MIA - Missing In Action?

Hey Everybody!

I did not mean to disappear out of sight like a little chipmunk diving deep into a burrow. But it happened, quite by accident. 

Indeed, I've been so busy I feel a bit like a puppy chasing its tail in circles and never catching up!

Before I forget to tell you, I have a post coming up tomorrow on Meditations of His Love that I'd love for you to read, featuring a song that has really spoken to my heart without using any words. 

My design inspiration for my jewelry pieces has been old-fashioned, vintage, peach, and old turquoise.

There you have it. Peach and turquoise. In one photo.

I have a book review, a soup recipe, pictures of some of my jewelry projects, and the release of a stunning new website + a giveaway all stacked up in my "To-Post" box. I will try to crank them out within the next few weeks! So stay tuned. :) I haven't gone anywhere, life has just revved up a little for me and the scenery is flying past more quickly! :)

Have a lovely weekend!

Random Odds & Ends

Hi Blog readers!

I felt like writing you a note tonight, and this is it! :D

First item of interest in my list of things to impart/confess/relate: TOMORROW is the day when we will be going to the End of Ultimate Frisbee Season Party! First, we meet at the T family's home for a dinner of delicious chicken from (where else?) Chick-Fil-A. Then we'll head over to the field and play frisbee like wild things (I've been exercising and getting in shape all week, so Bring It ON!) :D I'll let you know how the game goes. :)

Second item of interest:
My facebook account is no more. My family and I decided that FB wasn't something we wanted to be involved in, but we gave it our best shot and I'm glad we at least looked into the possibility. I enjoyed a brief glimpse into the lives of some friends I hadn't heard from since I was a little kid. I will definitely miss the closer contact I had with the lovely girls of like mind from the Meditations of His Love blog, but I still have several other ways to keep in touch with them. Some of the stuff I saw on Facebook was, to be candid, disturbing. It's like an alternate world, facebook... and people feel emboldened to post all sorts of foolish, ill-judged things that ordinarily they would not say in real life. Not to mention how much TIME I was wasting on there! :D So, for several reasons, I will not miss you, Facebook.

Third item of interest:
I have some super blog posts planned for you! One is about burned bread, (trust me, you'll love it) one will be stuffed with pictures I snapped of the pretty fall leaves changing their hues outside my home, and one will showcase photos of an intricate crochet project that has been occupying me for some time. :)

I've also got plans for some way awesome blog backgrounds for you, and will be releasing some in the very near future!

So, till then, I am, yours truly,

Finally NOT Wordless... on Wednesday

Yes, my poor, beloved, neglected blog readers! THIS is the dread reason I have not posted for a week and two days! I got a Facebook.

Wow, what an experience! I found so many long-lost acquaintances (including the girl I grew up living across the street from) that it fairly made my head spin! And there's always so much happening. People are way more current with their FB pages than their blogs.

I promise I will not desert you all for so long again. I still plan to blog as often as I can ... there's something so much classier and personal about a blog post than a one-liner Facebook status update.

Oh, and please don't bother looking for me on Facebook unless you know me in person. I'm not friending anybody I don't know in real life. Sorry. :(

 

A wonderful thing is that all the other MOHL authors were already on Facebook! So now we're all on Facebook together! We even have an inside joke.

^That's the inside joke. But I can't tell you any more about it... because then it would be an "outside" joke! Lol!

As for what else I've been up to besides Facebook... I've been cleaning the house! But that's boring. So I won't go into detail about how my fab housecleaning skills are improving.

I've gone to Ultimate Frisbee Friday and then played the game again the next day at Bible Study... wow. I have not been so stiff and sore for a really long time. Not doing that again any time soon. :D

I've also been.... designing! Blog headers! For friends and family. :) Take a look-see!

My mom's yummy new header. Ah! I love this one!!!!!

My sweet friend Allison's new header... so cute/vintage/country! It fits her lovely personality. :D

Our good friend "Frisbeeman"-s header! I was really happy with how this came out.

So. Life has been fun and full and rich for me the past week! And we've even had some rain fall on our parched ground... thanks be to God! I'm secretly hoping for gorgeous Autumn colors this fall, and the changing leaves are their prettiest when there's been plenty of previous rain.

Have a lovely week!

New FREE blog backgrounds + Just Me and My Little Life

Hey everyone! Listen up! I just posted a new batch of FREE blog backgrounds to "I Love it!" Blog Designs! This week's theme is ..... pink!

