Karla's Cottage

Crowning Glories

This has been a good weekend for "crowning around".  Miss Sugarwings spent a big chunk of the weekend here with me and the crowns are a good project to do in the little spurts of time I have between bouts of chasing her. this crown is sold

This poor little cherub lost its arms when it got knocked over onto the cement, and I have had them buried in the gravel, reaching up to the air like zombies trying to come up out of the earth. The spot I put them in was by Ryan's front door, since he is a big zombie fan, just like his mom.

And not for Halloween, I did this last Spring.

But this week, Sugarwings found the arms, and spent a good deal of time trying to re-attach them too the "ouchy baby" as she called her. 

A good sized pile of crowns got done, but honestly, it isn't much, and these aren't even for Silver Bella. I had big plans to lock myself into the studio and not come out, since my husband is out of town.

Instead, I got slightly sidetracked by my fairy grand baby and we ended up working in the garden together and playing play dough, and making up songs.  the two crowns on the bottom, back right are sold, thanks

Carol's crown design is such a fantastic idea, I can't get enough of them.  I'm putting my own spin on them and making them in my colors and style too.

Remember,  as part of "Karla and Carol's Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway" you  can win a kit to make your own. Go to Carol's blog and tell her how much you like them! I'll chose someone from her comments on the first.

And you can still win my Sweet September Prize Pack by commenting.

Plus I have two ways you can win a pumpkin topped bottle. If you are an 08 Bella, let me know, because one will be going to a Silver Bella attendee, and another will go to another reader.

Aren't presents fun?

 

Earlier this week, before the little fairy baby came over to distract me with that dimply grin of hers, I painted this dove bottle and decorated it.

Did I say that Carol's screen crowns were addictive? So was her bottle topped sculpy idea!  Maybe it is all the hours I have spent with Sugarwing 's play dough that got me in the mood, because I am sure in love with sculpy! the dove is sold, thanks!

And if you are wondering what I do with all of the old wallpaper and vintage flowers I buy, here is a tiny little dent into my collection.

I've been scooping up old boxes all Summer at garage sales and this week, got a few decorated.

This one had the most beautiful knobs on the drawers, that I simply had to save it.

It has been painted silver and distressed, then the front of the drawers and the insides were covered in coordinating old wallpapers.

These roses were so pretty, they inspired the redo of this box. I made a corsage, and glued it down, along with vintage ribbons and an old pink buckle.

The inside is simply covered in old wallpaper, then trimmed with narrow, velvet ribbon.

And the smashier the better for me with old roses! I love to see them show their age. (maybe because I show mine?)

This wooden box was painted pink, and the top was covered in flocked wallpaper, then the edges inked to age it.

Inside, is more wallpaper, and some hand dyed velvet, left over from a chair I recovered for Sugarwing's nursery.

I trimmed it out in old lace and buttons.

I've got a stack of boxes done, and more in the works, that I will be taking to Silver Bella.  I plan on packing other things to sell inside of them, and using them as part of the display.

So even if they don't sell, they will be handy to have to show off other things.

Today, I will try to list some of the crowns on Etsy.

But I am hosting a brunch  tomorrow, and Sugarwings is spending the night, so who knows if I'll get anything done or not....

How to win a do it yourself crown kit and the hat whisperer strikes again

Wow! I appreciate the response to the crowns and pumpkins!  And if I was smart, I'd start mass producing ravens, I sure had a lot of inquiries about that one. 

All of the crown kits that I showed are sold, but I can make up more (I have pink glittered screen left) if you want to make a custom order request.

And I did put a few together for some custom orders.  I really appreciate your compliments on them, but want to make sure you all know that it was Carol's design, not mine! She gave me permission to make some up, but the idea is all hers.

If you want to win a crown kit of your own to put together, here is what you need to do:

Show Carol some of this crown love! 

Go to her blog and leave a message about how cool these are, and I will sneak a peak at her comments and pick a winner from one left on  HER blog, not mine!

If you want to enter to win a crown kit, tell Carol how much you like them! Leave a comment on her blog, Raised in Cotton between now and Tuesday the 30th.  I will announce the winners of all three giveaways on the first.

Today was a picture day for me.  I rarely buy framed pieces, but  the ones I saw while out garage sailing this morning couldn't be passed up! I am crazy about the white witch in the first photo, that will be going in my living room.

These charmers and the row of paper dolls (that I got for 10 cents) will probably be offered at Silver Bella.

You might have noticed that I am a dog person, but this cat print melted my heart.  And without taking it all apart, I am not that sure that it is a print. Does anyone recognize it as a reproduction they have seen? Because it really looks like it could be a pastel drawing. I'm not sure...

And yes, I bought another load of jewels, as well as this metal dress form to hang them on.  I was at a sale today where things were 10 cents and a quarter. Now, why even bother to charge someone if it is only a few cents?   Well, maybe because people like me will fill a car and it adds up. I spent about $30 on dollar and under items.

The frame that this print is in really caught my eye.  Perfectly weathered paint, and lovely scalloped edges!

The green shoes were a dime too, I bought them for the rhinestone buckles, once those are pulled off, the shoes will go into Sugarwings dress up closet to play with. (that makes the rhinestone buckles only a nickle each)

And what a stash of post cards! These aren't from the garage sale, they were one of Beth's bargains. Not only were they a good deal, she brought them over to my studio and we sat and talked and made things for a few hours.

Lately, I have been collecting ballerina pins.  I don't have a plan for them yet, but when I get around to it, I know that these will be great to add to collages in some way.  And it was another dime item!

Don't you love aged whites?  The silk ribbons on this baby bonnet are just gorgeous. 

I got two bonnets, the shoes, a doll bridal veil and the soft (calfskin?) purse for $1.50. 

I had to drive about a half hour out to the middle of no where to a barn sale, but it was worth it.  The lady who was having the sale was such a sweetie and kept going in the house to bring more things out for me. 

When I told her about my search for a vintage prom dress, she got this sparkling top for me. And it fits! I can wear it with jeans and a corsage and be dressed just right.

It was the most expensive thing she had to sell, and it was only 2 bucks.

And when I mentioned hats and old flowers, look what she rounded up for me!  Not bad for 75cents to a dollar each.

She said that she had more yesterday but sold them all.   I'm lucky she had these left and brought them out to me.

It never hurts to ask. You never know what will turn up.

It isn't exactly like I needed more flowers..... I just bought these from a friend a couple of days ago. She found the boxful in her attic, it had been up there for years.

And it is a good sized box too!  The box itself is wrapped up in nice, old gift wrap.

She only wanted $40 for it all, but I gave her an extra $10, there are so many wonderful, big roses the bunch.

Seems like all I do is shop instead of work, doesn't it?

I bought this dress thinking I'd wear it to Silver Bella Vintage Prom Night. It was made way back before proms were invented, so I have been calling it my Vintage Cotillion dress.

What do you think, should I go WAY vintage and wear this 1920s dress or stay 50s retro and wear the sparkly aqua top with jeans for prom night?

While Lou Wanda was outside modeling my dress, I had her try on this hand made, hand dyed gown too. It is being donated to a fund raiser for a friend and I volunteered to photograph it to sale.

Just as pretty without the jacket, isn't it?   There is a store in town here that is a Lawrence institution. It has been around for as long as I can remember and is called Calamity Jane's. It features hand sewn, romantic style dresses.

This dress was purchased there for $200 and never worn, so is being donated to raise money for the Unekis Fund.  My close, long time friend, Jen Unekis has MS and her husband was recently diagnosed with an ugly type of cancer.

I hope to do some fund raising for them in the next year, we are starting rounding things up for a garage sale and also selling donated items like this (size Medium/stretchy/loose fitting/comfy/beautiful) dress.

If you are interested, let me know and make an offer. We haven't put it on Craig's List yet.

Lou Wanda isn't our only model today. Sugarwings was quite taken with herself in the vintage pinafore I tied over her pink dress.

