Yard Art.

It's that time of year when we get out to play in the dirt any chance the weather permits.  The lawn and plants and flowers and fertilizer and...yard art!!

It comes in all forms and is as American as it gets.  Sometimes the very best is the tacky, homemade paint faded concoctions that first made neighborhood covenants necessary!
Art is in the eye of the beholder.

Some of these adornments are simple, everyday items just put to another use.

I've seen these for years but I still think they are darling.  

 One of the newer (to me) crazes is to find bowling balls and toss them amongst the hostas or embellish them before tossing.

 Or do as this homeowner.  Gotta love the gusto put into this!

 Bottle trees.  Another quirky, colorful addition to the yard that may raise some eyebrows. All the more reason to have one.  We have these at the shop.  I was told these were used to trap bad spirits.  They get up in the bottles and can't find their way out.

 Now see???  What whimsy!

 How about this one????  I don't think anyone would even notice there is no grass here.

 Quintessential yard art--the whirligig.  I adore these and the more vintage, the better.

Anything that will catch the wind and make them twirl is a go.

A whirligig  over-achiever!

Perhaps you prefer the artistic route.  This one would still slow traffic.

This one would stop traffic.  A great solution if you don't want to pay to have that dead tree removed........

Old metal, folk art... 

 ..and, of course, the rusted car.  Now accepted in upscale neighborhoods everywhere. Maybe.

Ingenuity.

 It never ceases to amaze me.

The Bunny Trail Starts Here..............

I have been infected with the hideous crud that is going around. I spent about $40 million dollars on over the counter remedies and I'm still not sure I'll survive.  Don't catch this.

Krystal gallantly agreed to fill in for me so, I am at home coughing and sneezing and pouting and posting.  To take my mind off the fact that I feel like total  poopoo (and so you don't have to hear all about it) let's think about sweet little bunnies and such.  Healthy little folk that aren't trying to cough up a lung..or even a pancreas.

One of the most precious things in the world.

Do you tweet?? 

 Aren't we just so modern?  I don't understand all the tweeting thing.  

This is what tweet is really about and I'll never accept Twittering about.

Now I know you are thinking you must rush in and buy this darlin'.  But I'm here to tell you that all of them have already sold.  Yep. Gone. Oh yea??!  Well, you don't feel as bad as I do.  So there.

Oh yea, and healthy (here we go again) angel vines. Lots of 'em.  Plenty of these little boogers (whoops, no  pun intended) unless you wait sixteen weeks to come in for one..... 

Of course, I found a crown on something and had to get it.  These  felted wool chicks crack me up.

Can you see the eggs they lay behind them???  Nature is amazing isn't it?

And a basket to put all your eggs in.

I outfitted Martha in new clothes recently.  It was like an omen because now I feel like a bag lady.
Only worse.  I'm going to take a nap..and whimper.
Flowers, cards & gifts should be dropped by the store..............

Reasons I Love My Job.

Maybe it was the gorgeous weather we had today and people were in the mood for yard work, but it was slow and relatively quiet sales-wise at good goods today.  Not what a proprietor wants.  Ever.  I might have been discouraged except for:

Jane, a first time visitor this afternoon.  By the time she was ready to leave we had been singing songs together that we remembered from our elementary school days.

I had two of the nicest emails (from Donna and Wanda) waiting for me when I got home.  Thanking me for being there.

Retail!  It's not for the faint of heart.

I'm Back!!!

Back from where I'm not sure.  I've just been a lazy bum the first few months of this year.  

Enough of that!

I got an email over a week ago from sweet Janelle:

She shared this picture of her art with me (featuring our silk ribbon) and I thought I'd pass it on.  I'm always thrilled to see where all "my" things end up.  You can check out her blog here if you'd like to see some of her other creations.

I'm headed into the shop to snap some photos of our first wave of spring offerings. I'll post those pronto!

XXOO,

Cheri

Our first real snow, the store is stocked etc....

Finally!!

I didn't get out early enough to take the pretty, still snowing, serene shot of the neighborhood.  I think most of us  (and especially the ski areas) were pretty glad to see this heavy, wet gift from Mother Nature this morning.  It is January after all.

I have to tell you, it was warm and dry at 5:30am when I managed to finish fluffing at the shop and unpack all of these:

Now before you go ape s*#t over how long I can spend tending to my baby...I do go home at the close of business hours, watch my favorite PBS show, take an ibuprofen and have a latte before I head back in to tend to the dirty work!!  And it was well worth the time--everything looks great and the store is full again after the busy holiday season.  (thank you all very much, by the way!!)

We've re-stocked, added new vendors and some exciting new merchandise.  And for those of you that have been asking:  yes, we've started getting out product for that biggest "Hallmark" holiday of the year!!!

I really like these "surprise boxes".  Like a greeting card-only better!

And then we have some random images as I wandered around in a stupor!

 I was happy about how my "necessity is the mother of invention" wall art turned out.  Fun and unexpected!

 Pretty, pretty embroidered pillows.

Our votives are restocked with some nice new scents.

I missed photographing several areas I wanted to show you.  So I guess you'll just have to stop in and see for yourself.   It is January....the retailers loneliest month!!

Take care,

Cheri

Pantone's 2012 Color of the Year.................

Tangerine Tango


What can we do with this???!  At first I was a bit taken aback by how vivid (read: in your face) this color is.    Sure it would be fun as a jacket (I have one this color! yippee-I'm in style!!) but do we actually decorate with it??  In 2012???

If it's toned down by neutrals I think it's very livable....

...or maybe not.  Does this poof remind you of a pumpkin??? I'd toss that part out.

oh my.  I was liking this until I really looked at the half wall for a while....but I like the floor cushion!!

 I'm a sucker for a barn door.  I wish I had somewhere to put them in my house.  So does my husband.....no, really.  Maybe.

I really do like it with gray.

I'm thinking this is fun.  And we all know a bedroom should be fun!

Why do I think that "if I was single, I would so do this"....

 Wild thang.

 I do love the art with the tangerine lipstick--the right side of this picture just was attached and I didn't know how to get rid of it.  That side is a bit dorm room for me.  But I do love the huge art. And the fact that there are no "token" tangerine knick knacks to try to make things look pulled together....

.

OK, now the stools are fun.

Is it the orange or the gray??

 ..Maybe I could take this much.

Or this much

Honestly, this is probably about as far as Tangerine Tango will make it in my house.
And my jacket.  Slung on a chair.  How 'bout you???

Take care,

Cheri

Hello 2012!!!

Resolve to make at least one person happy every day.  And in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment.                                                                        
    S. Smith