Patty Van Dorin

become a fan

There have been quite a few of you asking for a facebook link, so finally I have added one down at the bottom of the left column.


Facebook is not a familiar format, so be patient with me while I figure it all out.

do you still journal

Yes< I still journal even though I have not been posting many of my journal pages on this blog.

Mostly it's just old boring stuff, it seems like I am stuck in a formula, doing the same pages over and over again with the only changes being in the images.

So here's a journal page spread for those of you who have emailed me asking, "what's up with not journaling ?" See, I am still journaling, mostly in "the supreme" journal. Click on the "the supreme journal" over in the categories to see a bit more.

These pages are a study in "a" and record of some things I have recently made.

Speaking of things that I have made, I am adding stuff to my etsy shop when I can find a bit of time to write up the listings.

Winter Whites
more details by clicking above to go to etsy

Currently blooming - mixed pot of bougainvillea
This past summer, a local garden center had a tray of bougainvillea on discount. One of those good sales that can't be passed up, so cheap they almost paid to have someone take the plants away. Anyway, I picked up five in an assortment of colors and tossed them all in one pot training them into a tower.

Normally, I don't care for mixed color plantings in flower pots but this grouping of bougainvillea is putting on a explosion of color that is just what I needed on the patio.

Did you notice the scallop edges on the leaves?  I have some kind of critter, probably a looper catepillar eatin' at the leaves. It appears that bugs come free of charge with discount plants.

beachcomber

Beachcomber earrings

 

Rozeta

This past week, I was reading about Rozeta Ahalyea who was one of the earliest professional bellydancers in Australia, which then inspired this wrapped bracelet.

Rozeta  available on etsy

A side note, I also have the 2012 Daily Planners are on sale this month.

click here more more planners and details

In addition to reading about Rozeta Ahalyea, I became hopelessly lost in classic dance videos, so bid you farewell today and share with you the amazing Samia Gamal. 

Shipwreck

This may be my favorite necklace so far. When I found this shell, I knew it was perfect for a focal piece in a mermaid statement necklace.

Shipwreck Necklace - more pictures and details here

another bangle stack
Light and Darkness

Have a safe and fun Thanksgiving

roses and tea

With the cooler weather, the California Dreamin' rose has been opening slowly. It is such a beauty.

The camellia that was off to such a slow start is now in full bloom. I think it was happy that I finally gave it the Black Hen (a favorite soil amending fertilizer).

And, I found a local source for my favorite black tea. (Roland Kwong Sang)

It all makes for a great start to the week. 

In a couple of days, I will have more to post about the jewelry that I have been working on.

the lamp post lizard

Do you ever get that creepy feeling on the back of your neck like you are being watched? 
There is a little lizard (Carolina anole) that lives in an old lamp post outside my house.
He likes to watch me when I am out side working.
I think he feels very safe in his fortress.

Next week I will be planting the area behind the lamp post, it will be roses and perenniels.

This activity should give Mr. Anole plenty to observe.

dreaming

California Dreamin'

Okay, so disregard the "I didn't get any gardening done this year", in the last post. Maybe I should have said, "I didn't get to garden as much as I would have liked to".

There was time to establish one rose garden with about 20 roses that I moved with me. Plus I added a few new ones.

The above photo is one of the new roses I added and it is generously giving me big fat buds that may open in time for this Thanksgiving table. The second flush of blooms since I planted it last month.

I don't have many grafted roses but I couldn't pass on this beauty especially since it was on the sale table at my garden center.

the other side

The other side of my studio.
Not that there are many sides, being that the room is only and 8 by 10.

The new furniture and organizing pieces have made all the difference. I am finding great stuff that I have forgotten all about. See previous post for an example.

Next up is to hang more things on the wall. It has been a struggle to pound nails in the walls, since so much time and effort has been spent fixing and repairing the ruin that this room was in.  The room (entire house for that matter) was in such a sad sorry state that I have very few before pictures. It was just that bad. Some things are just best forgotten and not photographed. All I can say about my new house is that in it's former life, it was a distressed foreclosure that the previous owners destroyed, stripped and took their anger out on the house and the situation they found themselves in. But slowly it is returning to a happy tiny beach cottage.

I was surprised to find that the house had so much bad energy (I never believed in that kind of stuff) that it is taking a long time to make it feel like my home.

Sometimes a little paint temporarily helps, really really helps. It is almost but not quite embarrassing to show these pictures. I remind myself daily there is hope for my place. As the photos show, I haven't even been able to garden much this year as I have been busy clearing out the jungle, literally a jungle of a yard. When I first moved in, I could get no more than a few feet into the yard. Just getting through the gate and to the house door was a battle.

Before:

After a couple of gallons of paint:

I should have waited to take the after picture when I had all the pots of citrus and plants in place.
Another day and another photo.

There are big plans for the yard, a little demo still to do and plans to be drawn up. More pictures will follow.

 Toni - I still have the round metal table but Ralph will not let you take it in the middle of the night. Just letting you know so you don't waste the road trip.

vambrace

Vambrace - ornamental body armour. While this bracelet may not offer any protection, it does provide visual enjoyment when worn.

A double wrap bracelet with a ancient metal base that was found when hiking in the mountains several years ago. This piece of metal has been waiting for a special project and I decided it was time to use it and not hoard it. It is that special.

I like to think who the person was that may have originally had this piece of metal. What was it used for and then lost or discarded? Sitting all those years until I found it off a hiking trail and brought it home, where it sat for several more years in the studio. It's what I call a "good thinking about piece". I mean it had to be new at some point. Was it discarded because it no longer served a purpose because it broke or was it lost. All the time this metal was waiting in the mountains, to be discovered, brought to the studio and used in a piece of jewelry.

Enough, I hear you saying.....anyways, the metal was shaped to a slight curve and is accented with beads, jeweled element, chain and more beads. An old coated wire and beaded chain that is fastened with a hook type clasp. I really love how this bracelet turned out.

available on etsy - click here for more pictures and details