Here are my three personal faves out of the series:

Cappucinno

Chandelier Chic

 And...

She's Stunning

You'll make my day if you drop by and leave a comment letting me know if you like them. :D


As for me and my little life...

I've been sick! Yuck. I detest being ill. I had a head cold and sniffles and the beginnings of a sore throat... which I quickly doctored by gargling Listerine (uggggh, I hate the stuff!) ... so thankfully my throat escaped without much trouble. I'm afraid I used up almost a whole box of tissues blowing my nose, though!

The worst part about it was that it hit me just a couple of days before we were supposed to attend the graduation party of a very good friend of ours, and I was so worried that I would miss the Ultimate Frisbee game! Blessedly, I was able to play anyway... I just made myself walk instead of run! :) We had a wonderful time at the get-together and it was so inspiring to hear the speech given by the graduate's dad, about how proud he was of his son.

The best part about being sick was that I could still design blog backgrounds. My mind and creativity were unshackled, despite my body being under the weather! I made tons of blog backgrounds and have as many ready to go as are currently on the blog! :D

And today we started the week by going down the hill and picking the ripe muscadine grapes growing on our property. Unfortunately, there are a lot less than last year, we think due to the extreme drought. There are some, though, and I am determined to harvest as many as possible so we can make our delicious grape jelly! :)

Well, I hope you all have a lovely week... and don't forget, there's still time to enter my giveaway! (see the post below!)

Giveaway to Announce "I Love it!" Blog Designs

It's been too long since I had a giveaway! :D And I have an especially exciting reason to have one now... because I've started a new website for FREE blog backgrounds, and I want to get the word out!
Announcing... "I Love it!" Blog Designs!

 http://iloveitblogdesigns.blogspot.com

I'm so happy about this new endeavor. I've wanted to design my own blog backgrounds for a very long time now, and could never quite figure it out. Well, I determined the other day that I was finally going to conquer the obstacles in my path and DO it.

So I did! :D

 Oh, yes, the giveaway. Right. Here's the information! :D

I am giving away not one, not two, but FIVE pairs of beautiful earrings, handmade by yours truly. :)

 (Sorry, no, the photography props - i.e. the cute teacups - are not included) ;)

There will be FIVE winners in this giveaway, who win one pair of earrings each.

The earrings include:

• Pair #1 - Brown Tigereye (a semi-precious stone) with silver
• Pair #2 - Amethyst (a semi-precious stone) with Swarovski Crystals and silver
• Pair #3 - Clear lampwork glass beads with frosty centers and Swarovski Crystals

•  Pair #4 - Aqua glass beads, 3-dangle style
•  Pair #5 - Red Czech Crystal-cut glass beads with Swarovski Crystals and silver

All the earrings are made with sterling-silver-plated surgical steel French hooks, great for sensitive ears and nickel-free. (Each pair could be changed to clip-ons upon request, but you have to specify it in your entries.)

 Close-ups for your convenience...

(*happy sigh* I am SO glad to have my camera back) ;)

 Allrighty! Now that I've got you drooling over the gorgeous jewelry, here are the rules on how to enter this giveaway:

(Note: You MUST leave a SEPARATE comment for EACH entry. Thank you!)

Mandatory:

• You must be a follower of Julia's Journal to enter
• You must start following "I Love it" Blog Designs to enter  

(each of the above counts for an entry)

Optional:
(for one additional entry each...)

• Add an "I Love it!" Blog Designs background to your blog
• Visit "I Love it!" Blog Designs, come back to THIS POST, and comment about your favorite blog background
• Add the "I Love it!" blog button to your blog's sidebar (see below)

<center><a href="http://iloveitblogdesigns.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq268/Juliathesparklygirl/Iloveitbutton.jpg"/></a></center>

And for

FIVE ADDITIONAL ENTRIES,

• Post about the new "I Love it!" Blog Designs site on your blog.

(Remember to comment five times, once for each additional entry, if you do this, with a link to the blog post so I can come check it out.)

So if you did everything you could to enter, it adds up to a total of TEN entries. Pretty good chances! :D

This giveaway will run for two weeks and end on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011. Five winners will be randomly drawn and announced shortly afterwards. :)


Happy entering!

Some Black and White Photography

Last month I finally got around to filling up a cute photo collage frame I found at Ross. The frame was black with a white mat and there was room for four photographs in it, and there was a scripture verse traced on the glass in black script - it said

The Lord Rejoices... In All He Has Made.