Thanks again for your comments on the last post, I was overwhelmed.  And remember to leave a comment on Carol's blog to tell her how much you like her crowns and pumpkins! I want to make sure she gets the credit for the design. (plus she just had Sadie Olive re-do her blog and you just have to see it!)

I'll draw names for all three giveaways on the first.  All comments count!

400th Post and a slew of giveaways including "Karla and Carol's Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway"

Thanks for all of the kind comments and emails about our article!  And a big THANKS to the Fabulous Fifi for working with us on it!!

If you get a chance, please leave Fifi a comment and tell her you liked it too!

If you haven't seen Carol Spinski's (of Raised in Cotton) creations in our article for Romantic Country yet, here is a peek.

I fell head over heels for these sculpy pumpkin head bottles she made! So she brought over some sculpy and showed me how to make some.  white pumpkin with dark bottle is sold, thanks!

And if you've ever read this blog, you know that if I make one of something, I make a BUNCH.  I just get going and can't stop!

So in honor of Carol's cute as a button idea, and how much fun we made creating a table scape around them for the article, I want to give one away as a gift to you.

This is also my 400th post! So a gift is doubly appropriate, isn't it?

this bottle is sold, thanks

I will count all comments all month for this give away, and they will also count toward my regular monthly treat, too.

And since I have quite a few of these glittery little punkins, I will be listing them in my Etsy shop soon to sell also. 

For now, they will be for sale through this blog,  for $18 each for punkin head bottle and $22 for the raven.

the raven is sold, thanks!

No two are alike, each is hand made. The bottles are OLD, (f you remember, I bought them at an auction and experimented in how to get them cleaned up, denture tablets worked pretty good).

The Raven does not come off the top of the bottle, and the pumpkin with the purple flower is permanently attached too. The other gourds are simply perched on top, with indentations in their bases to stay in place.

I used lots of vintage goodies and some fall type pretties on each of them.

Postage will be Priority Mail for $4.80, in the USA.  If you'd like a bottle, please leave a comment about which one you want. And remember that each comment is also an entry to win one!

(I have more too, they just aren't photographed yet, and it is almost time for Project Runway and America's Next Top Model, so I am done with photos for the night!! Gotta have priorities!!)

Oh, but wait! There is more! Carol also came up with the idea to make these charming crowns. Some were used on statuary, some on pumpkins, and the rest as votive holders.

I wrote a how-to up in the article for making the crown votive, if you'd like to make your own. 

Or maybe you'd like to win a kit to make your own??

Yep, Carol and I are giving away a kit with instructions too.  Details on entering this one to come.

In the meantime, I have a few $10 kits to sell. ($2.50 postage in the US)

They include precut and painted and glittered screens, trims for the points of the crown and the base as well as frippery's and doodads to make the tiara special.

This one, "crowning Glory," is painted golden.

The screens are cut with some extra length so you can wrap them around your own little votive cup to fit.  Or- leave it larger and use it as a  crown for a small bust, or statue? sold

The colors of the screens aren't showing up well, this one, "Pink Princess," is pink with pink glitters. pink princess is sold, thanks

These two should go as a pair, I just think they look too pretty together to split up, so I will sell them two for $18, so they can stay together!this pair has sold, thanks!

Wouldn't they be lovely around white candles on your Christmas buffet?

I call this set "Snow Queen". It is silver glittered screen with pearly accents to glue on.

And remember, I am having my Sweet September giveaway too.

all comments, on all posts count

eek! I need to go, my shows are starting!!

PS- I have a "bonus" giveaway of one of our Romantic Country inspired creations that will go to a Silver Bella participant.  If you are attending Silver Bella this year, please mention that in your comment and I will enter you into the seperate drawing.

Grape picking in Kansas????

The new issue of Romantic Country is on the stands now and looks like a really pretty one.  I can't wait to make time to sit down and savor it. Especially the article about the Rachael Ashwell's new Shabby Chic home. I'm intrigued by that. 

