~ A Beautiful Day ~

You never know what each day will bring.

  

This morning started off with some unexpected, and delightful, mail!

Dearest Noel Solomon, over at Fanciful Designs, sent me the most amazing dark chocolate orange peel sticks from Laduree!  Her card enclosed said "We don't need an occasion".  How sweet and thoughtful is that?  We had just talked about how they were our favorite last week.  I had these gorgeous lavender sweet peas, that also came this morning ... and I will tell you about below, that I had to throw into the photo since they looked so gorgeous with the Laduree box and bag. 

I have eaten almost half of the wonderful chocolates already!  Thank you, Noel!!! You are beautiful person, inside and out.

 Then FedEx arrived with a huge box of flowers that I had ordered for a photo shoot this weekend.  My shop was to be featured in a magazine and I had the interview scheduled this week.  To make a long story short, I had an unexpected medical emergency and was at the hospital when the interview was to take place.  I will be fine, after a week or so, I hope! ... but the magazine could not do the interview a day later.  I decided not to cancel the flowers, as I always have flowers on my desk, in my studio and in my shop.  I love being surrounded by the beauty of flowers. They inspire as I work. 

You will be seeing more of these flowers as I decided to take the opportunity to update my website and hopefully be better at keeping up with my blog.

The lighting was not very good for these photo, but is a sneak peek at some of what I ordered. I am going to arrange them in vintage containers, ink wells, and other unique containers this weekend.  I think they all have that charming, romantic, vintage feel that complements the scripts and art I do for my clients.

ranunculus

  garden roses

sweet peas

antique hydrangeas and tulips

... and last, but certainly not least, an amazing painted flourished piece my dear friend Heather Held sent to me earlier this week. Heather also sent beautiful flowers to us when Ginger died. She is an amazing person and truly one of the most thoughtful and generous people I have ever met.  Thank you, Heather!

oh...and on top of all that I completed three commisions that I will share with you later and we finally have sunshine after 2 months of clouds, snow and rain. 

What a beautiful day it has been and a great way to start the weekend!

I hope your weekend will be as lovely.

How beautiful a day can be

When kindness touches it!

~ George Elliston

Ginger ~ our Gigi

April 22, 1996 ~ January 23, 2010

her last photo

Christmas Eve 2009

If it should be...

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
and pain should keep me from my sleep,
then you must do what must be done,
for we know this last battle can't be won.

You will be sad, I understand,
but don't let grief then stay your hand,
for this day, more than the rest,
your love and friendship must stand the test.

We've had so many happy years,
what is to come can hold no fears.
Would you want me to suffer? So,
when the time comes, please let me go.

Take me where my needs they'll tend,
only stay with me until the end,
and hold me firm and speak to me,
until my eyes no longer see.

It is a kindness that you do to me,
although my tail it's last has waved,
from pain and suffering I have been saved.

Do not grieve, it should be you,
who must decide this thing to do.
We've been so close, we two these years,
Don't let your heart hold any tears.

               ~Author unknown

We miss her so much.

Happy New Year and a Wish come true!

Happy New Year! ... better late than never.  I seem to be getting off to a slow start but have made lots of resolutions which I will share bit by bit.  The first day of the year brought with it a totally unexpected surprise!  I have entered quite a few blog giveaways and most I could either take or leave and enter just for fun, but this one, I really wanted to win!!!  I have never won anything in my life, that I can think of.  Yes, I have been blessed with many things, but never the luck of the draw.

The amazing Noel Solomon, at Fanciful Designs, had a giveaway with the winner being annouced New Year's Day.  I thought I would look, just for fun, to see who won.  Never in a million years did I think it would be me!! 

Being a calligrapher and having more tea in my house than food, this was a prize I truly wanted!

Last week, my little treasures arrived, beautifully packaged as I would expect coming from Noel, who makes everything so much more exquisite. 

 The giveaway gift came from Tail of the Yak in San Francisco.

The owner, Lauren McIntosh, has been a favorite of mine for a long time. She is an amazing artist and has a line of designs in a stationery line I carry at my stationery shop ~ A Fine Line.

I love the flourishing on the calendar!

While the tea block of art is much too special and unique to drink, it looks fabulous in my kitchen sitting among my tea cups and pots.

Noel wrote to me:

May the tea always be there to fill your cup

and may the calendar remind you every day how beautiful life is!

Thank you, Noel, for bringing so much beauty into my life this past year!

Photos by Noel Solomon ~ Fanciful Designs

... and a cardinal in a bird cage

Yes, the weather outside is frightful. After a snow storm came through on Friday, leaving the top of my magnolia tree bent over so far the top was touching the ground,  I went outside to gather some of the broken branches to refresh my mantle. I saw, sitting among the limbs, a cardinal ~ cold and startled. Once I made sure it was alive, I ran inside to grab my new camera Santa brought to me early.


