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“I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error.”
Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988
Posted in Bird, Garden, Nature, Photography, Quote, Rabbit, Wordless Wednesday
we have had some traveling tea cup fun recently on our saunters into the Bluebell forest…
bubble wrap was our friend…
the old trees and fallen wood really add extra interest all along the way…
last winter we had some ice storms that toppled lots of trees…
our traveling tea cup will be taking a trip to the mountains very soon…
the Swiss Alps to be exact…
we have had plans for sometime now to celebrate our 30th anniversary with a nice trip…
we couldn’t be more excited…plus we get to meet one of the special Queen Bees in person…
wishing each of you a very Happy T Tuesday…pop over to Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons for the Mr Linky list of tea bloggers this week…
it was my pleasure recently to swap canvases with the talented and generous Nigel of Freebird’s flights of fancy in the UK …
truly a man of many talents…
not only did I receive this brilliant 4×4″ butterfly canvas…
with wonderful depth and detail…
Nigel also tucked in lots of other goodies as well…
a generous array of tempting teas…
an interesting tin full of treasures and pretty Italian paper…
this handsome Queen’s Own Yeomanry (QOY) pin really peaked my interest…here is the story from Nigel on that:
“QOY is an armoured regiment, part of the Territorial army (reservists, a little like your National Guard). I have a tin with various badges I acquired during my service, and that was one of them. I figured it would make a unique addition to the swap so picked one at random, and that was it.”
I am very honored and pleased to have it…
a super assortment of book pages and cards….
you know my heart leapt when I saw the swans…
both sides of the bird pages are beautifully illustrated…
again I am reminded of how special it is to be able to connect with talented artists and like minded individuals around the globe…
thank you so very much dear Nigel for a really special swap…
before April gets away from me and Mr Magpie and I take flight (more about that on my T Tuesday post)…
I want to share this month’s quote from my “Angel Spirits”, The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:
“You are uniquely you, yet within your being dances the essence of all those who came before you. Your ancestors live again through your actions in the world. Do us honor by joyously accepting your destiny and by being all that you are meant to be.” ~Angelic Ancestors, April 2011
Posted in 4x4, Bird, Blogging, Calendar, Canvas, Collage, Fabric/Ribbon/Fiber/Lace, Gifts, Mixed Media, Nature, Paint, Paper, Quote, Rubber Stamping, Sulamith Wülfing, Swan, Swap, Tea
another lovely smooshed kipper tin has returned to Virginia all the way from Carole in New Zealand…
the Whirling Durvish Sisters are wonderful with their flimmersterne background and bits of lace and decos…and a yoyo flower too…
isn’t my kipper tin book looking smashing…
it all started with these ingredients that I sent to everyone…
I was especially tickled with Carole’s theme because I actually got to see some real life whirling dervishes at Washington National Cathedral back in October 2009…a little more about that here…
here is a short video if you’ve never seen or heard of them…
one more Queen Bee left…you know who you are 
…
“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust” ~Rumi
***pop over and visit Halle…she’s celebrating her 4th bloagavesary with a lovely giveaway…no hoops to jump thru either***
Posted in Blog Candy, Blogging, Books, Challenge, Collage, Fabric/Ribbon/Fiber/Lace, Give Aways, Metal, Mixed Media, Paper, QB5 (Queen Bee 5), Quote, Rumi, Swap, YouTube
it is that magical time of year again here in Northern Virginia…
when the forest floor of the Bull Run Regional Park turns blue…
with Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)…
as far as the eye can see…
they are like the Cherry Blossoms around the tidal basin in Wash DC…
blooming for a limited time each Spring…
and not to be missed if you can help it…
this year our Spring has been mostly cool and very wet…
which has helped extend the parade of blooms…
we have been lucky enough to visit six times already…
every trek into the forest is a new adventure…
it changes daily…
watching the progression and show put on by Mother Nature…
is pure delight…
the flowers could go on for another week…
weather permitting…
we have taken so many photos…
and still cannot wait to return to the woods…
not actually drinking Violet tea but Violets certainly are blooming in our garden just now…
they are popping up everywhere…
I read once that when violets mature they can broadcast their seeds as far as four feet away…
they definitely like to get around…
we have several different kinds…
in years past I tried my hand at making candied violets…
it is not hard…
just a bit time consuming…
they make a pretty garnish on pound cake or cupcakes…
some years ago I planted some fragrant violets that I bought at Monticello…those did not last over the years…not as hardy as the common wild ones it seems…
I remembered that I had an odd violet tea cup in the pie safe…
it is thoughtfully painted on both sides of the cup…
would you like one lump or two?
