A New Month – New Beginnings

Today Bulgarians celebrate July Morning – a tradition that is traced back to the 70s and the hippy movement in America, and was regarded as a quiet protest against communism in the 8os (and gets its name from the famous Uriah Heep song July Morning). Enthusiasts travel to the Bulgarian sea-side to greet the morning sun on 1st of July – symbol of a new beginning.

That being said, I hope to see some new projects on a more personal level this month as well! Needless to say, I am very much behind on my June list, and I’m quite embarrassed about that. I guess I didn’t really take into account the fact I was going back to work full-time after my finals and how that would cut into my spare time – significantly, I have to say. And as much as I would have loved to have crossed all items off that list, I only managed to do a few… very few. Here’s a recap:

1. Go shopping for craft materials:

• Spray paints – various colors (Not done, but at least I have a vague idea about what colors I want)
• Wooden picture frame, plus some cheap plastic ones (On the to-do list this month)
• Chicken-wire and some hooks (Not done)
• Mother-of-pearl ornaments and shells (Some progress)
• Twine (Not done)
• Bamboo piece (Not done)
• Decoupage paper and some napkins (Done)
• Wooden jewelry ornaments (Done)
• Wind chime kit (Done)
• Felt of various thickness and colors (Not done)
• Buttons (Not done)
• Sea salt (fine) (Not done)
• Glass bottles (Found some while cleaning the house)
• Metal plaques (Done)
• Tin wire of various thickness (Not done)

Such a sad, sad state of affairs. But the list continues!

2. Work on some hand-made jewelry. (Not done)

3. Figure out what to do with that tin can I salvaged (love being so vague, ha!) (Done – for now, the tin cans are perfect for storing my brushes)

4. Find some old glass jars and use them as hanging planters on the wall. (Partially – found the jars, haven’t used them yet)

5. Make the jewelry rack for mom. (Erm… not done)

6. Make a tag from the metal plaques. (Got the materials, still working on the creative part)

7. Make the chicken-wire ‘hanger’.(Not done)

GARDENING:

1. Repot the Dracena Marginata in a larger pot. (Not done, I think the plant is doing alright in the pot it’s in)

2. Move the cherry tomato plant in a bigger pot. (Not done – but I got a ripe tomato)

3. Move the Pelargoniums outside and prune them. (Not done – some serious space issues. For now they are out on the steps are not doing too shabby)

4. Buy potting mix and more planters to plant the rest of the small petunias. (Done)

5. Sow more basil. Also, check the lavender seeds and transfer into a pot. (Not done – I bought a lavender plant, and don’t need more basil)

6. Buy some petunias from the market and plant in pots at the bedroom window. (Done)

PERSONAL:

1. Stick to my diet at all costs! ‘Cheating’ only allowed on Saturday/Sunday. (Semi accomplished!)

2. Do some exercising. (Not accomplished – not in the least)

3. Find a good book to read. (Done)

Alright, after this boring wall of text, I am ready to proceed with the July list, which is not ready yet, but will make sure to post it once it’s ready. To shed some light, though, I am working on several projects, some personal, some not so. My mom has a set of cups she’s donating to my future Etsy shop, where I’ll be offering similar items. In addition, I’m working on decorating a small vintage stool she has, and I actually can’t wait to start on that. Right now I am working on decorating a cigar box she found, and that’s been a fun little project. The box is almost complete, so I’ll make sure to post the “after” pictures soon. Oh, and I scored some vintage chairs from my aunt (which she was getting ready to throw away), so I can only picture the yummy goodness these will be! Of course, in order to do that, I’m planning on taking two weeks off of work sometime at the end of July/beginning of August. Fun fun!

Are you guys getting the BHG newsletter? They have some beautiful flower arrangements and tips today. Check this out!

Beautiful, aren’t they? And the tips are so simple, and yet form the ‘core’ of flower arrangement. Head on over to check all the gorgeousness!

I would also like to say one big WELCOME to the couple new followers I have. You all make this so worthwhile!

[Click on image to go to source. Flower images from BHG.com]

One Huge Thank-You & Other Little Notes

I was overwhelmed by the comments you all left on the tea/coffee set for the junk party, and I just want to say a big thank you to all of you, and to Kennesha for hosting such a nice event! This has, by far, been the most fun event I have participated in Blogland, and it really made me feel like starting a blog is a great and rewarding experience. Once again, thank you!

I would have loved to reply to every single comment you guys left, but  unfortunately some of the comments get e-mailed to me without an e-mail address. Some of you asked if I was planning on selling the set, and the answer is yes. I am planning on opening my Etsy store very soon, and I’m currently working on acquiring a nice stash of napkins to do custom orders. Of course, I’m not selling that particular one, because it was more of an exercise, but all sets would look similar to what you saw. So, stay tuned and I will make sure to let you know when the shop opens!

On the home front, my Echinacea is in full bloom and it looks so perfect!

Also, I am now the proud owner of a cute little Ageratum, fondly called Blue Puffy in Bulgaria.

In the background you can see the tiny Rosemary plant I started from seed. I have to say it’s developing very well, and I hope it continues to grow that way. In addition, I now have a baby lavender, too, for which I am extremely excited!

I’m also still working on the mystery project and I am hoping I can have some more time tomorrow to take detailed pictures and finally get it completed. In the meantime, here’s what happens when I’m not looking:

Poor little thing was so terrified when we took the picture. On top of it, I now have blue paw-prints on the carpet that I have no clue how to clean up. Fun, fun!

I hope you’ve all had a great weekend, and wishing you a great week!

June’s Projects

Sweet Kim @ Heart In The Country had a great idea and posted a monthly ‘to-do’ list. I was so thrilled when I read her list that it inspired me to write one of my own – and maybe that would be an incentive enough to keep to it, ha! Plus, remember me talking about starting a crafter's journal? Well, what is a better place to do that than my blog?

So, here it is, the ‘June to-do list’:

CRAFTS:

1. Go shopping for craft materials:

• Spray paints – various colors
• Wooden picture frame, plus some cheap plastic ones
• Chicken-wire and some hooks
• Mother-of-pearl ornaments and shells
• Twine
• Bamboo piece
• Decoupage paper and some napkins
• Wooden jewelry ornaments
• Wind chime kit
• Felt of various thickness and colors
• Buttons
• Sea salt (fine)
• Glass bottles
• Metal plaques
• Tin wire of various thickness

2. Work on some hand-made jewelry.

3. Figure out what to do with that tin can I salvaged (love being so vague, ha!)

4. Find some old glass jars and use them as hanging planters on the wall.

5. Make the jewelry rack for mom.

6. Make a tag from the metal plaques.

7. Make the chicken-wire ‘hanger’.

GARDENING:

1. Repot the Dracena Marginata in a larger pot.

2. Move the cherry tomato plant in a bigger pot.

3. Move the Pelargoniums outside and prune them.

4. Buy potting mix and more planters to plant the rest of the small petunias.

5. Sow more basil. Also, check the lavender seeds and transfer into a pot.

6. Buy some petunias from the market and plant in pots at the bedroom window.

PERSONAL:

1. Stick to my diet at all costs! ‘Cheating’ only allowed on Saturday/Sunday.

2. Do some exercising.

3. Find a good book to read.

I’m sure I will think of something else to add to the list so I will update it regularly. I so wish I can keep to it – I am excited about everything I want to do, and yet I find myself lacking the motivation sometimes. Hopefully, with the list being now ‘public’ I will feel obliged to follow my list and complete the projects I have set myself to work on.

Alright, now I’m going to work on that tea set!

[Click on images to go to sources]

Ah that tin…

I guess I am looking for some inspiration with all the photos I’ve posted lately. Yet, that being said, I have so many projects shaping in my mind that I find myself wanting to start a crafter’s journal just to keep them all organized. My real problem right now is that because of finals I took 3 weeks off of work and that really limits our income. Plus we’re having our AC fixed, so I really have to watch my spending and this puts all my crafty projects on hold.

In the meantime, however, I really have found some great inspirations and have added a ton of little things to my projects. I’m just waiting to go back to work so I can afford all the little things I so desperately want to get.

I haven’t decided what will be the first thing I make, but I have some vague idea – either a tin can planter/lantern or a jar lantern. Maybe. I hope. Who knows what will spike my interest next? Hah, I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

To keep the inspiration flowing our way, here’s some photos I found to support future projects. Enjoy!

So much color! Imagine the cans wrapped in deco paper, adorned using the serviette technique or decoupage, with added felt or buttons, or simple paint. I have so many ideas that I don’t know where to start!

For now, thought, I think I will go for a set of three different-looking cans to hang on the empty wall of my balcony. What do you think?

[Click on images to go to their sources]

Back to blogland

It’s been more than a week since I last posted, but I’ve had a hard time finding my blog mojo lately. I’ve had so many things to do this past week, and with finals knocking on my door it’s been a little too difficult to concentrate.

However, I worked on several projects this past week and have some other ones in my mind, so I decided it was high time I came back to blogland to share!

