Art me in the Garden- Dog Days of Summer

                                                                  Swallowtail (Ithink) and Butterfly Bush from last Summer
I can't believe that we're almost done with June- this Summer is flying by for me!  We've been in the midst of an awful heat wave with daily temps getting into the upper 90's and the heat index making it even hotter!  Needless to say, I haven't been doing much in the garden.....once it gets hot, all I'm good for is sitting and admiring- or admonishing myself for the flourishing weeds!
Anyway, this last weekend, I was having my coffee and watching the bluebirds feed their babies and the sun created the most beautiful patterns of light and shadows; I  just had to grab my camera!

Dooley Hydrangeas disguising my "Secret Garden"

Entrance to the Veggie Garden

Blackberry Lily with Dooley Hydrangeas, Ginger Lilies and Elephant Ears

In the next week or so, my Limelight Hydrangeas will begin their show as will the Ginger Lilies and Zinnias- I'll be back soon with more of the garden.  And, hopefully, I'll post again tomorrow with pictures of my new painting- I'm almost done except for touch ups :)

Cheers,

Stephanie

New Treasury- With a Little Help From my Friends

My blogging friend and VAST teammate, Felicia, was kind enough to include my work in her new treasury!  Go check it out, there's lots of beautiful work in there.  And speaking of beautiful work  take a peek at her Etsy shop- it's chock full of beautiful photography and home decor ideas.  I especially love her digital collages like this one!

Falling Leaves- Digital Collage by Felicia Kramer

What's UP in the Studio- and a lil' bit more of the Iris

G'morning peoples in bloglandia!  Yesterday, I was thrilled  to paint for more than three hours before the kids woke up and I had other responsibilities to attend to! Here's a peek at the iris- it's getting close to being complete. At this point, I usually start trying to think of titles, but I'm currently coming up empty. So, I thought I'd ask my lovely blog friends if they had any suggestions? Hmmm, ideas anyone?

Now I'm off to start my weekly baking for the market......more peaches, again.  It's a very good thing I like peaches so much!  For anyone who's interested, here's a snap of my car from last week loaded and ready to go to market....I was on a cheesecake kick last week and made double peach cheesecakes, white chocolate cheesecakes glazed with blueberries and my favorite; caramel peach crunch tarts.
Till next time,
Stephanie

New Treasury- Magic in the Gardens

Magic in the Gardens

I just got a new treasury this morning and filled it with members from both of my teams; Inspiration Avenue and VAST....go take a look- there's a TON of talent in there!
Now I'm to do a bit of painting- I know *gasp* I'm painting today instead of canning, cleaning or baking!
Cheers,
Stephanie

Weekly Challenge- "Summer- Fun & Relaxation"

my nephew Cooper and his Fireflies

The challenge this week at Inspiration Avenue was Summer- Fun and relaxation.  I really wanted to get some snaps of me and my son Garrett at Six Flags, our local amusement park.  But I was worried about the water rides ruining my already ailing camera, so I didn't even try.  But there are other things that mean summer fun to me- just to name a few off the top of my head: swimming, going to the Renaissance Festival, backyard cookouts, eating the first tomato (just a couple of weeks now:)) and catching Lightning Bugs- also known as Fireflies.  My own kids are way too "sophisticated" to catch Lightning Bugs anymore- I can't wait till they "grow back down" a bit so they'll enjoy it once again........but in the meantime, my nephews are more than happy to oblige:)

Let the hunt begin......

We can call him "George"

Be sure to stop by Inspiration Avenue this Sunday to see everyone else's submissions for Summer fun!

Cheers,

Stephanie

What's UP in the Studio- More Progress on my new Iris painting....

Well I've been jammin' for about a month now, and making tarts and cheesecakes for each week at the Decatur Farmer's Market......and just this week, I finally feel like I've gotten it organized enough to work on my REAL work- my art, for more than a couple of hours each week!  You might be asking yourself why I'm working so hard on this if it's taking so much time away from my painting (I know my husband does all the time:)) well, it's a family business, and my family is really important to me......also, in the Summer with the kids home from school, I don't get much painting done anyway!
So, here is my new painting in it's current state:

Also for any of you that remember the Tulip painting I had in progress, well I sold it at our Home Show....I'd planned on doing a little more to it, so didn't take any photos of it at that point....

really. all I did was make the background a little whiter, and in all honesty, I can't remember what else I'd planned on doing to it- must not have been too important!

That's all for now- Cheers,

Stephanie

Weekly Challenge- "How Does Your Garden Grow?"

  The theme for the weekly challenge at Inspiration Avenue was, "How Does Your Garden Grow?" and since I haven't posted any garden pictures lately, that's what I decided to use.......

hope you enjoy!

 

our new nest of bluebirds hatched yesterday-  I love watching Mom and Dad feed them....

The entrance to our vegetable garden and my birthday arbor

The Bee Balm is just starting to do it's thing......

overview of our back garden....

So, there you have my entry for this week's challenge.  Be sure to take a moment and check out all the other entries at Inspiration Avenue!

Cheers!

Stephanie

Peaches, peaches and MORE Peaches.......

Yesterday was our fourth week doing the Saturday Decatur Farmer's Market and the first time that I was organized enough to bring my camera.  However, it doesn't seem to matter how organized we are in our set up, the minute we begin putting stuff out, the people come, and come and come......... in the pictures, if you notice that the shelves are not quite full, it's because I had to fill them between sales! 

In the last two weeks, I have canned and cooked roughly 80 pounds of peaches, and now (Thank goodness:)) it's time to move on to blueberries!  I made some of the best peach preserves I've ever tasted (if I say so myself ;)) and peach- rosemary jam, plus tarts and cheesecakes.....in fact, I sold out of my double peach cheesecake with a gingersnap crust less than an hour after we started and evidently, I will be cooking a few more peaches, beacuse I promised to bring more next week.........but it will feel VERY good to be working with blueberries too, now!

Anyway here are a few pictures.....maybe I'll remember my camera again next week and get some snaps after everything is set up, but BEFORE everything is sold out.......

My Dad and brother wOrKInG it......and while I should have been putting flowers and jams out, I have to admit that I was taking pictures!

You can see a few of my jams and tarts and flowers, I actually meant to take a picture of my car while it was filled to the brim with my wares- maybe next week:)

Anywho, that' should give an idea of what we're up to at the market, now I must be off to take some pics of the garden so I can participate in this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue....

Cheers,

Stephanie