Playing with pink..

My creation
Originally uploaded by Tadlafleur

I was playing in Flickr tonight. and with this heat we are having, I was inspired by all the pinks I was seeing. I am wishing there was a cool breeze blowing and I was sitting on a porch listening to the night.

Sunday musings - seven

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

~Hans Christian Anderson



I was looking at Habit tonight and I fell in love with this photo. Between the quote and the photo is the philosophy I want to have for this summer.



I am house sitting again and I can't wait until I get my own place. Dreams abound. A step in the right direction might have been made this past week after a roller coaster of emotions. Keep your fingers, toes and eyes crossed for me.



To see more Sunday Weekly Words to live by go to Notes from a Cottage Industry!

Sunday Musings - six

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sridhar_v234/555492833/

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
Alfred Lord Tennyson

I am still looking for a job after being laid off for the third time in a year at the end of April. Since then I have had my ups and downs. This week was for sure a roller coaster. At the beginning of the week I was so discouraged as the direction of jobs I am applying for wants 2 to 3 years experience. How do you get out of the cycle when you have the knowledge but not the experience, and how to get the the experience when the only jobs out there want the experience?

I then decided to confer with an advisor of a job group I belong to. I was looking for positive encouragement and a point in the right direction. To sum it up the advice and criticisms she gave me was just not what I had approached her for. My advisor was not wrong in what she was saying it just was not the direction i thought i needed and she told me all the things that I was doing wrong. I am sure from her point of view it was how she thought she could help me but I wasn't in the frame of mind to come away with the same thought. I just came home discouraged and put the job search on hold for the rest of the day.

I woke up on Wed with a new attitude and did some of the changes she suggested. I tried a new avenue for jobs. I found one that I would be perfect for and called the recruiter... just not applying online but cold calling, it surprised even me. The call got me into see him. He loved my resume.. We had a good repartee. Even though the job had closed and he does not specifically fill the jobs I am focusing on, he gave me some positive advice and gave me a referral. By Friday he had called me on 3 jobs and I applied for one that is somewhat what I am looking for and could give me experience and I have a two week temp job starting next week that has nothing to do with the direction I want to go in but it's more money then unemployment and I am not locked in for a long time.

One good thing i have learned in the past week, is that there are still a lot of people looking for work but instead of 500 people applying for the job like last summer, it's down to about 100 people. So that job is out there. Just need to keep looking.

So what does my quote have to do with my week? Well after sitting back and taking emotion out of the situation I learned wisdom this week and that wisdom will stay with me as I continue to look for that job.

To see more Sunday Weekly Words to live by go to Notes from a Cottage Industry!

Turn the page Tuesday.

I am a reader and some times I am reading up to 5 books at a time. I stumbled upon the blog Some of a Kind in which Adrienne lists the books she has read in the last month and other people link up via Mr. Linky. I thought for kicks and giggles I would list some of my books I have read recently. Below is the books that are currently in my "library bag" to be returned.
I am on a big Amish kick recently and this past month I read these books.

A Man of His Word and An Honest Love are about the Byler family in Middlefield, Ohio.
In A Man of His Word -Moriah's husband leaves the faith and then dies in a horrible accident. Her husband also has a twin brother that is also in love with Moriah and the story is about the fallout about her husband leaving and the developing relationship between Moriah and her brothers' twin.
In An Honest Love the series moves on to Elizabeth and her working at her brother in laws blacksmith shop and her encounters with Aaron. The book also centers around the girls brother Lucas and his burgeoning relationship with Anna who has recently opened an Amish gift shop.
I enjoyed the series, it's lighthearted and there are a lot of characters that are continuous through out the two books.
Hidden is about a Anna who is an Englisher who leaves her abusive boyfriend and flees to her good friends family's bed and breakfast in Pennsylvania. She is also a quilter. I loved reading this book.. Two of my loves are reading about people who quilt and people who own bed and breakfasts..

In the last year or so I have discovered Maryjane Butter. I now read her magazine which I love both for the visual layout of the magazine but also for the articles and the going back to nature and living the simpler life. Maryjane has also written books and Maryjane's Outpost is the 3rd of these. I love reading about the artists,crafts and ideas that she introduces the reader to. It is filled with good information and her books are laid out visually so that you find information everywhere in the pages. In this book she gives you the inspiration to set up a bathtub in the outdoors to really enjoy the experience. She also talks about camping in Streamline trailers and introduces you to people who write about it and inserts photos from the past. It's made me dream so much about collecting old quilts, blue enamel cookware, some sticks of wood and heading out to camp in a field to enjoy the stars.

