Mostly on Mondays

Mondays are about getting things in order at Glenna's Garden after being away for awhile, I have a lot to do. I wasn't feeling well and I am doing better now. I have a couple of new things to post but lately I haven't been too creative. We are having Christmas in July at Etsy and I am participating check out http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ for deals and markdowns on everything. A few items haven't sold and I don't think I am going to relist them. My latest project turned out nice and it was done in colaboration with another Etsy artist http://www.marywisbis.etsy.com/ she did a watercolor painting of ivy on this card and I added my pressed flowers and greenery to it. It isn't up for sale yet. I am working on a woodland opening picture on canvas all made out of pressed flowers, leaves and greenery. It is going to take me a long time to complete, maybe another month or so. So far I haven't sold any art so I have slowed down and am now concentrating on some bigger projects. I have far exceeded my sales on Etsy with expenses for various projects plus overhead. It keeps me occupied and I am driven to succeed. I will overcome my disability of having RSD. My goal is to become self sufficient.

Muggy Monday in June 2009

Rain rain go away we want to get out and play. We have had high 60's and nothing but rain, a bit of sunshine this past weekend. Of course it is great for the gardens and plants outside of Glenna's Garden. We are closing out one month and getting into July 2009 here soon. July means the midpoint to summer up here in Manchester, NH. Our farmers market is open on Thursday afternoons from now until October. Every year I look forward to trying new varieties of fruit, veggies and herbs. Talking to the farmers and just in general enjoying the atmosphere is always a highlight. Buying goats milk soap a necessity. Listening to good music and meeting new neighbors in an otherwise large city brings a small town feel to this event. I don't have any pictures but I promise to take some when I go on Thursday to take some pictures and share them. I believe that the shop at Glenna's Garden http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ has done fairly well even in this really tough economy and I expect it to grow. As we phase out some of the older products and introduce new ones I expect to see our sales grow. The pink roses are done with their pressing and drying process. The petals are the softest I have ever felt. Those were the roses I blogged about in my earlier blogs that were a 5" inches across in their blooms. We made potpourri with some, have 5 beautiful dried rose buds and numerous pink petals for design now. Very pleased. This is the time of the year when a lot of flower pressing and drying is going on here at Glenna's Garden. We did orange day lilies the other day. They make for a beautiful specimen to work with and become almost transparent when pressed except for the colors and striations. I have a picture or two of the lilies I will post them today. With them it is on going process because you have to catch them just right as they bloom and die in one day thus the name. I have generally 6-8 blooms on each bunch just in what has been picked on a daily basis to assess and then they are split and ready to be pressed. Being a somewhat fleshy plant they take a fairly long time to dry possibly up to six weeks whereas some other flowers a week or so. I use all kinds of flowers in my art work and especially in custom orders check out some of my art work available in my shop at http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ also my art gallery is at www.putiton.com/glennanormyle and some of my art is available for purchase there too.

My Sewing Basket

I am 50 and I have had this sewing basket since I was around the age of 5. It was a gift to me from my grandmother, my mother's mother. So that makes it approximately 45 years old. It is a relic and still usable. Nice big pincushion on the underside of the top. It shows some age and wear but that is just character. I am so excited to have a new sewing machine now to go with this cute little girl's antique sewing basket. Check out http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ especially on July 3, 2009 when the shop owners at Etsy are going to be having our first ever firstfridayartwalk. From then on every first Friday of each month there will be a firstfridayartwalk open to everyone stop by the participating shops who show this nicely made banner and check out our sales just for the firstfridayartwalk.

