Pink is Coming up all over Texas

Well, Texas is showing off in a big way this spring…in a big pink way that is…after what seemed like an endless drought followed by an ultra cold winter, Ms. Spring is showing the world who’s the boss!!!

I snapped a few pictures of the roadside flowers this week as three Valley girls (Rio Grande Valley Girls Barbara and Judy, and I) headed south to McAllen for a short visit. It sounded like Fourth of July Oooh’s and Aaah’s as we rounded each curve in the road. Most places had lots of different colors mixed together…

I’m just sharing a few of the most pink spots…like this pink phlox…there were whole hillsides covered with this beautiful hue…can you imagine? Wild flowers this amazing as far as the eye can see…

And these Evening Primrose are just starting to bloom…

In another month these small patches will also cover entire meadows…

But my favorite blossom this trip is the Heart’s Delight growing around Falfurrius. It’s been years since I had seen them…I thought they must have become endangered to the point of extinction when lo and behold! whole banks of them…

They look like a pom-pom verbena in a deep pinkish purple. Aren’t they beautiful?

The noon sun really make them glow! Look at this one just starting to open…

They don’t cover whole hillsides like the bluebonnets and phlox, but it was exciting to discover an old forgotten floral friend that was one of my childhood favorites. I don’t know if they are all over Texas…this small area in Brooks County is the only place I have ever seen them so you can understand why I’m so excited to be sharing them today.  Speaking of sharing today, stop by Beverly’s house to pick up the weekly list of Pink Saturday blogs and make the rounds. You know you’re gonna be in for a treat… http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ 

And speaking of treats, the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat registration is open…I’ll be teaching one of the dozen classes being offered… We’ll be making an altered book similar to this one which just sold in my Etsy shop this week…

Check out the classes and the teachers…you’ll be impressed and I’ll bet you will want to head to Texas to join us!

http://www.papercowgirl.blogspot.com/

And don’t forget to visit Beverly during the week to sign up to post your own special pink one of these Saturdays…

Pink Saturday…Today is the First Day of Spring

Well, I set out camera in hand Friday afternoon to find just the right shade for our weekly celebration of all things pink, after all, Spring will be arriving today and surely she’s bringing pink with her…I found bright red Azaleas…

But I need pink… so I kept looking…and I found the Salvia just starting to shake off winter…  

Now that’s more like Pink Saturday material, but I had my heart set on native wildflowers, so out into the meadow I headed…I found our state flower, the Bluebonnet just opening…

and much as I love them, they just don’t have enough pink for my purpose…I found Mountain Laurel also celebrating the arrival of Spring

If you don’t have them in your parts, you don’t know what you’re missing. They are  small native trees that stay glossy green all winter and then burst out in fragrant blooms early in spring…but they are purple and lavender not pink…they even smell purple…can’t really describe it, but the aroma is like grape jelly…no kidding, it smells purple… the wild verbena are also happy to greet spring…

But still not the hue I’m seeking…

I find tiny daisies…

and wild onions…

and this “sweet” yellow wildflower that’s trying to take over the state…

and I found one of my very favorite favorites, the tiny native grape hyacinth…

I was ready to give up on finding any pink when Hubby saw my frown…and just in time to save the day, he led me to the only pink in the whole meadow…

  It was breezy and they wouldn’t hold still to pose…

so they may be a bit out of focus, but there they are the first PINK  wildflowers of the season…pretty soon the Evening Primrose will be blooming and Texas will have entire hill sides of pink. We just have to be patient. Isn’t that our lesson after this long cold winter?  We all need a little pink and it’s worth waiting for…with that in mind, I’m off to visit Beverly to see who’s posting pretty pinks for us today. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

If you came to visit from Paper Cowgirl, you should join us… some Saturdays there are around 200 posts celebrating one of our favorite colors. My Paper Cowgirl posts are right after this one…and needless to say, there’s  some pink in those posts too. If you are on the Pink Saturday trail, you should check out the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat…http://www.papercowgirl.blogspot.com/

We’ll be meeting here in Texas in June…check it out. Have a wonderful first day of spring and a totally pink week.

Pink Saturday Goes Green…

This  Pink Saturday post is not about the green of St. Patrick’s Day…It’s about Going Green in a Pink sort of way….I’ve been making altered books for several years…Altering a book simply means starting with an old  book, adding a variety of mixed media treatments  and giving it new life by repurposing it.  The book I’m sharing this Pink Saturday is a discarded library book…it was a play, so it’s not very thick. I painted it and started removing pages, then folded  a few pages to create “pockets”.  I used lots of reclaimed tissues to cover the pages. This page is covered with scraps of tissue from one of my birthday gifts.

