Sunday, March 27, 2011

Signs of Spring - UWIB Blog Hop

This is the second month that the Unique Women in Business team on Etsy has done a blog hop.  This month's theme is Spring. 


Some of my first thoughts when I think of the signs of spring in Minnesota are:


- the geese and other migratory birds returning


Girls Walking Towards Geese
Sophia and Olivia trying to get a
closer view of the geese



- sprouts of bright green grass emerging from the ground and freshly-plowed pastures


On a Walk in the Pasture
Olivia (and Sophia in the background)
on an early-spring walk in a near-by cornfield



- buds appearing on trees


Northern Magnolia Buds
Buds on the northern magnolia tree


- beautiful flowers


Yellow Tulips
Tulips in spring



- rainbows after nourishing spring rainfalls


Full Rainbow
Full rainbow in Duluth (Minnesota)


I enjoy seeing rainbows in the spring.  There's something that's so uplifting about them that represents the return of goodness and happiness (like the sun after the rain). 


As one of Harvest Moon by Hand's customers recently said, "...There is always something good in bad situations! Your rainbows remind me of that...after the storm a rainbow will appear!"

So, to celebrate spring, I made two rainbow window stars.  The points of each star are individually folded multiple times.  Then, each point is glued together to reveal a pattern.

Two Rainbow Window Stars


The rainbow mandala (on the left hand side) is folded 9 times per point.  With 16 points, it takes 144 folds to make the design.


Rainbow Mandala
Rainbow mandala


The rainbow star with floral center (on the right hand side in the picture above) has 19 folds per point.  With 8 points, that's 152 folds to make this star.

Spring Rainbow Star
Rainbow star with floral center

To see the different rainbow items that are available in Harvest Moon by Hand's shop, please click HERE.
There are many great blogs to visit on the UWIB Blog Hop.  To see how others have interpreted the spring theme, please take a look at the participating blogs below:

Rita Wetzel http://ritascreativenest.com/

Jenn Nolda http://brynnsbeautifulbows.blogspot.com/


Ann Rinkenberger http://harvestmoonbyhand.blogspot.com/ (You are here right now)


Robin Koehler http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/


Linda Reynolds http://bellalindadesigns.net/


Audrey Fetterhoff http://audreygardenlady.blogspot.com/


Birgitte Hendricks http://sewdanish.blogspot.com/


Wendy Kelly http://blog.vintageday.com/


Janet Bocciardi http://www.honeyfromthebee.com/


Linda Stranger http://capecodjewel.blogspot.com/


Karen Terry-McDuffie http://jmjcreations.blogspot.com/


Judy Woodley http://wellspringcreations.blogspot.com/


Trudy Miller http://mommagoddesstreasures.blogspot.com/


Cory Trusty http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com/


Nancy Pace http://nancyswildwirejewelry.blogspot.com/


Lois Stifel http://foxygknits.com/


Jenn Brockman http://alexshares.com/


If you would like to check out UWIB's bog, please click HERE.


Rainbow Mandala
Rainbow mandala that I colored with
Prismacolor color pencils

A thought to leave you with from an unknown source...
May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always carry a shilling or two,
May the sun always play on your window pane,
May a rainbow chase after each spot of rain,
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
May your heart be filled with gladness and cheer you.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your rainbow stars are beautiful!! Rainbows are awesome!!

Unknown said...

Whenever I see a rainbow it reminds me of the Heaven's giving me a "high five". :) I love your stars sooooo much! Great blog, as always!
Karen
http://www.jmjcreations.etsy.com

Life Is A Lark said...

I agree, there is something about rainbows that make you feel happier. Your stars are truly incredible.

Nancy Pace Art said...

I love Rainbows! Terrific glimpse of your life, thanks for sharing.
I am having a blast reading all the different blogs from UWIB !

Jenn Brockman said...

We have flowers blooming all over the place here. My boyfriend's grammas yard has either dafodills or tulips in the front yard.

Momma Goddess Treasures said...

I love your rainbow stars so much! Mine brings a bright spot to my heart each time I look at it.

Trudy aka Momma Goddess
www.mommagoddess.etsy.com

Teresa aka Tess said...

Beautiful rainbows and spring pics. That is my favorite Irish Blessing.

Unknown said...

Beautiful rainbow stars... I think they are my favorites of all your gorgeous stars. :)

Linda :)
http://capecodjewel.etsy.com
http://craftymakings.etsy.com
http://capecodjewel.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/capecodjewel
http://twitter.com/capecodjewel

Anonymous said...

beautiful rainbow stars. They are very cheery! It must take a lot of patience to fold all of them so perfectly! Nice job!

foxygknits said...

I enjoyed the photos of your girls - and love that can spend such great time in the outdoors.

Designer4u said...

Has spring visited Minnesota, yet ?
I can imagine you sitting by the fire , watching the snow fall and making 152 folds for the Rainbow star.

Which by the way are Amazing?
Happy Spring.

Robin said...

The quilter in me gets very excited when I see your work and all the secondary designs-Beautiful.

Honey from the Bee said...

Those rainbow mandelas are gorgeous! I imagine they'd uplift the spirits even on a gray day!

Love the photos!

Happy Spring

Aquarian Bath said...

Love your rainbow mandala. The magnolia photo is beautiful. Just tweeted your post

SewDanish-Scandinavian Textile Art, Unique Handmade Supplies said...

Beautiful blogpost. Love the photos of your daughters in the field. Very serene.
Your stars are just amazing!!!
Birgitte

Etsy : http://SewDanish.com
Blog : http://SewDanish.blogspot.com
Twitter : http://twitter.com/SewDanish
FacebookPage: http://facebook.com/SewDanish
Flickr : http://flickr.com/photos/SewDanish

Audrey said...

Gorgeous post Ann!! I am a sucker for rainbows!!

Audrey
http://AudreyGardenLady.etsy.com
http://AudreyGardenLady.artfire.com
http://AudreysCraftDestash.etsy.com
http://AudreyGardenLady.blogspot.com

Celeste said...

I love all the springy photographs. And your rainbow stars are so intricate and beautiful!

Design It Chic said...

Those tulips are adorable, Ann! I just discovered your blog and you're doing n awesome job here. I am now following you thanks to Wednesday Blog Hop and it would be so nice if you could share the love back on my blog:)
And don't forget to check our new Blog Tutorial going on today. It's very easy and it would look amazing on your blog:) See you there!
Happy Wednesday

MadameDeals said...

I am now following you from the hop. Please, help us reach our goal of 1,500 friends so we can offer great prizes. Thank you, Amee from MadameDeals.com

Anonymous said...

Everything looks so GREEN! Beautiful spring moments : )