Hearts and Tulips

There's something about tulips that just make me smile! 

Recently, I was the very lucky recipient of a blog give-away on Stacy's blog -

Sweet Hearts and Sweet Tarts

where I won three mercury glass bud vases from Pottery Barn.

Aren't they so pretty?

Stacy has a lovely blog where she shares her beautiful home and gardens, travels with her family,

And gorgeous handmade cards.

This is the sweet card she sent to me with the vases.

I had just found the silver plate teapot to use as a vase and they go so well together.

I love when that happens!

Thank you, again, Stacy.

Aren't these tulips so cheerful?
I bought them at the grocery store - it's still a bit early for them in the garden.

Our weather has been very unsettled, with intermittent heavy rain,

and fresh snow in the mountains.

So I have been staying inside doing a bit of sewing.

Here I have made some lavender/rose sachets

with crocheted flowers.

They are so easy to make, and are nice to tuck in a drawer, display, or give as gifts.

Linen dish towels make excellent fabric.

You can make your own potpourri, as I have done here,
or you can buy it ready made or simply use lavender buds.

Fill, using a paper cone or spoon it in.

You can use ready made embroidered flowers, like the daisies I used here.

Be sure to sew them on before you stuff.

I like to make big batches to have on hand for gift giving.

These have already been sent along their way.

They do look sweet piled inside this basket while I worked.

If you would like to win a set of heart sachets with crocheted flowers, filled with my own rose/lavender
potpourri, simply leave a comment between now and March 28th.

I will announce the winner at the end of the month!

xoxo

Irish Spring

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Dear Friends! 

I do love to decorate for the holidays and I have also baked some delicious Shamrock Cookies 

to celebrate this Irish Holiday. 

Yes, I am half Irish and so is my Mr. 

Both of our Grandfather's families came from
County Cork, Ireland. 

I am Scots-Irish, and the Mr. is Swiss-Irish. 

I've added a 'bit o' green' to my Kitchen Queen cupboard to commemorate the occasion, 

and also to celebrate the first day of spring,
which is coming this week. 

Can you believe it? Finally! I know many of you are not experiencing spring weather yet, but it is coming! 

I've gathered together my collection of green glass. 

Some of it is Depression Glass and some is new. 

The embroidered linen napkins were found recently on an antiquing foray with my daughter,

 and the crocheted shamrocks were made by me. 

I adapted the pattern from this book. 

It is a lovely book with many inspiring designs. 

(I receive no compensation for mentioning this book,
I simply love it)

I fell in love with these pretty vintage napkins. 

There were 4 of them in the set. 

I knew they would be perfect with my collection of green glass. 

I did have fun gathering everything 'green' together. 

The green cake plate under the cookies is Depression Glass

and I even had some green enamel refrigerator dishes hiding upstairs in my sewing room filled with buttons. 

I've set the table in green, too! 

The tablecloth was found in the same shop as the napkins. 

The print has tiny shamrocks!

The green pot holds living shamrocks (which decided to close up just for the photos!) and scotch moss. 

Green tinted ginger-ale waits in the crystal carafe. 

And what would St. Patrick's Day be without a leprechaun guarding his pot of gold! 

I even found some cookie cutters with green handles in the back of the drawer, just for fun. 

It was like a little treasure hunt searching the house for anything green. 

The Recycled Candles are 'green' in more ways than one!

Thank you for coming inside to see my Irish Spring decorating.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you!

xoxo

Thank you, Dear Friends for your kind comments on my last post.

It goes without saying, you are the reason why.....

An Irish Blessing for you -

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your window pane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow the rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

xoxo

And here is one just for fun -

May those who love us, love us;
And those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts;
And if he doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.

:) 

March Musings on a Three Year Anniversary

The wild plum are blooming here in the foothills; a sure sign of spring. 

It has been sunny and warm the last few days and I have been outside preparing garden beds, planting perennials and roses and cleaning up after a long winter. 

Suddenly, everything is bursting into bloom, little by little. 

I can't tell you how welcome these sweet little blossoms are to my winter weary soul. 

We had buckets of rain before these precious sunny days and everything was flooded. 

My front walkway had 6 inches of water! 

(Something new after the neighbor above us did some drainage work. Guess we need to do some now!)

The river down below us was raging and we had a fast flowing stream through the property in what is usually a muddy drainage ditch.

 It did sound very pretty ...

Finally the skies cleared...

But the clouds always linger over the mountains. 

As the Indian Plum bloom, I am reminded that 3 years ago this month I started this little blog. 

It's been a wonderful experience of learning and connecting and inspiration.

Sometimes living here can be isolating and blogging connects me to the world.
I started my blog one month before my Mother died. She never got to see it or know that I named it after her own Mother.

