Mosaic Clock from paint chip samples!

Hi everyone, I recently found a nice old clock face with battery in back, but it had the worse looking fruit painted on it. I decided to paint over the fruit and do a paint chip sample mosaic on the clock.

You have seen all the pretty colors of paint samples at the DIY stores and I can never resist grabbing a handful of them!

I cut them randomly one at a time and glue down with a tacky white glue that dries clear. On this project, I first painted the clock a nice cream color, then started a random mosaic....no particular subject matter. I coat the finished design with a clear acrylic coating for protection.

Here is the finished clock and I plan to sell it in my antique (and other interesting things) booth.

Irish Soda Bread..can you smell it?

Hello everyone,

I just finished baking Irish Soda Bread. Yum! It turned out really well. I had made it Thursday for the Senior meeting at church and everyone enjoyed it, so I just had to make it again! Delicious with butter and a cuppa tea!













It has a crisp, firm crust on the outside and is soft and yummy on the inside!

Shamrock and a painted

rock bunny on the cottage chair on the porch. I am still celebrating St. Pat's Day!

What's New at the Antique Store?

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I painted all day in my booth at Rustic Star Antiques. I saw a lot of old friends I hadn't seen in a while . I used to do many arts and crafts shows and got to talk to so many people at them. Now that I am in the Rustic Star, I am more in the public than I have been for a few years. It is fun to reconnect! Also, I owned an antique shop for 5 years, then sold out, stayed home for 2 years, just painting in my studio and now I am back into the antique business with a large booth in Rustic Star. Just couldn't stay away!

Above is a pretty Duncan Fife coffee table in my booth with a big cloche added and 2 little Nantucket baskets. Notice the "chocolate" bunny in the basket! The other basket contains

lavender sashets....ummmmmmm, they smell so good! The bunnies in the basket are canvas

painted with heavy clear sealer to make them hard. They are really adorable!

Gold-lined china cups and saucers....beautiful for an elegant tea.

I have no idea why there is so much space between my photos and what I write. I can never seem to post a really nice post any more, and if I try to make the spaces smaller, it gets worse. Any suggestions, anyone? Please keep scrolling down to see the whole blog.

A "Gathering" of buttons and a sprinkling top used for wetting the laundry when preparing to iron clothing, all residing in an old jar lid.

More unwanted space............

I love old pin cushions, especially if filled with corsage pins!

Keep scrolling down........

One section of the store displays an old bed with quilt and other interesting items. Enlarge to check things out!

Remember you grandmother or mother's old sewing machine? They were so pretty in those days....now they are all made of plastic without the fancy gold scroll work.




One day the plastic ones will be antiques, too!

As for me, I love the old, sturdy ones....better

quality and certainly more appealing to the eye, don't you agree?

Happy Antiquing!

A beautiful Sunday in South Florida!

Hi everyone,

It is a beautiful sunny perfect afternoon in South Florida. The temperature is about 76 with a light breeze and it is just right!. I took a few photos around the property just so you could see this perfect day for yourself!

This Shamrock plant on the porch seems to like it's location and is blooming really pretty.

Check out the gorgeous sky! Things are greening up nicely, too, since we have had a few showers lately.

Hope you are having a nice day, too!

A Springtime Walk.....

Hello everyone,
Well, I was very disappointed to see that the turtle nest had been dug up and all the eggs eaten. Here is a photo of the egg shells.















On a more pleasant note, the beautiful yellow Spring tree in the front of the house is blooming! I can never think of the name, but in Spring it has beautiful yellow flowers, usually before getting leaves!

It is not quite as pretty as last year.

The bougainvillea is gorgeous, as always this time of year.

I am happy to see the Orchid Tree in full bloom. The flowers look just like orchids.

This one is growing on the side of the textured trunk!

I suppose Margaret's cat would love to go outside. He sits in the window most of the time.

He would probably find it pretty frightening as he has always been a house cat. He seems to be saying, "What are you doing with that camera?"

Ha ppy Springtime!

Painted Rocks....Spring Bunnies

Hi Everyone, It is rainy and windy in Florida right now where I live, so I am in the studio busily painting little rocks. Did I get the rocks out of my yard? No! We have no rocks here, only
shell rock, which is composed of very, very old shells! I had to buy these rocks!


Here is my little menagerie of bunnies.












My favorite is this little black and white fellow.














I often see real bunnies similar to this one! They love the newly greened up grass. This rain is welcome today because it has been so dry here and the grass was brown and dried.














Just for fun, I painted a rock with primroses...this would be a nice paperweight for someone. I will take all of these to my booth in the antique shop to decorate it a bit, and of course, sell them.

Which Spring Flower makes the whole house fragrant?

Hi Everyone, When you walk into Ten Gables Cottage, you immediately smell a wonderful
fragrance! It comes from a potted hyacinth that I bought at the grocery store! I thought
I would paint from it, but I also got cut sunflowers and it took a lot longer to finish the
sunflower painting than I expected, so the hyacinth has really bloomed out and will probably
be finished before I get to painting it. However I took photos for later use!

For fragrance, it can't be beat!

Happy Spring, wherever you are!

Antique Shop, Painting Sunflowers, and a Hibiscus Bush

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great Friday! I have more photos of the Rustic Star Antique Shop as well as the painting I started there yesterday! I bought a lovely bunch of sunflowers at the grocery store and put them in an antique pitcher, took them to the shop and began a painting! Below is that beginning.

Here is the bouquet. The sunflowers are so gorgeous....I hope they are long-lasting.

Here is another photo of some of the wonderful antiques at Rustic Star Antiques. I love the little chest on top of the chestnut table. Notice the woven

blanket....really old and in excellent condition.

A garden table set up for St. Patrick's day! Love these green dishes!

Melinda, one of the owners, makes beautiful jewelry from glass beads and vintage buttons. She embellishes vases and glassware, too.

For all you "blue" fans.

Old pitcher and bowl.

Some of Melinda's rings.

A copper boiler and a beautiful bid basket

My little desk where I paint when I am there. It opens up and I can store things inside. So far, it is not for sale, but in time I am sure I will part with it!!

Now, I want you to see the most beautiful orange hibiscus bloom ever! I have a new little hibiscus tree, as of yesterday. My neighbors, Margaret and John brought it over last evening. I had mentioned to Margaret, who works in the garden center that my hibiscus tree of about 12 years had completely died and I wanted another one when they got some in.

She grabbed this one when it came in and saved it for me and here they came with it last night.The blooms are just stunning.

Here is a photo of the planted tree. How cute is that! It is full of buds, too. You know that the flowers only last one day, but then others are always opening up.

Think Spring!!