Garden Art

I don't know what the weather's been like where you are, but this has been the strangest spring I have ever seen.  The folks that debunk global warming are, in my opinion, without a clue.  That said, between raindrops I've been trying to get some gardening done. 

Because we've gotten so much rain we haven't planted the backyard garden yet.  The last few days have been extremely sunny and HOT, so maybe we will get it in this year after all.  I wanted to show you my latest project.  My boyfriend found some sinks at his friends house and brought them home.  He's good at that.  As soon as I saw one of the sinks I knew what I wanted to do with it.  I told him to build a stand that it could sit in, about counter top height. 

After he was done with that we took a trip to the local greenhouse.  I was looking for flowers that would cascade over the sides in colors that I love.  I put a coffee filter over the sink drain so water could drain out, but so that we wouldn't lose potting soil. 

Then I planted our flowers.  I also threw in some vinca vine too, just because it looks cool.  I threw some chives in the back of it too.  I like the way chives flower and it will add some height to the composition.  There's spearmint and ferns growing underneath, so once they reach mature height and the flowers cascade down it is going to look AWESOME!

As a side note, I'm always looking for interesting, sturdy peices of trees to put in my yard.  I call it yard art.  My boyfriend always laughs at me when I find one that I want to bring home.  We went down to the river one day after the rain to see how high the water was.  While we were there I saw a peice of wood in the water that wasn't too far off shore, so I stepped in and pulled it in.  He looked at me and groaned.  It was so soaked it took the both of us to carry it home - thank God we're only two blocks away!  I haven't decided where to put it yet but I thought I'd show you the piece.  I think it's beautiful.

Notice the twig lodged in the tree? It's still there. I'm pretty sure the force of the water placed it there.  Cool huh? Nature is amazing!

Sorry So Long!

Good morning cyber friends!

It's been awhile since I posted and I have to say that it's not because I didn't want to, it's because I've been so busy!  It seems lately that everyone wants/needs some part of my free time and I've been overwhelmed.  I'm also planning to take a moment this weekend to just scrap!  Last night I put together some photos that I'm sending off to the printer to get me motivated to start a new album and to work on some that are in-progress.

That said, I have a couple projects to show you.  One is a thank you card that I made for a friend of my boyfriend's who sent me all her scrapbooking supplies.  It was a hobby she thought she'd like to get into and then decided it wasn't for her.  She ended up sending me a load of paper, stickers, and some markers.  I think the kids will have a ball with it and there's some that I've kept for myself, but I neglected to send her a thank you and I've been kicking myself for a month now to get one out to her.  Sooooo, the other night I made myself make one.  I cut out and put together a flower pot of cardstock and then used Tim Holtz distress ink to make it look textured.  The stems are cut from textured paper and I used a Fiskars flower punch and layered the flowers and used a coordinating brad for the center.  I also used a gold stamp pad to ink the edge of the card.  Here's how it came out.  The thank you is actually written on the inside because I couldn't figure out where to put it on the front.

My next project is a two page LO for the kid's album.  I'm doing Christmas right now.  I had to skip Halloween because I don't have the right paper and it's driving me crazy!  I'm still looking and will hopefully have some soon!  I have no idea who the paper is by but it's from a StoryTeller's Club kit (http://www.storytellersclub.com/).  If you're looking for a kit club I loved that one!  I joined it the year I quit smoking.  The way it worked (in my head) was that I would spend my smoke money on scrapbooking.  I used the Winter Woodlands Cricut cartridge for the lettering.  Now, I just found out that it had a font option.  I've had that cartridge for a year now!  It really helps if you read the booklet that comes with it! The pictures are matted on coordinating cardstock, and I used some of the embellishments that came with the kit.



I don't know why it won't insert the correct way! Sorry for having to look sideways!



It's funny, but I am enjoying these children so much.  I know I've said it before, but everything with them is a first.  This was the first time that they met Santa.  If they ever did before they can't remember, and I feel so honored to be a part of their lives.

Saturday night we took Gaige to a dance recital.  He sat through the whole thing, all three hours of it, and he didn't get fidgety until the end.  He asked what the kids names were, what the next song was, was it ok to point at them when asking questions about them.  It was just amazing his interest in them.  I asked him if he'd like to take lessons and he said yes.  I'd like to do this for him, and his sister as well, only I have a feeling his dad won't allow it.  Lessons start up again in August or September and I'm going to look into it.  Maybe if his dad realizes that it's hip-hop and not ballet he'll let him go.  I have to say- he seemed to like it all, including the ballet, jazz, tap and hip-hop.

Well, I'm running on and on, so I'll stop here.  I hope you enjoyed the projects.  This weekend is the Hero Blog Hop which I have my project all ready to show.  I hope you'll stop in and check it out.  I may have a small giveaway too, so be sure to hop in!

As always, comments are always welcome!  Happy scrapping!

April Showers bring...April Flowers!

Welcome!  Thanks for stopping by!  I've been loving spring, even though it's pretty much rained non-stop all month, and watching my plants come back to life!

This week the Daffodils decided to grace us with their cheery beautiful sweet smelling selves!  I never knew they had a scent until last year when I was talking with someone and they told me they loved the smell of them.  I had assumed they were a lot like the hybrid roses - nothing but color.  How wrong was I!  I also learned that Lily of the Valley has a lovely scent!  I haven't seen those this year, not yet, anyway.

My miniature tulips are up as well.  They don't get any taller than six or seven inches and they have pointed petals instead of rounded.  They remind me of fire and they come up year after year but never spread.

The Grape Hyacinths have poked their little purple heads out of the ground too.  I'm not so crazy about these guys because of the foliage but I guess I'm going to keep them.  I separated a lot of them last year and moved them around because they're supposed to spread, but I really haven't seen that happen and I've had them for years.

Last but not least, I have my blue flowers.  I have no idea what they are.  I bought the bulbs two years ago and never wrote the name down anywhere.  I think they are the cutest little flowers, they're no taller than a couple of inches, very low-lying, and when the flower is spent it folds towards the ground and created a new bulb.  If anyone knows what they are please let me know! 

I hope you enjoyed a little part of my gardens.  I'll be posting more and possibly some video as well.  I really do enjoy working in them and seeing new flowers and vegetables make their way into my world.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love to hear what you're doing in your garden.  As always, I love each and every one of your comments!