Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Hello Spring. Come on in.

Everything is "springing" to life! I love it. Wake up, wake up! Winter is over! Woohoo!
While visiting the local nursery I meandered into one of the greenhouses only to stumble upon this old hiking boot filled with hens and chicks. I thought I should share that with you. Kinda' funny and yet a good way to recycle, I guess. My moms would be a spiked heel. lol Now that would be funny, wouldn't it.?
Enjoy this hump day,
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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Flowers in the yard and hard work.

Love this single daffodil that was plucked from my front garden just to be photographed. It now resides on my kitchen window sill. I love the orange ruffle edged center.
DH planted about 10 of these on the side of the house. I love the deep wine color.

Yesterdays hard work. Hardscaping is not for the weary. lol About 9 hours of work here.
DH and I started fairly early. It took us nearly an hour to figure out our shape. Then to dig all of the plants out and the area for the stones to be placed. Then we had to have a dry run. Didn't like them up so had to turn them over and while doing that level them out. We were only going to make it 2 high but liked the 3 high better. More blocks, more soil, more work. Then we planted, fertilized and mulched. Shwew. We have sore muscles and a pinkish hue to us after all that sun. lol But it came out nicely. We now have to order pea gravel and edge a sitting area for a table and chairs. Then scrape, sand, prime and paint the rails in the background.
Our apple tree blossoms. This one is ahead of the other 4. Aren't they such pretty little flowers? Hope you got out and enjoyed the weekend. Have a lovely week ahead.
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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Glorious Spring weekend!

I am making a pitcher of iced tea. Today will be in the mid 80's. Woohoo! We are doing some hardscaping today in the backyard. I will take some before and after shots but it won't be done for another week or so. We have to have a truck load of pea gravel delivered. Wish my work gloves were this pretty. lol Mine are purle and grungy now. They get lots of use.
I harvested a baggie full of morning glory seeds from last years plant, if you'd like some let me know. This is what they look like. They are open in the morning, hence the name morning glory and close tightly in the afternoon. They are a vine and grow like crazy. Mine are in the afternoon sun only.
Lowes had this purple salvia (a perennial) on sale for $2/ea. so I bought 8. I love them. They add great color, some height and texture to the beds.

I harvested some seeds from my coreopsis plants last year too so I will be planting those this weekend, as well. Aren't they so cheery?!
I hope you have a lovely sunny weekend and get to enjoy the outdoors. I love getting into the garden. It is so therapeutic. I often thought if I ever won the lottery I would love to build gardens for hospital patients to enjoy. Maybe even tend to if they were able. It is so relaxing and gratifying when you start seeing your work pay off.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Medieval Wedding Guest Book

I am making a Medieval Wedding Guestbook for a writer in California. She sent me the cover.
I cut, tore and tea stained all of the pages using 140lb. cold press watercolor paper. Very thick.
After assembling the pages, I then stamped them using medieval themed stamps and vintage ink stamp pads. I think it is looking very authentic. These are some of the velvet ribbons and tea stained laces that I will be embellishing the cards and tags with. SHe is having a fall wedding, so she wants rich colors.
These are some of the tea stained cards I made and will add to the guest book for guests to sign.

This is the book before the pages were stamped.

After stamping the pages. I just love creating these. I love old books, papers and embellishing just about anything. lol I will take pictures of the finished project in a week or so. Have fun creating!
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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Favorite magazines no longer being published

I became a reader of Victoria in the early 90's. It is chock full of wonderful vintage clothing, stationers, homes, decor, etiquette, writers/artists, gardens and so much more. I loved the calling cards section. I also became an online forum junkie when they first started one and then it became another name and then another and then the magazine quit being published and I lost interest. It was a very sad day when I heard that Hearst would no longer be publishing my favorite magazine. I have picked up the newer version but I feel like something is missing. Maybe it's just me being prejudiced but I don't have the same feeling reading it as I did the previous publication.
I got a card in the mail last month telling me that my subscription to Cottage Living would no longer be published. Very sad. I loved this magazine, as I live in a cottage and appreciate the articles and photos of other cottage dwellers.

