Winter at Mia Bella Gardens...

Oh my, how incredibly warm this winter has been!

And I am enjoying it immensely!

Not only for the fact that the arthritic bones are not so sore, 

but for the enormous amount of colour that there is...

Bromeliads... 

Even the butterfly flower 'asclepias',

and an iris,

neither of which should actually be in flower right now!

Red Bottle brush trees...

Paper whites with a delicious perfume...

Purple Hebe...

'Correa Pullchela' with pretty pink tubular flowers...

 There are camellias in fabulous colours...

Nicotiana which a flowering tobacco.

This one is the hybrid called 'Ondra's Green Mix'.

Fushias, fushias...

and more fushias...

 Begonias...

A touch of purple...

 Colourful leaves....

  Banksia Tree...

 The Gordonia tree is in full bloom...

And even a passionflower!

If nature is so kind as to let Mia Bella Gardens escape any severe frosts,

 she is going to look AMAZING come spring...

And I can't wait!

Must Have Flowers...

I have been having a wee play with photo shop...

Yesterday I came across this very famous Claude Monet quote...

So I have written it on to this lovely rose photo, 

(one of April's rejects, though I seriously cannot understand why!)

I must have flowers, always and always!

Claude Monet I totally agree...

for what is life without the beauty of flowers!

Enjoy!

Gouldian Finches...

Mia Bella Gardens aviaries have new additions...

two breeding pairs of Lady Gouldian Finches.

They are amazing colours don't you think?

The male has a gorgeous dark purple breast...

And the female has a soft lavender breast.

Don't you think those wings look angelic?
For more information on these finches visit:
http://www.efinch.com/species/gould.htm

Lavender Crocus...

The crocus is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family. 
They are perennials that grow from corms.
Flowers can appear from autumn, winter to spring.
Crocuses are native to woodland, scrub and meadows.
They grow from sea level to alpine tundra 
in central and southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.



I snapped these photos so you could see how gorgeous  
the wee lavender flowers with bright yellow stamens are!
I'm not sure of the name of this one, 
but these crocus grow in pots 
and in the garden beds of Mia Bella Gardens.

Fun Flower Hair Bands...

What fun my daughter April has had creating these sweet hair bands...

she must have inherited some of her mothers crafting genes!

These silver satin ribbon roses are hand sewn...

With beautiful white pearls as focal points....

Attached to black elastic...

A single white satin ribbon rose...

On the black elastic band...

With dainty pearlescent seed pearls glued to the centre...

This is one made from white felt...you can't see the pearl in the the centre...

The green leaves are a nice contrast.

If you want to have a go at making these...great gifts for the girly girl...

You'll find the tutorials at:

http://makeanddogirl.com/2011/10/tutorial-diy-felt-flowers/

and

http://alisaburke.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/holiday-hair-band-tutorial.html

Pretty in Pink...

Pretty in pink.

In New Zealand these pink lillies are commonly known as 'Naked Ladies'...

Otherwise known as the Belladonna Lilly...

Family: Amaryllidaceae   (am-uh-ril-id-AY-see-ee) 

Genus: Amaryllis   (am-uh-RIL-us) 

Species: belladonna   (bel-uh-DON-nuh) 

Read more:http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2377/#ixzz2YCgIR39o

Gorgeous ribbon cushion in white...

with a pretty blossom themed duvet.

Delicate ribbon roses...

The Belladonna lilly is deliciously fragrant!

Clea the lilac Burmese joins the photo shoot!

"My fur is a fabulous contrast colour, don't you think?"

Emmm, time for a nap!

Winter Rose....

What a fabulously warm winter it has been so far!

Some of the roses are still flowering... 

 And there are still a few bees around gathering pollen!

This red rose is called a 'Flower Carpet Rose'.

'Laundry' Sign....

You can buy all sorts of quirky Laundry signs nowadays...

But I wanted to hand-craft one to match the blue of my laundry walls...

Plus hand-crafting is so much more fun than walking into a shop 

and just buying it!

This is how I made my laundry sign.... 

First of all I cut an MDF board to the desired size, and then painted it white.

 Using free lettering from the net, I block coloured the letters in blue, 

and printed using my home printer,  

then cut out the letter shapes...

I roughly hand tore the edges of three squares of 

pretty contrasting scrapbook paper.

Glued the squares onto the board first,

 then the lettering spaced over the squares.

I did this freehand, 

but if you want use a ruler to get perfect spacing.

Using permanent black stamping ink and desired stamps, 

stamp an edging design around the board.

 Once stamping ink is dry, 

use a black sharpie pen to outline the lettering.

When dry, lightly and quickly so as to not smudge the inks,

 coat entire board with a sealer.

(I used 'Mod Podge').

And here's the end result!

I'm really happy with how it looks with the blue walls!

New Hearts...

I have an addiction to hearts...

I seem to have quite a few now, 

but theses are the latest addition to the collection...

A woven heart made of wood.... 

A ceramic heart...

dipped in grey/white paint for a french country look

This heart has a beautifully embossed surface...

Fabulously french...

I'm in love!

Drought Blues....

Oh how I wish it would rain...

Poor old Mia Bella Gardens is looking sooooo sad!

Rain has been elusive for many months now, apart from a mere millimetre here and there. 

The heat has been unbearable, and the garden is starting to suffer.

Sadly my five finger tree is dying, and so is my beautiful 3 metre tall Brugmansia shrub.

The dahlias however are LOVING it!

 Unbelievable but true...

they have stood tall like soldiers in the heat and dryness.

Water restrictions have meant hand held hose watering 

(NO sprinklers allowed).

This takes me three hours every second or third evening!!  

(Perhaps a glass of Chardonnay in one hand would help...)

The monarch butterflies LOVE the dahlias too....

sucking the delicious nectar from deep within the flowers.

It is Autumn now, but it still feels like summer.

I'm so looking forward to those cooler days and the end of this terrible drought,

so I can start to prune, feed, and aid the recovery of Mia Bella Gardens.

3D Easter Rabbit...

Print the template for the bunny 

link is via:

 http://creativetryals.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/make-your-own-decoupage-cardboard.html

Cut the template out

Copy shapes on to paper covered cardboard

Make the concertina joins for the legs and ears...

And then you have a cute 3D Easter rabbit

to add a little fun to your Easter table or decor'.

For more detailed step by step instructions,
decouplage option,
 and the link to the bunny pattern visit:
http://creativetryals.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/make-your-own-decoupage-cardboard.html