the rabbits were made by my Mutti…
she was the master of miniature creations…
the arms and legs can be bent…
wishing you all a lovely Tea Tuesday…
be sure and stop by Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons for more T stops…
***Mr Magpie and I want to thank you for your precious and most kind anniversary wishes…we are enjoying each and every sweet comment***
Posted in Garden, Nature, Photography, Rabbit, Remembrance, Tea on Tuesday
thirty years ago today …OH MY…yes…we were kids
…such a wonderful start to a life long romance…
thank you to my Liebling for sharing his life and Love with me…
and for our beautiful boys…
thank you also to our parents now in heaven for the example of couples staying together…they were each married for well over fifty years…
photo editing credits to Big Huge Labs …they make it so easy even I can do it and it is free…
Posted in Celebration, Photography
Carole sent lovely fabric bits and a wooden hoop for her Queen Bee “what do you see” challenge…
eventho I am very fond of playing with fabric…
these ingredients had me wondering where to begin…
bravely cutting into that lovely small crocheted round that Carole sent…I decided to stamp on the twill tape and added an embroidered hankie that I tea dyed along with some green buttons from my stash…
the green doily is from my Mom’s house…I stretched it in the hoop cutting around the edges…sealing the ravely bits with a clear fabric glue…
a golden key…Eiffel Tower charm and wooden Fleur-de-Lis from my stash were the finishing touches to Carole’s almost 7.5 inch (19.05 cm) finished hoop…really fun…
now I’ve shown you all of the swap pieces I’ve created for Nathalie…Linda and Margaret…
the last two of my kipper tins are on their way home…I will share a look at them soon…
it’s Friday and Ana has another exciting Friday Archive Dive...stop by…you won’t be sorry…you are welcome to join in the fun too!
here are the bits that Margaret sent for our Queen Bee “what do you see” swap…
I fell in Love with the blues…the piece of black netting…such a pretty blue and white napkin in the background and that lace…ooo…
a rusty nail came my way…thank you Mr Magpie… I tucked it away with Margaret’s bits knowing it would make the perfect hanger for my bingo card creation for her…
I used a medallion behind the gentleman’s head…
a piece of peeled napkin from my collection carried on the rusty look I was after…
really fun distressing the bingo card by tearing and inking…
didn’t really want to send Herr Blauman back home…such a fun swap we’re having…
for a closeup view you can click on the photos
CAKE is the challenge theme this week over at Wednesday Stamper (WS)…
I thought this Hero Arts cake stamp had such great possibilities…
so I got busy recycling some magnets that I have collected/accumulated…
after a light sanding and a nice layer of my favorite UHU glue stick…
I applied my painted background paper and brayered and brayered again helping keep all of the edges down nice and snug to the magnet…
I stamped onto four different kinds of paper creating the various layers of the cake…using the yellow cardstock as my base…
I added each cut out section leaving the yellow candle at the top….scissors and a craft knife came in handy for trimming…
won’t you join us for some WS cake…no calories…just fun…
all are most welcome to play along…
the only rule is that you use at least one rubber stamp in what you create…
Posted in Cake, Challenge, Collage, Green Living, Magnet, Paint, Paper, Rubber Stamping, Wednesday Stamper (WS)
Winterling is the name of the German China that my parents used every day for years and years and years…
the gold rubbed off the edges of some of the plates…even with them never having been in a dishwasher…
my Mom never owned a dishwasher…which here in the states might be considered unusual…
we had some of our best mother and daughter conversations washing up the dishes each evening…
the tea cups are still in fair condition because coffee mugs were most often used…
the blue step stool was made for me by Mr Magpie many years ago…
my Mutti was going to paint it for me…
she did paint it with my favorite daisies and her special flower touches …
she took a real shine to it … finding it came in handy…we told her to hang on to it…
it was in her pantry and used pretty much every day as my Mom was a short little lady…
my favorite Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme tastes especially good steeped with such sweet memories…
for more tea stories and sharing visit Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons…
“Flowers really do intoxicate me.” ~ Vita Sackville-West
Happy April…Happy Spring (or Fall)…Happy Happy Everything…
Posted in Gifts, Green Living, Heart, Musings, Nature, Paint, Photography, Quote, Remembrance, Tea, Tea on Tuesday, Wood
smooshed tin number two has arrived for our QB5 swap…
and mine with the Live Laugh Love zipper makes three…
Margaret let her sense of humor shine through…along with her metal punching skills…really fabulous…
I am wondering if she and Eloise are one and the same…
fun king fish riding the bike too…
so far we have mine...Linda’s and Margaret’s on the jump ring…