But, life has been hectic the last couple of days, so I haven't had a chance to do more than look and see if my article was in it or not!

And, yep, there we are, Carol and I are in there.  She has made the most wonderful projects for the pictures, and we will be having a giveaway with one of her ideas coming up soon.

Stay tuned for details! 

By the way, just LOOK at all the blogger friends listed in the credits.

And did you also notice Diane Guthrie in the photo credits? She is a great pal, and my family and I met up with her this weekend for a bit of  "agri-tourism" at a local winery.

Diane was doing a photo shoot for New Holland Tractors and needed some models to pick grapes for the day.

So, here we are, the newest tractor pin-up girls, soon to be plastered on barn walls on farms everywhere.

Diane was sweet to take some extra photos of the 4 of us, my two sisses and niece, so we have some professional quality photos of all of us together.

I think that back in the 70's my sisters and I went to have our portraits done  together, but not since then.  This will be a nice one to frame and keep.   It is so  much better than going to a portrait studio, this picture will be full of memories of our fun weekend together.

Our morning at the winery started out foggy.  (by the way, these are now my photos, not Diane's, but I am sure you could tell that).

The atmosphere was moody and romantic.

But I am afraid that once the novelty wore off and the fog burned away to become hot sun, we are the ones who became moody.

This wasn't just playing, we actually had to work!!

We picked grapes for HOURS.  It was kind of fun and we had a great day over all, but it went on tooooo long. 

Still, it was an experience that was worth having, and I am glad we went.  I felt a bit bad about making my family be migrant workers for one of their vacation days, though.

Once lunch was served, we started to feel much better and quite pampered. The food was the best!

How can you feel grumpy when there is an all you can eat hand made chocolate buffet?

We were given little boxes of wine infused chocolates to take home (made by Sleepy Jean and absolutely, melt in your mouth, delicious!)

The company was good too.  This is Moofy, he picked up anything left lying around, water bottles, coffee cups, etc. and put them all in a pile by the house.  I wish I could train Twinks to pick up trash instead of trashing things!

After lunch, we met Sugarwings downtown for a quick carousel ride on the horsies in front of the Lawrence Antique Mall, where I just had to pop in and do a quick hat hunt.

Jackpot!  I found a fall colored rose strewn hat and have already ransacked it for the flowers.

Hmm, the creature on top didn't come with the hat, he is a tomato worm that Bobbie Sue made from Sculpy.

We ended our day by sitting in the studio and making creatures from sculpy.

I whipped up a "flight" of fairies.  These are babies, newly hatching from their cocoons and are tucked into another hat I found this weekend.

Poor fairy babies, they don't look too pleased to have a changeling in their nest!

Today, was back to work, the family is gone now.  So, I plucked the new (old) hat clean of its roses and listed them in Autumn craft packs on Etsy.

There is a total of 4 packs, just in time for you to make some Halloween finery for yourself.

And now, I need to get back to work again.  Silverbella is looming over me, I need to get ready!

check back with me in the next couple of days and I will have the Raised in Cotton & Karla's Cottage Romantic Country Inspired Giveaway ready for you to see. 

Sugarwings and the Fairy Dance

Well, my family is left, on their way back to Indiana and it seems pretty quiet and lonely around here, with them gone. We had such a fun visit,  I don't even know where to start, junking day and my new vintage gown and pile of hats? Renfest and Sugarwings dancing with fairies? Grape picking at a local winery? Sculpy night and the fairies we created?

How about Sugarwings and her favorite part of the Renfest? She adored this dragon and talked about him all day.

All of us loved the festival.  Sissy really got into the spirit of it by dressing as a fairy.  I was inspired by her and had to put on a pair of wings myself.  All I had was a tiny pair that the fairy grand baby loaned to me, so I added a vintage rose and some rhinestones  to them to give them more oomph.

And I also followed Sissy's lead and added a bird to my garland.

When our little one saw the birds, she had to have one on her head too.

Her daddy learned how to do magic tricks with an orb. 

