The Little Garden at the Big Church in the Little City

Where has all my blogging gone?  So much has been going on - so much blogworthy stuff too, that the energy to be blogging has been hard to find! But this is a good problem, isn't it?! 

First and most exciting was the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY.  Awesome weather, awesome vendors, and the most awesome time out with Jenni & Jared Bowlin who happen to be the cutest, most wonderful, hard-working couple ever.  I'll have to post my photos on this later this week.

Today I'd like to share a secret little garden I happened upon just before leaving for Rhinebeck this past Sunday.  This was my first time to The Basilica of St. John in Stamford, Ct.  Quite a beautiful church, a wonderful Monseigneur that really made me laugh, and a surprise hidden garden tucked in between the church and another building.  These tiny pockets of pretty always amaze me.

This photo is a favorite:

Here's to finding more little pockets of pretty!

A Different Kind of Vintage ...

... are these roses.  Obtained from the Antique Rose Emporium many years ago.  They've withstood time, hard winters, blizzards, hurricanes, insects, the evil bind weed, and a husband who loves power saws.   I can't remember what type of rose it is. I just know I had looked in the print catalogue for an old rescued climbing rose that would survive through hardiness zone 7.

I know, the beetles have started already.  They're eating the leaves, but I just don't want to spray.

We've had such a beautiful breeze here this past week and with every little gust of wind, their beautiful perfume floats along with it.

And this year,  it has decided to wrap itself around the Shadblow and a robin has nested tight among the thorns against the lattice and the house.  I love little surprises like that.

If we ever had to move from this house, I think I'd need to take this rose with me.  Amazing vintage rose.

Saving the Peony

In my garden, I'm a let-it-fall-where-it-may kind of girl.  I don't stake, I don't pull weeds if there's a chance they may be wildflowers, and if a plant needs a lot of care, it probably won't make it to next year.

It's why I love peonies.  They are basically carefree and have come up in my garden year after year.  The ONLY thing that can be a bit discouraging about peonies, is that rain can take down a pretty bloom in seconds flat.

As the rain from tropical storm Andrea quickly approached a couple days ago, I realized that I hadn't truly appreciated my peonies this year.  Their blooms were out, but life got in the way and I never stopped to ... well ... smell the peonies.

So this year, right before the rain, I staked them.  The massive rains came and damage was to a minimum.  I forgot to cut some of the blooms before the rain to keep in the house, but after the rain they didn't look too shabby.

{ all digital brushes by Katie Pertiet }

Or did they look shabby?  I mean shabby in a good way.  Shabby chic peonies.

Note for next year:  Stake peonies early - it's totally worth it!

  

Nature Walk ... I Just Can't Keep Up!

can't keep up with nature that is!

I had an odd goal this year ... I wanted to document every single plant that sprung up in the secret garden near my house.  I wanted to take a great photo and put it in an album with its scientific name.  MOM! AUDREY!  I think you'll have to help me for that part!

Yep - that's what excites this girl.  I'm a geek.

But the unusually warm weather here in the east has got things coming up one right after the other.

I'm not even sure I'm catching everything in time!  And I'm not even thinking of photographing the flowering shrubs the secret garden is famous for.

so who knows what will happen with this little project ... but Shiner and I are certainly getting a lot of fresh air this spring ...

just some photos so far ... names subject to change as soon as Mom or Audrey (my personal master gardeners) correct me:

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Helleborus

Caltha palustris L.
yellow marsh marigold

Iris Folding with Little Mini Papers!

My genius, very creative, she-really-needs-a-blog-friend Audrey stopped by the other day to show me a paper folding technique she learned a local library.  It's called Iris Folding - perhaps you've heard of it?  I never had!

Here's a link to an Iris Folding site: Circle of Crafters Iris Folding .  There are a ton of patterns on that site and lots of others on the web.   You can even make your own patterns!

I tried this out with a little door hanger project for dear niece who just turned 7:

supplies: All Jenni Bowlin: Town Square Mini Papers, Vintage Sew On Buttons,  Pearl Button, Core'dinations cardstock, Border Stickers, Crepe Paper Ribbon, Label Sticker, Alpha Stickers, misc eyelets, wire, and flea market chandelier crystal.

And here's a closeup so you can see the result of the paper folding:

I found that  squares of pattern paper with small patterns work well because the design isn't lost when you fold the paper.  

Hmmmmm - squares of pattern pattern with small beautiful prints . . .  hmmmm . . .

Jenni Bowlin mini papers work GREAT for Iris Folding!  I used Town Square Mini Papers for my door hanger. 

Thanks for showing me how to do this Audrey!

