Windows + Fabric

Quick Update:

The walls are painted and almost complete.  I now see more floor than NOT.  My windows are now covered! YaY!  It is so much warmer and that is more comfy for sure when it has been dipping into the ‘teens at night!  Brrrr  I just gathered these panels on a rod because I preferred the flowing soft look of this fabric.  I will be making a cornice for this window later.

Simple hold-backs are the perfect solution for a window that is opened a lot of  the time.

The short window got a roman shade.  I cyphered (a LOT) on the exact measurements for the pleats and their placement.  I ended up also tacking them spaced along the length. 

I love these when they are drawn open.  I hadn’t planned on a cornice for this window, but time will tell after it is all done.

So there is the quick update on the windows and I’ll paint the decorative design on the wall perhaps today.

Thanks for stopping by y’all.

Art and Armoires

The month of January is appropriately assigned Snow and/or white for the Blissful ATC swap.  I have received my ATC for the month of January from partner Karla Jackson.  The rose applique is covered in snow.  I love it.  Thank you Karla!

I have just put mine in the mail to her and I just concentrated on SNOW.  We haven’t had any yet around here and so this is our token of snow for our house.

Update on the room redo/catastrophe:

I have finally pulled in all the parts of the armoire.  It is HUGE in this room, but I think I will finally get the organization handled and it will work quite well.

I love that it has pretty legs that lift it off the floor.  I fell in love with all the details.  The delicate carving at the crown is just yummy.

Then the panes of glass on the doors that coordinate with the windows already  in this room.  I am debating hanging lace panels in there until I get the perfect decorative containers to set on the shelves.

The hardware is beautiful.  The detail is unbelievable and mimics the decorative bow on the crown.  A few key pieces are missing and a few of the back plates are missing.  I have already been searching the internet for antique hardware and am NOT having any luck matching any of it.   If anyone has any leads on any hardware hoarders, then let me know.  I also have a dressing table with a swivel oval mirror and a missing swivel part.  Crucial to the whole swivel effect needed to make it complete.  I will rig a solution that I think will work in the meantime.

I had to take out a day to make curtains for the very bare windows.  I hope to get those hung up by Saturday.  Keeping my fingers crossed to finish soon.

Come on back to check it all out and make me accountable to get this project finished!!  Thanks for stopping by!

New Year, New Color

I have now prepped and primed the accent wall.  I am so excited about this new color of blue in this room.  I couldn’t even wait for the second coat to take a pic and share.  In the right light, it has the dusty turquoise I was hoping for.  I installed some new daylight fluorescents and it throws off the colors in here.  A change will remedy that problem after all the work is done.  I do however like the flood of light for the task.

I normally wouldn’t be one to go for complimentary colors, but I was inspired from this fabric.

I can see it all coming together with the antique whites that I already have going on.  I will be moving some new/old furniture in here that I scored at an estate sale. 

I even had a vision of some floor starting to peek through all the chaos.  Be still my heart!!  I see an end to the project!  Well…for this room anyway.  The sweet little pink nightstand may find another home soon.  I can’t fit it into any spare cubby around here and a BFF is whispering in my ear that she has just the RIGHT place for it.  As long as it has a loving home…so be it.

I seem to be acquiring the allergy crud that is flying around here and I am in a foggy frenzy to get the painting finished.  Painting on drugs (OTC, of course) is not highly recommended for making clean edges in the corners.  Ugh, retouching will be next.

The end is near for phase 1 of major reno’s.

Check ya later, gators!

Holy Cow

Happy New Year to everyone!  We had a very quiet day that included a LOT of football.  It was the calm before the storm so to speak.  I’ve had it in my mind to repaint our guest room/sweat shop.  The sheer volume of items in this single room had kept me at bay for quite some time, actually a few years!!  Ugh, the thought of moving out the stuff just to make room for a ladder and a can of paint was daunting. 

Welcome a new year and my resolution to conquer this room of horrors.  I finally moved out a huge armoire to storage.  I have just been shifting all the other furniture from one side of the room to the other just to move around and paint.  This is really scary to view this craziness in a pic.  Please don’t call Hoarders yet!

I have moved on from basic white to a golden yellow.  It was inspired from a part of the fabric to be used for the window treatments.  I am so excited to get those done and hung up.

Awww, I just love a freshly painted wall.  It is so fresh and clean.  You get that just moved in feel all over again.

I am still keeping my sewing machines in this room, but moving them from this lonely corner to the opposite wall.  I have had to cut off 20” of length from this work table.  I hope I am not going to regret that little action because every inch counts when you are crafting and painting not to mention major sewing projects.   The jury is still out on that one.

This paper was already in place when we purchased this home.  It’s been nice, but not really my style and it’s time was up.  Not to mention that it looks totally bad with that yellow wall bumped up next to it now.  Next chore…..stripped down wall paper.

And voila!  Fresh clean wall in less that 10 minutes.  I was so relieved that it came off in whole pieces.  I was doing a happy dance for sure.

The rest of the evening was spent washing off the residual paste.  Wax ON and Wax OFF came to mind immediately upon starting that chore.  My arms have got to be more fit after I finish this wall.

A coat of primer and then an accent color will go here.  I hope it isn’t too out there, but I have thought about a dusty aqua for this wall that matches the new silk embroidered fabric for the windows.  I have a graphic design planned also and I hope it comes together like it is pictured in my mind.

More to come on this mess project.  My deadline is three days from now and I still have 2 file cabinets and my work table to paint.  Keep your fingers crossed and come back for the reveal.

Thanks for stopping by Y’all.

Technorati Tags: guest room,paint,remodel,sweat shop

Merry Christmas to you!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your families.  This is truly a season to be thankful for all our blessings and give the glory to God.

Be careful in your travels and I’ll chit chat with you all after the time spent with family.

Christmas Village Views

Many, many moons ago……I began to collect these little house ornaments.  I started the series and here it is 27 years later and the collection is still building.

This little house is the first one to create this monster of a collection.

I love all the little details.

Along the way I have added a few items that weren’t part of the official collection but lent a special touch to the village.  The green tree is actually a pinecone painted green and brushed with white for a snowy effect.

These three little figures are about an inch tall, if even that much.  I painted them one year and they have hung out here every year since.

A glimpse of the jolly St. Nick himself as he flies in over the village to deliver his gifts.

The beauty of collecting this village as ornaments is the size.  I am not overrun with large boxes that require a complete storage building for the houses alone.  These guys have their own plastic storage tub and still fit within it’s confines.  Although, I do think I may need to keep an eye out for another one soon with just a bit more space.  I’d love to see what villages y’all have in your homes.  Just leave a comment and we’ll just stop in for a tour.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and to all a good night!

Sweat Shop Specials

I have been especially blessed this past month to create window treatments for friends and therefore less time to piddle on the pc.  It’s catch up time here and I’ll give you a little sneak peek into my projects.

This  one was an oriental theme.  The obi idea took shape and there was the most luscious silk chinese toile and red silk to work with ……. yummy stuff!

My friend has a tassel fetish that we often joke about, but her tassels were perfect to finish off these panels and the rod.

Then there is the guest room.  I love these inverted pleats to give fullness without gathers and ruffles.

These panels were hung from amber glass knobs and were perfect for this room full of antiques.  A few more adjustments to flatten the rod of sheers will be the final touch.

There are two more windows to take pics of and I’ll get them posted soon.  The Sweet One will get a new room ensemble and redo in her little room right after Christmas.  WooHoo, another sewing project!

Today, I’ll take some pics of the Christmas décor around the house and share AsAp. 

Spread some smiles around this HOLYday season. 

Small Tokens of Art

It’s been all a tizzy around here and I am starting to catch up to myself finally.  I must share my latest ATC trades with you all.  If you enjoy creating ATC’s, go check out Blissful Art Swap.  It is a great venue to get your creativity on.

This one was a November gift.  The theme was our choice and I love the mom cooking up goodies. It was created by Sonya.

The month of December is all about angels.  This is my adorable angel sent by Courtney. 

I finally got around to sending Courtney her card.

I find it hard to stay in the ATC parameters.  It seems I am always outside the boundaries so often and I was always the one to color INSIDE the lines as a child….go figur!  I just couldn’t find it in myself to clip her little wings at all.

I also have a wonderful group of ladies that I gifted with these little tokens of appreciation.  Using my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s ‘ear bobs’,  I created refrigerator magnets.  I removed the clips and used E-6000 to bond them with the magnet disc.  I used some of my vintage buttons with a few of them to give them a better look.

Here is a sample of one of them in the finished presentation.  I actually became a little obsessed over the packaging presentation.  I was able to tuck in a little mint also. 

Here is a side view of the little package.  I used a 3/4” hole punch and it held the magnet portion perfectly.  It took a little cyphering to get the measurements to work out, but it wasn’t brainiac stuff.

They turned out to be the perfect size to put on the place setting.

I have photos of more draperies installed to come soon.  I am just really trying to get caught up on LIFE around here.  Christmas is around the corner and the blessed children and Sweet One arrive in a couple of days.  Then the Fun begins!!

When the Grinch's are out and about, just spoil their meanness with a smile and a kind word….even if you are really just gritting your teeth really tight.

Take care Y’all.

Happy Turkey Day

I’ve been absent again from my own blog and I have been missing y’all.  This week I’m sending out Thanks to all my followers, friends and lurkers.  Time for reflection and appreciation for all the gifts our LORD has given us and the opportunity to pursue them.

I hope to be caught up from doing this….

I love the textured fabric we used for the panels.  I’m thinking this would work up into a really cute jacket.  I just get all sorts of Scarlett O’Hara ideas with some of the great home dec fabrics I work with!

Then  I am loving this window treatment….

I dismantled a king size quilt and reworked it for this adorable window treatment.  The final look has tie backs and has a totally romantic look to it.

I will install the next 2 pairs soon for another client and will post those pics.  Another pair will be shipped and I’ll badger her to send me a photo of that décor moment.

I’m looking at these photos with the crazy lighting and blurriness and thinking a new digital mega camera with bells and whistles would sure be nice SANTA!!  hint, hint. 

But I’m still thankful for the trusty point and shoot that is always ready at a moments notice.

Everyone…Have a Terrific Turkey Day and get Stuffed!

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,Sewing Projects,Draperies,Window Treatments,Vintage Postcard

BwaaHaaHaa

Happy Halloween to all the little (and BIG) tricksters.  All the porch decorations are prepped and the lights are on waiting on our 6 little goblins.  That seems to be our average over the years out here in the sticks.  But, I am happy to see all their little painted faces and adorable costumes.

I joined Blissful Art Swap and each month we have a different theme and partner.  This month I received my atc from my swap partner, Dana Strickland.  The theme was DARK.  Dana created the collage titled Marvelous Night for a MoonWatch.  It is really a cool little art piece and perfect for this hallowed night!

I also participated in a tag swap at The Art of Altering with Lisa Venable.  I received these cuties from:

Judy Bidwell

Darlene Rolls

Monica Davis

These were some really great tags and I loved the Halloween theme.  Click on their names to visit their blogs.

Great Stuff Maynard!!

In anticipation of tonight, I made some Atc’s in the spooky spirit.

I have this cute stamp in my stash and it is so easy to embellish and color.  One of my fav’s.

Another variation on the same stamp.

This one is a darker theme.  I love using cheesecloth as a layer.  It is so easy to manipulate.

This one  is another layered cheesecloth and an ode to Chester the Cat.

How dare us humans wake him from his snooze on the shoes.  Don’t you know goblins are about?!!  I must get my rest!

The Goblins will be arriving soon and I’d hate to miss even ONE! 

Trick or Treat  to YOU!!

Technorati Tags: Halloween,ATC's,Art Tags,Chester