And we got to meet lots of real live fairies.

One of my favorite things was the dance of the fairies.

Our little sprite couldn't figure out why she wasn't supposed to be a part of the act.

When volunteers were asked to come up from the audience and join in, of course, Sugarwings was the first one up there.

She did her special dance, that looks like a marionette flying through the air, we couldn't tell if her feet ever touched the ground during the performance. And of course, all of our group agreed that she stole the show from the other fairies.      

Durning dance, Sugarwings met some kindred spirits.  The only thing cuter than a little toddler fairy is a whole pack of them. Or do fairies come in packs?  Flocks? That sounds better.

A quick hello

This sleepy fairy says it all for me. Lots of fun and magical times are being had this weekend, but I am worn out!

I'm just popping in to say hi, while downloading our photos from the Renfest.  It was a beautiful day and Sugarwings had a great time showing off her dancing skills in a fairy circle.

More photos later- I hope you are all having a lovely weekend too!

Sneak Peek at the Pumpkin Surprise

This air clay and sculpy is just the best!  So far, so good, on figuring out what needs to be baked and what doesn't. At least, I think I got it right....

I've only had time to paint a couple of the pieces and glitter them up.

Instead, I have been hanging with Sugarwings, she had a couple of sleepovers in a row.

And I finally managed to convince her to put  on the vintage dress from Auntie Beth for a short lived tea party.  A couple of minutes into the tea party, she got up to read a book to one of her fairies ( a gift from Sugar Bear Karla), then yelled-

"Pree dress OFF- I paint!!!!"

So, we spent the majority of the last couple of days making play dough snakes and painting.  Instead of saying 'art studio' she says 'our studio'.

While she painted, I decked out this witch that I had made from sculpy (it had to be baked, and I baked it in the oven with the vintage marble "crystal ball", and the glass didn't explode.)

She is wearing a hat made from old black velvet topped with a flower from my stash and a dove that I painted black and glittered to be a crow.

Her eyes are green crystals, but I think black would stand out more. I might pry the glued in crystals out and change them for a darker color. She looks kind of eerie with the light eyes.

There are a few air clay punkins that got painted too, but they are not done yet, just paint and glitter so far.  They have big plans for their future.  After the next issue of Romantic Country is on the stands, I'll show you what to do with the pumpkins!  But it is a surprise until then.

And what happens to the pumpkins will also be involved with the fall giveaway from Carol and I, so remember to leave a comment if you want to enter that! (as well as my Sweet September Giveaway)

The three tags are for my sisters and niece who will be here in a couple hours!  They are driving in from Indiana where we are all from, and they still live. We will be going to the Kansas City Renascence Festival together on Saturday, and also doing some grape picking at a B&B and being treated to a gourmet luncheon there after a photo shoot that I am helping with on Sunday.  So, I might not have time to post in the next few days, or answer comments. But please, do leave me some, I will love reading them when I catch up! And each one is an entry into the TWO giveaways.

Since the fairy grand baby has been here for a couple of days and we have done nothing but paint and play dough, I haven't had time to get ready for guests. Today is hectic! Groceries, cooking, arranging flowers, burning muffins.  Yep, I made a double batch of Pumpkinbutter muffins and burnt them so bad the house was full of smoke. 

Looks like pop tarts for breakfast tomorrow.

And the tags were all I had time to make, since I've had my helper here for a few days.  We went to TJMAxx and bougght a couple of their fairy dolls to give as gifts since nothing got created. 

Well, I'd better get moving with the rest of my preperations, I think I hear the baby monitor now, which means my little window of computer time has come to an end.

Planning a surprise and drooling a bit. Well, a lot, acutally.

Have you ever played with Sculpy or air clay? After seeing Sugarwings have such fun with her play dough, I thought I should give it a try.

And in the upcoming article Carol and I worked on for Romantic Country, Carol has created some amazing fall decor with the stuff.

So Carol came by today to give me a lesson.

Instantly, I was in love with this new craft!

