I've been prettying up my new workroom with little pops of handmade color since I painted the walls a simple white and moved everything into it several weeks ago.  Despite my usual love of bold, vibrant color I decided to leave the room itself white because there is always such glorious sunshine flooding through the window and balcony door to transform the walls to a lovely warm yellow.  It lessens the need for so much extra artificial lighting and makes sewing and close-work a pleasure.

For ages now I've been eyeing the flower garland creations made by Claudia from Mockingbird Hill Cottage.  She has a variety of different colored garlands available for purchase in her Etsy shop, so head on over and take a look if you're interested in having one of these beautiful garlands of your very own--she will even use specific color combinations upon request.
I've actually been working on this garland for a while, not due to any great degree of difficulty but because I only work on it when I sit down for a few minutes in front of the TV.... and that hasn't been very often lately!  I have finally managed to amass nine of these little beauties, and they've found a place to call home on one of my pristine walls.  Aren't they happy little things?!  I really love the combination of rosewood and light turquoise, and I even ran across a fat quarter with a floral pattern in similar tones--which I plan to somehow integrate into the garland at some point soon!
Now on to the next project...  photos to follow!

Happy (almost) weekend, everyone!
 
For the past week I've been seeing the most amazing pink flowers littering the sidewalk under a group of tall shade trees that Charlie Dog and I pass on our daily rambles.  Their spiky pink extensions are so unusual that I marvelled at how they can look so sharp and yet feel so soft to the touch.  I guess I had never looked up into the tall trees to see them hanging with these whimsical flowers and never noticed the 'bottle brushes' until they started falling to the sidewalk below in a carpet of pink fuzz.
A bit of research tells me that they are Callistemon citrinus and are more commonly known as 'bottle brush' flowers.  Nature really never ceases to amaze me!  Aren't they beautiful?

Is spring popping through in your corner of the world?