A Custom Wedding Sign

I have been busy packing and getting ready to head to Camp Mather adjacent to Yosemite.  The Strawberry music festival is this weekend and I work at a food booth.

Last May we froze our sweet patooties off but the Fall show is always more pleasant weather wise.

First off I really wanted to share a recent sign I was asked to make.  I fell in love with it too and will be offering it on my website.

So I Can Kiss You Anytime I Want sign



I can also do it plain. with a crackled and distressed background, change up the fonts or colors, add flourishes to the edges or paint flowers. One customer had me copy the invitation design.

This is before customization. 



So if you know of anyone with a wedding coming up send them my way, I may be able to paint them a sign or two.

Last year I did an entire collection of directional signs for a rustic wedding, that was quite fun.



As you can see there was quite a few of them.  Here is a closer view of the dancing sign.



I know the major wedding season is coming to a close along with summer but I like to plan ahead and there are some nice Fall and Winter weddings too.

Can you feel Fall?  As much as I love summer and really do not want it to end so soon I have hints all around me that Fall is fast on its approach. 

The squirrels and birds have been scurrying about collecting seeds and nuts for their winter stash in this neck of the woods.  It is not unusual to see a fluffy grey squirrel dashing across the road with a heavy green pine cone in his mouth.  I should say he is trying to dash, many times the cone is so heavy he is dragging it ruthlessly to a spot he can sit and shred it in high hopes of hitting the mother lode of pine nuts.

The nights have cooled but the daytime temps have remained nice, we have been hitting the mid 80’s the past few days.  But here is a telling sign of Fall.

The dogwoods are turning red. This photo has not been retouched, this is how bright the red is on my neighbor’s dogwood tree.



So I just savor each morning in the garden and the roses that remain as I know it is not long before a white blanket coats everything in sight.



The morning glories are climbing the arbor. I have high hopes that next year the Eden rose will really take off and cover the arbor.



Dreamweaver, I planted this in a barrel in my side yard, it has loved it there and though the deer have nipped it back a time or two this summer it still shines.  Love this pink!



My zinnias are doing great, I had tossed these seeds into this neglected bed and hoped for the best, they did not disappoint me.  I am going to transplant strawberries into this bed this Fall, but I think I will rim the bed in some kind of flashy flower for fun. 



Darcy Bussell English rose



Charles Darwin English rose



Though I will miss my garden once winter descends I do have some crochet patterns and sewing plans to keep me content.  In the warmer months I am so busy outside that I have not a lick of time for the other things I love to do so there is an up side to being stuck indoors.  Plus there is always my painting to keep me sane.
 
Since there is no internet where I will be for the next 5 days this will be my last post until next week.  Broken hearted aren’t you???

Time to check my list and make sure I have everything packed and ready to go.
 
Enjoy your weekend everyone!

A Custom Family Rules Sign and a Garden Walk

It has been awhile since I did a garden walk with you. I have more gorgeous blooms for you all to enjoy.

First I wanted to share a Family Rules sign I just sent out.  I can do these in many different colors for backgrounds or for the lettering, this one was requested in black with white.



I love the fluidity of the Loki Cola font used for the family name, it gives it a bit of panache.

These are the chairs to a set that includes a settee that I would dearly love to keep and reupholster myself but with my limited time I don’t think that is possible.  I have yet to get quotes to have them upholstered but I can see they need basically to be taken down to the frame and redone and that adds up to mucho dinero. So that is not practical either.

Sigh, I will sell them to someone who can bring them back to their former glory and appreciate their beauty.  Can you see they are a his and hers set, one being larger than the other? 
The carved details are swoon worthy.



Okay, on to the promised flowers.  I know many are panting for Fall to start but I am still relishing the warm summer weather and so is my garden.

Luna Pink Swirl Hibiscus



Luna White Hibiscus…love the red center. The flowers are a good 6 inches across or more.  You didn’t think hibiscus like this would grow in the mountains, did you???  Yep, these babies come back every summer and then die back for the winter. 



