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All Sparkled Up

~ Like dew hanging from the tip of a leaf, a single bead or word adds sparkle where there was none. BE the bright!

All Sparkled Up

Category Archives: sunlight

My kitten is growing

21 Sunday May 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in cats, pets, photography, sunlight, Uncategorized

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cats, pets, photography

Coco sleeps 6897 s

Her favorite chair is the one in the sun.

How fast the time is passing. She does love the sun.

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Don’t miss it

23 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, color, encouragement, gardening, nature, photography, sparkling, sunlight

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encouragement, macro, nature, photography, sparkling, sunlight

Yesterday I took a poinsettia outside to shake out the dead leaves. One leaf from the poinsettia had fallen. And then it rained during the night.

The day was busy but from the dining room, the tiny sparkle caught my eye.

The poinsettia leaf was no longer on the plant. During the night, it rained.

The poinsettia leaf was no longer on the plant. During the night, it rained.

I looked closer and it was even sparklier.

The poinsettia leaf had fallen but it was still good for something. It held rain.

The poinsettia leaf had fallen but it was still good for something. It held rain.

What are you missing today? Is there something you need to look at? What is tiny and quiet that you forgot? Love it all. And if you’re what has fallen, collect light from where you are.

Even a fallen leaf can still be bright. Don't waste anything, even hitting bottom.

Even a fallen leaf can still be bright. Don’t waste anything, even hitting bottom.

Never give up.

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A little snow and ice last week

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, nature, photography, sunlight

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

beautiful, ice, nature, photography, sunlight, winter

Photos just can’t capture what the eye sees. I walked under the ice-coated branches and looked up through them. I wish everyone could experience the beauty of an ice storm. We lost power for a couple days so that wasn’t easy getting through but what I remember most is the crystalline beauty. Diamonds!
1 Winter Jan 2016
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11 Winter Jan 2016
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14 Winter Jan 2016
15 Winter Jan 2016
16 Winter Jan 2016
17 Winter Jan 2016
18 Winter Jan 2016
19 Winter Jan 2016
20 Winter Jan 2016

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Ballerina in the Sunset

17 Saturday Oct 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, ballet, beach, nature, photography, sparkling, sunlight, sunset, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

All Sparkled Up, ballet, beach, children, nature, peaceful, photo, photography, sunlight, sunset

For just a moment, she stood in the sunset.

For just a moment, she stood in the sunset.

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There, in the sun

06 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, color, family, lighting, photography, sparkling, sunlight

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Tags

color, family, hair, photography, portrait, sunlight

“Don’t move!” I told her.

The sun shines through the west window for a short time each late afternoon, hitting a narrow sliver of wall half way between the dining room and living room. Sometimes I move the dining room chair and sit in that small sliver, if only for a short time and let the sun soak into my face, eyes closed.

She was walking from the living room to the dining room and paused just a moment and I happen to look over at that moment and I told her Don’t move because I wanted to capture the sun on her blue hair.  One moment more either way and I would have missed it.

How many moments like that have we missed because we’re too busy walking or talking or cleaning or doing?  The sun follows the same path every day. It isn’t the sun that changes, it is I. I don’t want to miss what the sun lights.

She stopped briefly in the sun, just long enough for me to capture the frame.

She stopped briefly in the sun, just long enough for me to capture the frame.

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A Warm February Day in the Woods

09 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, family, nature, photography, sparkling, sunlight

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Tags

children, family, nature, photo, photography, sunlight, sunset, trees, woods

In the Woods 14 1

In the Woods 14 2

In the Woods 14 3

In the Woods 14 4

In the Woods 14 5

The sun set slow and beautiful.
The warmth wove between us like soft sunbeams.

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Winter Tree

05 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, art, color, God, nature, painting, photography, sunlight

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

All Sparkled Up, color, nature, photo, photography, snow, tree, watercolor, winter, Winter snow, winter tree

I accidentally set the exposure in my camera wrong. But sometimes what we do wrong ends up being way better than right. God didn’t want me to see a bare winter tree in my mom’s yard, he wanted to show me all the color.

Watercolor Winter Tree. This is a photograph, badly overexposed and with some motion blur. But oh the color! I almost missed it. Some day I'm going to make a real watercolor like it.

Watercolor Winter Tree. This is a photograph, badly overexposed and with some motion blur. But oh the color! I almost missed it. Some day I’m going to make a real watercolor like it.

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Angel Curtain Treatment

12 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, Christmas, DIY, holiday, home decor, lighting, sunlight, tutorial, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

angel, Angel Window Treatment, Christmas, Christmas window, curtain treatment, curtains, DIY, home decor, tutorial, window treatment

All I wanted was a little more light in the dining room so I gathered up the curtain in one hand and pulled it up and discovered … an Angel Curtain Treatment!

Angel Curtain Treatment

Angel Curtain Treatment

[Please excuse my unwashed window. We’ve pared back on a lot of things since my surgery. ;) ]

Normally, the sheer curtain just hangs over a tension rod stuck in the window frame. I don’t hang the curtain full length as normal, using the rod through the curtain sleeve, but rather just drape the floor-length panel over the tension rod so the pretty embroidered bottom edge hangs about halfway up the window as seen in this fall photo.
I also like the double thickness of the sheer when I hang the curtain like that.
1 b Fall arrangement 2014

To make the angel curtain treatment, all you need are two S hooks with lengths of ribbon tied on and whatever decoration you want to use for the top of the “angel head.” That’s it! One end of the ribbon is shorter than the other when tied, as you can see here.
2 Angel Curtain Treatment