And this sorry excuse for a garden:

Can still give me a sweet bouquet:

(in grandma's milk glass)

Thank you poor neglected little garden!

and thank you for stopping by! - betsy

School Colors, ScrapHD Plant Sticks, and Rescued Wildflowers

Last night was our High School Baseball banquet.  After doing a ton of volunteer stuff for the team, I have the school colors permanently ingrained in my brain.  But I have to say, we have really nice school colors:

What a nice night.  Unbelievable to think John will be graduating this year and Matt next year.  I can remember holding little baby Johnny in my arms 18 years ago and not being able to imagine him going to kindergarten!

So once again, I couldn't resist decorating flower pots! Hope you're not sick of seeing this!  These are gifts for our team moms. I found the cutest lavendar plants in watering cans at Costco:

The thank you notes were created at ScrapHD.com with Jenni Bowlin digi journaling cards:

I made these in MINUTES before I had to leave - so easy - but so cute!

And I'll leave you with this photo.  A few years ago, the abandoned lot next to my in-laws was being developed and I rescued some phlox before they were lost forever.  They're happy in my yard now:

Don't forget to post a comment to this post for a chance to win a Jenni Bowlin Mercantile Dime Store kit!  Drawing a name Thursday 9pm eastern time!

thanks for visiting! - betsy

Brownie Mix + Jenni Bowlin Digital =

a team party!

Downloaded our team logo from our website and used Jenni Bowlin digitals from ScrapHD.com .   Just add eggs, oil, and water!

Some photos from yesterday:

Matt plays so hard.  He is so much fun to watch.  He got the steal sign:

and was called SAFE! (whew)

I needed to stop into town on the way home and I was struck by the flowers the shop owners were putting up:

I think my new favorite color combo is pink and orange:

and look at this beauty:

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by! And have a GREAT National Scrapbooking Day! Hope you'll be doing what you love to do.  See you around the boards! - betsy

Plant Whimsies!

Jen Martakis has created the sweetest digital kit for spring: Celebrate Spring. It was perfect for sprucing up a little plant I was giving as a gift and was so easy to do.

I loved the whimsical butterflies in the kit. I opened them up in PSE, and copied a bunch of them, varying their sizes. I also loved the tag and “spring” graphic and created my own little spring tag. I printed all the elements out, cut them out, and attached a length of wire to each one with a glue dot.

Then, the real fun begins as you wrap and shape the wire to simulate the fluttery path of a butterfly.  I love this so much, and it looks really really nice in my sun room, that I just may keep it for myself!

and leaving you with this lovely picture of spring  . . . a field near my house:

have a great day and thanks for visiting! - betsy

Summer into Fall

Can't believe it's officially fall. And I haven't even posted a single summer photo yet!

Here's a favorite from Rhode Island:



How I'd love to have a pink fence with little twinkly white lights and American Flags. Not sure how much the neighbors would love it however!

And I just loved this pink flower reaching for the sky:



Here's a quickie project you can do at the beach. Grab some smooth beach rocks and use rub ons to add words. These would make great paperweights. My neices came to visit us and had a blast making their own and gifts. Making Memories rubon letters worked great.



and yes . . .



it's waterproof!




Have you ever felt like you've been stuck in a rut and just need to try something different? I'm going through this right now and am so excited to take this class: Art Journaling 101 with Dina Wakley this fall. Check it out! I think it's just what I need to get me out of my rut!

And now for a RAK!
I visited a flea market a few times over the summer. I bought these really cool pink and blue vintage bling things - not sure how to describe them - and I'm too lazy today to take a picture - but I know they'd be perfect for scrapbooking. There are too many for me to possibly use, so if you'd like to get a sample, comment below and leave a link to your blog or leave your email if you don't have a blog. I'll pick a random name Friday morning and flip some out in the mail to you!

Have a great week!

Saturday Snapshots at Scrapbooks.com

Head on over to Scrapbooks.com for some photography inspiration! Aimee Ferguson - check out her incredible photography here: http://aimeeferguson.typepad.com/my_weblog/ - Aimee will be posting new photography threads every Saturday to get you using and understanding your camera.

Here's the thread:

http://scrapbooks.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/16082/post/new/#NEW



I love this stuff! I'd really love to improve my photography. Maybe this will help!

This week, Aimee had us play with our aperatures. I headed over to the 'Secret Garden' and snapped a few. Here's one for now:





(aperature 3.2 shutter speed 1/2500) Loved focusing on those little buds and blurring out the background with my wide aperature.

Digital frame is "Botanical Frames" from Kate Pertiet at Designer Digitals. I just added their link to my sidebar. Awesome digital stuff on that sight. And I'm not even a digital scrapper!


More photos later from this wonderful, magical garden.


Gotta run - laundry is calling! Have a creative week! - betsy