Pink Saturday 2/5/2011 and Eye Candy

Welcome to Pink Saturday. Please go visit with Beverly to view the other participants by clicking on her logo below.
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I have more pretty eye candy for you.

The lovely lady also did this adorable mantle for her home. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about go visit my 2 previous posts. You'll love what you see! Promise.

This is her home.


Just more cuffs I made.

I found this little hook several years ago and just couldn't pass it up. It hold several aprons in my kitchen.

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Glammin' Up the Backyard for Pink Saturday

Thank you for visiting today. Be sure and visit Beverly at howsweetthesound for more participants in Pink Saturday.
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Our son and grandsons were here for a couple of days this past week. The 2 on the right are our grandsons, 20 and 11, and the young man on the left, 13, is a "sort of adopted" child. He takes him whenever he and his wife can because his mother isn't a good influence on him and he loves our son and boys. He is treated just like his sons in everything: trips, cruises, punishments and college when he is ready. His mother won't give him up because......well, just because. He is a sweetie though. Keith is doing much better but, of course, he will have to repeat the surgery on his leg that the gang injured when they beat him. He is very optimistic about everything though.

Here is hubs planting 2 grape plants for us. I suggested we use this metal arbor since the clematis' have all, but one, died. He transplanted the clematis. We'll have a lovely place to view from our patio door and have the grapes to eat. The arbor will definitely hold them.

I have looked at every garden and hardware store in town trying to find a window box I thought was pretty enough. There was nothing available and then "POOF" an epiphany! I had two french vintage wire window boxes in the house—one in the living room and one in the family room under the faux mantel. Another "duh" moment for me. *Sigh*.........

Anyway, out it came from the wall and I put it under the window in my office with the faux ferns (I can't grow any other kind). Then...........

We went out to Michaels and Joanns and found some lovely silk peonies and roses and I stuck them in there with the ferns. I absolutely love looking at it from the front of the house and I can see it out my window seat.

The peonies are really very pink. I took this picture just after a rain storm and it was a bit dark but you can see underneath how the water stayed out from the box a bit. (Notice the rock underneath in the above photo.)

Here are the other faux roses and dahlias I purchased today at Michaels and Joanns. They are truly lovely and 60% off!

While I was out there I snapped more photos of the new crop of roses in the rose garden. Aren't they lovely? I have finally succeeded in growing something!

Just absolutely stunning to me, chicks!

Have you ever seen anything as gorgeous as a rose except for a newborn baby? I think not!

Ooooh, I almost forgot to mention th' thumb! This is what happens when hubby and son take me and grandsons target practice at the local shooting range and they neglect to tell me my thumb is in the wrong position on the semi-automatic handgun for the sliiiiIIIIiiiide (slide)! These are 2 Marines who know and taught Marines how to shoot but neglect to tell th' wife and mom. They're just lucky they weren't standing in front of me after I dropped the gun. *Sigh*........it hurts!!!!

And...........*sigh*........the fluorescent ear plugs you wear when shooting???? Well, I tried one pair and they fell out of my ears so I tried the 2nd pair and they got stuck in my ear! I tell ya, it was not a good day for me, bloggerettes. Thank goodness my son is a nurse. Hubs tried to get them out. I finally got the right one out and I couldn't hear out of my right ear. It was strange because it seemed that I could hear out of my right ear through my left ear. Then Keith tried pulling the left one out and he couldn't get a hold on it. He said, "Mom, why did you put them in so far?" I said that they kept falling out. He used his fingernails to grab the very edge and started pulling and boy, did it hurt. Felt like he was sucking my ear drums out! I had to tell him twice to stop as he was pulling. Well, I can hear out of the left ear but the right one is still plugged up badly. I can hear it trying to pop but I've been going around for 3 days "yawning" to pop it but so far nothing. I think I'll give up shooting.........unless it's a hubby and son! Target practice just could be hazardous to their health, ya know. :-)

Vignettes Can Be a Lot of Different Things

People think vignettes have to be a book and a vase of roses or something similar. Not necessarily true, chicks, although that can be quite stunning and original if taken the time to think it out "creatively." It can be anything you want it to be as long as you assemble items in one particular space - a little space with items that evoke emotion is what works best for me. Something pleasing to the eye. I've gone around my home and just photographed some little descriptive vignettes to show as examples.

A pedestal rose plate with bars of fragrant soaps - some hand painted - and some little fizzie bath hearts given to me. They are absolutely sweet smelling and fragrance my guest bathroom.

A stack of white towels in a little pink wire basket. They are in there for guest's immediate pleasure and convenience so as not to have to go rummaging around underneath the cabinets. Just a thought to the comfort of my guests and family. ;-) I have a friend with a teenage boy who is meticulous in his personal grooming and will not use a towel after someone else. So I decided to do this with him in mind. Always a fresh and scented one for that young man. He steals my heart with being so well groomed.

