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Project 365 Day 2: A Treasured Keepsake

A Treasure

It’s Day 2 of Project 365 for me. It’s been so much fun thus far. For today’s photograph I took a picture of my most treasured material object (other than my diamond engagement ring).

This beautiful hand-blown glass egg was give to me by my husband nearly two decades ago while I was senior in high school. We were living in different states at the time and the separation was difficult. This object, coupled with phone calls and letters, made the time apart much easier. It has a lot of meaning for me, and is something I will always treasure.

Have anything to say? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Project 365

A Photo A Day

Thanks to a whole lot of inspiration and encouragement from Lynda at Daily Window (her photography blog is awesome – check it out!), I took the plunge and joined Project 365.

I’ve seen many fellow bloggers mention Project 365, but never gave participating in the project much thought. Lately, however, thanks to the recent gifting of a new digital camera from my parents, I’ve begun to take an interest in learning about photography.

I love the idea of chronicling my life and interests for an entire year – whether or not I can stick with it…we’ll have to wait and see. This will be a great opportunity to learn a little something about an art form that has always interested me, a good excuse to get outside and soak up some fresh air, and hopefully at the end of my endeavor I’ll have something to look back on and cherish – God willing I can finish.

Here’s my first photo for the project. It was taken in the parking lot of my local Walmart (I hate shopping at Walmart, but it was a toilet paper emergency…), and since it’s breast cancer awareness month I made it pink.

What about you? Do you have a passion for photography? Are you participating in Project 365 too? Feel free to leave a comment below and let us know.

Did You Know…?

This is a Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop Prompt. This week: About me. Do you have an about me page? Because people want to know. Write a page that describes who you are and what you’re about or spruce up your current about me page!

I am…

A daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother of three.
A lover of life.
A firm believer in GOD.
Always in awe of and inspired by nature, the world, humanity, and the universe.
A believer in peace and social justice for all creatures great and small.
A lover of books and the written word.
A yoga enthusiast.
A fighter.
A free spirit.
A woman.

Want to know more about what makes me tick and what my blog is all about? Then check out my Thirty-One Things About Me page, as well as Green Earth Bazaar’s About section.

Have anything to say? Feel free to leave a comment below. Oh yeah, I love comments too!

How to Use Artweaver, Inkscape and Picnik to Create Your Own Graphics

It’s DIY Friday! once again. This week: How to use Artweaver, Inkscape and Picnik to create your own graphics.

The Evolution of a Peace Sign

On Sunday I told you how you can use Artweaver, Incscape, and Picnik to design your own graphics. Today I’ll show you how I do it.

For this tutorial I’m going to illustrate how I used three free resources to create a peace sign for my blog.

First I created the basis for my graphic using Artweaver.

After deciding the size I wanted my graphic to be, I used the brush tool to swirl the colors of my choosing around on my page. I like to just go for it when it comes to picking colors and the placement of them – I like not knowing exactly how it will turn out.

Once coverage of the area was complete, I saved my work as a portable network graphic (.PNG).

Next I uploaded my design to Picnik where I could change the look of it with some filters, and add some other small images to it.

Once the design was loaded I then proceeded to change the look of it with some filtering effects.

Next I added my peace sign. Using some more filtering, I overlaid the peace sign on top of my design.

After adding my peace sign, I wanted to add some flowers and a butterfly to my design. (Don’t I just scream hippie?) Aren’t those cute?

Now we’re nearing the finish line!

After adding those cute yellow flowers and that lovely little butterfly, it’s time to use Inkscape for the finishing touches.

Using a couple of Inkscape’s really cool filters, my peace sign graphic was complete. For the text I used the Bevels/Buttons filter, and for the design itself I used Textures/Crackled Glass filter.

Now that my design was complete, I uploaded it to Picnik for some resizing, saved it, and uploaded to my blog to be used as the graphic for my most recent Peaceful Wednesday ~ Tweet for Peace post.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial!

Have something to say? Feel free to leave a comment below – besides, comments just make me smile.

Hopeful Romantic

This is another one of Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop prompts. This week: Share a photo that represents how you see yourself.

Hopeless Hopeful Romantic

I’m a very private person, that’s one of the reasons my readers have never seen a photo of me or my family. From time to time, however, I like to share a tiny glimpse into what makes me, well…me.

So here is a photo of my husband and I that I happened to take on a lovely Sunday while walking around the small wildlife preserve that lies literally in our back yard.

My husband is my best friend and the love of my life. God has certainly given me a tremendous gift in him – so thank you God, there is nothing greater than You.

Have something to say? Feel free to leave a comment ~ I LOVE them!

An Inspirational Woman

It’s day four of the SITS Back to Blogging Challenge, and today’s task is to write about a woman who inspires you.

Throughout my life I have seen, met, loved, and read about many inspirational women from all walks of life. Women throughout history, women of different races, different colors, and different creeds. To be a woman is a beautiful and wondrous thing – we are the homemakers, the caretakers, the givers, the lovers, and the joys and wonders of womanhood are the same the world over.

It’s funny how life works – that the topic of inspirational women come only days after meeting a very inspiring woman is ironic to me. Only a few short days ago I had the pleasure of meeting the mother of a special needs child for the first time at the home of a dear friend. This woman not only has a very sick son to care for, but she also a daughter under a year old too.

