slide show sunday. take 5.

 It was one of those sleepy 'cat nap' kind of weekends around this nest.  Daughter Azriel and I walked to the farmer's market in the morning.. then came home and snoozed.  The cats made sure to pin me down in case I even dreamed of being productive.

 When Ben got off work we grabbed some 'instant human' drinks... and what do you know, I perked right up... positively hyper even.

 Every time we enter my parent's-in-laws home.. I get arch envy... their antique trellis is gorgeous.

 Azriel watches yet another downpour of rain.

 Snapping some 'still life' shots in the afterglow.

 Sweet sleepy Hazel puppy.... my obliging model.

 Hazel and I snuggled up on the porch and surveyed the glowing green... (you can also see the devastated willow branches all over the lawn from this week's tornado in 'training').

 Yep... this is me.  Sometimes we photography-lovers get so busy snapping shots of everyone and everything.. we forget to show we're there too. ;o)

All in all, a sleepy quiet weekend here. I swear my blood is solar-powered... since these overcast days make motivation.productivity.energy... scarce.

Hope your weekend was great! What did you get up to?

Mel :o)

soul.food.sunday.2

Azriel and Ben over a year ago - [10 months old].

 Good morning friends.  Welcome to Azriel's second serving of 'soul food' for all you hungry hearts that have entered our Needle and Nest 'chapel' today.  Today's topic: sand.

Imagine counting every grain of sand in a pudgy hand full.  Try a bucket.  Now a beach.  Ok, now count every grain in the world!  God's thoughts toward us still outnumber that.  Wow.  This baffles my tiny mind... especially since we are each a grain of sand compared to the universe.

"To see a world in a grain of sand,

and a heaven in a wild flower,

hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour"

-William Blake- 

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you. 

Psalm 139:13-18

Next time you play in the sand, try counting those grains ... and be amazed at the great God who holds them - and us - in the palm of His hand.

Have a wonder-full day friends!

Mel :o)

confessions [of a Mel] part.3.

 

There he is again... that crazy.wonderful guy I get to call my husband.  You may remember my recent post saying how I wanted to show he 'exists' on this blog a bit more than the constant limelight on our daughter.  

In case you hadn't already guessed... we are different in a lot of ways.  What is that great force that draws people together from such different spheres?  Needless to say, it makes for some fun and frustrating banter around this nest.  Sometimes I think our lives could be a sit-com for all the hilarious foibles that frequent our relationship.  Ben's a great coach in not 'taking yourself too seriously'... and if you want a laugh.out.loud round of giggles (at my expense) you should jump over to his blog post... about his wife... yep, me.  I still crack up every time I read it.  Though I would like to qualify... I never put 'sequins on a throw pillow that lacerated his face'! 

If I was half the writer Ben is.. I'd be tempted to write a rebuttal about all his quirks... maybe someday I'll work up the gusto.

Yah.  I wouldn't have any other guy.  

We go together like a peanut butter and bacon sandwhich.  Sure it's kind of weird.  Kind of nuts. Kind of hammy.  But it sticks together so good in the end.

What about you?  Is there someone in your life you can't live without despite how crazy it can all be sometimes?  If not, don't worry... I'm sure they're out there... flossing their teeth even now, and shining their shoes to bump into you.

Mel :o)

D.I.Y upcycle your pillow case into a toddler dress.

Azriel is wearing: an upcycled pillowcase.

That is all. (Well, a diaper too of course).

Good morning friends.  Time to rub the sleep out of your eyes.. grab your pillowcases and sew some sweet dresses out of them!  This is one of the simplest sewing projects out there (which is right up my alley as you may know by now). 

 For extra detailing, I cut a corner off the pillowcase and made a pocket, lace trim.

I also used olive coloured bias tape to make the ribbon that gathers the neckline.

I like how the pillowcase hem makes for the bottom edge.. nice legs baby!

Here's Azi's response to "dance".. she busts a sweet groove.

Anywho, considering how easy this project is.. I opted not to show you a whole tutorial... but if you want to find some instructions, and inspirations, you can go to this blog.

Once again, we're linking up with the sweet mama over at Mama Loves Papa.

Have a fantastic day,

Mel :o)

tour our nest. [hallway edition].

 Here it is folks... the before and after of our hallway.  Before - *yawn*.. after - 'yesss!'.  If you read today's earlier post, you'd know how I got these frames ready.  It was a lot of fun picking meaningful prints, photos and objects to nestle into the frames.

 Seen here: (left) 1. a signed bird mask from my tour of Venice. 2. a wee feather on pretty paper.

3. damask square from one of our wedding cupcake tiers. 4. 'gag shot' from engagement pictures. 5. our daughter's torso shot with antique silver spoons from 'Granny'. 6. one of my favourite profiles from our chubber's early days... (think - Hitchcock meets Churchill).

 Detail shot of the silver spoons on a velvet board.  Little brown bulldog perched here too (my dream dog!).

 Okay, so I really thought myself crafty ingenious for this idea.. maybe it will inspire you too. I wanted to display this sweet old book of Romantic poems with Turner's illustrations .. without gluing or wrecking the book.  So, I stapled some thick lace ribbon to hold it against the backing.  Now you can remove.read.return it to the frame... fun, right?

 Come on up the stairs, Azriel will race you.  You can see a few more frames from here too.. like an old pipe of Ben's that I glued to a board.  And that flower wreath I made years ago with the flowers from my parent's wedding.

One of our cats, Mewsli, is here to guide you now.  She's just coming from the bathroom.. which you saw in the previous tour.  On the top floor of our hallway I painted a turquoise tree.  The wall colour is Benjamin Moore CC-260 (Butter Cream)... a golden tan colour.  I still need to actually buck up and paint the trim in Cloud White... some day.

Lastly, if you look waaaay up.  This sweet retro light fixture was here when we moved in.  What a treat... I wouldn't dream of taking it down.

So now you have toured our Master Bedroom.Studio... squeezed into our wee Bathroom... and strolled through some memories, and our hallway today.  More tours to come friends.  I believe Azriels room is next on the list. 

Tomorrow is Small Style thursday... stay tuned and see what we upcycled for Azi this time.

Toodles!

Mel :o)

D.I.Y upcycle old picture frames - you can do it.

 Hello friends, it's that time of week again.  Time to get your hands dirty and do some good ol' do it yerself projects... you know you can do it - since I did it right?!  So here's my latest project.  

1. Grab your old random assortment of wooden frames lying around the garage (or at thrift stores).

2. Paint frames all in a matching creamy white (CC- 40 Cloud White used here) to unify them.

3. Scuff those frames up the side of the head.  Sanding gives them that beauty antique distressed look that we're all suckers for.

Voila!  You can arrange them on your floor to come up with a groovy grouping for your walls.  Want to see how mine turned out?  I'm super excited about it.. and will be posting next about how these made our stairway more than just climb from point.a. to point.b.  

Stay cool out there... it's flippin' hot!  

Mel :o)

cuteness and cheerios.

 Pig-tails and polka-dots... oh my.  This is my swoon picture.  Just had to share it.

 Cheerios, craisins and hot pink socks.  The makings of a good day.

Leaving a trail behind her... in case I lose track of her.

Buh-bye!!

Have yourselves a beautiful day friends, we're getting a wee family 'stay.cation' ready to roll here.  We're going off radar for a bit.  See y'all later tomorrow.

muah!

Mel :o)