Thursday, June 7, 2012

Big Dreams, Little Garden Shed


Browse Zazzle for a different pillow.

As a recovering perfectionist, I am the first to admit that sometimes I try to do too much.  However, sometimes when I lack motivation to perform a certain task or achieve a certain goal, it isn't because I am dreaming too big but because I am not dreaming big enough. 

Take my garden shed for example.  Once upon a time it looked like this:

My Garden Shed Before

Then, one day, evil fairies descended upon it and made it look like this:

My Garden Shed after Evil Fairy Attack

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the work of evil fairies.  Nevertheless it was a disorganized mess and I vowed I would clean it up and restore it to it's former perfectly adequate, even semi-charming state before Spring...in early Spring...definitely before Summer...but every time I opened the door to that shed I just felt deflated. 

Then, one day I was looking at some pretty fabric at Hobby Lobby and the light bulb over my head came on and the wheels in my head started turning and my muse started singing "The Impossible Dream" and I knew what I had to do.

And now my little garden shed looks like this:

My Garden Shed after I dreamed big



I'm really happy with how it all turned out and now I have a space  that is so much more useful, organized and cheerful than I ever thought it could be.  Not only that but by re-purposing some items and materials I already had, I was also able to get rid of some clutter in other parts of my home and garage.


This used to be a medicine cabinet in our former house,
Now it holds garden supplies.
In fact, practically my only expenses for this project were that of paint and fabric.  Though I did splurge a little on the pink bird cages.  I saw them after I had completed everything else and they were so perfect (and 50% off) that I couldn't resist.  I turned them both into light fixtures by adding a couple of battery operated LED lights.

Bird Cage Lights, by day and by dusk

So, there you have it.  All kinds of proof that the key to thwarting evil fairies (and just plain laziness) is to dream big.  I need to remember that as I move on to sprucing up my master bathroom.


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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Best Cat Dad Ever!

Best Cat Dad Ever T-shirts
Best Cat Dad Ever T-shirts by Victoreeah
Check out Spoiled T-Shirts online at zazzle

If you read my profile here, you will see that I am a (not crazy) cat lady. I specify “not crazy” because I am not fond of the term “crazy cat lady”, especially when it is used loosely or in jest. I know there are extreme cases where the title is warranted but I think compassion for animals in general is one of the most sane traits a human being can possess and should be respected. In fact, it is the people who don't love animals whose sanity I question.

Lucky for me, Hippie is a cat guy. He is just as much to blame as I am that we have taken in as many cats as we have over the years and he has always been as devoted, if not more, to their care and well being as I am. He has never once suggested that I was crazy for spoiling our “kids” with treats or toys or their own furniture and throw pillows. It seems perfectly sane to him that at times doing the right thing for our pets requires that we both make personal sacrifices. He may not express it as openly as I do, but he loves them as much as I do and they love him, some of them a little more than they love me (and who can blame them).

So, even though we don't have any human children, we will most definitely be celebrating Father's Day this year to honor my favorite (not crazy) cat dude and the Best Cat Dad Ever!

From The Cats Father's Day Card
From The Cats Father's Day Card by Victoreeah
Shop for Spoiled rotten cats Cards online at Zazzle.com


Spoiled Rotten Cats T-Shirt
Spoiled Rotten Cats T-Shirt by Victoreeah
Design a photo t-shirt online at zazzle.com

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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Garden In Progress: May



Garden Blessing

I would really love to blog about something other than gardening but that is all I seem to be doing lately. You'd think my muse would be jealous but she seems to like the fact that I am a captive audience to her when I am in the garden. While I am toiling away weeding or planting she likes to rattle on about all the other creative projects I can do when I am done. If only she would pipe down and grab a shovel, I might actually have the time and energy to complete those things too.

Needless to say I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed. So today I decided to take a little time to change my perspective; to pull back the lens and see the bigger picture, to zoom in on what I have accomplished rather than on all that needs to be done, to focus on the blooms instead of the weeds.

I hope you enjoy these photos of the work in progress that is my garden.

In Bloom: Purple Spirea and Ballerina Roses

pops of color in a sea of green

Early bloomers

Garden overflowing

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Friday, May 4, 2012

Gardening With Claude & Frank

  
A few years ago, around the time when I first realized just how much work my yard and garden was going to be, Hippie and I watched the BBC mini series, “The Impressionists”. I enjoyed it very much and it renewed my interest in the impressionist painters, especially Claude Monet and the paintings he did of his garden in Giverny, France.

Shortly after that I was in my garden wrestling with some overgrown vine from hell when I realized I wasn't alone. Good old Claude was with me, encouraging me to put down my gardening tools and look up at the yellow irises that were glowing in the afternoon sun. From then on, Claude would accompany me on my gardening rounds and he taught me how to look at a garden as a work of art. He made me take notice of the dance of color, light and shadow that surrounded me and how it changed from minute to minute, hour to hour. He instilled in me an inner vision of what my garden could be and helped me see the work ahead of me as a creative process instead of mere drudgery.