As a mother of three children I know how exhausting motherhood can be – a mother’s job is never 9 to 5, and watching this woman care for her son and daughter really amazed me. She seemed to take everything in stride, never missing a beat with her kids, even when her son went into a seizure. She never lost her calm demeanor, or her bubbly, happy disposition.

I guess that’s what womanhood and motherhood is all about. We take whatever comes our way with a smile on our face because we love our children and our families dearly. They are a blessing and a gift, and whatever life holds for us and our families we accept. We know it’s not all going to be rainbows and lollipops – motherhood does get rough at times, but the job never gets too dirty as my own wonderful mother would say (she certainly inspires me, and I love her very much).

For me inspiration comes from all of the women, past and present, who do all that they can to make this world a better place. The women who never feel the job gets too dirty, who keep a smile on their face when times get tough, and who love unconditionally the people that surround them.

What kind of woman inspires you? Feel free to leave a comment and give us your thoughts.

Freedom’s Just Another Word…

Freedom.

Whenever I hear the word I think of Janice Joplin singing the words “…Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose”, in her song “”Me and Bobby Mcghee. I love that song.

Freedom means many different things to many different people. My definition of freedom isn’t going to be the same as my neighbor’s definition. I think we all can agree on some pretty basic tenets of freedom though. The right to live in peace and security, to be treated with dignity and respect, the right to privacy – but how many of us really put those values into practice when push comes to shove?

A Right or A Privilege?

The recent controversy over the so called “Ground Zero Mosque”, the increase in hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs, sweeping immigration reforms, rising poverty and unemployment rates, and our ever increasing (yet subtle) loss of privacy makes me wonder just how much we really believe in freedom.

Does freedom count only for those of us who are Americans? Does freedom count only for those of us who are White? Does freedom count only for those of us who are wealthy and well connected? Should I care about a Palestinian’s definition of freedom? An Afghan’s definition of freedom? An Iraqi’s definition of freedom? A Muslim’s definition of freedom? Should I care about how an African-American defines freedom. How an Hispanic-American defines freedom?

What does freedom really mean anyway? Is freedom just another word for nothing left to lose, or is freedom an essential part of the meaning of life? Can we be happy and not be free? Can we be free and not be happy?

The desire to be free is innate. It’s a common thread shared by everyone regardless of race, color, or creed. That’s something we should all remember. No matter how you slice it, we all want the same basic things out of life, and the right to be free and live in peace is certainly one of them.

What about you? What’s your definition of freedom? Feel free to leave a comment and share your point of view.

This was one of Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompts. Her weekly workshop is pretty cool – check it out!

It’s Green Find Saturday | Get More Green

Connect With Others

It’s Green Find Saturday once again. This week: connect with other DIY green-loving folks online.

As a passionate greenie, I’m always on the lookout for ways to connect with others who share my love for living the green life. Building a community of people who care for the environment and care about living a simpler, healthier, greener lifestyle is important to me. So if you’re interested in learning how to go green, are a green blogger, or simply love to do-it-yourself, you can easily connect with others who share your interests.

The DIY Green Living Blog Discovery (held every Tuesday here at Green Earth Bazaar) is a way for people to discover new blogs, share new ideas, make new connections, and get inspired. It’s all about living green, caring for the environment, improving health, and doing things for yourself.

The Green Bloggers Twibe (on Twitter) is another way for green bloggers to connect with one another and share ideas. It’s open to anyone, and is geared toward those who write about the environment, healthy eating, do-it-yourself projects, and living a green lifestyle.

What about you? Are you interested in all things green, or do you think being green is just trendy rhetoric? Feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think.

It’s Green Find Satruday! | Green Blogs Galore

It’s Saturday once again, and that means it’s time to discover another nifty-keen green find (or four). This week you get a heavy dose of green with some of my favorite green and healthy blogs written by some very crafty, very smart, and very inspiring bloggers who think being green is pretty keen! Enjoy!

Angie’s Healthy Living Blog: If you love healthy recipes, you’ll love Angie’s Healthy Loving Blog. She’s got some wonderfully healthy recipes, like this recipe for black bean burgers that I’m dying to try out! Plus, Angie chronicles her wight loss success on her blog too – I think we’ve all been there…
Our Daily Green: Lots of useful green tips from FreshGreenKim. I particularly like Our Daily Green’s latest post, Extreme Green. It’s though provoking, and makes one wonder how far out of our comfort zones are we willing to go for a greener planet?
Peace, Love, and Muesli: “Healthier eating one bowl at a time” – that’s Peace, Love, and Muesli’s tag line – love that! They have lots of great suggestions, tips, and info. for eating better, and have recently written a post about raising healthy eaters – it’s a great discussion, check it out.
The Inadvertent Farmer: I love this blog! There’s a lot of inspiration to be found at The Inadvertent Farmer, and a camel! Camels are pretty neat. You’ve got to check out their garden photos, they’re so lovely!

31 DBBB SITS Challenge

: Image via Wikipedia

Are you participating in the SITS 31DBBB Challenge? If so, add your link below, and add this blog hop to your blog!

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A Treasure

A Photo A Day

I am…

Hopeless Hopeful Romantic