A Must Visit Blog & Artist - Tiffany Miller

I recently added two new buttons to my blog - you'll find them both in my upper left sidebar.  Wait until you have a little bit of time to devote to the eye popping eye candy you'll find, then jump right over to Tiffany Miller Mosaics!  Prepare to drool.  Tiffany Miller is an incredible talent in Burbank California.  I've always loved mosaic work, but until I met Tiffany I'd never really seen mosaic art!  She's been featured on HGTV and DIY and she's a master at her craft.

How do I know Tiffany Miller?  She happens to be my nephew Tracy's fiance.  Tracy has always been special to me as an auntie, but I would love Tiffany if I'd never met Tracy.  My darling nephew Tracy is a rising Hollywood film artist in directing, writing, and cinematography.  His name rolls in the credits of movies like King of California, About Schmidt, and Sideways.  Can you tell I'm proud?  And he has great taste in fiances!  In spite of the fact that she's worked with and created art for many Hollywood celebs, Tiffany's a down-to-earth, all-American girl next door, kind of girl.  Just a few of the beautiful and famous Tiffany has designed for are Ryan Seacrest, Sharon Osborn, and Leeza Gibbons. 

I happen to be the proud owner of two of Tiffany's pieces - woo hoo!  Every December 26th my entire family travels from all over the country to have our family Christmas together at my parents mountain home.  Last Christmas Tiffany gave my husband and I an original mosaic frame.  This Christmas we received one of her posters - Seascape.  Wow!  We love it!  One of these days I'm going to hop on a plane and visit Tracy and Tiff in Burbank to see the original!  Sandy and I spent about half an hour on December 26th after we got back to our hotel just looking at Seascape.

The detail is incredible - remember, this isn't paint - it's tiny pieces of marble, tile, and glass. Tiffany and Tracy know how much Sandy and I love the ocean.  Love this gift! Can't wait to get it framed and on the wall.

Each member of the family received one of Tiffany's posters from an original piece.  I love, love, love them all.  Tiffany's online shop is filled with many, many, many gorgeous works of art for sale - some for a little money and some for a whole lot of money!  Whether you want to purchase anything or not you will enjoy browsing the shop.  Tiffany's blog will take you on a cyber trip through some of her shows and current projects.  Don't miss the gallery!  Check out the amazing architectural pieces - especially the massive church baptismal - incredible!

Well I've bragged enough about these two talented members of my family, so I will leave you with a cute New Year's greeting I received from a friend last week.  It reiterates my sentiments exactly for all of you!

My Wish for You in 2010...
May peace break into your home and may thieves steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become magnets for $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
May happiness slap you across the face and may all your tears be those of joy.
May the problems you had in 2009 forget your home address in 2010!
In simple words ............
May 2010 be the best year of your life!!!

Incredible!

You all may have seen this before, but I just saw it for the first time last week. My brother sent it to me. I have been just enthralled by the amazing talent of the artist, Ilana Yahav. She's fabulous. I hope you enjoy this incredible video as much as I did.

Video: You Tube

One Year Of Blogging - And A Give Away to Celebrate!

I published my first post on March 9, 2008. My friend CeeKay, Thinkin' of Home, had been blogging for about a month and she begged me to start my own blog. She said she knew I would just love it. Frankly, I was happy C had found something she loved doing so much, but I couldn't imagine I would like it that much. I couldn't picture myself "talking" to strangers online regularly, actually making friendships. My husband and I visited CeeKay and her husband in mid February last year. Several times during our visit she sat me down in front of her computer to see her blog and interactions with other bloggers. I could see that C really enjoyed it and that all of the people she communicated with and the blogs she visited actually seemed quite normal - even nice! So when Hubby and I came home after our visit to Arizona I created my own blog. The rest is history!

How did I choose the name for my blog? First of all, my granddaughters call me Mimi. I knew I wanted to be Mimi as a grandmother from the time our son was a toddler. Our daughter and all the children on both sides of the family called their grandmothers Grammy - except Jacob. He called my mother and my mother-in-law Mimi as a toddler. I thought it was cute and loved that he had chosen a unique name - at least unique in our families. The Garden attachment to Mimi happened because I adore flowers and I've always loved gardening. I work at creating several gardens each Spring, adding new plants and accessories. Whenever our four year old granddaughter visited as a toddler she always asked to go out to see Mimi's garden. So it just felt natural when naming my blog to choose Mimi's Garden.

I am still quite stunned at my involvement in Blogland! I, Kathy, check my blog several times a day. I take pictures of my house and dishes and crafts and projects to post for perfect strangers to see - and comment on! Ok, CeeKay, I admit it...I LOVE it! Thank you for relentlessly encouraging me to create my own blog :) !

I have gotten to know some perfectly wonderful ladies during this year of blogging. You are all so incredibly creative, talented, generous, and kind. You encourage and inspire me, you pray for me, you provide incentive to accomplish more and reason to believe that the world is mostly made up of good and kind people! I am truly thankful for all of you!

To celebrate my one year blogging anniversary I would like to host a give away. To enter, leave a comment on any post between today, February 20 and midnight March 8, leaving your e-mail address and expressing a desire to enter the give away. The winner will receive an original watercolor, painted by Yours Truly. I'm not going to advertise the give away on other blogs because I would like the winner to be someone who already visits my blog rather than someone who just enters give aways. I'll post the winner's name on my one year blogging anniversary, March 9.

Finally, if you do not already have a "Mimi's Friendship" graphic pictured below, please take it now and link to Mimi's Garden. I would be honored to see it on your blog!