When I get in the car I am also listening to the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber. I started with the 16 Lighthouse road and have just recently completed 44 Cranberry Point. I love listening to books on tape. I am always looking for an excuse to drive. lol I am very lucky because my library has purchased the series that has the same reader, reading each edition so it the books just flow together. I am an avid supporter of listening to books being read out loud. They add so much more imagination for anyone who is listening.

That is just a small sample of what I am reading. Happy reading this month.
Dottie

Decorating...

I spend many of my days dreaming about decorating my space. I look through magazines, read blogs and watch HGTV.. In my travels I have changed my decor preferences but I have always been attracted to country. I think I have defined my preference as shabby chic country cottage.. Now if that is not a mix up of many genres.. But i like to be unique.. I like big squishy furniture covered in white slip coverings.. I love big white moulding. I love the look of black furniture too but I also love white. I love quilts, needlepoint, flowers, china, candlesticks. Right now where I am leaving I don't have the ability to decorate like I want using the furniture I am using. I just can't wait until I have my own space.

.

http://www.cottagehomedecorating.com/cottage-decorating.html

Magizines I love to look at are:

http://www.chichomeblog.com/2008/09/19/mantic-country-rachel-ashwell-and-shabby-chic.aspx
I love Country Living

Home Companion which is now out of print but I fell in love with it and have stacked in my room all the editions I have.



http://cozyyourhome.com/2008/10/31/master-bedroom-re-do/
That is a few of what I like. I will post more as time goes on. Have a Happy 5th of July. ( Everyone wishes you a Happy 4th.. i like to throw curve balls. lol )

Cool things...

Sometimes you find the coolest things. I found this from Alica on Posie Gets Cosy.

They are called chef's medallions and she connected to the website How do people find these cute things. I love it.

Trying to design..

http://www.dreamstime.com/purple-isolated-flower-vine-image2049581

Today I was trying my hand at design. It's a struggle. I picked up a set of white pillowcases at Goodwill one day. It's been in the back of my mind ever sense that I wanted to use some type of embroidery on it. I have seen one's designed by Jack Dempsey, Bucillia, and even Mary Englebert but wanted to try my hand at it. I have the idea of using the words 'Sweet Dreams" and then some sort of flowers somewhere. Or even not even using the words but just using flowers. While I was sitting in the car waiting for my niece to get her All Star photos, I started to design.
I had my pencil, the words printed on paper in a cool font I found, graph paper, a couple of flower ideas I found in clip art and other sources, a rough estimate of the size I have to work with and my ideas in my head. I do have a kind of signature flower that I have designed in the past few years, but I wasn't sure if this is what I wanted to use for this project. It is too modern and I want something light and free flowing. I had the idea of using a vine with different flowers and leaves coming off of it and in my search had found a circle vine that is used for quilting applique that I thought I could use for inspiration, so I started. I am not a good drawer I quickly realized but I am trying to improve. I am also struggling to get the ideas from my head to the paper. In some areas of my world I have made great strides but this was the first time I had tried drawing designs.
I first drew the vine and then tried to kind of sketch in some flowers coming off. After drawing and then erasing and trying again, I was finding I was drawing the vine too thick and the flowers just weren't working like I wanted. They didn't have a natural feel. I was struggling. My mom was in the car also, so I asked her for some guidance. She gave some good ideas but it wasn't quite what I was trying to reach. When my niece was done we went out to a pizzeria. She reminded me that she has some drawing abilities so I tried to explain to her what I was trying to accomplish. She was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted because she has never thought about drawing vines or flowers. She is only 12 and I guess I forgot that 12 year old girls are not obsessed with the thoughts like their aunts. lol So we then started brainstorming for other ideas. A picket fence with a simple bird I have designed in the past.? But would that wake you up with it's noise? lol How bout sheep jumping over the fence? With numbers going backwards like 49, 48, 47 or would it go forward? Well then how would you draw sheep that you could embroider? lol.. Some quick sketches were getting some good giggles and laughs between the three of us. Then the pizza came and I put away my graph paper.

Long story short is I don't have a design yet. I will try some more. It will come to fruition.. it's just going to take longer than I thought. But isn't what they say.. you have to wait for the best?
Have a great day.. below is something I found online on how to draw a sheep. Maybe that will help me. lol........