My bright idea was to take four photographs, one of my parents, one of me, and two of my two brothers, in black and white, to fill the frame. My camera, an Olympus PEN E-PL1, has a pretty awesome 'grainy black-&-white' art mode and the pictures came out nicely. I thought you might like to see the photos (... ok, I admit, I wanted to show them to you regardless of whether you want to see them or not) So here they are:

Me, Julia, a self-portrait in the mirror

My Parents.

 I love them so much... I'll always have a special memory of shooting this photo on the porch of our log home - they were both so happy and in such a good mood when I took this shot after a rainstorm that had left the air smelling clean and fresh. Daddy and Mama have dedicated their lives to raising me and my two brothers to be godly and righteous believers, and I will be forever grateful to them. :)

Mark

 Mark is such a kidder. This is the 14th or 15th shot I took of this guy... (the others were either funny faces or blurry) ... and it's so him. He has the nicest smile when he chooses to use it - and of course the cut-off jeans are a part of his usual outfit. One of my favorite things about Mark is his sense of humor, which is absolutely hilarious, but he's also super-smart. And if you ask him any question concerning an ancient civilization, he'll have the answer.

Steven

Another very special photo - this is a glimpse of the gentle sweetness that makes up my youngest brother's character. He's like a big teddy bear at 6'2" (Almost as tall as Mark's 6'3")and built like a linebacker... and only 15 years old! He's got a deep voice to match, and he's so talented at thinking up new designs for the duct tape weapons business (Warfare by Duct Tape). He's great at working with his hands and can juggle and play the harmonica at the same time. ;)


Those are all the pictures in the frame hanging in my bedroom right now.

And now, a preview of my stunning bedroom makeover...

That's all you get for now, until I ... um ... get the (color) pictures downloaded. :D

Also - I gave my blog a makeover! I went with a black & white theme accented with bright aqua. What do you think? I love it except for the slightest suspicion that it's a bit 'stark'. Oh well. ;)

Blessings,

Spring Blog Makeover

My delightful mother picked out an ADORABLE new blog background for her spring makeover. :) I helped her with the font colors and designed a cute new header and blog button for her.

And, the obligatory sneak peek... ;)

I melted when I saw how sweet the finished project looked. You really must head on over to her blog, Gloria In Excelsis Deo, and drop her a little note! I know it would brighten her day to hear how you like her new look. :)

I am frightfully behind in posting pictures of the 8 inches of snow we were blessed with one week ago, but I plan on sharing those very soon. :) (in fact, if I don't post them soon, feel free to send me a little reminder via the comment section saying something like "Julia! Where are those snow pictures you promised??") :D

Love & Hugs!

I Loooooove blog design. :)

Today I went up to a house of some friends of ours and helped the very sweet Mrs. Pam set up a blog! :) We applied a totally awesome background from http://shabbyblogs.com, and I designed a header to go with it and helped Mrs. Pam edit her fonts and colors... and we had such a blast! :D I would have had a way easier time if my photo editing program had worked on her computer... *arrrrrgh* Windows Vista and I are not very good friends. :D However, I managed to outsmart the computer *da-da-da-DAAA! Victory!!* and use a different program to create her header online. (hurrah for Paint.net!)

Now, I would be absolutely thrilled if ya'll went over and said hi and tell Mrs. Pam if you like her new blog! Also, come back and tell me if you liked it or not. I'd love to hear your responses.

Here's a sneak peek.....

Ooooh, isn't it pretty??? :D

Results of the Caption Contest

The winning entries for the Caption contest are:

Abby at His Sparrow

Ha-ha-ha! Are you laughing yet?

......And Miss Lizzy at The Writer's Pen!

If that one didn't make you laugh, there's something seriously wrong with your funnybone. :D

Congratulations ladies! Please leave me a comment with your email address - it won't be published - and we can get to work designing something special for your blogs! :)

Have a cheerful day! ;)

Jewelry and Blog Header Giveaway!

As those of you who follow my friend Jasmine's blog already know - she is hosting a giveaway of  one of my necklace sets, and a custom-designed blog header that I'll make for the other lucky winner! :)

I just thought I'd let you know the giveaway post is up and open for entries! So go on over to Joyfully Home and enter to win!

To recap on how to enter:
Leave a comment on Jasmine's post telling her you want to enter for either the necklace set, blog header, or both.

