Thursday Pearls

"Gratitude unleashes the freedom to live content in the moment, rather than being anxious about the future or regretting the past."

~ Ellen V.

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Dear friends, you may have noticed I have changed the title of these Thursday posts of inspiration and encouragement...

The name was inspired by my sweet blogging friend, Ashley...   I felt it was time for a change...something fresh and lovely for Spring!

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May you have a truly beautiful, joyfilled day in the Lord Jesus!  ❤

 "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

~ 1 Corinthians 2:9

 Painting by Fredrick Morgan ~ A Day on the River

...Spring

 

Beautiful and delicate sweet peas are blooming in the hanging baskets...

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Oh, Spring is indeed here and my heart is truly glad....

Spring is my very favourite season, and I am delighted to be digging about

in the brown earth once again, sowing flower and vegetable seeds whilst 

listening to the cheerful song of the birds and feeling the gentle, warm spring 

breeze blow whisps of hair across my face...  

I can understand the happiness the birds feel within, for I do 

indeed feel the same way at this time of year...

"...All at once, one day, it's Spring!"

~ Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Welcome, beautiful Spring...

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"Clap your hands, all you people.  

Shout to God with a loud, joyful song..."

~ Psalm 47:1 

Lace Loveliness & Joy in Doing What You Love…

The other day I was given a bag of lovely crafty goodies that belonged to an older lady who passed away a couple of years ago…  Her husband recently had cleared out her creative corner, and passed his late wife’s supplies on to another lady who then thought of me…

It was quite sad to look at each item and think of the sweet lady who treasured them and loved adding new lace, fabric, books and wool to her collection of crafty goodies…

Such  gorgeous lace…

  This broad lace looks as if it belongs on an elegant bridal gown...

 

My favourite...delicate pink lace...

I love this borad cream coloured lace...such a beautiful design... 

This white is so pretty with the light pink edging!

Soft blue lace... 
 

One doesn’t see lace such as this all that often…at least not where I live…

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It is such a joy to have a hobby…to have collections of goodies you can turn into beautiful creations and bless others with…

These are just a few of the cards I made yesterday afternoon with my beautiful new lace…

 

Vintage butterflies...

 

Red and cream...

I am blessed in that my hobby turned into a business last July, and I am able to use beautiful fabrics, pretty buttons and lovely lace almost everyday…

But sometimes it is delightful to spend a little time creating something for yourself…trying a wonderful new pattern or sorting buttons, lace and fabric scraps.

I believe we should all do something we love to do…perhaps it is calligraphy…music…painting…cooking…  Maybe like me it is a few things such as quilting, knitting or gardening…

It is lovely dreaming something up, and then creating it with your hands and your heart, pouring love into every detail…there is something uniquely satisfying in this process…

What are a few of your hobbies…?

~ Saturday blessings, dearest readers ~ 
 

 ~ And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.  Psalm 90:27 ~

Thoughtful Thursday

“You are never too old to set another
goal or to dream a new dream.”

~ C.S. Lewis

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." 

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

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Have a wonderfully blessed Thursday, my sweet friends!

Thoughtful Thursday

"A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God;

of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom;

and that it is by God's power that he is upheld and provided for,

and that he needs God's wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might

to do what he ought to do for Him."

~ Jonathan Edwards 

" Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."  - Ephesians 6:10, KJV

Praying each you sweet readers have a beautifully blessed Thursday!

~ With joy in Jesus ~

 

 This picture was taken on Mother's Day, 2015 at a beautiful beach near us...

Spring is in the Air & a Little Catch Up...

Oh, how dearly I love this time of the year!
There is a joy that fills my heart as I breathe in the delightful scent of the coming spring...

The days are beginning to lengthen...there is a little more sunshine with every passing day, and it is happily warmer which means I don't have to wear quite so many layers of clothing...{happy sigh}

"It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"  - Mark Twain

Gorgeous sweet peas grace our hanging baskets...they bring such cheer!

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August has been a busy month thus far for me as I finish planning our summer garden and prepare vegetable beds with rich compost...  There are pepper and tomato seeds to be sown, and chicks to be bought so that we can increase our little flock somewhat...  Usually I spend a Monday working in the glorious outdoors...

 One of my favourite flowers...Calendula...

The rest of the week is usually spent sewing new heartmade products, babysitting an adorable little boy, blogging and all the other lovely things that fill each day with both work and pleasure...

Before winter slips by completely, I decided to knit a gorgeous green cowl for myself as alas!  I have not picked up my knitting needles for months!  In the evenings we have been watching Bleak House by Charles Dickens, and I am happy to say my knitting needles have been clicking throughout...I hope I will have time to wear my new cowl before it gets too warm!

I sorted out my sewing and papercraft supplies just the other day, and oh!  How good it felt!

As I mentioned before, I am already doing some Christmas sewing, namely my fabric reindeer which are among the favourite products on the heart❤made stall at Christmastime...

A few brighter, busier days at the market meant I could visit my favourite quilting shop once again and stock up on a few more beautiful fabrics...at the moment I just buy fat quarters, as this gives me enough fabric to work with without tiring of the design...

Do visit heart❤made to ''meet'' the reindeer!

You might like to see my darling new Miss Lettice rabbits...on my recent visit to the Cape, my grandmother sweetly took me to the fabric shop there and spoilt me with some delightful new fabrics...I thought they would be perfect for Miss Lettice outfits, and set to work sewing them shortly after my return...oh!  Sometimes I do wish I could keep the items I make to sell!

 

My sweet sister, Nancy, crocheted these beautiful earrings for me...she has added these to heart❤made, along with a few more pretty designs!  I am hoping to showcase them on the heart❤made blog sometime very soon...

 

 I love these crocheted earrings...they complete a winter outfit perfectly!

Oh, and I thought I must show you a few photographs of the lovely baking and tea party my dear friend had for her 18th birthday in July...

Filling beautifully decortated glass jars with flowers for the tea table...

Heidi-Mari is so wonderfully organised and made sure everything was perfectly planned...each young lady was assigned a team, and she and her teammates were in charge of certain tasks such as baking coffee cupcakes, preparing the toppings for the mini pizzas and so on...it was such a delightful way to get to know the other girls and have fun while about it...we baked, chatted and then donned scarves and hats and took pictures outside...then we had a beautiful high tea and enjoyed the sweet treats we baked during the morning...

 

Dear friends...

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Other lovelies lately have included long letters to sweet far away friends...

"What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm humann hand-clasp."  - Author Unknown

 
 Pleasant walks along gravel roads and fields surrounding our home...

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therin."  - Psalm 24:1


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What have you been busy with lately, sweet friends...?

I am afraid I haven't been able to share as much here as I would like to...but springtime is always blissfully busy!

~ Have the loveliest of Tuesdays ~ 

Thoughtful Thursday

"If we had no Winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; If we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

~Anne Bradstreet

May you have a pleasant Thursday, sweet friends!

 

 "The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties.  I am convinced that nothing can ever seperate us from God's love..."

~ Romans 8:37-38