Sunday, December 30, 2012

Can You Believe It...2013...Is Almost Here...

I don't know how the rest of you feel, but this year has just flown by. It's hard to believe that Christmas is over and the New Year is already upon us. Time for the ever dreaded New Year's Resolution. Well I know one thing for sure...not gonna say I'm gonna loose 10 pounds. Cause I gain 10 damn pounds instead. So that's one I don't have to deal with. Don't drink, don't smoke...so can't give those up.

This year I'm taking a new approach. I'm going to work on myself, my inner self. Taking a hard look at how one can improve is not an easy task. Often you don't see yourself as others do. Sometimes that's good...sometimes not. So after a great deal of self reflection, here's my plan for 2013. I am going to be kinder, gentler and more patient with my elderly parents, especially my Mother, who quite frankly could push a Saint to their limits. I'm gonna listen to their stories over and over knowing that one day I'd give anything to hear their voices again.

I'm going to learn how not to be so hard on myself. Not quite sure how to do that one yet...Ya know us type A personalities. And just one more thing...I'm going to initiate more random acts of kindness. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. Look for opportunities to be kind. Be generous. Even the smallest act can mean everything to someone. Better than gaining 10 more pounds don't ya think...


Saturday, December 22, 2012

The Christmas Cactus

Last week I blogged about how my heart was breaking...today's post is a bit cheerier. As Christmas is upon us, we have reason to hope. The Mayan calendar was wrong, whew...although I was really hoping folks would drop their valuables off at my house on the 20th...Oh well, but now begins a period of renewal. I hope and pray that people will have a new found sense of what's truly important. Not the hoopla around gifts, but the warmth and love of family and friends.

One sure sign of hope for me is the Christmas cactus. It is an unassuming plant for most of the year, nothing special really, but then around Christmas it evolves into something of great beauty. A sign of better things to come. I have 2 Christmas cacti ( is that even a word?) One is quite large and is usually covered in bright orange blooms. The other is much smaller and usually gets just a few pale pink blooms. But this year is quite different. My big boy has one glorious bloom, just one. The underdog which is usually quite subdued, is screaming out with hope. Here are some pictures of my beautiful underdog. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas surrounded by people you love and let the Christmas cactus be your guide for the new year.




MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!

Friday, December 14, 2012

There Are NO Words...

Tonite I was going to blog about something that really doesn't have much importance after today's events.  I like so many other people have been glued to the TV,  watching over and over the events in CT. Seeing the excruciating pain, fear and uncertainty on the faces of children, parents and law enforcement. Can you even imagine being among the last 20 parents waiting to be reunited with your child only to be told that there are no more children? What the hell has happened to us as a people, as a human race...as the most evolved intelligence on our planet? My heart just breaks for the families who have lost a child and the families of the brave school staff who lost their lives trying to protect them. Perhaps my son has a unique perspective...He has two small children...this is what he wrote today...
Today's events in CT are unimaginable and should serve as a wakeup call to families across the globe as to what it is truly important. Life is both short and fragile. Twenty families lost a Camden and Ella today by merely sending them to school. Our time is now. Take advantage of it. 
There are NO words that can make any sense of this tragedy. But I do know that heaven has 26 new angels tonite, 20 small children and their six protectors...

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Blog Humiliation...

Alright, I have a confession to make...I am a Bad Blogger. I came to this realization after being invited to the Meet and Greet Blog Hop by Kim of http://2justbyou.blogspot.com/   I followed so many wonderful, colorful, beautiful and informative blogs. Then I looked at mine...Spring Chores...Are you kidding me? I hadn't blogged since April and it's December already...absolutely pitiful....isn't it? So I decided  that I needed to get my chit together. So I updated my theme, added widgets, deleted widgets, updated widgets and rearranged things and just really had fun with it!

So, thanks Kim for giving me a swift kick in the arse, which I desperately needed. I'll be a regular participant in the weekly blog hop. Come check it out, meet new folks, follow new blogs and get some followers for your blog. Now if I could only remember to blog...

But I think I'm off to a pretty good start...what do you think?




Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Spring Chores - DONE!!!

