the park with my friend's kids...sometimes I just pretend that I am a kid too and forget about all of the grown-up stuff going on in my head and life. Do you ever do that? It's nice to escape adulthood every now and then :)

So here's a new one for my shop this morning. A little brightness to add to your Sunday.

And I'll leave you with this thought:

"In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet." ~Albert Schweitzer

Stressful thoughts be gone!

stressful thoughts
Created by Jess at pecannoot
Thanks for the awesome inspiration!

Front Page!

One of the items from my Apples and the Aardvark shop made it to the front page today thanks to Sumicoshop! Yipee! And to top it off I got my first sale. It's time for a tiny little celebration :)

Patience is beautiful.

I loved this story found via http://shareworldlove.blogspot.com/
Have a wonderful Saturday!

Print from home fun!

I've been working on my new shop, Apples and the Aardvark, for a long time now and it's finally up an running. This means I now have three shops on Etsy, whew!

Apples and the Aardvark features stationary sets that are designed to print from home. These whimsical and fun designs are inexpensive, convenient, and can be reused time and again. If you are in a time crunch or need an inexpensive gift, these PDF templates are perfect.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for designs you would like to see, I'd love to hear your comments!

“There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.”
-James Thurber

Reminiscing

Today I'm thinking about summers in Northern Michigan, the beautiful countryside,
old barns, soft sunlight. Sigh...
Prints are available in my shop .

Summer mornings

Ahhh, summer. Isn't it the best feeling waking up on a late summer morning with a cool breeze and soft light coming through the window? I love it.

Well, holy cow, it's been a long time.

But I wanted to say hi again.

Hope you are having a great summer!

Ah, summer.

Feature at Pecannoot

Oh, boy...I'm having such a hard time getting things done lately. I meant to post this last night...I started writing it, my internet stopped working and then I fell asleep. And wouldn't you know today it completely slipped my mind until right now. In the back of my mind I thought I had finished it, but that was not the case. Does anyone ever have this problem?

Well, here's what I wanted to tell you. Pecannoot, a wonderful blog I have mentioned on here at least once before, featured my art yesterday. Lucky me! It's always a good day when you are given a chance like that. Thanks Jess! It is such an inspiring blog to visit, so I hope you have been by and are maybe even a regular follower by now. If you haven't had the joy of visiting yet, you must...you can thank me later ;)


Hope you are all having a wonderful and restful night out there. Sweet dreams.

Cornflower Blue Studio: Felicity Shop

Hi all. I'm back from a long and much needed vacation. Thank you for being patient with me :) Today I'm so excited to share with you the work of Rachel Hunnicutt of Cornflower Blue Studio. Before I saw her work, I never knew that embroidering, knitting, and crocheting could be so expressive and fun. I was lucky enough to see some of her work in person at an art show in Tucson, and since then I have been hooked. Take a look:

If you'd like to be a proud owner of her art, you can find these three pieces and more in her Felicity Shop on Etsy.

Front Portch Living

Hello from California! I took this shot in Santa Cruz the other day. There were two rabbits just hanging out on the front porch of this home...along with a bathtub full of flowers. I decided it was my kind of place.

Spread Love

Photo by Rakeem Cunningham

Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.
~Bhuddha

Gentle Light

The Plumbago in my yard is blooming and I just love the periwinkle color.

CitrusHearts

I stumbled across CitrusHearts work on Flickr and immediately fell in love with her work. I think you will too. And don't forget to take a look at her wonderful blog too.

Have you got your abundance today?

Looking for a dose of abundance or maybe you have some you want to share? Stop on by and visit Jess Gonacha's Pecannoot blog for a good dose of daily inspiration. And if you are the creative type, Jess is looking for art that radiates abundance to post on her blog. So send her something that represents abundance for you and share it with the world.

Deceptive

Old Timer

I am having way too much fun with my new camera! Prints of this one are now for sale at http://kimmus122.imagekind.com. Or, you can click on the picture to go to my flickr account.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

~Frank Lloyd Wright

Sweet Spring Blossoms

by D Sharon Pruitt, Pink Sherbert Photography
She offers a beautiful array of vibrant and colorful photography, many with a creative commons license.

Sun catchers

Happy Mother's Day

Drawing for a cure

Nancy, from Pretty Little Thieves, is DRAWING FOR A CURE to help raise money to benefit the memory of her friend’s father, lost to Acute Moncytic Leukemia. I've been admiring Nancy's work for some time now, so I'm happy to be able to share this with you. Isn't her work just wonderful? If you'd like to support this cause, you can go to her shop to buy an original drawing. And at $15, they are very affordable too.

Don't you wish you could...

...fly through the air with a bunch of balloons?I've added a print of this to my shop.

Asleep in the Poppies

Oil on Canvas
24" by 36"
Created in 2006
Prints are available at http://kimmus122.imagekind.com

Hope {springs eternal}

My current treasury on Etsy.

love of nature

by glisglis

spring is here

1. Pink Dress series, 2. flowers....., 3. Translucide, 4. Drop on Peony, 5. After the guests leave, 6. ureka! : gratitude 107.365, 7. little helper: gratitude 106.365, 8. Pretty Pink Spring! , 9. Tatum1