Things I Grow

When my mom moved in to our place, she started a plant collection on our patio. She has always had a green thumb, and having all of the plants out there made me so happy. When she moved to her new place, she took a lot of the plants with her, and left some with me. I was a bit worried. In the past, my thumbs have not proven to be very green.

Apparently, my thumbs are getting a bit more green these days. Here's a bit of what's growing on my patio at the moment.

 African Cape Daisy. I pruned this plant back to just stumps a couple of months ago. The leaves are growing back beautifully, and just this one flower popped up in all of the new growth.

 Coleus.

 This flower and the one below it are on the same plant, and unknown succulent. The hummingbirds love it!

 Yellow and orange chrysanthemum

 Alaska Nasturtium. One of the most beautiful blooms I've ever seen on a nasturtium.

 My big red geranium that was gifted to me by my friend and previous neighbor Kristi. It's full of flowers this Fall!

 I have a squirrel who hunts my succulents by my front door and eats them. She dug this one up and ate the roots, then started on the leaves! I replanted it just to see what it would do, then relocated it to the patio. The squirrel seems to stay off of the patio, probably because of the cats.

 Another mystery succulent that is currently in bloom. These flowers smell so sweet! The hummingbirds also love this one.

 I don't know the name of this plant either. It's another one that I recently cut back because it was getting too big! When it was all huge and crazy I decided to name her Tina, in honor of Tina Turner and her crazy hair!

 Last but not least. These little things appeared in the same planter as the African Cape Daisy. At first they were masses of these teeeeeeeny tiny little "balls". I figured it was some kind of fungus ( I may have been over watering the plant) and dug up as much of them as I could. I thought that was all they were going to do. That was about two months ago. Today, I went out and saw these sprouting. Turns out, they are Yellow Houseplant Mushrooms. Not safe to eat, but as long as you leave them alone they are neat to watch grow! I'm looking forward to checking them out tomorrow!

I guess it's official. I have a green thumb now. I really enjoy tending to these plants and watching them grow on my patio. There's also several frogs living out there...but I'll save that for another time.

Have a safe weekend!

Blessings.
Peace.
Joy

Productive Weekend!

Here it is Sunday evening and things are winding down. Not much excitement here this weekend, but lots of productive digi scrapping. After these last two, it's time to close the laptop and take a couple days to get caught up on my jewelry work!

The kit I'm featuring today is Autumn Fairytale from Laura's Digi World.

 

I have to admit, after I chose this kit....I was a bit intimidated by it! I have no idea WHY, but I was. It's full of beautiful Fall colors and amazing photo realistic elements with a dash of magic and whimsy. 

My first offering with this magical kit features the Venus of Willendorf. I have a lifelong fascination with Goddesses and their depiction throughout time and across various cultures. The Venus is one of the oldest depictions of the female form, and her meaning is still a mystery...but to me, she represents woman in her role as a bearer of life and creator of home. 

 My second creation also used a bit of magical inspiration. This time I started with a stock photo from MizzD Stock over at Deviant Art and just went from there. Since the kit is called Autumn Fairytale...I went with a fairy! 

Now I'm off to play with beads! I hope everyone has a great Monday. :)

Fall Goodies at The Studio

As of a couple of weeks ago I am now a member of the Creative Team over at The Digital Scrapbooking Studio. Part of my duties as a CT member is to create with new products from designers at The Studio. With Fall being in full sing now, both of the kits I am featuring today are Fall themed. :)

First off, I created a couple of layouts with the beautiful Autumn Grove Bundle from Digilicious Designs. The subtle colors of this kit really spoke to me. It has a very vintage feel to it, but in a modern kind of way. Does that make sense?? Anyway. First off is my niece Milora and one of my favorite pictures of her.

Isn't she a cutie? Her mom (my sister in law) made her little outfit for her. I thought it was perfect for the modern vintage feel of the kit. Up next, one of my best girlfriends and her little boy. He's now two years old, and I've been holding on to these photos for a while now. They're just so precious.

 

I think the kit worked perfectly for a more masculine theme as well. This yummy brown paper really pulled me in. It's so simple, but the color is just divine!   

Up next, a really fun and funky kit, Autumnal from Ruby Lane Designs. I'm a huge fan of the rich jewel tones in this kit, they remind me of autumn in southern Ohio. Ruby Lane will be a guest designer over at The Studio in November, so check back for links to her beautiful creations! 

Another page featuring the lovely Milora! That smile is infectious, isn't it?

This LO features a vintage picture of Maude Fealey. She was an actress in early silent films and also in "talkies", she starred in nearly every movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille. On top of that she had a somewhat successful career as a playwright and stage actress. Her beauty is, to me, quite captivating. 

 

So, what are you working on for Fall?

How is a girl to choose??

Really? Which one of these amazing Halloween kits from Microferk Designs should I get? Should I go for the beautiful All Hallows Eve kit with its deep blues and blacks and a great cauldron and broom?

Or do I go for the bright orange and green of the Hallowtide kit that has that great triskeleon charm, a glowing moon, and those oh so orange pumpkins?

I mean, seriously, how am I supposed to choose between them?? Which one would YOU choose?

The Fall Rains Have Come

Created using the kit Paper and Ink

and Gesso Messy Episode No. 3 

by Tangie Baxter

12 years ago I made a huge move in my life. I got on a plane and flew to California to meet the man I had spent the previous 4 weeks chatting with online and talking to on the phone. September 27th, 1999 is when I landed here. My flight was uneventful and rather empty so I stretched out on the three seats in my row and napped through the flight. I landed at the San Francisco airport, and as I walked up the concourse towards the security gates, I saw him standing there waiting for me and suddenly something flashed in to my mind, "I'm going to marry this man."

I stopped for a second, trying to figure out why something that ridiculous would pop in to my head. I never thought I would get married. Not once as a child did I imagine my dream wedding or play dress up bride. I had planned on being an old lady driving a wildly painted school bus with my cats and my art as my companion. Never had I imagined myself married.

I was scheduled to be here for a little over a week. We spent that week talking about our deepest life stories and sharing our histories with one another. There was a lot of laughing. There were many tears. The love had already grown strong between us. The time came when I needed to start packing to return home. We were so sad at the thought of being so far apart. Him in California, me back in Ohio. As we talked, we both blurted out that we should just get married. I don't remember the exact words, but the same ones fell out of my mouth as they fell out of his.

So. I stayed. For the next week we plotted and schemed how we would get married. We thought about going to Vegas and getting married in one of those silly wedding chapels by an Elvis impersonator, but that was a long drive. Instead, after Andy was finished with work on Friday, Octiber 8th, we packed a bag, hopped in the car and headed to South Lake Tahoe. The following day we were wed by the Justice of the Peace in his chambers at the courthouse.

From the time we "met" online to the time we met in person it was 4 weeks. From the time we met in person to the time we got married was 13 days. From then to now has been 12 of the best years of my life.


This was one of my first digiscrap pages, and I didn't keep a note of what I used to create it. I do know that some of the papers and elements are from Laitha and others are from Christina Renee

So, there you have it. A little about me to start off my new digital art blog! I hope everyone is enjoying their Autumn!