ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Does that sentence cause you to have magical thoughts? It does me. And if you follow that thought & this link http://onceinabluemooniris.blogspot.com/ you will indeed find yourself in a place that must surely be Heaven on Earth!

This is just at few of Jain's http://onceinabluemooniris.blogspot.com/ amazing iris! She gave me permission to share a few photos.

This week I became the owner of some of these beauties. I was sitting at the computer drooling over her beautiful Blog & then I saw that she was offering some of these for sale. THRILLED was I. They arrived yesterday & I can't wait to get them in the ground & start dreaming of next springs blooms.

It seems as if this little angel is urging you to visit Jain & see if this Blog & these flowers will speak to your soul as it did mine.

Do you think she has a few?

Can you imagine the time & effort she puts into these gardens? WOW!

I hope you enjoyed today's post & that you will visit Jain. Please tell her I sent you.

Also, don't forget to see the post about my 100th Blog Give Away. Go there & follow the instructions & put your name in the hat.

Sterling Rose Necklace Project - Free Class Offered!

Would you like to have a necklace like this? What do you think the class would cost to make one? Today you are in luck because the tutorial & list of supplies & where to buy them are Free!

Yes, I said Free! Joy at http://cupidscharm.blogspot.com/2009/05/sterling-rose-garden-necklace-project.html has put all of this together & is offering it at her beautiful blog. Be sure & take advantage of her generosity & if you make one please let me know & share a photo of your creation. Isn't Blogland a marvelous place? Such sharing, caring & TALENT! Thanks Joy!

Also, look at my last post & be sure you are signed up in my Give Away that runs through Saturday. Good Luck!

100 th POST GIVE AWAY!

Oh how time flies! I cannot believe I have over 100 Posts! I have learned so much & met so many awesome friends in this journey. And, I KNOW I have so much more to see, learn & meet. So please help me celebrate! I am having a give away.

The first thing I want to have in this giveaway is one of the "Fairies In A Jar" that I did from the wonderful tutorial from Dawn at http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/
This little sweetie is holding a flower in her hand & has her sign... Fairy Wishes.

Also, I have included a coral colored Organza flower that I made & a pair of earrings that I made up to match.

The earrings have clear heart shaped beads to symbolize the love of blogging. Hope you will join in. I will leave registration open & have DH do the drawing of the name on Sunday May 24. Registration ends May 23.

To enter please leave a comment on this post or any post through May 23. Be sure & leave me a way to contact you. If you do not have a Blog then leave me your email address. If you don't wish to leave that in the comment section you can simply email it to me. If you become a follower of my blog your name will be entered twice (be sure & mention this in your comment). Also, if you link this post to your site & tell others about it... I will add you twice (again let me know you are linking). I hope you enter & win.

But, most of all Thank you for visiting my blog & being a part of this very special way that we all can connect! It is so great to be with friends who "GET YOU".

Back Yard Garden in Spring!

After a wonderful weekend away exploring the central part of Texas with our French friends I am back to Blogland. When we got home I went out in our back yard & found a number of things blooming & I thought I would share.

An overview of the flowerbed under my bedroom window. OK, I know there are a few weeds but, mostly flowers & my birdbath. I love to watch my little feathered friends bathing (& eating) in the mornings while I drink my coffee in my chaise lounge that looks out of that big double window. You can also see my brass spinner, bird feeder, blooming hydrangea's & over on the far end of the window is my clematis.

Here is a couple of my bird houses that are at full occupancy this year. Also, you can see the arbor my husband built me to separate the two yards. One side is garden (you can see the 2 vintage gilders) & the other side was were our Lab Duke lived (so the garden would survive). We lost that sweet fur baby on May 6th of last year & I would take all his digging & chewing back if we could have him back... but, alas we all know that is not going to happen so I still have 2 sides to my back yard.

This was Duke's side. We planted 2 peach trees this year. One on this side & one on the other. You can see another bird house on the fence & my chicken nester. NO, I don't have chickens. I use it to put my garden gloves, ant poison, garden tools, & sometimes... flowers in it. Saves a lot of extra trips around to get the needed tools. And besides, MY MOTHER HATES IT!!!!! And that makes it even more fun!

Here's the other peach tree & you can see my peaches on it! YUM!!!! I can't wait to taste them this summer. I can't believe those new little trees are already producing fruit.

And one of my Hydrangea

And the French Hydrangea. Notice how different the blooms are from the standard. The center is dense in closed buds & then just a few blooms are on the outside.

A little further back so you can see the leaves.

And a close up of the Clematis.

In mass.

The whole trellis by the bedroom window.

This afternoon I ordered Iris from Jain at http://onceinabluemooniris.blogspot.com/ If you go visit her you will not believe the beautiful colors she has. She has a new Banner for her Blog that just shows a few of her treasures. But, if you scroll down it is indeed a feast for your eyes & soul. Thank Jain for all the inspiration you share. Her gardens are divine. I hope you enjoyed this little visit to my back garden. I work tomorrow but, after that I will be doing a post to sign up for my drawing for my 100th Post. I wanted to be back from my trip & able to be available when all of you visit for signing up. Check Back soon. Have a great week. Hugs!

