Thursday, February 26, 2009

Hydrangeas...Gorgeous!

Can you tell I am rushing right through winter and spring and hopping rigth into summer. Aah sweet, sweet summer. Look at this gorgeous arbor. What a wonderful way to greet wedding guests or ladies to a tea party or yourself, of course!
Hydrangeas come in many colors. These are my favorites. I had this gorgeous bush in my yard in North Carolina and every year at their peak color I would cut enough stems to fill a vase and let them air dry. I filled the vase only a little. If I was making wreaths I would often cut the stems only 2 inches past the flower head and remove leaves and then place them into a baking dish with maybe 1/2" of water and all heads up but with enough flowers that they all supported one another. Then I would sit them out of direct sun, so as not to make them fade, and let them dry out. They maintaines their gorgeous colors and I would just add floral picks with wires so I could make a nice wreath for my front door. They make beautiful wreaths by themselves or you can add other dried flowers such as roses, lavender, or whatever looks pretty and greenery or dried sticks, spiral stems, etc. Here's a link for to get you started Drying Hydrangeas Naturally


Free Signature Generator

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Surprise Snail Mail & Free Blog Templates





I came home from work today and found a wonderful surprise package from my sweet friend, Joy of Joy to the Blog. I love it! Don't you?! I will be hanging it up in my work room to enjoy. Thank you, Thank you, Joy! It made my day.
Now onto the Free blog template sites, I have found. I just discovered this lovely ladies' site last night and I have to tell you it is chock full of wonderful templates and headers. See my new background? It's from Allie Brown's Layouts . So off you go to check it out and then come back to have a look at some of these other site's, as well.
Free Cottage Banners here:
Shwew...that's enough to look at for now, don't ya' think? Have fun!
Free Signature Generator

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Blogging Tools

I searched and searched for tips on how to do things on your blog and found this great site and even created a new signature to end my posts with. It was super simple. Trust me, it would have to be. lol
This is the home page: http://www.allblogtools.com/
Here is the signature generator link: http://www.allblogtools.com/blogger-tools/adding-signature-to-blogger-posts/

I also found some great Free blog templates. I will share those in the next post.

Free Signature Generator

Monday, February 23, 2009

Yowza's it's cold!




Oh my gosh, it is COOOOLLLD here! I had to get gas tonight so there I am in 19' F temps and pumping gas while the wind is whipping my hair across my face and my necklace (a double strand silver one) falls into my blouse and yikes it was ice cold! shwew! I wasn't ready for that. lol
The snow mound at work is now looking more like a large gray mound. Gross! I am so ready for spring. Where are you daffodils, crocus' and creeping phlox? My little nesting wrens? Helloooo...I'm ready for you. I love seeing the flowers stretching to the sky, reaching for the sunshine. Are you ready for spring? I even started my spring cleaning, weekend before last. I can't wait to open my windows and let the fresh air in.
I am already planning my flower planters and beds. Don't you love planting seeds and being surprised when something new pops up? It is so nice when you go away and come back after a week or so and everything has gone haywire! I have lots of perennials but I like mixing in annuals for instant gratification. I look forward to being greeted by happy colors.
Wishing you sunshine filled days even if they are cold ones.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

You or I could be a winner!

A wonderful blogger over at Barking Dog is having an awesomely generous giveaway. A $250 gift card to Target!! Go check out her blog.

I was to list 5-10 of my favorite posts. Here they are:

Vintage Charm
It's the little things in life
Come join me...as I daydream
Fun and Serene
How to make a planter out of a chair
Ran out of Gas


Monday, February 16, 2009

Joy to my heart


A painting that I did and then added ribbons for the tail feathers of the birds and dried spiral stems for the vines and silk flowers, a nest and eggs. The lady that ordered this from me, ordered it for her mother whom has alzheimers and loves birds. She said it put a smile on her face. What more could you ask for? What a nice feeling to know that your art brings joy to someone's heart.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Artful Blogging

I am in LOVE with Somerset Studios delicious new lines of magazines. I cannot get over how many they are publishing now. I could go broke trying to keep up with all of the yumminess! I had to have this one because I love blogging and discovering new blogs to visit and meeting kindred spirits. The photography is true eye candy. You should check it out, if you haven't already. I always find my issues at Barnes and Noble but I know I have seen them in Michaels, as well. Just look at the cover of this issue. Aqua and red; one of my favorite color combinations. As seen in my work here:

I also just discovered an amazing photographer with an etsy shop. Her name is Tricia Mc Kellar. Her images have a vintage quality and are of simple and beautiful subjects. You should go check her out. Her yellow roses are a favorite of mine. I plan to purchase them for my mother for her birthday. You can see her etsy shop via a link from her blog.
Have a wonderful week!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day dear friends. I am so glad you stopped by to say hello.

If you click on the picture of these luscious strawberries, it should lead you to the simple recipe. My family loves when I make them, oh and so do my nearby friends.


What a sweet image of lovers having tea in the garden. Makes me wish for spring that much more. This week has been unseasonabley warm and the flurries today were not a welcomed sight, by any means.

Hoping you all enjoy your weekend. Oh yeah, I got some blog love from a sweet friend over at Mana Moon. Sharon awarded me with this: Thanks, Sharon. I feel faabulous, dahling. It will be so hard to limit the number of blogs I pass this award on to, but somehow I'll have to manage. ;D 'til tomorrow.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Drum roll please...




And the Winners of my One World One Heart giveaway are:
The Bloom Banner goes to White Doves Making it Through
The Necklace and earrings set goes to Trudi of Two Dresses Studio
Yay, ladies! I will be notifying each of you tonight. Please email me your address so I can get your packages out to you.

Congratulations! Hope everyone wins something. It was a lot of fun finding new blogs and discovering kindred spirits through this wonderful Blog giveaway hosted and created by Lisa Swifka. Thank you, Lisa.!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Mmmm...sweet tea

Well, I made a quick trip down south to sunny North Carolina this past Friday and just returned this evening. Hence the pitcher of Sweet Southern Tea. Love it! Got my fill for awhile.
I went to check on my son. Poor guy is having a rough time right now. I had to go and see what I could do to make things better. No matter how old they get to be, I am their mom and still have the same maternal instinct, I always had. Please, if you are a believer, keep him in your prayers. Chris is his name. He is going through a very trying time, right now. If you are not, please send happy thoughts his way. ;D
Tomorrow is the last day to enter the OWOH giveaways. Mine is several posts back, so if you haven't entered yet, please feel free to now. I will be using the Random Number Generator.