Sunflowers and Bees

Sunflowers are one of my favorite of all flowers - so bright and cheery, and I've noticed

they are frequently paired with bees.  I found the frame above years ago at Marshall's and decided to use it as the starting point for my early fall decor this year  - I just love the metal piece at the top! Let's start the tour with my mantel decorations - this bee skip is a top for a candle hiding underneath - a Mary Lake Thompson original!

The peasant girl vase is a vintage Catalina Pottery piece - and the vintage light sconces were found at a yard sale in Berkley on one of my pickin' adventures!

On the mantel, a book about bees suggests the theme, grouped with a vintage metal honey pot and a silk sunflower.

I paid way too much for the little "Beware of the Bees" sign a few years back, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet when you fall in love!  "Huney B. Keeper", the retired Boyd's Bear, leans against a vintage bee skip as she holds the sign. I just love the netting around her straw hat!

 This platter was a buyer's gift we received after we purchased an FFA lamb this year at the county fair - I painted the sunflower sign last summer to resell but fell in love with the way it turned out so it stayed home - both sit below the mantel and atop my fireplace insert since its been too hot to burn any wood yet!

The coffee table was the setting for this grouping - the sunflower cloche was a Marshall's find! I love everything Mary Lake Thompson of Oroville creates and this teapot is no exception! Another vintage honeypot sits with a silk sunflower on a vintage pie crust mirror.

Sunflowers and Bees!  Somehow I am always attracted to anything with a bee motif! This past weekend I lucked out finding this darling pillow half price - and it goes well with the gray striped feed sack pillow on my chenille couch!

Ok - so I love vintage pie crust mirrors! This one on my entry table is one of my favorites found at an antique store in Sacramento long ago.  I had to throw some mini pumpkins in the mix! A vintage frame leans in the background 'framing' the vignette.

I had been searching for about 9 months for the perfect sconces to place of either side on the mirror above my couch in my living room and found two of these at a gift shop in Benicia!  Glass vases sit inside a metal frame and I fill the vases to go with my seasonal decor - I think I'll do another post showing you all the different ways I've filled the vases so far!

This metal candle cloche sits atop some wonderful vintage farm books from 1850 I found in a shop in Calistoga - the embroidered napkin was another half price item I couldn't resist!

And finally, my prize sunflower from my garden this year!  This was the biggest head I raised this year - about 14 inches across! Can't wait to roast the seeds and enjoy!

Looks like something else enjoys sunflowers as much as I do! Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Artist Spotlight: Annette Eagle

 

As soon as I saw this sea themed cloche collage in Annette Eagle's space at Melange, I knew I had to have it! The two seahorses dancing in the wine glass reminded me of my wedding at the beautiful Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church, the starfish - of the many early Sunday morning walks with my father along Latigo Shore, and the pearl in the clam shell - a symbol of my days in Gamma Phi Beta sorority at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo!  I had to meet the artist who pulled this fantastic piece together - and the minute I met Annette, I knew I had found a friend I would cherish!

Annette Eagle is a tiny woman with enormous talent!  Annette can take old, chipped, uncared for, throw away items and transform them into vintage looking, sea shore inspired art pieces.  Annette hunts flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales and craft fairs searching out the broken jewelry, chipped statuettes, faded ribbon, and ripped and torn fabric she uses to create her art.

Annette mixes her own paint colors to mimic vintage finishes and adds seashells to embellish her finds.  This bust is a great example of how Annette combined a vintage pearl collar with a seashell encrusted crown to make this piece truly unique.

Move over Pottery Barn - your seashell bottles can't compare to the ones Annette has been making for years!  Plus her prices are so reasonable, as you can see in this picture.  Annette finds vintage bottles that most people would throw away and adds her special touches of glittered starfish or custom painted coral, to top off the silver leaf stoppers.

Starfish appear regularly in her space at Melange in Historic Folsom.  Annette combines her vintage jewelry finds into mini-collages and embellishes the starfish after she has painted and glittered them.  She also sells vintage jewelry like you see on this pillow.

No one can make sea fan look as elegant as Annette!  She custom paints it and adds glitter or mica flakes to make them sparkle. Cuff bracelets are some of Annette's latest projects and can be found at The Tattered House in Roseville, as well as Melange.

Annette's assemblage necklaces are one-of-a-kinds and hard to get a hold of since she sells them as fast as she makes them!

Crowns, miniature boxes, statuettes, and rosaries all have been given Annette's "Midas touch".  As soon as Annette gets some of her crowns in her space, they disappear!

 Annette fashioned this custom crown from crushed velvet,and vintage lace, jewelry and millinery flowers. Annette states, "I have always enjoyed art and crafting for as long as I can remember, as a child my favorite past time was coloring and painting ceramics.   When I was 19 I started making gifts for family and friends and about 5 years ago I did my first flea market where I started selling my creations.   My greatest passion is creating, when I know I get to spend a few hours creating it’s like a kid at Christmas time!  But the most rewarding part of it is when you create something for someone and they appreciate it…this is the real joy!!"

The cloche collages Annette creates have a whimsical tone - the way Annette compiles her minute treasures create stories for the viewer to interpret as they may.  In this cloche, a glittered bird sits atop a jar filled with vintage pearls, and vintage braided trim encircles the base.

Annette's shadow boxes are magical as well.  What is the story behind this one - who wore the vintage pearls?  Who played with the chipped little figure which received a glittered crown courtesy of Annette?  Where did the vintage snippet of lace and the millinery flowers come from?  Each of these pieces are like a snapshot of times gone by, but then brought back to life to tell a new story.

Nests featured prominently in Annette's displays as well!  Each of these are masterpieces in themselves!  Found feathers, lace, leaves, fabric, wire, are all masterfully woven together, glittered and then given eggs, a sign of new life.

Annette's artwork never fails to amaze me - I don't know if it is the soothing colors she uses, each creative combination she comes up with, or the vintage coastal vibe that draws me to cherish her work.  But I do know she has a knack for telling stories with her pieces, whether she knows it or not, people connect to her pieces like they connect to their past memories, and her artwork keeps those memories alive.  Annette's "Eagle Marie Designs" can be found at Melange in Historic Folsom, The Tattered House in Roseville, and she has also been a featured seller at the Remnants of the Past show in Nipomo.  Contact Annette directly by phone (916)761-9405, email Annette@bmrparts.com or leave her a message about her work by commenting below!