Shiny, shiny

I found a "before" picture. Gold, shiny, a little too everything. I loved it anyway. But the "after" is spectacular if I do say so myself. I bought this lamp on eBay years ago and it hung over the dining table until we took it down in the spring of 2010 when we put the house on the market. I love it, but I do realize that the brass and gold tones and the general frou frou style are not most people's favorite. We put in a respectable (read: boring) fixture and stored the vintage swag lamp. And I was sad.
As we've cleaned out the storage unit (4 days left) the lamp came out and I was eager to have Rob hang it back up. Until I started thinking about all the vintage chandeliers I've seen redone with spray paint. And I thought about it, and I ran the idea by a friend who likes vintage crap, and I decided to take the plunge, and I purchased "Ocean Breeze Blue" high gloss spray paint.
Rob fixed some broken pieces, I hit them with multiple coats of the paint, and he installed a new cord and bulb housing (the originals from the 40s left a lot to be desired), and he hung it up yesterday.

Since I snapped this shot I found the missing crystals, so all 20 are now back where they belong. And the lamp is FAB, is it not? I am so happy with this funky, happy piece. The lamp itself was about $80, so not cheap, but the spray paint was less than $5, so if you already have a fixture hanging around that you don't really love, a little spray paint could be just the thing.

Delicious fabric

I saw this red fabric awhile ago and fell in love with it. Trouble is, it doesn't really "go" in my house. I don't have any red; the kitchen has a wine and grape sort of theme but it's in taupe and olive, no red. The dining room and the living room are one large room and I guess it would work as a table runner but it's pretty vibrant, and I like that area of the house to be a little more muted and calm feeling. (Around here, you do what you can to create calm. It doesn't occur naturally.)

So I left the fabric at the store.

Until.

My wonderful friend Teresa sent me a gift. It's a sewing book, which I shall review at a later date. But the thing is chock full of amazing ideas, tips and tricks, and cool projects, complete with patterns. It is AWESOME.

And in the pages of that bright little book is the cutest apron you will ever see. Except, perhaps, for the one that I will be making with these 3 fabrics.

Bright? Yes. Bold? Yes. Slightly obnoxious, even? Well, yes.

But isn't that a perfect description of me?

I thought so, too.



No promises about when it will be done. I have some curtains to make, some polar fleece hats, and a really cute pincushion from the aforementioned book, so I have plenty to keep me busy, but this one looks like fun so I am hoping to get through the "have to"s and move to the "want to"s sometime soon.

Exploding Box

I started this as a test project, anticipating that I would somehow goof it up and it would end up trashed. LOL Amazingly enough it worked pretty well and I decided to make it into a box of quotes for a friend who is having a tough time right now. I just picked some inspirational words that I thought would have meaning for her and some that really spoke to me and I put them all together so she would have a place to go when she needed encouragement.

I used the instructions from the Scor-Pal website here. (And yes, I have the Scor-Pal. I got it at Archiver's with a 40% off coupon a while ago but it's been sitting here untouched for weeks.) So far I like it but I need a tutorial on using it to make diagonal lines. It's hard to tell the size here but the box is about 3 inches square.

Products used were Bazzill cardstock, Die Cuts With a View patterned paper, Studio G stamps, Making Memories flower, large brad and rhinestones, and Cat's Eye chalks. I found the quotes at ThinkExist and printed them on cardstock on my inkjet printer. The rickrack is from Prima, I think.

Sorry the pictures are less than stellar but I was in a hurry this morning to get out the door so I could get the kids and myself to school and meet up with her to give her the box. I handed it off and she sent an email a bit later saying she loved it. Yay!

I have data entry to do and I am heading to the house to do some ceiling painting (my least favorite painting task). Have a great day!

Super Secret Project Revealed

As mentioned yesterday my mom and dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on June 14. My mom's dad was a printer -- one of the guys who, in the not-so-distant past, laid the type so that a newspaper could be printed. She had bought a type case years ago and had some little miniature "stuff" she'd collected to make a sort of shadowbox that was representative of everyone in the family.

She doesn't give herself credit enough for the creative things she does, but she gave up on this, feeling overwhelmed with all of it and not knowing what direction to take it.

So she left it at my house in January, with instructions to "do something with it." LOL

And I had no inspiration, no ideas. I wanted to do more with it -- I don't love all the miniatures, so I wanted to incorporate some of those and do something else, too. Only thing was I had no idea what.

