Garden Blooms Oleander

Oleander. Oh, I've fallen in love with the oleanders! I had never seen and oleander bush before. Moving to our house in January, we saw these bushes and thought nothing of them. Several were rather gangly and torn out. :( Then spring rains came and these beautiful, bright pink, tropical flowers filled the bush. :) I never appreciated the rain so much till moving to Texas, it brings such life and beauty to a previously dismal landscape.

Wow. They've even got an International Oleander Society. "The exotic beauty and often intoxicating fragrance of this mystical flower has enthralled and captivated people all over the world for centuries. The International Oleander Society invites you to join us on a voyage into the past, present and future of this marvelous enchantress."

Cowboy 4th of July

Celebrate your freedom, small town Texas style! We had a fun weekend of memories this Independence Day. You can see the line up of cowboys at the ranch rodeo where we watched goat roping, mutton busting, cattle sorting, and more! I really enjoyed the opening event with the Texas Four Step Drill Team. The team of horses and their riders trotted in time and formation to music. It was amazing to watch and I told my husband, "If I grew up riding horses in Texas, my calling would've been to ride in the drill team!" He took a little video clip with my camera, too bad you don't hear the music. Such skill those riders have. :) After the rodeo was over, we headed to the pavillion for some boot-scootin' fun!

Hope y'all had a fun weekend of whoopin' and hollerin'!

New Blog Feature!

I'm pretty excited about this, I've created a form here on my blog where you can submit your email address to receive news from 'e-fran designs'! I will be emailing notices of upcoming sales at my online shop, occasional promotional info and fun new things going on in the creative world via my blog. I like to blog about my creations at home, etsy, sewing, crafting, gardening and travel. If you have an interest in keeping updated and learning about sale opportunities in my shop, please submit your email. Don't worry, your email will not be bogged down with lots of letters...once a month - tops!

The last few days my sewing room has been buzzing with preparations for an upcoming craft show as part of the Mason Round Up Rodeo weekend. Check it out and if you're in the area, it would be great to see you! I had fun sewing up some fun drink koozies to set out for sale. On an undoubtebly hot day for the show, these koozies should be a big hit with an ice cold bottle of water.

Have a Happy Independence Day!!

Garden Blooms Lantana

One fun things about our new home is that, even though the yard was an overgrown mess that we've FINALLY gotten under control, new plants keep popping up and blooming that we didn't know were there. Some have come up and have yet to bloom, I'm anxious to see what's in store. :) Here's one of the lovelies! I walked by them the other morning and smiled to see several big butterflies enjoying the blooms. :)

Lantana. An excellent low-maintenance plant used as an evergreen shrub where it blooms all year long or as an annual in areas with a killing frost. Flowers come in several colors, including red, yellow, pink, orange, purple and multi-colors. Blooms all season long. Foliage is rough and green with some cultivars having variegated foliage. Very drought tolerant. Plant size ranges 1 to 6 feet tall and about 3 to 10 feet wide, depending on cultivar.

FavorablyFashioned...Hand Crafted Paper Treasures

I recently had a very pleasant experience working with a fellow Etsy seller. She contacted me, inquiring if I'd be interested in swapping services. One of my roll up tote bags for some custom printwork. I thought, "What better way to make a new contact and it just so happened that I had been longing for some custom thank you notecards for my business!" So it worked out perfectly. She did a great job and best of all she was simply a super communicator, making it all a fun process.

The woman behind the design is Michele of Favorably Fashioned. Please check out her etsy shop and read more about her in our little blog interview below. :)

How did you discover e-fran designs? I was searching Etsy for a reasonably priced reusable bag that wasn't covered in text or too bright a color, something like a bag I would normally want to carry :)

Where are you from? originally southern California, but I've spent the last 10 years in the the beautiful Pacific Northwest, across the Puget Sound from Seattle in Kitsap County.

What is your favorite pass time? its a tie between entertaining and crafting - and so often they can work together!

Why do you love Etsy? Ohh how I love Etsy! There are two main reasons, a) you can find such wonderful treasures from fabulously talented artisans b) the amazing sense of community and goodwill - Etsy people are wonderful people!

How did you learn about Etsy as a buyer and/or seller? early 2008 two of my best girl friends both got engaged. I was searching for unique gifts and projects and ideas/things to incorporate in their weddings, 80% of the lovely things I found were on Etsy!

What products or services do you offer in your Etsy shop and what makes your shop unique or special?

I officially opened my shop mid-April of this year, its been such a fun process! I work in paper, from blank notecards made with designer papers to customized stationary, invitations/announcements, to business cards, hang tags and other projects for Etsy sellers. My most important priority in life is relationships. I strive to communicate value and appreciation to every client. I love being able to craft something that another person will truly love.

Looking Ahead

This past week my husband and I drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a long, eleven hour drive through west Texas and New Mexico. We had an interesting route home as we drove down I-25 through El Paso, getting a new perspective on the border issues with Mexico. We drove into El Paso with the nice buildings and beautified highway system on our left, then turning to our right seeing the Rio Grande 'River' and the impoverished homes of Juarez. It seemed no wonder that those in Mexico wished to cross to our side, not to mention the meager little stream of the Rio Grande which I always imagined to be much wider. . . Driving east we then were cruising through desert mountains, plateaus and cacti. We noted puddles on the highway from a recent rain which brought an instant green to the previously dry and dead looking landscape. Not long later we were driving in that rain. Heavy downpouring with lighting, thunder, wind and hail! Pulling off under an overpass I was thankful when my husband offered to take over the driving. :) We were oh, so happy when the sky cleared and a rainbow shown over the mountains. . . if only our pictures had turned out well!

I'm now happy to be back home again and have some new sewing projects lined up after a couple stops at the fabric store. I'm beginning work on some custom bench cushions. Upholstery, piping and foam are in hand and my scissors got set to work this morning. I've enjoyed helping my client select the fabric for her home and am looking forward to seeing it all complete.

Also on the project list are some summer aprons for a craft fair in July. I am attending a new venue which is said to have a large attendance with much excitement surrounding it, so I'm looking forward to trying out this new experience! Here's a sneak peak of some lovely new fabrics I'll be working with. I love the bright colors and watermelons. Yum. :)

A View Out My Kitchen Window

My little love birds have sat on various window sills since our wedding day, two and a half years ago. This is the first time it has sprung these graceful shoots of flowers which have quite intrigued me. They started out with a cluster of what looked like seed pods at the ends. The clusters then spread out into a longer shoot, with each bud opening into a delicate white flower.

I am curious to investigate more, but must begin with finding out what the name of my love bird cactus is. My aunt should be able to provide the answer, I know it begins with an "X". It was a gift in our family wedding tradition of singing an alphabet song, with a gift from each letter for the couple! It can get quite fun and hilarious at some of the odd gifts that are given! If you've got an idea on the "X" plant's name, let me know...

How do you like my bright orange cactus next to the love birds?! Isn't it great? I set it inside an antique mini flour sifter my dad gave me. I think its a fun, unique way to display both items. And the cactus even matches the sifters orange handle. :) Ha, my husband thought I was nuts when I bought it!