flowers

The iris are blooming!!!  Not as pretty as last year, a bit skimpy actually. I think it was the horrid freezing weather in April after the March heat wave.  I wonder if all my yard will be affected this badly? 

But, a few iris are better than no iris at all and I am glad to see them.

These are in front of my garden shed.

I feel that a garden shed should always have vines growing over it, but I mistakenly planted vines that disappear over the winter. So I painted some around the doorway, with a nest tucked into the vines.

When we tore down the old garage, I saved a door from it to use as an awning over the garden shed’s doorway.  I’ve attached it with L brackets,then continued the painted vines up onto the awning too.

A peek inside the shed, with a hand painted vintage door that I hung on the back of the building, where the original door was missing.  A little worse for wear over the years (its not water tight) but doesn’t natural aging add charm?

You can tell in this close up of the door, it wasn’t quite the right size, I had to cut the bottom off of it with POWER TOOLS (YAY-fun) after I painted it.  The curtains are stapled into place. With chicken wire instead of glass in some of the windows, there was too much wind blowing through and the curtains were always falling down when I tried hanging them on rods. Staples solved that.  These curtains were in a big boxful at an auction for $2.  I found the door in my brother-in-law’s barn during a visit to Nebraska. My husband wasn’t too happy about hauling it all the way back, but it was worth the effort and the argument.

A little birdie lives in the shed up on a beam.

When I reclaimed this old building, I emptied it out, power washed it, then rented a spray gun and painted EVERYTHING with a coat of paint.  To keep it cheap, I went to a surplus store, bought 8 gallons of pastel and white paint for $5 a gallon, dumped them all together and used the color as it turned out.  I let the paint shoot everywhere, no taping off or worrying about the floor.  Then, I added the little hand painted touches and hung up old bits of broken trim for interest.  The curved piece over the door is some gingerbread from  a dumpster at a construction site. Not the first time I found myself upside down, hanging over the side of a dumpster to dig something out.  Thats better than actually climbing inside, though…..

Back to the iris- yellow ones are blooming in front of my propane tank.

About 16 years ago, I painted the tank with iris on it, then planted bulbs in front of it.  Well, the paint is chipping and fading at this point, but I still enjoy it.

This weather has been so wet lately (devastating floods in Topeka, and too much rain here) so I haven’t gotten my new bed finished. I did work in it a bit yesterday, but I think the ground is too wet to do much.

So I worked inside, decorating some jars for my bathroom cabinets.

Don’t forget, you still have time to enter the MAY BUCKET GIVE AWAY-but time is running out!!!! And don’t forget the Charm I am giving away for the Cottage Charm Giveaway.  Here is the link:

http://owcl.blogspot.com/2007/04/sign-up-for-cottage-charm-give-away-day.html

You can enter all my giveaways simply by leaving me a comment, any comment at all,  Unless of course it is a mean one.  But I doubt if you’ll do that.

I already miss my rose a day and it just ended yesterday. Doesn’t every day need a rose??

Here is a bouquet of them, on top of a powder box I have listed on Ebay.

These roses are made of tiny sea shells.  You can bid on it by clicking on the Ebay link to the right.

Also, thanks BIG TIME to Carlene- http://carlenefederer.blogspot.com/ ; Karin- http://www.creativechaos.typepad.com/ ; Natasha- http://natashaburns.blogspot.com/ ; Jody- http://gumbo-lily.blogspot.com/2007/05/prairie-rose-for-you.html for all buying pendants and charms from me.

All of the jewelry is for sale, if there are any pieces you’d like  a close up of, just email me and I’ll send photos.  Thanks!!

Art shows are coming up and I am thinking about getting ready. My favorite, is Art in the Park in May.  The show has a huge community following, with a history of over 45 years, and a loyal attendance.  Today, I worked on business cards to have on hand for shoppers. I am off to make color copies and then cut them out.  When I get home, I think a touch of glitter would be a good idea. 

Maybe I should be working on inventory for the sale. I do tend to spend a lot of time on non-money making efforts.  I prefer to think of it as "atmosphere".  When people come to see me, I’d like them enjoy the whole package and all the details. 

Today was every bit as beautiful and Springlike as yesterday, so of course, I had to plant more flowers.  And waste not, want not, I couldn’t throw away the flowers that broke off in the flats!  So I gathered up the few little stems and placed them in a vase that that one time was a salt shaker, and added some leaves from my St. Patrick’s Day shamrock for greenery.

Here is a group of pots I filled and sat by my breezeway door as a welcome to guests.  I like to top off the pots with a handful of moss as a finishing touch. Especially this time of year, when the flowers are tiny and seem a bit lonely in a big pot. 

Earlier this week, I had a good junking day with good friends.  I found this lost little lamb and decided he needed to be a part of my Easter decor. 

When I stopped at the craft store to get the moss for my flower pots, I saw this little chick in the 50% off aisle.  I thought she should come home and be part of my Easter decor too.  Over the years, since my boys have grown and gone, I haven’t set out anything for Easter.  But now that I have a grand baby, I am excited to get back into the habit. 

When my boys were little, I used to paint hollow eggs.  Here is one with a little chick on it. I used to date them on the back, this one says 1989. 

On the junking day, I found a few bunnies too.  Here they are in a glass compote nestled in yellow grass.  The tallest one with the violets on her back is one that I made about 25 years ago and hand painted.

What a beautiful day here in Lawrence, KS.  I made the most of it by doing some much needed yard work, and then rewarded myself by planting some pansies.  I drove around town to see who had the best bedding plants at the best prices this morning, and I hate to say it, but I bought a few flats at Wal-Mart.  I usually think their flowers are saggy, but they were certainly pretty today.

Here is a photo of the front of my studio with a few pots of violas, pansies, and snapdragons.  I also saw petunias for sale and thought that was odd, didn’t realize they were hardy enough to be out this early. I didn’t risk it, just in case.

One sad thing, while cleaning up the yard, I found a dead bluebird.  Not a bluejay, which are pretty common, but an actual, pretty little bluebird.  Even dead, he was a vibrant beauty.  This might sound gross, (but if you know me you won’t be surprised that I did this) I plucked out his wing and tail feathers and saved them.  The little guy will live on in a future craft project.  Maybe I will make fairy wings for a vintage doll from his feathers.

My junking day find, the old piece of ceiling tin, was calling out to me yesterday.  I covered it with a fresh coat of white, then added a garland of bright pink roses and blue hydrangeas with acryllic craft paint. 

I never get tired of old ceiling tins, I love to paint on them, add mirrors to their center, or just display them as they are.  I have plans to list this one for sale on Ebay sometime in the next couple of weeks.

PAINTING TIP: For building up color and getting depth in an acryllic painting, apply a layer of clear acryllic top coat over your base painting.  let dry thouroughly ( I get impatient and use a blow dryer), add some detail, then clear coat again.  Keep repeating, with layers of acryllic paint and layers of clear coat, ending with a finish layer of the clear coat for protection.