Happiness is a Butterfly...

"Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." 

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne ~

 4"x4" image

8.5"x11" printable tags

8.5"x11" printable stationery

Brown butterflies clip art ~ transparent background

Facebook cover photo

"Happiness held is the seed;

happiness shared is the flower."

~ John Harrigan ~ 

Here are the free graphics & sources

for my digital artwork:

*The Graphics Fairy*

Antique butterflies & moths

Back of an old photograph

French sheet music

*Vintage Images*

Paul de Longpre roses

*David Rumsey Map Collection*

1862 Advertisements ~ Reading, PA

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

*The Vintage Moth*

Antique ledger

Thank you for

taking time to visit!

Blossom ~ Vintage Background

"There came a time when

the risk to remain tight in the bud

was more painful than the risk

it took to blossom."
 

 ~ Anais Nin ~

  i phone 320x480

  i pad 1024x1024

  1024x768

 1280x800

 1280x1024

   

Here are the free images and resources

used to create this digital artwork:

*Wikimedia Commons*

Rosa sulfurea by Pierre Joseph Redoute

*The Graphics Fairy*

Back of an old photograph

*Flickr ~ Playingwithbrushes*

photo, crusty wall

Courage is knowing

what not to fear.

~ Plato ~

Sweet Wild Roses

"The wild rose-briar

is sweet in spring,

Its summer blossoms

scent the air."

~ Emily Dickinson ~

My parents live in a Cape cod style home

that they built on a wooded lot...and while most 

of the underbrush was cleared away years ago, 

there are places out back and to the side where it 

remains naturalized... and that is where

all the wild flowers, and roses, bloom.

Here are the free sources for my artwork:

*Golden Egg Vintage*

  Eastman's Wild Rose bookmark

*Percy & Bloom*

Blushing wild rose

*Vintage Ephemera*

French script, 1816

"I will be the gladdest thing under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one."
 

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay ~ 

Vintage Desktop Background

This is the day the LORD has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

 i phone 320x480

 i pad 1024x1024

 1024x768

1280x800

1280x1024

I've thought about offering backgrounds in the past, but was

unsure of what screen sizes to offer.  I did a little research, and

came up with the most commonly used sizes.  

If you don't know what size you're using, go here to find out

instantly.  If your exact size isn't here, choose the one closest

and select the "stretch" option when installing ~ the 1280x800

version seemed to work well in most cases.  

Here are the free graphics
and sources used in my artwork:

*The Feathered Nest*

Poppy photo album page

*The Graphics Fairy*

Back of an old photograph

French sheet music

*Vintage Ephemera*

French script, 1816

*Dafont.com*

Jugend WF font

Since this is new for me, I'd appreciate

whatever feedback you can offer!

Thank you!
Have a blessed day!!

Love's Truest Language

"Flowers are love's truest language." 

~ Park Benjamin ~

Wouldn't you agree... one of the simplest joys in life

is enjoying flowers?  Seeing them swaying in the breeze

along a country road, soaking up sunshine in a garden,

gathered sweetly in a child's tiny hand...

 

These bouquets are beautiful aren't they?

Very Victorian.  Here are the free sources

used in my artwork... please remember to
review my "About My Free Images" tab above
for any questions as to terms of use:

*NYPL Digital Gallery*

1894 sheet music title page

*Vintage Images*

Roses and lilacs

Roses and violets

*Flickr ~ Playingwithbrushes*

Photo, textured wall

May flowers always line your path

and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you

every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you

in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart

each day your whole life through.
 

~ Irish Blessing ~

Breathings of your heart...

"Fill your paper

with the breathings

of your heart."

~ William Wordsworth ~

I love this antique letter.  It was written from one elderly sister

to another in the 1880's.  I thought it was beautiful in combination
with these pink roses...

The above image could make a pretty card,

with a place for a special message or quote on the front.

Write something on the reverse side too!

A pretty little tag

and lined bookmark...

Here are the gift tags and bookmark

for you, in a printable set.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Have a blessed day!

Gift tags & a grateful heart

"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

If you take a moment to really think about what

you're thankful for, you realize nothing is too small 

to go by unnoticed... a breath, the beating of your heart...

  Then there are bigger, broader things, like your family

and their health, your home, your husband, children...

 everything and everyone is a blessing.

In everything give thanks...

give thanks with a grateful heart.

~1 Thessalonians 5:18 ~ 

I'm thankful you're here today!  Hope you can
put these gift tags to good use!  Here are the
sources for free graphics used :

*The Old Design Shop*

Vintage French receipt

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

*The Graphics Fairy*

Victorian ornament

*The Vintage Moth*

Antique ledger page

Advertisements ~1869

"Not what we say about our blessings,

but how we use them, is the true measure

of our thanksgiving."

