After preparing and attending several craft shows in late summer and fall of this year, I have finally gotten my store on Etsy ready for shoppers. 
My husband made a gate to surround our vegetable garden. The gate was just plain and white, until one day, when I was sorting out some things in the garage, I ran across these precious metal dogs. I had gotten them when we were going through my grandparents' estate a few years ago. I thought they would be perfect to mount onto the gate to "guard" my garden. I love the rust and age on them, also. I think it gives them a nice, antiqued look. This one looks like an Afghan hound.
This dog stands on the opposite end of the gate and he looks like a type of Spaniel. These gate ornaments date back to the 1960's. My paternal grandpa had a fence company in our area for a number of years, back then. These have extra meaning to me, as well as being beautiful, since they are a part of my family's history. I also kept one of my grandpa's metal signs, he would put on his customers' fences, and mounted it to my chickens' pen. Every time I look at the dogs on the gate or the sign, I remember Grandpa. These types of things make life special for me.
I thought I would share some more of my recent yard/garage sale treasures with you. I had hoped to post this much sooner than now, but I have been under the weather. The above is a ceramic piece that I bought for only $2.00. It is about a foot in length.
This is a closeup of the lady in the center. The piece has a pretty, aged look to it and appears to have never been painted. I like the look of the white against the green of my wall. Very soothing.
I have been collecting white glass and can usually pick up some pretty pieces for very little cost. The above vases ranged in price from .25 cents (center) to $1.50. Again, very pretty against the green wall.
The above shows a close up of the flowers on the base of the center vase. It looks very old. I love the colors of the flowers. When I found this vase, it was at the bottom of a box and had dirt all over it. I knew it would look good after a good cleaning.
I purchased this beautiful botanical print for $1.50. It is 11"x 14" in size. I have seen these in antiques stores about $30 or $40.
This closeup shows the detail of the flowers.
I thought I would share some of my "treasures" that I have recently found at local yard and estate sales. These first two photos are a sampling of a large box I purchased at a yard sale. The lady told me that the box of assorted trims, laces, ribbons, and etc. belonged to her grandmother. I bought the whole box for $5.00. What a deal!
Some of the items are vintage and some are newer, but what was so nice, was that she had all of the related colors wrapped together on separate pieces of cardboard. I can't wait to work these items into some projects.
This beautiful, old print of a cottage and garden was purchased at an estate sale for .25 cents. I just love the soft colors. It is about 11" x 14". I had to tape the upper left corner on the back, but the picture will still look good in a frame.
I purchased a plastic bag that contained about a hundred or so of these clippings of cartoons from the Waco, Texas newspaper. Some of them were dated "1938". The cartoon is of Flapper Fannie. I paid $1.00 for the bag. I will probably sell these. They would be great for use in paper-crafting projects.
Another thing that is so interesting about these cartoon clippings, is that on the back of them they contain little bits of history. Reading all of them was like going back in time.
We had a bountiful crop of strawberries in our area this Spring. I recently picked strawberries at a local farm. I froze many of the delicious berries for smoothies and strawberry shortcake, but some I made into jam. If the jam will last long enough, I plan on giving it for gifts at Christmas. I use decorative lids, like the one above, for gift-giving. I also add a bit of vintage ribbon or raffia, and tie on a pretty label, for an instant gift. One that is always very appreciated. My favorite way to enjoy strawberry jam (we call it jelly here in Texas), is spread on the top of a warm, buttered biscuit. Yum, Yum.
I also "picked" these cute, little, cloth berries at an estate sale, recently. The estate sale happened to be from my second grade teacher. She lived to be one-hundred-and-two, and was still able to live at her home. Who knows how long she had had this little basket of berries. I just added the green and natural wood shavings to the basket. It makes for a cute display, especially in the kitchen.
Things have been pretty busy the past few days around our place---we had baby chicks hatch! We had four different hens setting eggs. This group is just a handful of them. It was sure hard to get them to all slow down so we could snap a good picture.
Their mom, Chloe, wasn't too happy to have her babies removed from the nest, but she quickly changed her tune when we returned them.
These chicks are Rhode Island Reds. They will turn into a beautiful coppery, red color as they grow up. The hens will begin to lay eggs in the fall. They lay large, beige to brown eggs that are delicious scrambled or used in baking. We just love having fresh eggs.