I tried both kinds of product, but didn't realize one kind needs to be baked and the other doesn't. So of course, I mixed them all up.... I am hoping I figured out which is which correctly.

So, some are going in the oven and some are not. I'll see how they turn out.  If they burn or crumble, then  maybe I don't love this craft as much as I thought!

In honor of the beautiful things that Carol made for the magazine article, we have decided to have a giveaway of one of the creations. We will also be selling some pretties from the shoot, and offering kits for you to make your own too.

Until the story comes out next week, these pictures will be your hints about what we will have to offer. (and no, it isn't mice)

But I can tell you now, that Carol sure has some mad skills.  Wow, pretty stuff!

Miss Carol will be my Silver Bella roomie, and she had an idea to throw a party (Carol is a non-stop, idea producing machine).

So, on the first night of the event, we have invited the girls from our Pre-Bella Swap to our room, other wise known as the "Glitter Lounge" for wine and chocolate.

And of course, if you are inviting Bellas, you want it all to be pretty!  Today, we made wine charms with little silver bells on them.  We also added vintage beads, some charms, and semi-precious beads from my stash.  All of our glitter gal guests will get a charm to keep as a souvenir.

I want to find some tiny crowns to add to them too.

Speaking of machines, you should have seen the stuff Beth made today while Carol, Gwen and I planned Silver Bella projects.  I wish I'd gotten some photos of her pile of tags, she was a work-a-holic.

And she brought us each a bundle of these warm, Autumn colored ribbons.

Gwen is starting a blog too, as soon as I have an address, I'll be telling you all about it.  She is fascinating and such fun. Its not every day that you meet an FBI anti-terrorist agent who collects French ephemera!

Sweet Gwen let me copy some of her rare and wonderful papers that she just picked up from FRANCE last month.   She will also be attending Silver Bella and is going to be a vendor there, and this is a sample of some of her wares. Directly from France and straight to Omaha!

Bellas will get first pick from Gwen's French loot. That right there is enough reason for you to sign up to go to the event, if you haven't already!

Just listening to her describe some of the displays for the booth she is planning made me drool. Then, she spread all these Chocolat cards out on the table and I swear, we almost needed a mop, the drool factor was way up there.  

Details will be coming about Raised in Cotton and Karla's Cottage's Fab Fall Giveaway in honor of the magazine article, but for now, remember that every comment counts toward my Sweet September prize!

Making Insomnia into productive time

Look what came in the mail today! I haven't had chance to read it all yet, I need to save some for when I have time to savor it.  This is one magazine that always has one beautiful photo after another, and never disappoints.

Since I enjoy this publication so much, I really appreciate being included in the pages.

The theme I created for was "burlap". I used the rough fabric to make some labels for old bottles, and embellished them with some doodads I had around, like a watch face and some millinery flowers.

I did take time to read one article right away. My buddy, Carol, has written a heart felt story about her mom, and her laundry day memories.  It was especially touching for me to read, knowing that her mother, Stella Mae, passed away last week. 

This was a sweet tribute to Stella Mae, and Carol should be so proud of what she has written about her.  I'm sure her mom is proud too.    

Normally, I am a world class sleeper. I'm out like a light most nights, but yesterday, I was tossing and turning.  So I was up before 5am, and started painting charms.

They are metal charms that I have glued watercolor paper too, painted and covered with paper glaze.

There are birds, crowns, cuppy cakes, roses, and tea cups full of flowers. Getting such an early head start, sure had me get a lot done. Not enough that I want to set my alarm for 5 am tomorrow, though.

This big, round charm was a broken bit of old jewelry that I turned into a centerpiece for this jewelry box.

Although the box isn't done yet, it already looks better than when I started.  I bought this red, crown shaped jewelry holder for $1, and then primed and sprayed it silver.

The paper glaze is still wet on the rose painting, it looks a bit cloudy yet. And I am still gluing sparklies to the piece.

I'm thinking a few tiny millinery flowers would be nice too. And of course, the interior needs to be all decked out so that it is a proper space to store gems in!

