Gardening, Treasuries and Jewelry Shows, Oh My!

Lavender about to bloom, sedum and a white thrift from
the raised flower ring

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile here, I must admit the allure of early summer was too much to ignore!  Who wants to sit inside in front of a computer when it's so pretty outside?  Bike riding, gardening, and playing outside with my little one are so much more fun!  I've also been busy prepping for my show tomorrow in Gladstone!  If you'd like to attend, click here to see the flyer with all the info!  I'm pretty excited about it and it's great that I'm able to co-host with another lovely jewelry crafter, Sue, that I met at a vendor show in the spring!  I'm hoping that lots of customers come especially since the show I met Sue at went terrible not just for me but for nearly seller!  Oh well, win some lose some right?  I would never have met her if not for doing that show!

Impatiens, torenia, tiger and wine pansies with vines, and
a red petunia from my pots and baskets

I've also been taking a much needed break from creating by working in my flower garden and I wanted to share a few images with you!  Gardening is one of favorite hobbies outside painting/jewelry making and now that it's almost July I can see that all my hard work has paid off!

Pink and white dianthus
and daisies in the raised
wildflower garden

I've been working hard on the landscaping outside our new home we bought in 2009 and I really did have my work cut out for me!  We bought it from a single man so of course not one little flower or any kind of landscaping was done at all aside from a seriously neglected cedar hedge on the brink of death. My husband at first wasn't so keen on the amount of his money (he made sure I knew who's money I was spending, lol) I had spent on perennials (totally worth it so long as you don't kill them), mulch, brick, soil, and oodles of annuals to overfill all the pots and baskets on and around the porch over this and last summer.  After much digging, trimming, hauling landscaping stone, bulb planting, weeding, fertilizing, and several bags of soil and mulch later I had transformed our barren and weedy yard into a plentiful garden full of color from spring to fall!  Now that the hard (and expensive) parts are done and I have my raised flower beds hubby now likes it (so long as I'm the one who does all the gardening) and our yard looks like somebody actually loves it!

I have much more than what I've photographed here, I'm waiting for my gerbera daisy to bloom again, the rain beat up all the blooms on my geraniums, not all the daisy varieties have popped up yet in the wildflower garden and veggies just aren't that interesting to photograph (nor have I weeded the veggie garden)!

Lastly I also wanted to share with you several treasuries I've had the honor of being featured in lately!  Thanks so much to those who have included me and thanks also for checking them out!

It's Almost SUMMER!!

I just LOVE this time of year!  The leaves are green, the smell of fresh lilac from the bush outside my window and the temperatures are just warm enough for short sleeves and capris (well up north it is, I'm sure it's sizzling already in the south!).  To celebrate this I'm having a Kick Off to Summer sale in my Etsy Shop!  Use coupon code SUMMER when checking out to receive 15% off your purchase!  I decided to extend this offer and it now ends at Noon EST on June 10th!

I've been working on getting some items out of my "coming soon" album on my Facebook Page and I have a few newly listed items in my shop!  First is a new Scrabble tile pendant, Calla in Coral!  It's a lovely coral pink calla lily hand painted on the back of a vintage Scrabble tile game piece.  Calla lilies are one of my favorite flowers along with daisies and the coral pink color is just perfect for summer outfits!

Next up is She Sells Seashells,  a gorgeous one of a kind copper link and beach themed necklace!  I put several hours (and blisters) into making each individual solid copper link and beaded links in this necklace.  I wire wrapped the bar links and also the gorgeous champagne and creamy teal Czech glass beads.  There's also a genuine shell slice and I just love the black and green swirled Czech glass shells that look like they're made from weather worn stone!  There's plenty of eye catching baubles featured in this 24" long necklace and it closes with a hand forged double hook clasp that you can remove and use to shorten your chain in a cinch!  Everything has been oxidized and polished to a shine and also treated with Renaissance Wax to preserve the patina and to keep it from reacting with your skin if you have allergies.

My Romantic Rosebud earrings have to be one of my favorite Czech glass earrings I've made so far!  Gorgeous detailed pink luster rosebuds with a pretty marbled Picasso finish are topped with pretty bronzed bead caps and daisy spacers for a romantic vintage touch that's simple and elegant in style!  These are just lovely with a casual outfit or evening attire!

Lastly, here are some lovely treasuries I've had the honor of being featured in!

Treasury Time!

I wanted to point out some gorgeous treasuries I've been featured in over the weekend, 8 in all!  Take a peek, there's lots of lovely finds in each one!

Potty Training Woes

The potty in question

Ok to take a break from jewelry for awhile I want to whine about the joys of potty training.  My daughter, Kaylie, will be coming up on her 3rd birthday this July and although it's perfectly ok that's she's not potty trained just yet, I'd like to move things along.  She's got all the signs the books and experts say a child should have if they're ready for training and she even excited about using the potty!  What's the hitch you ask?  She will only use the potty at my mother's house but not here.  She gets really excited about using hers and my mom even has the same one, but she won't do anything more than sit on it.  I take her to the potty every few hours and I praise her for trying and I'm glad she thinks it's fun but I do wish she would go, I'm rather eager for the end of diapers!

I've heard tons of advice from telling your kid they have to wear underwear and just deal with it to buying an arsenal of potty training 101 books, toys and DVDs.  The problem is that I do like my furniture and don't want to intentionally test my Ashley Furniture 5 year warranty nor do I want to blow my husband's entire paycheck on the Elmo's potty training series.  Other than her not actually going in the potty here there is no issue.  She loves it and she loves sitting on it, and she even knows how to use it.  She just seems to think you only go in the potty at Nana's house or pee in her tub (close enough lol).   I guess in time she will eventually use it or I will find a way to magically predict when she has to go so she'll do more than just sitting there singing about her potty!

For you moms who've been there, feel free to laugh :)  This mommy is still determined to have her little one in underwear by her birthday in July!

My little rascal who only pees at Nana's house

New Treasury!

Just wanted to share some treasuries I just made :)