relegated: transitive verb

demote somebody or something: to move somebody or something to a less important position, category, or status

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It's 93 degrees out today and what do I just HAVE to do?

Well, since you asked, I just HAD to go out on my balcony and work on my clay pot. Yes, an indoor project would have been smarter! I know there are some of you that have gotten heat into the triple digits, I hope you are staying safe and "bless your hearts".

( The many nuances of "Bless your heart " ) 

A great post for the Southern ladies and everyone should read it,

even if you're from the North,

bless your heart too!

We shall call this pot the "once a month pot", maybe by the end of summer I will be happy with it. :)

It started out as a plain, neglected and chipped pot. It did get an assortment of hens and chicks added to it that had to be relegated to a new pot by themselves. They are outgrowing this pot too!

On one of my Project Pinterest posts, I inked, painted, white washed and sanded it until it looked like this, and you can find that post here, with links to the orginial Pinterest project with a tutorial:

Now I am one of those people who don't like to rush a project, I want it to "speak to me" and sometimes you have to wait before they speak. I have waited a month and today it said, "Sandee, I want some butterflies on me. " and I did as instructed.

The butterflies come on a sheet like this:

 and you can go here to print out a sheet for you too! I got them from Donna Downey, who found them on Pinterest. ( I just love Pinterest! maybe I have mentioned that before? )

I tore out each butterfly and with a brush applied the Golden medium matte onto my pot. Face each butterfly face down and burnish, then peel back the butterfly. If you have any white paper left on, wait until it's dry and then lightly spritz with water and use your finger to gently rub it off. I also took a Prima script stamp, with the new Ranger's Mowed Grass distress ink, spritzed it lightly with water and randomly laid it across the pot.

So I've put it back into it's corner on the balcony to wait and see if it speaks to me again. I think it might be whispering ....mists...maybe it just wants to be watered ;)

Meanwhile I cut my first Zinnia's of the season because we had a strong wind breeze this morning that toppled them over, so what's a girl to do but cut and enjoy?

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Being that June has 30 days means that today is the last day to link up with Project Pinterest. But never fear, we always have the 10th of each month to start over again!
I'll announce the Featured Pinterest gal on July 3rd, so make sure you check to see if it was you!

synonym: noun

a word used in place of the one you can't spell

HA!

How many of us can relate to that? I know I can and it made me LOL when I saw it on my friend's Pinterest board! wtg Jamie!

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Today is a fun day post...just musing, ramblings and pictures...

and books...finished reading the Hunger Games within 24 hours...and I liked it, will be on the waiting list for the second and third books. Also am thinking of checking into 50 Shades of Grey as it keeps popping up so maybe that's a sign I should read it ;)

I live for these momments out on my balcony:

( I'm begining to think the animals are lining up here to be photographed! )

And oh so happy that the birds are finally accepting my presence out on the balcony! The titmouses are the last to accept me, and are still too scared to be photographed!  But the Chickadees are really warming up to me, I have been almost nose to beak with them on several occassions, I usually stop what I am doing ( so I don't give them a heart attack, raise my eye brows, and think.."well, now what?" ) until they realize how close they are to me and fly off. It always makes me shake my head and smile.

I love seeing flowers that I've planted from seeds bearing flowers, that makes me happy :)

( Zinnias and Hyacynth Bean Vine )

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June's Project Pinterest is almost up. Have you pinned anything lately? Better yet, have you made anything from a pin? Want to share? Link it up here!

precedent: adjective

happening before somebody or something else

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It's WOYWW!! woo hoo!!

can we get a group hug here?

(((((hugs))))))

ok..who put their hand on my....hee hee....oh that was me!

Here is my desk, currently I'm working on a January submission project for Cricut Magazine so while the temperatures are suppose to be in the mid 90's this week, here I sit making snowflakes! lol Not much else is going on, deadline for this issue is the 29th so I am hoping to get in turned into the editors on time! Wish me luck, lol, seems like sitting out on my balcony or working in the garden are taking precedent these days!

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I did however get a nice little prize in the mail this week, from the Frosted Designs blog hop, and Teresa Jaye got it out to me so quickly! Thank you TJ!

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And a wonderful ATC from Bridget over at Photography and Me, who created this gorgeous leaf lady from a stamp, glimmer mist and glitter glue! So very pretty!