In Central Texas, Spring is always a beautiful sight, but this Spring has been particularly pretty since we have had plenty of rain since Fall. This year, I have been so inspired by the blooms, that I am planning to make some paintings of them to sell in my Etsy shop. Here are a few of the blooms that have forced me to " pick up my paints". The above is a rose named Mutabilis. It begins to bloom as a peach color and then turns a deep pink color. It will appear as having several colors of blooms at one time.
This charmer is called, Crepuscule. Each bloom starts out as a peach color and then turns a light yellow. The above is a closeup and below is the vine climbing my back fence. It is a piece of art. I can remember the name of this rose by thinking of creamsicle. The color is almost the same as the orange creamsicles we all enjoyed as kids.
Almost all of my roses are antique roses. They seem to be more disease-resistant and, at least for me, easier to raise and to make cuttings. When I took these pictures, the rose scent was intoxicating and all I could hear were the "buzzing" of bees.
I got a little more creative here, this is a Cecile Brunner rose resting on a piece of milk glass. The background is vintage wallpaper that dates from the 1930's.
These buds are from the Mutabilis.
This is a Mutabilis bloom .
This rose is a climber, but I am unsure of the name. The background is a piece of a vintage wallpaper border.
These little beauties are called, Gabrielle Privat. The little roses are about an inch across. I love the pretty pink color. They are arranged inside a little jadite flower pot. I just love the pink and green together.
I am always amazed at the beauty of Springtime in Central Texas. This spring has been particularly beautiful due to all the rain we've gotten since fall. The wildflowers have inspired me to go into my studio and paint. This is a view from our front yard. Come along with me as I take a walk in the fields around my home.
The Indian Paintbrushes are really outdoing themselves this year. They are usually an almost florescent orange color, but these were a pretty buff, pink color.
This is an old farm tractor that my husband and I adopted. It had been in his family for years. I thought it looked like a piece of art surrounded by all the flowers. It sits in the field, greeting visitors as they drive up to our house.
These are Drummond Phlox. They range in color from red,to magenta or purple, pink and white. The colors are all so striking against the green grass.
This is a closeup view of the Phlox. I love the pretty pink color.
These are old fashioned poppies. They are all over my yard. Poppies are not native to my area, but I got these started several years ago, from seeds I purchased from a local garden club.
These pretty purple wildflowers are called Spiderwort. They can also come in pink or white. The purple color is so vibrant and bright.
Sometimes, on my walks around my yard or field, I run onto a nest on the ground. This one was at the edge of my vegetable garden by the fence. It is a guinea nest. We have about forty or fifty of these birds. They are wonderful for pest control. They eat insects of all kinds. They are also good watchdogs.
Under an oak tree, in our field, I ran upon another guinea nest, and this time a hen was setting on it. I have seen her here for the past few days. She will probably try to set her eggs, which usually takes about twenty-eight days. This past fall, I had a guinea hatch about sixteen chicks out in one of my flowerbeds. Another hen hatched almost two dozen chicks out inside the fence in a corner of our vegetable garden. It is always exciting to see the little chicks hatch out. They look like little fuzz balls.
These beautiful kids are our niece and nephews, they are standing in front of my husband's Granddad's old pickup, in our field, after an Easter egg hunt on Sunday.
This is my scarecrow girl, I usually make a new one each year. I made her head and painted her face. I purchase clothes and hats for her at thrift stores and yard sales. She watches over my garden throughout the seasons.
I am a seasonal decorator, and have this display on top of my china cabinet.
This bird is perched with her nest on a shelf that hangs over my hearth. I call it my "Seasonal Shelf". It is about four feet long and I make full use of it. It is also great since my cats can't get near it to swat at all the goodies.
This is a vintage glittered bird. She is perched on her nest in a pink milk glass dish.
I just love this little lamb. He is a treasure I found recently at an antiques store.
Here are some more items perched on the"Seasonal Shelf". I like to use Scrabble letters in displays, also. I was looking at an item at an antiques show recently with my mom, I think it was a bunny. When I remarked "It could go on my Seasonal Shelf", my mom said " I think that shelf will fall down if you put anything else on it." She's probably right. As spring ends, I will probably display one of my many collections of things---vintage flower vases. I will share a photo in a future post. 
This little birdhouse sits on a post along our fence in the backyard. It is surrounded by pear blossoms.
This is my workshop/studio located in our backyard. It is a converted storage shed.
This cabinet was purchased at a yard sale for $30, I added the curtains at the bottom.
These cabinets along the back wall, store all kinds of goodies waiting to be used for projects.
I made these valances from vintage linens and rose floral fabric.
This is a closeup of the valance showing the embroidered kitty.
