Monday, June 25, 2012

Seashore Wildflowers

Sunday Seaglass walks continue but when the pickins' are slim I find something else...or it finds me! This past Sunday was a gorgeous day and with summer in full swing now, the shoreline, marsh and roadside were in bloom. Wildflowers in their natural habitat are misjudged and overlooked – quite often thought of as just "weeds". Not the case at all! See what I've found on my walk...


The Sweet Pea is my all time favorite. I transplanted some to my yard at one point but it has disappeared. Hope to do it again if possible!


Butter & Eggs or Yellow Toadflax is a flower I remember from when I was a child and still love it – as long as it is on the roadside and not my garden as I believe it may be invasive!


 Blue Cornflower in the beach grasses.


Wild Yarrow abounds along the marsh shoreline.




Honeysuckle everywhere!


Morning Glories to greet the day....


and Tiger Lilies to bask in the sun.



The flowering Privet has a scent that evokes memories of summers long ago....I truly wish I could manufacture a candle so I could hold onto that scent all year long.


A little white beauty is the Bladder Campion. I had to look this one up and I don't even know the common nickname! 


Coming back into my own yard I am lucky to find the sunlight waking up my little garden. Wildflowers I see while walking can be mixed with weeds and more but that is their life. Here at home I must clip,  pull and dig to bring a bit of order into my "wildflower" cottage garden.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Chalkboard Signs

I always wanted to own a sign shop....funny old job was close to that and now part of my new job is creating hand written signage. Just so happens that chalkboards are becoming popular wedding and other event extras that create a vintage look & give pertinent information in a fashionable way. Hoping to expand this love of lettering via the chalkboard trend – I have one wedding down with another lined up already! Some signs here are quick draw while others I was given time to design. Keep me in mind if you need some cool signage at any event!






These chalkboards are all done on basic black using paint markers. So not exactly chalk but they can resemble the look and can be a solid or more "chalky" depending on personal preferences. These markers are water resistant when dry yet removable so they are a tad more user friendly and won't brush off or disappear should it rain! Some letters are single stroke - meaning a wider marker is used to save time and the words are just written, not "drawn".


Come visit terrain and have some lunch or dinner! 



A few small signs done for special displays were quick, easy and fun!




and finally, I received only one shot of the rush job Memorial Day Weekend wedding signage I was contracted to do. Virtually over night, 3 large chalkboards were produced.


I would have loved to have had time to see the location, add borders and possibly graphics but happy to have helped in this last minute request to make someones day even more special. The next wedding I do will be completely planned, designed to complement the invitations and have much more character! Check out my page of artwork and signage on the sidebar of this blog. There I show a very, very small portion of my Trader Joe's work. These chalkboards as I call them, are done with the same type of markers used in the terrain displays so you can see that color is another option as is the color of the chalkboard itself!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Orange & Yellow

After starting my new job at terrain I am still finding it difficult to focus on what I want to write about these days! I am trying to make my Sundays continue as Seaglass Sundays and I fortunately have that day off every week. Beach walks continue every chance I get all during the week if I have the energy after a long day on my feet! So let me get back to the beach here.....


A joyful find this past week was my first TRULY ORANGE piece of seaglass. It may look a bit amber here but believe me, it is ORANGE! Being one of the rarest colors of seaglass, I was quite excited to say the least.


Another shot of my beach and my find....


Speaking of orange, the common jingle shell is always abundant on the shoreline but sometimes one will catch your eye. Jingles can be white, yellow, orange and shades of black. This one seemed extraordinarily ORANGE! 


Wow....is this as orange as a jingle can be?


The jingle shell and its companion side photographed here. I find that not many beach goers know the other half of our common jingle! It is an interesting bivalve and the less known "valve" or half is affixed to a rock via tufts of threads (through the hole you can see) anchoring the animal. The "pretty" side is the one we all collect or at least admire. Once you recognize the jingle's lesser known half you will be surprised at how many you have missed in your shell searching! And how beautiful they are!


I must give the yellow jingle as much praise as the orange...even though orange is still the color for this 2012 season by design aficionados.


If that is so, this rusty orange forced hot air heating ventilation grate found on my beach is quite in style! My beach is just hip, has lots of orange and thus what can I say?








Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Beginnings

New beginnings on a few fronts! A new and interesting job that has kept me more than busy, a wonderful wedding in the family and of the start of another summer season. Blog posting has been tough but ideas are swimming around and around in my brain. This one has been brewing for weeks! 

For a summery glimpse of the first beach goers this year, I played with some images I captured,  edited with photoshop hoping to simplify and exaggerate....and truly just had some fun!

Crabbers

 Seaweed Family

Jette Walkers

Sandbar Hunters

Low Tide Sitters

Beach Walker