Just Joey....

'Just Joey' is the most beautiful rose...

(photo courtesy of Abril es Bella Photography)

I have never been a fan of orange toned flowers, but this is stunning, and has made me look at other roses in this peachy sweet tone for Mia Bella Gardens.

This week has been crazy busy for various reasons, so not much has been done in setting up the new craft room, today that is what I'll be working on...

Mia Bella Gardens is looking spectacular so I'll also be

taking some new photos to share with my blog friends.

Have a fabulous day, and I'll catch you in post tomorrow.

Handmade Heart...

Easy to make....fabric heart....

Cut a heart shape in felt and a matching one in fabric. On a small rectangle of Aida cloth, write the word in pencil, then handstitch using embroidery thread.

 Your word of choice could be... baby, joy, dream, heart or whatever takes your fancy.

Sew Aida onto the fabric heart.

Sew the fabric heart to the felt heart, leaving a gap for stuffing. Stuff with filler, and stitch the hole. 

Fray the edges a bit if you like.

Hand sew a ribbon hanger and embellishments.

I used a pretty flower button.

These are fabulous gifts and fun to make. 

And as an added embellishment, I clipped on a little bling using this vintage earring.

You can visit the 'Lavender Bedroom' HERE for more decor and styling ideas.

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#homemadegiftideas #sewingcrafts #heartcrafts

Passion flower...

photo via Abril es Bella Photography

An intense orange red, passion flower blooms attract butterflies,

and the bees love them too.

This is a tropical variety of passionflower vine.

Fabric Ribbon...

Dress up a whitewashed wooden box with fabric ribbon.

Easy to make, just fray edges of a strip of your favourite fabric (Just make sure it is  long enough to go around the box and allow for a bow).

Once frayed, put around the box and tie a bow at the front.

Dahlia...

What more can I say except - simply stunning!

Pretty Tiled Tin Bucket...

We have just retiled our fireplace hearth with these gorgeous tiles, and I had some left...But what to do with them?  

On my foraging expedition at 'Bed Bath and Beyond' (I so love their sales table!) I came across these fab tin buckets.  Bonus is they are already painted, so I got this ecru coloured one (and a bright red one to be saved for a Christmas project). 

The Soaking word is not required, so this is where the tiles come to play...

All I did was cut a strip of tiles wide enough to cover the soaking word and used tile fix to stick it to the bucket.

Measure from the top rim so the tiles are evenly spaced...I used a hair dryer to help the drying process (otherwise the tiles tend to slip downwards).

Leave 24 hours, then grout the tiled strip.

Pop in a lovely potted chrysanthemum.
And there you have it.
A tiled pot of pretty!

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#tilingdiy #tilecrafts #diyplanterpots

Heucherella...

 There's nothing like a bit of stunning foilage in the garden.

This is Heucherella 'Golden Zebra'...

And if you adore Lime green as I do...

meet Heucherella 'Lime Maramalade'.

The Crown!

 Bed Bath and Beyond has become my favourite store...
I have always wanted a crown...
I have no idea why, 
I just think they are so cool...
and look what I found!

 Fabulous spinal detail...

 In fact gorgeous detail everywhere...
then I worked out, 
if you separate the two pieces, 
you can have a metal basket, 
and a crown...
two for the price of one. 

And the price was sale at $15.99! 
WOW!

Ah but what to put inside the crown...

I don't need another candle 
so I went to Farmers and bought this jar ($2.99), 
which of course could hold a wee posy of flowers 
or just look lovely as it is.

Camelia bud...

Lovely creamy white camellia bud...

Bird House Gourd...

When the rats decided my gourds were delicious, a lot ended up a bit holey!

So I used the ones with bird sized holes to make birdhouses. 

First I painted the inside of the gourd white, then the outside a lovely yellow.

I love butterflies, so there was no question what to decorate the outside with...

a pretty blue butterfly on a leafy branch.

#Gourdart #Gourds 

Morning Star...

The prettiest little star flowers....

and would you believe growing in the top of a large rock.

All I did was get the chisel and hammer out,

 and chipped away at the rock until there was a small pot size indent. 

'Morning Star' is a Rhodohypoxis....

and has been happily growing in the rock for the past two years!

#rockplants #morningstar 

DIY Joy Cushion

I LOVE Christmas, and I am starting to think about what creations need creating for this year's display.

I'm not sure where I first saw this cushion idea (may have been on Pinterest).

but here is my version.

I love how this cushion fits into the red and white colour scheme of my sitting room. You could use a red cushion with white felt if you prefer.

I went to the local homeware store and bought an off-white cushion (sale price $8), and some red felt from the fabric store (cost $2). The word joy letter template is off the web.

 

Cut out the template letters.  Pin to felt, cut out felt letters.

Lay out double-sided iron-on fusing, and draw around the outline of the letters using a pencil. Do a mirror image of the J. 
Use a hot iron to bond the fusing to the felt letters. Trim edges.

Peel off the backing paper from the double-sided fusing. Remove the cushion inner from the cushion and place felt letters in the centre overlapping the letters slightly.  Hot iron and fuse in place.

Top stitch with white cotton (red if your felt is white) around the letters using a sewing machine. Embellish (sequins, buttons, etc if you desire), but I chose to leave mine plain.

And there you have it...a joyous Christmas cushion, that's quick and easy to make.

Joy word template

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#Christmascrafts #ChristmasDIY #Christmasdecorideas

Look At This!

I could not believe it when I saw this...
a self-seeded camelia in the garden that is about only a metre high, but the left side has varigated flowers, and the flowers on the right side are solid colour.
It is like a line has been drawn up the middle of the shrub with diffferent colours on each side.
I think I'll leave it be and see what it does as the tree matures...

The Best Gerbera...

Shocking pink in colour, 

this gerbera has been in Mia Bella Gardens for about ten years. 

It flowers from early spring to early winter, 

and is great for picking.

I have bought many modern gerbera varieties over time,

 and all seem to be susceptible to mildew disease. 

Actually, I hate to think how many I have managed to kill!  

None have ever compared to this 'nameless' shocking pink gerbera, 

which has never had a day of mildew disease in it's life. 

Aqua Blue Beaded Gourd...

 I went through my gourd growing stage a few years back...

Amazing plants to grow, but  you do need a huge amount of room if you grow more than one plant. 

We had gourds coming out our ears! 

  

Every shed roof at Mia Bella Gardens had gourds on top drying...

even the trampoline was covered in drying gourds...

 Friends and family got decorated gourd gifts, people found out we grew them and wanted them for their own crafts or cultural uses.

 A lot got given away, and then the corn field was harvested, and the hungry rats decided they were delicious too...

so that was the end of the gourd growing era. 

I may try again sometime, maybe just one plant on a trellis....

This gourd was painted a lovely aqua colour, 
and decorated with beads and cord.

#gourdart  #gourds

Ella...

Ella is a mixed breed moggy....we are sure she has British Blue in her as she has a big round face and tiny ears.  She's just like a big teddy and has the most stunning green eyes.

She is best friends with Tucker dog...they do everything together.

Very cute to see them sleep together at night, and sunbathe on the driveway on hot days.

Ella smooches Tucker too. 

Dendrobium Orchid...

A cute wee orchid 

with the most powerful perfume you have ever smelt.

This is 'Dendrobium Delicatum'.

Geranium

Wow, what a beautiful geranium. 

Soft whitish pink outer petals with a shocking pink centre.

In my moment of gardeners madness 

I bought four geraniums from the garden centre....

with absolutely no idea where they would go in the garden.

Mia bella Gardens is 'chocka block' so I have to say it took a few days, 

and a few pots brought out of the storeshed to find homes for them all. 

This geranium is 'Zonal Geranium' - Flower Fairy White splash.

Jade...

My name is Jade.  I am an Indian Ringneck Parrot.

My favourite thing to do is tease the dogs.  I whistle to them to come...

I wolf whistle too. 

I can meow like a cat, say hello, how are you...

I live on my own as I don't really like the girls, they stress me out, then I sulk and I won't talk.   So I am really happy on my own, because I get all the treats and lots of delicious food.

Blue Collection

I just love this blue...and when teamed with white is just divine...

I added a few pieces of aqua glass...

and a stamped art picture in black and white...

I love the detail of French Country style pieces...

I'm very tempted to give the old cabinet this collection sits on a makeover...

distressed white of course.  It's on the 'maybe' list.

'Upside Down' Cymbidium Orchid

What a gorgeous Cymbidium orchid this is.  I had it in a pot and when it flowered the flowers were hanging upside down on the spike.  It just didn't look right at all as you just could not appreciate the beauty of the flowers, so now it has been potted into a hanging basket. 
The flower spikes hang down now, and look just perfect.
A lot of my orchids  have no records of names, as they were bought from yard sales, or from garden centres, and had no information attached. 
I've never seen another 'upside down' cymbidium before, so if anyone knows more - please share...