Quotography - Orange

While I still stand by PINK as my favorite color,
 I will admit that these orange flowers do make me feel happy!

I would however be a bit happier if the flag on the beach were green instead
of rip tide red!

Hope the rest of your Monday is a happy one!

Love Kim,

XO

 



Choose it . . .

Today in my Beyond Layers class, Kim asks, "Where do you find peace?"

Oh, a question that I don't have to hesitate on, or do I?

My immediate response is, of course . . . at the beach!

  I could live there, on the beach falling asleep to the crashing waves and the sea breeze.

It's a place where I feel quiet, and still, and thoughtful.

And it's a place where my worries seem to melt away.

But what makes the beach, and the experience of the ocean so different.

Is is really where I find peace, or is it just simply where I allow myself to feel peaceful.

And is peace something you can even find?

Because if it is something you can find then it should also be something you can seek.

Which brings me to the thought that peace is a choice we make, and why sometimes we are at war

with each other and ourselves.

{ my view along the path to the beach }

[ Kim Klassen's texture "warm sun" ]

"If you go, go in Peace it makes the flowers sweeter along the path."

-  Mike Dolan

** Almost forgot . . . I was invited to guest post over at Focusing On Life today where I am **

sharing some thoughts on "What is Beauty" and would love for you to click here to check it out!!

Love, Kim

XO

 

Flower . . . Power

Did you ever notice how strong flowers are?

Able to withstand the sun without getting burned,

the whipping winds without blowing away, and torrential rains without drowning.

And no matter what is going on in the world,

they always find a way to look on the bright side of things.

And . . .

they are so strong that they can lift my spirits when they've fallen,

and they can take my frown and turn it upside down.

Yep, flowers just have a way of speaking without words, and touching my heart.

And have you noticed how impossible it is to NOT be happy around them?

Hope your Monday, your week, is filled with them!!

Love, Kim

XO

**Oh and P.S..... I'm so excited, I submitted one of my flower photos from last week to a contest

over at Love That Shot and they chose it for the cover of their on-line magazine - check it out here! : ) **



    

Quotography - Hobbies . . . art

Today's theme . . . hobbies.

I have many hobbies, gardening, photography, jewelry . . .

So I went with something that includes them all.

A piece of jewelry, with flowers, that was photographed

I attend a metals class twice a week at a community college just for fun.

There are credited students and those just like me, the 29 and counting somethings

that go for enrichment and to spice up life a bit with a saw and a torch! ; )

I cut out each heart from copper with a jewelers saw and sanded them smooth.

In order to manipulate the metal, or bend it, I had to (anneal) or heat it with a torch.

Once I achieved that I cleaned the metal in a pickle solution and then using powdered glass (enamels)

I applied it to the metal with a screening tool and fired it with a torch to melt the glass onto the metal.

It took multiple firings until I reached the design I was happy with.

Since taking these photos I've added some seed pearl dangles on the chain and made

an enameled heart clasp with a key dangle off the back.

Nature holds the key to my he[Art]. . .

Every Spring we have a student art show, with food, where the jewelry, sculpture

and art classes showcase their work. It's always so much fun to see what others are

creating. There is so much talent out there....so much creativity.

I thought I would share a little of what caught my eye at the show:

Incredible pieces from fellow jewelry students...

And oh my this piece. . . do you see the bird, the feathers made from polymer clay!

She hinged it on the left, it's a neck piece and formed from copper and

silver plated. It is simply incredible!!

The piece next to mine is also an enameled piece and gorgeous, but it was hard to get closeups with the glare.

Ceramic sculptures, some that just blew me away . . .

"A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine

and renews his life through reading, new books, traveling to new places,

making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints."

-Wilfred Peterson

Some were whimsical, and some made you think - art interpreted from life.

"Today is life - the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today.

Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake.

Develop a hobby. Let the wilds of enthusiasm sweep through you.

Live today with gusto."

- Dale Carnegie

You don't have to be an artist to make art. But, when you create something

from your experiences in life, it becomes art and you are therefore, I believe, an artist.

There is an artist in all of us, waiting to get out. Will you help it escape?

Have an art[full] Monday!

Love, Kim

XO



  

What do you choose?

It eludes us

because we think it's something we can seek.

That if we look behind the right door it will be there waiting.

I can tell you from experience, it's not true.

I think happiness is very connected to acceptance.

The acceptance of right now, this moment.

Not what we had, or what we think we will get.

But simple moments, the ones we look back on as the big moments.

The ones that really count.

And so many things contribute to our happiness,

but they are also the things we take for granted, everyday.

I want to make sure I appreciate them while I still have them,

and not after they have been lost.

I don't believe happiness includes the words, if, only or when.

I do believe this;

I believe that in the morning, before I put my feet on the ground,

although I don't always choose well,

I can simply choose happiness.

