Playing with Shell Displays

Hello! I'm so glad you could join me again :)

Yesterday I said that I had been rearranging and playing with my shells. Since I do have so many, and I get more inspiration from looking at them, I brought some out of the craft room, and into the rest of the house.

I filled a fish shaped glass platter (that Diane gave to me) with some of my fighting conchs, and put a bowl filled with smaller ones in the middle of it.

They sit on this little 'lobster trap' table. The coconuts we found washed up on Daytona Beach after Sandy went by are beneath the table in the net.

I really love using natural things in my home decor.

Another simple thing I did, was wrap a couple of jars with rope, and fill them with shells.

Decorative vases make great shell containers for display. You can also rob your dishes for neat shaped bowls and platters! This clock was a gift from my daddy, and I love how my St.Augustine Lighthouse photo matches it. The faux coral is the one I won from Deb at Love of the Sea. Love that pop of red, and it draws out the red on the life preserver on the clock.

A little rearranging of the shells on this cool shelf that is above the TV in the entertainment center.
(It's a CD shelf) I've shown this before. When I dust this (which isn't very often to be truthful, lol) I forget which shell was where, so they don't always go back where they were!

An old candle jar filled with volute shells is a nice accent to this shelf of treasures.

A vase, a wine carafe, and a re-purposed candle jar are perfect for this shelf with a photo of hubs and I on Belleair Beach.

These are the scallops Cheri (shell lady) sent to me. I thought the  scallop platter was the perfect touch for these.

They are next to my small horseshoe crab....

in front of this shell lamp....

on this dolphin table in the corner. I still love my coral walls, too!

More scallops on a nautical plate. I think the last time I found a bunch of calico scallops was 2 years ago. They've been kind of scarce the last couple of years. I haven't found more than a handful of them over the last 2 summers, or jingles either!

I have had this bowl forever! The pretty blue really shows off the white thick lucinas. Love this!

Our Washington sand dollars, with the fossil Josh (our son in law) found in the Gulf while swimming and diving. I did a post on it, here. The urchins are here until I find a better place for them ;)

Cone shells in a starfish bowl that I picked up at the thrift store.

The matching starfish has my pieces of junonia, and my whole little junonia is buried under there, and my almost a whole junonia is under there, too. I have a couple more pieces to add to this. Maybe one day I'll have enough to glue them all together and make one BIG junonia! LOL!

These are all on my boat table, which was a gift from my dad :)

The coral bowl and the blue dish need to be swapped! Okay, I see another rearrangement coming up lol.

And of course I messed around with the dolphin table and my glass shelf in the dining room!

I'll  save that for next time:)

I still have TONS of shells in the craft room, too. My mind is constantly conjuring up uses for them. I'm sure I have many years of projects to play with!

The highlight of my summer was a visit from my daughters family! And we got to keep the grand kids for a month!!! We visited a couple of lighthouses, went to the beach, out on the boat, and the kids spent a LOT of time in the pool! More pics to come, and I'll eventually get to the charm bracelet I made for my grand daughter.

What was the highlight of your summer?

Whiling Away in Paradise

And that is exactly what I have been doing! Whiling Away in my own little tropical paradise : )

Welcome to several new followers! I apologize for my absence. The truth is that I have been sick...AGAIN lol. But such is the life of someone with Lupus :) Be Strong and Carry On!

Thanks so much to my dear blog buddies who have sent emails, cards, and have connected with me on Facebook :) Ya'll mean the world to me!!!

You really can't keep a good girl down, so no matter my ills and pains... I still manage to putter around, have fun, play, joke, and laugh, and mess around with Facebook. ( well, except when I had pneumonia, pleurisy, and costochondritis all at the same time! eeek!) I just didn't feel like blogging or anything :(
BUT when I felt mediocre I was puttering around and workin' on Paradise, and I was of course taking pictures. ( well, except when I had pneu...oh, see above lol)

I knew I wanted to share this when I felt better, and that day is here!

I have had a LOT of fun playing with the shell arrangement! This big Murex is the one I got last year for my birthday from Momma P. This is a mixture of bought and found shells, with dried orchid blooms.

There was one person in particular I thought of, and think of when I play with/look at this.

So pretty with all the purples and whites.

The Scotch Bonnet was a Gulf find. I have found a few now, to date...but my hubby has found more than I have. He's a Scotch Bonnet Magnet!

Love that little white sharks eye with the purple spiraled center! See it? It's to the right of the orchid.

Yeah, those are hubby's worm shells! :P He's a magnet for those, too! I'm sure glad he's on My Team :)

It's a fair trade :) He gets to be on my team when it's Fend for Yourself night. hehehe

I 'borrowed' the urchins from my Christmas decorations.

Love this angle, too! That is an awesome wormey!

I've done quite a bit of rearranging my shells around the house. Project Paradise is a work in progress, but we are certainly getting there!

I'm looking forward to sharing it with you!

AND

I have been playing with another craft, and can't wait to share that, too!

Oh, it's SO good to be back! I've missed ya's so much!

Paradise Cove

Welcome to Paradise Cove, my little inland hide away :)

We got rid of the azaleas and replaced them with tropical plants. We have Red Sister Tai Marginella's, Crotons, and Umbrella plants. That tomato plant is still going nuts around the mermaid by the front door!

