Look Away Miz Tina...

Don't want any spoilers here, so if you're Tina and this is your swap, go away for a few days!!!! I just sent these off in the mail today. These are my pieces for Tina for the Cowgirl Swap that she is doing. I've been into "doing" the hats lately, had this Annie Oakleyesk piece for a while (obviously just for this reason), and the bird I got recently now has a cowgirl hat.

I was just reading on Tina's blog today how she doesn't like pink. "Well sheeeeet", I said, but then read on that she doesn't like pink in her wardrobe. Thank goodness a cowgirl hat is not wardrobe, it's an accessory to the wardrobe-whole 'nother thing. Whew! The collage below is housed in an 8" rusty metal clock case with ribbon "clouds and grass" and the antique figurines.

Here's the tag line for the collage. It says, "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowgirls. Let 'em be doctors and crack hoes and such.". As usual, I crack myself up.

And the cowgirl hat. The toile ribbon could be pushed to red if need be, the berries are reddish, and the velvet leaves...well...they are pink, damn it.

Here's a close up of the badge I put on it. My friend, Karen, gave it to me in a box of goodies she didn't want. It says, "Special Police". I'll say.

And here's the velvety birdie with her cowgirl hat on. She's pretty stinkin' pink with lots of green though. I just love pink and an artist has to do what an artist does. I hope she likes it...

Be There or Be So Square

Everybody is so totally going to be there, so you'd better go! See ya' then.

Mostly Musings of a Myriad of Mating Marriages of Birds plus some Miscellany

I can't remember when this bird obsession started, it's been a few years, but I see no change of heart in my near future. Is it a faze? A fad? Is this the equal/sequel to ducks, geese, and teddy bears? Okay, well, who cares? I'm sticking with it for now. So I got the nest urn at Lucketts from the first trip and then last week I went to an old haunt I'd not been to in a long time...All Things Country in Pasadena (Yes, they have one of those in Maryland, too. I think there's one in most states; this one doesn't have a dance hall where John Travolta rides a mechanical bull). And found the fab bird.

Little closer view of the bird; it's beautiful and velvety...yum.

And a cone of bird-inspired decor...

...and I'm kinda proud of this one. I got the silver tea pot from Chicks Picks at the annual Lucketts sale, the bird on top from the cottage the same day, and brought them home to be mated, painted, covered with glue and glitter, and decorated with a nest and velvet leaves. Sorry, but I think it turned out pretty darned cute.

Front view, still kinda cute, huh?

A little aside...bike rim wreath...still nature-inspired, right?

Little birdie-inspired vignette at the shop.

Close up of Harold and his bird friend.

This is part of the miscellany...I bought this great old paper umbrella from Tammy of Sweet Finds at...wait for it...take a wild guess...The Pink Cabbage! I didn't know where I was going to put it exactly but the colors were pretty much made for the dining room. When I went in Edith was screaming for some shade so she won the umbrella. Edith was made by Bill Something who had a studio at Oella Mill and I asked Paul for one of his tea pot ladies for Christmas a few years ago and he obliged thankfully; I love her. And for now she's got shade.

Another misc. There were bushes and bushes of these flowers all around the Safeway parking lot the other day, here's one peek.

To Daddy on this day of memories...

Carl Warburton George, Jr. September 4, 1930-August 20, 2003.

Texan, Aggie, husband, father, son, brother, church leader, exotic animal breeder and keeper, architect, engineer, writer, innkeeper, (flower deliverer for Pacific Grove Florist below)...

...the finest man I'll ever know. Passionate about every aspect of life; you taught Valori, Maya, and I how to stop, smell, see, hear, take in the roses, not take anything for granted, and be the best we can be at whatever we attempt. You were extraordinary at all you did but never a peep of what you did came from your mouth, only through your actions. We love you, we feel you with us always, but still miss your physical presence dearly. While you were the driver you took us on many fine rides through life and we have so many fabulous stories and memories for which we shall be forever grateful. With all my love, Tiny Tears

Finished Making Mel's House The Cutest in the World!

Not my best photo taking but you get the idea. Mel's mom removed all the wallpaper in the kitchen/eating area and Janine and I painted there and in the living room and hallway where they had a beautiful shade of sage green. There was nothing wrong with the way it looked; it was beautiful. But as we all know, we get tired of things even if they look good and just want a change. So one of Mel's greatest wishes was that I do dots on the big wall in the kitchen in the aqua blue we painted the wainscoting and it looks pretty darned cute.

I had finished the living room within the first round of two days painting so between then and her second stay in the hospital and my subsequent recovery from strep throat she had done a lot of redecorating with her special small pieces in addition to the big pieces that Kurt had moved around while she was in the hospital.

