Look What I Got!

Friday my hubby actually entered a Ross store with me. We were headed to Costco and he agreed to a quick run through. He always objects to visiting stores like Ross,  but ends up having more fun than moi. 

Of course, he immediately found a cup he just couldn't live without. He said the cup made him want to eat enchiladas...

 And I found an awesome new little table for my bathroom fuchsia plant (it was ONLY $7.99) 

The table is heavy and the birds are three dimensional - not flat. I love a verdigris finish...

They also had two battery operated candles on the clearance shelf for $3.49.  Those electric candles are super for places like bookshelves where a real candle could be a hazard.  I went "shopping" in my hall closet and we put the new candle on a wall holder that I took down when I painted.  Perfect for the end of the bookshelves.

After returning home, I mourned the fact that I didn't get one of those great cups for myself or grabbed the other candle. I also had my eye on a new thingy for my coffee table. 

Saturday hubby had to run to the pharmacy to pick up a med refill for Elle, one of our dogs(her meds cost $29.00 a month - good thing she's cute (she has my eyes)   

Her little quilt was a gift from noted young adult author and quilter extraordinaire, Katie Alender.  Elle has a crush on Katie's doggie, Winston.

Hubby seemed to be gone quite a long time for such a short trip. When he returned home - guess what????? He had gone back to Ross (all by himself - I'm so proud!) and snagged the other candle, grabbed me a cup, and found the vase thingy I wanted.   Now - how cool is that?

I'd love to show you an awesome tablescape with my new vase ($6.99) as the centerpiece, but the coffee table is stacked with Etsy projects that have spilled out of my office. They were on the dining room table and we had to eat around them.  I guess that's a step up in home decor....

Back to work!

Transformation Thursday 

Head over to Shabby Chic Cottage and check out all the great transformations...

Lamp Shade Re-Do

The candlestick lamp in my bedroom is very pretty but the light coming through the white shade was not the best with the new bedroom colors.

So the other night I grabbed a bag full of fabric I had bought to make a different lampshade, my scissors, and my glue gun. In no time at all it was done.  I had some bead trim on the lamp so first I ripped that off.

It quickly became apparent that my original idea of just wrapping the fabric and gluing as I progressed was not going to work. Not to worry. I cut pieces that were slightly larger than each section, glued them, and trimmed off the excess. 

 

I glued trim over the seams and around the top. There were two more packages of the same beads hiding in the bag so I glued a row of beads on the bottom.  The old beads were still attached to the white trim so I glued those right on top of the first row.  Why have one row of beads when you can have two?

 

When the light is on at night it is much softer than the white lamp shade...

Don't forget to head over to Shabby Chic Cottage....

Night Out on the Town

 

Steve Martin Concert

Monday evening we attended the Steve Martin concert at the beautifully restored Fox Theater in Spokane.  Here's the theater way back when it opened in 1931.  It was almost torn down not too many years ago until a group of folks got together to save it from the wrecking ball. Now it is a popular venue for national acts of all sorts.

I managed to get this rather empty looking pic because we arrived so early.

We were greeted at the door by Alice, one of the many wonderful people that work at the Fox.  Everyone should be greeted everywhere by such a beautiful smile! 

Some of the beautiful lobby...

I could use a ceiling light like this...

Did people actually paint the theater ceiling?  And we whine about slapping some paint of our walls.

Apres concert fine dining at one of our favorite Spokane haunts...

Dick's has been on that corner since the late 1950's. The fries are the best ever!!!!  Here's some interesting history on Dicks

We always get a whammy and a large fry.

Steve Martin put on a wonderful show.  He is a much better banjo player than we've ascertained from even his award winning album, The Crow.  Since my husband teaches guitar, banjo, and mandolin and has a thriving internet music business,  we saw a huge number of his students and fellow teachers at the concert.

Woooeeee!  Tomorrow is Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage.  I have a fun lampshade re-do to show everyone.

I'm hoping Christy over at The Embellished Bayou will host Throwback Thursday again.While I love looking at wonderful room transformation, and super DIY projects, once in awhile I like to be reminded that I'm not the only one who makes HUGE mistakes!  

And don't miss Lauren's Redo (pt 3 - the kitchen) over at Pure Style Home.  These are the kind of make-overs that make the light bulbs go off and send you scampering to the paint store.

Let's go shopping...

A Mini-Tour of my favorite store.

8000 square feet of fun!!

We're really lucky to have a vendor mall here in smallish Post Falls, Idaho.  In the past, I've maintained a space in an antique mall, and I can recognize a well run one when I see it.  

Some of best buys have happened before I even get through the front door. Remember the end table I have next to my bed.  Found that here...

This is just half of the entrance area. I could use that garden arch...

And check out the cool concrete planters. I NEED these. Only $25.00 each...

Let's pop in the front door...

...and head down the first of four main aisle (with a few cross aisles) My usual strategy is to dump my purse at the front counter, grab a cup of free coffee (and a cookie), and head down the aisles. I view everything from eye level down and on the second trip through, I work from eye level up.

Ooooops, waylaid by shiny stuff...

and glass and porcelain....

I actually missed this settee first time through.  If you're planning a Christmas gift for me - this would be it!!!

Or..............you could get me this dressing table. So sweet!

 I have my eye on this birdcage for my coffee table.  Do you thing $20.00 is a good price??

This table top display cabinet is just too cute. I think it would be perfect for Cindy over at My Romantic Home.  I think I'm going back and purchase the blue and white porcelain ball sitting in front of the cabinet. I have no idea of what it's for.  I think I'll put it on a pedestal...

This is Jo standing in front of her space.  What a smile! 

I took over 30 photos so I have a lot more to share with you.  See you tomorrow. I have mega work to do.

I signed up for Kelly Kilmer's Prompt a Day Class and I'm two days behind on day two. Eeeek!
Live in Massachusetts? Kelly has EIGHT classes planned...

Massachusetts Workshops in December

Trailing Fuschias

About every two or three years I buy a trailing Fuschia at Costco. They get in gorgeous, huge Fuschia for an extremely low price. I'm too cheap thrifty to buy one every year. Usually I just pitch them out at the end of summer, but this year I decided to "over-winter" my plant in the house.

I have the perfect place in the bathroom (right nest to the toidy meaning I can pluck off dead leaves when I'm using the "facility") - such a time saver!

This year's Fuschia is called Lena.

Here it's planted in a wonderful urn, giving me a great idea for a container planting.

Fuschias come in such glorious colors.  This is one of my favorites. If my plant does well this winter I'm going to find one of these.

The pink and corals are pretty, too

 

This one is beyond words....

 

 My guy all cut back...I'm going to root around in the barn for a basket to stick him in. Nothing I can do about the hanger 'cause it's permanent.

But look what's he's doing...

Heidi over at Heart and Home has some beautiful pink Fuschias she posted about...


 

 Saturday I went to my favorite home town store, My Favorite Things.  I'm still sorting through the pictures and will post them (hopefully) tomorrow. Met some lovely ladies, too! (Hi, Jo and Christina)

Tonight we're going to see Steve Martin at the beautifully renovated art deco Fox Theater in downtown Spokane, WA

Downtown Spokane at night...

Fun pics of Spokane...

A Digital Walk Around Downtown Spokane

Secret Sunday

Secret Sunday Place

Create a Secret Sunday place to sip great coffee and be with The Lord. You may want to take your Bible or just sit quietly and listen to the Lord.

Feeling Rich Friday

Boxes make me feel rich.  I love boxes - in particular wooden boxes.  When I was a little girl I had a dark mahogany "treasure" box.  It was the perfect size for keeping letters, cards, and pictures.  I'm not sure what happened to that box and I think I've been trying to replace it my entire life.

Finally I started to rescue boxes.  Some I left beat up, but most got a pretty good reworking.  Sanding, painting, gluing, nailing and re-lining. When they threatened to take over the house, I started to sell them and discovered lots of people love boxes to hold their little treasures. 

This little guy never made it to the sale shelf. He was just so sweet and perfectly shabby.  When I started working on him (some are girls, some are boys), he literally fell apart.  I glued, clamped and added screws. Now he's in tip-top shape.

I left his inside unlined because his overall design is a bit primitive. This picture really shows his "true colors"... The first two pictures are sort of dark.

I love the flower on top. So Victorian...

Now the "in process" boxes threaten to take over the house. These morphed out of my office/workshop because that room is full of the ornaments I'm working on for Christmas.  Yep - that's my buffet in the dining room.  Usually they're on the dining room table and we just eat around them.  Gives the concept of  tablescape a whole new meaning...  I do insist that we use placemats on top of the paint spattered garbage bag. Have to maintain some class, doncha know!

Speaking of Christmas, Gina over at The Shabby Chic Cottage is having a BIG deal Christmas show and I'M GOING TO BE IN IT.  Oooops - didn't mean to shout but I'm soooooo excited!

If you missed this office transformation by Sherry over at Creations from the Heart, do yourself a favor and take a gander.  It is outstanding!  She was part of Gina's Transformation Thursday. 

Transformation Thursday

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage

Thursday has become one of my all time favorite days due to The Shabby Chic Cottage hosting Transformation Thursday.  I have gotten so many great ideas from all the wonderful ladies that have posted their links.

Here's a new use for a thrift shop find.  These little shelves were designed as paper towel holders.  I don't have a before picture but, trust me on this one, it was ugly.  It has a dark avocado green crackle finish with the ugliest rooster evah where the rose is now.  The good part was the underneath finish was gold.  

I slapped some primer on it and then painted it a creamy country white.  After gently sanding the edges to reveal the gold, I applied a rose decal on the back and sealed the entire shelf.  Each end has a delicate little rose, too. This piece was intended for ebay but I ended up keeping it 'cause it's so cute.

It lives in my bathroom with an antique piece of lace on the paper towel bar.  I use the bar as a sort of movable art display. Sometimes I have vintage gloves on the bar, other times some vintage embroidered pieces.

On the left side is my Dollar Store wooden star that says "One Day at a Time."  As an almost 20 year veteran of A.A., it reminds me to keep my priorities straight. Good advice for everyone. On the other side is a vintage necklace that gets changed around depending on the season or my mood.  Right now the shelf has a little brass bath tub with a shell and some vintage silver manicure files and a pretty painted salt shaker that I use for powder. 

  

 

Don't forget to head over to The Shabby Chic Cottage to check out all the folks that signed up for Transformation Thursday.  I get so many great ideas by seeing what other people have done and its a great way to meet other bloggers.

Art Journals

Art Journaling

I think art journals are so much fun. One of my inspiration journals I started years ago was really a form of art journal.  To me it was just a fun book where I could cut and  paste, decorate with colored pens or crayons, and write a few things.  Now I've come to find out it's some sort of big deal art form. That means I can now obsess whether mine is "good enough."  Aren't we silly creatures sometimes???

If you keep a notebook filled with decorating ideas and inspiration, you're already doing a form of art journaling. Some of the decorating notebooks I've run across are "works of art" (not to be too obvious!)

I think art journals would be a wonderful project to start with children.  Just think - every rainy day when the kids whine, "I'm gored bored", you can look over and say, "Let's work on our art journals." 

One of my favorite sites for inspiration is Kelly Kilmer.  Kelly is both a very accomplished artist and a busy instructor.  In addition to her blog she has her artist's website where you can check out where she may be having a workshop. 

Isn't this page beautiful?  

And if that isn't enough she also has "A Prompt a Day" online classes. I'm planning on signing up for November.  Her site is also a wealth of great links to places selling great pens at super low prices, and links to her favorite paint sources.

Check out her finished Prompt a Day Journals from January to October....Wowzaa!

Another fun and inspirational site is Aimeslee at   Paper Paisleys.  I've exchange some emails with Aismeslee and she is just delightful and full to bursting with creativity.  Aimeslee not only does art journaling but all sorts of paper projects.  I don't think she's ever met a piece of paper she didn't love.  Here's what Aimeslee says about herself:  "paper hoarder... art supply collector... paper craft hobby artist... I pretend I'm an artist and make pretty things..."