After snapping a few shots, I started worrying about the little guy, so took some moss and put it inside a birdcage that has a nest in it and had my husband bring it in to evaluate his condition. I was a wee bit afraid of it as it was chirping at me rather loudly. Gigi's curiosity (and maybe a little jealousy) started to ruffle the bird's feathers, literally, so I put the cage up on a table in my sunroom.

 

 We shut the doors to just let the bird be ~ to rest and regain its composure. Later we looked through the doors and saw he had flown the coup (or rather jumped as we think he was still a little rattled).

My husband rescued him from under a chair, migrated him to the basement where he was fed and transferred to a smaller cage, to roost for the night ... and hopefully recover.

This morning I sprang from my bed and ran to the basement. I threw off the blanket and our feathery visitor seemed ready to go ~ breakfast devoured.  I took the cage to the back door ... and away he flew like the down of a thistle.

Goodbye Rudy. I am glad we could help you and hope you fare well!

photos by Dana Cochran ~ The Ginger Parasol

Favorite Artist Friday ~ Trisha Romance

Star of Wonder

I fell in love with the work of Trisha Romance in 1990, when a friend purchased a print from this artist, while visiting Niagra-on-the-Lake in Canada, entitled "Christmas Morning."

My husband knew how much I loved her work and gave me "Silent Night", in 1993, as a Christmas gift. We later purchased "Candlelight Stoll" and "The Home Bakery." Her paintings are printed in limited edition prints and then the plates are destroyed.

"Star of Wonder" is another favorite that I sent out as our Christmas card several years ago.

I love the way the artist tells a story about each of her enchanting paintings and have include them below each one.

Silent Night

On Christmas Eve, the white blanket of new fallen snow surrounding our home, seemed so "calm and bright" that only an angel would dare to tread on it.

As we gathered around the table, to give thanks and sing glory to the Newborn King, heavenly peace blessed our family.

Peace on earth seemed a certain thing. As certain as the joy that filled our hearts, and as certain as the Star that led the three wisemen to the place of our Savior's birth, on that first "Silent Night". ~ Trisha

Candlelight Stroll

There is a night, a most romantic night in our town, truly unlike any other. It is an evening that warms the hearts of many and gives new life to even the most serious Scrooge. Early in the evening, many folks dressed in traditional apparel, mix Christmas shopping and socializing as the town prepares for "The Victorian Candlelight Stroll". Christmas music fills the air and just the sound of sleighbells is enough to transport one into a past century. Candles are sold by the hundreds so that not a soul is missed. Faces glow, not from just the candles they hold to celebrate the seasonal event but, with the Spirit of Christmas.

By the time the clock tower strikes seven, the townsfolk and all their visitors join the choir from the courthouse stairs. One by one the candles are lit from stranger to stranger, from loved one to loved one. And the chorus of "Alleluia" sends a tingle up your spine and brings a tear to the eye.

I dedicate this painting to all who have created this magic in many towns across our country, from the candle man to the smallest caroler. ~ Trisha

The Home Bakery

 The Candlelight Stroll wouldn't be the same without a trip to the bakery to fill up on gingerbread men, fruit cake and shortbread. Everything is bundled up in the familiar white box and wrapped up with string, but when we leave I realize that I've acquired much more than I paid for....a childlike joy that warms the insides and a feeling that in all the hustle and bustle it's the simple pleasures that satisfy and fill the soul. ~Trisha

After almost losing her eyesight at the age of four, Trisha gained a new appreciation of sight and thus an artist was born. After the bandages were removed from her eyes, she began drawing everything she saw. She said she felt an indescribable sense of light, freedom and happiness and believes it was a miracle. She has not stopped drawing nor painting since.  In 1989 she suffered from a venous angioma in her brain which has limited her ability to work as she once did. Her bio is long, but a must read if you like her work. She has a way of putting so much light, life and love into her art. I can get lost looking into these magical prints, imagining the stories that are going on within them.

Have a Holly Jolly Weekend ~

gouache practice on Fabriano

Winter Wonderland

I love creating inspiration and story boards, both on the computer and on paper or boards ~ of real weddings I have worked on and from magazines. I keep a box of clippings next to my magazine basket that gets filled while browsing my favorite periodicals. These boards were created by Snippet and Ink and Ritzy Bee. I have almost all these clippings in my own collection, having every issue of Martha Stewart Weddings since its first publication in 1987. I love how these were so beautifully arranged, so I thought I would repost them as they bring me much inspiration as I work on wintery wedding orders today. Winter weddings are actually my favorite ~ so intimate, elegant, magical and enchanting.