A Decade or More in the Making



I bought this jewelry / music box at a yard sale with the intention of painting it & then the years started rolling by, 1...2...5...10...15..., life really has a way of getting in the way of the fun stuff sometimes doesn't it! I have so many projects that have been on the years long waiting list but I'm hoping to knock some of them off the list this year. I have a dresser that I have wanted to paint for probably 25 years & I thought this would be the perfect practice for that, inspired by pinterest I went with an ombre look. I love the way it turned out & now Im psyched to do the dresser! Stay Tuned

Fabric Crayon vs Dye Stick





We've been using fabric crayons for projects forever, it never gets old! Our favorite thing to make with them is pillows. The only "important" thing to remember is because you draw on paper & then transfer to fabric your image will be reversed which is important if your doing any letters or numbers. I obviously forgot this rule despite my many years of using them, the date in the corner is backwards!
The other important thing with these is its best to use a poly / cotton blend.

Dye Sticks Crayons
I LOVE these even more than traditional fabric crayons for several reasons.
You draw right on the fabric, you don't  have to worry about mirror image &
the colors are nice & bright. 




S&H Green Stamps Curio Shelf Re-do



Back in the day, way back, probably close to 50 years, there was something called
S&H green Stamps. They were like the original rewards program.
You'd shop where stamps were given & collect enough to get the item you wanted from their catalogue. This is one of the items my mom got. I've had it in the basement for years "collecting dust" as they say & now I'm delighted to have it in my studio!
I sanded, primed & then painted using Behr premium paint.
The colors are; Cozumel, Dragon Fire & Lime Pop

For Callan

If your a friend of Callan's you can expect a great portrait for you birthday.
So for her birthday I decided to leave my comfort zone - "I don't draw people"
and made a portrait for her. I think it turned out pretty good, looks like her
which is always good & I added one of her little monsters to show her personality.

Old & Rusty

Joe went to visit some old friends today & brought me home a 3ft rusty saw;
my day couldn't get any better!
Virginia taking cover from the 90 degree heat wave as I trimmed the shrubs Saturday.

"M"y HEART is in my Studio



It has been several years since I had time to use my power tools & it felt good to get back in the saddle!


Sanding & priming, tedious but it does make a difference in the end.

I tried the much pinned about "floetrol" & I'm happy with the results. I went to my local Benjamin Moore for paint but much to my surprise they said due to contract disagreements they were no longer carrying Benjamin Moore... Rather than doing 2 years of research ( my usual mo) I went to Home Depot & bought Behr Premium Plus Interior Satin paint paint. I did 3 coats of paint. For the Chalkboard Heart I used Krylon chalkboard paint.

What a mess, I transferred the dots with graphite paper, need a better way next time.

I hung both using command velcro. This is my first time using it & so far I really like this product. Because I was hanging shapes instead of a frame I taped out the shape in the spot I was going to hang it. PS this should give you some insight to my personality....

Onsies, Twosies, Threesies....


Today would have been my Mom's 80th Birthday. Staggering. I can't even begin to imagine what she would look like at 80. She's been gone for a 25 years, long years that somehow went quickly. She always said that the days may drag but the years fly by & she was right.
On my desk sits one of my most treasured items, a little blue crock that holds a ball & jacks & for some unknown reason one marble. These were my mom's, she loved to play jacks, just one of the zillion things to love about her!

Spring has Sprung!


MY dad made these tulips for me the year before he passed away, this is the first time I put them in my window box (my husbands suggestion) & I LOVE the way they look. I get my love of gardening & woodworking from my dad.



Thanks to pinterest I discovered some new seed starting methods, paper towel rolls cut down, newspaper pots & I came up with the idea to try paper dixie cups, we'll see what happens.

Blue Bottles & Bulbs

There will definitely be a bottle tree in my garden this summer! All I have to do is develop a taste for sparkling water!

Trying something new this year by starting my elephant ears & caladium bulbs indoors.

Oh Noooooooooooo!

Everyone posts beautiful photos of their beautiful rooms, well this is my reality...I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions but I did make a very long list of the things I want to get accomplished this year. First on the list was paint my office, which I started this weekend, all I had to do this morning was 2nd coat the trim, who needs drop cloths for that?! I thought I was very clever pouring the paint into a quart size container, paint in one hand brush in the other, what could go wrong...the paint actually landed in 3 rooms! Could have been worse, my dog who is now sporting white patches on her tail & side from the walls could have tracked it all thru the house, ever the optomist.