Miraculous Paper Sculptures

Around the holidays, when I was searching the 'net for ideas for my vintage book wreaths, I came across some of the most amazing paper art that I have ever seen. The artist who did the little bird in a tree below is Su Blackwell. You must go check out her website for more of her amazing work. It's whimsical, beautiful, and sometimes even a little bit sad....

This light from Paper Couture is genius, and I'm thinking I'd like to make one some time:

Another artist, Oona Patterson, creates the most amazing things!

These next three are completely different, and are by San Francisco artist Jeff Nishinaka:

I love the soft roundness of his pieces.

I got this pic from DesignModo.com, which is a design website of some sort. I think this was part of an advertising campaign or something. Sorry I'm short on credit for this one. But I just liked the more retro feel of this work:

I think this last one is my favorite from Su Blackwell....a little cabin in the woods:

Someday I'll have one of these....

Winter Wonderland

I probably should have brought my pots in....*sigh* I hope too many of them don't get ruined.
Maybe when it warms up I can rescue them.

My little Japanese maple is so picturesque:

Remember you can click the photos to see them larger.
They really look much more impressive that way.

I love this stand of young cedars in my neighbor's yard:

These are lily seed pods. These lilies are incredible when in bloom.
I'll have to get a good picture this summer:

Bittersweet:

Love:

I felt badly for the birds today, with all the snow on the ground. Thank goodness all of my neighbors have bird feeders. I think that's why there were so many birds around this afternoon while I was shoveling. I'm glad SOMEbody's taking care of the poor things!

I took this picture from the end of my driveway.
I hadn't shoveled myself all the way out at this point:

If you've got snow, as I know many of you out there do, make the most of it and enjoy it! Spring will come. I promise!

*all of my photos were edited with Photoshop Elements 8.0 and Lightroom 2.0

Snowy Morning in NY

I love waking up to a snowy morning when the snow has managed to stick on everything and stay there! It's a winter wonderland out there today! It's mild, though, so the roads are all melted. It's the best of both worlds!

My poor flag. I guess I should bring it in for the winter.

I love icicles!

View out one of my LR windows:

See my "when pigs fly" glass figurine from my sister Ann? He's so cute!

View from my DR/office window (side of the house):

And last but certainly not least, my lovely little Japanese maple tree:

I hope you're all enjoying a lazy Saturday. We're staying in and watching movies and football today. Go Jets! :)

Terrariums and Trellises

Sunday was my Christmas celebration with my best friends, and this is what I made for them:

The one with the kids is for my friend Kelly, who runs a day-care. She takes the kids for hikes and down to the river all the time, so I tried to theme hers along that vein.

Jennifer's husband is a surveyor, so when I saw the mini surveyor dudes,
I knew what I had to do!

I love the kite-flying girl:

(LOVE the Venus fly traps.)

Then, I had BF make me some peony supports for Jennifer, because she has a huge hedge of them. We had seen these supports at Campo de Fiori over in Massachusetts last year, but they were pretty pricey. Luck for me, BF can bend metal!

...and he can weld it too! I had him build these two trellieses/obelisks for Kelly's garden:

Those iron arrows are drapery finials! Cool, right?!

I had to take a picture of this pot that Jennifer's mother gave her. It's a beauty!