Mosaic Monday....And, A Cool Mosaic Link

Well, I'm working on the tank garden...slowly...here and there.  My planting is slipshod at best.  Last fall I threw out some poppy seeds.  Of course I didn't mark where, because I'm sure it was late and getting dark.  Now, I'm trying to identify my weeds versus potential poppies.

Also this spring I put in a large mail order from Burgess.  I don't know if you've ever ordered by mail, but what you get is small twigs.  I knew that, but it's just sooooo much cheaper plus you can get what you want and you aren't just subject to what they sell in the tiny green houses around here.  Well tiny twigs and seeds again require marking or a decent memory.  I no longer have a decent memory and began marking a few, but time was running short, other duties called.  So each little sprout I see I'm eying and again trying to discern weed or plant.  And, if plant....what is it?!  Time will tell except for what doesn't grow, that I'll never know because there isn't a record of it.  (Does that deem a smiley face or a sad face?)

But, let me show you something really cool I discovered yesterday.

Click these links and mouse over the pictures.

http://www.jillruth.com/view/mosaic

http://www.jillruth.com/view/flipcard

http://www.jillruth.com/view/snapshot

I'm not entirely sure how this will be incorporated into Blogger blogs yet, but super neat huh?  For more information check out this site:
http://pcmastero.blogspot.com/2011/05/amazing-view-of-your-bloggers-blog.html

For more Mosaics:
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

I hope your week is off to a great start!!

Little Corner of Happiness

I have these little vintage salt and pepper shaker vases in my laundry room and have posted about them here and here.

They have been sitting empty most of the winter except for the occasional dry flower/weed I stuck in them.

I'm so happy to have a few things blooming to have my little vases full again.  Here is a  sprig of basket of gold Aurelia, and some ground cover (can't remember the name).

Lilly of the Valley...so fragrant!

Graceful columbine.

These tiny vases in this little corner really are fun for me.  It takes little to fill them and a sprig that looks like nothing out in the garden becomes a focal point in a little vase.

Most of the time in life you need to look at the big picture and not at the little details when you are stressed.  BUT, when there is an overwhelming amount of work to do...finding joy in something simple is a blessing.

Which is why I won't post a picture of the whole room...that would bring none of us joy :) and I would have titled the post, "Big Room of Lots of Work"

I'm linking my little vintage shakers up with Debra for Vintage Inspiration Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Tea on Tuesday::Texture Tuesday::Tuesday with the "Kims"

It's Tea on Tuesday and Texture Tuesday, again?  so soon?

I thought our dining room table would give you a good idea of a "day in the life" so to speak.  I decided though to just show you the little pile of rocks I found here yesterday, dirt and all.  I suppose when my little gals watched me take pictures on the table of these beauties, they thought they would have something to add.  :)  These little findings make my day.  I will probably put them in a bowl.  In fact, they brought me the twigs and branches which led to this display.

For more tea (and coffee) please visit Kimmie at Art in Red Wagons.

Kim issued a theme for this week's Texture Tuesday...anything "vintage"...I could do that!  This very pretty book is out in our garage yet because it has quite a bit of mildew on it.  Sad.   Not really sure what I'll do with it for sure.  I think a few days in the sun will help.

I added two of Kim's textures, Lightpaper4 and Autumn2 to this diptych.  I wish I could say that I would love to read this when I have the time, but to be honest, I think it would be a hard read.  I'm certainly not accustomed to reading this kind of poetry.  Now, give me a Dr. Seuss book....

There will be some great vintage themed textured photos over at the cafe, so head on over!

Mosaic Monday

I've been wanting to shoot pictures of dandelions for a long time, so I ran out very quickly tonight after a busy  few days of wedding planning and caught the last bit of today's sun.  It felt good to just shoot some pictures, kind of relaxing you know?

You can see more mosaics here at Mary's beautiful blog.

Have a great week!

When the Frame Becomes the Art

I have been picking up a few bed frames to use in projects.  Not really sure what projects for sure, I just know there is some potential there. :)
This head board is the prettiest green. My plan is that it will be the back of a bench and sitting right here in front of this tank.

Here is the foot board of the same bed.  I like the decal on it so much I thought it would look neat to hang it in the house.  Well, I'm planting and putzing around with some other stuff in the garden, so.....Randy?

"Sure", he says.  So with the grinder that I gave him as a gift last year,    (how convenient is that?! actually, he DID ask for it) he cut out the center part of the bed for me.

Last cut. See the sparks shooting up to the right? Then he proceeded to grind the edges smooth.

Isn't that pretty?

He drilled a hole in the back for me to hang it. I painted the cut edges and sprayed the whole thing with a clear acrylic matte finish spray just to give it a smooth and finished look.

Here it hangs next to my hoosier in the dining room.

Since I've recently changed out the hoosier from reds to greens and neutrals, it fits here great.

It would also be a great magnetic message board!

So, while we're here, I'll show you my collection of insulators.  The earthen colored and white ones are just beautiful in my opinion.  I've never done any research on them  but I assume these are older than the green and clear ones since I see them less often.

The colors and shapes are just great!

Now, there are the pieces left that were cut off from the foot board...what to do with them?!  Any ideas?

