52 Weeks - Week 15 {Aged Beauty}

Sally's prompt this week is to find some Aged Beauty.

Something from the past, an old building,

a vintage treasure from a flea market, maybe even a

wonderful piece of jewelry from our jewelry box.

I opted for some rust!

Glorious rust!

I love this fence. I drive past it twice a day to and from

work.

You can see it in the background there.

I am drawn to this spot every spring as these daffodils

bloom all over the hill.

Spectacular!

Look at the size of this one. There are a few odd ones

that are HUGE! 

Now, if you saw my "Flower Stalking - April" post

on Facebook, you know where these were taken.

(I have a habit of stalking flowers in my neighbors

yards and neighborhood and very carefully taking shots)

I was not driving!

I parked my car, right next to the

Secret Service Patrol Car, 

and took the pictures.

They happen to be on the grounds of 

the Embassy of Israel.

Thank you Mr. Secret Service officer for letting me!

Please hop on over to Sally's blog to see what 

wonderful Aged Beauty folks have found this week.

Focus on Life - Week 10 {All Wrapped Up}

I will admit, this had me stumped, for the longest time!

Sally gave us both the verb and noun definations

for the word, still stumped.

I know that there is no right or wrong,

so here goes!

Me

wrapped in my favorite coat,

wrapped in the snow!

I saw this in my mind with the snow forecast.

Set the shot up and had my trusty

second shooter click away.

Knowing that I dislike having my picture taken

(weaker word than how I really feel....)

I have to say -

I LOVE THIS SHOT!

Please visit Sally's blog to see how

everyone else is wrapped up.



Focus on Life - Week 9 {Knock, Knock}

Can you believe that it has been 9 weeks already?

I can't, but I can say this,

I am loving these weeks.

I look forward to seeing what Sally sends 

as our prompts! I can't wait for them.

This week's prompt was to open

some doors and 

see what waits for us on the other side.

Did you go through a door that was a secret passage?

(you were adventurous)

Or a door that led into a cute house?

(yes I know the tree is in focus and the door is not, this

is what happens when you are driving, shhhh)

Or did you open the door to a house filled 

with joy, family and a few dogs?

(yes, that is me)

I did not go through any of these doors, 

for you see this week, 

this arrived.

This envelope allowed me to open these doors!

(the front of the Washington National Cathedral)

Not physically, but metaphorically.

My doors were huge, inspiring, and awesome.

I love what is on the other side!

LOVE!

This spurred me into action!

Courtney Breul Photography

(please click and let me know, honestly, what you think. 

it is absolutely a work in progress!)

That little piece of paper, my business license,

unblocked my brain. I didn't realize

how frozen I had been.

Things are moving, flowing and I am creating.

Getting legal documents and forms in order.

I even ordered my business cards!

I am now convinced that Sally must have a crystal ball! 

Her weekly prompts have been

so timely and insightful for me!

Please hop on over to Sally's blog and see what doors 

everyone else opened and went through.

I can't wait for next week! I hope your adventure

is a wonderful one.

Focus on Life - week 5 {Capture our Hearts}

Hello again~

I know, blogging has not been my strong

suit so far this year.  I will work on getting better.

Sally of Studio Sublime is taking us on a

wonderful journey this year.  

52 weeks of  exploring and photographing!

I am loving this.

This week's prompt was

Capturing our Hearts.

We were to find hearts everywhere.

Here are a few I found right off the bat.

Loved the title of this book in Target.

Sorry for the blur,

in my grocery store.

Clearly my iPhone is struggling or I am moving 

too fast. :)

And, while this is not current, it is from last April

when my daughter let me come with her to photograph

she and her friends at the 

University of Maryland's Holi Celebration.

I had no idea what I had taken until I say the photo.

Might quite possibly be one of my favorite photos of all time!

Please hop on over to Sally's blog

and see where others captured hearts this week.

Focusing on Life - week one

In keeping in line with some of my goals for the year

I have decided to join Sally Russick's

Focusing on Life -  52 photos.

The goal is to share one photo a week. 

Our first assignment was a self portrait. 

Another goal - to get in front of the camera more,

sends a powerful message to my kids about me and

my self esteem.

Ironically, I snapped this on one of my lunchtime walks

this week while at work. 

I am in my new, most wonderful coat, the day was chilly and sunny!

What a wonderful walk.

not great, but not bad! :) 

Please visit Sally's page and see what the rest of us are up to!

One Crayon Color Challenge

Purple and all of the goodness that comes with it!