You can see how too cool she puts her great pieces up; great, special things well placed in unexpected places...perfect!

Sweet vignette in a small shelf in the kitchen.

Mellie and Kurt's special salt and pepper shaker collection. Pretty much everything displayed in her home has very special meaning which, in my humble professional decorating opinion, is just what decorating should be.

With touches of one-of-a-kind ideas.

Here's one of her main inspirations for the color scheme and decor for the kitchen area-one of Jenny and Aaron's pieces she was lucky enough to receive in a swap a while ago.

And a collage Hope made of one of her cards just for Mellie with all the colors also. I hope having these things done will let her enjoy her healing time off in her fabulous cottage 'cause that's what it's all about.

Leesburg/Luckett's two weeks in a row?!

Hubby took Friday off since the kids were off school and he was hoping we'd be able to head to O.C. for the weekend. The weather did not cooperate. It was nice enough on Saturday for him to play golf but, having taken an extra day off, he was antsy. So, when I mentioned that Hillary of Chicks Picks was offering Mellie's art at the Luckett's Annual Sale, the guys wouldn't dare refuse to join me in supporting the cause.

Here we are; Hillary, me, and Cristina.

And, just as I arrived, Hillary was wrapping one of Mel's pieces going home with this lucky girl. My camera (or me) was acting up so sorry for the grainy resolution but at least you get the point...great timing.

And here's just one of the many displays of Mellie's art.

Out in the tents, there were other vendors and here's one of the cool pieces...frou frou chairs covered in old feed sacks...very chic.

Inspiration that Karen and I have talked about in the past. It's hard to imagine I can take our old (one year) turtle cage and make it look like this...we'll see.

Loads of great vignettes of inspiration.

First trip to Leesburg brings first vignette from Leesburg

The first round of decorating with a few things didn't make the cut but when Mellie passed on the Bromeliad I had new inspiration and the perfect plant for the great pot from the cottage.

Here's the full home view; you know I have to love something to put it on my "special" t.v. So far, it's all from the cottage, I'll get to Lucketts some time soon...

Shop Redeux Deja Vu

It was that time again last week; when the shop starts feeling stale and needs some mixing up. So into it I got that every item ended up getting moved. So here are my new looks and nooks...

This, if I do say so myself, really fab wreath went home with Patrice last week. After seven years of being a faithful customer I finally declared her St. Patrice, The Patron Saint of Doojies!!! And what a great patron saint I have; you could not find anyone sweeter or more fun, and, dare I say, with better taste. I'd had those little, antique plastic houses for a little while and figured I'd do a 3-D collage with them at some point but, when I started making wreaths again lately, this idea struck me. "My Old Neighborhood", was the title (I think) I chose for it. It just reminded me of that perfect Nebraska/Texas neighborhood where I want to live. Patrice said that it now lives on her front door, what a great idea.

A recent find...the house shaped shelves that hold my renewed love of playing with birdhouses.

Uncorked, breathing, but not yet poured...

I do have some little rituals that I have a tendency to go through when I get something new. I do it to add to the delayed gratification factor. I usually like to leave things in bags or boxes for a couple of days and often forget exactly what's in them. Then I unpack and declare, "It is good"! Then when the time us just right I find where I want to use the items, or at least their new home for the first 30 seconds.The signature robin's egg blue bags from the cottage with the blue ribbon are always a welcome sight. Just having full bags in the house lets me know that I can whip out fab fun at any time.

Knowing that new things were coming into the house, I was inspired today to clean my workroom which was a disaster as an understatement. When it gets to the point where I can't find anything it's just so counterproductive to have it continue that way. So it took me until after noon to finish picking up off the floor and vacuum. My reward to myself was to unpack these bags. I told you that red phone came with me. Oh I can't wait to play with these goodies. Matt was home feeling unwell today so I'll wait until it's just me and my toys uninterrupted.

Here's the unpacked bag from Luckett's, a little more unassuming. But still some fun inside...

...all for me; I think I only bought a couple of very small things that I'll use in my art work to sell, other than...

...voila!, the ribbon. All this for around $60!!!!! Do you know how much ribbon I can get with $60 at our local craft stores, about 10 rolls. As you can see, I got way, way more than that. And you can't really get a good idea from these photos exactly how much there is 'cause those bags are STUFFED with many yards of several different ribbons.

I can't wait to get my grubby little fingers on these ribbons but I must finish a project that a very kind, patient customer has been waiting for me to finish for way too long. After that I'll be able to enjoy playing with all. Photos? Oh ya'.