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Don't forget to link up with Sarah and mine's Project Pinterest where everyone gets to see your creativity come alive!

hummers:

a hummingbird

wow....go here, to find out another definition for a hummer....

::clears throat::

 learn something everyday ;) lol

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Just a little drawing  for the In the Garden theme over at the Artist's Playroom.

This is in my nature journal, sketched in pen, colored with Sakura red and green pens for the stained glass, pencils for the metal, pencil and then covered with Ranger's Candy Crackle for the glass casing.

 I don't claim to be an artist, lol
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Now for something cuter than my attempt at drawing, this adorable chipmunk!
all together..say awwwww! lol

Now if your wondering why this clay pot is buried in the ground, let me explain.
1. I don't like to throw away anything if I can help it.
2. This was a broken shard of a pot, only one side of the pot was found in the garden.
3. Since this is planted along the edge of the garden and they have commercial lawn people, I didn't want them weed eating around the plant and harming it.

So put 1, 2, and 3 together, and you have what looks like a whole pot buried in the soil, but it's not...but it looks like it is....lol Frankly I just like to confuse the old people I live with, not really, but they think I'm weird anyway!
But I'm the only gardener they have ;)

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Link up your Project Pinterest project!!

playing: transitive or intransitive verb

to move unsteadily or irregularly over a surface, usually in a pleasing way, or cause something to do this
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Twinkle, Twinkle: The Summer of Color Challenge week 3

PanPastel UK Challenge Blog : Challenge 24 Anything Goes

With the color theme of raspberry and vanilla, I set off to make my next candle jar. First washing, then soaking off the label. Next I painted it with my new glass paint called Berry Wine, then dry brushed white paint over that, then using one of my new TH inks, Picked Raspberry; still not happy I sanded it down. Well, that was interesting since the Berry Wine glass paint pulled up in strings, but liking the effect I kept sanding. ( Have to admit to wondering how the Pan Patels might have added to this project. ) Then went back in and scraped off a center band which I filled in with white paint, also filling in the ribbons that had come off while sanding. REALLY liking it now, I played up the stars that were a design in the glass jars with white, adding a band of the Berry Wine on the bottom and on the top of the jar. I added some white sticker bands between the raspberry and the sanded middle. Finished it off with a lace ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon, complete with TH dyed twine and a button.

here are the jars lined up in order of challenges:
Sherbet ( you might notice I added some beads and stickles to the jar ), Chocolate Mint, Baseball Nut

night time shot:

The weather has really turned warm here, turned on the air conditioner finally...ahhh..sweet relief! I'm still spending time on my porch though, eating my tomato sandwiches for lunch there, but my hand fan sure is coming in handy while sitting in my chair watching the birds and bare feet and shorts are the required uniform of the day!
 How are you finding relief in this heat?

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Don't forget to link up your Project Pinterest post so we can check out your summer creativity!!

poison ivy: noun

a climbing vine of the cashew family that has three-part leaves and white berries. Contact with the plant produces an itchy rash

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So after I left the Italian Garden and started my trek back through the shrub garden I knew I was wanting a new adventure, and I found one called the Spring Path. It's a mulched pathway and I figured, what the heck, let's give it a whirl.

One of the first thing that excited me was to discover a hidden view to the walled gardens ( remember the rose gardens? ) I have never taken this picture before and felt like I had stumbled on a secret path....maybe I am the only one who has discovered it, lol, no...but I ran across only one group while walking it!

You do have to walk a little bit on a paved path and pass under this brick walk way to continue along the Spring Path but it was after passing through is where I met up with the other couple and I had to make sure they knew to take the path detour so they could get that great shot of the walled garden. Good deed done, I knew I was off to a grand adventure!...or at least not get lost...that would work too!

along this path were some awesome smelling flowers, this smelled familiar to a magnolia....divine!

and around a corner, some unexpected Snowball bushes!

spending a few minutes capturing this honey bee on a rhododendron bush,

and this one of him flying! Looks like he coming to get me...but I don't think he even knew I was there!

