Tea anyone?

Won't you join us for some tea Dearie? We have some lovely spider, I mean spiced cake. Your favorite. It'll give you something to crow about.

Easy and Yummy Spiced Cake Recipe

• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs (or as called for by your cake mix)
• 1/3 cup oil (or as called for by your cake mix)
• 1 1/3 cups water (or as called for by your cake mix)
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Combine cake mix with spices.
2. Prepare cake mix according to directions on box.
3. Bake according to cake mix directions on the box.
4. Frost with your favorite icing or frosting.

A secret garden & a freebie image

We found a wonderful place called Architectural Antiques & Garden Elements a couple of weeks ago. I fell in love. Who wouldn't? There is a shop with store rooms full of all sorts of wonderful things from rehabs done here in Charleston.

You can find lights, tiles, pillars, furniture, windows, doors and so much more.

But for me the most intriguing area of all was the wonderful hodgepodge backyard with oodles of wonderful rusty bits and fabulous garden fountains, planters, urns, statues, furniture, columns, etc.

Such a lovely place for a treasure hunt with wild flowers poking up here and there and a lazy black and white cat curled up in a place with dappled sunlight, not in the least bit bothered by visitors.

We bought this cast piece above for one of my living room walls among a few other items. We will definitely be back for more goodies next spring when it is time to start the garden out back. We have big plans for the small space we have to work with.

This statue below is a close up of the tall statue you see in the photo above with the pillars resting up against the building. See her? She's nearly dead center. She is your freebie if you'd like. I added a map overlay to her just for fun.

I have had a lazy morning and now I must get a shower. Yes, it is 12:20 but I've only had this one day off in the last 7 days and not another until Friday so I feel entitled. :) Never mind that I have been dealing with a cold all week long. Now a flipping cough is trying to pry it's way in. I need to run to the drug store to buy some zinc lozenges and eat 1 of my Flintstones. lol I am not going to let it win! Swords are drawn. Well enjoy your Sunday. Mom's coming to make fried chicken and baked macaroni and cheese. Haven't had those things for years. This was Jack's request when she offered to make dinner for us. He wants her recipe, hence her making it here. He's becoming quite the chef.

A pathway well traveled

Recently we decided to visit the Magnolia Plantation, a favorite place to stroll. You can see a lot more color in the spring when the Azaleas are in full bloom, but the Camelias are a favorite of mine and they are all in bloom right now. They give such a romantic feel to the pathways and arbors. They look very similar to a rose with layers of soft petals in a variety of colors. This is a pathway that I fell in love with because beyond the arbor there are 2 paths and you must choose, much as in life but here you can come back and choose the other, as well.
You can never go wrong in this gorgeous place because at every turn their is a secret garden, a beautiful pathway with bridges, cypress swamps, statues and wildlife. Yes, we saw an alligator and a gorgeous crane, a few peacocks and one that was all white. So regal looking.

For the IAE team blog party, I hosted one of the giveaways and this is what I made. It measures 9-1/2 x9-1/2". I started out with a plain wooden frame with the heart and wings. I wanted to give it a copper patina, so I used my favorite turquoise paint (Jamaican Sea by FolkArt) to paint the entire thing. I then went over it with a Burnt Umber on a dry brush keeping it light so as not to have the brown too saturated. I did use a bit more around the heart and wings to highlight them. Next, I used a Cranberry red on the heart and wiped it off immediately and rubbed a bit of antiquing glaze on it and wiped that off right away,also. Next a white pearlescent paint was applied to the wings and I came back in with the burnt umber rubbing it on the raised areas only and wiping some of it off until I achieved the look I wanted. I then sealed it with a satin polyurethane.
Lastly, I made the collage in the middle using some scrap booking papers that complimented the color of the frame. I must have had 30 sheets pulled out to find the right ones. I wanted them to be whimsical and yet had a patina of their own. We all know how much I love vintage, distressed edges, torn papers, etc.

Tell me what you've been up to lately.

Inspiration

This week at Inspiration Avenue Etsy Team Blog there was a Blog party and a challenge theme of "Inspiration". What, Who or Where inspires you was the prompt. Well since this is my teams blog I decided to let them all know that they are an inspiration to me. Each of them are lovely ladies and wonderful artists. Each has their own style. Some are painters, some are mixed media artists, some are photographers, others graphic designers. We are quite the mix and I love it. The last 4 images are of what else inspires me and that is nature, color, vintage ephemera, trims and papers. I love you IAE ladies!! XOXO

Each week we host an art challenge and each week the works of our followers and members alike are displayed so that everyone can view each artists interpretation of the challenge theme. It is such fun. I hope that you will pop over some time and participate. We always link back to your blog post so that our followers can discover more about you. Hope to see you there. Oh and there is a giveaway drawing for those whom participate in the challenges.

Art and a Blog Party

I have been MIA and I am sorry. My computer is not connecting to the internet because the internal Wi-Fi switch broke off. I guess I am going to have to get a new one within this next year. Mine is in sorry shape. The space bar is broken and I have to hit it 1-2 times between words and my on/off switch broke a long time ago so my husband had to drill a hole so that I can use a toothpick and hit just the right spot to turn it on. I have not had to use any duct tape thus far so we are good there. lol They duct tape is the cure all. Men that is. At least my men. :) This is an ATC I made for a lady who challenged me to use tattered laces and trims, old book pages, script writing, Tim Holtz elements and a vintage image in a beach theme. The sand is comprised of many elements including tattered seam binding, book pages, script writing pages and grains of sand from Aruba and bits of seashells. The water is tattered rick rack, tissue paper and silver glitter to represent the sun dancing on the water. The background is a map of the Indian ocean and the Tim Holtz elements are the tag and the buckle under the ladies image and his distressed inks. I hope she likes it.

This is a September Tag. I included a quote "No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face" by John Donne Such a pretty quote, don't you think?
This is a bird tag using vintage elements. Old book pages, and tattered vintage lace, along with some pretty feathers on a turquoise paper with eggs.

Inspiration Avenue Etsy Team is hosting a blog party this Sunday, October 16th. Go by and check out the fun giveaways, tutorials, art challenge and freebies HERE. It should be a fun week long party.