The Essence of Sweet Nothings...a mini blog tour

Hi, ya'll.

 I received this very nice email from

Cecilia Lynne of My Thrift Store Addition blog

Hi there BJ ,

You don't know me but we have a mutual friend: Audrey@Timeless Treasures. She is a sweetheart and suggested I contact you to participate in a blog tour. I have committed to post for August 4 and introduce 3 other bloggers. The bloggers I introduce will then post August 11 introducing 3 bloggers they invite....and so on.

It sounds like a fun way to find some great blogs and new friends. Will you be one of my bloggers?
Just let me know.
Either way, nice to meet you!
Blessings,
Cecilia
**********

My thanks, Cecilia, for inviting me to do this MINI BLOG TOUR.

Cecilia is an awesome DIY'er...

She loves thrifting with a passion and knows just what to do with her treasures to make them her own.

I just love this and am looking for a cute basket to spray paint in this luscious color.

 I just learned from her that
HOME DEPOT has chalk paint, much cheaper than other chalk paints.

You should go over to her blog and see the chairs she just painted with this color....they are to die for.

Her patio furniture looks sooo sharp with the newness she just gave it.

You should go visit  

Cecilia Lynne of My Thrift Store Addition blog

and please tell her bj said hey. 

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 I started blogging in 2007 and was so scared to publish that first post...
remember how YOU felt..?

One of the first blogs I started reading was
MY ROMANTIC HOME

CINDY'S blog was so beautiful and her style of decorating is just awesome.
"I love your choice of turquoise for accents, Cindy."

Cindy just made a move and it looks like her new place is coming together nicely.

I was to work with the questions below, in red, using my own spin on the answers.

What am I working on:

I have no projects going at this time. I do have a piece of furniture I am anxious to get painted but it's going to wait until fall and cooler weather.

I have another project in mind, involving SHUTTERS (I luv shutters) but haven't found the ones with just the right bit of chippy, scrubby, just a little bit almost ugly so I can give 'em some love and character and charm. ♥

The last project I did was a few months ago.....

My Spa Hutch 

 

My plain black olden hutch that belonged to my mama needed a beauty treatment. 

And, boy, did I have something in mind for her.

I used some olden shutters in this large closet room
on either side of the window.

 

 First, I gave her insides a beautiful COLOR..

TURQUOISE...the color of the sea...

Then, I filled her with white fluffy towels...
black and whites...
a fluffy white robe hanging on her arm door. 

 

This tiny project is just the kind I like.

Great results in a short time.

As I age, I'm very careful about starting on larger projects, knowing my limits...

it saves on the freaking out moments.

 Why do I create what I do?

My creating  is mostly my blog. I am not talented in crafty things, I don't sew very much and altho I LIKE to cook, my idea of a wonderful recipe always includes MIXES. I am such a SEMI-HOMEMADE kind of girl.

I do have a passion for decorating our home. Like all of you, I enjoy pretty rooms and I have so much fun going to thrift stores to find one of a kind pieces.
I like the look of a room that appears to have taken years for it to come together. Older pieces, finished in my taste and style, seem to  do that, better than a lot of new pieces.

One of my very favorite things in blogging is COPY CATTING. :)

I like copying a photo out of a catalog or magazine. Pottery Barn is always fun to copy.

A few years back, there were several Copy Cat link parties and they were so much fun.

POTTERY BARN on your left...over $100.00

My version on your right...$6 from an estate sale.

What fun I had, dressing her in jewelry and taking photos.

 Using photos of her jewels and face made an interesting mosaic.

How does my work differ from others?

Blogging is so much fun to me. I love every bit of it. 

However, I don't think my work on it differs much for others.

ONE of my most loved parts is composing a post.

I have never, for a minute, suffered writers block and always think of 2 or 3 ideas while I'm working on one. At this time, I have 16 posts in draft, just standing in the wings, waiting for their shinning moment. And, as we speak, I am working on a post showing my newest thrifting finds. I just took photos of them and while I'm typing this, I am thinking of words to go with my photos.

 The photos make all the difference in blogging, I think.

Of all photography, I enjoy taking photos of food more than any other thing. I've been told several times that food is the hardest of all to get great pictures of. It's always a challenge  to see if I can make my food "look pretty". 

I like the little added things that make a photo special. 

This slice of Watermelon Pie wouldn't look nearly as good without

the addition of the fresh watermelon. 
The addition of the BLACK AND WHITE napkin is a good contrast.

When we were having a picnic in the park 

and I wanted to showcase my vintage picnic basket,

I stopped at the grocery store for a $5.00 bouquet and 

they just "made" the photo shoot.

I could have shown the popovers alone...

but adding the apricot preserves and crisp bacon just made a great mosaic. 

(as well as an AWESOME breakfast...:) ....and....now, I'm hungry.

Close-ups are a great way to show off your food photos.

You can see the pepper flakes in these Cheddar Pepper Biscuits.

Adding the red flowers behind the Powdered Sugar Beignets

made a really pretty photo.

 ♥

So, altho I have a LOT of foods on my blog,

it's the PHOTOGRAPHY  that is really the essence of SWEET NOTHINGS. 

(I wish I could be more careful with spellings...

and keep from jumping from one subject to another...

but I think I blog just like I think and talk.)

 How does my writing/creating process work?

I absolutely fly by the seat of my pants in creating posts for Sweet Nothings.
Many times,I might be working on a post and something either catches my eye, I have another crazy thought or even the finding of a recipe that I just HAVE to try and my post makes a 180 degree turn.

As always it seems, for me, to be the visual part that makes a good post.

 

 While I think this photo of a lake taken on our vacation is a nice photo of a beautiful place...

The photo above looks more interesting with all the boats and canoes...
at least to me.

I seldom publish a post that I'm not excited about. I preview it several times before publishing and if it just doesn't make me happy, I just start all over...or at least search for ONE PHOTO that has a little SASS to it.

 Of course...it doesn't take much to make me happy or excited....

I don't get out much, ya know. :) 

I seldom post a photo that hasn't gone thru photo editing.
The photo above....altho I love the light and dark, the shadows.......the reflections,...

I think it's much more interesting, cropped to show the SUBJECT of the photo better.

   I think that special photos can make or break a post.

I can have all the words that I want to use in a post,

 but they wait in draft until I have good photos to pair with them.

 And, I am constantly trying to learn more about how to take good photos
and I'll never be able to afford a great camera so I work with a point and shoot
which is even MORE challenging.

I love the photo above of our great-grandgirl, CATE,
 that Mr. Sweet took...
she looks like a little mermaid. :>)
*************************************
All I've talked about in this post is just MY ideas for MY blog.
Not everyone will feel photos are that important to a post..
"different strokes for different folks"  as the saying goes. 
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The Blog Tour is winding down in Blogland.
This is the last blog tour on the list I am on.
Thanks so much for coming by.  
 

Linking with:
Blue Monday
Amaze Me Monday
Art of Homemaking Monday 

XOXO