Rainy Monday

We just can't get a break from the rain this summer. It is cool out too. The plants are loving it. Veggie gardens are coming up nice. We have two large ones outside Glenna's Garden http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ Sales were really good through the YART SALE this past weekend. I have everything ready to go out to my customers. I got my sewing machine last night from a friend and for free too. It is a Singer Super Elegance Model 9461 I was like a little kid at Christmas early this morning looking it over. I found the manual for it at the Singer Company website and will have to order it next month. I have a nice collection of fabrics to work with and really just need thread in different colors. I am not sure what I am going to make to sell. I do know that I love to sew and I am very excited to get back to doing it again. The picture I have chose for today is one of my art pieces it is an ACEO with a vintage playing card attached to it. I have done three of these and they will each be done in a very limited quanity. Get in touch with me if you are interested. My art is on display in a gallery check it out at www.putiton.com/glennanormyle

Super Sunday

Up this morning early. I am checking on my sales for this weekend and I have 5 orders so far. Big worldwide YART SALE until midnight tonight and then it ends go to http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ and check out the last day deals. I am so happy to be doing so well business wise. Stop by http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ for unique gifts from original art to vintage. I started a website at http://www.glennasgarden.webs.com/ and we are now on Facebook search for me Glenna Normyle. Also I joined http://www.putiton.com/ and there you also do a search for artist by name Glenna Normyle, that's me. The beautiful large pink roses I blogged about earlier have been dried whole and pressed now. I even have some leftover to start a pottpouri. The rose petals smell so good right now. I took a bunch of pictures of these huge pink roses for my photography. All five buds opened slightly and are now hanging to dry. I thought there were three but there were actually five buds. These will eventually make there way to a dried floral bouquet or on a wreath. What a success! Rain and more rain at Glenna's Garden, it stormed and poured all night long. 7 AM Sunday morning and it has stopped for now. The plants here at Glenna's Garden in Manchester, NH are loving this cooler and rainy weather. I am finding that all of the indoor plants here at Glenna's Garden need to be watered every other day. The ACEO Artist Card Edition and Original is an original that is for sale. It comes with a proteective plastic sleeve as well as a 4" by 6" photo of the pomagranate plant that produced one flower. I preserved itthe lone flower and now it is the clothing for this little boy. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to do this and also share my art as well. I am hoping that with some good luck, well I do have a green thumb, that this indoor pomagranate plant (bush), it is very young yet, will flourish with my care and produce more blooms for me next season and fruit would be fabulous. Visit Glenna's Garden www.gnormyle.etsy.com

We Had a Wild Wednesday

It has been gloomy and raining a lot for the past few weeks up here at Glenna's Garden, yesterday because I am writing this today and it is Thursday, roses were brought inside from outside of Glenna's Garden ~ 5 pink 5" accross roses and three buds. The photos are astounding and as I was photographing them this morning they were so perfect they did not look real. I got one for my work area and took some singles pictures I will share one day. As a group they are absolutely stunning. Ohhhh I just sniffed my single one and it is so sweet, delicate and oh so sweet smelling. I love to photograph mother nature at her finest before she fades. I am hoping I can show pictures of one of the 3 buds opening, we have a chance 1 in 3 that one will fully open. Check back as I try to blog on a fairly regular basis to see more stunning photos of the huge pink roses.....these are big 5 inches that is one inch shy of 6 inches which is one half of a foot wide. Spectacular! Superb! Primo! They will become pressed pink roses and be used in a project for Glenna's Garden. We never pick without preserving through photography and actual drying of some roses whole as well as petal by petal flat drying for artwork. See our shop section ACEO's at http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ for ACEO's original art with pressed flowers not prints these are originals and very nice. Also in our earlier blogs there are examples of the custom work that was done recently using real pressed flowers and greenery and we have posted pictures of it on our blog here at Glenna's Garden.

YART SALE DAY ONE

It started the big worldwide YART SALE at ETSY http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/ is participating with huge markdowns throughout the shop. The sale is on until midnight June 14, 2009. Keep checking back as things get marked down more things are added. Glenna's Garden has new projects to list every day if we wanted too whew personally I couldn't do that it would be too much to maintain. So if you don't see something ask we just might already have it. We love custom orders! Check out our summer specials summer tag sales at http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/

I am destashing approximately 2 pounds of paper for $3.85 plus $4.95 shipping in the USA this is the greatest to have now that school is closing for the summer and there are going to be those rainy days indoors with the kids. You can whip out these papers, your own scissors and glue and it will entertain the children and probably adults too as well. Visit Glenna's Garden for unique gifts from original art to vintage pieces we are at http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/