And then, this showed up on Ali Edwards' blog. And a few days later, she posted this. So I got busy and came up with this:



That's my maiden name in the middle, blurred out. It's Dutch, and my mom collects a blue and white Dutch china called Delft so I printed some images off the web and mod podged the letters. That's my grandpa Don there in the bottom section. He was the printer and served in the Navy, as did my brother, whose kids are each pictured just below at about a year in a little sailor suit.

We'll be adding more later ... some more pictures, my dad's Vietnam Service Ribbon, and some other things. I love it because it has room for some extra stuff and it can grow and change as our family does. They have sure seen a lot of change in their 40 years together.

And I have been thinking about doing an altered canvas for my little brother lately. He just got divorced and is now a single dad to his 2 boys. Suffice it to say it has been a long, painful, ugly process but he and the boys have come out of it stronger, better, and happier. I just wanted something to reinforce the idea for them that families come in all shapes and sizes ... that maybe they aren't the traditional idea of family that the media loves to perpetuate (hello, Ward and June Cleaver!), but they are a family.



The colors are kind of funny ... it's actually several shades of brown and tan with a little sage green in the paisley on the right. The brads are copper and I think it has a nice masculine feel. Mom and Dad left this morning and are delivering it for me today. I hope he likes it.

So there are my completed projects. Now I must go work on another canvas and 18 Rolodex cards ....

Whirlwind

Busy week! I am the Caring Coordinator at our church and there is a memorial service this week, requiring a lot of my time.

Evan has soccer practice 2 nights a week (and apparently I was not the only one who thought 5:45 pm practice was inconvenient, because now it is at 6:00 one night and 6:30 the other). Rock on.

Sandy tagged me last week and I promise I am going to get to it. I promise.

The DFL office has become quite the hotbed of activity. There is actually someone there, staffing the office, every day of the week. Nice. Nicer still, it is not me. LOL

The sun is shining, it is 72 degrees, my lilac bush is leafing out, and it feels like we are really into spring now. Just in time for the temps to drop to the mid 50s and the rain to move in. Oh well. April showers bring May flowers and all that. Plus we need to get the sand and grime off the streets.

Tonight we'll go through the summer clothes and put away some of the winter ones. The boys all want shorts, but the problem is as soon as they have them, that's all they want to wear, whether or not the are appropriate for the weather. I know, they're excited. *sigh*

This is possibly the most boring post in the history of the world, so in an effort to liven it up a bit I am posting the painting I did for the boys' room. I am still looking for a CHEAP 24"x36" frame. There was nothing at the Salvation Army or Goodwill store this week but I'll keep an eye out. In the meantime, here it is:



The sun is Spencer's handprints, and the palm tree (get it? palm tree? LOL) is Garrett and Evan's handprints. Hey, I know it isn't a Picasso, but for cheesy art to hang in a kids' bedroom it's okay, no?

There.

So it's out of my brain and I won't waste precious sleeping time involuntarily composing vitriol in my brain. And I feel better.

I just didn't want anger to be the focus of the blog on a Monday morning. It looks like this week we may actually see some warm temperatures (like in the 70s). It has been an insanely long winter and all of us in the north country are ready for a major change.

So now we turn to my accomplishments of late. Oh, how that makes me smile! We all know I cherish my lists and the checking off of tasks. So here's what has been done:

Remember last fall I was working on a system for my recipes? I mentioned it at the very bottom of this post. I spent a lot of hours copying recipes onto 4x6 index cards. Most of my recipes from friends and clipped from magazines and newspapers had been stored for years in a sturdy box from Lands' End. I moved that box to California, vowing I would have the recipes organized by the time we moved back. Are you laughing out loud yet? So last fall I decided I was going to at least try to get it done. And I am proud to say that today it is done. All of the recipes have been copied, they are divided up into categories, and I have plans to add some of my favorite stand by recipes that I don't actually have written down, but it is done. And it looks great. But it's a 3 inch wide binder and it's too big to fit in the cabinet. LOL



I also finished a Christmas project. I bought the letters J, O, and Y around Christmas. I have plans for them beyond this, but step one is done: they are decorated with non-traditional Christmas colors and today I blinged them all up. Cute, no?