so neat to see what ingredients each person ends up using from what I sent them…
I can’t decide whether I’ll use this side of the tin I altered on top
or this side…
that chocolate rabbit button arrived from Impress Rubber Stamps and hopped right onto my tin …
nice thing about the jump ring is the tins go on and off easily…
here are the bits that Linda sent to make a house for her in our Queen Bee “what do you see” swap…
after covering the plain cardboard house with music and book pages…
the next thing I wanted to do was cut out some windows…
saving the pieces to use as shutters…
two cute Paper Whimsy kids are looking out…
a piece of one of my golden flimmers made smoke coming out of the chimney…
I changed the white leaf ribbon Linda sent to green with a stylus and some stamping ink…
and I never miss a chance to use one of my handmade wire bird nest charms…
the rusty bird hanging with the sari ribbon loop at the top is from my stash…I just couldn’t seem to make Linda’s cute rusty rabbit work with my design…
the word festoso in the left hand corner… a happy coincidence that it is showing… means:
festoso m. (f. festosa, m plural festosi, f plural festose)
pretty nice for any house…
I colored the little wooden oval piece and wrote Peace on one side and Light on the other…it says LOVE on the back of the number four…
I tea dyed the hankie bit at the bottom … it was from my Mom’s house…
completing the house to measure about 9.5 inches (24.13 cm) tall…
“this house is made of Love and Dreams is what I wrote on the back of my house for Linda…
Posted in Charms, Collage, Fabric/Ribbon/Fiber/Lace, Houses, Mixed Media, Paper, QB5 (Queen Bee 5), Swap, Wood
here we are at our last turn in the Six Players swap…
Marlynn from Honeysuckle Breeze chose Sunflowers for her theme….
you may remember the wonderful India pages she created for me last year…
here are my first and last pages for her theme…
the cover page I created for her sunflower theme is my favorite…with the arch…and Paper Whimsy sun face…
I even found sunflower written in Japanese for the top right along with other languages too…
the lady on my last page is from the NYPL digital library…
a wonderful source for copyright free images…
I used sunflower seed stickers … I like the quality of them very much…
I really liked the sunflower stickers too!
…it seemed that my center pages were in limbo for a good while…
I was getting a little hung up on the flowers and needed to think beyond that a bit…
like what goes with sunflowers…
quotes are always good inspiration…
and birds like seeds…
thanks once again to Karen at The Graphics Fairy for the wonderful bird image…
a piece of snipped parchment paper cupcake liner made a nice frill and layer along with other bits of paper and faux greenery…
and a favorite of mine…
bees…
where would the world be without bees…
I found the perfect little metal bumble bee pin from Japan in my stash and attached it with gel medium…
one of the most versatile adhesives I know of…
here are my center pages … I used a twill binding that came with the round metal bits attached to add some interest across the center of both pages…
I created a tag with some of the extra bits I had on hand too…
nothing better than when it finally comes to you what you’d like to make…
then all there is to do is to get busy and do it…
“The earth laughs in flowers.” ~E.E. Cummings
I could have sworn that this quote was also credited to Ralph Waldo Emerson…there must be a story there somewhere?
Posted in Bird, Challenge, Collage, Fabric/Ribbon/Fiber/Lace, Garden, Gothic Arch, Metal, Mixed Media, Nature, Paper, Quote, Rubber Stamping, Six Players Six Months, Swap, Tag
back in February I sent out packages of these bits to each of the Queen Bees for our latest “what do you see” challenge/swap …
including a smashed and grilled kipper tin for the base (there is a tutorial on my sidebar on grilling tins)…
no actual kippers were harmed in the process…
I like saying “kippers” …
“pilchards” is another catchy fish word…thank you Nigel…
the only guideline was that we try and use at least half of the items sent to us including the main piece we would be creating on…
adding bits from our own stash as we saw fit…
Linda’s creation was the first altered tin to return to me…
isn’t it beautiful…
pretty enough to wear as a necklace with the velvet ribbon…
well it would be a 7 inch (17.78 cm) long necklace including the dangle…
all the way from Texas…
Love how she layered the golden flimmer after she removed the foil wrapped chocolate center adding the round ‘Bass tag’ I sent…
the pearl drop dangle at the bottom is a wonderful touch of bling from her stash…
so cute how she lined up “the girls” I sent…they look like little sardines…I mean kippers …
here is one side of my Live Love Laugh tin that I altered for myself… along with Linda’s lovely creation…
held together with a black jump ring…
what a fun metal book I’m going to have when the other three tins arrive from around the world…
I try to give credit where credit is due. Please do not use any images or text from my Magpie's Nest Blog without my permission.
~*~ Patty
you can contact me at:
pmsmutti (at) yahoo.com
