A Vision & A Verb Photo Contest

As a child, I was a great fan of literature and poems. I don’t read the classics much anymore, please tell me I’m not the only one.

Not having television in my own native language as a child gave me a lot of time to explore Voltaire, Chaucer and Shakespeare. I can’t say I understood all of what I read. I only know that I found most of the prose beautiful.

There is some that “stuck” with me because our English teacher insisted on memorization. I still think that repetition can lead to understanding and appreciation of what we are learning. As a result of that, I can still recite a lot of what I was exposed to. There are some poems that I found so beautiful that they have become a part of me. The poem, Trees, by Joyce Kilmer is one them. I don’t know why I love it so much, I just do.

So I’m using it along with this photo of a weeping willow as my entry into the Vision & Verb photo contest, found here. Contests ends August 18.

Please consider entering also! The prize is fantastic but I also love reading all of the wonderful prose written by sage and creative writers and poets. So go to the Vision & Verb facebook wall and enter now!

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

Hello Love Winners!

Thank you for submitting fantastic photos! First there was one winner, then there were two but now… I have some wonderful surprises below.

Danny Douglas chose Jenica as a  winner. Here’s what he said about her special family image.

“GRAND PRIZE WINNER – I love, love, love these images. I love the kiss in frame 2, and the mom face in frame 4. This one says family love to me!”

He ALSO chose Michelle of My Two Seasons as 1st runner up. As such, she is too a winner! Here’s what he said about her wonderful image of sisterly love.

“HONORABLE MENTION  – I have a soft spot for daughters!”

Hello Canvas chose Sarah of rowenleaf.blogspot.com as a winner of a free canvas. What a fun image!

So yes, there are THREE winners of the 16 x 20 canvas.

But don’t go away.

I know it’s August and it’s hot and you have many other things to do but so many of you took the time to enter this little giveaway and spread the word. I am so appreciative of that. So there is a 25% discount for all of you who entered a photo in this contest and choose to place an order with Hello Canvas. Please contact me directly for your discount code.

This is my kind of giveaway, everyone is a winner! Remember you can also get a 10% discount by using the offer code HelloLove. Perfect!

Danny also took the time to acknowledge these two images.

HONORABLE MENTION Kath of Seours du Jour – I can feel the caring in this image! Sister trying to comfort her brother.

HONORABLE MENTION Marcie Scudder – Although not human family love, animal love is awesome too.

I will have another soon. And it won’t be as much work for you.

Congratulations to all of you and thank you Hello Canvas!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Family Love

Thanks to those of you who have already submitted photos for the Hello Love – Family contest! I am going through you submissions – again – at work:) Hello Canvas is also blown away, so much so that they have offered to give another canvas of the same size to an additional winner. Yippee! It’s Christmas in August.

I love the images and the stories behind them. They make me laugh and cry, thank you all for submitting! I love each of your interpretations of family.

Here’s some examples what I call family in my own life.

This is not my family by blood but I just love them all the same.

Here is a family at work…Little Steven is the office manager. He’s walking now.

Here’s my friend Chris (who I think is the most important person in the world right now) with his two sisters, Miss Becky and Miss Amy. Miss Amy was adopted from Korea and Miss Becky is blond, but for some reason, these three look alike to me.

How about this family?…oh the hair! It’s the bane of my existence. It’s a good thing I love my hairy family too.

Here are the girl and Ella. They see more of each other now-a-days than we do of the girl. There’s love there for sure.

So there you go! So glad to see your wonderful families. The contest ends tonight, sometime after I finish dinner:) And don’t forget to leave your link at this post for consideration to win the 16×20 canvas from Hello Canvas who is sponsoring this giveaway. There’s going to be two winners! I’m tickled pink!

August 2, All In The Family

This is Zepp, short for the mega rock group Led Zeppelin. He’s trying to figure out what these other little creatures are that moved into his house. He was really gentle with the chick though, a big lug indeed.

Please show me a photo of what family means to you! You can win a 16 x 20 canvas from the wonderful people at Hello Canvas. Find out how here.

Posted on Tracey’s Best Shot Monday.

Hello Love ~ Hello Canvas Giveaway

Update: Entries are now closed. Winners will be announced on Friday!

It’s not too early for the dog days of summer, it is certainly hot enough. It seems especially appropriate then that Hello Canvas has graciously offered to cool things off with a canvas giveaway – on this site – for you.