Some little birdhouses on my mantel - one I made and three my friend, Rhea, made. Hers are stunning and I have a lot of items from her - so many, in fact, that I may have to dedicate a room to her! ;-)

Some old vintage rusty finials on my mantel also. I love the patina and rust of these old iron objects. These don't have much verdigris on them but I especially love the verdigris on old copper objects. And, of course, the proverbial "rose" to add to their beauty. If you knew how many roses I have in this house you'd faint. I have several hundred ribbon roses, many silk roses, dozens of paper roses, millinery roses and porcelain roses. I should call this the Rose House. Well, actually some of my friends do call it that.

Starfish that I spray painted pink and sprinkled on german glass glitter. I just love the look of them on the mantle. I love "fluff" everywhere I can arrange to have it.

Even my craft paints and paint swatches from a paint store can be a vignette when arranged on a vintage old shelf with snippets of leftover lace tacked on the shelf. I think you'll have to agree it adds "color" to the place!

As simple as some vintage salt and pepper shakers painted pink and set on the shelf with paints.

Even little sachets scented with fragrance oils lined along another shelf can add not only beauty but a wonderful scent to enjoy in any room. Yes, I actually do this in every single room - living room, family room, baths, office, bedroom......every room. And these certainly add beauty to the room.

And then there are the tops of book cases that aren't really conducive to hold actual book on the top so I just put some vintage sewing drawers with CDs or DVDs in them and little boxes I've tried selling but didn't. So buyers loss is my room's gain! LOL

One of my favorite vignettes is artist paint brushes. I just love seeing all the brushes in a pretty vase or container. These are mine and I would NOT call my self an artist. I call myself a BEGINNER!! ;-)

I have a bowl on my coffee table that has some pink sea shells (I painted them pink) and I love the juxtaposition of them with the roses and faux desserts I have on there. This one below is not in my home but I think it's stunning. Just simple everyday things gathered together in one spot for a lovely vignette. Rocks in a vintage yellow bowl, starfish and old ephemera.

The roses, sea shells, starfish, a wicker basket leaning against a wall, attractive statues, a container of nails and a plate of fruit.

I liked this room when I first saw it and was drawn back to it because of the table vignette near the dormer. I also stack pictures on the floor leaning up against a baseboard. I just love the look of "high" and "low" pictures. Most people hang their pictures too high on a wall. That's fine if there are other pictures below it but the room looks out of whack if all pictures are at one level in a room and that level is 6 feet up the wall. Lower your pictures so that the lowest part of the frame is no more than 46 - 48" from the floor. It will make quite a cozy difference in the look.

Mantel Arrived

As most of you may know I post ahead if I have a few minutes to sit down from doing all the things I won't get to finish in my lifetime. Sometimes I'll get 2, 3 or maybe 4 or 5 ready to post for future posting. This one I am actually putting together on wednesday, August 27, 2008 but it won't be posted until 2 days from now - the 29th....MY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYY!!! Now how many of you celebrate the "old" birthdays? I do. Not in a glam or glorious fashion with presents although I do get them from my ebay friends, who treat me waaaaaaaay toooo special, but I love them no matter what. My ideal celebration is dinner OUT! We eat out a couple of times a week anyway but I just want to eat out on my birthday and come home and be with Love Bunny all to myself. I love getting older. Love it!!

Two women were over last night from my church just visiting because they've never seen my home and one is a blogger and has seen it on line but not the actual inside. They were very complimentary and just in awe (meaning "wonderment") looking at the real thing because we ALL know pictures never do something justice. But that's neither here nor there today.

We did talk about getting older. One lady was 73 - near my age - and the other one was early 30s. Each of us said that getting older was not a problem for us and we just loved the "wonder" of aging. Quite refreshing actually to admit it. But we were of like mind on the issue.

Anyway, on with the mantel post. Yesssssssss, it arrived today - wednesday - and I had the FedEx man just "tip" it in the doorway since we know they don't like to bring things in but he probably would have since it was so long and heavy. Once inside I could push it and then open the box and carry each piece out to our back yard to spritzzzzzzzz with my spray can of white paint. It was primed, thank heavens. So here's the first view of my new focal point faux mantel!!! Squeeeeeeeal. How do you like my "painting are and table"?? LOL

I'm almost embarrassed to show you the back yard grass and this area because we've done almost nothing to the yard out there but MOW. It's just too hot in this desert to work out in it but it's starting to cool down and we're going to get some stones for that area in the lower left of photo. That will extend the patio a bit and solve the problem of grass just not wanting to thrive in that area. Hubs also needs to weed and feed the back yard. Our front looks like green velvet but this out back is becoming MY EYESORE!! But I wanted to show you how the star jasmine is thriving there. It's got shoots up twice the original height since we planted it about a month ago. I just love it.