Spirit Of Friendship Doll: Miss Shamrock & Rose Garden Art

This past March my long time friend Sherry from Texas and I was chatting about garden art and I ask if she would create for me a pottery globe with carved roses, butterfly and dragonfly to display in my garden. Sherry recently started a great blog called, "Clay, Cloth and Clover "and she also has an etsy shop where she sells her lovely creations. Sherry will post on her blog detail steps on how she created this "Rose Garden Clay Globe" for me. I just received my Truly Lovely Rose Garden Clay Globe today. Please have a look at this incredibly beautiful piece of art. I Love it and will Cherish this Rose Garden Clay Globe forever. It will always have a place of honor in my garden. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sherry asked, me to create a "Spirit of Friendship Doll" for her. I posted several photos below on how I created "Miss Shamrock" for Sherry.

The shutters of our home are painted in "Provence Blue"! I selected this color because it reminds me of the lovely Lavender Fields of Provence France. The dragonfly and two butterflies were painted in "Provence Blue" for this reason.

Roses, Rosebuds and Butterfly. Sherry painted the roses in three shades of pink. Sherry's expertise in carving all the motifs was truly exquisite

This photos show the theme saying on my blog. Friends are Flowers In Life's Garden!! This makes this Rose Garden Clay Globe even more special.

This photo is of Sherry's artist siggy along with my favorite word, "Hugs"!!

The following photos are of the "Spirit Of Friendship Doll: Miss Shamrock" that I created for Sherry. The first photo is of the polymer clay face I created and painted with PearlEx Powder to make it sparkle. I beaded around the face with two different kinds of beads using the Oglala beading stitch which gives the effect of having a ruffled lace look.

Then I crazy patchwork pieced the angel doll.

In the above photo I have beaded her wings using two different kinds of beads. I used "Boucle" Brazilian Embroidery floss on the seam treatment of her skirt. I also embroidery wee clovers in her skirt too.

I also used three shades of green "Boucle" floss to create a lace effect around her waist. I am very new with working with BE threads and also in creating BE flowers so my dear BE friend Sherry from Minnesota suggested I used the"Dazzler" flower pattern in the book called "Sunshine Treasures" by Cheryl Schuler Book 1. I modified the flower from 5 petals to 3 and used all shades of green BE threads. I also decided to place some beads in the center to add some more sparkle to the flower. I really love the 3 dimensional flowers patterns of Brazilian Embroidery.

Next I stuffed her with Soft Touch Poly-fil and stitched on her face.

The next step I used the Oglala Beading Stitch around her skirt using the same beads as in her wings. I love this ruffled lace look. My friend Leslie Ehrlich taught me how to do this stitch sometime ago. Leslie has a lovely blog called, Pinyon Creek Stitching. Leslie also wrote a tutorial on how to do this Oglala Beading stitch on Crazy Quilt Mag Online Vol 8 Issue #2 April 2009. If you are interested in learning this beading stitch please have a look, it is an excellent tutorial.

I always sign and date my creations and I to do this I also used the Boucle BE floss.

In this photo the "Spirit Of Friendship Doll: Miss Shamrock", is now finished. I made her with lots of love for my dear long time friend Sherry in Texas. Sherry received "Miss Shamrock"on Monday and she called and told me how much she also loved her. It truly makes me very happy when something I created for someone else make them smile and happy too.

Of all Happiness, the most Charming is that of a Firm and Gentle Friendship. It Sweetens all Our Cares, Dispels Our Sorrows, and Counsels Us in all Extremities.

I hope everyone is have a Wonderful Sunny Summer. Happy Stitching.

Hugs,

Brandel Perennial Gardens

This past Thursdays a couple of stitching friends invited me to come along with them shopping at "Brandel Perennial Gardens" in Hart Michigan. Unfortunately, she has no website and she is only open on Thursday and Fridays from 1000 to 3PM and Saturdays in July only. They told me I would be in awe of these gardens and I would not be able to resist buying something before I left. Well they were very right. vbg Janet gardens are exquisite and very grand in every way. I have never seen a personal garden so truly lovely. I was searching for a bush called "Summersweet Clethra" ( Sweet Pepper Bush) that was recommended to me by Char of the Plant and Flower yahoo group for being a bush that loves lots of shades with little sun. I was so surprise to discovered that Janet had one growing in her gardens. Summersweet Clethra is the middle bush above the wee lovely roses. It is not blooming at the moment but there was heaps of buds on it. Janet told me it has lots of blooms and it is in a very shady area as you can see. I have ordered one and I will pick it up next week.

Look at the incredibly beautiful Asiatic Day Lily in the background.

Lots of beautiful Hosta and isn't her garden shed neat.

The Lily Pond.

Look at that huge beautiful Lime Green Hosta. Unfortunately, I do not know its name.

I bought this Midnight Rose Cora Belle. I loved the burgundy and pink leaves.

