The “princess” usually gets up around 6:30 – 7:00 however; she does not wake me unless she has to go outside. She goes outside as soon as she gets up and will spend at least 5 minutes out there sniffing, peeing or doing her big business. When she comes in, she expects to have her breakfast ready with a fresh bowl of water.

• Breakfast is one (almost, not completely) scoop of dry and ½ can of wet … mix well until all pellets are covered, if not she will spit, the uncovered ones out and make a mess on your floor. J

• Lunch – none unless you want to give her a treat or snack

• Dinner is usually between 5:00 – 6:00, again it is one scoop (not as full as her morning scoop), and ½ can of wet. If it is any later, she will sit by you and steer at you until you get up and feed her.

• You can give her a treat from time to time as a reward. Praise her often and she will be good. Pet her a lot and don’t forget to call her the “princess”. J

Her bedtime is around 10:00 or whenever she is tied than she will go to bed on her own. If not she will go to bed when you do and she likes to be near you when she sleeps.

I do not allow her to get on the furniture unless she is sitting with me on my chair. She will remember if you just let her know right away what the rules (usually). J

She will bark at the … dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, garbage truck, people walking past the house, the kids playing or if she sees the leaves blowing in the yard and she expects a treat for every time she let’s you know these things are happening.  J

It will be an inconvenience for you but please, please put her on the leash every time you take her out. She will see or hear the motorcycles across the street and chase after them as she did that day at the dog park.

Please be extra careful of her back leg for she will favor it from time to time especially when it is damp or rainy. She sometimes has trouble with it when she gets up after a nap. Do not let her roughhouse, jump around, or in anyway do anything that will hurt her leg.

I am sending you a full bag and ½ bag of dry food and 14 cans of wet. That should be enough for the two weeks. If you have to buy, more dry food go to PetCo and get another bag and I will pay you when I get back.

Have fun with her and she will love you with her kisses. J I will miss her and you very much. Call often. Love ya!

Mom

We did so many of the normal things together, reading books, learning to ride a bicycle, swimming and sharing, but I was always looking for something different special original and exceptional. For her it was always birthday parties she always wanted something out of the ordinary and better than the year before and as she got older and her friends list grew my imagination also had to grow.

Each party had to be different, better and more “fun” than the year before. Well, one year I remember very well. That year after doing my research for something exclusive, I decided to have a little girl’s dress-up party. In my closet of art supplies, I found a box I had put aside for special occasions and this seemed to be the occasion. From the box, I pulled out lace, trim, buttons, beads, and bows and we made hats. Yep! The fancy fun hats that queens and princesses wear, the kind that only a child’s imagination can create the kind that will make a lasting memory for each child and take her to a fancy land filled with individual ideas.

Taking several sheets of newspaper, and placing them on each girl’s head I made a well over their scalp. Rolling the edges up and curling them, made the brim. At this point the girls started to get excited and were having fun deciding how far the brim should go, sometimes girls just can’t make a decision. All the brims were very different as we had different personalities; some brims were tight and close to the head while others flopped as the girls walked.

The decorating of the hats was the best part for me as I watch each girl create a unique and special hat that expressed their individuality. What a joy it was to see them laugh, share, and create a hat for themselves always complimenting each other with encouragement. Sharing became a fun project for all the girls and watching them have fun became a memory for me that I will never forget.

After collecting all the leftovers and cleaning the glue off the table and their hands, we had a parade with the hats and than the girls decided, it was time to played dress-up and they marching around the house as if they were in a real parade. I took pictures for their mothers to see what fun the girls had and the party was a success for my daughter. She thought it the best birthday party ever and I was stuck with coming up with a better idea for the next year … making our own home made pizza. 

Come join me at http://www.silksfloralshop.com  and see all the designs created for last year, stay to brows through the Design Instruction pages and create your own floral beauty. My next project will be silk wedding bouquets. I had fun creating one for my granddaughter and I want to expand my wedding line.

This year is going to be the best year for creating; designing and helping others enjoy the fundamentals of silks floral arrangements. Let me show you how to impress your friends, neighbors, and guide you through a world of silk flowers.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

“Love and hugs to you all.  I hope that this month does not put undue stress in your life and that you’re able to enjoy the little things about this Christmas month.  Have fun while shopping.  Try strolling instead of walking at the mall. I guarantee you’ll get just as far in the same amount of time as you would if you were rushing.  Smile, even if you don’t feel like it.  It works; it’s contagious and you’ll feel better, too.  Also, be in the moment.  If you get interested in something, don’t worry about what else is going on around you.  Focus on that something and you’ll be much happier.  I AM speaking from experience about all this.  It certainly has helped me in the recent past.  I wish you all love and peace.”  Cilla

Good morning to everyone, I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving, the turkey cooked to a golden brown perfection, the mashed potatoes and gravy had no lumps and the pies did not burnt  all of which your family and friends were completely impressed with the efforts of your labor.   

I had a terrific day. My daughter came over on Wednesday to spend the night and help me cook, a few friends stopped by on Thanksgiving to share the meal and the day. The weather was beautiful, the food was good, and I did not burn anything except the food that spilled onto the oven floor. The pies cooked to perfection and the table was set for a king’s feast. The dog wanted everyone to pay attention to her and she bounced from person to person looking for a scratch on the head or scraps of food (which ever anyone was offering). The wine flowed, the pies ate, and the coffee pot stayed full.

After everyone left, it only took me two hours to clean up and put the kitchen back in order, turn on the self-cleaning oven and start the dishwasher. I was in bed with a book by 8:30 and sound asleep by 9:00. What a day.