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime

invited us to play along with her next challenge,

the One Crayon Color Challenge.

I choose one of my favorite colors ~ 

Purple!

Love that color, so regal, so majestic.

Love it.

In going through my beads I did discover that I had 

a fair amount of purple but, can one ever have

enough beads?

I think not!

(actually I probably have plenty!)

So when my mom was in town a few weeks ago we headed

out to the Intergem show at the National Harbor 

here in DC and gathered plenty. :)

As usual for me, this required much playing,

stringing, un-stringing, wrapping and un-wrapping

before I got it right.  

I also added a small accent color, can you guess?

Tangerine Tango. Love that color!

So, without further ado….

A combination of wooden beads, these amazing purple geode beads, purple seed beads,

purple Artistic Wire and a few well placed tangerine chinese crystal

rondelles, a handmade tangerine enameled bead

and a purple polymer pendant, these last two made by me.

:)

Thank you Sally, for inviting us to color our day!

Please take a moment or twelve and hop around

and see what everyone made!

hosted by: Sally Russick  http://thestudiosublime.com Red Therese Frank  http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com Rochelle Brisson  http://acreativechelle.blogspot.com Lisa Lodge   http://pineridgetreasures.blogspot.com Malin de Koning  http://beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com Bobbie Rafferty   http://beadsong.blogspot.com Orange Linda Landig  http://LindasBeadBlog.com Cherrie Fick  http://designsinthelight.com Beth McLarnan http://threetrees-art.blogspot.com Cece Cormier  http://thebeadingyogini.com Renetha Stanziano   http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com Tanya Goodwin  http://pixiloo.blogspot.com Jean Welles  http://jeanawells.blogspot.com Amy Severino   http://amybeads.blogspot.com Rebekah Payne   http://treewingsstudio.com Lola Surwillo  http://.beadlolabead.blogspot.com Judy Turner   http://silver-rains.blogspot.com  Yellow Jennifer Justman  http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com Rose Brisson    http://ahteesblog.blogspot.com Kim Bender  http://www.kimmykats.com/ Heather Powers   http://humblebeads.blogspot.com Shelly Joyce  http://www.aujourlejour-shelly.blogspot.com Blue Cherie Reed  http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com Rebecca Anderson  http://songbeads.blogspot.com Hope Smitherman  http://craftyhope.blogspot.com Patti Vanderbloemen  http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com Michelle Buettner  http://MiShelDesigns.blogspot.com Alicia Marinache  http://allprettythings.ca Charissa Sloper   http://blog.obsidiansoda.com Sonya Stille  http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com Maria Grimes  http://mariagrimes.blogspot.com Nancy Saccoccio  http://risingdesigns.blogspot.com Sandi Volpe   http://sandivolpe.com Joanne Tinley  http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com Catherine Pruitt  http://boobeads.blogspot.com  Green Mary Harding  http://maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com Karin Gilman http://www.qaygee.blogspot.com/ Jayne Capps   http://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com Lorelei Eurto  http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com Melissa Meman http://melissameman.blogspot.com Alice Peterson  http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com Jenny Davies Reazor   http://www.jdaviesreazor.com Cynthia Machata    http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com Melissa Essenburg  http://chinookdesigns.blogspot.com Regina Santerre  http://reginaswritings.blogspot.com Lauren Streets  http://ornthoughts.wordpress.com Elizabeth Auld  http://beadsforbusygals.com Purple Tracy Mok   http://bumblebeadsdesigns.blogspot.com Jennifer Judd Velasquez http://jenjuddrocks.blogspot.com Marti Conrad  http://marticsclay.blogspot.com Lori Anderson  http://prettythingsblog.com Donna Bradley  http://strandedbeads.blogspot.com Courtney Breul  http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com - you are here! Linda Younkman   http://lindysdesigns.blogspot.com Susan Kennedy  http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com Lisa Liddy   http://Lisaliddy.wordpress.com Tracy Stillman  http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com Dawn Doucette  http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com Brown Diana Ptaszynski   http://suburbangirlstudio.com Shannon Chomanczuk  http://formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/ Janice Everett   http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com Karen Williams  http://Baublicious.blogspot.com Black Kashmira Patel  http://sadafulee.blogspot.com Heidi Post  http://expostfactojewelry.blogspot.com/ Birgitta Lejonklou  http://lejonklou.blogspot.com/ Holly Westfall  http://silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com/ Karin Slaton  http://backstorybeads.blogspot.com