My friends and I was stopped in our tracks when we saw this flower. We had never seen this lily before. Janet told us it was a Fringed Enchantment Japanese Lily. Isn't it gorgeous. Janet took her spade and dug up from her large patch of these lilies and gave each of us a bunch of these lovely lilies and only charged us $2.00. Fringed Enchantment is now growing in my sunny front garden. I love it.

Look at this Nine Bark, I never saw one so big. Janet the owner was showing one of my friends another plant just when I was taking this photos. Janet is a very kind person and incredible knowledge of gardening. I learn so much from her. I also ordered a Nine Bark for my garden too. I love the foliage and it has lovely pinkish flowers. You all know how much I love Pink.. LOL

Janet uses this very big pond to water all her gardens.

Another overview of Janet's garden from up the hill a bit. Isn't it beautiful? I also bought a bush called Cotton Candy. It is another big bush with lovely pink flowers that look like cotton candy. Not sure of its real name. Well next week I will be going back to pick up my order and hopefully more of her numerous day lilies will be blooming so I can some more pictures to share with you all. I hope you all enjoyed the tour of Janet's gardens. Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Hugs,

Heather's Art, Michala's Wool Art. More Glorious Flowers

My Dear Friend, Heather from SK Canada is an graphic artist and she is the person who created my truly beautiful Header for my blog. Heather also has a lovely blog called, "A Cherished Life". Please visit and see some more of Heather's wonderful creations. Heather and I have chatted allot over the last year and her messages always brighten my days. I greatly appreciated all the wee gadgets she has created for my blog to make it look the way I have always imagine it to be. Today Heather created this wee rose flower so I could place it in between some of my blog headings. It is truly beautiful and I love it. Thank you Heather.

A few weeks ago I was looking at the "Sew Somerset Magazine" and discovered within the first few pages an articled called, "Tree Tales" By Michala Gyetvai. I immediately recognized Michala wool art from her blog called "Kayla Coo". Michala wool art is truly beautiful and her article was a pleasure to read. I sent a message to Michala asking her if she would create a "Heart, Roses and Lavender" brooch for me and of course she kindly said, yes. Above is an up close photo of Michala magical work. I love it and thank you Michala for creating it just for me.

Michala also included a lovely landscape note card of her beautiful felting. The white wool in the sky looks like the Northern Lights to me. To me I imagine the fields look like they are in full bloom with Lavender and Roses. The photo is taken on a wool felted piece I made last summer. I still have not decided what to do with it. Any ideas???

The above photo is an up close of the lovely wool felted note card. Isn't it truly gorgeous.

I hope you all do not get bored seeing photos of my lovely blooms. This is the forth summer for my flower gardens and they truly are the best I have seen them yet. Infact, my gardens here are the best I have ever had in my life. I walked around today smiling thinking to myself how very pleased and proud I am of my gardens this year. The above is a "Siloam Double Classic Day Lily. It is a delicate apricot color that is so pretty.

This lovely Day Lily is called, "Spiritual Corridor"! I love Day Lilies and I still have 8 more different ones ready to bloom in the near future. Last year the only ones I saw bloom was the ones planted next to the house. The rest of them in my other gardens was eaten by the disgusting deer. But NOT this year, I am pleased to say. vbg

This photo is an up close photo of my beautiful New Dawn Rose. I do not think I have ever seen any rose more beautiful.

My New Dawn Roses are continuing to bloom in all their glory. The postman came to the door with a parcel today and told me he always looks forward to seeing my flowers bloom. He reckon I have the most beautiful garden in our wee town. I was so surprised to hear that he enjoys my flowers as much as I do that I am sure I cheeks were blushing a very bright red. I do believe he was a bit to generous with his kind compliment, because there are many beautiful gardens in our wee town but I thanked him for his lovely compliment anyways.

This is the first year my Graham Thomas rose has really bloom this nicely. I transplanted it in the Spring because it was not getting enough sun in the back garden. I am happy to say that I think it is now happy with its new home.

This wee rose is called, Bill Grant. I ordered it from a nursery in Oregon a few years back. It blooms are tiny and white. I bought this rose because it has the same name as my sweetie. It is a very unique just like my wonderful husband.

This is the first bloom on my hydrangeas bush. Most years they have been blue but for some reason this year they are looking pink which I do not mind because "Pink" is my favorite color.

Another photo of my lovely purple clematis still blooming since June.

I really love this clematis because of its pale lavender colors.

My Prairie Princess is also still blooming. I really love this rose and its color.

I hope you all enjoy your visit today with another tour of my gardens and my lovely gifts from my friends. Thanks for stopping by.

This weekend we American will be celebrating our 4th of July Holiday. Our wonderful way of life and all the great freedoms we all enjoy eveyday is due to all our service men and woman past and present around the world. We are very proud of you all. Please stay safe and I hope some day you all can come home.
Hugs,