Month: November 2017

Four Seasons with Jodi – Exploring Color

/ Jodi / 39 Comments

With Jodi’s kind permission I’m sharing some of my favourite posts from her fantastic blog, of which you could say that I’m a devoted follower. If you enjoy beauty, art and inspiration (not to mention mouth-watering food recipes) then Jodi’s blog simply has it all! I feel honoured that Jodi so generously allows me to […]

I was so honored by this beautiful post created by Liz at Exploring Color, I had to share.  Thank you my sweet friend Liz from the other side of the world in New Zealand!

I hope you enjoy this beautiful post she created about the Four Seasons from my blog.   My heart is so touched.  I hope you will check out her lovely blog.

Four Seasons with Jodi

Autumn

I’m starting with Autumn because this recent post of Jodi’s prompted me to do ‘Four Seasons with Jodi’. It touched my heart…

Let the Rain Fall

goldfinch-in-the-rain
Goldfinch in the Rain – Autumn, Mars, PA

I watched you as you sat proud and beautiful
while the rain fell on and around you.

You didn’t need
the sun to make you shine.

In fact,
you stood out even brighter in the cloudy drizzle.

And I was reminded
true beauty comes from within.

It can’t be soaked or drenched
or washed off.

It can’t be dampened or doused
by the storms of life.

Let the rain fall.
Let the storms crash.

And continue to shine
your authentic beautiful self.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Link for original post:  Let the Rain Fall

Winter

Snowy Pines Watercolor

winter-landscape-snowy-reflections-11x14-400-lb-cold-press
Winter Snowy Pine Reflections Watercolor – 11×14 140lb cold press

Is anything crazier or more unpredictable than the weather?!

Where I live, we went from record highs one week
to record lows the next.

From open windows and shorts and bare feet –
to snow flurries and wool socks and sweaters.

And one cold day I painted this winter scene
(inspired by a photo I saw that I cannot find credit for).

It’s funny how the cold scene
gives me a warm feeling.

Almost as crazy as the weather!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Link for original post:  Snowy Pines Watercolor

Spring

A Brief Visit

dogwood-tree-blossoms
The Old Dogwood Trees’ Blossoms

Your visit is so brief….
but your memory lingers,

and it is ceremoniously revived
each Spring when you surprise me yet again.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Link for original post:  A Brief Visit

Summer

A Bumble Bee Named Buzz

bumble-bee-buzz-watercolor-8x10-140lb-saunders-cold-press
Buzz the Bumble Bee 8×10 Watercolor 140lb Saunders Cold Press

On the edge of a meadow lives a bumble bee named Buzz.
He lives near his aunt and his uncle and his cuz.

Aunt Sally, Uncle Sam, and Sherman they was.
They love Buzz more than any other in Americas.

Sherman and Buzz love to play and dance because
It is what all the bumble bees in the meadow does.

So if you see dancing bees and think your eyes are a fuzz,
don’t be surprised if it’s Sherman and Buzz.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Link for original post:  A Bumble Bee Named Buzz

One of Jodi’s friends left a wonderful quote in the ‘comments’ on this post:

“The hum of bees is the voice of the garden”

– Elizabeth Lawrence

Buzz the bumble bee is one of many cute animal characters in Jodi’s newly published children’s book Klaus The Mouse

Klaus The Mouse

Klaus the Mouse by Jodi McKinney – Amazon

Available for order HERE.

Jodi contributed a guest post in my Where and What is Beauty? series.

 

 Please visit Liz’s beautiful blog – Exploring Colour.

via Four Seasons with Jodi — Exploring Colour

I hope you are enjoying whatever season of weather and of life you are in!
Cherish the Moments!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Sugar Free, No Calorie Candy Canes

/ Jodi / 48 Comments

Sugar Free, No Calorie Candy Canes.

How stinkin’ cute are these old-fashioned, rustic, sugar-free, no-calorie, cheerful, colorful candy canes – all packaged up to make them even more adorable?!

We’ll have these at our booth today at the Mars Holiday Craft Show!

My DIL, Colleen, made them (and I’m secretly hoping there are some left over so I can buy them to decorate my tree!) 

We’ll have these and lots of fun rustic pallet signs and decor as well as some of my holiday original and print watercolor art framed or not, holiday cards, and copies of Klaus the Mouse!

Yep!  That’s where you will find us today if you are anywhere near Mars, PA!  We’ll be smiling and celebrating with 260 other vendors spread out between the high school and the middle school with shuttle bus service between.

Hope to see you there – in person or in spirit.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

S’More Cookie Bars

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

S’More Cookie Bars.

What S’more fun than S’mores?!

And what s’more perfect with hot cocoa or coffee than s’mores.

And what s’more delicious than campfire s’mores?

S’more cookie bars any time of year!

I love these adorable little cookie treats I learned from my daughter-in-law, Colleen, who first served them at a holiday cookie exchange she hosted a couple years ago.

They are simple.   They are fun. They are beautiful.  And best of all, they are SCRUMPTIOUS!

The teeny tiny miniature dehydrated marshmallows totally make them!  I purchased them locally at Make a Cake, a local, charming little cake and candy decorating shop, but they are also available online if you can’t find them near you.

Here is how to make them.

S'more Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

Directions:

After breaking all graham crackers and chocolate bars into rectangles, place one chocolate rectangle between two graham cracker rectangles forming a sandwich.

Melt Merckens milk chocolate one pound at a time in microwave.  Heat for 1 minute on high.  Stir well.  Heat 20-30 more seconds.  Stir well until smooth.

Dip each graham cracker and chocolate bar sandwich into chocolate – coating 1/2 – 2/3 of cookie.   Let excess drip, and place on sheet of wax paper to cool and harden.  Dip 4-6, place on wax paper, and sprinkle with marshmallows.  Working in groups allows the marshmallows to stick to the melted chocolate before it cools to harden.  Continue until all are coated and sprinkled with marshmallows.  Allow to cool and harden.

They are ready within 20-30 minutes to enjoy or store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

P.S.  If you are local, I made these to share at the Berry Vine Gifts Christmas in the Woods Open House, which starts today, Friday, November 17th (10-6).  It also runs through the weekend, Saturday, November 18th (10-6) and Sunday, November 19th (12-4).  Come munch on one with a cup of cocoa while you browse the beautiful holiday handmade crafts, antique furniture, and gifts in this one-of-a-kind shoppe (including my art and Colleen’s rustic pallet signs!) 

Let the Rain Fall

/ Jodi / 43 Comments
Goldfinch in the Rain - Autumn, Mars, PA

Goldfinch in the Rain – Autumn, Mars, PA

Let the Rain Fall.

I watched you as you sat proud and beautiful
while the rain fell on and around you.

You didn’t need
the sun to make you shine.

In fact,
you stood out even brighter in the cloudy drizzle.

And I was reminded
true beauty comes from within.

It can’t be soaked or drenched
or washed off.

It can’t be dampened or doused
by the storms of life.

Let the rain fall.
Let the storms crash.

And continue to shine
your authentic beautiful self.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

The Light

/ Jodi / 31 Comments
Chandelier at Omni William Penn Ballroom, Pittsburgh, PA - 11/2017

Chandelier at Omni William Penn Ballroom, Pittsburgh, PA – 11/2017

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was at a meeting this week at the beautiful Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA.    The Omni is a gorgeous historical classic that was built in 1915 and hailed as the “Grandest Hotel in the Nation” when it opened in 1916.

During a tour in preparation for an upcoming conference I’ll be part of, I couldn’t help but snap a picture of one of the gorgeous chandeliers that hangs in the ballroom.  I thought of all of the galas and weddings and celebrations that took place under their sparkling light.  I thought of all the love that was shared….  all the victories celebrated…  all the accomplishments recognized.  And the chandeliers became more significant.  They represented over 100 years of “light.”

May we all shine as bright.
May we all be the light.

 

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Snowy Pines Watercolor

/ Jodi / 82 Comments
Winter Snowy Pine Reflections Watercolor - 11x14 140lb cold press

Winter Snowy Pine Reflections Watercolor – 11×14 140lb cold press

Snowy Pines Watercolor.

Is anything crazier or more unpredictable than the weather?!

Where I live, we went from record highs one week
to record lows the next.

From open windows and shorts and bare feet –
to snow flurries and wool socks and sweaters.

And one cold day I painted this winter scene
(inspired by a photo I saw that I cannot find credit for).

It’s funny how the cold scene
gives me a warm feeling.

Almost as crazy as the weather!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

LOVE is all you need

/ Jodi / 44 Comments
Love Heart Abstract Watercolor 11x14 140lb cold press

Love Heart Abstract Watercolor 11×14 140lb cold press

LOVE is all you need.

In these days of…
terrorism,
war,
shootings,
suicide,
drug abuse,
social pressures,
revelations of sexual abuse allegations,
fights over politics,
disagreement over religion…

Can’t we simply
seek
Love?

Why is it so hard…
to just Love?

 

Today is Sunday.
Our family will be gathering
to watch football
and eat together.

To me – that is love…
being together,
being there for each other,
spending time together,
supporting each other.

Let’s seek love
for ourselves,
for others,
and for the world.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi