Perfect...and Not So Perfect....

So this summer, I spent a morning taking photos.

It is not something I do every day.

Just some days.

Often I will take lots of photos one day and then use them for a dozen posts later.

I was taking pictures of different places outside.

Shifting up and down a few inches to change the look.

Trying to make sure you don't see anything I don't want you to see.

I moved from one area to another.

I always love to take flower photos.

Rudbeckia is a favorite.

As are these African Daisies.

While I was taking the daisy picture, I noticed this little guy.

He is not as perfect.

I would normally shift left or right to find a better picture/specimen.

But then I got to thinking about how a lot of us do that.

Focus on the perfect one.

Glance past the flawed one.

And I decided to take different photos.

Real photos.

Normally I would shift for this one so you could not see the trash cans.

And I would shift left so you would not see the stuff on my work table.

Silly, really.

I am proud of my work table.

It is from a high school science lab.

I love working at it outside.

You can see it has wool sweaters on it here.

Cutting the wool outside keeps all the fuzz and lint out of the house.

And I get to breathe fresh air, listen to the birds and look at my yard.

This little spot serves to camouflage the trash can area.

I stacked the cement blocks to build a little wall. 

 Then I put flower pots and boxes around it to hide the plain cement blocks.

Morning glories climb an old trellis I made from bamboo...

And a few of my rustic mushrooms provide some visual appeal (to me anyway).

Looking back at my work table from the other direction...

Normally I would shoot this at a different angle so you could not see the trash cans.

Why?

Most of us have trash cans, right?

Why should I pretend they are not there?

My trash cans don't match.

Do yours?

You can see how I throw two burlap coffee sacks over the fence for photos...

Now you know my behind-the-scenes tricks...

If I turn around, you can see my clothesline.

I love my clothesline.

It is green and natural and my clothes smell so good when I bring them in. 

 I love hanging things up too.

  It is meditative.

Turning the other direction, I show you real again.

See all that grass growing between the cracks in the sidewalk?

I don't like when that happens.

So I would normally angle the camera up, so you would not see.

In front of that round brown shed is my secret garden.

I love the mishmash of plants and herbs and flowers. 

I never have a plan.

  I just plant them.

And seeds blow around and seed themselves...

There is my hypertufa experiment from a few years ago...

My rough birdbath...

This rustic little birdhouse sits outside my round shed.

Normally I would not show you my rain barrels with their peeling paint.

Or my stakes for fairy lanterns that are bare right now.

So today I am sharing some of the not-so-perfect parts of my yard.

Trust me, there are many, many more.

But I wanted to get real today.

Because we all have weeds, and trash cans and things we just have not made perfect yet.

Thanks for stopping by...

                  Linking up with these great blogs.

Another Studio Victory!

I am celebrating each clean surface in the studio....

Here is a look at the latest.

My work table.....

Is clean!

Well, as clean as it gets for me....

I added my scrap ribbon/fiber basket and a bin of bracelets I am working on...

I love this little cupboard...

I finally have a place to store some things I am always using....

 My RIT Dyes which I use a lot for my  RIT Dyesigner Studio.

My larger punches which take up too much space in my card catalog drawers or just plain don't fit.

You can see these are the big ones.

  My home made Alcohol inks  sprays which I plan to do a tutorial on later....

If you look next to the alcohol ink sprays, you can see those little vintage tins from this post fit perfectly here.

Above the alcohol inks, there is some ribbon.

I have lots of ribbon.

And fibers.

And yarn.

I try to squeeze it in wherever I have space.

I love to slide the spools on tension curtain rods.

All in all, I think it is the perfect little storage solution and it takes up less than 6 inches on the table top.

The table itself has a quilt top I got at my favorite flea market a couple summers ago.  

I put it down on the table and then just covered it with a thick piece of clear vinyl. 

 Spills, paint, dust and glitter all just wipe right off.

One last look.

Yay!

Getting ready for Where Bloggers Create 2014...

Only a couple weeks away!

Thanks for stopping by....