On top of the wonderful product they offer, I can say they are very nice people as well. A pleasure actually. Imagine my delight in their offer! And I can’t think of a better way to thank you for coming here and visiting. It gives me great joy to read your comments; it’s no little thing.

If you have been visiting a while, you will know how much I love my family, warts and all…so if you would like to win a 16 x 20 inch canvas from Hello Canvas, then please leave me a link to a photo that best represents family to you.

I know families come in all shapes, forms, and sizes so please don’t feel shy.

How it works:

1. Leave a comment here with a link to a photograph on your blog or flickr site that best illustrates “Hello Love – Family” to you.
2. Photos will be judged on how the photo best illustrates the theme.
3. If you could pass the word and share I’d be most appreciative, but I’m just glad you are here. Really.
4. Enjoy!

Only one link per person please. And only we can only judge those photos that are shared here through this post.

Who will judge? Because I know many of you who come here and so many are fantastic photographers, I don’t feel like I can truly be objective as a judge so I asked my good friend and photographer extraordinaire himself, Danny Douglas of Danny Douglas Photography to make the determination on the winner. Note: The judge is on a strict low-calorie diet so no bribing with candy allowed.

The contest closes on Wednesday, August 4. And another will open…

Also – Hello Canvas has offered to give you 10% off any one one of their great products for a month. Fabulous! Please use the offer code hellolove when ordering.

Disclaimer: I know some of you are not photographers but let me give you some ideas.

1. Ever had your family portrait done? Get your photographer to send you a digital copy.
2. Ever taken a great vacation photo? Well, it would look great on canvas.
3. Ever wish that you had more photos of you as a child? Don’t make your child wonder the same thing. Take their pictures now!

You’ll never regret it, never.

Thanks for coming by and submitting a photo and best of luck to you!

I Got An Ephiphane For Christmas!

I had a camera bag on my Christmas wish list but it wasn’t this one. I bought this one for myself. I placed an order right after Christmas and it arrived a couple of weeks ago.

And I’m smittened. I don’t think I loved anything this much since we got our puppy six years ago.

It’s puppy love.

I am not an accessory person. I don’t have a bag to match every outfit I have but I love this bag.

It’s already not only well loved but well used. I carry my camera of course but I also carry my long lens and my charger and the accessories I need for a quick photo. It’s padded inside with felt separators. My camera sits in the middle part.

I love the little tag that came with it.

The details are beautiful and I love the leather. It’s soft, soft, soft.

You know what? I’ve had at least three men compliment me on my bag. Really. Men! And the bag is a very girly teal color so I was surprised at the compliments. I was tired of the masculine black camera bags and backpacks that are out there. This not only pretty, it’s well made, practical and extremely attractive if I do say so myself.

Along with my camera and its accessories, I carry my wallet and other neccessities, like my lipstick. My friend Danny gave me this tag for Christmas one year and it compliments the bag beautifullly.

If you are not already aware, Ephiphanie bags is having a giveaway on their site and they are giving away a bag on Shutter Sisters. I’m not ashamed to say that I want another one…the brown one. If you were to place your order now, I promise you won’t regret it.

Go there now!!  http://www.haveanepiphanie.com/home/2010/2/28/epiphanie-give-away.html

Drumroll Please…

I’d like to apologize for this late giveaway winner announcement. There were circumstances that were not under my control.

So without further ado…the party shoe that I bought? Number 4. The others were beautiful but my no fun, pragmatic side took over. And the people who mentioned number 4 (Margie, Maureen and Ann) in their comments were entered into a drawing and the winner is…Ann. Congratulations Ann. I hope you like your ornament.

Let me just also editorialize, that it’s slightly disturbing how well my boss knows me. One day I’m going to shock everyone. Just wait and see.

I don’t have photos of the party because I didn’t go to the party. The only thing that would keep me from going to a party for which I had bought shoes for is not the blizzard of the decade and it’s not the fact that my date was stuck in Texas and couldn’t make it home because of that blizzard, it’s because I was slightly ill. Ill enough to go to the hospital.

But I’s al rite now. Ain’t nothin’.

I love this photo. I took it while at the hospital of the husband. There were a lot of other sick people there so I was put in the hallway. His expression says, “You sure know how to cause drama during the holidays don’t you?”

So the blizzard and my little hospital visit have put me slightly behind – alright – very behind in my Christmas preparations. But I in spite of the fact that this phrase is way over used, I’ll say it anyway.

“It is what it is.”

Two days left. But who’s counting? Merry Christmas!

