Pretty Pictures

For any of you who look at my Mia Sophia shop regularly you may know that I am always trying to improve my photos. Just when I think I've got it down, something changes, either the light, or my camera (one of which died recently) and so I feel I am starting over again.

This is one of the new backdrops I am using. It's a vintage doll head and has a japan sticker on the back. It stands about five inches high, but, from responses I've received from others, it appears to be close to life size and makes the pendants look HUGE! ha ha ha. So, I've made sure there is a picture of someone wearing the necklace in my listing. Also, those holes that are made to attach the doll head to the body, um, how do I say...give me pause...lol. I made her a nice little bodice today. So she'll be more modest from now on.

I think this backdrop is working because I posted it yesterday and it was put in a treasury today (the first this year! yay) click HERE to see the treasury and show it some love...it really is a very nice collection.

Overflowing Generosity

You want to know the most generous person I've never met? Well, she has a blog called The Graphics Fairy. Daily she posts free vintage clip art images for anyone who would like to copy, download and use in any way. I would love to tell you everything all she has on her list, but there is no room. Her collection is amazing and she gets more and more every week. Go to the site and take a look. You won't believe it.

She also has another site that offers blog backgrounds. The Background Fairy . They are really pretty and vintage themed. My background is one of hers. There are so many colors, patterns, and cute ideas all FREE to download.

Last but not least and saving the best for last, she has an Etsy Shop The Graphics Fairy. It has wonderful pieces of vintage ephemera as well found objects, vintage prints and even vintage wallpapers. There are prints available but some of the items for sale are the actual pieces (my favorite are her maps).

If you are a fan of vintage things, ephemera, pictures and found objects you will fall in love with all of her sites.

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. It was great day, all my kids were home (imagine that with three teenagers) and we had lunch with my parents (yes, a pleasant time).

This is my birthday present:

I am so excited. Our main computer is in our game room and that is the only one that was capable of handling all my photo editing requrements as well as having the speed to be on the internet. It is also shared by everyone in the house excluding my husband, who has a "work related only" laptop, and my daughter in college (well can you imagine her letting me touch her macbook?) So I was resigned to sit in a corner, back to the world, to work on line.

NOT ANYMORE~ yay! I am still learning all the ins and outs as well as new photo software (my mind rebels at learning new computer skills) but I'm working through it.

Its now a faster and more efficient me~ wonderful~

Pounced Myself

This afteroon while killing time and just contemplating taking a nap (hee hee) I pounced myself. I have never done that before it was quite a nice surprise.

For those of you who are wondering "you WHAT??", let me explain. There is a very fun feature on Etsy called Pounce. It randomly selects new shops that haven't sold anything or those that have just made a sale.

As you can see from the middle picture, I showed up on the "just made a sale" pages. What a fun surprise. I've never done that before but it was fun. I'd love to do it again sometime.

My Newest Love....again.....

I have found a new love. Okay, I know I've said that before (haha see January's posts) but this is truly been fun. All of these items were made with PMC, precious metal clay. It is so fun to see the tiny lump of greyish/brownish clay turn into something so pretty~

I just finished listing them in my Etsy shop and have already had someone convo me to say how much they liked it. That has not happened before, I assure you. So, this is my new passion. Let see how far it goes, shall we?

Gardening in South Texas - Not for the Faint of Heart

Now, these pictures I am sure will shock you. Especially those of you who live up north. For those of you northern gardeners who get light headed or weak in the knees, please sit down before looking at these pictures.

If you have seen my blog a month ago you would know this is what my garden looked like on March 11:

Sweet little lettuce plants and tiny little tomato plant. So much room left over! ...or so I thought...

This is what it looks like today, one month and 2 days later:

Compare, if you please the tiny tomato plant you see in the first picture (at the far end of the garden) to the monster you now see before you~!

This is a grape tomato plant and bountiful and prolific producer and spreader~ YIKES~! it's taking over. If you look closely at the top left of the plant you can see the tomato cage I put around it to, um, support it? ha ha.

I wanted to share this with my fellow gardening friends. Now I'm off to find a large, strong trellis! While I'm at it I might need a whip and a chair as well! lol

Fulfulling Plans and Dreams

I did it. I took the plunge. After more than two years reading, studying practicing, ordering supplies, I finally made my first sterling silver piece.

I have wanted to do this long before I began selling on Etsy but was distracted by so many things and have found so many fun and wonderful things to create. But this kept calling me back as the biggest challenge.

This week I finally sat down and created. The heart was sculpted from PMC, for those of you who don't know what that is, it is "precious metal clay". It is pure silver held together with a binder and, when fired, the binder is burned off and you are left with pure silver. I added the ring band (which I also made myself), patina-ed with liver of sulfur (yuk), and polished. All the things I have wanted to do. My daughter has claimed the first ring for her own, but I will be making them as a custom item as well as adding other items as I design them.

I feel I have accomplished a hurdle toward my goals with lots of lovely and fun steps along the way.