Baby Boys and Baby Girls

The creativity process is a funny thing. I love what I do, but sometimes doing custom orders makes me a little stressed out. Take, for instance, the sign above. That is "take 3" on the sign. My client asked for a pink shabby chic sign for her baby girl's room. Simple enough. She even sent me a photo of her bedding. It was beautiful -- soft pink and white with roses. I knew exactly what I was going to do ...or so I thought. After playing around with it, I created a pretty sign with larger soft pink roses, however, I wasn't happy with it. I guess I could have sent it because it was nice, but I just didn't love it. I wish I did because after it was all said and done, I put way too much time into this sign. I woke up the next day and took it all apart...had to re-sand and repaint sections of it. I created another sign with vintage jewels on it (didn't glue them this time) and didn't like that one either. 
Finally, when I was digging through my stash, I found these very drippy pink flowers...perfect! I finally finished it (now, I secretly want to keep it).


With the baby boy blocks, I had a different challenge...trying to come up with something generic and baby boyish. You would think that since I have three boys, I would have a lot of supplies, but I don't. This is what I came up with after several dry runs. Sometimes I wish I didn't care so much, but it's a funny thing --the creativity process -- or am I the only nut out there?

Barefoot in the Winter?

Happened upon a little store yesterday… kind of the store of my dreams. It’s called Barefoot Dwelling and it’s located in a town a little north of me called Severna Park.

When I pulled up to the shop, I knew I was going to love it…just by the exterior! And…a cool, 1961 Ford truck sitting out front that says, “Repurposed with Style.”

Walking in, I wasn’t let down. So many cool repurposed vintage findings and the proprietors Mary and Lisa, are delightful! If you’re ever in the area, visit. You won’t be disappointed.

By the way, the #1 way one above was my small purchase…it’s now hanging on an old gate in my office (it was on my lamp shade, but it fell into my coffee cup when I turned on the lamp … live and learn).
And just look at the bag it came in…worth buying something, don’t you agree? (No, that’s NOT why I bought the number!)

Here are some of the cool things in their shop:

Barefoot Dwelling photos courtesy of Barefoot Dwelling.

Some Days I'm Louder About Other Stuff

Since I’m really into bathrooms lately…upstairs one currently being renovated…I thought I’d show you a glimpse at a really fun bathroom in our basement.

Since the light in the basement is well, very dim, I knew I wanted to brighten up the bathroom. And, I wanted to design it for the kids.

I used this sweet print by the artist, Brian Andreas, as inspiration. If you’ve never seen his work, you’ve got to… www.storypeople.com. It’s whimsical and thought provoking. I loved what it said: “There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said to my son, though some days I'm louder about other stuff so it's easy to miss that.”

So spot on.

I used the colors – lime green and royal blue -- and went with it! I designed the walls around the saying and used the words as sort of a crazy, zig-zag chair rail. I did this free hand as I tried to mimic Mr. Andreas' handwriting. Today you could probably do this a lot easier with all the typography supplies out there.

The Paint-Glaze Process

My friend, Nancy, an incredible decorative paint artist, helped me by painting the walls with a mixture of paint and glaze medium – one part paint to four-six parts glazing liquid.

She painted a small section, then took a sheet of tissue paper, smoothed it flat against the wall and then pulled it off. She says that the trick is to keep a wet edge and keeping it moving so no hard lines form. Also, she says to roll irregular patches so if the glaze starts to set up (and you’d really rather it not), it will look more part of the finish than straight lines would.

“Instead of following the natural path that the shape of the roller would make, roll in sort of jigsaw puzzle shapes,” she explains. “The edge of the shape you roll should be pretty wet, not rolled dry if that makes any sense. Sometimes, I dip the roller back into the tray to make it soupier. The thicker the amount of glaze on the edge, the less chance that it will start to dry.”

This is the texture that appeared…pretty cool, huh? I think it looks like you’re under water, so I kind of went with that theme, too. (Plus my sister gave me a rug and shower curtain and sweet shower curtain holders that went with it for free). I bought the cool rag rug at a Crate and Barrel outlet.

So, one little print inspired a whole bathroom. 