  

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, won or consumed.

Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute

with love, grace, and gratitude."

- Denis Waitley

I chose this photo because one morning I had gone on my front porch in search of

spider webs and although I didn't find any, I did spy this . . . I think it's a bull thistle seed,

and it had landed on the bush and had collected the most beautiful dew drops,

and when I looked through my lens it just made me happy! I didn't even have to use my spray
bottle for this one, but I did have to move it though in order to get close enough for a photo, which reminds
me I need to add a pair of long tweezers to my bag of arsenal. It was a bit tricky to pick this up
without disrupting the drops.

Aren't you glad I didn't share the lizard that fought, and caught a spider?
Ooooh wait, I am, I will . . . you're not off the hook, and I have some other
really interesting nature things I found and witnessed that I can't wait to share! 

Wishing you all a very happy start to the week.

Mine started with Texas Pecan coffee and french vanilla creamer . . . sigh!

Love, Kim

XO

 



 

Quotography and more tulips.....

"Life isn't a tiptoe through tulips"

- Shannon Hoon

But at least they make life more beautiful!!

Nicolasa over at My Perspective is back hosting her Quotography every Monday,

and I'm hopping back in, we have missed you!

Today's theme - favorite photo of March...ummm, impossible to choose.

So I'm sharing more tulips that I never got around to sharing. . .

No, life may not be a tiptoe through tulips, but it's certainly more fun

when we can photograph some!

Happy Monday!

Love, Kim

XO

Sharing with ... Blueberry craft and Hobby time - Favourite Photo Monday

And

  

Quotography - Giving Thanks

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.

~Terri Guillemets

Just waking up every morning is reason enough to give thanks,

to rejoice for another day spent with family and friends and for the splendor of this world.

And I am grateful to live in a place where I can witness the glory of the rising sun!

Happy Monday everyone!

Love, Kim

XO

 

Quotography - Your favorite photo of the month

One favorite photo? Only one?

Who am I kidding, there is no way to pick one favorite out of the merely hundreds
and hundreds of photos I take on a monthly basis.

But I'll try . . . okay that was too hard so I decided you use a random number
generator. Yes, I'm kidding!! ; )

I chose this one because it was one that I thought of almost immediately, and because
it's full of emotion and just makes me feel good. If you missed the post my daughter
and I did on her high school football team you can go here if you would like to read it.

This is one of the photos from that post. These players chose to wear pink in honor of
breast cancer awareness and are kneeling in the end zone as they do before the start
of every game.

This is the image I see before the start of every game and every time it tugs at my heart.

Just in case you passed on the link above, at the start of our pre-district season these
boys were knocked to their knees not once, not twice, but three times! Every time
they came back and they finished the rest of the season with seven straight wins to become
District Champions.

"The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back.
That's the real glory. That's the essence of it."  - Vince Lombardi

(Camera: Nikon D7000, 1/400s, f4.5, ISO 3200)

This just happens to be a football picture with a quote from a football coach,
but it's really about life.

Wish us luck as they go into their first playoff game this weekend!!

Love Kim,
XO

Also linked with The Creative Exchange

Quotography - Time

Time,

its something that often eludes us,

and what we always want more of.

We must take care not to spend it on the past,

or worry about the future.

But breath in moment by moment the gift of the present

as no one regardless of age is promised tomorrow.

We simply cannot afford to wish it away by saying until then,

or if only, or when . . . .

because there is no other perfect time then right now.

 

Quotography - Dreaming

Although yesterday marked the first day of school,
and the first day of football practice,
it's really a continuing journey of building
strength, endurance and discipline
that was started this summer during training.
It's the building of a dream.

Run like the wind bullseye . . . .

                                

This photo was a top three inspirational quotography here. 

 



Quotography - Colorful

The whole world, as we experience it visually,

comes to us through the mystic realm of color.

- Leonardo da Vinci

I could have interpreted this in so many ways, but when I saw what the theme was

I was immediately reminded of this photo and quote.

I admit, I'm a color junkie, - just makes me happy!

 I hope you have a colorful Monday!!



Quotography - Anything

Anything . . .

this was a hard one to choose.

I decided to go to my quote document,

all 100 pages (gasp) and first

pick a quote.

As soon as I read this quote I immediately

was reminded of this picture.

It was the day of our anniversary

and we had gotten up to watch the sunrise.

It wasn't what I had in mind,

but it was beautiful.

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe

and enough shadows to blind those who don't.  - Blaise Pascal

(This photo won Top 3 Quotography!)



Quotography - Families

One of my very favorite places to be, where no words are necessary!

Have a great Monday . . .

Love, Kim

XO

Quotography - Summer

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass

on a summer day listening to the murmur of the water,

or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.

- John Lubbock

(Go here to Quotography for more inspiring quotes)
 

Have a great day everyone! Kim