Aimeslee's  journal page from her post Bad Hair Day, Life, and Art School Update.

Now that you've seen some really gorgeous stuff  let's take a look at mine.  No laughing allowed!!!


My cover: 

This is an art book I had laying around. Did I mention my love for notebooks? I have a whole box full. It's an obsession!

This is a page that I gesso'ed (big mistake), then tried to use water color (another big mistake - I HATE working in water color- what was I thinking?)  By the time I got to the lettering, I was soooooooooooooooo out of the mood.  I also couldn't find my glue gun and on and on. But I had fun and  guess what? I know what day I harvested the lavender this year and my book smells divine!!

More on Art Journal's:



Aislings Art Journals:  How to create and keep an art journal (this site is chock full of fun stuff!)
Teesha Moore:  Teesha's Circus Teesha is another well known artist and journaler

Clutter,Tulips, and Linky Love

What do tulips and clutter have to do with each other? Nothing! It's just so happens one of my tasks for today is planting this years batch of tulips before the rain starts up again.  Even though I avoid doing heavy labor on Sunday, because of rain I had to mow about 3 acres last Sunday.  As soon as I finished it started to rain, and continued to rain all night and all day Monday, so my timing was excellent.  The sun is out right now, but not for long, so today is tulip day. Every year I plant spring bulbs by the hundreds to add to my collection.   I really hate this task (even though it goes pretty fast), but the spring reward is worth the autumn angst.

Let's Talk About Stuff

I love pretty things and I really have a tendency to love my stuff. You know the stuff I'm talking about.  It creeps and crawls its way into our homes and pretty soon all our time is spent taking care of this stuff.  We clean it, move it, and most of all, we organize it.  News flash - you can't organize clutter.  Trust me on this one. I've spent years organizing stuff that should have been kicked to the curb years ago.

I still remember my first apartment.  Tiny by most standards. A small living/dining combo with a galley kitchen.  A smallish bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom. There was a slider in the bedroom that opened onto a tiny walled in patio. I LOVED that apartment.  The living room was large enough for a love seat, two directors chairs, and a WWII army trunk that I used for a coffee table and extra storage. The dining table was a wonderful round iron patio table and matching chairs.The bedroom was big enough for a double bed and one bedside table.  A small dresser lived in the closet.

So what was so special about this apartment aside from the large windows, cute shuttered doors on the kitchen entry, and some built in shelves in the living room?  It DIDN'T HAVE A BUNCH OF STUFF IN IT~  sorry for shouting...

That being said (shouted), I'm not suggesting you get rid of all your stuff. Some stuff is good stuff and fun to have.  But guard against the creep of too much stuff.  In the future I'll talk about more specific stuff that needs to go and some strategies for keeping our homes under control.

Now I'm going to send you off to look at some pictures of glorious stuff  (how schizophrenic is this???)  over at My Romantic Home.  Cindy (one gorgeous lady, by the way!), was nice enough to take oodles of pictures at her favorite shop, "Vintage and Vogue." It made my mouth water!

Spend some time over at My Repurposed Life.  This lovely lady who signs her posts "G", is one of the cleverest DIY'er I've run across.  There are a wealth of ideas there to spark your imagination.

Check out this bathroom make-over at The Embellished Bayou.  Christy highlighted a room re-do miracle one of her friends did on a bathroom.  It has stuff - just not too much stuff.   Perfect!! 

For balance, Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie, will keep you from diving off the deep end. It's all about balance, doncha know. She also hosts Menu Monday with over 400 people linking to their menus for the week.

Before you go check out these gorgeous spring bulbs....

I planted this tulip last year.

 

 Over the years I've added more and more parrot tulips

 

I really love pastels

 

But still have some wonderful reds for sparkle

 

Spring would not be spring without lots of grape hyacinth

I've seen my crocus blooming in the snow.