I will always be grateful to Monsieur Monet for this but after awhile I started to notice the differences between us. Yes, I admit I was jealous that he was a much more successful artist than I am and could afford to hire people to help him achieve his artistic vision in the garden while I had to do all the work myself. Then there was the long distance thing, his garden was in the North of France and mine was here in the Midwest of the U.S.A.  Something had to give.

I must confess that eventually I found myself turning to someone else. Someone who was more low maintenance (at least his gardening philosophies were), who understood where I was at. His name was Frank Lloyd Wright. You may know him more as an architect but he was also an ingenious landscape designer. Frank was there for me when I needed to find a way to integrate my garden with my lifestyle. He helped me to see that I could work with nature to create not just a work of art but also a way of life that was in harmony with my environment.

Of course Mr. Wright and I didn't always agree on everything either and these days I feel that I am beginning to develop my own gardening vision and philosophies. Yet both Claude and Frank still visit me in my garden and remain among my most trusted mentors and muses.

Irises zazzle_print
Irises by time2see
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Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Iris Show

Just a few of our German Irises In Bloom


Twice a year the German Irises in my front yard put on a spectacular show. Most of the plants in my gardens were here when I moved in but these Reblooming Irises were something that Hippie and I added ourselves. We have added other plants too but few have thrived and given as much joy to us as these beauties have.

There was a time in my life when I would have been cynical or at least skeptical about deriving such pleasure and satisfaction from a few flowers but obviously I was an idiot then. I suppose I have matured somewhat and gained enough wisdom that I am now able to appreciate the little things in life. Actually, what I am realizing is that what I used to think of as little things aren't really so little.

It's a big thing to me to have something I can count on. It's a big thing to have something not just meet but exceed my expectations. And it's a big thing to be routinely surprised by something that should be easy to take for granted but instead fills me with gratitude and awe. That's what love is, that is what art is for me and that is also how I feel about these Irises and all of the other flowers in my garden.

No, they aren't little things at all. They are huge blessings and I am grateful for all of them.
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Friday, April 13, 2012

Chasing Butterflies

The Dramatic One Butterfly Photograph zazzle_photoenlargement
Create your own digital enlargements

I know working for the muse doesn't sound very glamorous to some and even I tend to complain about it from time to time. Yet to spite some very long hours and an extremely demanding boss, I truly love what I do. Who wouldn't love a job that includes responsibilities such as trailing day dreams, hunting inspiration or chasing butterflies?

I get somewhat of a vacation from that last task during the winter months but the rest of the year I spend at least a few hours every week around my winged friends with a camera. Around this time of year they are very elusive. They flutter by me at lightning speed and don't stay in one place for too long. I've learned to be patient and not to worry if I don't get a good photograph. I've learned that photographs are only one of many rewards for chasing butterflies.

Chasing butterflies is a lot like chasing a dream. Even when it's difficult, it's easy because it's the only thing you want to be doing. No one makes you do it, you just have to do it and you never, ever consider giving up. And you find that just by keeping your eye on the prize and allowing your feet to follow, you learn and experience so many wonderful things that you never expected. So that even when your dream comes true, you are glad to see another dream beyond it, just like I am always glad to see another butterfly.

"Happiness Is A Butterfly" Quote & Photography Postcard
Three Free Butterflies rickshaw_messengerbag
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Friday, April 6, 2012

Creative Organization




Who needs condiments when you have glitter?

We had a couple of rainy days this week that enabled me to take a break from gardening and get some stuff done around the house. I didn't do anything crazy, like the dishes, but I did tidy up and reorganize my art studio.


Pantry racks aren't just for pantries

Now I am not the most organized person in the world but somewhere deep inside I aspire to be just that. I sometimes have visions of built in shelves, lined up cabinets, color coded files and clean, orderly, even minimal environments.  

Old stool + orphan drawer =  artist's taboret

The reality is, however, that I am a visually oriented, creatively motivated, color seeking, pattern loving, thrift store shopping, glitter crazy artist with eclectic tastes, varied interests and a lot of art supplies. So while my inner Martha Stewart may wish for a world where all clutter resides in color coordinated bins and boxes, that just doesn't fit the way I live and work.

This little froggy holds chalk

Instead my studio is a lot like my art; the picture of contained chaos. The things I use the most are out in the open where they can be seen and easily grasped but everything has a somewhat defined home to go back to when I am done using it. 


Contained chaos

The fact that many of these homes come in the shape of things like pink hippos, blue mermaids or some brightly colored California pottery just makes cleaning up a little more fun. And while this may not totally satisfy my inner Martha, it greatly pleases her Divine Majesty, Supreme Ruler Of VictoriaLand, also known as my inner child (long may she reign) and that is all that really matters.





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