Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Summers Flowers

I was playing around in PhotoShop this evening, learning to make a collage or mosaic....I took some of my pictures of this years flowers and thought it turned out not too badly...so I decided to post it....I am learning the control of the corners to make it the size I want and learning the layers to put it above or below a picture. It is great fun....

I do love playing around with the computer and different programs....I got myself into a little trouble yesterday trying to make something happen with my website and made it such a mess my designer had to work on it for FOUR HOURS. I am lucky she is such a sweetheart, for she is extremely busy and she stopped what she was doing to straighten out my mess... God Love Her!!

Off for a bubble bath...the weatherman promised rain and thunderstorms tonight..I hope he delivers as our grass is absolutely parched....with a hot West wind the flowers can not stay hydrated and so they look tired and droopy......the way I felt after a day of grocery and other necessary shopping, today!

Wishing You Sweet Dreams!
Jil

Friday, August 27, 2010

A Day For Miracles


Hello and Welcome Bloggerettes to a very special event! This weekend, there are two blog parties going on that are all about a Miracle Makeover for someone very deserving and very special!

Our dear to our hearts Pink Saturday hostess Beverly and Sherry of Wings Of Phoenix along with Spiritual Sundays hostesses Charlotte And Ginger and The Katillac Shack Kelee are co hosting an event to honor Colette, a very special and unique gal. Please go to Kelee's blog to read her very touching story of immense strength in the face of great uncertainy.....

Kelee with her team at Guidepost Magazine tell the story of how they went to Michigan in the dead of winter to reach out and help this desperately ill woman.

It is a story that will bring tears....a story of hope and goodness!

I have had my share of little miracles throughout my life like most of us, but I could not think of anything to really write about. My mind kept going back to my youngest son, from my first marriage, and a scary little episode with a happy ending....an ending that was and will always be a blessing.

When my youngest son was just five months old he became ill with what appeared to be stomach flu and just could not get better....blood tests revealed he had a low white count and he was put into the hospital for IV's and medication. We lived in the small town of Cotulla, TX. The hospital had just opened and our doctor owned it and had his office there. At home were our other three children, all very young. My Mom had just gotten home to La Jolla, Ca. with my Dad after a happy Christmas visit, but came back to help me. I lived pretty much at the hospital. Our little one did not respond to the treatments and he was growing weaker....I stayed around the clock in his room...they brought in a bed for me and taught me to handle his IV's as they were a bit short handed....(of course, a nurse came to supervise.) Many days went by and slowly the baby started responding to the treament and was well enough the doctor told me I should go home and spend the night with the rest of the family. We were only a few blocks from the hospital and they would call me if I was needed.

They did not call and I had a wonderful time with my other three. The next morning, early, I returned to the hospital, remember, no one had called me, to find many nurses around the baby crib and the baby looking grey with his little lips dark in color..He was still...much to still....one nurse saw me and told me to run and get the doctor....I ran through the hospital and his waiting room and insisited he come with me.....after he examined the baby he told me to go and get my husband. I did...... when I got back I learned that after I left, the night before, the baby woke and cried. There was a shift change at that time and the new nurse on duty did not read the chart or she would have seen that the leaving nurse had given him a sedative....the new nurse, a good friend of ours, gave him another. It was too much for his little system and he went into a coma. The reason for the sedative was to keep him quiet for his recovery and because of the tube in his little arm.

I sat by his crib and prayed and cared for him and the happy ending is that in the evening he woke out of the coma with a cry of hunger.....

Prayer is powerful and I have seen miracles, big and small many times in my life....Many that have simply amazed me and reinforced my faith....My faith is strong and personal and within me...I am thankful for the many blessings I have, big and small....from a birds early morning song, to what is left of my family.
Jil

~SOMETHING NEW...COME PEEK~


**CLICK on the pictures to enlarge them to see the details...


This is a bracelet and earring set definitely for kitty lovers....

I am so excited with the arrival of a new jewelry line for The Ruffled Rose ....I have been busy all day with photographing and I am far from finished....

Our designer is a talented little gal from Texas who has studied jewelry design in college and with other artisans....she has a unique style all her own and a wonderful sense of the use of color and texture as well as design....she is a college student with hopes for a career in the medical field....


Yes, she is one of my beloved Granddaughters....and each piece of jewelry she creates is a One Of A Kind Original!





This bracelet is so cute!!!!! It is full of beautiful beads in all the Halloween colors with Swarovski crystal beads and aren't the earrings sweet? You can wear them when Halloween is past.....

The lampwork beads on this bracelet are A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!


As I said, I am just beginning the long process of taking pictures of the large shipment of bracelet and earring sets as well as a few pretty key chains, so I invite to stop by the The Ruffled Rose often to see what is in The Trinket Box...In The Armoire to see this beautiful collection....


Busy As A Bee...
Jil

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

~Pastry Stand With Faux Cake~Fresh Out Of The Oven~

Here is what I have been doing the last few days....I love it as I think of it as "therapy" for getting away from the mundane of everyday....And, you should see the kitchen....it is as messy as if I were really baking!!! lol!




I found some dessert or pastry stands with the cloche lids a while ago and the weather has cooled off so I could finally do some faux baking....If it is hot with the humidity we have here so close to the lake, it takes forever for them to set up, so I wait for the cool days....I don't like to put them in the oven as they just form up nicer if air dried.

I love making the clay roses and I think these turned out pretty....I have been making them in the evening as I find it so relaxing....
This Pastry Stand comes with the piece of cake and can be found on my website.

The piece of cake on the sweet little dessert can also be found on my website..perfect for so many places in the Cottage home and a wonderful little gift for someone special...




Back to baking....
Sugary Hugs,
Jil