Trial and Error.....

 

.....Lots and lots of error.... lol but i was determined to bake cupcakes for my eldest Grandlittles Birthday... 

I wanted them to look like little multicolor rosettes on top... Attempted recipe for buttercream off internet... held shape well but tasted awful... Gave up on the home made recipe... bought the little tubs... like Duncan Hines etc... nope tasted good but wouldn't pipe and hold the shape...too soft...  So i ended up getting a tub of buttercream at Hobby Lobby of all places... recommended to me by a professional baker... and they were maybe overly sweet but tasted good and held the shape... figured out how to load the piping bag to pipe out the multicolors... really it was alot of fun and i learned something... 

We've had alot of rain and some hail... we are getting a new roof... I've had some rain lilies come up in the yard.. i had to pick them before i mowed it all down... I'm pretty sure only us 'lady mowers' do that..:)  

Remember these seeds that i swiped from the Sunken Garden downtown...? Littlest Grandlittle and i planted them... In a terrible mishap i left them sitting in the wet papertowel too long and they actually got mushy... so only 4 of them came up  .. i think all of them would have come up if i hadn't done that.. 

Well i finally got them in the ground... Hard to know when to do it with 60-70 mph winds and hail... But i just did it... cross your fingers.. I must have seen over a dozen worms while i was planting.. .thats a good sign i think... :)

I still have no idea what their name is... I've tried figuring it out without much luck... Any ideas??? The closest i came was an Aralia.. but i don't think thats right...   

I've had one SunFlower come up out front... I'm going to try to keep it trimmed up somehow because they get quite big.. 

I've had a handful come up along the walkway in the back yard... they are late comers...I'll play heck keeping them off the sidewalk enough to walk on it and i'm sure hubby will complain... but again i will keep them trimmed as much as i can.. .They NEVER come up in an convenient place... sigh

Here's a SunFlower when its small... the leaves are very easy to recognize from the surrounding grass and weeds... 

And finally ... the Devil's Bouquet has come up in a few places.. I thought all the rain would make it die out as it really likes the dry soil and sun but so far so good..  I hope you all have been well  and safe in all this crazy weather... or is it just my neck of the woods??? 

One last image if you've made it this far...  This is for CJ... she doodled a lovely cat and i told her i would show her mine from a few years ago.. Hope to paint this one day.. Hugs! deb

Summer Has Arrived........

Just in the last week!  Temps up in the mid 90's... no rain... we could use some... but you can keep the storms... Above is my Mother in law's kettle first planted with the GrandLittles.. 
 

Here it is about a week or so ago.. Its even more full now... The metal dragonfly was given to me from a friend... I thought putting it there was a good idea at first but now the birds sit on it and poop all over the flowers....hmmm maybe not such a good idea...lol 

My latest drawing....of a fly...kinda unusual i think to draw a fly... so 

I sketched 2 more... I like them i think they would make a good painting or maybe a woodburn project...because i like weird and unusual things like that....  

I scored off FaceBook Marketplace!  These are boot removers that look like bugs... The darker ,cast iron one i've had for years but recently just found the silver, aluminum one.. The aluminum one says Ricardo on the underside and the cast iron one has a bunch of writing that is too faded to read... Need to do a little research... 

I know this is a longer, picture heavy post but if you bear with me i'll tell you a story of these plates... The plate above is made of pewter, we found it in Germany when we lived there with the military... I'm pretty sure i didn't pay much for it because, well i never do pay much for my fleamkt finds.. lol  Its pretty light weight..especially notice the 'bedknob' and the space above the bedknob... 

Now above this is the plate hubby and i found a couple of weeks ago at a HUGE fleamkt in Wimberley , TX .  It was on the $1 shelf.. Heavy pewter and check out the differences... they are alike but not the same... besides being MUCH heavier it also has much more detail...And the bedknob or whatever is a different shape... interesting 

The one from Germany has this angel mark on the back ... thats the only mark on it... I found out the angel mark is to let you know it is lead free... 

The one i just found also only has an angel mark on it but a different angel...I just thought that was so cool to run into the same but different plate in my life time in two different countries...lol 

I hope you remember my wood fish i painted... i thought you might like to see where they ended up... 

This is the master bath... I think they look nice with that canvas painting of one-eyed fish.... I wish the camera picked up all the shine and glitter from the wood fish.. 

   Well there... your all caught up with me.. lol ! There's been lots of GrandLittle stuff... sleep overs, play dates... Grass and weed mowing and weedeating for me.. at least the lack of rain keeps that down.. I hope your having a wonderful and safe beginning to your Summer... and thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs! deb

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