I made two S hooks from an old hanger, making sure they would fit over the tension curtain rod. I like using the inner stiffening layer from men’s ties as ribbon. (You can see what else I used the tie pieces for here.) In this tutorial, I will call the wool tie interlining pieces “ribbons” for clarity.
3 Angel Curtain Treatment

The curtain is very light and airy and you can see how long it is here. I’m not sure this treatment would work as easily with a heavier curtain. Also, the top of the curtain will actually be the bottom of the angel’s dress. So the back of the curtain’s hemmed sleeve must look good.
4 Angel Curtain Treatment

To begin making the angel, the S hooks with ribbons were hung near the center of the rod.
5 Angel Curtain Treatment

The two shorter ends of the ribbons were tied loosely across the middle, wrapped several times to make the ends hang at the sides of the “angel head.” I didn’t have to tie any knots because the rough tie fabric held position easily when wrapped around several times. But if your ribbon is slick, like satin, you will have to pin it together to make it stay.
6 Angel Curtain Treatment

Here I’m lightly gathering the curtain in one hand, a little above the embroidered edge. I adjusted the curtain length over the rod and made sure the embroidered edge was arranged with pretty folds as I gathered it together.
8 Angel Curtain Treatment

Once the curtain was gathered together in my hand, I raised it up.
9 Angel Curtain Treatment

Again, I adjusted the folds to adjust the bottom of the curtain.
10 Angel Curtain Treatment

Once the curtain was held up, I looped the long left ribbon under and around the bundle of gathered curtain.
11 Angel Curtain Treatment
12 Angel Curtain Treatment

The two long long lengths of ribbon tie were tied together under the gathered bundle.
13 Angel Curtain Treatment

I fine tuned the embroidered curtain edge, pulling it down a bit to make it longer.
14 Angel Curtain Treatment

Here you can see the curtain sleeve from the top of the curtain now hanging at the bottom of the angel’s dress.
15 Angel Curtain Treatment

To finish the angel, I simply tucked a small halo of gold star holiday wire and a Christmas package decoration on top of the ribbon tie.
16 Angel Curtain Treatment
17 Angel Curtain Treatment

The finished Angel Curtain Treatment

18 Angel Curtain Treatment

An angel spreads her wings of sheer batiste. She disappears at night when I let the curtain down and the window sill lights shimmer through like stars.

To make this window treatment took less than 5 minutes. Seriously, it took longer to rummage through my old ribbon box to find the package decoration! To take it down, simply untie the ribbon from behind the curtain and remove the S hooks. Super simple.

And Thank You, Brenda, for your husband’s ties. This project finished up the linings I had from the first batch of ties. Your bag of ties will be plenty for new projects!

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Tea by the Sea

15 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in family, food, grandkids, nature, sunlight, tea time

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

beach, cakes, cookies, family, food, Mom, ocean, picnic basket, sunlight, sunset, tea, tea time, waiting

She’s six now. Last year she carried a ship to the beach. This year she carried a picnic basket.
1 Tea by the Sea
2 Tea by the Sea
3 Tea by the Sea
4 Tea by the Sea
The delicious treats filled the tray.
5 Tea by the Sea
6 Tea by the Sea
The blooming tea was still warm.
7 Tea by the Sea
8 Tea by the Sea
Coconut Cream glaze dripped down the blueberry pomegranate jam-filled cakes. Some were topped with toasted coconut and macadamias, others were topped with sugared rose and lilac petals. Vanilla pearls were sprinkled on top of shell-shaped spice Madeleines. Tiny oranges looked like blooming lotus blossoms and green and Concorde grapes filled the bowl. Crumbly Lavender Lemon Shortbread squares and tea cups were piled on the picnic basket top.

On the top tray: Vanilla Bean cakes filled with Blueberry Pomegranate Jam and topped with Coconut Cream Glaze, toasted coconut & macadamias, sugared lavender and rose petals. On the bottom tray, Spice Madeleines sprinkled with vanilla pearls. On the dessert plates under the tea cups: Lavender Lemon Shortbread.

On the top tray: Vanilla Bean cakes filled with Blueberry Pomegranate Jam and topped with Coconut Cream Glaze, toasted coconut & macadamias, sugared lavender and rose petals. On the bottom tray, Spice Madeleines sprinkled with vanilla pearls. On the dessert plates under the tea cups: Lavender Lemon Shortbread.

10 Tea by the Sea
She poured a cup of tea and waited by the sea.
11 Tea by the Sea
The sunset was soft and dreamy.
12 Tea by the Sea
The breeze was warm and welcome.
13 Tea by the Sea
The colors were slipping away and still she waited.
14 Tea by the Sea
She didn’t stop hoping
15 Tea by the Sea
And finally her mom sat down. Even when the sunset is gone, Tea by the Sea is best with mom.
16 Tea by the Sea

[We had a wonderful time making the treats for this, setting up the table and photographing it all. Thank you, Gabriel Monroe, for being second shooter and lighting expert. Thank you, Donna, for your lovely suggestions and help. Thank you, Uncle Butch and Aunt Dilly, for the use of your beautiful chair! We had a splendid time and it was perfect.
The lovely lace-embossed Filigree appetizer plates, bowl and infinity tray are by Rosanna, Inc.]

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Psalm 89 8-9

14 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, God, Inspirational, Scripture, sunlight, words

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

God, inspirational, ocean, scripture, Sunset Beach, waves

photo card Ps 89 8-9 p

Please feel free to print this 4″x6″ inspirational card. Click on the photo to access a larger image.

This photo was taken yesterday at Sunset Beach, NC. I still remember the sound of the waves and the warm moist breeze on my skin. Shh… breathe…

God is good.

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One year ago today I broke my back... and didn't know it.

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