My asparagus ferns made it through the winter! Sorry for the blur..don't know what's up with this pic.

I cut down this side of it...it was spilling all over the walkway, and this thing has thorns!

That rusty thing is part of an old torpedo from the Navy in Washington DC. I had a friend whose dad worked there. I've been packing this thing around for nearly 30 years! I love it!

Hubby built this lighthouse many years ago out of buckets, chicken wire, and concrete mix. It could use a new paint job.

This mixture of variegated and colorful plants has made such a nice change!

We had to buy a new Palm to replace the one by the pond. Notice how much smaller it is?

I have my 'children playing & shelling' statues around the palm and pond.

Love his little dive mask and bucket of shells at his feet! Sweet!

Here they are together playing on an innertube...you can barely see it for all my shells lol.
These were a Mother's Day gift years ago.

The more weathered this gets the more I like it :)

If I don't like you, I'll tie this anchor to your ankle and toss you in the sea! LOL just kidding...
but if I like you I'll toss you a life preserver! hahahaha Not that it would help hehehehe it's wood.

You've seen this area from a close up view. Remember the gargoyle around Halloween?

I really like pretty things, and especially tropical blooming plants. This pink Mandevilla is going to be gorgeous climbing up the rope ladder I'm hanging here! This driftwood log came from Daytona after Sandy went by last year. I found a bunch of coconuts, too. They're in the house :)

One more thing we added to the front yard!

I have been trying to grow a palm tree in this spot for 10 years :(
This year I went with a beautiful Peach Hibiscus Twisted Topiary :D

This is a better picture of it.

It is LOADED with buds!!!!!!!

The grass will be green soon :) I can't wait!

And that is just the front yard. We worked on three sides of the house, and I did a little out back....and did some new stuff out in the screenroom (All of that in 2 days!) And I did do SOME playing will shells while I was sick....I just didn't make jewelry with them!

So, I still have pics of our new tomato garden, and Fern Gully. When everything is all filled in and growing well in a couple of months we will do the tour again....if it's as lovely as I am dreaming of, then I will have to share it :D

So stay tuned! I have a few more things to plant, and I'll finish knocking my photos down to size and be back as soon as I can!

Today I'm going to continue my search for replacement cushions for my wicker set. I have looked nearly everywhere...I just may be making them :( but I don't want to. I have a bone to pick with Martha Stewart for not continuing her line of cushions that go with her line of wicker furniture....unless I am mistaken and you know where I can get them????!!!!

It's so good to be back :) I missed ya'll!!!

A Long Journey

Hey there! I'm so sorry I sailed off without a word, but I was swept away on a long journey to the Isle of Ill. Oh my, and how ILL! So very ill in fact that I spent a few days in the hospital!!! A triple combo of maladies besieged me, and I seriously felt as if I may not ever return from my journey. Viral Pneumonia, pleurisy, and costochondritis laid a whoopin' on me. I was engulfed in misery and so much pain :( I would have rather walked the plank than deal with all of that! One doctor at the hospital said to me: "you have more autoimmune diseases than I've ever heard of." hahahaha! That's what they all say when they meet me! But I am so much better now :D I'm still not quite up to full speed, but I will be soon! I've been on 2 antibiotics and lots of corticosteroids (Prednisone and Solu-medrol)

Of course, as soon as I did feel decent, Spring decided to finally stick around, and it was time for some yard work. I may have over done it just a tad (but hubby did all the heavy stuff!) My thumb has been killing me ever since....a little arthritis flare has it red, swollen, angry, and painful....but as soon as it feels better I will be making things again. My ribs hurt a little this morning, so not too much stretching for me right now.

I know I have missed so much, and I will get around to some blog hopping and answering some emails. I couldn't even bear to sit at my computer these last few weeks, and it wouldn't have done any good as my mind was consumed with the pain in my body. I've also missed the last 2 Harvest Village shows :( and you may have noticed I closed my Etsy shop for a while. I opened back up this morning! I can package orders again :)

I ummmm have been on Facebook, and playing games....thanks to my new iphone :) I did read some blogs posted there, but couldn't post for incoming calls and texts! This morning I downloaded the Blogger App and I can't wait to try it out, but I so did want to lay my fingers on this computer keyboard and say HI! and touch base with all my blogger friends!!!

Thank you so much for the emails and well wishes!!! They have been so appreciated!!! I'm sorry it takes me so long to get back to you (I have answered a few from my phone!) I am so loving the iphone technology :) So much in fact that it is on the charger almost as much as it is off hahahaha. I got hooked on Angry Birds, and played some Bejeweled Blitz. Then I found Tap! Paradise Cove and have been hooked on this game ever since. OMG! It's fun! I have ships, houses, and merchants out on islands, and battle and defeat pirates (okay, I have lost 2 times!) You can talk to a mermaid and gamble with her slot machine, but I have seen her cavorting with the pirates and she will rip you off more times than give you good winnings. You have to be careful when dealing with the mermaids! Ya, so this is what I have been doing lately. Just playing :)

Annnnnd I've always wanted to name my home, and after this past weekends yard work and new plants, (and all of the indoor decor) I've decided to name my tropical beachy abode...Paradise Cove!

I'll show ya'll what we did tomorrow! As soon as it's lighter outside I'll make the rounds with my camera. I also see a beach weekend in my near future ;)

Oh yeah! I feel MUCH better now :D