With Baby Steps You Gave My Creative Soul Wings!

How do you thank someone that opens a door to a whole new world for you? Someone who is both a teacher/mentor & friend? That was my problem. How did I thank my very special friend Diana Frey http://dianafrey.blogspot.com/ ? I sat down to create something just for her.

This sweet baby shoe tied with lace. A nest of two little pearls. And the soldered charms that say it all ... TEACHER & FRIEND!!!!!!

And the wings of course to signify what she gave to me.

I made this sweet little box with the velvet lid to protect it when I shipped it. And then for her to have a place to set it. The nest to signify beginnings.

And on the left is the card I made to send with it all. On the front of the card I made a photo of the bottom of my Secret Shaker Doll Necklace. I had so much fun when i went to California to make this. But, most of all was the treasure I found in Diana, the blessing of her friendship. How very lucky are we to have blogland to help us connect with such beautiful talented souls. Thank you Diana from the bottom of my heart.

Shaker Doll Necklace Finished!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!! As, all of you know I went to take the Secret Shaker Doll Necklace Class from Diana Frey http://dianafrey.blogspot.com/& I was VERY NEW to jewelry design. This is something I have dreamed about doing but, had never tried. I did not finish my necklace in class (only one person did) & have worked on it at home MANY NIGHTS while watching TV (thus the need for the work station in the den). I finished it last week. Wore it ONE DAY & tore some of it apart. Here is the detail of the original shaker. I had used head pins & was afraid that one yank while wearing it & some of the head pins could pull out or break. I had too many things that were special to me on this necklace. The KEY from Pat http://mytatteredelegance.blogspot.com/ , the MERMAID CHARM from Lu Lu http://coastalsistersnews.blogspot.com/ , chains from my friends met in class (Diana Salvucci & Susan Hunt), along with other beautiful things I had picked up here & there.

Here is the finished necklace the first time. See the large oval piece at the top. Loved the old clip & used it for a clasp but, it was too large & made the entire necklace out of balance when I wore it. This piece needed to be used in a different way on a different piece. So.... OFF it came & the search was on for something different to achieve a better balance.

You can see the clip a bit better here. Also, that black stone is beautiful with flecks of blue metallic that just glisten when the light hits it.

Here you can see the sterling silver salt spoon that I used to add interest to this piece. I had found it in an Antique store in Dallas & wanted to include it. Drilling the holes in it was interesting! Tools I have never used before & am still leery about. Diana says she was the same way & this will pass.

Here is the finished necklace on my mannequin after it was redone.

A little closer shot. Also, you can see the earrings I made to go with the necklace. Sorry the pink pin sticks out so much. I didn't think about that when I was doing the photos. Next time I will try to be more aware.

The new clip that I used had rhinestones in it & was round not oval. Also, not as large in scale.

Some links of silver were used to make the clasp since the rhinestone was wired on. I used a Blue/Grey Pearl, Natural Pearl, & Black beads to bring out the colors of the doll. Her hair being black & her eyes being blue.

Here is the close up of the redone Shaker. If you look closely at the items they are wired with a coil wrap instead of the looser head pins. I feel much more secure now. I hope you enjoy seeing my first attempt at jewelry design. I LOVED THIS! And can't wait to do some more designs. Diana has come up with another class that I hope to take in July.

My First Pink Saturday/A Visit to The Madona Inn

I want to thank Beverly for inviting me to join her in my first Pink Saturday! Click on the button on my sidebar to visit her & see the others that are participating. As many of you know, I went out to California in late March & while there I heard about the Madonna Inn from our Inn Keepers Jack & Judy as well as from a couple of the girls in my jewelry design class. Tina Marie was telling me that she & the girls had to go check it out because it was "Famous" I can tell you it was interesting.... Hmmm Hmmm Back in the 1930's Alex Madonna (nothing to do with the Pop Star) built this as a Motor Inn. He built it on his property & used a lot of ROCKS & I don't mean regular rocks I mean BOULDERS! The rooms are made of rocks, beds made of rocks, bathrooms guest bathrooms of rocks, everything has rocks! He developed a color he called Madonna Pink. The first two photos show the outside of the building . Yep it's Pink!

You can see some of the rocks coming into play here in the gardens.

And, pink lights in the fountains.

And you guessed it, Pink in the bar!

And last but, not least for today... The Dinning Room. IN PINK! Just think how BAD it would be if they didn't have some green there for Easter Decor. I never said he had good taste. But he did spend a fortune on this place. He had carvers from Europe here working on the woodwork for YEARS. The most unusual thing is that EVERYONE is supposed to see the men's restroom. Yes, you heard me...even the women go in to check it out. Everything sinks & all (yes the urinal) are made of ROCKS. Huge Rocks! That part was pretty disgusting. I think I could have past on that. And the signature desert... Pink Champagne Cake. If you are wondering about this local tourist place it is in San Louis Obesipo, California. On Madonna Rd & Hwy 101. Diana was surprised I wanted to go there (she didn't recommend it) but, I had heard so much about it. About all I can say for it...IT WAS PINK!