Where Bloggers Create III

Let's get this party started!
Welcome to Where Bloggers Create III and to my humble studio!

Thank you to the uber talented Karen at My Desert Cottage for hosting Where Bloggers Create again this year!
I participated last year and since I've made a number of changes to my studio, I decided to participate again this year, besides, it provided the motivation to get my room cleaned up! Let me start first with this little sketch of my studio to help you visualize the layout.

My studio was my daughters' bedroom before they left for college. It's not a huge room, it measures 10' x 14' but it suits my needs just fine. One of the reasons I picked this room was for the amount of light that comes in through the windows. But the main reason was for the view out one of the windows,
I have a perfect view of the pond when I am sitting at my large table or at my easel.

As you come through the main door, immediately to the left
is my vintage red shelf.

This shelf holds my vintage children's books, magazines, vintage and reproduction toys and other things dear to me. My drafting table sits right beside this shelf and is where I do my technical drawing.
I also set my laptop on this table.

 Along the adjacent wall to my drafting table, is paper storage central! The bins on the shelves contain 12x12 scrapbook paper and the bins on the floor contain 8-1/2 x 11 scrapbook paper and my art papers. The turquoise and yellow bins on the top shelf hold rolls of crape paper, feather boas and rolls of all types of trim. The small jars below hold vials of glitter. The giant pencil was once a clothes tree for my girls. I added lots of hooks to it and hung the little red pails on the hooks to hold my colored pencils.

 Right behind the giant pencil, I mounted a curtain rod to the wall to hold a large roll of drafting paper. Just past this roll of paper is a former VCR tape rack that now holds Mason jars filled with ribbon and just past that is my easel. The small white stand holds my painting supplies.

 My large project table is just two - 2' x 4' folding tables with a large sheet of white mason board on top. The mason board is very inexpensive and Lowes will cut it to whatever size you need. My little red vintage sewing cabinet sits at the end and the cabinet in the corner holds a TV, stereo/DVD player and behind the curtain, more crafting supplies and tools.

 The final wall contains two more Iris carts that hold more supplies, little drawers for my Copic markers and a large bulletin board. I bought the double sided, multi pocket Jewelry holder at Stein Mart and it is perfect for holding punches.

 One little thing that I'm kind of anal about, everything, and I mean everything, has to be arranged in ROYGBIV order:
 (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet),
paper, pencils, markers, ribbon and paint, all in order!
Ribbon is wound on craft sticks and placed into Jars by color.

Colored pencils arranged by colors in their own little pail!

 A little shelf with lots of PINK goodness and pocket tags from a swap.

 I still need to de-clutter the closet and Iris carts and get rid of a lot of junk that has accumulated so it's not so hard to find the things I "actually" use. I also need to hang some pictures on the walls in the empty spots.
So that's my tour of my little studio, I hoped you enjoyed it and found a little inspiration for your studio too!
I'll also be linking this to PINK Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

Happy 4th of JULY!!!

Happy Fourth Of July everyone!

What is your favorite patriotic song, the one that gives you goosebumps or brings a little tear to your eye? 

The Star Spangled Banner

God Bless America

My Country Tis of Thee

America the Beautiful

Battle Hymn of the Republic

This Land is Your Land

God Bless the USA

 When I was a little girl, we learned the words to all the Patriotic songs, even those that referred to GOD. How sad that many children today will never learn these songs in school, because someone finds the word GOD offensive. How sad that our Pledge is no longer recited in schools because GOD IS a part of our pledge!

In case you have never seen this video of Red Skelton reciting the pledge, or if you would like to see it again here's a little refresher!

(to turn off my playlist, just scroll to the top and click on the round button that looks like this: ll ) 

GOD has blessed this great country of ours and continues to bless us, in spite of the fact that so many no longer want GOD to be a part of our country. 

Have a Happy and Safe Fourth and... GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

You may click on the picture to bring up a larger, sharper image,

Then right click and save. 

Please stop by and say HI to Charlotte and Ginger at Spiritual Sunday's where you will find many more inspiring posts!
Have a happy and safe 4th of July everyone! xxoo Nan

Honeeeeey I'm Hooome!

Happy PINK Saturday everyone!

I know I'm reaching a little bit on the PINK theme but I've been gone so long and I have lots to share, so I hope you'll cut me a little slack this one time!

We left two weeks ago to attend my youngest dd's college graduation in Ohio. It was a wonderful day and we are so proud of her! 