Tea on Tuesday::Texture Tuesday::Tuesday with the "Kims"

Just some fun with shadows this morning with my coffee cup for Tea on Tuesday and Texture Tuesday as I link up with the talented Kims.
When the morning sun streams in our big window in the kitchen, I can sometimes catch some great shadows on a corner of the counter top, a small section of the floor, and for a bit on an open wall, as above in these photos.

I (heart) shadows...


I textured the shadows with Kim's Golden texture on overlay blend mode.

For more Tea (or coffee) and for more Textured photos, visit the Kims:

Art in Red Wagons with Kimmie  
Kim Klassen's Cafe

Yesterday it was 100 degrees here?!  I think there was frost just five days ago and will be down to a low in the 40s by the end of the week...windows open, windows closed, windows open, windows closed....Have a great day all!

Mosaic Monday

Peaceful.  Serene.  Tranquil.  Still.  Untroubled. Quiet.  Restful.  Art.

These crocheted covered rocks were sent to me from a friend, Ruth, that I"ve met through blogging.  I was so honored to receive these pieces of art!!  They are truly beautiful and exude peace in their simple form.  She was inspired by Margaret Oomen of Resurrection Fern Blog.  Margaret shares a tutorial on how to crochet a stone cover here, and to make a baby stone here.  She also very graciously has a list of her tutorials on her blog here.  You can bowse Margaret's work in her Etsy shop here.  It's all so very lovely!  I'm so grateful to Ruth, not only for the stones but for introducing me to the work of Margaret.  I think you'll like it too :)

For more mosaics, stop over at the Little Red House!

Romantic Wire Vine

These photos are from the back yard last year.
I personally just discovered wire vine last year and was tickled with how beautiful it was with rusty iron!

If you could call a plant, vintage looking, that's what I would call this vine.

I planted it here along with a black eyed susan vine.  I don't remember what the variety was called but it was more apricot colored than the yellow back eyed susan vine.

The leaves are so delicate and romantic looking. If you don't have rusty iron in your garden, how about a make shift planter out of old bricks?  This vine would be perfect with the patina of old bricks.

I found the vine again yesterday at Bomgaars and the clerk told me they have carried it for years...hhmmm...not sure how I missed this little gem until last year.  

I'm just glad I've found it!

Please, you gardeners...has this been around for years?

I took the dried vine and used it in this project around the base. The dried vine could make neat little wreaths too.

I'm linking up with Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day!!

The Treasures To Be Found...

My kids said, "Uhg, what is it?"
My husband said, "Not sure I like that, kind of..."
A friend said, "Not so sure about that..."

To which I replied,  "I know, I'm not so sure myself."

So, "it" has been waiting patiently for me since I bought it a couple of months ago at an auction.  50 cents.  Someone had to buy it, I didn't want it to be a "no bid".

The right arm is a little crumbly at the shoulder so I was sure that the rags had been attached (and sewn) on to hold it together.  I debated and debated whether or not I should take the rags off.  Would it just crumble down?  But, I really didn't like the rags on it.  I tried to convince myself that it gave it character.  But, they didn't.

So, here it goes. I decided to take them off.  Hmm, scarves underneath.

At some point in my decision to take the rags off, "it" became "she". And, she was looking better.

She is completely intact!  I was surprised and thrilled.  So, why the rags?!  The auction was for the belongings of a many named Johnny.  I wonder if Johnny's wife (who died many years ago) isn't the one who thought she was better off covered!

This piece was completely inconsistent with everything else Johnny owned and collected.  Someone had made this years ago. How and why she was in Johnny's basement I'll never know.  I've asked two people who could have known, hoping to find out who the artist was, but, they had no idea.

She is actually quite beautiful, isn't she?

And, peaceful.

I think she's wonderful.

She has a new home now in the tank garden, out in the sun without the binding rag and scarves.  (Yes, I saved the fabric!)




I have named her, Ruth.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Tea on Tuesday::Texture Tuesday::Tuesday with the "Kims"

I bought a small set of red rimmed pyrex cups, saucers, and dessert plates at a garage sale a while back.  They are pretty sweet :)  I guess you'll have to take my word for it that they are red trimmed...

It's Tuesday, the sun is shining, and I'm linking up with Kimmie for tea and with Kim at the Cafe for Texture Tuesday.  Looks to be a good day!  I'm heading over to my booth at the antique store, then back home for the quotidian.  So, that's the plan for the moment anyway...

The above photos were edited with Nelly Neros grungy black and white action and then topped off with a layer of Kim's "serendipity" texture at 100% overlay.

Mosaic Monday

Starting them young.....!  So, I have this lamp that hasn't sold at my booth.  The shade was in pretty good condition with just a little staining, but really I just think wine colored satin bows aren't "in style" even in the vintage world.  So, deconstruction!

Now, if you're thinking you're going to see some great lamp shade redo like the one shown here at Amy's Four Corner's Design... or here at Connie's blog  She Dreams Big... well, you'll have to wait. :( sorry!  I don't even have a plan.  I just knew it needed to be started and it was a great project for my little gals to work on while I deconstructed a radio.  So stay tuned...but don't hold your breath!  And, if you have any ideas on tweaking the lamp along with the shade, please speak up!

Once again, I'm linking up with Mary over at the Little Red House.

Happy Monday!