Ahh, Hellebores!

A little glimpse of Spring to all of you in the Winter doldrums. Don't fret. She's just around the corner...

January Jewels

Witchhazels are a marvelous staple of the winter garden and many garden blogs have lately touted their virtues. Some of the most popular are 'Diana', 'Arnold Promise', and 'Jelena'. But there are many others out there that are equally dazzling (if not more so). Here are a few:

My all time favorite is Hamamelis 'Ruby Glow'. An early bloomer and fragrant too.


H. 'Sunburst' is a blaze of florescent yellow. Also an early bloomer.


H. 'Firecharm' is similar to 'Ruby Glow, but not fragrant and it's a lower shrub.


H. japonica 'Zuccariniana' is one of the very latest blooming witchhazels. It has yellow scented flowers, but I like it best for it's buds that hang like little droplets from the branches.

If you can't find unusual witchhazels at your nursery, Please check these wonderful nurseries in the links list in my sidebar:
Gossler farm Nursery
Forestfarm Nursery

Tapestries in the Natural World

Grapes and Elderberries at the Village Green Resort - Fall

I've always been fascinated with little "Tapestries" that are created in nature. I envision these wonderful little vignettes woven into a blanket that I can crawl under to hibernate. Here are a few tapestries that Mother Nature has woven.

Boston Ivy on Marble Wall - The Getty Garden - Winter


Rock Wall at Great Dixter - Summer


Ajuga and Bellis - The Village Green Resort - Spring


Gravestone at Stourhead - Summer


Violas and Sempervivums at The Village Green Resort - Spring

Muse Hunting

It's January and rather icky outside most of the time, so I've been cleaning up my studio where a twenty something stray kid had camped out for a few weeks. Now he's gone and I can reclaim my creative space. So what do I do in there? I make altered books, I create beaded brooches, I paint, I cut, I sew, I glitter. Whatever catches my fancy.
Two years ago a friend was diagnosed with cancer. I decided to make an altered book for her; making a few pages each week and sending them to her to insert in a customized binder I had made.

These pictures show a page that has a wheel in the center that displays the different seasons


The text on this page reads: "Ever notice how you can tell a lot about a person by what they have in their handbag? Is it schedules and parking stubs or fairy dust and theater tickets? I believe that our handbags manifest themselves in us- A really scary theory not yet substantiated by any well-known university. But a theory nonetheless.
What's in YOUR handbag? Here's a little one that you can write healing, happy thoughts in - so we can test our Theory of Handbag Manifestation."


I would always encourage my friend to be strong - Be a Woman Warrior.


Making a "ransom note" poem from the L. L. Bean catalog was great fun.


We both love Day of the Dead and I had to include this happy little dog skeleton

I don't remember how many pages I ended up making. But I had a great time doing it and she had a great time using it to keep her mind off her fear.
Do you have a space where you can get creative? Let me know what you have made.