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Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September morn


 Hi guys! I have been MIA for a bit..I have been here, but been busy! I have done a couple shows and been busy in the studio..pics on what I have been making next post. It was foggy this morning and I am a weirdo that loves the fog..so romantic! So I grabbed my phone and walked down my driveway. These morning glories are "volunteers" that are growing next to my carport.


 The long and winding (and rutted) road of my driveway..


 I heard Canadian geese flying over. There is a large flock  in town that just lives here year 'round. I guess they got tired of migrating and just said "Screw it..we're staying!".. does that make them Tennessee geese? Maybe just lazy geese..or smart geese!



 A dewy spiderweb..


I've been likin' lichen lately! An underdog of the "plant" world.


 So pretty!


 A few straggling wild daisies in the ditch.


 Back up the driveway. I was telling myself I need to walk this a few times every morning..I haaaate exercise though! (and not a big fan of mornings..although they are pretty!)


 More moss and lichen...


 I like to find natural heart shapes.


 A wild pink morning glory..


 Some purple ones growing on a trellis of mine. With my cancer this spring and summer, my garden was an ignored disaster..it was on its own! I planted tomatoes in a stone built in planter that runs the length of our garage..those things went jungle crazy! Still picking. Best tomato plants I ever had. They had an eastern exposure..maybe they like a bit of shade in the afternoon!


 A dahlia ..I generally only like scented flowers but these take care of themselves..a big plus for me!


One of a few straggling September roses in my favorite pink. Apparently beauty is right there in front of you every day..you just have to venture out and look! Hope you have a great week! Til next time! Julia

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Laundry Day OR Washing Vintage Linens



Hi guys! I got quite a few vintage fabric pieces this weekend. A couple had spots so I thought I share my spot removing process. First, soak overnight in your presoak of choice NO BLEACH. You could use Biz or Oxy..I just use Tide and warm water. Yes..that is my impossibly green bathtub..When we bought our house we called it "The Brady Bunch House" miles of shag carpeting and green and gold everything! I have gotten used to the tub since removal would be a headache and until we do an entire bathroom remodel, I have a granny smith apple green bathtub! ..but I digress *ahem*. Step 1: Soak your linens overnight before washing. Most old linens are cotton and cotton dries out and becomes fragile over time. Soaking rehydrates the fibers and makes it strong enough to stand up to a trip through the washer( usually..there are the occasional dry rotted pieces that just disappoint!)
Step 2. The next morning run it through the wash NO BLEACH... BLEACH IS EVIL TO OLD FIBERS! and take it outside and spread it out to dry on the dewy morning grass. Obviously my technique does not work for me in the cold months! Green grass is a must and sunshine. The sun was still lollygagging this morning, but the weatherman said it was supposed to show its face today! The sun shines down, the dew evaporates through the damp cloth and the cholorophyll in the grass also adds to the spot removal process. This is an OLD, effective process! You do have to take your chances with low flying birds and curious pets and in my case, nosy peacocks but worst case scenario..you rewash!
I looooove vintage floral tablecloths!
This one is my fav..it has a mend on one edge but I love the roses!
I love roses on anything! I got a couple more of these tablecloths, but the other ones were spot free.
So pretty!
This is the yardage... a huge honking piece. It had some overall grunge...faboo print! Wouldn't this make a cool wedding aisle runner? The heck with boring white, instant rose strewn path!
This is my idea of a "yellow brick road"... I'd follow it anywhere! I have tooons of stuff to take pix of today. I hope to get some pix of my "treasures" from the weekend up on here soon..maybe later today! Hope your day is rose covered! Til next time! Julia

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Flowers and serenity

Hi guys! I took these pictures of some of "my" flowers this morning. They look so serene. My day has been less so. More about that later..first the pix. This is Queen Anne's lace. It is a wildflower or weed here. When it crops up in my flowerbed as this has, I leave it be. It is quite pretty. The mature heads are about softball size. I believe they are also called "wild carrot".

This one is less open..they remind me of snowflakes. The symmetry and geometry in nature is quite amazing at times!

They have a touch of pink when opening. If I actually planted this, I could probably not get it to grow! Sometimes I just go with the flow!

My hydrangeas are jusssst starting to open. These will be a pretty blue. I believe these were Nikko.

This is some self reseeded nigella in my garden. It is also called "love in a mist". The flowers are about the size of a 50 cent piece. It has spectacular seed pods which I will be showing you later. They come in purple, pretty blue...

white and pink and mixes..

and purple-y pinks. The foliage looks spiky but is soft and ferny. I planted these once and they just keep coming back..my favorite type of flower..hard to kill and self sufficient! These seeds used to be harder to find but thanks to Martha, they are in most seed displays now.

THIS is poison ivy and it grows like crazy here. I am generally not affected by it. It sprouts up in my flowerbeds and I just "yoink" it right out. My daughter on the other hand is horribly allergic. She doesn't even have to touch it herself and she gets a rash. She had such a bad case last summer she went in to the walk in clinic for help and they gave her a hydrocortisone shot and steroid pills..she was so pitiful! That actually helped her quite quickly. Someone on my Etsy team said goats eat poison ivy..I may have to look into that!

A flower that grows so well in my lawn. My Grampa used to dig and burn these out but I live in the country and really have no animosity to the lowly dandelion. My kids always got so much joy picking me dandelion bouquets..I can still see their proud little faces in my mind's eye. My grandbaby calls these "wishes" and blows the seeds all over the place..Grampa would cringe! My Gramma on my Mom's side actually ate dandelion greens and made dandelion wine. I guess she just rolled with them too! My lack of serenity was spending the afternoon fighting with my printer..an Epson..not an actual person! It was being a butthead..skipping lines, printing red, printing NO color, alternately not recognizing one ink cartridge after another.."Yellow..hmmm I don't think I know you..you LOOK sorta familiar but NO I do not recognize you!" *insert me taking half full or more cartridges out and shaking them silly and putting them back in and giving the printer a smack* OHHhhh...Yellow!! I know YOU..but who is that shady looking "Cyan" over there? Arrrggghhh!! I cleaned the heads 5-6 times and finally just put it in a time out for a couple hours so it can reflect on its bad behavior. I don't know if there is a patron saint of printers..maybe mechanical things? I guess I'll just ask St Anthony and St Jude for some intercession (patron saints of lost things and lost causes). I do wear those 2 saints out! (for the non Catholics "intercession" is like them putting in a good word with the Lord) Of course this happens when I really need my printer to be on its best behavior! Oh well..we'll see. And yes I do know this is what sometimes comes of not buying the expensive Epson ink but overall the savings of buying ink online far outweighs the occasional frustrations! Plus..I'm cheap! LOL Hope your day is going smoothly! Until next time! Julia

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

My vintage Map Paper Roses

Hi! I have been making these for awhile. I learned to make roses when I was a teenager, making them for my cousins wedding. She had 8 attendants who all carried baskets of flowers, her flowers, altar flowers, groom and groomsmen, flowers for the hall..My mom and aunts and I made bushels of flowers! I reused those skills to make these. The idea came to me one night while I was TRYING to sleep. That's when my brain usually goes to overdrive! I like the pastel colors of the old maps..buttermint, sherbet-y shades. This is a full blown rose I am working on. Still need to add a leaf and calyx.
These are some boutonnieres I just finished for a wedding. The groom's flower has a crystal beaded heart encircling 2 larger beads (bride and groom). You can sort of see it upside down at the bottom of this pic.


A close up. I have some more vintage paper flowers I am working on for another person's bouquet. Those are a different style and made of sheet music..when I am done I will share here! I hope everything is coming up roses for you today! Til next time! Julia