Home Is Where the Heart Is

Click here for my Grow Your Blog party post.

In a post last summer, Looking For Love, I wrote about my love of hearts.

As Valentine's Day approaches, it is a perfect time to display hearts - all over the house . . .

in the entryway . . .

in the kitchen . . .

on the dining room shelf . . .

and a little dining room table.

Hearts on the mantel in the living room . . .

in bottles and baskets . . .

on books . . .

and in projects waiting to be finished.

This must be home because it is definitely where the heart is.

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 Join me in visiting these great parties

Jennifer Rizzo - Fabulously Creative Friday

Common Ground - Be Inspired

Rooted in Thyme - Simple and Sweet Fridays

The Charm of Home - Home Sweet Home

Sunny Simple Life - From the Farm Blog Hop

French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday

My 1929 Charmer - Sunday's Best Par.Tay

The Pin Junkie - Friday Link Party

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup Thursday

Thanks For Making My Day

 To read my Grow Your Blog post and enter 

my giveaway, scroll down or click here.

Random Kindness

A few little words . . . spoken quickly . . . and probably without much thought . . . yet they made my day.

I was walking outside to dump the trash the other day and a stranger walking down to the beach said to me, "your house is the cutest on this lane.

Thanks for making me smile.

Last week on "date night", Steve and I left the theater and as we crossed the street, a young woman in a car yelled out to us, "you two look so cute".

Thanks for making us laugh.

The other day, after Lulu's bath, I took her for a "fluff and dry" walk and was stopped by two women who oohed and aahed over Lulu.

As we chatted, one of the women shook my hand and said, "I'm Gloria.  You are a hoot!"

Thanks for befriending me.

My favorite was the telephone solicitor who asked to speak to my mother.

Thanks for letting me know that at least my voice is still young.

About 25 years ago, I was exiting church and the usher handed me the weekly flyer that I normally quickly browsed, and threw away within a day or two.

That day was different.

I read a short article that literally changed my life.

The gist of the message was-

How?

With a few simple, yet kind words.

The article went on to challenge me to make at least one person feel special each day.

I accepted that challenge and it became my "thing".

At school, I greeted students I didn't know with "cute shoes", "I like that jacket", "How's it going?"

I know my words made an impact because students wrote comments in my yearbook and wrote me letters at the end of each school year about how much my comments meant to them.

The sweet comments people leave on my blog mean so much and "make my day".

And now, it is time to catch up on my favorite blogs.

And maybe, I will make someone's day with my comment.

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The photos have no connection to this post, but I am a visual person and love to see pictures on blogs.

All of the flowers are growing in my garden right now.

Grow Your Blog Party

Welcome to Art and Sand.

This is my second year joining Vicki' s Grow Your Blog party at 2 Bags Full.

My husband asked me why I needed to grow my blog, and I explained that it is about meeting fun and diverse people to visit.

I am not sure why I began blogging in the first place, but I definitely know why I continue.

Blogging keeps me from being lazy.

In order to have topics for Art and Sand, I need to be "doing" things daily.

Last year, I titled my blog post   A Little of This & A Little of That.

The blog continues to be a mishmash of things that I love:

a little bit of decorating,

a little bit of table setting,

a little bit of furniture painting,

a little bit of crafts,

a little bit of gardening,

a little bit of life in my part of the world,

and, a whole lot of color.

To thank you for visiting, I am doing a Giveaway.

I have a bunch of these little wire baskets and

I've been busy making little quote cards to fill the baskets.

If you are interested in winning the Giveaway,  please leave a comment.

I will draw 2 names and announce the winners on February 15.

I know that not everyone loves color like I do.

 The winners will be able to request the quote cards in their personal color palette.

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Make sure you visit Vicki at Two Bags Full to meet the other participants in the Grow Your Blog Party.