You're probably wondering why I haven't made any posts recently about my etsy shop. In two words, "spring chores". Here in Florida is gets so dang hot that if I don't do my gardens in the spring, it just doesn't get done. This year we had a lovely prolonged spring so I was able to get a lot done. Here's a couple of photos of what I've been working on.



And here is my final spring project. I refinished my mail post and decorated my new mail box. I luv the way it turned out. What do you think?



Sunday, April 22, 2012

PCF Team Spring Track Flip Flop Scavenger Hunt


Hey there everyone! Do you want to win some amazing prizes? If so, keep reading..we have over $800 in prizes during this event...8 prize packs will be awarded to hunters at a value of at least $50 each, and 1 super duper prize pack with prizes from all 40 shops in the hunt will be given to the person who spends the most money at PCF team shops during this week-long event; this is valued at over $400! Read on for details.......

The PCF Team on Etsy is having a great event for April! It is called the Spring Tracks Flip Flop Scavenger Hunt! There will be 40 shops, and all will have a hidden picture that you will have to "hunt" through their shop items for (HINT- the picture is the image in this listing)! Each shop has donated a prize worth at least a $10 value; that is a total of $400 plus in prizes...woohoo!!! There will be a total of 8 prize packs given out (winners will be chosen at random, based upon number of entries correct and complete entries we have)...each prize pack will consist of 5 prizes..so each winner will get a prize pack of at least an incredible $50 value..how about that? The contest will begin at 7:00 EST on April 23rd, and will run for one week; all entries must be submitted by midnight April 31st...and no entries will be accepted after this time.

********************HOW TO ENTER*******************

This is the starting point for this event!!! rom here, you will then follow the links to the next shop on the scavenger hunt list! Every time you find the hidden picture, that item description will give you a link to the next shop. As you go through the shops, make a list of all shops, in the order you are given them. At the very last shop, you will be given an email address; you will send the completed list to this address. If anything is incorrect, you will be notified, and given a chance to re-do the hunt to get it all right! :)

***********WANT MORE CHANCES TO WIN? READ ON!!!**************

Everyone who sends a complete shop list, in the correct order, will receive one entry to win a prize pack. 

If you "FAVE" the shops as you go through (you have to fave every single shop..this means having an Etsy account, and adding each one of the 40 shops to your "favorite shops" list..simply click on the tab to the left that says ♥add to favorites), then you get another entry.

If you "FAVE" one item from each shop as you go through (again, you have to fave an item from every single shop...to do this...when you have a single item from a shop pulled up..look to the right, and click the ♥icon that says "favorite"), then you will get a third entry.

If you BLOG about the team event, and send Nichole (info above) a link to the blog post, you will get 5 extra entries!

So, you have the opportunity to receive a total of 8 entries to win a prize pack in total!

****SUPER DUPER PRIZE PACK DETAILS-$400 VALUE AT MINIMUM*****

In addition, all shops are donating another prize...all 40 of these prizes will be combined into one HUGE prize pack. This pack will be valued at a minimum of $400!!! The winner of this super duper prize pack, will be the one person who spends the most cumulative amount of money shopping at PCF team shops during this week-long event...it can be from the 40 shops listed in the event, or any other PCF Team shop..all PCF shop purchases will be combined for a grand total! Please send transaction links of all purchases to Nichole at kidd.robin [!at] ymail.com ...thanks! Purchases not submitted will not be counted! You will get 1 entry for the surpise prize pack, for each dollar you spend...money spent at different shops will be combined for your total entry points. 

Winners will be chosen on May 2nd! :) They will be announced on Nichole's blog at:http://ciaraandcompanybowtique.blogspot.com/ , on the PCF Team blog at:http://pcfteam.blogspot.ca/2012/03/pcf-team-spring-promotion-event.html , on other member's blogs, on the PCF Team Etsy Group:http://www.etsy.com/teams/10036/promoting-creative-friends, and on the PCF Team Facebook page! You can join us on Facebook to keep up to date on this event, plus all of our ever-so-cool upcoming events...we always have something in the works! :) Our PCF Team Facebook page can be located at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pcfteam

Many of the prizes are featured on the PC team's FB page, so go check it out...you will see for yourself, we are talking some great loot here for the 8 winners of this event! (Surpise Prize Pack pics will not be shown..it is a surprise, lol..but most fabulous indeed)! 

