Gardening in Miniature

I've been enjoying this book~~Gardening in Miniature by Janit Calvo. It's filled with ideas and plans for constructing your own miniature garden.  Even though I really like having a real life-sized garden, I don't have the room for much of anything other than the basics...herbs, a few tomato plants, and lettuces.  With this book as a guide, I can construct my own "Secret Garden"...a place for my mind to wander in the upcoming heat-infused months.  

                                         

                                           

No weather complaints from me yet...I'm just happy that Spring has finally found us!

Weekend Fun

Yesterday was the Ohio Valley Art League's Kitchen Tour, just across the river in Henderson, Ky. Five kitchens were on display scattered all over town, and there was a chef stationed at each location. We sampled seared Ahi tuna, graham pralines, old fashioned homemade banana pudding, bananas Foster bread pudding with rum raisin sauce, and finally...the best for last...pizza from a wood-fired mobile pizza oven. Delicious pizzas...Bee Sting Pizza, a breakfast pizza, white pizza, and my favorite--Fig & Pig pizza--a fig and prosciutto pizza topped with peppery arugula. So good.

The kitchens were beautiful. I can't imagine cooking in a few of them...they were too perfect. Beautiful homes, beautiful landscaping...maid and gardener service required.

I picked up ingredients for pizza making...fig preserves, prosciutto, cheese...and had dough ready from my bread machine. I used the recipe from the Pioneer Woman's website...delicious!

Busy, busy, busy...

Sometimes things just get a little out of control around here.  It's been a busy week at work...painting class on Monday, faux flower making class on Tuesday, and Dear Jane quilting on Wednesday.  Whew!!  Now I have all kinds of ideas percolating in my head...new classes and programs for July and August...plus personal DIY's to do for me...and friends.  Seriously...my head is spinning.  I like to push people into things...going beyond their comfort limits and climbing out of the box.  I need to do that for myself...not so much getting out of my comfort zone...I do that on an almost daily basis.  I need to create things for myself...to actually make/do things....instead of carrying all of this "stuff" inside of my head.  I saw a really cute fabric cuff on Etsy a while back, and made one a few weeks ago.  I've collected beads and findings...I need to manufacture.  Coming home and going to sleep is just so much easier.  Spring is still playing hide and seek here...maybe that's part of the problem!

Playing around...

Relic Necklace 4.14.13

Bring it on~~Spring, that is...

 We've been having roller coaster weather here...sort of warm one day, freezing rain and sleet the next.  I'll be glad when things moderate a bit...I'd like to play in the dirt!

In the meantime, I decided to craft a terrarium necklace...simple, yet "green" enough to satisfy.

I used small bottles obtained from Hobby Lobby (the Tim Holtz Idea*ology set @ $5.99 less 40%), and filled them with chartreuse reindeer moss.

I had some silvertone chain in my jewelry-making supplies, and a hammered necklace clasp made in one of the classes I've taught at the library.  Easy-peasy.  Now to roll some little eggs out of robin's egg blue Fimo clay...a little colorful addition to the terrarium.