Things That Make Me Happy - Garden Roses

My husband and I are just days away from our 4th wedding anniversary! The traditional gift given for year number 4 is fruit or flowers, while the modern day apparently is an appliance. Seriously? Who comes up with these? So short of making my darling a fruit salad, I'm still not quite sure what to get him...
Last year however, he bought me the most beautiful rose called Pink Flamingo. It was a good size when we got it but these year I'm sure it's at least doubled in size - now, just about 5 feet!

There's been a bit of a delay this year as the warmer seasons roll around in New Jersey. We had such a harsh winter so I wasn't expecting much of my anniversary rose just yet. So you can imagine my suprize to now see Miss Flamingo looking more beautiful than ever!

I love that these roses are full, fluffy and lush like an English garden rose as opposed to the traditional long stemmed variety you might be lucky to have on Valentines day. These coral pink roses of mine, give off such a sweet, heady scent too! They're just gorgeous... I'm happy to see they're doing well.

On another note, they've also been providing me with some artistic inspiration. I've been working on some new silk flowers for Aurora Bridal, so when it was time to dead head these new roses, I took the opportunity to do a little flower study.

Using a flower iron for shaping silk, allows me to style and shape each petal, much like the real thing. Here are a few observations I made from my newly plucked petals.

I hope you'll stop back to see how my silk flowers are coming along soon. In the meantime, I'd love to heat if you're also enjoying some back yard blooms this summer. What happens to be your favorite flower?

Homemade DIY Dog Biscuit Recipe

It was never my expectation to have these homemade dog biscuits wolfed down in mere moments. My husband and I, have an extremely picky pooch after all. However, it turns out, they were!

It was our sweet Honey's 10th birthday the other day and as she reached the big ONE ZERO, I thought she deserved a little something special.

Now if you think my husband and I are crazy pet parents, you may prefer to scroll down for another post, quick! There's no apology a-coming :) Sorry!

I scoured my Pinterest Pet Board for inspiration and came up with my own recipe for these Homemade Dog Birthday Biscuits.

Back from a Break in Blogging

Hello my lovely readers! Remember me? I haven't posted anything over the last month as I had a bit of a blogging hiatus but I do hope you're still out there. Sorry I've been MIA.

In truth, my energy in blogging about was waning a little and I needed to concentrate on dedicating more time to my handmade business and personal life instead. Being the perfectionist that I am, putting together a read-worthy diy post, was becoming a long and arduous task so I have now promised myself to not take on too much (in many areas) and take a step back in order to make life a little simpler.

Health wise, my anxiety has been up and down as I continue with treatment. The seasons have an enormous effect on me so enjoying the spring months, bright blue skies and cherry blossom petals has been a welcome change. My husband and I even dug out our barely used hammock in the garage to lounge on in our back yard. It's really huge (too huge maybe) but was an anniversary gift for my husband so I'm glad we're finally putting it to good use. Now we can lie on it, pretending were on a Bahamian beach, fabulous cocktail in hand. Another welcome addition is the slight, developing tan I've noticed! Yay for spring!

I've also been beavering away on my Etsy shop. I don't really know why, maybe it's time for a 'spring clean' but I have been feeling a sudden creative urge of late to dust off the cobwebs in my Etsy shop, order in some beautiful new supplies and get to work on some pretty designs for my summer brides.

With my husband being in a new job with more free time to travel locally, we've also been enjoying all that our town of Monclair has to offer. We had loads of fun just the other day at the zoo. The occasional trip to our local Coldstone Creamery on a late afternoon has been nice, as have our regular walks with our Honey too. I love this time of year here on the East Coast.

But... That's about it for today. I apologize for keeping you waiting. I appreciate anyone checking back and forth for news but I'm here now and will be bringing lots of more projects and blog posts soon.

If you have a suggestion about something you'd like me to cover, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Enjoy the Spring sunshine!

Clay and Gold Leaf Earring Tutorial

I have had my eye on buying and/or making a pair of the little geo shaped clay earrings that seem to be everywhere at the moment. They're so simple and modern; I think they add a cute extra touch to any outfit.

I've had a play with clay (ha!) a few times in the past but as I've always made jewelry for brides, I've never really had much of chance. I'm always working with crystals, pearls and silk fabric instead so this is a fresh new concept for me. And of course... That also means I can create something pretty for everyday.

DIY Jewelry Tutorial - Wire Wrapped Earrings

Sorry I have been MIA for a few days! I have been working my tail off, doing orders for my Etsy shop. If you're not familiar, or haven't taken a peek of late, please do. Pop on over and say hi!