My Eden rose is blooming again.  It is still a small plant but it blooms away.  I cannot wait until I covers the arbor.



I take tons of photos, I am going to attempt to paint it and try to capture the delicacy of the shades of pink but it will be a challenge for me. 



Next is my Petal Pusher roses, they are still flourishing and came thru the heat wave with flying colors. I love the contrast with the morning glory.



This rose was a mystery to me, it is blooming on the Crown Princess Margareta canes and I thought maybe it had cropped up from below the graft but no it was a regular cane.



This photo below is the color Crown Princess Margareta is supposed to be and all other blooms on the same cane as the above yellow set were the proper color. so who knows what happened above. 



Not long ago I showed you this collection of morning glories after they had been eaten to a nub by the deer but as you can clearly see they have fully recovered.



My Kirsten Poulson rose.  It is still a toughie and blooms non stop. Actually, this rose came up from a piece of a root I had left in the ground when moving and now it is a flourishing good sized plant.  I love the old own root roses. 



This past year we took down an oak tree that shaded part of the yard.  Once we did that this Queen Elizabeth rose started to gain health and beauty.  I had been floundering for the past few years. It just needed the sun.



Queen of Sweden.  Next Spring I am going to peg this rose and get tons more blossoms from it. 



The Stargazer lilies have been perfuming my garden walks.  I have them placed all around my garden so as I walk I can always catch a whiff.



I know it seems like I have a lot of pinks in my garden, but there are still some blues too.

Monkshood.



And some red.

Monarda or Bee Balm (Jacob Cline)



I nearly forgot, here is one of my new roses and I have shared it before but each time it blooms it still takes my breath away.

Kiss of Desire



Can you see why I have no desire for summer to end?

  Who would wish for blankets of white snow or brown leaves falling from near naked trees when you can have all of the glorious colors above. 

Plus winter makes me fat!  I snuggle by the warmth of the woodstove and console myself (over not getting to play in the dirt) with fresh baked Snickerdoodle cookies and spicy sweet Pumpkin bars with to die for cream cheese frosting. 

Enjoy my blooms..until next post. Ta…

Come on in and see what I have been working on.

Pink Saturday

What Have I Been Up To

Many days I end up heading for bed disappointed in not accomplishing my list of ‘to do's’ then stop, take stock of what I did actually get done and content myself with that.  There is so many fun projects I wanted to get to this summer but here it is late August and I have not touched hardly any.

When I am not cleaning vacation homes my time has been spend painting signs..(it helps pay the bills so not a frivolous activity)

Here are some recent ones.

For the life of me I cannot get a photo that shows the true coral color of this, and it does not get darker at the bottom in real life. 

You Are My Sunshine subway art sign


This sign I had to do 3 times over! 

 Crazy, I nicknamed it the sign from hell.  I finally got it sent off to the customer and then he informs me it arrived damaged.

  Argh!  I had wrapped it securely with bubble wrap and everything.  That was one rough postal carrier.  The customer said his father will be able to fix it.  I did send off some touch up paint for him. He had purchased it for his Grandfather who once owned a service station and it had a sign on the side of the building that looked much like this.

I know, not a good photo of it but I was in a hurry.



A couple Nana’s Garden signs.





My garden has been putting out..some luscious tomatoes, these are a new heirloom variety for me called German Red.



Which I made into my oven roasted sauce



The addition of the Trombolina zucchini adds a richness.



My basil did very poorly this year but a friend gave me enough to make a bunch of pesto. I love my homemade pesto!  I freeze it then wrap each little puck in plastic wrap. 

I love to have a taste of summer in the dark of winter.



My flowers are still blooming away.   I shall share more flowers soon.

So when I see what I have been able to accomplish it is not so disappointing after all. 

Please come on in to see more of my signs and artwork.