Spring anyone?

We have been pretty busy around here!!!

Now that Easter has passed and it really IS officially spring,

Tammy and I have been planting so many

wonderful things!

Herbs, ferns, flowers and succulents.

Yesterday the deck was freshened up by new outdoor carpet

until we can get the floor replaced.

What a difference it has made!

New cushions on the chairs make it even better.

You have to plant and pot things here in Georgia

while temperatures are mild because

in about a month it will be pretty hot and steamy!

I just wanted to share a few photos of our beautiful deck!

Dill and basil ~

A beautiful arrangement of potted flowers Tammy put together!

Mint and more flowers.

I love ferns so we have them sprinkled all over.

Rosemary, parsley, oregano and thyme.

Asparagus ferns mixed with sedum. Flower plantings and a fox tail fern!

Chives!

Another gorgeous flower arrangement potted by sweet Tammy.

She does have the touch having been in the floral business for 40 years or so!

A small bed that we planted foxgloves and other flowers.

The plant in front of St. Francis is catnip!

I've hung a handmade wreath on our front screened door,

complete with fake greenery and fake bird's nest.

WELL a little sparrow thought it looked like home

and built her nest right beside the fake one!

We have five little eggs too!!!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little tour around the deck
and that spring has arrived for you as well!

We had better enjoy it this next month before the temps rise!

Thank you so much for stopping by to see what I'm up too,

Hugs and love,

Dawn

Spring is here in Georgia and I love it!!!!

Isn't it so wonderful how the spring of the year feels like a beautiful renewal???

We moved to our new home in the fall and

as it was pretty with all of the fall colors but

things changed fast with all the leaves falling

and the cold weather approaching.

I haven't shared this before but we have moved in with 40 year old friends and

are now sharing their home and ALL of the expenses!!!

They too are empty nesters and invited us to share their home with them.

They lost their youngest son (one year older than our Noah) in a tragic car accident

four years ago and the older daughters have moved away.

They have a huge home with an in-law suite that they occupy and offered

us the rest of the house as our own.

I met these precious souls, James and Tammy at my first day at art college.

Long story short, they fell in love...

Dennis and I fell in love and married a year before they married and

I was pregnant with our first son Brent at their wedding!

Dennis and I were the best man and matron of honor at their wedding.

And we've been friends for soooo many years now!

Dennis and James went to school together and were even co-workers too.

Oh, and they are both true artists!!!
And now, in our new home we have a gorgeous studio!!!!

Perfect for all creatives and of course I brought all of my supplies!!!

Anyway that is the backstory.

It has been a beautiful thing for us.

We have dinners together, laugh and reminisce then we all

retire to our separate living spaces to watch a little TV before bed.

So now to making things beautiful!!!!!

Our sweet deck is in dire need of new floor boards

so understand they'll be replaced soon.

But I couldn't help but do some spring planting today!

Mint!

Basil!

Just a random found nest that I placed a river rock inside...that kind of looks like an egg!

And one more ~

A few asparagus ferns with sedum in between!

A little rosemary ~

And chives!

The ferns have been planted and are ready for the front porch too ~

Different varieties of sedum have been planted in the old birdbath too!

Yes, it's rachet, and has been broken but glued back together.

I think that's why we love it so much!

Happy Spring precious friends!!!

Thank you always for following me and my journey through life.

Hugs and love,

Dawn

A simple but beautiful spring wreath!

I wanted to share a simple spring wreath I made for my mom this past weekend!

The garlands were on sale for half price at Hobby Lobby last week

so we purchased one artificial greenery garland for 8.00 (originally 15.99)

and one grapevine wreath that was 4.99.

I already had the artificial nest, the speckled eggs and moss.

Plus the little buds that surround the nest.

I used floral wire to attach the garland to the wreath as well as the nest.

The eggs, moss and buds were glued on using Fabri-Tac glue.

So...a very simple wreath that was only 13.00!!!

Plus my mom LOVES it!

Now I need to make mine ~

Of course I had to buy the stuff to make me one too!!

Hugs and love,

Dawn

The beauty of nature ~

I admit it.

I just love working with natural elements!

Gathered bird's nests, blown speckled eggs,

feathers, branches...moss...and more.

These items are already beautiful in their own right.

All I do is place them in my assemblage

where I feel they are shown in their best light.

I finished the clock case assemblage and am so pleased ~

but I have to admit,

it is HARD working from the back of a piece!

The beautiful thing about this assemblage is that

I had a wonderful regular customer contact me

and want to buy it, sight-unseen

before I even finished it!!!

That was a wonderful blessing

and encouraged me to finish it right away.

Here is the assemblage ~

These aren't the best pics but it's hard to photograph through the glass!

So just remember dear friends....

simply BEGIN!!!

Wishing you a beautiful Thursday and Fourth of July ~

all of our plans have been rained out here in Georgia

but we hope to have a family gathering Saturday!

hugs and love,

Dawn

So whatcha you gonna do with a clean studio??

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments

on my previous studio post!!!

I have just been LOVING all the changes and just

the fact that it's clean and I can see my fabric again!

Well, you know what a clean studio means?

You've got to MAKE STUFF!!

I ran across a few peat pots that were "in progress"

while cleaning last week so I knew they were

going to be my next project.

This is what your hands look like when you speckle your own eggs!!!

Now they're ready!!!

Feels good to make something again!!
These can be found in my Etsy shop too :)

Now let me see....
what else did I come across that needed finishing??

Have a beautiful day precious friends,
hugs and love,
Dawn

Inspired by Nature ~

It seems I can't help myself....

I always return to beautiful elements of nature

when it comes to creating artwork!

I finally finished this new piece too ~

Here are a few pics...it was quite hard to photograph

because of the reflection on the glass covering the assemblage...

Whew!!! This one wore me out!!!

But it is so good to see an idea

come to fruition....

I just added it to my Etsy store if you like to take a look there!

I hope you are doing so good...and thank you very much for

taking to time to stop by here, I always appreciate your visit

and cherish your comments!!!

Have a wonderful day precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn