AND..... the Results are in.....

 

Hubby retook the photo of the wild Verbena and his came out so much better.... I wish we had smellovision... lol 

This is a large cast iron kettle that used to belong to Hubby's Mother.  I have coveted it for a very long time... Hubby drilled a few extra holes in the bottom and the GrandLittles and i planted it last week... pink and purple and white and red Petunias and some Sweet Potato Vine... so much fun... I know i'am in great danger of the SPV sweet potato vine taking over the pot... i will have to keep an eye on that... The problem was i couldn't find the SPV when i wanted it so i started buying Petunias... then i found it... lol 

I never look online for the results of the Art Competition... I like to walk up and hopefully see a Ribbon... but for some reason this year I did peek... The above painting which is my first of any kind of Landscape painting got Honorable Mention... Not what you hope for but they could have not given it anything... so they thought enough of it to give it that.. 

         The Gold Feather Windchime won a Blue                         Ribbon!!!  So happy about that!! 

Mr. Owl is bringing home an Honorable Mention too....  I'm looking forward to going to the event and seeing what he was up against because i really like him... 

Another windchime made of glass and metal lids that i used alcohol inks on them... strung on fishingline and used glass marble beads to help me string it... 

           It is bringing home a second place win... 

This was under dry brush ceramics... this is the first year in a couple years that i have not entered a dragon... I don't know if you can tell but their eyes are glossy... and they each have a gold tooth.. They are bringing home a second place...  

I'm looking forward to going up to the StockShow/Carnival / Rodeo and seeing my exhibits on the wall and in glass cases with their ribbons... I'm still on the hunt for a Best In Show Ribbon... maybe next year! Hugs! deb

Time for Verbena.....

 

Its time for ...Verbena.... wild Verbena...and you can smell it long before you see it... When i'm trimming the yard in the Spring i always leave it... i can't help myself... The purple is much more vibrant than my photos... they are rather sun washed out... 

I don't plant it... it comes up on its own.. Some years i have more than other years... but its always welcome and says 'Spring' to me... 

I had the eldest GrandLittle spend the night with us last night... So i'm busy digging myself out from that... Doing up the breakfast pancake dishes, putting the blow up air mattress away... We had fun playing outside in the dark with flash lights and glow in the dark golfballs... then a late night watching 'Hotel Transylvania'  Grandpa made his famous and quickly devoured pancakes in the morning... 

The little snail slithered out my pencil just the other day... I'm going to leave him black and white.. just like the owl and then use copies of them for all kinds of coloring options... :)  Lots of fires going on here in TX... a few up near our beloved Fredericksburg... ! Be safe and have a fabulous week! Hugs! deb

Viola or Johnny Jump Ups.... ?

 

Kathy at the Lake House has inspired me this morning with her pictures of her daffodils and Lilac buds.

So while i was out piddling around the yard i snapped some pictures of my Violas just about overflowing their pot... they were still in the shade... 

They have been so easy to grow this winter. They have withstood temps of 11F... Granted i did throw a cover over them for those two frigid nights... but a little sun and water when the soil thawed and they bounced right back... 

My Granddaughter helped me pick out some more from the Garden Center yesterday but i think i'm going to wait until the big blow tomorrow passes... 30 mph winds with 60+ gusts... um... yeah we'll wait.. 

And last but not least.... i pilfered some more seeds... lol  from the sunken garden in the middle of downtown... These.... well lets just say they were unique... they were tall ... some as tall as me or hubby... and they were like umbrellas... crazy... i looked online but the closest i could come was Aralias... ? Anyway... I do not believe they are Winter hardy... but they grew remarkable well in that sunken garden... I have knicked the seeds and have them in that wet paper towel, ziploc bag thing i did when i had such good luck with the Yucca... So i'll let you know!!! Take care and stay safe in this weather!! Hugs! deb

Inked!

 

Inked and ready for the Stockshow: Creative Arts Division competition...  I really don't think he will receive any kind of ribbon.  I've been doing this long enough that i feel i know a little bit about the judges....lol   They don't like crazy stuff... they like fairly realistic stuff... and i don't think this ticks the right boxes... BUT... i LOVE him and want my little part of the World to see him. I'm especially proud of myself for those claws.   

Funny claw story... every photo i was finding online showed owls with three toes on each foot so thats how i sketched it... then something told me to do a little more research... nope they have FOUR toes but they often tuck the one behind the branch for support.., so i squeezed in another toe !   So now you know ... the rest of the story... 

I have a few more projects to finish up before the 29th when i turn everything in....Mainly a windchime to string up and get this owl in a frame with a matte because he is an odd size... and unfortunately he's a little off center of the page...  Take care... and thanks for stopping by! Hugs! deb

Peek a boo.....