Well, I am off to start new assignments, create new designs, clean up some forgotten office projects and enjoy my day. No Black Friday shopping for me, I am staying well clear of the stores until after the rush. Silks Floral Shop is where I can do most of my shopping.

So have a good day.

Fran

Silks Floral Shop has brought me that new life. A life with the aim of fulfilling me to the max, a life with the purpose of seeing my silk floral designs created for fulfilling others and a life I love sharing my knowledge with anyone interested in learning. I too am learning new things from my students as I move along teaching and sharing for I never want to stop learning.

Check out my new floral design I create for a friend the other day and I wish I could also show you a picture of her expression when she first saw it. This design is setting in a special place in her home as I created it with that space in mind. When I create a new design I have to see it in my mind’s eye first and than I can build around the locale. To me seeing is to believe and seeing the finished product is the first step when I am designing a new floral. I guess it is the same with all things. Come share with me the joy of new creations.

One silk flower is not like ever other silk flower, they are all as unique as the quality of wine. I can remember 50 years ago creating zinnias and roses from crepe paper and thinking, I had created the utmost flower ever but in fact, the only things remarkable about my early “flowers” were their individuality. This was the beginning of my love of flowers and it did not matter to me, at that time, their poor quality. In the 1960’s crepe paper flowers gave way to colored thin foam sheets which only increased there durability by not fading as quickly as crepe paper.

It is stated that the Chinese mastered the skills of working with silk more then 5000 years ago and in turn created the elaborate silk floral replicas. As early as the twelfth century, Marco Polo brought the art crafts to the Italians who began making artificial flowers and in the 14th century, the French continued to improve the quality of both fabrics and fabric flowers that they became know as the best.

Manufacturers have tired to recreate the beauty of perishable flowers and the mass production of the “plastic flower”, kept the interest in artificial flowers at an unusually low point in history. The term “permanent botanicals” became the term most florist used for silk and other artificial flowers for many years.

Most flowers are now from the cotton/polyester blend fabrics that hold color dyes, retain their textures and display well, exceeding any manufactured product from the past. Today’s flowers are magnificently real that to look at them from a distance one could never tell the authentic from a silk that you almost have to touch them to distinguish from nature’s own. I challenge you to walk into a hotel lobby or a fine restaurant and see if you can tell the difference from a silk floral arrangement or the real plant. Some high quality flowers are hand painted to give that illusion of real blooms and stems. Silk flowers are so well crafted one would never guess the authenticity.  These beauties captivate me and I have to step close to touch them to see if they are in fact real. I have seen silk floral arrangements designed with a mix of silk flowers and leaves with real plants and I cannot tell the difference, I commend the florist designer their creativity.

Author

Fran McCain

A silver pot, a drop of glue, a golden leaf, is the beginning of a new silk floral design. Creating a silk floral arrangement can fill you wish such pride and accomplishment that your day, week or month can be filled to the brim with lovely thoughts and visions.

Went shopping with a friend the other day and saw so many beautiful floral arrangements displayed as store decorative holiday themes, and I just had to share the feeling with you today. I could see the many different personalities of each creator in each design and I wished I could meet with all of them. I wanted to know why they were using the tiny pale yellows with the golden orange and why they used the short pot with the tall leaves. It was all fascinating to me and there were so many questions that I could not have answered and I came home to create another silk floral arrangement for myself. I love working with flowers, the piece and tranquility that comes over me as I complete my new creation, and I want to share this knowledge.

My gift I give to you today is to help you reach your potential in designing silk floral arrangements. After many years of designing, I have developed a style of my own and I look to share my experiences with anyone needing a helping hand. Reach outside yourself and open your mind to the many different styles, colors, and flowers to choose from when creating your own designs. I like using flowers stems two ½ times taller than my vase when starting my designs and work down. I place my stems separately, one at a time and work with the smaller flower at the top and the larger at the bottom.  Filling in open space with green leaves and finish the product with feathers shows a special style of a new creation.

The holidays are upon us now and the store shelves are full of so many beautiful flowers, stems and greens to choose from that I want to grab them all and take them home. Pick your colors, shapes and let us get started. Let me know where I can help you.

www.silksfloralshop.com

“I love this time of the year, the beginning of the holiday seasons, as I call it. In my town as soon as the new school year starts, the holiday decorations go up in all the stores and the shopping starts. Halloween, the first, is one of my favorites. I enjoy the orange, yellow, brown colors of the flowers and decorations that fill the store shelves and craft shops. I have the benefit of decorating my home with all of the traditional colors and bask in the beauty all around me for the whole month. There are always new items to investigate while shopping so I can make changes, create new arrangements, and expand ideas from last year, for a new Halloween celebration. My decorations go up on the first day of October so I can enjoy the floral designs with all my friends. I drag out my Halloween boxes from last year and start pulling out all my beloved treasures to decorate and after I am done, I am off to look for new pieces and create new designs. I love the pumpkin centerpiece with the orange candle in the middle for my kitchen table. The covered wagon has become my most prize piece with the orange and yellow flowers poking out the back and Mr. Pumpkin setting up front ready to ride. Those beautiful sunflowers with their big brown middle gives me a warm fuzzy when I set them in the middle of a floral arrangement or grace a few of  them in my front door wreath to welcome my guest. Each year it is a different wreath because I like to donate last years. I like change from time to time and the yard decorations are just as fulfilling to create as the inside.  Each year I add a few new items to please the trick-or-treaters, and I thrill to see there little faces light up when they come to my door and I can tell they are as excited as ever to see the festivities.”