HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL...

We had a hauntingly beautiful weekend here at the Quill. Saturday we celebrated our sweet grand girls very first birthday with a house full of family, a home cooked meal, followed by cake, ice cream, and of course presents. Beautiful memories scurried around the room amid the swirl of brightly shredded gift wrap, entangling themselves with the here and now like the curly ribbon dripping from the packages.While cameras were clicking and conversation hummed through the air it was hard not to sit and observe the family circle and notice who was not there. Beautiful haunting memories of happy times sat in the room among the welcome guests, yet, no sadness accompanied them. They made themselves comfortable and a part of the celebration.Since we do live in a tiny cottage and the dining table had to serve duel function as a dining table and a party table I had to keep the decor quite simple, first serving the meal and then a simple setup for the party. A little foof of the lighting fixture, a bright table cloth, and a small display for the cake during the traditional singing and blowing out of the first candle ceremony and the transformation was complete.I made a few party hats by deconstructing ready made hats from the dollar store and covering them with wrapping paper, adding a little glitter and trims. Lastly I made a Garden Fairy cake topper using another birthday hat as a base. Sweet and simple.Sunday was set aside for rest, recuperation, and the proverbial Sunday afternoon drive. Handy Hubby and I snaked down back roads and scenic byways to one of our favorite nearby mountains spiraling to the top where we skirted the back side of the mountain to the stone house.Refreshments and camera in hand we entered the cool dim structure where we rested on the native stone bench that runs the width of the back wall and allows one to absorb the panoramic views.The day was bright and a light haze lay over the landscape far below. Ribbons of the two rivers and roads ran through the quilted farm tops and peeked out at loose intervals between the dense forest. Up, up, up they climbed like the hawk soaring before us. Here we witnessed the depths and the heights of natures beauty as we recanted the hauntingly beautiful legend of Petit Jean.Monday I was finally able to show up for class at last! Karla and Beth have indeed supplied some hauntingly beautiful images to use for their Romantic Gothic Ghosts projects. I spent a happy morning printing out arches, images, and backgrounds...And an equally happy afternoon laying out the foundation for the first three projects...I am making two of the Beth's totes. The one pictured above is for me. I am making myself a new book bag for my frequent trips to the library. Here is the image I am using below in case you would like to use it too...(FREE IMAGE)

I am nearing the completion of the first one, a Romantic Gothic Banner, here is a bit of sneak peek at my banner parts...These ladies are really making this class fun with mini give away prizes in between lessons, mini extra how-to videos, decorating tips using the class projects, plus the class lessons themselves!

The fun news for you, my dear readers, is that when I complete all the class projects I will host a give away and the class projects are my prizes! I'll announce more on that later. In the meantime, I wanted to offer you a few free sepia toned Romantic Gothic images of my own. I think Gothic Castles are pretty romantic... (FREE IMAGE)

And what is a castle without a hauntingly beautiful heroine or two running from its spooky secrets?(FREE IMAGE)

(FREE IMAGE)

I hope you will enjoy them as well as beautifully blessed bliss filled day!

Beautiful Blessings,
Miss Sandy