The Regal Hue ~ Violet

Do you see it?

It's there at the base of these glorious poppies . . . Violet.

Violet is the base and lavender is a tint of this royal hue.

These beautiful lavender jewels were grown

by a very kind and thoughtful lady.

Meet Bella of Bella's Rose Cottage.

Not only is this beautiful woman an amazing gardener, she is also a very generous gardener. She frequently shares exquisite photos of the beauty of her Washington state garden, but by August, Bella's stand of lavender poppies had withered.

The whimsical green seed pods that once looked like this, had begun to dry up.

Bella harvested thousands of tiny specks of rich black seeds that popped out of these pods.

Then she carefully packaged them and this thoughtful lady offered a packet of these seeds to her readers who like to garden.

Mid August an envelope, the color of delicate lavender, arrived at my home. This little package had traveled from the North West bearing a beautiful stamp of violets and containing this sweet little package of poppy seeds.

Yes, Bella, here at Hyacinths for the Soul we live by the motto:

" Flowers Feed the Soul "

Thank you, sweet garden friend. In the next week or so I'll be spreading these tiny seeds in some Texas garden soil. Come next spring I hope to have lavender poppies gracefully dancing in the breeze. My heart will be full of joy!

Click here to visit Bella's Rose Cottage where you will find delightful treats await you. Bella is not only an accomplished gardener, she is also an inspiration in the kitchen as well as in her beautiful Victorian home. She had an article published in Old Fashioned Living and has been featured on numerous blogs. Drop in to visit Bella and tell her Hyacinths sent you.

I'm joining Mrs. Matlock in the last class of Rainbow Summer School for the color Violet. Click here to see a list of other participating this week.

Mysterious, Exotic Indigo

Indigo

Indigofera tinctoria is the plant that was once one of the original sources of indigo dye. It is a small shrub with light green leaves and sheafs of delicate pink flowers. This past spring I planted two different varieties of indigo in our garden. I like to use the graceful sheafs of blooms to use as filler in cut flower arrangements.

Indigo, the color of a midnight sky,

the tint of my favorite pair of jeans,

and the dye used to create these exotic fabrics.

Indigo appears in the rainbow between

blue and violet and shares attributes of both.

Hand Dyed Indigo Fabrics

Indigo, a color both rich and mysterious, has traveled through time in many cultures being used as pigment for painting, as dye for cloth, and for both medicinal and cosmetic purposes. A natural dye originally extracted from plants, indigo dye is among the oldest dyes used for both textile dying and painting. Most indigo dye today is usually a synthetic, but these fabrics were dyed using traditional methods of the Yoruba culture of Western Africa.

Gasali Adeyemo

Gasali Adeyemo, one of the international artists at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, is a master at his craft of indigo batik dying. Born and raised in a rural village in Nigeria, Adeyemo spent six years to perfect his artistic skills at the Nike Center for Arts and Culture, Nigeria. After his student years, he became a trainer to teach others the arts of the Yoruba people: batik painting on fabric, indigo dyeing, embroidery, applique, and quilt making.

My husband and I had the good fortune to meet Gasali at the 2009 IFAM where he exhibited his craft and sold the rich textiles that he had created. The yards of exotic indigo Batik were done using traditional Adire techniques of tie-dyed fabric with traditional natural indigo dyes.

Totally fascinated, my husband and I listened as Gasali explained this time intensive method. Using raffia, he stitched row upon row of repeatedly folded fabric to create the white pattern on the indigo background.

Once dyed and opened a design of concentric rows of pebble shapes encircle this fabric.

More of the same type of design but a little different color effect.

Other designs are created using paraffin or beeswax to lay out a pattern on the fabric with traditional tools such as a broom stalk or chicken feather. Once the textile is dyed, the wax is carefully removed revealing the white design.

Indigo fabrics dyed with this age old natural process are rare these days. We haven't decided what these yards of fabric will become, but we appreciate the craft and the artisan who created these beautiful textiles. Perhaps a table cloth? Pillows? Or just maybe a quilt?

What would you make with them?

You'll find more indigo at Mrs. Matlock's here.

And The Winner Is . . .

A huge thanks to each of you who took the time to enter this Anniversary Giveback with a thoughtful comment and to all my faithful followers both old and new. I appreciate you more than words can express.

Some think the #13 is unlucky,

but not Mr. Random Generator.

Congratulations to Penny

@ The Comforts of Home/

Lavender Hill Studio!

Meet Penny, mosaic artist and author of two wonderful blogs, The Comforts of Home and Lavender Hill Studio. Penny lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where she creates exquisite pieces of mosaic art and other delights. This active, creative lady also generously shares her beautiful home, gardening, cooking, and inspiration for a comfortable life. If you don't know Penny, stop by The Comforts of Home for a visit. You'll be charmed with all this lovely lady has to share.

Send me an email, Penny, and the Anniversary Gift Package will be on it's way to North Carolina. I hope you enjoy the contents as much as I enjoyed putting this together.

And again, thank you to all who visit, comment, encourage, correspond, and share your individual talents and creative spirits. It truly has been an amazing year with hours of creative fun and a whole new circle of friendships. I follow and read your blogs with great admiration. Bloggers are an amazing group of individuals who generously and graciously share your talents. Your creativity continually amazes me. I learn from each of you every day.

You, to me, are unique in all the world.

Celebrating ~ Giving Back with a Gift

Hyacinths for the Soul is celebrating its First Year Anniversary with a Giveback. The winner will be announced on September 1, 2010. I hope everyone will join in the fun.

