Friday, June 24, 2011

Gardening, Treasuries and Jewelry Shows, Oh My!

Lavender about to bloom, sedum and a white thrift from
the raised flower ring
Sorry I haven't posted for awhile here, I must admit the allure of early summer was too much to ignore!  Who wants to sit inside in front of a computer when it's so pretty outside?  Bike riding, gardening, and playing outside with my little one are so much more fun!  I've also been busy prepping for my show tomorrow in Gladstone!  If you'd like to attend, click here to see the flyer with all the info!  I'm pretty excited about it and it's great that I'm able to co-host with another lovely jewelry crafter, Sue, that I met at a vendor show in the spring!  I'm hoping that lots of customers come especially since the show I met Sue at went terrible not just for me but for nearly seller!  Oh well, win some lose some right?  I would never have met her if not for doing that show!
Impatiens, torenia, tiger and wine pansies with vines, and
a red petunia from my pots and baskets

I've also been taking a much needed break from creating by working in my flower garden and I wanted to share a few images with you!  Gardening is one of favorite hobbies outside painting/jewelry making and now that it's almost July I can see that all my hard work has paid off!

Pink and white dianthus
and daisies in the raised
wildflower garden
I've been working hard on the landscaping outside our new home we bought in 2009 and I really did have my work cut out for me!  We bought it from a single man so of course not one little flower or any kind of landscaping was done at all aside from a seriously neglected cedar hedge on the brink of death. My husband at first wasn't so keen on the amount of his money (he made sure I knew who's money I was spending, lol) I had spent on perennials (totally worth it so long as you don't kill them), mulch, brick, soil, and oodles of annuals to overfill all the pots and baskets on and around the porch over this and last summer.  After much digging, trimming, hauling landscaping stone, bulb planting, weeding, fertilizing, and several bags of soil and mulch later I had transformed our barren and weedy yard into a plentiful garden full of color from spring to fall!  Now that the hard (and expensive) parts are done and I have my raised flower beds hubby now likes it (so long as I'm the one who does all the gardening) and our yard looks like somebody actually loves it!

I have much more than what I've photographed here, I'm waiting for my gerbera daisy to bloom again, the rain beat up all the blooms on my geraniums, not all the daisy varieties have popped up yet in the wildflower garden and veggies just aren't that interesting to photograph (nor have I weeded the veggie garden)!

Lastly I also wanted to share with you several treasuries I've had the honor of being featured in lately!  Thanks so much to those who have included me and thanks also for checking them out!



Friday, June 3, 2011

It's Almost SUMMER!!

I just LOVE this time of year!  The leaves are green, the smell of fresh lilac from the bush outside my window and the temperatures are just warm enough for short sleeves and capris (well up north it is, I'm sure it's sizzling already in the south!).  To celebrate this I'm having a Kick Off to Summer sale in my Etsy Shop!  Use coupon code SUMMER when checking out to receive 15% off your purchase!  I decided to extend this offer and it now ends at Noon EST on June 10th!

I've been working on getting some items out of my "coming soon" album on my Facebook Page and I have a few newly listed items in my shop!  First is a new Scrabble tile pendant, Calla in Coral!  It's a lovely coral pink calla lily hand painted on the back of a vintage Scrabble tile game piece.  Calla lilies are one of my favorite flowers along with daisies and the coral pink color is just perfect for summer outfits!


Next up is She Sells Seashells,  a gorgeous one of a kind copper link and beach themed necklace!  I put several hours (and blisters) into making each individual solid copper link and beaded links in this necklace.  I wire wrapped the bar links and also the gorgeous champagne and creamy teal Czech glass beads.  There's also a genuine shell slice and I just love the black and green swirled Czech glass shells that look like they're made from weather worn stone!  There's plenty of eye catching baubles featured in this 24" long necklace and it closes with a hand forged double hook clasp that you can remove and use to shorten your chain in a cinch!  Everything has been oxidized and polished to a shine and also treated with Renaissance Wax to preserve the patina and to keep it from reacting with your skin if you have allergies.

My Romantic Rosebud earrings have to be one of my favorite Czech glass earrings I've made so far!  Gorgeous detailed pink luster rosebuds with a pretty marbled Picasso finish are topped with pretty bronzed bead caps and daisy spacers for a romantic vintage touch that's simple and elegant in style!  These are just lovely with a casual outfit or evening attire!

Lastly, here are some lovely treasuries I've had the honor of being featured in!