It was hard losing my parents - my Father to Alzheimer's and my Mother to heart disease.
They lived within walking distance of me for 30 years, always willing to open up their cozy kitchen to a weary mom with pie, coffee and good advice.

Raising 4 children kept me home. I could never keep a job or leave for very long with 4 spirited kids always getting into trouble. One weekend my husband and I went away and the party they had was legendary.

Some of the neighbors have never forgotten....

When I found myself with an empty nest and both my parents gone,
I lost my creative desire.

Being out in the gardens or sewing was so quiet and contemplative and all I could think about was sad thoughts of missing them.

But blogging helped me reconnect with the world.

A beautiful world of caring and interesting people. 

My saving grace. 

I have learned so much from all of you - crafting, photography, gardening, cooking, life....

Sometimes I get so excited to put what I have learned into practice, especially gardening right now.

The gardens have been neglected these last couple of years.

The cleanup from the ice storm we had two years ago has taken all our time and is still ongoing.
Every tree in our little forest lost branches or broke in two.
We still have a shed to demolish after it was crushed by a falling tree.

And my grief has also been crushing.

But time takes away the sharp edges.

Now I am ready to dig in once again.

I am excited to feel the satisfaction of working the earth and nurturing my creative spirit once more. 

Thank you, Dear Friends, for sharing this journey with me. 

Blogging has opened up a world of inspiration and learning. 

And beautiful friends. 

xoxo

'It would be unreasonable to demand that anything as lovely as an herbaceous border in full bloom be achieved without a little suffering.'

Eleanor Perenyi

Green Thoughts (1981)

Pressed Flower Cards

With Spring just over the horizon, 

I thought I would share a sweet botanical craft

using those first spring blooms and pretty sprigs 

that we tuck into the pages of books as mementos

 of walks in the garden and forests. 

Creating handmade cards

 preserves these charming gifts of nature

to be passed on to special friends and loved ones.

With just a few simple supplies, 

you can spend a lovely afternoon creating treasured keepsakes.

A large work surface is needed to spread out your supplies. 

Use a protective surface, such as a cutting board, for using glue. 

Gather blank cards and assorted scrapbook papers. 

Large, heavy books serve as presses for flowers and then later, for the finished cards. 

To press flowers, simply gather flat, thin blossoms and leaves on a dry, sunny morning and immediately lay them flat in the back pages of an old telephone book or heavy volume that is not Great Grandfather's memoir or some other precious tome that you wouldn't want to damage.

Mark your pages with strips of paper labeled with the date and other information you might want to save.  

Store in a cool, dry place for at least 3 weeks under heavy weights. A stack of books is fine.

Or use a flower press as I have done here.

 Pressed flowers will keep for several years

 if stored in a flat drawer on slips of paper in a very dry room. 

Those little packets of silica gel that you find in certain new items, 

can be thrown in the drawer to absorb any moisture. 

If you plan to store your flowers this way, place them on sheets of paper before pressing. 

Stamps and ink are fun to use.

These can embellish the finished card in customized ways. 

Word stamps and alphabet stamps can be used to make your own sentiments. 

Scalloped edge scissors add a bit of 'fancy'. 

I found a package of small, solid colored blank cards to use as the top layer. 

These are sold as 'invitation' cards. 

It was fun matching the scrapbook papers to the cards and pressed plants. 

This is 'Dusty Miller'. 

These dry nicely. 

Tweezers are used to handle pressed plants.

A toothpick is used to apply the glue. 

A small paper cutter comes in handy for the smaller cards on top. 

Pour a dab of glue onto a plastic dish,

 and holding the flower with the tweezers by the stem, 

simply dab a bit of glue to the back using the toothpick. 

Gently. 

Drop the flower onto the card and lightly, ever so lightly, 

press down along the edges of the flower here and there 

with a clean and dry toothpick to adhere it to the card. 

Never rub. 

Bits of fabric, lace or small buttons and charms are sweet, too.

Just remember that if you are sending these through the mail, these need to be very flat.  

Once the card is finished, it will need to be pressed flat for a few days. 

Make a waxed paper sleeve by folding a length in half, insert the card...

and slide it between the pages of a large book. 

The waxed paper prevents any wayward glue from sticking to the book. 

Weigh the book down once you have all of your cards placed inside. 

This will keep the cards from curling. 

Tied into pretty bundles with ribbon or string, 

these make lovely gifts for someone dear. 

Don't forget to include the envelopes! 

To protect the finished cards for storing or mailing, 

insert each card into folded waxed paper, cut to size. 

You can scallop the edges, if you like. 

I hope this inspires you to make your own garden keepsakes to share. 

A bit of nostalgia from a lovely spring day spent outdoors. 

xoxo

Awake, Thou Wintry Earth -

Fling off thy Sadness!

Fair Vernal Flowers, 

Laugh Forth

Your Ancient Gladness! 

- Thomas Blackburn -

Linking with: Stone Gable