Working away on new designs has made me think it would be nice to share a little jewelry tutorial. These earrings are lovely for bridal wear but they're also simple enough to be worn on a regular Spring day!(Which can't come soon enough!)

This is a popular and I'd say the most basic wire wrapping technique. I'm demonstrating it here below on Keshi freshwater pearls. However, you can certainly create this kind of design using other beads, gemstones or crystals. There are so many options to choose from but a briolette or horizontally drilled pear shape is best.

Personally, I love these freshwater pearls...  They gleam and catch the light so beautifully and even have slight tinges of blue and pink.

Free British Flag Print

I was browsing the internet the other day looking for a blog worthy, royalty free photo of a British Flag to use. New to blogging, I've made it a point to educate myself on the possible perils in 'borrowing' images. Believe it or not many other sites don't follow the same rules (yes, even the really flashy, successful ones!)

While I have some great sources of free, keep-yourself-out-of-trouble photos here, here and here, this time I still couldn't find quite what I was looking for. So with a little help from photoshop, I made my own. 

If you're at all familiar with my blog, you'll know I'm from the UK. I moved to New Jersey to start a new life with my lovely husband almost 4 years

How to Create Bee Stung Lips | Make Up Tutorial

There's something so classy and chic about perfectly precise red lipstick. Although I've replicated this look on my make up clients many a time and admired it from afar, unfortunately I don't feel that I myself, can quite pull it off. I wasn't blessed with full, defined lips like Angelina, so instead I came to create my own version of a subtle red lip with a more natural, smudgy finish. 

'Bee Stung' lips, so they're called, are a great alternative for those who love the rich color of red, but tend to always gravitate towards a much safer, neutral gloss instead.

The goal of this easy tutorial is to create the illusion of full, youthful lips, without the need for a defined outline (or filler!)

French Apple Tart

This French Apple Tart has got to be one of the easiest dessert recipes out there. It's impressive to look at and is lovely to make for guests over for dinner. I personally like to serve it warm for dessert, with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla bean ice cream. In short, I like to think of it as the sophisticated cousin to the delicious all American apple pie.

Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit for this delicious tart. My recipe is derived from Ina Garten's recipe on the Food Network website. You may have heard me mention my interest in all things Ina. To me, she's quite the culinary goddess. Her recipes for homey comfort food, cakes and pastries in particular, can always be relied on to be nothing but delicious!

Introducing Honey: our dog who's not really a dog

Time for a more light hearted post me-thinks. If you read my last post here about my struggle with anxiety, and you too are in need of something more lighthearted, this is for you.

Let me introduce you to our dog, Honey...

I must say, it feels very weird to call her a 'dog'

She's my angel and has given more to me than I could ever imagine. I truly believe she has the soul of a human being. If you've read a little of my background, you'll kind of get an idea of why she's so special for me. In a nutshell, she's literally kept me going during tough times and so her displays of intelligence, and hilarious goings-on are quite entertaining in times of need.

Soft Boiled Eggs with Toast Soldiers

A perfect runny egg with toast 'soldiers' is a fond, long standing memory I have from growing up in the UK. As a children, me and my little sister would often have this on many occasion - for breakfast or even sometimes for dinner too.

To this day, when the mood takes me I make them myself. It's actually quite nice to enjoy something simple for a change and it also brings a little smile to my face thinking back. I also feel like I'm having a 'proper' breakfast. My mom would not be happy to see me with donuts for breakfast. It wasn't even heard of. Of course, they exist but were considered a sweet occasional treat. That's a far cry now, as I make an 18th sighting of Dunkin Donuts across the NJ highway...

Back to the eggs... 'Soldiers' as you may have guessed are the slices of toast. I have no idea why they're called that - ask any Brit- they just are. I guess they're standing straight and tall or maybe the cute name was issued to children in exchange for a finished, empty plate.

DIY Aged Paint Effect

Since discovering what thrift shops and flea markets had to offer, it wasn't long before I found out that good finds for a small price are RARE!

I'm still learning to curb my enthusiasm and hold off on buying a mediocre lamp just because it's there. Instead, waiting just a week or two more will more likely help me score a perfect pair.

I had been thinking about getting a large, antiquey-looking mirror to occupy an empty space on our bedroom wall for a while but obviously, they're so incredibly expensive. However, I was at a flea market recently and stumbled across this beauty...

The sellers were packing up for the day and getting ready to leave when I saw this huge mirror just sitting on the asphalt.