~ The Gift ~

~ A Package Containing ~

Something Old

That would be this vintage tea table cloth that I purchased last spring at the Round Top Antique Show. 30" square and made of white woven cotton, it is full of lovely details and in perfect condition. Four beautifully embroidered bouquets fill the space in each quarter as delicate pink appliquéd ribbons gracefully weave in and out among the colorful blooms. The workmanship on this piece is gorgeous!

Something New

A friend gave me a set of these "Friendship" glasses sometime ago. They are classic vintage style French glassware with the expression: Un Verre D' Amitie which means "friendship glass" or "glass of friendship." I've so enjoyed using my set of these charming glasses, that I picked up a set of four to include as part of this gift.

"I raise my glass in friendship to each of you!"

Something French

Just for you, I contacted The Frenchy Bee and placed an order for some of my favorite cookies and caramels from Brittany. Barnier's Sucette au Caramel au beurre salé are petite salted caramel lollipops. Each is wrapped in a blue and yellow cover decorated with the Quimper faience figures depicting a Breton man and woman in traditional dress. Barnier has been making candies in France since 1885. The galettes are pure butter cookies, the traditional favorites from Brittany. These thin and crispy cookies come packaged in their own Quimper motif tin. You can read more about these collectible tins in a previous post here.

And Certainly Something Blue

Included in the gift package is a set of 4 porcelain dessert plates, each featuring a different toile design. This set was spotted on eBay and purchased specifically for this anniversary giveback. The plates come in their own little round box featuring a beautiful blue toile design.

So there you have it, and I do hope it will please the one who wins. It is a small token of appreciation for all that I receive from each of you who visit and leave encouraging comments. I wish I could send every one of you a gift. My blogging friends have definitely enriched my life this past year. Thank you!

If you want to take part in this Giveback, leave your entries on the original post HERE.

Thank you to the following hostess. Please visit their blogs to see a list of others participating this week:

Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally's

Mosaic Monday @ Little Red House

Three or More Tuesday @ The Gypsy's Corner

Sunday Favorites ~ Anniversary Celebration Giveback

Welcome to Sunday Favorites, hosted by Chari @ Happy to Design. The clock is ticking, and August 31 will soon be here. I'm sharing my original Celebration Giveback post today for Sunday Favorites. If you've not yet joined in, there is still time to be included in the drawing. Just be certain to leave comments on the original post.

Calligraphy by Kay Johnson, 1985

In the spring of last year, my good friend Maggie @ Normandy Life and also the blog mistress for Quimper Club International recruited me to be guest blogger on the QCI blog for the month of September. At the time, I honestly didn't know what a blog was, so I went about cruising blogs to see what Blogville was all about. It wasn't long before I discovered Between Naps on the Porch and Susan's weekly Tablescape Thursday. That in turn led to Confessions of a Plate Addict. With Susan's irresistible porch settings and Debbie's Quimper tablescapes (and other French inspired posts), I was totally hooked. I had spent months visiting what was becoming a long list of favorites. So with the encouragement and guidance of Maggie, Susan, and Debbie, Hyacinths for the Soul became a reality, and I took the leap and jumped in with my very first post on August 2, 2009.

~Twelve Months ~

~More than 120 Posts ~

~Almost 300 Followers~

It's been an amazing year. I had no idea how much pleasure this thing called blogging would offer. HFTS has provided a creative outlet that has led to hours of fun and a whole new circle of friendships, not to mention that I've become much more tech savvy along the way. I follow and read your blogs with great admiration. The amazing number of individuals who generously and graciously share their talents and creativity continually amazes me. I learn from each of you every day. So thank you to all who visit, comment, encourage, correspond, and share your individual talents and creative spirits. You, to me, are unique in all the world.

Detail of Original, Signed By Ange, 2010

Recently, a very special blogging friend sent me a piece of her original art. Earlier in the year Ange of Signed by Ange had invited her readers to leave a comment with their favorite quote. I was the incredibly lucky individual whose name was drawn for a special gift.

Ange took my favorite quote, worked her calligraphic magic, and created a uniquely charming piece of art . . .

Which traveled across the Atlantic from Ange's home in Toulouse, France . . .

And now has a place of prominence in my little office, where I can see it as I work on creating posts for HFTS. (Please excuse the odd color variations in the above photos. Not sure why the same wall looks two different colors.)

Of course, Ange, being the dear that she is also sent along a delightful assortment of bits and pieces for me to use in my own art projects ~ all little jewels of French ephemera from the countryside in Toulouse, France.

Included in the package was this delightful little card.

And this very thoughtful note.

Meet Ange ~ wife, mom, long-distance runner (across glaciers, deserts, & oceans), educator, calligrapher, artist, blogger, wordsmith, friend ~ I hope you'll stop by to visit Signed by Ange. Her blog posts this summer are few as she is taking a bit of a holiday, but look for her to be back soon. I think you will be charmed by her talent, her sense of humor, her joie de vivre.

Ange, I treasure this unique piece of your work with its cool shades of blue, beautiful calligraphy, and the special 1996 French stamp with Madame de Sévigne and her quill pen.

I've been the recipient of several wonderful gifts from friends in Blogville, so in celebration of the first anniversary of HFTS and in appreciation of each of you who give me inspiration and encouragement daily there will be a drawing for a give-back gift at the end of the August.

~Just follow the usual routine ~

~

To be entered leave a comment on this post.

~

For a second chance, leave a separate

comment telling me you are a follower .

~

If you post the celebration button

on your sidebar or share it in a post,

leave another comment for a third opportunity.

~The gift ~

a package containing

something old,

something new,

something French,

and most certainly, something blue.

Click here to leave comments on the original post to be included in the drawing.

Winner will be announced September 1, 2010.

Thank you to Chari @ Happy to Design for hosting Sunday Favorites which offers me the opportunity to share this post again. Click here to see others that are sharing today.