It’s all Good

Well, I’ve been having a whirlwind week of good news (and it’s only Monday)! I just have to share all my good news with you (as I'm way over that day from $@!! driving in the blizzard). First, the boy’s bathroom (remember that ugly thing) is almost ready to be painted. The granite top (had a top made from a scrap piece, so it was inexpensive) was installed today on top of our old cabinet vanities (which I cleaned like mad this morning). Still missing door and a hinge and well, I guess I could use new knobs since only half of them match (How did that happen? And more importantly, HOW did I NOT notice until NOW? ) 

The plumbing is going in this week (just in time for my inlaws to join us this weekend). Will probably put off painting until they are gone, but I’m going with a dark tan and a dark brown ceiling. I’ll be painting a big tree on the wall facing the door…so excited.

Next, I’m excited to say my Vintage Valentine boxes made the top ten at The CSI project…woo hoo! 

Finally, I’m inundated with custom orders from my etsy shop! I’m going to be a busy, busy gal, but a happy, happy one. So, I will share some of my creations with you over the next few weeks when I get a chance. 

Soft White and Blue

A while back I received my grandmother's vanity, armoire, and dresser....1920's art deco. Lovely. Used the dresser and armoire forever, as is, because the wood was so pretty on them. However, the vanity sat in my basement and sat, and sat. It was sad.

So, another while back, I pulled it out and it was happy. But, it still looked sad.

So, I sanded, primed and painted it, a beautiful off-white. And, now it looked happy, too.

I added little touches of blue to match the color of my walls and hand painted the flower to mimic the fabric toss pillows I have on my bed...pillows placed only when company comes.

Now, that's one happy vanity!

















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Songbird's, Why I Love White Party.

So, You Think You Had a Bad Day...

My adventure started when I drove half way to the ski resort and realized that I forgot one ski boot (I'm not going to try and explain). I should have just gone home then, but I had an excited 10 year old in the car ready for a day on the slopes. Since we were spending the night at my sister's (half way point) and my teenage son agreed to meet me half way with the other boot (in exchange for a tankful of gas), I decided to meet my son at Barnes & Noble (smart move as you will see). After about 30 minutes, when I called him to see where he was, I joked, "You did remember the boot?" Silence. Two hours later (he got lost, too) and after reading my third novel, I had the boot.

Next day: It's snowing..yippee; should be some great skiing. Got to the ski resort to be faced with dense fog and sleet, but we were skiing! Took two runs and my son was begging me to leave...at that point we were living ice sculptures.

After a cup of hot cocoa and a quick pep talk, we were back braving the elements and skiing. The snow was great, but getting pelted by ice balls, not being able to see because of the one inch coating of ice on our goggles wasn't. We decided to go back early.

Source: Montreal Gazette

By now the sleet had turned into a blizzard...complete white out. I put my car in four wheel drive and was determined to at least get to my sister's. I won't bore you with all the details, but my 50 minute drive turned into 4 1/2 hours, my windshield wipers froze at one point causing me to drive off an exit blind, passed one overturned car, about 20 cars in ditches, and two jack-knifed tractor trailers. As was driving, my 10-year old was giving me a pep talk, bless his soul.

I made it to a neighborhood about a mile from my sister's house and just abandoned my car there. And, both of us (feeling very much like Bear Grylls from Man vs. Wild) began to trek the mile to my sister's in blinding snow. At one point we heard a thunderous noise...a tree had fallen and just missed us!!!
Happy ending...my sister's neighbor ventured out to pick us up before we had to climb a steep hill (thanks Brian) and we got to hang out with my sis one more night. The snow is beautiful...I bet the skiing is great...

Lots of Vintage Love

Valentine’s Day is all about romance and while I don’t go overboard decorating my house for it (hey, I live with four guys), I do embrace it, creatively. You see when I’m not watching football or writing, I’m sequestered in my art room working on whimsical wall signs and little boxes for my etsy shop. I had fun creating some for Valentine’s Day -- especially these large heart-shaped ones! I decided to display them in a mini vignette in my living room until they sell. (Had to crop this photo close and blur the edges  to avoid getting the large, plastic, Knex roller coaster in the background.)

For this one (right) I chose vintage-inspired paper to cover the top and then stacked paper scraps and bundled them together with twine to evoke a collection of love letters. I even stuck a tiny vintage picture of a guy in there! A little sprig of dried lavender was added as a final touch. I love working in miniature.

The other box (left) is also covered in vintage-inspired paper and embellished with a wood craft heart, swathed in mulberry paper.  I then secured a little key (from my stash) and a paper love note and tied them with twine for a sweet romantic touch.  

Well, I’m off to hit the slopes with my youngest. See you all back here on Thursday or Friday.

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