Artful Journey

and nothing transforms like a butterfly...the metamorphosis is symbolic to so many cultures and religions. The butterfly offers an explanation of the life cycle, and in Christian faiths a symbol of resurrection. In Asian culture, butterflies symbolize long life and love. Native Americans see the butterfly as a symbol of color, change and joy. For them, wishes whispered to the butterfly rise to the heavens. To many people throughout the world, the butterfly symbolizes hope and change. Is it any wonder that I am always on the lookout for them? On our day trip to Ogunquit, I saw some beautiful gardens, lots of color, the ocean, and butterflies... spotted some butterflies... These butterflies were fluttering around in the beautiful gardens outside the Ogunquit Museum of American art. The sculpture garden, flowers and view were amazing. Art and Nature combined.. From here we walked the Marginal Way at Ogunquit, another of my favorite spots... Spectacula...

Here's a post I meant to put up before I went on my vacation. Technically it's not a 2nd post, more like a second attempt at a post. I am hoping that's close enough for Bluebeard and Elizabeth's Second on the 2nd. It must be Spring...so I used flowers as a theme for the envelope exchange. Here's three for the Pushing the Envelope Exchange. It's my usual style, although I did try to coordinate the postage with the design, as well as the card inserted. I wanted to do a few different varieties too, just to mix it up. The envelope to Jean started in black and white, though it seemed a little blah, so I added some colored pencil but kept it muted. Faux lace, but next time I will use a ruler. For Faye, I used one of my rubber stamps. A pet stamp would have coordinated nicely, maybe next time. Plenty of outside inspiration too! Around my garden... Wishing you a sun filled, fun filled, mail box filled kind of day!

Patriots Day is a holiday here...a funny sort of holiday, because some people have off and others don't. Fortunately for me, Fi had off, so that meant some quality time together. I am a firm believer if there is an opportunity for fun together, you need to go for it and make it special in some small way. We started our day with a trip to Swiss Bakers, whose motto is "our food makes you feel good". No false advertising there, they are right. swiss bakers, store front ham and cheese croissant We were fortunate enough to find Swiss Bakers through a groupon deal a few years ago, and it was a find. It's not a big place, but it has a variety of savory and sweet croissants, freshly baked breads, and rolls.  So that we would make the most of our visit, we grabbed a raspberry almond croissant for that evening. From there it was time to head to the beach. My happy place. A little windy, so we had the whole beach to ourselves...after our visit, we admired ...

Spring is here, and it's in full bloom at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. I love spring, when the flowers are starting to emerge from the ground. My dad was a landscaper, so I grew up around gardens and flowers. We would joke that we could smell the pansies coming in on the trucks and we would be the first gardeners there.  I was excited with the advent of spring, but even more so when my daughters surprised me with a mother's day/birthday gift to Disney World. What an amazing gift! Panorama at Epcot Epcot was brimming with color, topiaries, flowers, and charming vistas...beauty in every direction. Just a touch of color A butterfly garden... And of course there was Tea... Time for a Cuppa You would think this was as good as it gets. But no, the piece de resistance had to be afternoon tea at  Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian. No wonder they say Grand! I have been lucky enough to enjoy tea parties with the girls and...