A Week of Farm, Flowers and Snow...

With the new year, I set a goal to blog at least 2-3 times a week and here we are a week since my last post... sigh...  In the last week, our Texas weather has been on a roller coaster, from 60's on Monday to ice and snow Monday night and Tuesday morning. Wednesday morning was 6-10 degrees, depending on which thermometer you looked at. I know for some of you, you live with negative temps every year, but I seriously don't remember it ever getting that cold here and I consider anything below 40 to be cold (actually I prefer it never go below 50). My mom seems to think the winter of  '82 or '83, it got that cold... Yesterday was in the 70's and I was working in the yard in shorts, followed by thunderstorms and another temperature plunge last night.

(I used a watercolor app to edit my snowy barn scene picture.)

It seemed like a lot of our week was spent taking care of the farm animals and making sure they survived the cold (and they did just fine!) I was driving the truck for Jeff to put out extra feed and snapped this picture... I loved that it showed both of us working together to feed the cows. I'm not a fan of snow or cold, with the one exception that it does provide a few different photo opps! 

 While most of Texas seemed to shut down with the snow, we did not! We had packages to ship out and since we were already getting out to go to the farm, we went by the post office and dropped off some pretties.

This bouquet was in one of those boxes, headed to Canada (where y'all are probably laughing at how we deal with snow.) 

 I created woodsy, outdoors style arrangements for our neighbor, who lost his battle with cancer. He loved to hunt and some of his antlers and turkey feathers were included in his casket spray. I love being able to create arrangements that are personal and reflect the person's life and interest.

 Y'all know I am a former 4-H member and think it is a wonderful organization - I was ask to help out at their local fashion camp last week and we worked on creating fabric flowers. I have to admit, it was a different style of flower than I usually make and I learned a few things myself! Our niece was one of the participants. We are very much alike, except she loves cold weather and I can't wait for spring and summer!

I'll be boxing up these jade burlap bouquets this morning and shipping them out this afternoon!
I often get ask about the different sizes - this is a medium size bouquet and two small bridesmaid bouquets. Occasionally the medium size is used as a bridal bouquet or most often used as a maid of honor or bridesmaid bouquet. The medium is similar in diameter to the bridal bouquet, although it is not near as full of roses.

While Jeff did some farm work outside of the barn, I spent time inside the barn, photographing some new bouquets and dream catchers I created this week. This video shows the details of a new bouquet. It is ready to ship now and can be found in my etsy shop.

I created a sample toss bouquet for a potential customer with navy and maroon burlap roses, since I didn't have any pictures of a bouquet in these colors. She is still deciding on  her exact colors and style for her wedding, so I decided to add more to this bouquet and offer it for anyone interested. Its in between the small and medium bouquet size, with maroon, navy, and tan burlap roses, white and ivory lace, and dried babies breath. This bouquet is ready to ship or I can create additional bouquets for your wedding. 

 When we got to the barn, we noticed a bird had been there and we cleaned up the evidence. Later on, I saw new evidence in the same exact place, so I looked up and found this owl roosting in the barn rafters.

Dreaming of Spring!!! Can't wait for the forsythia and spring flowers to start blooming and birds sitting on their nest!

The following two wreaths were also created this weekend. I have several local customers who like this style of wreath and often send them to funerals, as something a family can keep. These are listed in my shop and can be shipped or you can contact me for local delivery.

The first wreath is in white and cream colors, with cotton and burlap ribbon. 

 This wreath has red roses, peonies, and daisies, along with the white heather and burlap and lace ribbon.

We've been talking to lots of bride's-to-be and excited about creating lots of things for all of you!

So that's a run down of what happened last week with the farm and flowers. Hope you all have a fabulous week and if you have a tip for how to keep your feet warm, please pass it on to me! (Wool socks and/or 2 pairs of socks and fuzzy, fleece lined boots didn't do a good job.)

Looking Back on 2016 January - June

As the year comes to an end, I'm looking back at some of my favorite pictures, orders, and events of 2016. Thank you doesn't seem enough to express my appreciation to everyone who ask me to have a part of your weddings, special events, decorate your homes and business, or create sympathy tributes for your loved ones along with everyone who comes out to our shows, or like our pictures, post, and share about our events. You mean so much to us and we are thankful and grateful for each and everyone of you. 

January - 

Flowers for the Open House at the new McWhorter Funeral Home.

 Friends and Former Co Workers, supporting our friends as they opened their new business. We all got dressed up for the occasion!

Love - photoshoot 

Behind the scenes - sometimes it takes a bunch of feed buckets to pull it off! I just saw a post on facebook that said "don't compare your behind-the-scenes, to someone else's highlight reel." Behind the scene's, there was some crazy times this year, but I choose to focus on the positive. 

The turquoise burlap bouquet is always a favorite of bride's and myself! It was the first colored burlap that a customer requested and the beginning of custom wedding orders.

January was when my sister-in-law suggested we apply to be a part of the Backwood's Marketplace. We expected to wait several weeks to see if were accepted into the show, but found out the next day that we were in! We are so thankful that we have became a part of a great group of local artisans to put on the show. 

February - 

Arrangements for the Gilmer National Bank stockholders meeting. 

A custom bouquet with wheat and dried babies breath. 

My Valentine's Day baby calf

And Valentine's flowers!

Ahh, this was a rush order jade burlap bouquet with lace flowers, rhinestones and pearls and sunflower bridesmaid bouquets.

Dreaming of Spring! 

Sunni's Beach Wedding prompted this request for a seashell bouquet!

Baby calf felfies (farmer selfies)! How cute was this baby?!? Found him hiding in the bushes and couldn't resist a picture with him!

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March - 

From the "Happy Mother of the Bride" - Dawn shared pictures of her daughter's wedding. Picture by Dayna Healy.

The Backwood's Marketplace was so much fun to join! 

Angea and I had a blast working on our "junk" for the markets this year and setting up our booths. It pushed our creativity and give us an outlet to share the things we like to work on. Best of all, it is a local show that is all about handmade, repurposed, shabby, rustic, vintage, junk, and primitives. No mass produced items are allowed, since the emphasis is on the artist.

Jeff - what would we do without him??? 

I love this picture of him! I wanted a picture of him standing in front of the camper and he grabbed up the pink pony! 

Navy and Wine / Burgundy Burlap Wedding Bouquets - The new wine color was added to my inventory. 

Gone Junkin' - Weekly junkin' trips became a fun part of our job as we hunt and pick for the fun items for our shows.

Spring flowers make me happy, happy, happy! 

April - 

2 (almost) matching burlap, lace, and brooch bouquets.

Coral burlap, feathers, and bling bouquets.

Rustic flower containers are a must in my yard! No plastic flower pots are to be seen and store bought containers are off limits in the "junk yard."

Delivering flowers for a party and wearing a repurposed denim and lace vest I created! The repurposed clothing bug hit me and I've had fun transforming cloths. 

May - 

The spring brought request for lots of fresh flower bouquets.

Turquoise and Burnt Orange was a new burlap bouquet combination. 

Red and Turquoise Bouquets and Boutonnieres. Really, I don't think there's a single color that doesn't go with turquoise!

June - 

Turquoise and Purple burlap and lace bouquets - see all things go with turquoise!

Fresh flower easel in shades of pink and purple.

Mimi's jade and red bouquets and shotgun shell boutonnieres. 

Navy and vintage maroon for a patriotic summer wedding. 

"Sprinkles" as a facebook friend named him - because he looked like he dipped his nose in a bowl of chocolate sprinkles!

My cactus only blooms for one day and its always a nice surprise to walk outside and find it blooming.

Big bouquets for the Custom Commodities / Rotary Club meeting and special presentation.

100 red roses...

Blush and mint green bouquet with vintage lace and brooches.

Shanda's wedding pictures. I love when my brides share pictures of their wedding day with me! Since most of my correspondence is online, I love getting to see some of the weddings and places all of the bouquets get to go.

Cady and Cody's Wedding. Photo by April Powell Photography

"Sophisticated Swamp Bayou" themed party flowers!

Camo and orange wedding flowers.

Home on the Range! An order of western pillow covers for the National Hereford Women. Angea and I found this vintage bed frame while out junkin' and it made its way home in time to showcase the pillows.

Church flowers at Rosewood Baptist Church.

The triple layer orange day lily is one of my favorites in my yard. 

Next time, we will look back on the highlight reel from the second half of the year.


From the bottom of my turquoise loving heart, we thank you for being a part of our tribe and riding shotgun with us!