Garden Time with My Furbabies

A Sunny Pot for a Sunny Spot

This weekend I finally got around to planting a few flowering annuals and grasses in my containers for my patio.  I'm a bit late this year as I normally have them planted during the month of April once the danger of frost is pretty much over in our area.  With my husband's diagnosis and surgery over these past three weeks, I just haven't really thought that much about gardening.  However, with my hubby on the mend, and my mother-in-law here to help keep an eye on him, I went to a local nursery and grabbed a few plants to add to my existing collection of hostas.  I ended up coming home with full sun plants instead!  Ha!  I guess I'll have to head back at some point to get some partial shade plants to go with my hostas since they are for partial shade areas. 

I sat outside in the beautiful 75 degree weather on Saturday and potted them with the assistance of my furbabies, Casey and Max.  We enjoyed the afternoon sun and warm breeze, while my hubby napped on the sofa and my mother-in-law did a little needlework.  Casey was particularly interested in sun-worshipping while Max played with his outdoor kitty toy and lounged in the grass.  They would periodically come to see what I was doing and of course, make sure I was doing it correctly.  Quality control is a hard job after all.

 I chose to go with a yellow/orange and pink theme this year and hope that it will color-coordinate with my deco mesh wreath that I'm making for the front door.  I have it laid out on my table but haven't glued it just yet.  Maybe this will inspire me to finish it.
 

 





Casey




Max

 

  Happy Memorial Weekend!  I hope that you all have time to reflect on this special day and enjoy time with your families.





WIPocalypse 2013 - May Update

For the month of May I didn't do a whole lot of cross-stitching.  My hubby unexpectedly had surgery this past week and I just simply did not feel like working on my crafts in the couple of weeks leading up to the surgery.  He came through the procedure on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 with flying colors and is doing well.  He's been sleeping off and on throughout the days this week so I've had some time to work on my various WIPs.  Though I don't have a lot to show for this month, here are my WIPocalypse updates.


1.  "Cross Stitch Gold" Magazine's "A Day to Remember" card series by Durene Jones.  I am stitching one of the six funky birds for a card design.  The main portion of the bird is complete with only part of the back-stitching left to do.  I hope to finish it very soon.

The previous stopping point

Current progress

2.  "Cross Stitch Crazy" Magazine's "Crazy for...Dragons" pattern by Maria Diaz.  I started this one last week on May 17th.  I know, I know...another WIP!  But I just couldn't resist.  Maria's dragons are just sooooo darn cute!  I picked out one to make for a birthday card and tweaked the colors just a bit.  I know eventually I will probably make a couple more of these cuties, including the one shown in the title from the magazine.

My starting point

Current progress

Happy stitching until the June update on the 23rd!

Rag Time!!!

I've been working on a spring/summer fabric "rag" wreath for my Calico Craft Designs Etsy shop and thought I would share a pic of my progress thus far.  Then I realized that my camera is still not linking to my computer and I'm having trouble downloading my photos.  [sigh]  I suppose this will be another post that I have to revisit in the future when I have a photo to add.  :-)  Oh well!


UPDATE AS OF 5/24/13:  I finally got the photos to download from my camera.  Yay!  Here are a couple of the wreath I have been working on.

TUSAL Progress - May 2013

This past Friday (5/10/13) was the date for sharing your ORTs in the TUSAL challenge.  It was also the weekend that my inlaws visited for a couple of days so I'm a little late with the photo posting.  This is the first official month since I joined.  Look at all the pretty colors!

Picture will be up as soon as I can get my files to download to my computer.  Ugh!

The next posting is due June 8th.  Be sure to check out the link to the TUSAL challenge by clicking on the list on the main blog page.

Happy Stitching!


UPDATE AS OF 5/24/13:  Finally got my photos to download from the camera.  Here are my ORTs for the month of May 2013.

Playing with Color

Over the last several weeks, I have been working on a deco mesh wreath for my front door.  It started as a project for spring but then I fell in love with the pink and orange striped deco mesh from Hobby Lobby.  I knew it would be perfect for summer but I wanted to create one wreath for both seasons.  It needed to have accents for both spring and summer.

I started working on it in late March but could not locate the perfect shade of green ribbon.  I made several trips to various craft stores but the strong pink and orange colors overpowered most light or lime green ribbons that I found and made them appear yellow and washed out.  I finally found a thick, double-sided satin ribbon that I think is working.  It’s green on one side and aqua blue on the other.  The blue does not really show but even if it does, I believe it will tie in the floral print ribbon as it has a similar shade of blue.  The only problem seems to be that it is a non-wired ribbon and does tend to flop about a bit more than a wired ribbon.  But, overall, I think it goes well with the pink and orange mesh and yellow sunflowers.  I found a few light green hydrangea flowers that I separated and added to the wreath to help tone down the overwhelming pinkness of it all.

My spring/summer deco mesh wreath

I have not glued it in place yet but I think I'm about ready to do so and get it up on my front door!  If I don't, spring will be gone!  As we say in the cross-stitching world, I don't want this WIP (work-in-progress) to become a UFO (unfinished object)!  What do you think of the green highlights?  Does it work?

Rainy Weekend Projects

This weekend was one of cooler temperatures, windy conditions, and almost 4 inches of rain.  There were areas of local flooding, overturned trees and power lines, and rising rivers and streams.  But…aside from these nasty problems some unfortunate people were dealing with, it was also the perfect weather to make you want to stay inside and work on crafts!  And that’s exactly what I did!

I did venture out on Friday afternoon after work to meet a friend at a local Hobby Lobby store.  She’s putting together two deco mesh wreaths for her mom and mother-in-law for the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday.  I met her to help pick out accessories to add to both wreaths.  She already had a good idea of what she wanted to do, including the base colors, but needed help deciding on how to make each more cohesive.  We wore out the floor walking back and forth in that store, pushing a cart around for almost two hours.  Two.  Hours.  Now, I like Hobby Lobby as much as the next crafty girl but that was a really long time to be in one shop!  But…we did get everything she needed to work on her projects this weekend and I think her mom and mother-in-law will be very surprised.

After dinner Friday night, I ventured over to her house to help her get started.  One wreath is a really cute ladybug-themed project with a punch of yellow to add some additional color.  (I may have to do one myself!)  The other is a jewel-toned, wine-themed wreath for a dining room.  It’s really large and includes a photo frame to hold a family portrait.  I think both ladies will be very pleased.  I was glad that I could assist and see her ideas begin to spring to life.  I can’t wait to see what they look like when finished.


Moving along


Saturday and Sunday were my “hermit” days.  I didn’t set foot out of my house on either day.  I had everything I needed at home:  cross-stitch, craft and garden magazines, movies, my fur-babies, and my awesome hubby.  In between a lot of reading and movie-watching, I mostly worked on the small cross-stitch design that I started last week to try to make it into a card.  It’s the one on the bright lime green Aida fabric and uses the bright, funky bird pattern.  I got quite a bit completed and I’m thinking I may give it to my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day.  She and my younger brother-in-law will be visiting from out of town this coming weekend.  I’m hoping to finish it by Friday.  I already have the card making supplies but I really need to find something unique to write on the inside of the card.  Hmmm….

As a side note, today is the fifth of May, a Mexican holiday known as Cinco de Mayo.  Per Wikipedia, “it is celebrated in the U.S. and in parts of Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla.  It originated with Mexican-American communities in the American West as a way to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War, and today the date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.  In the state of Puebla, the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.”

Happy Cinco de Mayo to you all!