 

I see you..... !!!  An owl coming to life from the tip of my pencil... not a great photo but its a cloudy day and the lighting in my house is not the best anyway... He's been alot of fun to draw... My favorite part is coming up, where i outline him in pen...THEN you'll be able to see him... I want to put him on a shirt too... lol I would like to have a whole collection of owls that i've sketched.. .So far i have two... lets hope i'm not 80 before that happens... I can think of so many ways to color him..You?   Hope your having a wonderful week and lovely weekend to look forward to... Ours looks to be quiet.... maybe a little golf with such nice weather.. Hugs! deb

A Couple of Finished Projects!

 Well i did it!!! I finished the feather windchime(mobile)!   

Like most things i get myself into I found it very tedious as time went on and i was nearing the end... But.... I also got better at it by the time the end was near.. My fingers were more adept at stringing the beads and figuring out how to tie the feather on keep the beads tight so i wouldn't leave a space at the top when all said and done... Love it! Daughter has already claimed it as her own... but i reserve the right to put it in the upcoming craftshow if i can figure out what category to put it in.. :)

I worked hard to get the Grandlittles Tshirts done in time for Valentines Day because you know i'am the World's Worst Procrastinator!  but i got it done.. 

What you can't see is the glitter and i glued a little yellow gem to the center of each flower... I painted the centers yellow too incase a gem fell off eventually it would still look nice.. I used a stencil for the unicorns but i think the next time i paint fabric i'm going to try free hand.. 

Before i go i have to tell you about this wonderful toy... I can not even tell you the name of it or the brand because apparently that all went away when i threw away the packaging.. purchased at Walmart.. But this set of 'flowers' has given countless hours of fun the the Grandlittles... they LOVE it.. and their interest in it has not waned in several months.. Endless combinations to putting the flowers together.. Can be a mess to pick up but the girls help me everytime... 

Well i better let you go... Going to a craft fair later with Daughter with no Littles tagging along... a rare occurrence ... lol If your going to be in the upcoming Deep Freeze like we are stay warm and safe. I'm so glad you stopped by! Hugs! deb 

Waiting for the Deep Freeze.....

 

......Well that picture turned out kinda dark... sorry about that... but i hope you can make out my new coffee cup!! I know i know i always say i'm not buying any more... but then i ran into this one... now i don't have that many plants . As you can see from the photo i don't have alot of light in my house... Its designed that way to help mitigate the HOT Texas sun in the Summer... to help my electric bill... But if i could i WOULD be a Crazy plant lady and if truth be told if hubby wasn't allergic i would probably be a Crazy Cat Lady too...lol 

Look!!! I spent a wonderful afternoon and colored the beans! I used watercolor markers. I'm thinking of changing the name to Magic Beans and maybe put it on the back of tshirt.... I have a family member that could do that for me... I plan on painting this on a small canvas and then using that for the tshirt image... Also plan on glitter on the beans.. you know for the magic part... Do you like the spirals?  

Amaryllis are still going strong... 'Red Lion' is just opening up its last bloom... Look! i had to put rocks in the pots to stop them from tipping over.. Definitely going to be on the look out for heavier pots... Arabian Nights from last year finally died back...  the bulb seems nice and firm so i put it in the closet and will forget about it for 3 months then pull it out and water it and see what happens... cross your fingers... 

You might remember the Red Yucca plants i started from seed last Spring... Well i didn't get them in the ground in time before the first freeze so now i'am stuck taking care of them all Winter... In and out, In and out... Out on nice days and In on the freezing nights... I won't make that mistake again... Its a pain... But i'm so excited i actually grew them from seed and they lived...We have a freezing week ahead of us... Hopefully they can handle my dark house for a week... No precipitation expected for us.. and honestly we are dry , we could use some water in whatever form... Stay safe and warm everyone in this deep freeze... Thank you to everyone who stops by and takes time to leave a comment... much much appreciated, makes my day!... Hugs! deb

Amaryllis and Ice.....

 

        Ice has come and stayed a day..... I'm so glad we ventured out into that Winter Wonderland... 

The roads were lovely and not slick at all but anything up off the ground was covered in ice and slowly melting... 

As we were out an about a great chunk of ice hit the car next to me and we were like where did that come from? A quick look up and we saw that chunks of ice were melting and falling from the over head power lines... that we parked under!!!!  I was lucky.. i think that would have hurt!!! 😲

My poor Viola or Johnny Jump Ups were literally coated in ice.. I thought they were goners.... but nope the ice melted  and they looked fine... like Ice? what ice?  .... 

And lastly an update on Amaryllis..... Thats StarGazer in the front and finally Glee in the back...Glee is  a little darker and the petals are more pointy... StarGazer's petals curl back but not Glee's... Short little Red Lion is just blooming like crazy... all gorgeous!  

They were a big hit when we finally had our Christmas party on the 8th...  You really don't appreciate how tall they are in these pictures... just amazing... now the trick is to see if i can get them to rebloom next year... :)  I hope you've had a wonderful start to your 2025! Hugs! deb

Time Marches On....

