Corn Update

Finally, after countless begging and threats my little brother T dug me some holes for the corn. I'm not sure if the corn will actually produce this year since it got into the ground so late, but it's worth a try.

Etsy Finds: Garden Markers

A few weeks ago when my mom and I were up at the Lavender Festival we saw some really cute garden markers. They really caught our attention, obviously, because we even took a picture of one of them.


I decided to search for some markers on Etsy and the first ones I found were these cute little nickel ones by Nina Gibson Designs http://www.ninagibsondesigns.etsy.com/ . They would be perfect for any little herb garden, be it on your deck or kitchen window. They sell for $28 for a set of four and can be printed with the herbs or plants of your choosing. This would be a great gift for a beginning gardener or anyone who enjoys cooking with fresh herbs.


The thyme marker is made by metal garden art http://www.metalgardenart.etsy.com/ . You can choose from a selection of 13 different herbs and plants. I like the simplicity of this design and plus as it rusts it gains more of that garden charm. The markers are priced at $9.95 each.


Last, but not least these markers by Art by Jack http://www.artbyjack.etsy.com/ are pretty freaking cool. I love the way the letters have the look of being stacked precariously. You can get a set of ten for $64 (the stakes sell for $8 a piece, so essentially you get 2 free). These would look great in nearly any garden, I know they would look amazing in mine. I might need to start dropping some hints. It's not completely ridiculous to ask for random surprise gifts, right?

Pumpkin in July

So I obviously jumped the gun with the pumpkin. It serves as our dinner table center piece, because we aren't quite sure what to do with it yet. I started the other pumpkins after this one, I think they will be ready closer to their normal date in the fall.

Creativity Strikes...Finally!

My creativity has been a little lacking, and by a little I mean I had none. Every time I sat down to work on my jewelry or art, I'd come up with a billion excuses why now was not a good time. My favorite excuse being 'I better get online and make sure the airline tickets to France I should have bought 3 weeks ago are the same price.' I obviously don't struggle with procrastination at all. By the way, the tickets to France are still the same and I think I'm almost ready to buy them. I figured you've been dying to know.

Anyway, so last week on a scorchingly hot day I drove past Joanne's fabric and decided it had to be cooler in there than inside my car. I don't use the air conditioning in the car unless I have an important date to go to, hence I don't use the air conditioning. Joanne's was delightfully cool inside and I took my sweet time going through the aisles filling a basket with beads and other items imperative to jewelry design. I also got some crafty stuff to start making prototypes for fascinators (pretty hair clips) for Cam's upcoming wedding. I finally got in line and waited behind the slowest woman on earth. She couldn't decide what she wanted, she thought everything she grabbed was on sale and argued with the cashier, then she couldn't find her debit card, and when she did she decided after swipping her card that she wanted to pay for part of it in cash. These kind of things annoy me to no end and I was doing some very loud and deliberate yoga/meditation breathing to calm myself down. I am pretty sure I was making everyone around me uncomfortable because 1) I could hardly contain my frustration (I don't hide my emotions well) and 2) I was breathing so loud it sounded like I was in labor. I finally made it out to my car, which felt more like an oven and went home.

The next day I sat down and spent some quality creative time in my artist studio aka my disaster of a room. I played around with some hair clip designs, what I came up with is nothing like what Cam wants for the bridesmaid in her wedding, but it gave me chance to play and get used to working with hairclips. I also tried my hand at making rings. It was fun and they came out a lot better than expected. I also created some wire and freshwater pearl earrings. These all turned out pretty well and gave me some hope that the well of my creativity hadn't run dry.

I am hoping to stay on a roll and set aside a little time for jewelry stuff daily. I think this would keep me better organized and help me retain some of my creative leanings. If creativity and art are a muscle you have to work it regularly, right? Then I have to go to the next step and list things on Etsy, that's a whole other battle I fight with myself.