Sadly, I forgot to take “before” pictures of the box I got to hold all my craft materials, but here is is “after” the fact:

The box is made of wood and came ‘as-is’, meaning that it was what I call ‘raw’ – just the woodsy color, and that’s it. I decided to experiment, plus I wanted something different, so I got tubes of white and cream acrylic paint, some crackle and went to work. Originally I was going to paint the whole box in cream and only the face white, and that’s what we did (Timmy helped), but then I changed my mind. One coat of paint, then one coat of step 1 of the crackle medium, then a coat of contrasting paint and coat of step 2 of the crackle medium, and here’s the result:

I had no idea what it would look like, but it turned out alright! Now all I need to do is distress it and put a light coat of lacquer.

In the mean time, I also worked on some hand-made mother-of-pearl earrings. I even wore them once, and I have to say I am very happy with them. Since then I’ve had a ton of jewelry ideas!

On the plus side, my plants are finally getting full sun and have started to develop really well. My petunias are still tiny, but have a number of leaves, and I worry they won’t bloom any time soon, considering I see full-grown and blooming petunias at the flower stands all over town. I am actually planning on going to the farmer’s market some time this week to buy a few more planters and a few petunias and forget-me-not’s, because mine are not enough to do what I want. Something like that, maybe:

Speaking of which, I haven’t told you the most important news! I am planning on enrolling to another university next semester to get a bachelor in Landscaping! That will give me two bachelor degrees, and Landscaping combined with Business Administration will give me the opportunity to open my own company after I graduate. How nice would that be?! My friend Dessy wants to join me, so we’ll both be enrolling. That would give me a chance to work with my favorite plants. I am so excited, even just talking about it. I will make sure to keep you updated on our progress.

My Etsy shop is also in the works, but I can’t give a concrete date yet. But I will keep you posted.

I hope you all had a great week – I know I did!

[Image by AllPosters.com]

New Garden Addition

Walking through Farmer’s market the other day I came across a small treasure in a pot.

Source

Wonder what it is?

Echinacea. I had actually never thought of getting one before, but when I saw it the idea struck me and I wondered how I had never even though of having one. I had heard amazing stories about its healing and anti-cold properties, had taken it in the form of pills or syrup, but never plain. I did some googling and discovered that the leaves can be dried and used to make tea for when you’re feeling a bit under the weather or about to be hit by a cold or a flu.

And to think the thing was $1.7! Totally amazes me! Of course, poor plant was barely home and the guard cat decided to attack it, either thinking it’s so big and scary, or that it just smells so heavenly and inviting (the latter is more likely) and so, as a result, my plant’s leaves are chewed up and have teeth marks all over. Hence, no pictures of the actual plant I got. Thankfully, I managed to save it in time.

On a side note, I have some ideas swimming in my mind. One of them includes some blog sprucing, but I haven’t thought of anything specific yet. The other two need some more brewing still.

Don’t forget about the giveaway! Just leave a comment under the giveaway post (not this one)!

Strawberries!

I finally received my order of five strawberry roots and was able to plant 3 of them yesterday, the other 2 I put in the fridge until I decide what I want to do with them. Apparently, those plants come from France in a frozen state, so poor little things are so pale due to the lack of light. The three I planted grew overnight even, and I made sure to place supports in the pot to aid the growth and weight of the plants (since they are cascade).

Because I didn’t take any pictures (how typical of me), here’s some red yummies for you!

Source

Source

Source

Can’t wait to have the first fruits! I’ll let you know if they are good.

Gardening News

Like I posted here a few days ago, my poor hydrangea was suffering from some serious disagreement with the temperatures outside. But once some necessary doctoring was done (including cutting all those beautiful blossoms and leaves), poor thing now looks to be in a better shape.

Now I just need to wait for the temperatures to go up, continue to water it, and soon enough I will have those gorgeous blossoms back.

I am so happy I managed to save it!

Moments of Life

Like I promised, here’s some pictures from our gardening adventure yesterday.

This is my mom, digging a hole to plant her cherry tree.

And this is the clothes’ hamper we bought yesterday:

Isn’t it cute?

Timmy and I had homemade bruschettas today! SO yummy.

We have a really simple recipe for them.

Homemade Bruschetta

Ingredients:

Loaf of French bread

2 Tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

fresh/dried basil

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

How to make it:

Cut French bread into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Crush one clove of garlic and lightly rub the garlic on one side of the bread. Additionally, lightly coat the same side of the bread with olive oil using a brush.

In the pan: Place in pan to bake until the slices are golden-brown. This takes about 3-5 minutes per side at medium heat.

In the oven: Place slices on a baking sheet and bake/broil them for a few minutes. Make sure you pay close attention, because once they start to brown they are done, and they go from brown to black in seconds if you don’t pay attention.

Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes and squeeze them slightly while transferring to a different dish to get their juices flowing. Add olive oil, some minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and then add the basil. Stir and you are ready to go!

This is a very quick and easy basic bruschetta recipe. You can add different ingredients depending on taste and preferences. Hope you enjoy it!

And, as promised, here’s a picture of my new hair style: