colors outside

While most garden blooms in spring and summer, for my garden it is the fall season.  My front yard is bursting with the most brilliant colors right now. The maple tree right next to my living room window cast a golden glow in the mornings; the path to the driveway and entrance is covered in warm shades of brown and the fiery red maple tree is just gorgeous!  I had to ask my husband not to rake the leaves just yet.

inspiration Friday

I took these photos from my front yard yesterday after the rain stopped.  We've been having lots of April showers here in Seattle as of late and I love it; there's nothing like the distinctive fresh smell after the rain, and the pretty flower buds popping everywhere this time of year. I'm looking forward to do a little bit of gardening this weekend. 

Happy Friday!

blue hydrangeas

My blue hydrangeas on the front yard is in full bloom. Yesterday I asked my husband to cut me a few stems for the dining table, the kids helped him and they got a little crazy and picked all the flowers within their reach then they brought them to me one stem at a time with each time announcing they got a present for me.   Silly kids, now my living room is in a sea of blue hydrangeas.

A few years ago, I bought a small hydrangea plant from Home Depot and planted it in the backyard.  It was a pretty pink shade, the following year the flowers turned to blue.  I later found out that the soil changes their colour.  The more aluminum present in the soil, then the flowers will eventually turned into a blue or purple shade.

One trick I read to changing the blooms into pink is to use a fertilizer with high levels of phosphorus to prevent the aluminum into the system, or better yet consider growing them in a large pots.  Maybe I'll try using the big pot method next time.

I love the blue hydrangeas just the same, I think they look great with the brown apothecary jars.  I like to use them for my flowers.  I don't  really have any vases, one big ceramic vase from Ikea but all my flowers go to jars and bottles mostly, and milkglass vases.

You can't really go wrong with these and the old mason jars, they look nice with any kinds of flowers and they're very inexpensive at the thrift store.

natural inspiration

These are the beautiful colors that surrounds my home this time of year. I don't spend very much time in my yard, I wish I could; the backyard is bare and could use more plants. Each time I drive by the garden center I always daydream of building a romantic garden with a pond in the backyard with a couple of very old cast iron benches and a couple of swings. I love that my yard is very low maintenance, and all the trees that was planted blooms alternately all year round. The front lawn has been invaded by green moss which I much prefer anytime than a regular lawn grass. And the clematis is climbing up all the way to my bedroom window on the second floor.

magnolia blooms and Monday shop update

Today was a hectic day with full of appointments and small errands. It's also a gorgeous spring day and I took a few minutes raking some leaves outside and just soaking up the sun. I also snap some photos of my blooming magnolia tree on the front yard, it took several times of shooting, uploading and adjusting as the sun was so bright and had to tinker with the camera a little, I just learned something new about my camera today, bright sun, less ISO speed.

And here's a few items I added to the shop today.

vintage 1965 chemistry table chart

modern mid century orange armchair

vintage original watercolor painting - boats

vintage French tapestry wall decor mosque

vintage teak mid century modern lamp

pretty window

I took these pictures this morning after realizing flowers not only look good in vases but also on window sill. My camellia tree in the backyard is in full bloom and yesterday after school Jovan and Sofia picked some out for me but the stems are too short to be in a vase, so my little guy said "I have an idea" (his favorite phrase) and voila, my window sill in full bloom...

signs of spring

The gorgeous weather around these parts of the NW had me convinced that spring has officially started. Throughout last week and this weekend the weather has been spring-like. Days like these is when I get motivated to pack so much activities and projects in a day.

This weekend I started and finished two DIY projects. I also started spring cleaning in my basement. I purged some old furnitures, old clothing, knick knacks, boxed them up and dropped them to Goodwill. Took 400 some photos of items to list this week and also wandered around outside to look for some signs of spring in my yard...



I took this picture at about 5 p.m. yesterday...





these pretty little flowers are popping up everywhere...



elephant ears plant that reappears by my front entrance every February...



the Magnolia tree on the front yard...



I haven't seen the Bluejay but I believe he will be coming by very soon, and I'll have this bird bowl filled with water ready for him when he comes by...

the small details

For the past few days, I’ve been hard at work at re-shooting my items for the shop. I don’t mind at all, in fact I do enjoy taking photos of my items now that I have a permanent place to photoshoot. No more windowsill, although I get amazing bright photos on it, it just wouldn’t cut it anymore I needed to step up, after all the photos are your product is the mantra I often read in the forums. I love the new gray paint which is the new background and the sun filled corner I’ve just discovered. It’s the only gray wall in the house for now…and I may have to do the whole room sometime soon.

I’m also loving my new macro lens and I find myself more drawn to details, the F/1.8 feature is just what I need in this rainy and cloudy Seattle weather.

Here's a few of the small details in and around my home...


pincushion in my sewing studio, turned storage room...


my newly thrifted red bakelite flatwares is a perfect match to my Swiss Chalet bowls...


and on the outside, my front yard is still looking green even in winter months...


and I just adore the moss that's covering most of my front lawn, trees and rockeries.

That is all. I will have a big shop update early Monday morning...please check back!

outside; inside

Today is a gray day, foggy, overcast, and even raining but I don't mind because I plan on staying home to clean, photograph and admire my colourful finds from last night's auction.

some photos of the outside...

some photos of the inside...