And last, the surf painting I have been working on for the boys' room for FAR too long is progressing nicely. Here's a sneak peek. I had been struggling with my little projector and the scale of something in the painting. In swept my husband today, with a few tools and a good bit of patience. He fixed my problem, did the majority of the pencil tracing onto the canvas, and I spent much of the afternoon painting. It looks great, and I'll post the finished project later in the week.



So, my dear readers, happy Monday. Have a wonderful week. I am looking forward to sunny days, warm temperatures, and possibly soccer. They are still deciding whether to start tomorrow or postpone the season another week. Keep your fingers crossed for Evan -- he is ready to play. (Evan's mom has to confess that she will not be disappointed if she has to wait another week until the weather is warmer.) Shhhhh.

Lovely.

I am quite pleased with myself tonight.

I finished my sweatshirt. My mother-in-law bought the fabric and shirt for me ages ago, but I just got around to putting it all together. It will primarily serve as a bedjacket for me, as I am perennially cold around my shoulders and at the back of my neck, especially when I am reading in bed. (Excuse the crappy lighting.)



I also got a pillow done for Evan, made out of 2 Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse team things that are reminiscent of the Twins' Homer Hankies from years past, AND a pillow for Spencer made from a hand-me-down Tshirt. The brand is from the U.K. -- "Cheeky" and it says, "I'm too little to surf" on it. It turned out so cute and will be adorable on his bed in the surfer bedroom. I just couldn't bear to give that one away even though he had outgrown it. This was a great solution.

I never even touched the photos that I need to sort. They are still on the dining room table. But I have no guilt over that and I will take the time this week to get through them. It is so nice to be in a place where I can plan for extra things in the schedule because the main ones are pretty much squared away.

If I can keep up this level of energy I might actually finish the damn curtains for my bedroom, too. LOL

Will wonders never cease?

My house is clean.

My laundry room is neat and tidy.

The laundry is done.

I cleaned the dog's kennel and the bedding in it.

I spent a little time in World HQ yesterday and came up with this:



I made the album a while ago. Chipboard covered with patterned paper and Bazzill, then punched with the handy machine at school and put together with pages made out of Bazzill and a comb binding.

I posted at Scrapjazz and asked if anyone had Quickutz and the Tangerine alphabet. Thanks to Lin, who did and was willing to cut my custom title. She even sent me some camping stickers when she mailed the letters and numbers to me.

I inked them with a Cat's Eye Charcoal ink pad and ran them through the Xyron and lined them up using the Creative Memories Titletopia (which apparently they don't sell anymore ... too bad, because it is a great tool). The lines are drawn with a Zig writer and the fire and logs I cut freehand from cardstock scraps.

I am so looking forward to our adventures this summer!

Holy cow

I have been having computer issues. Of an undetermined origin, no less. For the last 2 or 3 days I have not been able to get to Google. And I couldn't see photos on Blogger sites. Rob has been on his laptop tonight and for now the issues are resolved. The computer has been interminably slow as well, and again, for now it seems to be working.

I had had this little "J" sitting around for a while now ... simply painted black. When I found some black and white toile paper I knew it was what I wanted, so I bought a sheet and Mod Podged it on. It needed some color and sparkle so I added a ton of colored rhinestones. Waaaaay over the top, but I still like it. LOL




Spencer had his birthday celebration in school today since there is no afternoon kindergarten tomorrow. I even figured out how to use the video function on my new camera (which has a microphone, so it records sound as well!) and got a video of the class singing the birthday cake song. Too cute.

The weekend will be spent altering a jacket for Evan's class play -- he was assigned the part Tuesday and the performance is a week from tonight. Yikes! The part is awesome, though, and I know he'll be great. Will definitely report on more as the costume (which will also be very cool) comes together.

Okay, it's time to get the kiddos to bed and get a few things done around here ... it's good to be back. Say a little prayer that the computer doesn't freak out again ....

Crazy for crafts

I am seriously rockin' the crafts here, people. In an effort to find something on which to display our holiday cards I searched the Family Fun website and found an idea. I liked it, but I wanted it to be bigger, fancier, just more.

Having procured a refrigerator box I embarked with Evan on a crafting adventure. At the end of our labors, we had this:



A French memo board/Christmas tree. How unutterably CUTE is it? Honestly, I am about giddy with my own talent here. LOL Rob and Pippa are at the bottom, there, celebrating Rob's contribution: cutting some copper wire, bending it appropriately, hanging it over the closet door, and sticking 2 little poky pieces of it into the tree to hang it. Whatever. Totally cute and since a lot of the stuff was from my stash, pretty cheap.

