Sunshine in my soul today

The weather hasn't changed a bit here today. In fact, we woke up to snow on our cars this morning! (I live in UTAH, not Alaska!) It has been a cold, wet, gray day. But...look what's blooming in my front yard!




The first of my many iris have bloomed. In a week or two, my front yard will be beautiful with all shades of purple, blue, and yellow flowers. Iris make me happy; they remind me of my dad. So no matter what the weather...there is a little sunshine in my soul today!

And I would like to share a little sunshine with YOU! I noticed yesterday that I now have over 300 followers. THANK YOU to all of you who give me support, encouragement, and praise for my little projects. In appreciation, I would like to send one of you a little "You Are My Sunshine" canvas that I finished today.

Do you remember my BIG Sunshine canvas(es)?

(see them here and here)

...well, I'm sorry; you don't get one of those! But I did make an abbreviated version.



You get to make a choice. Both canvases are 11" x 14", and are soft yellow (probably not quite as bright as they look on your screen) with off-white lettering.

Canvas #1 is lightly distressed (color is better in this example)

Canvas #2 is lightly distressed and glazed--that is, it looks a little older.

#1 is on the left; #2 is on the right.

Would you like one? The only "mandatory" entry is to tell me which one you would like, AND I would love it if you would also tell me something that makes sunshine in your soul!

If you would like a second entry, leave a second comment telling me that you are a follower. After all, this giveaway is for YOU!

I will choose a random winner on Sunday, June 5. (Edited to add: this giveaway has ended.)

As a side note, if you like to cut vinyl on your Silhouette or Cricut, I found a less-expensive alternative to transfer tape!

I found this roll of "Clear Cover" at Hobby Lobby a couple of days ago. It's meant to be used for book covers, but it said it was re-positionable and clear, and it was only FOUR DOLLARS for a huge roll! For that price, I decided it was worth trying. Well, I am happy to report it works great! Hope that helps someone else out. :-)

Linking up here!

and

Details of My Garden and Fire Pit Information

When I wrote about building a fire pit, I had no idea I would receive so many wonderful questions and comments about our garden which can be seen in the background of most of the pictures. Thank you!

The sketch above shows the general layout of the raised beds and paths. The garden itself is about 20 feet by 20 feet, with the paths being about 4 feet wide. The 8 foot by 8 foot center square features a large urn surrounded by a formal arrangement of boxwoods, lavender and licorice plants. The four triangular planting beds are where we plant our herbs and vegetables. Our selection is somewhat limited as this space of our yard does not receive as much sunlight as a garden should.

Mr. RDH and I began creating our garden shortly after we moved into our house. After clearing the area of trees and brush, the first step was making a level surface. We built the retaining wall – shown above - and began the fill-in process one load of dirt at a time. Since we do not own a tractor the dirt was taken from other parts of our property the old fashioned way – with a wheel barrow, rake and shovel. Lots and lots of hard work!

Rather than having straight rows of planting beds, we thought it would be much more interesting and fun to have a center square surrounded by triangular beds. To create the beds we used 2” x 10” boards along with 4” x 4” posts and galvanized screws. The bed frames were assembled first and then attached to the posts with the screws. You can see the top of one of the posts in the photo below.

We put down landscaping fabric – to reduce weed growth – underneath the paths and then hammered the posts into the ground to secure the beds. The garden beds were then filled with good quality soil and the garden paths covered in pea gravel.

To make an entrance to we used large rocks we found on our property and an arch which was purchased through Walpole Woodworkers. There is a small space between the outside edges of the planting beds and the caps of the retaining wall because the original plan was to enclose the garden with a white picket fence. I am not sure if the fence will happen or not as we like the ability to walk around all sides of the beds and have not had an abundance of critters eating from the garden.

The space next to the garden where our new fire pit is located was initially planned for a garden shed. Mr. RDH has been drawing plans and I have been saving images for several years now. Overtime somehow our purely utilitarian building has morphed into something completely different and much more involved. We realized it would be years before we tackled this project, thus the fire pit.

The fire pit was purchased from a local landscaping company and included the metal ring as well as the blocks. The name of the manufacturer is Cambridge Paving Stones and I was told it is possible to buy the metal ring separately. As I mentioned before, we have already enjoyed enough s’mores for an entire summer!

I hope I have answered all of your questions. If I missed something please let me know. I realize Blogger has had issues with comments as I have tried and been unsuccessful at leaving comments on many blogs. If you tried to leave a comment or question and it did not work, I would love for you to try again!

The color of butterfly wings

It is a very gray May day here in Utah.

In fact, we haven't had a lot of spring weather here at all so far this year (a few lovely days here and there). I try to make it a point not to complain about rain, or cold, or snow even, because I dislike being HOT most of all! But I will admit that today, at least, I am a little tired of gray.

So I decided to give the antique window in my kitchen a little spring treatment! (You can see what it looked like last here).

Yesterday I bought this amazing pad of double-sided paper at Hobby Lobby. I used my 40%-off coupon, so it only cost $6...and I used less than 3 1/2 sheets for this project.


I used my Silhouette to cut out many different sizes of butterflies. The double-sided paper meant I really had eight different patterns for my butterflies.

Some butterflies are pretty florals, and others look like pages out of an old book.

Some butterflies didn't quite make it to the window yet...

Or maybe are just past...




It's a little breath of spring in my kitchen!

Oh, and the title of this post? It comes from one of my very favorite Primary songs:

My Heavenly Father Loves Me
Clara W. McMaster

Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by;
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by a lilac tree
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:
I think him rev'rently
For all his creations of which I'm a part
Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I hope there is spring in your heart today!