Now I have been searching for my other favorite magazine ME Home Companion only to find out it is no longer being published, either. :{ What the heck?!!! I loved this magazine and the artists studios and the decor. All of my favorites seem to go by the wayside. I am so sad. Which magazines do you love and what should I check out based on these being my faves? I look forward to your input. I am a magazine junkie. I am contemplating ordering Traditional Homes, again.
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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Birds nesting, bees buzzing, flowers blooming


We have so many pairs of birds nesting right now. This Purple finch is nesting above our back staircase in the rafters. The male is colorful but of course the female is brown and white mostly. Hmmm...how did it happen to be that the male species in animals came to be so much more vibrant? We also have a pair of Morning Doves, Wrens, Robins and Warblers nesting in our birdhouses and vines. Hubby had to scare off a pair trying to nest in a tree on the front porch as that is where we will be spending a great deal of time and don't want to risk being dive bombed by them. lol Their song is sweet and soothing this time of year.
Life is being breathed into the gardens and the trees are waking up and bees are flying around. Spring is wonderful! We have soccer, baseball and basketball games going on now in the park across the street. It is fun to listen to them hooting, hollering and cheering.
The weather has been wonderful the past 3 days. 58, 73 and today 75 and sunny with a bit of a breeze. Perfect. If only I could find a home that was like this year round...daydreaming again. Sorry.
Oh yeah, there is a mermaid giveway going on over at Heavenleigh Art. She is so talented. Go have a look at her artwork. You'll see what I mean.
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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter Wishes

Today was a sunny gorgeous 55F. We went to a local nursery to buy a Sand Cherry. Of course I took my camera along and captured some images to share with you.
The entrance to the nursery.These flowers were so pretty with a white flower and blue lines but I could not get closer to it because it was behind some tender plantings that I did not want to accidentally trample on. These tulips were so bright and cheery against the stark background. Not sure what these are but they were tooooo cute!
Hope you all have a lovely Easter with family and friends. My husbands favorite flower is this one above, the purple hyacinth. That is from our garden.

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Having a little fun with words and birds

I had some fun today with my camera. This has not been edited in any way. I love the vibrant blue behind the yellow daffodil from my garden. Guess what the blue is. A tarp covering our boat. I held the dafodil out and snapped the shot a few feet away from the boat and focused in on the flower. I love how it turned out. I may have to put this in my etsy shop.

I love vintage papers and images. Here I used stamps and vintage colored ink pads to create these fun tags. I ripped the bottoms and added an antique looking wire edged ribbon to finish them off.
I just adore chubby birds. This time of year they are plentiful. They are singing their song and creating the perfect nests for their ittle ones. Dancing with their partners in the sky.


Words of inspiration. These have been ripped, inked, stamped and aged. Perfect for embellishing just about anything. I like to use them in my journals, mixed-media pieces and cards.

I have been a busy bee. Lots of paper crafting. Flowers and envelopes will be finished soon and I will be back to show some of those, as well.


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Thursday, April 9, 2009

Blog background, Movies, etc.




I know some of you are wondering why I am constantly changing my blog background and header. Well truth be told, I have yet to find something that screams "that's me!" I love flourishes and swirls and flowers, birds, nature in general, and color but I cannot seem to find just the right thing. Today I stumbled upon this one and it felt like a nice worn pair of jeans feels. It is simple and elegant and has just the right amount of flourishes and flowers. I hope to keep it for awhile.
We came home to Easter cards from my mother today. How sweet. This year I did not send any out. I let the time fly by without a thought of even decorating for Easter. What has happened to me? I usually love decorating for each holiday. Not over the top excpet for Christmas and Halloween but at least enough so you can tell we enjoy the holiday. It seems the older we get the faster the months go by. Months? Who am I kidding? The years, is more like it. Somebody make it stop, well not stop but at least slow down so I can get everything I want to do in. I mean before you know it I'll be pulling up my knee highs up from around my ankles and getting my housecoat caught in the front door while getting my walker out onto the front porch. Sheesh!
I may have to make a Bucket List. Did any of you see that movie? It's pretty good. I've always liked Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Matter of fact, I loved the movie with Jack and Diane Keaton. Something's Gotta' Give. It warmed my heart and made me laugh. If you haven't seen it, you should. Grab some popcorn and a cold drink and sit back and enjoy.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
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