My name is Connie Hemmer and I’m a brick stacker. 
I have so many people interested in seeing my gardens during the summer that I thought I’d take you on a little tour of one of my obsessions. Creativity can come in many ways, just follow what makes your heart happy in the space that fills you with joy.
I am a brick stacker in my garden. Years ago, I got a bunch of bricks from my grandma and grandpa’s house, now understand these bricks were not all whole bricks, many of them were pieces and parts of bricks. They are special to me, and grandma had them in her garden, she was pretty happy to know someone else wanted to keep them instead of letting them live with the new owners.
This darling statue was painted with DIY Old School, and drizzled with watered down White Swan and Old 57. I sealed him with DIY Big Top and this is the 3rd summer and he still looks great. If you'd like to know more about this type of paint finish you can watch this YouTube for a similar process or let me know in the comments for an upcoming post.
Some may call me a brick hoarder… never mind them, it’s fine you can have as many bricks as you want in the gardens.
Grandma had a brick path in her garden, so I did the same. Little did I know that the bricks would get swallowed up inside the dirt after time. I don’t remember my grandma having to dig them out and redo them but that is what happened to me. The flowers were getting bigger and taking over the path so you really couldn’t see it anymore. I dug up the bricks and incorporated them into garden art in a vertical structure so they could be seen.
Then I place other garden art on them or around them to add interest. I like to stack them higher but with the pieces and parts it’s not easy to make them tall and stand up straight. Our Wisconsin winter frost knocks them over every year also.
My brick obsession started with cinder blocks; we had some left over from a garage that we tore down so I used them to make an edge for the garden. A higher edge that I could add more garden art to. My husband didn’t mind this idea since it was less blocks for him to get rid of.
My sister once said “you are the only one I know that can take a pile of cinder block and make them look like art, I have a pile of cinder blocks and they look like a pile of cinder blocks”
As the years go by the pieces of brick are getting smaller and smaller but I just find a new Jenga method to stack them up. Finding your creativity in the garden is a great way to express yourself outside your home, and your hubby might not mind as much when things have changed or grown into more of a collection than a year ago.
That moss is getting better and better every year. These blocks have been in this same location for 21 years. 
My Terracotta Pot collection might have gotten a bit out of hand this spring, but I’ve found so many uses for them and love how they make everything so “gardenish” on the outside and inside of my home.
What garden obsession do you have? Share with me, I love new ideas that make the outside spaces more fun.
Thank you for stopping by and walking with me through my brick garden stacks. I hope you can find something unusual that works to add structure to your garden. If you need any products to add to your crafting shelves head on over to my website at The Painted Photographer and I'll ship them right to your front door.
This angel is another result from the watered-down drippy paint technique.
Don't forget to start those fall projects early. My Hand Painted Rice Papers make the easiest thrift flips. Thrift frame, cut the paper to size, wash the glass and you've got instant art to decorate your home or sell in your booth. If you are ordering only paper you can use the code PAPERONLY at checkout to remove the shipping..... note - if you have more than paper the order will not ship until shipping is paid.
Until next time….. Happy Painting!