For EXTRA entries:

• Grab my new blog button (it's over there on my sidebar) and put it on your blog or website and comment letting Jasmine know you did.
• Head to my Jewelry Shop and then tell Jasmine what your favorite item is.
• Do a post about the giveaway on your blog or facebook and then come back and tell Jasmine that you did.

DON'T COMMENT TO ENTER on THIS post, the entries will be counted over at JASMINE'S post. ;)

Giveaway ends on Friday, December 18th - you have 2 weeks!

Happy Entering!

Three Exhilarating Things

Exhilaration
NOUN: The state of being enlivened, cheerful or exhilarated.

That's me at the moment! I have so much to be excited about that I'm thrilled right down to my fingertips.

Reasons for this feeling of euphoria?

1. Emily Joy helped me fix my background! Yay! My little blog looks so purty now, I could just burst with happiness! :) A great big thank you and hug to Emily for helping me out!

2. This Friday, Jasmine Baucham is hosting a giveaway on her blog of a custom designed blog header AND a fine glass necklace and earring set that I created ! Woohoo! This is such a blessing for me as it will help promote my Etsy shops, and hopefully send some customers my way! :) Thank you Jasmine. You are such a sweetheart!

3. I have no less than FIVE blog awards to post about and pass on to some of my dear bloggy friends. Whew! Ya'll are overwhelming me with your awards here! :D I love it but it's a lot of work. :)

Soooo... I will be kept hopping in the days between now and Friday listing things on my Etsy shops for people to look at and hopefully purchase. :)

Blog awards will be forthcoming soon, just not right now. :P

Love & Hugs,

Post-a-Day #28- Crocheted Doughnuts & Rock Ranch pics

Sorry for the lateness of today's post!
Today I helped my mom give her blog a 'quilty' ♥makeover♥!! I love it! Do go see it and tell her if you like it... Click Here.

A Preview

As for my Riddle... Wow, you are all just too smart! :) My hints were way too easy for you. :)
Yes, I was crocheting doughnuts. I made a strawberry one a while ago and then made a few more...

(Sorry for the blurry focus)

Vanilla with rainbow sprinkles

This one's not quite done yet - Grape with "jellybeans" on top:

I also have (left to right) First row: "Ultra Strawberry", "Double Chocolate", "Unfinished - I'm thinking of perhaps peachy-colored frosting-" and the grape and rainbow sprinkles ones.


*~*~*~*~*~*
We had lots of fun at the Rock Ranch! We heard later from a friend that it rained buckets after we left - good thing we got out of there when we did. :)

Daddy & Boys in the corn maze

The Rock Ranch is home to many different kinds of farm animals... I loved these miniature ponies! (They hardly come up to my knees in height!)
The goats were *very* friendly...
The very fortunate goats had a totally awesome treehouse and high bridges that, if clambered across, led to another pasture!

I spotted some sheep, too.

And we very much enjoyed the paddleboats! Daddy and I chased Mark and Steven around the lake, bumping into them when we could catch them. The boys loved it, pretending to be in the midst of a heroic "Naval battle". :)

See video for details. :)

They told us to move to one side of the lake so we'd be out of the way of the ... PUMPKIN CANNON??

That thing shot pumpkins WAY across the lake and they exploded upon landing in the pasture at the other side. Wow! It was so cool. Unfortunately I don't have footage of it firing or a photo of the pumpkins flying through the air above our heads. :O

We bought some water bottles at the "Possum Trot Cafe" ... which boasted, on their fake menu (not the real one, thank goodness!) "Raccoon Fingers, Hog jowls w' grease, Squirrel Gravy, Fried Muskrat, Possum Stew, Highway 36 Potluck" and ..."Road Rage Ribs".

Can anyone say "Eeeeeew!" ?

Hope you enjoyed today's post!

Post-a-Day #22

According to my calendar, today is the first day of Fall!

However, us Georgians are still waiting for those leaves to change into beautiful colors. Right now everything is still green. (And wet! We've had a lot of rain lately and it's supposed to rain all week!) Sigh...

Well, yesterday I stayed inside away from all the inclement weather, and .... gave my blog a makeover!

The only thing I have left to finish are the sidebar tags like this one.

I was especially happy with how the new blog button came out! Make sure to update if you still have my old one! :)

But... I think my favorite part of the makeover, hands down, is the header.

I was going for a Scrapbook-style look, and I was thrilled with how it turned out. :)


This afternoon we are going over to a friend's house, so that means we have to get our school finished this morning... which means I should be signing off for now! :) Have a lovely day!