~ W.T. Purkiser ~

A Little Patch of Dirt

When I was young, my daddy gave me a little corner of our huge garden to tend.  I could do whatever I wanted with it... which usually was just play in the dirt and plant the occasional annual or two.  Asparagus came up there also... it didn't matter, so long as it was mine.  There was something special about having a place to call my very own.

Years later, I knew I wanted my own children to grow up being in the garden.  As soon as my babies could go outside, I took them for walks to see what was growing, to hear the birds, see beetles and butterflies.  As they grew, giggles could be heard as we played with the watering hose and filled up the bird bath.  Digging and getting dirty was most enjoyable... and still is!

When my daughter was about 4, I asked her if she'd like her very own garden... she was so excited!  Sunflowers, zinnias, daisies, daylilies and a butterfly bush have all grown there, in "Olivia's garden."  She used to have a brightly colored birthday plate she loved so much.  She ate her dinner on it almost every evening.  Then one day, it slipped out of her little hands and broke.  She was devastated... until I suggested we use it to decorate her garden.  It's been out there a little over a year now, and she still points to it and tells people, "There's my favorite plate!"

My son has a garden also... although it's not as big as his sister's.  It's a little triangular plot, about the same size mine used to be.  We always put our pumpkins and squash there at the end of autumn, and by the next spring he usually has dozens of sprouting seedlings to take care of.  This year has been so dry, it's nothing but dried up grass and dirt.  Up until today, he's used it as a construction site for his tractors and backhoes... but today it's different.

Today, it's a rock garden.  My daughter informed me of her plan this morning, and the three of us went scouting around the yard.  A bit of a rock gatherer myself, I already had many stacked in borders around other beds.  We hauled over some of those ~ others were found in daddy's plowed up vegetable garden.  The finishing touch was a bit of hay placed around everything.

I realized I've been sad my son's garden didn't grow... even as he played in the dirt of the construction site, completely oblivious to my concerns.  He did ask me why there weren't any pumpkins this year, but then said, "It's been too dry, huh mom?"  Already knew the answer, and went on playing.

I stood back and watched as my two little ones showed me what it is to be happy, and make the most of whatever you're given.  Next year my son's garden may go back to being a place where green things grow, but for now, we're all pretty happy with the way things are, because it's not all about what you do for a garden, it's about what it does for you... even if it is only a little patch of dirt.

Home is where the Heart is...

Our home is where our heart is, be it palace or cot,

A place where with loved ones, all cares are forgot.

Sweet memories, they cheer us, wherever we may roam,

As our minds dwell with pleasure, on the dear ones at home.

The father comes in from the dry and hot dusty street,

And he hears the soft patter of dear little feet.

How love lights his features as they run thro' the hall,

"My pa-pa is coming!" sweet child voices call.

Then thro' the door they come a shouting, out on the street,

Two sweet little darlings, their papa to greet.

His strong arms 'round his loved ones, 'tis their safest place,

And sweet kisses are placed on his rough, bearded face.

The fond mother stands in the wide open door,

While the rays of the sun fall on the white floor.

They paint the sweet picture, with their last parting gleam,

Like radiance from Heaven, to bless this home scene.

This dear wife and mother, speaks kind words of cheer,

This home is sweet home, for his loved ones are near.

His heart is at peace, in his dear sheltered nest,

And gives thanks to his God, for the wife on his breast.

Yes, every home has pleasures, and its sorrows and joys,

But our greatest home-treasures are our girls and boys.

God grant that wherever on this earth they may roam,

Their hearts may find rest, in memories of home.

Our home is where our heart is, be it palace or cot,

A place where with loved ones, all cares are forgot.

Sweet memories, they cheer us, wherever we may roam,

As our minds dwell with pleasure, on the dear ones at home.

"For home is where the heart is"

words by Aurelia Hammond

music by W.W. Cameron

copyright 1894

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Found this beautiful sheet music 

earlier today, and thought I'd share the

lyrics with you.  The image at the top

is sized to be a Facebook cover photo. 

I'd be honored if you'd like to use it.

Wishing you many happy days

of cherished moments with

your loved ones!

Vintage Garden Journal

"Where you have a plot of land,

however small, plant a garden.

Staying close to the soil is good

for the soul."

~ Spencer W. Kimball ~ 

 Have you ever kept a garden journal?

I started one several years ago... and come across it every once in awhile.  It's fun to flip through and think about how my garden, and I through tending it, have grown!

Here are the free sources 

for my artwork:

*Vintage Feedsacks*

Hollyhock seed packet

(unsure of copyright information,

so personal use recommended)

*Lilac & Lavender*

"Antiqued" lined paper

*The Graphics Fairy*

Round frame

*Dafont.com*

Showboat font

*Deviant Art ~ Sagawa*

Old paper texture
 

I appreciate your visit!

Stop back soon!