Then out of the Spring Path and into the Azalea Garden, while there are no azaleas in bloom, there are a lot of little bridges...

 cute little stone bridges...

and then a stone bench tucked under this large leaf Magnolia for me to sit and reflect upon how lucky I am to be able to walk it's rocky path, sweat in the sun, have sore feet, and itchy poison ivy.....

because there are many people out there in this big world who trade everything to have it.
I am so blessed.
:)

stealth: noun

the action of doing something slowly, quietly, and covertly, in order to avoid detection

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I have now walked up 3 levels...whew...lol...and come to the Italian Garden. Usually not my favorite of the garden levels until summer hits and all the water lilies come into bloom! I like to approach this garden from the back end of the Shrub Garden so I have this view of the house, with the 3 reflecting pools.  As you can see, it's an overcast day, but that's a perfect time for taking pictures of the flowers!

I am surprised at how tall some of the water lilies are, I always thought of water lilies as floating on the surface of the water. ( Here is a favorite thing of mine to photograph, the reflection in the water. )

a close up of these tall beauties, about shoulder high on me and I am 5'7" tall

I don't know about you, but it's hard to resist leaning over and picking them, lol

I am loving the different colors

and textures!! I didn't realize that some are fuzzy! I am very happy this one came out, it's about the size of a quarter! I'm just glad for a zoom lens!

so delicate

and vibrant!

and plop, plop, plop...what's a lily pad without a frog? Not only are there koi and goldfish in the pond, there are frogs too! As I approached each reflecting pool I was met with a series of splashes, it took some serious stealth like moves to capture the little guys!

a last look at the mountains seen through some classical statuary

and then back down through the shrub gardens, with one last peek at the house before I turn my back on it and go exploring along the Spring path...

Tomorrow I will share my love of wooden bridges over creeks and stone steps over little water ways. I hope you join me :)

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Don't forget to link up with Project Pinterest!

solstice: noun

 either of the times when the Sun is farthest from the equator, on or about June 21 or December 21. The summer solstice falls in June in the northern hemisphere but in December in the southern hemisphere, and vice versa for the winter solstice.

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I decided to spend summer solstice out at my favorite place, the Biltmore Estate. I was wondering what it would look like in the heat of summer and I was delighted by the show. This is going to be a 3 day post because it will be too picture heavy for one showing. I am starting at the beginning of my walk, which begins at the conservatory and moves up through the walled gardens. Tomorrow will be the Italian Garden which has all the water lilies!

Biltmore Estate has acres of formal and informal gardens, designed by America's foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. Come stroll the gardens with me :)

The lower terrace of the walled garden is all roses. This first one was by far the most fragrant. It was pure heaven.

 hmmm..need to remember to get my toes out of the picture :)

 You will see more insects in my pictures, I was really enjoying including them. This little honey bee was head first into this rose, I think he was enjoying the flowers as much as I was!

Next level up is a little bit of everything. I was very happy to see such a wide variety of flowers!

 Here is a little lightning bug/firefly enjoying a double ruffled lily.

 I have no idea what this plant is, but I was uber fascinated with it. I had to reach out and touch it's lovely purple flower stalk, it was softer than I thought it would be.

Up another flight of stairs and beginning my winding walk up through the shrub garden , which begins by walking under this Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar which evidently originates from Algeria, Morocco.

A backward glance at the walled gardens that I just left...see how far I have travelled already?

Tomorrow, pictures of the water lilies! I hope you come back and join me :)

sakura: noun

is the Japanese name for the cherry tree and its blossoms

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Over at Die Cuttin Divas, they are having a red, yellow, and orange color challenge!

Challenge #70 Summer Colors

and Crazy Amigo Challenge: also Summer Colors, red, orange and yellow!

Paper Trimmings cartridge

I can always rely on being inspired from watching Tracy's Monday online video,( you can watch it here ) and she used a great quote that she found on Pinterest. I altered it a bit, by changing the fonts, and the wording a little.

I cut a butterfly border and 2 butterflies from Paper Trimmings, used up some American Crafts ribbon from my scraps and some Sassafrass paper. I printed out the quote on yellow card stock using various fonts from my Print Artist Gold 21. I wrote over the title and bottom with a Sakura Glaze pen in red.

And now it hangs in my craft room!

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Pinterest inspires a lot of different people in different ways, and if you found a pin that inspired you then share your creation with us!

Project Pinterest