This paper is left over from gifts I wrapped…lots of pink watercolor flowers…You can see a few of my tags in the pockets…Isn’t this a sweet pink-green way to use elements that would otherwise end up in the trash dump?

  Mixed media projects are such a good way to use little bits and pieces to give new purpose to an old item.

This paper’s origin is unknown, and I only had a few scraps…I love the watercolor flowers and the writing. I wish I had enough to cover an entire book…

  I added scraps of the tissues to the cover,  then some vintage inspired scrapbook flowers and called it finished.

Now, that’s  what I mean about going Green-Pink. This one is in my etsy shop and I will be sharing the techniques at Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat in June. Talk about a Pink gathering; Paper Cowgirls love pink, and glitter, and vintage ephemera. You should check it out when you get a chance…. http://www.papercowgirl.blogspot.com/

Right now I’m off to visit Miz Mollye…good Golly, she’s a hoot. http://mizmollye.blogspot.com/ I met her one Pink Saturday when I entered and won a giveaway she was hosting. One of the items was a multi-media book she had made…funny and talented!! She would fit right in with the “cowgurls”.

And then I’ll head over to Beverly’s house for this week’s Pink Saturday participants. If you’ve never made the rounds on Pink Saturday, you’re in for a treat…a Pink treat, of course…http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat is Coming

Planning for the third annual Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat  is in full swing and I’m sooo excited to be teaching a class. I’ll be demonstrating the techniques for making an altered book that forms a series of pockets to hold and display collections of art cards, postcards, photos, or any little bit of ephemera someone wants to show off .  They’re really fun and easy, but they look complicated. Paper Cowgirl is like that…it’s about women coming together and teaching each other techniques and talents that look impossible. But when we work together on a project, we inspire each other and we create art works that surprise and please us. More about the great “gurls” later. Right now I want to show a  book I’ve made for demonstration…

The cover is a collage of vintage papers… the inside uses lots of sheet music…and my favorite Anna Griffin stamps:

It’s really cool when filled with tags and cards…

In fact, here it is filled with swapped tags from last year’s retreat…I’ve put a couple in my Etsy shop, but this is the version I’ll be teaching. Check out the blog; Cindy’s been working overtime to pull things together.

http://www.papercowgirl.blogspot.com/

Pink Saturday down South…I brought you something…

Last Saturday found Hubby and me enjoying a cruise and much needed warmer weather, but that doesn’t mean I forgot Pink Saturday…look at all the tropical pink I found to share…

The welcoming fruit arrangement was loaded with lots of pink…

Aren’t they delicious looking? Royal Caribbean really knows how to put on a culinary show…there were more than a dozen fruit and vegetable creations to greet us when we arrived onboard.

But the most striking pinks were found in Rotan, Honduras, our first port…There were whole hedges of these plants…I have forgotten the name, but they immediately made me think of my Pink Saturday friends. And I decided right then and there to bring you something you have been needing…

    Isn’t that stunning? We were at a beautiful park where there were all sorts of birds and animals that had been rescued. Some were still healing from cruelty or accidents; all were wonderful…and all the money we spent there went to support this worthwhile rescue project…Margaritas for the greater good…what a deal!  Money from Nachos helps to feed the monkeys and anteater. So in your honor, we all had a cold one. We felt so in tune with the Universe and like part of the world-wide Earth Day…or maybe it was just a slight Margarita buzz…Speaking of Margarita buzzes, I saved the best for last…no, I didn’t bring you a Margarita.

   YES!!! A Pink Bar!!! It just screams, “Drink Me!” Just think of the Pink specialties that could be mixed up here! But that’s still not what I brought you…here’s a hint…

Do you see that clear sky? Can you feel that warm breeze? Can you smell the spring? That’s what I brought back!  We have had too much winter!!! So I’ve brought some spring back home with me…your share is on its way, trust me, I brought enough for everyone!!!  Well, I’m off to make the rounds and catch up with  the Pink posts to see what was happening while I was off bringing warm temperatures back from the South! If you are enjoying sunshine today, you’re welcome. It was a tough assignment, but someone had to do it! Stop in a Beverly’s house for the Pink Saturday invitation list; she’s expecting you.  

 http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

P.S. An update on the baby ducks: the parents were seen eating birdseed in the driveway at  the home of our up-river neighbors, but the babies were stashed somewhere safe and we missed seeing them. Meanwhile we have another pair nesting on the riverbank.  I’ll post egg or duckling pictures unless the mama is too dangerous. If you’ve ever been charged by an angry goose or duck, you can understand my fear!