Day Brighteners

Fingerprint Friday - The birthday gift

Rosie

My daddy passed away in 1995, and I miss him a lot, but even more so on special days like his birthday which was this past Monday, September 21st. While I went through my routine day at work, I kept thinking of him off and on, and a little corner of my heart felt so blue. The gloomy skies and rain all day didn't help a bit. I especially missed being able to give him a birthday gift.

After work, I had to run downtown to do an errand, which took me within a few blocks of my favorite bead store. I wasn't planning to go there because I didn't really need any beads....but of course if I go in, I can always find something that I have to have, and the thought crossed my mind to stop in just for fun.

Usually it's impossible to find a parking spot anywhere near the bead store, which means going to the parking deck a few blocks away. Not wanting to walk in the rain, I said to God, "OK, I'll stop in IF there is a parking place in front of the store."

I circled the block, and, to my surprise, there was a parking place right smack in front of the store.

I checked the meter and smiled when I saw that it had 29 minutes left.

I went into the store, found a few beads to purchase, and asked the sweet clerk who always helps me, "Where's Rosie?" Rosie is the cat who lives in the store, and I always love to pet Rosie's soft fur. So soothing.

But Rosie wasn't in her usual spot, in her bed on the floor under the end of the counter. Normally, I squat down for a few minutes and pet her and talk to her, but it isn't very comfortable.

The clerk went all over the store looking and called to me from another room, "Here she is." I found Rosie curled up on a huge, inviting leather couch. As I sank down into the soft cushions, I started to rub her fur and talk to her. "Rosie, I love you so much. I am so happy I get to come here and pet you. And today is my daddy's birthday. He would have loved you so much too, because he loved animals."

I started to get teary eyed while I kept rubbing her fur and feeling its softness.

Just then, the song that was playing on the store's sound system ended and a new song began.

It was the one song in the world that makes me think of my daddy.


Bette Midler singing "You are the wind beneath my wings..."

I learned to play that song on the piano after my daddy died and as I sang the words back then, I decided that he had always been the wind beneath my wings ... and my hero.

"Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and ev'rything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings."

Tears were rolling down my face.

I kept rubbing that soft fur till I had cried all I needed to.

Through a kitty who loves being petted and a beautiful song, I was the one who received the gift on my daddy's birthday ... God's reassurance that all is well.

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
To find out how to join "Fingerprint Friday" and see links to other posts, visit Pampering Beki's blog.

Day Brighteners

Here Fishie

Joy asked me to make a Clownfish Pendant to go with some beads she bought. Here are some of them in a bracelet she made.




Here is the pendant I made. I'll post the necklace as soon as she makes it and lists it on Etsy.

Fingerprint Friday - Signs of Autumn

The Master's artistic Fingerprints are evident in the changing of the seasons. We still have late summer flowers blooming here and there, like the impatiens on our porch - and at the same time, some of the leaves are showing autumn colors, like these red leaves in our azalea bushes.






~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
To find out how to join "Fingerprint Friday" and see links to other posts, visit Pampering Beki's blog.

To brighten your day!

Cute animal pictures that came in an email...

Featured on Wedding Blog

Thanks to Carol at Beautiful Details Wedding Consulting for featuring my wedding bouquet charms on her blog on September 11.

I handmake the charms of polymer clay. They can be attached to a bouquet and you can also wear them as pendants. The perfect gift for bridesmaids ... use as bouquet charms for the wedding, then wear as a keepsake afterwards! These are available in my Etsy shop, and custom orders are welcome for specific colors to go with your wedding palette.

Autumn Colors Bird Charm


Silver Bird Charm


Gold Bird Charm

Autumn Day Treasury

I got a Treasury! This means I was able to "curate" a hand-picked list on Etsy and choose 12 items that I think look awesome together - all handmade by artists. If I'm REALLY lucky, my Treasury will be chosen for the front page. I think it would look great there, don't you?

You can visit it here and do some shopping if you wish!

Fingerprint Friday - We will not forget

I think this reflection by Stacey Randall says it the best:
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You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the
news on September 11, 2001. Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who
called his wife to say "Good-Bye." I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK...I am ready to go."

I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. "I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course I will show you the way home - only believe on Me now."

I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer.

I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.

I was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name –
though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.

Some sought Me with their last breath.

Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; "Come to Me... this way... take my hand." Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?

September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go."

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

~ God

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
To find out how to join "Fingerprint Friday" and see links to other posts, visit Pampering Beki's blog.

Day Brighteners

Cute pictures that came in an email...

Fun holiday weekend

We've had such a fun weekend! We went to a concert on Saturday night in Flat Rock, NC (near Hendersonville) to hear Angela Easterling. Here are Mike and I with Angela's sister, Joy, who makes fabulous hemp jewelry [see her work here].



Angela Easterling


Here is Angela, below, singing on the outdoor stage, behind Hand in Hand Gallery. You can read more about her on her website and listen to her music on myspace. Both her CDs are GREAT.



Today we went to Main Street in Hendersonville to see the Apple Festival which is held every year over the Labor Day weekend. We joined hundreds of people for the good ol' fashioned parade, complete with fire trucks and police cars with sirens, Mustangs & VWs & antique cars with ooga ooga horns, old time tractors, local high school marching bands with flag corps and cheerleaders, dance schools, Scouts, veterans and Civil War re-enactors, Democrats, Republicans, floats with apple growers, local celebrities and businesses, and more. Really fun!

Here are a few photos from our local newspaper. To see more, visit their website.

Fingerprint Friday - The last breath of summer

You can smell it in the air now and see the signs: I'm finding the first few yellow and red leaves on the ground. Fall is coming for sure. Here are a few little brave flowers still blooming on some of the bushes at work.




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There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:

I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

Where do you see God's fingerprints? In nature? kids? animals? They are all around us! Thank you to Pampering Beki for hosting this each week! To find out how to join and see links to other Fingerprint Friday posts, visit Pampering Beki's blog.