The roses have bloomed

15 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by juliamonroe in flowers, gardening, Inspirational, Scripture

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

The bright pink roses are Zepherine, the pale pink is Sceptre'd Isle and the barely pink is Blush Noisette. The purple flowers are Columbine. The scent has completely filled my dining room.

The bright pink roses are Zephirine Drouhin, the pale pink is Sceptre’d Isle and the barely pink is Blush Noisette. The purple flowers are Columbine. The scent from this little bouquet has completely filled my dining room.

My rose bushes were seriously neglected for over five years. For all this neglect, they still burst into bloom. I am honored and humbled that roses grace my table. The Lord’s plans are good.

Rainy May Day French Beading

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by juliamonroe in beading, crafts, flowers, nature, sparkling, sunlight

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beads, crafts, french beaded flowers, French Beading, May, rainy day

It’s been mostly overcast and rainy for at least two weeks now.

A Rainy day in May.

I’m discovering that the weather greatly affects my pain level, ever since having my spine fused. Despite the pain, I shall redeem this time.

Rain in May, drip drip drip, fall the crystal drops …

Today when the sun peeked out briefly, I stood outside even while the rain was still falling, so desperate to feel sun on my face.

Even the trees are becoming mossy from all the dampness this spring.

Then the clouds moved in again and I tucked back in the darkness of my work space. But places don’t have to stay colorless and uncheered. I got out the beads.

Seed beads, mostly size 11, including Aiko and Delicas, fill a bin with color.

Pearl, crystal and glass beads.

They glistened and captured every speck of light. I didn’t want any light to get away.

Beads in a small condiment dish.

I made petals and leaves and flower centers.

Gold and bronze bead flower centers await petals and assembly.

I use children’s teacups and dishes to hold flower components while I work. Here a child’s teacup holds stamens.

A small child’s teacup holds white stamens.

I made a cardboard insert in a bin to hold my bead bottles upside down so I can see the color of the contents better.

These vintage flower centers belonged to my grandmother. I’m looking forward to using them. Thank you so much, dear sister Donna for sending them!

I will use these vintage flower beads in French Beaded flowers and jewelry.

Even though it is dark and rainy outside and there are no flowers blooming in the window, I have flowers blossoming on the table.

French Beaded flowers

French Beaded flowers in a shoebox await stems and leaves.

French Beaded flowers

The Dewing of the Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by juliamonroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, Easter, flowers, gardening, home decor, miniature, sparkling, tutorial

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

All Sparkled Up, crafts, Easter, Easter decoration, Easter Egg Tree, egg tree, miniature, miniature eggs, miniature flowers, miniature plants

Last year I posted about the Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree I made. It’s time to get it out again. Adding the drops of dew was my favorite part.
After I finished each miniature plant, with it’s tiny leaves and petals, I hung it on the tree. Though pretty, the plant didn’t seem fully alive it was all sparkled up with spring rain or drops of dew.
For each drop, I used tweezers to dab a single crystal seed bead in tacky glue and attach it where it should go, hanging from the tip of a leaf or puddled in the folds of a petal.

The tree was from Pottery Barn a couple years ago. The hanging egg baskets are cut from small plastic eggs and filled with tiny plants

The tree was from Pottery Barn a couple years ago. The hanging egg baskets were cut from small plastic eggs. The miniature plants were made by cutting up full-size artificial flowers and leaves. Some of the hanging vines were made by gluing hand-cut leaves to artificial plant stems. Click on photos to see the full size images if you wish.

Miniature Daisies.

Miniature daisies.

Miniature Lily of the Valley.

Miniature ferns and moss.

Miniature Forget-me-not.

Miniature Burros Tail.

If you want to add realistic drops to an artificial plant, remember how real water acts. It flows down hill. So it will puddle at the bottom of a flower center, or hang from the lower tip of a petal or leaf.

Miniature Blue Flowers. The fluffy white balls were actually stamens cut from the center of a full-size artificial flower.

Miniature ferns and moss.

Miniature Tuberous Begonia, reminiscent of the colors of my mom’s beautiful begonia hanging plant.

Miniature Marigold.

Miniature Roses. To make a rose, I took one petal from a 1″ artificial rose, folded it in half and glued and rolled it up into a cone shape. The pointed tip of the cone was cut off and stuck down inside the top part of the cone to make center of the rose. Some cone tips are also used as the buds.

Placing the tiny bead droplets on the plants was a very contemplative task, like yoga or painting, with each moment crystallized and beautiful. No it was not tedious, it was restorative and full of light. All sparkled up.

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11

The old bouquet roses have donned their jewels

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by juliamonroe in All Sparkled Up, flowers, Inspirational, nature, sparkling

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

nature, old, old roses, rainy day, roses, Valentine's Day

Their edges are a bit crispy and tattered and the Valentine Roses can no longer hold up their heads.
I’m not about to part with a bouquet if it has even a speck of life in it.
I placed the musty bouquet on the table outside thinking perhaps a little sunshine might brighten them for a last hurrah.
But there was no sun. Instead, the sky darkened and the rain came down in streaks.

Past their prime, the Valentine roses droop their velvety heads.

Past their prime, these Valentine roses droop their velvety heads.

But these roses weren’t about to waste a good opportunity to glam up.
Like a group of aging women, they donned their crystal and went out one last time.
And I cheered them on.

Once vibrant red and perky, the Valentine Roses age gracefully in their queenly red velvet capes and dripping with jewels.

I’m approaching the age to join their ranks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I plan on seeing it and, even more so, participating.
You’re never, ever too old to sparkle. Don’t forget that!

