Four Peas in a Pod

After a very wet Saturday with some much needed rain the sun has returned and we are back to glorious blue skies and sunshine in the south of England. Today is a little overcast but the sun is already peeping through. Spring flowers are basking in the sun outdoors. Cherry blossom is bursting out everywhere.

The buds on my magnolia in the garden are nearly full to bursting but not yet open. However I spied the magnolia below on my way home from work which is in full flower already.

How glorious is that sight...it makes my heart skip a beat. I know that the magnolia flower is short lived but it certainly shares a lot of pleasure in a very short time.

I also spotted a gorgeous hot pink camellia in full flower.













I know that Spring has sprung today as not only is it the Vernal Equinox (when there are equal number of daylight hours and darkness) but also it is my darling daughter's birthday. She has been busy working nights for the last 4 days but lucky her rota (she is a doctor) has worked out that she has today off. I have been waiting to share with you something I made for her in my silversmithing  class...

Yes 4 Peas in a Pod! Now there is a story behind this. I started silversmithing about 9 years ago and at the time my daughter said that the one thing she would love me to make for her was a peas in a pod pendant. She has always liked that imagery and until now I have never had the skills to make it. But finally I have. The pod was made by using a metal fold forming technique. I will publish a post showing this in the future as I have also made some earrings using this method and it is fun to see the process. I made "tendrils" for the pod using silver wire and I soldered a wire leader into the centre to thread 4 freshwater pearl "peas" onto. The 4 represents the four of our family.

This is the view of the other side of the pendant. I bought a chain and put her gift  into a box for her to open with her other birthday presents this morning at her home. I hope she likes it...I certainly had fun making it and felt an achievement having come up with a workable design after all these years.









I can also now share with you the special spring Birthday card I made for her.

I made an easel card, well her brother had one so I cannot treat my children differently can I? I used one of my favourite Lili of the Valley Stamps called Dandelion Clock.

Here she is in close up, she is a really sweet stamp to colour. I used my Promarkers and highlighted her with my Prismacolor pencils and added some sparkle to her wings and dandelion using Glamour Dust glitter. I went to town with all the details..Martha Stewart punched butterflies, ribbon, buttons and gorgeous mulberry paper flowers...

Quite a bouquet here!

This is the inside complete with a sunbeam across it...

and this is a rather wonky side view showing you how the card stands up by itself. Although these cards take a long time to make they are worth it. A real spring birthday card for my spring daughter.

I would like to enter my card into the following card challenges;

Penny Black Allsorts Spring time
Pretty Little Ribbons #8 Spring Colours
Cupcake Craftroom Spring Bouquet
Ladybug Crafts Ink Anything Goes
Joanna Sheen Spring is in the air
Lili's Little fairies Butterflies and fairies
Papercrafting Journey #5 Pretty pastels
Really Reasonable Ribbon Spring with ribbon #44
Emerald Faerie Garden  Easel card
Totally Gorjuss Spring #123




Wishing everyone a very Happy Spring..we are there at last..and the days are now getting longer than the nights. What a wonderful thought.
 Happy Birthday to my darling Milly :0) and have a wonderful day.
Welcome Spring, you have been missed.

Bye for now,

Jane x