 .....like always.... some in my little Family Circle are sick... others are getting better... some are coming down with it... it has passed through all of us and touched us each differently ... hopefully soon it will be in our rearview mirror for all of us..

 

The flowers on the island mark the march of time... StarGazer is in full flower mode... Four beautiful flowers on the top of one stalk and still another stalk to go.... 

Red Lion stayed short.... I don't know if thats normal for this variety or thats just all the stored power it had to give... theres another bud down there barely just starting up a stalk... 

Glee is tallest of the three and happily still in bud... not even hinting at opening up...A mystery... so we shall see!!!! They  need a good drink today... Oh and check out below!

 My Christmas Present!  The yellow bead that has honey comb shapes in it and a bee shape... It finishes off my bracelet that hubby has been working to fill for years... .Its a rainbow of colors so it goes with anything... LOVE! 

And finally a sketch in the Idea Book... Beans the Musical Fruit! That was fun... and might make a fun little painting... 

Happy New Year to all who visit! Hugs! deb

Doodling.............

 

..............Our Christmas has been postponed because of sickness in the family... sigh.... but thats ok.... hopefully by the end of the week we can get together...   Its given me time to Doodle and Paint and Play... and thats what i've been doing... 

............just silly stuff really... i want a Birthday cake like that!   I might design a whole bunch of these Birthday Cake drawings.... might be fun... 

I sketched out little squares.... like a palette of all the blue acrylic paint i own...lol ... Then mixed a little white with each one to create the 'swirl'... When all dry i used a white Posca pen to draw lines and dots and snowflakes ... lots of fun... There's glitter in there too... did you doubt it?! :)

                        Terrible lighting.......A nice picture of that might make a nice Christmas card for next year... 

                       Merry Christmas Eve!!!! 

                                  Hugs! deb

New Family Members......

 

If you know me ... you know my penchant for  Amaryllis and if truth be told for Christmas Cactus too... I like to collect them.... My problem is i never seem to get to KEEP them as i move way too often.. Well last year i bought 4 to start my collection AGAIN... lol  i found Amigo, Ferrari, Arabian Nights, and Tinkerbell... Well Tinkerbell never did bloom then she withered and died... But i still have the other 3

This year i found....Star Gazer which is the tall one there in the picture, the middle size one is Glee and the small one is RedLion... it is already trying to open.. must be a shorty... Glee has the most amazing red color in the stalk and bud already , can't wait until it opens..  

The three from last year have not died back on their own like i thought they would.. but i have read up on them and saw suggested to stop watering them and put them in a dark closet on the 4th of July , then pull them out on Halloween and start to water them... so this next year i will give that a try...  

I'll show you more pics as they bloom :) ! Hugs! deb

I Painted a Forest....

 ...............this is just a few trees in my Forest of Christmas cards this year... 

... they were easy and so much fun... Not a professional or even a very experienced card maker here... just fun...

.............i keep threatening to make my own Christmas Cards every year... well this was the year... lol  

............ for those who want to know... I used Strathmore Watercolor Paper, and Cotman Watercolor Paint, Archival ink for the Bunny and Fairy and a combination of  Sharpie and Staedtler Watercolor pen for any outlining... Oh ! and a stencil to put the gold in... Super fun! ... Hope your having fun this Holiday Season! We have a Run Run Rudolph that the Grandlittles are participating in on Sunday.. We'll be cheering them on!!! Hugs! deb

This Guy.....

 

This guy was just truly amazing! Grabbed my eye right away... I think he stands like 2 ft tall... About a month or so ago hubs and i walked around Fredericksburg... our favorite haunt. Lots of vintage , flea market type stuff..  mostly we like to just look.. This guy was way more than i would spend and i have no idea where i would have put him... but isn't he just so impressive... ? 

While i was there i saw this too and LOVED it... i love the shape... i think i might try to draw it..or paint it... Speaking of drawing... 

            I played in my sketchbook again... 

Its an odd shape but i have a little vase i use as a pen and pencil holder so i tried to sketch it... Then it just looked so lonely on the page so i added the roses. The 'roses' were inspired by some roses i saw at the grocery store... The white pen is a Posca pen ,I always forget how effective a white pen can be... The black pen gets lost sometimes... 

                         Here's the inspiration..... 

I've done some more work on the windchime. But its on hold now as Christmas activities are taking over.... 

I have a mix of store bought and handmade Christmas cards this year.... I made a little more than a handful from a picture i took of my Christmas cactus bloom several years ago and then i had a handful of store bought cards i used up and now i have 10 of these Christmas cards to make..black pen, watercolor and i stamped the bunny... all different... and alot of fun... just hope i get them done in time... I hope your enjoying your Holiday season!!! Hugs! deb