Violet Skirt Petunias

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in flowers, gardening

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cascadia petunias, gardening, gardening in pots, petunias, planters, purple and white petunias, violet skirt, Violet Skirt Petunias

This year I tried a new Cascadia Petunia on the deck – Violet Skirt petunias from newgardenplants.com.

Cascadia Petunia – Violet Skirt

This pot contains Violet Skirt grown from a cutting. As I removed one of the plants from the packaging in the spring, one of the stems broke off. I stripped the leaves from the lower section of stem and stuck it in a pot of dirt. It struggled for a couple months but never died. I’m thrilled that it is thriving now! If I was more diligent to deadhead it, there would be more blooms. It still looks lovely despite the neglect.

For good instructions on rooting petunias from cuttings, check this site.

Cascadias are my favorite petunias. They do well in hot weather but need water daily when the temp is in the upper 90′s. They quit flowering when it’s over 100 degrees but come back quickly when the temperatures drops.

I usually get Cascadias from Spring Hill Nurseries. Spring Hill no longer sells the Choice White Cascadias alone. In years past, I planted Choice White with pink and coral geraniums in the planters. The waterfall of white is splendid over a balcony. This year, I wanted a change and the purple is gorgeous.

Rapunzel

21 Monday May 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in crafts, flowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

flower fairy, flowers, Rapunzel

I babysat my granddaughter yesterday and we made Flower Fairies from Klutz Books. After making the first one, she wanted a Rapunzel, with long braided hair. Of course I had to rummage around in my bead collection to find the perfect tiny flower beads to braid into Rapunzel’s hair. I was not able to finish making it before she went home so Rapunzel spent the night at my house, perched on a bouquet of flowers.

Rapunzel lets down her hair from a bouquet of flowers.

Rapunzel lets down her hair from the bird feeder.

Waiting for a prince.

Hope from a Rose

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in flowers, Inspirational

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

hope, New Dawn, roses

I do not have an easy life. Thoughts tumbled in my mind, trying to find reasons for others’ actions. I finally had to let go of the jumbled mass of thought because there was no resolution. I looked out the kitchen window and saw roses. It was the New Dawn come to visit, knocking at my window! I opened the kitchen window and the roses rushed in, laying their furled velvet skirts on my window sill.
“I know where you live” was the gentle thought that entered my mind. “I know where you are. I know what imprisons you. I have not forgotten.”
The roses had grown over 30 feet to reach my kitchen window from the ground below.
I leaned over the kitchen sink and smelled the rose. The delicious fragrance filled my senses and I knew everything would be ok. Maybe not today but there is always hope for tomorrow.

New Dawn and Blush Noisette rose bouquet.

“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

The first English rose bouquet of the season

28 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in flowers, gardening

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bouquet, English roses, Fair Bianca, flowers, gardening, Miss Alice

Miss Alice was planted three years ago and has never borne so many roses as this spring. Since the deck is semi-shaded almost all day, it always surprises me that there are blooms at all. The roses stretch so very high to get enough sun.

Miss Alice, a lovely pale pink English rose from David Austin Roses, grows in a barrel on the deck.

I cut half the Miss Alice roses and a couple white Fair Bianca roses from the other planter to make the first bouquet of the season. This is the one time of the year that I move all clutter aside to make a place of honor for THE Bouquet. No craft, no painting, no created thing from my hand could ever match this scented masterpiece from the Creator of the Universe.

The first English rose bouquet of the season - Miss Alice and Fair Bianca.

First roses of 2012

21 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in flowers, gardening

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

gardening, Golden Celebration, Miss Alice, New Dawn, roses

In February 2006, we planted 15 rose bushes from David Austin Roses. I used to keep a blog about the gardening adventure. Alas, a couple years ago someone mistakenly covered the rose bushes with pine straw instead of mulch when I was out of town and the acid that winter killed over half. I was devastated and quit keeping the blog. But some of the roses made it through and are now doing wonderfully!

The first roses - Miss Alice and Golden Celebration planted in barrels, not yet bloomed New Dawn climbing up around the kitchen window.

The pale pink colored Miss Alice is in a large barrel, as is Golden Celebration. The beautiful New Dawn, covered with buds, has yet to bloom. The New Dawn rose is planted down in the ground at the base of the stairs. It grew all the way up the deck stairs and across my kitchen window and is reaching for the back door, over 40 feet long in all. When the roses bloom, I will be able to open the kitchen window and smell roses while doing the dishes. :) Is that cool or what.

Golden Celebration Roses and New Dawn buds outside my kitchen window on the second floor.

If you’re interested, you can read some of my old gardening blog at The Rose Adventure. I no longer keep it up and some day it might disappear. For now, I’m rather fond of the memory of those years.

Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree

07 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in crafts, Easter, flowers, home decor, miniature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

decorated eggs, Easter, Easter eggs, egg, egg tree, flowers, miniature

Last year I finally had time to make an Easter Egg tree and I’m happy to display it again this year. I’ve been wanting to make one for many years. I have a couple precious decorated eggs left from the tree of my childhood and some day I will restore the eggs and call that tree my Heritage Tree. For now, this Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree will adorn my dining room table.

The tree was from Pottery Barn. The eggs are plastic, cut into little baskets with a craft knife. I made all the hanging plants from bits and pieces of full size artificial plants. The hundreds of tiny leaves were cut out individually with manicure scissors. Crystal beads were glued strategically from the tips of petals and leaves to look like they were freshly washed with a light spring rain. It took several weeks to make these eggs, working on them when I could during evenings last year.

Easter Egg Tree - click photo to see a larger image.

These little hanging plants are made from bits and pieces cut from artificial plants and flowers tucked into plastic eggs. Click on photos to see a larger image.