Lana's Lovely Giveaway

Get yourself over to Lana's blog and enter her giveaway for her 200th post giveaway! She is giving away a silk ribbon embroidered pillow to 2 lucky winners. She is a talented lady, you'll want to see all of her beautiful work.

Back Again- whewwww!

We are back from Quilt Market and..... exhausted! The show finished up at 4:00 Sunday afternoon, and originally we had planned on packing up the booth on Sunday, then staying over and driving home on Monday.... but then we found out that my daughter's 8th grade class trip to Baltimore was on Monday. So we packed up and left immediately on Sunday, drove home 6 hours from Pittsburgh to NJ, then we were back at school at 7:30 am Monday for the trip to Baltimore, which was fun (went to Inner Harbor). Now I know what it means to be running on empty! Spent today unpacking, putting stuff away... I feel like I just cannot do another thing- it's bed for me tonight at about 8:30!

Here is a photo that my husband took from the walkway over the convention center- keep in mind that this is just half of the convention hall... my booth is in there somewhere... Some photos of my booth. And as you can see, I really don't believe in minimalism- more is more if you ask me! I don't think I could have crammed one more thing into my little booth... We used some fencing and garden bench to provide more places to hang quilts...I made some cutouts of Millie, Tillie and sheep from foamcore and painted them for decorations in my booth- they came out pretty cute... Now that the show is over, they are staying in my studio to keep me company while I work...Me and my daughter... I could not have done it without her and my husband by my side the whole weekend... Thanks guys, I am infinitely grateful for your love, help, encouragement, and support....Some wonderful people I met were Anne Sutton from Bunny Hill Designs, Lynette Anderson, and Karen Kay Buckley. Be sure to check out their sites!

A little more unpacking to do for tonight and then into my pj's! Have a good evening!

End of the Cake...

Ok this is IT for the cake photos (until next year, of course...) Do you have a tooth ache? Need some insulin?? Me too...
I thought this was just lovely, covered with little violets... I would love having this at any occasion I was hosting (or attending)! Wouldn't it be perfect for a bridal shower?

We just loved the detail in this flower (by now, you know how I feel about flowers)...
And finally, this one won for decorating... Beautifully executed...
Be back in a couple of days, probably with tons of quilt photos!

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Garden Tour, part 3

Here are the final photos from our visit to the garden a couple of weeks ago...
These are the ruins of a structure outside of the main house... I love the way the light reflects off of the walls...My 14 year old daughter took these fabulously "artsy" photos....

Well we are off to Quilt Market today- WooHoo! I have scheduled a post of more cake while I'm at the show- hope no one gets a cavity! Have a great week...

And Yet Even More Cake...

I hope no one has a tooth ache yet! I loved these whimsical little flowers (unfortunately, I did not get a shot of the whole cake)...Again, I did not get a shot of the whole cake (what is wrong with me?- maybe I was in a sugar-induced stupor at that point...). But don't you love these realistic flowers and blackberries- the cake had kind of a woodland theme... almost seemed like a little fairy would come flying by at any moment... Of course, what good is a gorgeous cake if it does not taste good? And this one did- in fact, I think it won a prize... yum...
Leaving in just a couple of days for the quilt show.... Lots to do, lots to do...
Have a happy and productive Monday!

Still More Cake...

I thought this was one of the best cakes at the show... Beautifully executed Japanese theme...I don't know how they made the bamboo, but it was certainly very realistic... Handpainted fans...Origami birds made from some sort of dough or pastry...
This was also one of my favorites... with the silver box on top, it reminded me of an elegant tea party.... My daughter loved the fact that it was reminiscent of a Tiffany's box...I just adored these realistic flowers, especially the sweet peas, so old fashioned and vintage-y...

More flowers, again very realistic.... The rest of the cake was elegantly covered with white- on- white piping....
OK, I hope you haven't gained too much weight just looking at these cakes!!! Maybe you should go jogging or something....

A Garden Tour, part 2

More photos from the garden we visited... The gate opens to a path which leads down to the creek... it is so peaceful...

A small kitchen garden outside the main house...

He who plants a seed

beneath the sod

and waits,

believes in God.

A Garden Tour, part 1

Last weekend we managed to get down to the beach house. We had a glorious day weatherwise, so we headed to a local garden. It is located at Eyre Hall, in Cheriton, Virginia. It is a privately owned estate, and the Eyre family very graciously allows visitors into their exquisite garden any time, free of charge. My daughter and I took tons of photos.

A cottage which is used as an office....Supposedly, these are the oldest boxwoods in the U.S...

We have so many beautiful photos, I'll put some more up in a day or 2. And I also still have more cake photos, so I'll work on those too.

Have a beautiful day!