Come sit for a bit and share

“There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all”-Anonymous

I sincerely wish that I could have all of you over for some refreshments, maybe a game of croquet, badminton, volleyball, bocce, or to play cards or a board game or to just sit around and chat. It would be so much fun to meet you and to learn more about you and to find out what journeys you have been on and what adventures lie in your future. Where your dream vacation would take place. What you always wanted to be when you grew up and how you might still get there.

We could talk about our favorite authors, movies, what makes our hearts fill with joy. Places we want to go, things we want to do, etc.  We could plant a friendship garden, where everyone brings something from their own garden for each person. Wouldn't that be so much fun! Each year everyone would have a wonderful reminder of the day we spent together and the friendships we made. Maybe exchange home and blog addresses to keep in touch and send a trinket now and then to brighten up someone's day. Come sit for a bit and share.  Here's something about me that you may not know: My husband and I are getting ready for our next adventure. Kinda' like the next chapter in our lives. Both kids will be gone and he just got laid off from work after 23 years so we are free to pick up and move to wherever we want to.  We have no family here so we have no ties. So your turn...

The Beach House

I am reading a wonderful novel called "The Beach House" by Jane Green. It is the perfect summer read as it takes place in Nantucket during the summer months. It is a boarding house opened up to summer guests, because the eccentric owner is in financial trouble. The guests each have something turbulent going on in their lives that has sent them here to gather their thoughts and figure things out. Nan is the eccentric homeowner that loves mothering her guests and making them feel special. It is a fun and quick read. Perfect for those lazy afternoons, or any spare moment you can muster up. I just love  to share a good book. 

3-D canvas, what makes your heart swoon and adding a page to your blog

This is a painting that I created a long while ago. I painted a canvas then added thin branches on top of the painted vines along with a little nest of eggs and I added ribbons and fun fur for the tails of the birds along with a few flowers. Oh and a little lady bug climbing up the vine on the lower right side. See her ? This was a really fun canvas. I hope to try some more 3 dimensional canvases in the near future. I love layers and textures. I am very tactile. When I visit an antique shop and spot a large basketful of linens my heart skips a beat. I immediately B-line for it and have to find the most soft and pretty items to add to my linen closet. What makes your heart swoon whether it be in an antiques shop, thrift store, flea market, yard sale, etc?
I added a new page to my sidebar titled Vintage Images. It has all of the free images I have posted thus far. My father-in-law as a little boy is the image I chose for the link. How sweet he is, huh? Anyway, my friend and teammate Sharon, of Plumrose Lane has a tutorial on how to add pages to your blog here. She has free backgrounds and many other tutorials to help you with your blog.
 

Memorial Day

To our Armed Service friends, both present and past.Thank you for all you have  given to make me and my loved ones safe! Bless you and yours. May you return home safely if and when you are away.

Missing all of you

This my happy place. Whenever I get stressed or overwhelmed this is where you will find me. Lying in a hammock at the beach listening to the waves roll in, enjoying a good book and then a nice nap. With a tall glass of sweet tea by my side.
I have not had time to create any art lately. We are trying to get the house ready to go on the market. So many things we need to complete. No time for the fun things like playing in my art room. I will have to pack it up soon. Making sure to organize the boxes and do some good labeling.  Hopefully our next place will have a little place for me to create in, again. I liked not having to clean up when it was dinner time or before company came. I could just leave a project right where it was.

Anyway, I have not been visiting much lately. I have missed you all so much. I will have to get my fix right after I post this. I feel like we are old friends and I miss our chats. I need to see what you have created, decorated or picked lately from your garden. Flowers are blooming like crazy and my window boxes are looking fuller and fuller every day. My daisies are coming back with a fury this year. Wowza! Good thing they are in a large container or they may have gotten  out of control. They self seed like crazy.
Anyway just wanted to stop by and say hello. I had a lady who spammed all of my posts so I had to go to comment moderation , so please do not be offended by me needing to read your comments first. It was such a nuisance to go through all of them and delete them.

4 FREE Backgrounds for your artwork

I have not produced any new art in a couple of weeks so I thought I would share a vintage image with you and parts of a painting I made a while back. I thought some of you might like to use these for some of your mixed media backgrounds. Have fun.

A Creative Home

I meant to post this on Sunday but better late than never. My mom (Shannon)  is such an inspiration to me. She is very creative. Especially when it comes to home decor. She can make something out of nothing. She learned to use what she had at a very young age and continued on through the many years of being a single parent.
She has a great sense of humor and a big heart.  Two of my favorite things about her. So I convinced my mom to start her own blog. A Creative Home. It is, or will be all about using creative ideas to make your home a creative home. So if you have a minute please stop in and welcome her to blog land. I have been telling her how wonderful you all are and how much fun it is to have a blog and to blog hop.

Mom is still getting her feet wet but she has her first post up.  

Chair Planter in 6 Easy Steps

Hello and welcome. I thought this tutorial  would be perfect for Inspiration Avenue's Blog Party this weekend. You should stop by and check out all of the fun stuff over there.  There are all sorts of links to tutorials, recipes, tips, etc. Invite your friends along to play.

This is a fun and rather easy project to do. I made this last spring and it lasted through fall.  I just changed out the flowers from Spring to Summer and then in the Fall.

Supplies you will need:

Chair

Drill

Jigsaw

Staple gun

Pencil/marker

Screen

1. Find old chair (mine was from the road side)

2. Use a round object (I used a plate) to mark out where the hole should go for the plants.

3. Use a drill to start the hole in the center of the marked out circle and then onto a jigsaw to cut out the rest of the circle.

4. Next place screening (can be metal or not, doesn't matter) over the hole and allow for it to droop down inside the hole low enough for a good amount of soil and moss to fit in (makes for better water retention) and staple it all the way around on top of the chair seat.

5. Cut off excess screening , leaving about 1/2" overlapping the chair seat (this will be covered by the moss and plantings.

6. Fill with moss and then soil and lastly whatever plants/flowers you want.

Remember you will need to water regularly as the soil is in an exposed area only being held in by the moss and screen. I planted pansies and ivy in it in the spring and then when summer came along, I left the ivy and took out the pansies, added in Petunias and Sweet William for height. It was lovely. This picture is when I first added the petunias, before the whole thing went crazy with blooms and some of the ivy was wrapped up around the back of the seat, while the rest reached for the ground.