Please Help Me Choose A Party Shoe & Giveaway

You may not believe this, but I don’t shop at brick and mortar stores very often.

1) Blue sequined 5 inch heels. Great with jeans don’t you think? Love the bow.

 

It’s a drive to get to the mall and my days are taken up with driving to other places, like the grocery store and equestrian meets.

2) These are more classic but quite blingy. There’s a gold and silver pattern on them.

And at times when I do go…it’s rush, rush and rush some more.

3) What do you think of this purple princess?  Holy cow they were high.

Ahhhh…my poor aching feet thank me.

4) This one has little glittery sequins. I love it.

I did stop at a store this week to try on some shoes to wear to a Christmas party this weekend.

5) Look at this one! Va va va voom! Red hot for Christmas.

I’m wearing a little black dress with some slight ornamentation on the neck. I’m also wearing a black cashmere sweater over it. It’s one that I’ve worn many many time before. But it’s warm.

6) I wonder what animal died for this shoe?

And you know what? The same dress that I’m wearing for the party will be worn to go to church on Christmas Eve.

7) I love these shoes…love them. There are little sparkles on the shoes. It’s the silver twin to number 1.

Okay, tell me, which one will I wear? Hmmmm? Sorry about the pedicure job. I’ll redo the toes before the party! The right guesses will be entered to win a 2008 White House Christmas ornament. I don’t have a photo of it, but it’s cute!

My last giveaway was up for a total of 24 hours. I’ll leave this one up a little bit longer. Until 9 pm Monday night. Or thereabouts…

And I’ve said it many times before, thank you for coming by. It just cheers me up and makes my day to read your comments.

Merry Christmas! And what are you wearing to your Christmas party this weekend?

White House Christmas Ornament & Congratulations Margie

Oh what a day it’s been! Won’t go into detail now but it had something to do with the sister, wrestling, shaving and birthday presents left on a school bus. We just got home - literally - and the girl had to do her homework so I had to wait a few minutes before I could post this. And please forgive me, but I just took these photos about two minutes ago.

But I won’t bore you.

Congratulations Margie! You made the right guess as to which photo I should enter into the iHeartfaces contest this week. You have won a beautiful, I mean beautiful 2009 White House Christmas ornaments. I’ve been collecting these for a while and I love them. We live not too far from Washington DC and if you have never visited this town, you should. It will make you a patriot and proud to be an American.

Here’s the back of the ornament.

So Margie, I love that you have a sister that blogs with you. And I love your photos, they are full of emotion. And I love that you come and visit.

As I do for all of you who come here. It means so much to me. I started this blog just to post photos and document my life digitally. It’s an outlet for my creativity and it’s turned out to be so much more. Thank you so much for coming and leaving comments and making this so much fun.

I have an ornament from last year to giveaway this week. All you have to do is tell me which shoe I should buy. I can’t make up my mind. What else is new?

But right now…I’m going to bed. Margie, please pass me your snail mail address. I just love your site!

Please Help Me Choose A Pet Photo & Giveaway

Here I go again.

I am an indecisive, vacillating , wishy-washy individual, except when I have to choose a husband. Wait…I was wishy washy then too. (But it had nothing to do with the husband.) Anyway…

Help me choose a pet for this week’s iHeartfaces contest if you don’t mind…for if you do…I have a little something for you at the end of the post.

1) The irrepressible Tuk Tuk. Gosh he’s cute. And mischievious. And so is the girl.

This is my favorite…but keep looking okay?

2) Tucker in my boss’s office. She hasn’t said anything to me about it yet by the way.

This one is a favorite because of the color.

3) My girl with Limerick…I wasn’t helping her at all.

It’s my favorite tacking picture.

4) And here’s Limerick’s eye lashes. I love this photo as you can tell.

It’s my favorite black and white of a horse.

5) And here’s Pete, who I can learn to like if he wins me the coveted top ten position.

It’s my favorite picture of Pete.

6) Dr. Tortoise from the farm…every winter he disappears. He must go to the beach.

She’s my favorite turtle.

7) The cat after he’s munched a bluebird or two. He only wishes…

My favorite so far.

Here’s Boone! It’s my other favorite.

I love animals. Can you tell?

I have more…but I’ll stop here..

Let me know which one is your favorite! The one with the most votes will go in. And it doesn’t have to be my favorite one either.

If you vote for the photo I choose, I have a little giveaway for you. It’s to thank you for coming by. And it’s the Christmas season! So let me know in the comments which one you think I should enter. See you tomorrow…

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