Cardboard box: free
Felt: $3.50/yd on sale at Hobby Lobby for the green
Felt: 20 cents a square for the yellow and brown at Michaels
Staples, buttons, thread and a lot of the ribbon out of stash: free
Quilt batting: crib size, enough for 2 layers: $3.97
Okay, I did buy some of that cute Christmas ribbon at Michaels today because my ribbon stash is not all that extensive: $3.98

Since there was ribbon left over I figure it cost about 10 bucks. Suh-weet.

Directions later in the week if anyone is interested.

Crafty Christmas gifts

I have grand & glorious plans to get a bunch of homemade gifts done this year. I want to do a clipboard or two, some small albums, an altered notebook, some calendars, and a shadowbox. Of course I really need to do another stained glass sweatshirt (for my grandma) and the fleece robes for the boys that my parents bought the fabric for last year. Yikes. It's still sitting in my closet.

I also have these little 7x7-inch albums that I have done for Garrett and Evan. They are each 25 2-sided pages, beginning with the first official portrait from the hospital and ending with a shot of them with their kindergarten teacher. In the middle are the birthdays, the important people, the Halloween and Christmas photos, the families, and lots of everyday photos. Spencer will be the "Extra Special Person" in his classroom the week of his birthday (January 12) and I have not started his book yet. He wants to display it in the classroom that week, so I need to get moving. So that is percolating in my brain and I'd really like to get started on it but clearly the other items have priority.

Maybe when my mother-in-law is here after Christmas I will have a day to hide in my scrap room and get it done quickly.

I did a couple albums a week or two ago -- used plain chipboard, cut it to size with an X-acto knife, and covered it with patterned paper. Cut pages to size out of cardstock, and took it to school to use their comb binder machine. I LOVE that thing! The comb bindings are available at office supply stores (I could only find black) but on ebay they have every color under the sun.

As an aside, on the pastel-ish one, should the flip flops be coral/lime or periwinkle/lime? I can't decide -- what looks better?

Cool stuff

1. Rummage sale stuff is out of my spare bedroom and is now someone else's treasure (or problem, whichever... LOL)

2. Magnetic paint (all 6 coats) is on the back of my scrap storage shelf and I freehand painted some designs and words on it. There is still room if you have a word suggestion for me. I really am happy with this, too. Very whimsical.



3. This project, which I found in Family Fun magazine, has been in the works since June. I had it hanging up but the location was giving me some trouble. To explain, I have a wood cornice above my washer and dryer. There is a dowel about the diameter of a closet rod inside, and a fabric panel hangs down to give the room some color, visual interest, and to hide all the icky pipes and stuff back there. The project hung fine, but the letters were all jumble-y and tipped so you couldn't see them well. Inspiration struck in church today -- self-adhesive pin backs! So the pin backs are stuck to the clothespins and then pinned to the curtain to hold them in place and keep them upright. Ta-daaaaaa! You can find directions to the project here.



Rob is working on the crown molding and dinner is in the oven, so all in all it has been a most productive weekend. *Insert giant grinning smiley here.*

Last day of school

Whew. I got up this morning and still had to paint the teacher's name on a gift and put a coat of Mod Podge over the whole thing. Thank goodness for hair dryers with cool air settings. I managed to get homemade teacher gifts done this week -- not too fancy, but I think they will like them. The 2 cans are quart-size paint cans I had hanging around in the scrap room. I used papers from the new DCWV Summer Stack (I am totally addicted to those giant pads of paper). A little Mod Podge, some grosgrain ribbon, and it's all good. Inside are little sample sizes of foot massage lotion and moisturizer, fragrance spray, nail buffers, bath fizzies and other fun "spa kit" items.




I did a clipboard for Evan's math teacher. She really is great, and I didn't do a clipboard for her at Christmas (because I already had 5 to do). I blurred out Evan's signature and most of her first name. I wanted to show the pink acrylic paint I stamped the name with using MM foam stamps.
Here's the front:

And the back:

I sent the boys off with their gifts (and gift cards for the bus drivers) this morning. It's the first day this week I don't have to go anywhere. Spence is watching Nick Jr., I am still in my jammies and I have some straightening up to do around the house but I'm going to try to enjoy the last day of freedom and "me time."