If you love this event, let us know...we are thinking of doing them often..let us know you want us to! :)

Good luck, and we hope to see you there! 

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Miniature Garden Update

If you have followed my other blog posts, you already know that I luv miniature gardening. I planted 3 new gardens this year and decided to delve into flowering plants. So, imagine my excitement when i saw these....



The details on these miniature flowers are amazing. Ahhhhh, sure bliss!!!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Spring Chores

I must say spring is my favorite season. Warm breezy weather, trees and perennials coming into bloom. But DANG, there are so many chores to do as well. I have been feverishly working outdoors to try to get everything done before the Florida suffocating heat begins. I've been slacking in my etsy shop to do some projects. So here's a few pics to show what I've been up to.

This is a planter I made out of a solar fountain that was cracked. It has iris, purple potato vine, petunias and marigolds.

This is my third miniature garden this spring. All the plants are either flowering or variegated. More of a reflective garden with a statue of St. Vincent, the Patron Saint of Animals.

Also made some fresh hanging baskets...

Set up my new solar fountain...

Set up my new furniture and sitting area...

Worked in Daniel's shade garden...doesn't he look happy with doing yard chores...hahaha

Planted some adorable planters...



And I haven't even shown my projects in the front and deck gardens....that will come next. I'm getting pretty tired, almost done.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Some More of My Favorite Hobby

As many of you know I have a great luv of gardening. My big flower gardens are a lot of work. So my passion for miniature gardening began. With spring already here, I have been getting ready to plant 3 miniature gardens. I found really cute teacup planters on ebay. I found an entire garden set for $6 in a catalog. True miniature plants are quite expensive, so I'm always looking for small items I can decorate with. I decided to try some different types of trees this year. Here is my first completed garden. It features a Baldwin Variegated Hinoki Cypress and red thyme. It has a little more formal feel to it. Note the hidden birds nest, bunny, bird, bench and gazing ball.


Here is my second completed garden. It features a Moonfrost Canadian Hemlock, (has pink tips) red thyme and miniature daisies. I used my bargain catalog find in this one. It has so many pieces, I was astonished. It even has little gardening tools on one of the benches. And of course a bird, birdhouse, flower pots, wheelbarrow, tool shed, and the list goes on and on.


It's been a great hobby for me. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. The third garden is going to be the largest. My plants should arrive any day now. Woo Hoo!!!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Broadening My Horizons

First off, I can't believe I haven't posted a blog for almost 2 months. I've been a bad girl...I need to do better. I've been very fortunate in that I'm doing more custom work recently. From banks, to light switch covers to my new ceramic pieces. I,like many other etsy shops, am always looking for new things to add to my shop to broaden my scope and expand on my client base. I have really enjoyed working with the ceramic pieces and some beading which is a first for me. Here's a look at some of my new ceramic items.





The Tinkerbell piece was a custom order from Kim at justByou. ♥♥♥ Hope you luv them!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A DIY Terrarium project from The Etsy Blog

Found this on Facebook and just had to share with you all. Terrariums are so versatile and easy to maintain. And as anyone who knows me knows, I luv plants and flowers. This video runs about 4 minutes, but it's worth the time.

How-Tuesday: Light Bulb Terrariums from Etsy on Vimeo.

Here's the one I made. Luv the way it turned out. Used some miniature gardening items in it as well. All you have to do to this one is mist and water once a week. So what do you think? Are you ready to give it a try???


Okay, I admit, I cheated. I won this terrarium on a Facebook contest. My terrarium is from Teresa's Plants & More Store @ www.teresasplants.com. She also has an etsy store, etsy.com/shop/teresab123 The terrarium came with everything I needed including the mosses. I just had to put it together. So whether making it yourself with your own container or doing it as I did, GO FOR IT!

Special thanks to Andrea Bailey Meadows for sharing the link on Fb.