 She graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. This Fall she will begin a two year program to be certified as a translator in American Sign Language then she plans to pursue a Masters in Music Therapy. 

 Oh to be so young and have your whole future ahead of you!

And while we were in Ohio, 

we picked up the newest addition to our family. 

 Meet Bella! Isn't that the cutest little PINK tongue! 

Poor little Bella has been through the mill, literally and figuratively. 

She was born in a puppy mill in New York where she spent the first eleven months of her life. She was then taken to a horrible dog auction. 

 This chain was welded around her neck for the auction and shows her auction number and USDA tag. 

If it weren't for the wonderful rescue group HALO, she would have been sold to another puppy mill where she would have spent the rest of her life in a wire cage forced to continuously breed. 

 There's that cute PINK tongue again!

Bella is a purebred Havanese and turned one year old in April. After she was rescued from the auction, she spent the next two months at her foster Mom's, learning how to be a pup and how to trust humans. I have wanted a Havanese for a long time so when Chipper passed away in April, I decided to see if there was a Havanese rescue and thus discovered HALO. She is the sweetest little thing and is learning so fast. 

 When she was rescued her beautiful coat had been shaved down almost to the skin and she only weighed 10 pounds, as you can see in the pictures HALO took of her. 

But she has already gained two pounds and her hair is starting to grow in. She has quickly learned how to walk on a leash and has only had two "accidents" in the house. 

 Everyday she makes me laugh as she grabs my slippers and adds them to her collection of stuffed animals on the couch. 

You can read more about HALO at their website! 
And please stop by How Sweet the Sound for more inspiring PINK posts!

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

 You may click on the picture to bring up a larger sharper image,

then right click and save. 

Please stop by Spiritual Sundays where Ginger and Charlotte have more inspiring posts waiting for you!

Vintage Pink Seashell Bowls!

Happy PINK Saturday everyone!
Today I want to share one of my favorite treasures that I inherited from my Mom, 
this set of six vintage seashell bowls!
I love the soft PINK, yellow and turquoise borders on these bowls!

 The gold rim is such an elegant touch.

 The hand painted shells and corals are exquisite! 

 I don't think my Mom ever used these and I have never used them either!

 A number of them also have splashes of Lavender. 

 The bowls are not very deep but would be perfect for the soup course. 
They are approximately seven inches in diameter.

My Daddy bought these for my Mom at an auction many years ago. I don't know anything about these bowls but they do have this gold mark on the bottom. 

There is also a teeny blue stamp on the bottom of each but they are impossible to read even with a magnifying glass. If anyone has any information about these 
I would love to know!

Please stop by and visit with Beverly at How Sweet The Sound where you will find more inspiring PINK posts!

And Tasha at Frugalicious Me for even more PINKNESS! 

Have a wonderful weekend, xxoo Nan

Great Gunnera!

Welcome to Alphabe Thursday and the Letter G!
Holy cow, Great Gunnera! No... this is not something your High School Health teacher was embarrassed to discuss! 

Great Gunnera is a very unique and uncommon plant. 

 (Honeysome Aquatic Nursery)

Often called Giant Rhubarb and sometimes called The Dinosaur Plant, it is a native of the tropical forests of Costa Rica, Columbia and Brazil. The plant itself can grow to be ten feet high and just as wide, with single leaves reaching 4 to 6 feet across! 

 (photo found on Flickr)

Gunnera prefers wet, boggy soil and so it is a perfect plant to use beside a pond. It also prefers some shade, especially in hotter climates. I'm told it does not like cold weather nor does it like hot humid weather. I've also read that is very finicky and difficult to grow. Despite all this, I decided the unmatched drama of the foliage was worth a try! I located a nursery in Oregon, Forest Farm, that carries tuber plants at a very reasonable price. I ordered three and was very pleased with my purchase. Not only was the service fast, but the tubers were a really nice size with a great root structure and at least 3 new leaves on each plant. When the tubers arrived, I removed them from the small pots they arrived in and transplanted them into large pots for a few weeks so they could become acclimated to our climate. This past weekend I decided to plant them in the ground. I planted one at the edge of the pond near the waterfall, one towards the back of our yard in a very "natural" area and the third I planted in the shade garden off the side screen porch. 

 This is a shot of the one I planted near the pond. The other plant in the picture, the one in the far right,  is Alocasia Portora, another giant, tropical plant!
I can't wait to see how these guys perform and I'm hoping I'll have some spectacular pictures to share with you over the summer!
Please visit Jenny at Jenny Matlocks for more inspiring Big G posts!