Longwood Part 2 - Outside

The outdoor light display at Longwood Gardens is equally as thrilling as the flowers inside but twice as hard to take a good photo (and the photos never seem to do them justice). I actually managed to take some decent pictures. Here is a sampling...



The multi colored lights looked to me like a Seurat painting from a distance.



Not a great photo but I do love that the moon is in it.





The the backside of the fountain show. I love the huge snowflake looking lights high up in the trees.





Looking in on the house where Pierce Dupont lived.



At Longwood they always decorate some trees with natural elements for the birds. Dried fruit, pine cones covered with seed, conical shells filled with suet and cranberries, among other tasty treats for our winged friends.

Longwood at Christmas - Part 1

Longwood Gardens at Christmas, it doesn't get any better than this. Seriously, if you are within 2-3 hours of Philadelphia, you NEED to make the trip. You'll thank me later. Trust me.
I took so many photos, I have to break this up a bit. So here we have part one. All photos taken in the conservatory.




I don't even care for poinsettias but these pink ones had me swooning!



These peachy ones were gorgeous too! Don't you love how they matched the berries?



There was a whole room full of kid decorated trees. Very nicely done! Swooning over the cyclamen here. I don't even really like pink...



Table for two? Yes, please!



All sorts of trees every where you look. This one was in the cactus/silver room.



My favorite tree. Beautiful blue morpho butterflies all around. Stunning glass ornaments too.



Upon closer inspection, the butterflies actually moved!!! It was beyond magical.


Planning your trip yet? :^)
Stay tuned for part 2 - the outside lights!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am so thankful for all my wonderful friends here in Blogland.

From my family to yours, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Global Warming?

I can't believe there is still so much beauty in the garden. It's almost December and I found some pretty little flowers and lots of green. It's been raining for 3 days now. I guess the 150+ bulbs I planted are getting a good soaking. The bulbs I bought were 50% off at Home Depot and 75% off at Christmas Tree Shoppe - what a bargain! I can't wait until next spring.
Click on any of the photos for a larger image.
This one looks like an alien flower to me.


This smoke bush has such beautiful red foliage!


Lupine leaves are so pretty in the rain.


Scottish harebell. Click on this one, it looks really pretty. I like how you can see spider webbing.


I've also been busy in the studio thanks to my husband's parents for watching Zoe so I can work. I have a Believe unicorn plaque ready to go up on ebay tonight as well as a palomino Christmas sign, Zenyatta (race horse) ornament and a really cute one with a black horse and cat looking at a decorated tree.

Attachment Issues

Yeah, that's right, I'm having issues. For some reason this year I'm having a very hard time giving up my creations. Do any other artists out there in blogland have this problem? Maybe it's all the love and attention I give to each piece that makes it more like a child than a sign, painting or sculpture. I don't know what it is but I need to make some money for Christmas!

Just listed on Ebay, 7 Christmas/Winter signs and 1 sculpture - Dash - you may have met him on a previous blog post. He looks so nice sitting on my foyer table. Everyone that sees him falls in love. I will be sad to send my baby off!

Two pieces currently on ebay...

National Christmas Center

Today we went to the National Christmas Center. It's only about 20 minutes away in Paradise, PA. You may have even seen this place on TV, on shows like Martha Stewart. It's a wonderful museum for the Christmas lover, young and old. This is a short video I took of one of my favorite rooms, the 5 and 10 store.

Some more pictures...

Display cases of old feather trees with antique ornaments.


Huge model train room is really amazing. I love the tree coming out of the center with hundreds of glass ornaments on the ceiling!


Zoe loved looking at all the old toys.


Santa's Workshop complete with animatronic elves and animals.


Old Toy Shop


German Santa in the Christmas around the world room.


Candy shop display.

Christmas is coming...

I've been working hard this week on some new Christmas horses. I'm probably not going to put them on Ebay until next week, maybe even after Thanksgiving. I'm working on two horses kissing under mistletoe and a horse decorating the Christmas tree with a cat. Here's the other three I've completed this week.
The Saddlebred is currently on ebay...

That Fjord is so cute, I wanna kiss him on his soft nose:)

Wordless Wednesday: Landis Valley Today

Dreamin' of a Gypsy Christmas

It may come of no surprise that my dream horse is a Gypsy Vanner.
Want to see what he would look like?



I've painted him (or her) on my newest Holiday horse sign. I'll hate to give this one up. For the meantime I'm hanging him in my living room so I can dream a little.

If you like this artwork, you can order Christmas cards from my Cafepress Shop. I have many more cards, shirts, ornaments and other great gifts available there too.
Please order something directly from the links provided by me. Cafepress changed their policies recently and I get far less if you order one of my products via a search from their site - they also will charge you more! Can you believe that? I may close my shop after the holidays because they are also charging me more to have a shop.

Okay, back to dreaming about my someday horse. My daughter says she'll buy me one when she's older.

Sun Cats

The light in our house is terrible because we have a lot of mature trees. The best time however is in the morning, in the dining room. The cats love to lie on the table or floor and bathe in the warm rays. Some days I wish I was a cat because it looks so very relaxing. I love how it lights up their ears and whiskers.





"Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!"
- Theophile Gautier


Forgot to mention that I painted another horsey Christmas sign. This one is a snowman with a Quarter Horse. It ends today if you're interested!
Auction Link
Today I'm working on finishing a Gypsy Vanner Christmas sign that I should have up on ebay in a day or two!


Happy Monday!