Mosaic Monday: Green and White

First of all, forgive me for not posting this till rather late in the day -- we had a full day, including shopping with my daughter and driving her back to school. Also, I have been having some pain in my hands, probably due to too much computer time, so I've been trying to cut back. So you must also forgive me for posting an old mosaic -- something I made a few years go. I thought it was a nice look at something I always look forward to -- the coming of spring! All of these photos were taken in our garden and around our yard. I always think a white garden would be lovely... until I see some colorful flower that I absolutely cannot live without. :)

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

I ♥ Toile

First of all, please ignore all the mess on our bedside tables, and my running shoes, and the floor that desperately needs refinishing. What I wanted to show you was our new duvet cover and euro shams, which were birthday gifts this week. The bedroom has been painted this pale smoke blue for several years now. We've been using some bedding which I found in TJMaxx. It is beginning to get a little shabby, however, and I've always wanted a toile in here. I've finally found a bedding set that I absolutely love. It's from Pottery Barn, and it's a pale blue toile in a pattern called Martine.

The fabric is 55% linen and 45% cotton, so it's heavy, with a beautiful texture. Looking at this picture, I'm thinking I need to get the dust ruffle next. :)

Mosaic Monday: Winter Pinks

We got our first snow of the new year on Saturday. This is always a little bittersweet for me. Although I love how it looks, it always seems to emphasize how far away spring really is. I went back through my photo archives to pull out some pretty pink images, and have gathered them here for you. The mosaic is made from a web board which can be found on The CoffeeShop Blog, here. If you use Photoshop, this is a great resource. I placed my images, and then changed the color of the frames to better match my blog colors.

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Mosaic Monday: I ♥ Fog

First of all, thanks to everyone who left comments of encouragement or commiseration on my post about house cleaning. I managed to get the house in decent shape, and the kids had a fun weekend. Now I just need to keep it clean... :)

I'm sharing a few foggy images this week. These were taken back in December. I love a good fog -- it's one of my favorite things to photograph outdoors. I tend to get in a photographic rut in the winter -- it's often too cold to take the camera outdoors, and I feel as though I have already shot just about everything I can in our little house. So this is the time that I often go back and start playing with older photos -- trying out different edits in Photoshop. For those of you who have Photoshop, I used some free actions from photographer Maria Kallin. You can download them from her blog here.

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Help Needed

Just popping in to say "Hi" to you all. This week has been a whirlwind of house cleaning, getting ready for some visitors. My daughter's freshman college roommate and my son's girlfriend are arriving this weekend. And so, it has been Triple Red Alert here at our Little Red House.

I have to confess that I am a terrible housekeeper. I really, really hate housecleaning. So I tend to let things slide... And every time I get caught up in these crazy bouts of cleaning for guests, I swear that I will not let things slide any more.

So, would you guys please remind me to pick up a dust cloth once in awhile? ;)

Tell me, are you an Oscar or a Felix? Slob or neat freak? Or somewhere in between? And if you hate housecleaning like I do, how do you make it easier to accomplish? Any tips for this helpless housekeeper?

Mosaic Monday: Pink

It's January, which means it's time for supermarket flowers here at Little Red House. We all need a little floral cheer after the holidays, right? ;)

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

White and Wonderful

It happens every year. After the excesses of Christmas, we crave simplicity. After all the red and gold, I want white. And lots of it.

I've been sort of collecting white dishes for my kitchen for the last few years. I found this little covered dish at my favorite thrift store last year, and I'm not sure if I ever showed it to you. It's white, it's covered, and it has a bird on it, so as far as I'm concerned it's a home run. :)

As you know, I also collect milk glass. I won this Westmoreland hand dish on ebay recently. I'm not really sure why this particular shape should appeal to me so much, but it does.

My milk glass collection has pretty much filled the corner cabinet in our dining room, so I'm thinking I will have to stop soon. When my son was little, he had a friend whose grandparents collected milk glass. They displayed their collection in floor to ceiling shelves in their living room. I don't think I'm ready to go that far, so I'd best start to pass by the pieces I come across.

Yeah, that's going to happen.

When pigs fly.

Mosaic Monday: 2011 in Pictures

Because of the holiday, I'm not sure how many of you will want to play along today. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday week. It's been lovely having my daughter home, and my son was here for a few days before Christmas. My husband has taken the week off, which has been great. My father-in-law is back in the hospital, which has been not so great. But it is what it is.

I have made a mosaic of some of my favorite photos from the past year. When I was young, I always wanted to be an artist. I drew and painted and used pastels constantly. I dreamed of having an attic studio with fabulous north light. But life happened, and I never did become the artist I dreamed of being. Blogging got me into photography, though, and now I cannot imagine my life without it.

As many of you probably know, I love to take nature photos, and I love to play in Photoshop. Having gathered these images, one from every month, I can finally see a personal style evolving. I'm not sure why this should be so important to me, but it is. For the past several years, I have been inspired by and learned from some fabulous photographers, professional and amateurs both. I have always envied the fact that they each had a very beautiful personal style. Now finally, seeing these photos from 2011, I'm starting to feel as though they really represent me. So no matter how depressing this past year has been (and it has had it's low points) I must say that I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to take pictures and make art. :)

To all my wonderful blogging friends, I wish you much love and joy in the new year! xoxo

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.