Holiday Hydrangeas

Judith from Lavender Cottage left a sweet comment 

and I popped over to view her world.

This is her photo with the caption...

"The Annabelle hydrangea flowers that are now a crispy parchment colour

have pretty ice crystals covering them. "

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OMGoodness, I LoVed the photo of her hydrangea with ice crystals!

I'm so inspired to play with glitter on the ones in my garden.

so I began with this one...

then I clipped one that was just beginning to fade...

and yet another that I lightly sprayed with white Krylon paint then glittered

here is a view of all 3

hmmm.... what to do with the new beauties?

a holiday door garland!

Thank you Judith for the inspiration.

Caprese Salad serving platter

A new ceramic serving dish design was

created by experimenting with a flat square brush and glazes

to see how the effect would turn out on round objects.

Yay, beautiful and useful!

Insalata Caprese Salad - Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Plate

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4-inch thick

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 cup fresh basil leaves

Sea salt to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

sweet onion slivers optional

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

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Holiday sparkle...

gold tone 18" sequins cone tree found at T. J. MAXX for $9.99...

embellishment needed...

gold thread, vintage jewels, beads and buttons are gathered for inspiration...

& an old brass candlestick is beginning to look like a pedestal stand

progress is being made

{ actually it's not finished,

I just wanted to get the post up to inspire others,

while they could still find the cone tree }

View more creative holiday sparkle here

A season of birds continues

with bird bottle stoppers created in clay and crackle glazed

and a repurposed Patron Bottle,

with bird seed included

for the bird fancier on your holiday list.

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A season of birds

and nesting

continues with the creation of a ceramic bird nest.

Using cotton strings, paper and clay

with a little bird stopper created to sit on top

and if you peek inside you will see eggs are included.

(I know it looks like string, but trust me the string burns away in firing and what is left is the clay)

This is a messy business!

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Voluptuous pink rose vase

created with clay

using a ripped cotton tee shirt

dipped in slip then twisted and turned

and designing a stamen stopper

then lots of soft pink glaze...

and it all started with this little beauty on the right in white

created by my friend Cheryl while playing together at Summerland Cottage

Thank you Cheryl for the inspiration !

Bringing nature indoors

with a few of my latest creations in clay

here they are lined up for your viewing pleasure

soon they will find their favorite perches through out the cottage

maybe inside a cage...

or next to some greenery...

possibly on the fireplace mantle

or part of a holiday wreath ....

perhaps another family will adopt a couple of them !

Alley find

.

we have a wonderful tradition in my little town,

when you are over something,

{ no longer having a need or desire to own it, and it's still useful or beautiful }

instead of putting it in the garbage to overflow our landfills

we set it out in the alley for another to discover and take home to treasure,

re purpose or share.

actually my neighbor spied this little beauty

brought it home and gifted it to me

Thank you Thomas !

Purple sea urchins

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inspire my latest ceramic designs

Sharing is good

Yesterday I had the good fortune of having the opportunity to share Summerland

Cottage as a location, with an amazing group of artists, who asked to use the guest

cottage and gardens at Summerland for a Body Glove bathing suit photo shoot.

Even the weather was participating with 80+ degrees

and cool ocean breezes in November!

The swimsuit designers Carolyne Deshaies and Alicia Barrett met their photographer

Dominic flown in from Canada, along with the talented and inspired makeup artist

Dehx from Huntington Beach California to bronze and beautify the models,

Elizabeth Crompton from Los Angeles and Tyrie Rudolph who flew in from Florida.

Here the models pose in front of one of my largest creative ventures

at the entrance to Summerland Cottage

a higgledy piggledy vintage brick wall with my ceramic seashells

embedded throughout

it is more than 60' long and over 10' tall

Life is good!

 Tyrie liked this photo I snapped of her well enough

to use as her new face book profile photo.

The cooperative creative energy with all the varying artists was amazing,

everyone had such fun working together

it was a great day and new friendships were made...

you could say it was magical!

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Making room for new art

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At one time, 
I had over a dozen varying sizes of framed black and white life drawing renderings I had done hanging above the recamier in the sitting room.

It was a great look, and it worked well with the black background of the area rug in a mostly white room.

But just as people evolve and change so do rooms and I was in the mood for change.

Having been gifted with the wonderful pastel Mary Aslin had done of me one spring day on a whim, 

and a quick portrait from Lorenzo George done during our yearly garden party.

I began rearranging the wall in the sitting room above the reclaimer to include these and my new acquisition from Rachel.

Change is good!