The box will go with me to Silver Bella (yes, I know, you are all getting tired of hearing me yammer on about that event, but I am afraid it is just going to get worse and worse as November approaches)

Beth gave me these jewelry displays, (I should have taken before photos. )

They were a beat up white.  I like age on a piece, and love a great, old patina. But that isn't what this was, it was just dirty white.

So, I spray painted all the displays a shiny silver, which needed to be taken down a notch.

I roughed up the silver paint with sandpaper, then rubbed ink over the area.

To keep the ink from rubbing off, I top coated with clear poly.

There is a spot right outside the back door of my studio where Sugarwings and I like to spray paint stuff.

Afterward, I rake the rocks around and they all look so pretty.  I have all colors of rock out there now, from the different sprays that I use. 

The fairy Grand baby thinks it is fun to pick up the painted rocks and plunk them into a bucket, then dump them on the floor of the studio. I guess she figures they belong in there with the other art work.

Too bad I don't have more of these display pieces!  I'm happy with the way they turned out, and a pretty display goes a long way in making the stuff for sale look good.

Well, I'm off to paint more crown charms.  Don't forget to leave a message if you want to enter the Sweet September Giveaway!

Pink Twinks

You know you can just about always find PINK here, but I never remember to join in on Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly.

Today I remembered! I just hope I didn't sign up too late...

Here are a couple of photos from pink millinery packs that I listed on Etsy today.  I added these faded pink trims to the packs, they seemed so perfect together.

While working away at the computer, this was my view.

Poor Twinks, wondering if her mommy was going to stop slaving over her Etsy shop and pay attention to her.

So, the two of us went out into the garden, during a break in the rain. Yesterday was a day of solid downpours and tornado sirens.  Today is just soggy.

September is a good time in the flowerbeds, the heat of the summer is gone and the plants get a final burst of glory before they get cold and die off.

Seems like I wait all year for the yard to get to this point, of fullness.

I wonder what it would be like to live in a climate where you don't need to spend an entire summer waiting for the flowers to get nice and thick, just in time for them to start dying off?

This summer, I have fallen in love with pink foliage. 

Especially with as much shade as I have around my yard. The pink leaves have a nice glow in places where flowers never do well due to lack of sun.

And just when I gave up on my morning glories, the first blooms showed up!

My theme, is EASY.  I don't plant anything that takes any work, no pinching back, no staking. Its all stuff that goes into the ground and is left to its own devices.

Which is why I LOVE the Knockout Rose. What a brilliant concept! I could just kiss the horticulturist who developed this plant. It is the only rose I have even been able to grow, because, it grows itself and is no work at all.  I've planted them everywhere and each one has thrived.

This has a been a good year for the moss rose too.  I didn't plant a single one, they all came back from seed!  And lots of them too.

Poor Twinkle, would have been happy to spend the day outside walking around the yard with me, but I had some studio plans to get on with.

I got this pink cabinet out to line with old wallpaper, and when I laid it down, I decided it made a better display on its back, as a box, than standing up and being used as shelves.

One of my favorite pinks, is my studio wall.  I only painted one wall this way, so it isn't overwhelming, and it is just right for me. I never get tired of it, and haven't once though about repainting.

And I am a serial painter, not many walls escape my brush for this long.

Years ago, Beth made this apron for me, and I really enjoyed the barkcloth crazy quilt look of it, but it was too long and not as comfy as I'd like it.

So, finally, I cut it in half, took out the midsection, and put it back together shorter.  I added some fabric from a vintage table cloth as a belt to re-hook it together, and a pocket at the top made of half a doiley that Lori had given to me.

And in honor of Pink Saturday, I added some pretty pink lace to the Sweet September Giveaway.

It now includes:

1. * a white sheer apron
2. * Sugar and Creamer set
3. * A cruet "vase" with a moon charm
4. * a selection of my favorite teas
5. * and a vintage minty green doily
6. * a flocked white vintage rose bow

Leave a comment on any post if you want to enter!