My kitchen is "almost" finished...

Whoo-hoo! I am out of paint! For now at least... {I'll need to purchase another gallon as I have some "touch-ups" to do. I like to have some paint on hand for those little dents and dings that occur through the course of our daily lives.}

Don was kind enough to bring our glass top table supports and four chairs down out of the upstairs storage area; while I set about cleaning and putting things back in the room. It wasn't long after that when we were setting the tabletop in place! Everything seemed to go back together perfectly... without any mishaps!

On the tabletop, I added a glass Home Interior bowl filled with a chubby candle and surrounded it with a winter scented potporri. A pair of a rooster and a hen grace the bowl with their presence and create a wonderful easy to remove centerpiece. The chair cushions that we recovered a few years ago from some leftover remanents from the curtains, assist in tying the room together. They offer just enough of the black and vanilla checks, that is repeated in our curtains, to provide some contrast and match perfectly with the touches of black and white scattered about the space. I so loved waking up to this room this morning!

Good Morning!

I fell out early last night to awake early this morning! I am feeling great! not too sore and well-rested.

I am excited about putting my kitchen back together today and getting to the re-decorating; even though I'll be using what we currently own vs. buying anything new! It will be a challenge not to put things back in the same ole' spot but in a way that highlight each items unique qualities and display them as the well-loved treasures that they are. Today's goal is to get the kitchen finished, do some decorating within the space for the Christmas season, and clean the remainder of my home. I love a clean house --- when that happens, LOL! and I can assure you, it doesn't stay that way for too long. {grin}

I am looking forward to finishing some old projects and starting some new projects soon.... some creativeness for Christmas gift-giving; some home decor items, and some simply for the pure enjoyment of creating!

My time will be spent juggling various duties, as it is once again time to clean up my computer, burn some disks, do a back up, and maintanance. I am also hopeful to make some changes to my blog before the New Year rolls in.... complete with links, and some new labels. Wish me luck with that... as I tend to get sidetracked, LOL.

Another coat of paint is drying, a light brunch has been eaten and cleaned up after, and this girl is taking a well-deserved break!!!

I was thinking about adding photographs to my blog after I finished re-decorating it when it dawned on me how little respect we tend to give to the photographers that take all the photographs of beautiful homes to inspire us within the many pages of a variety of magazines. If you've ever tried to capture your beloved items within your home, you know what I am talking about. The way the light shines into a room, the glare or reflections from the lights within. Mirrors, or the glass within a picture, can become a photographer's worst nightmare ---- flash or no flash!!! So, just a word of caution, in the event that I do upload some photographs, I'm no professional home photogragher! Just me, my ameuterish attempts to capture a moment in our lives and times! {smiles}

Back to painting....

Today's agenda is to get the final two coats of red paint on the kitchen walls. The previous coats of paint are dry, yet splotching looking --- the nature of this red paint! I know, however, that once completed, I'm going to love it! I've procrastinated long enough about painting it; mainly because there is so much to paint around. Cabinets, windows, the back door... the color in my previous pic is a bit off. In reality, the paint is a ruby red, Behr's Ruby Ring, which cures to a wonderful red with a hint of burgandy as the layers of paint mix together. I am anxious to get it finished up today because once dry... I get to start putting everything back into the space and re-decorate!

I'll be re-hanging my baskets, my gardening hat will hang on a nail besides the back door, my stained glass rooster will be catching and throwing a bit of color into the space, while my rooster cookie jar will be waiting to be filled with Christmas cookies, my cake pedastal with a delish delight! and the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas will soon be waifing through the air. However, before all that can happen, I need to once again pick up the roller and the paint brush.... {ta...ta...*until then*}

What a day!!!

Since the employment opportunity is temporarily on hold, I decided I had better begin using my time a bit more wisely. As the above picture shows, I cleaned and cleared the back section of our kitchen, trimmed in, and managed to get two coats of paint on the walls! I'll be painting once again in the morning; in hopes that I will be ready to clean up and begin putting things back into place. Our small kitchen table and chairs will be placed once again in front of the window, complete with a red tablecloth, placemats, and a 4 foot tree for my kitchen! We will be bringing our larger glass top table back out of the attic and using it in the front section of the kitchen. Preparations for the holidays are underway!!!!

Today's "Masterpiece"...

BOO! Banner...

Here is two of the large bats used in a BOO! Banner that I hung across our living room mirror. The pumpkins were created using my CM ovals and layered with the center one on pop dots. Chalk adds to the appearance of a realistic pumpkin adorned with the word. Orange organza ribbon, a sparkly orange-red fiber, and black eyelash fibers add an eerie element. 

And another...

My lamps are old but I still love them. They are nice to light up just the lower sections for some soft light while watching TV in the evenings. The brass hurricane lamp is a yard sale find from many years ago and the figurine of the baby bird in the tree trunk with its mother looking in is another Home Interior piece. 

Another glimpse...

Years ago a group of my girlfriends and I would take turns hostessing Home Interiors & Gifts parties in our homes. All of us were on limited budgets at the time, so we took turns hostessing the parties and purchasing the items we loved. For two years or better, we helped one another to obtained the pieces each of us desired. This picture and figurine is one of the pieces that I instantly feel in love with and treasure with those memories to this day! 

A glimpse of our home...

Since I didn't want to show you pics of our living room until the baseboards and the chair rails are installed, I decided to show you some of the wall groupings that I've put together. This shelf and mirror hangs above our secretary desk that our friend, Dennis makes. We us it exclusively for mail. The bird figurine was purchased on Labor Day when we went thrifting in Sunbury. I simply love this piece! 

It has been a busy day!

I awoke at 5:30 a.m., however, quickly climbed back into bed and off to sleep once again until about 6:30 a.m. That is when the alarm went off, as Don would be driving my dad to and from the hospital for a minor surgery today. Anyways, a while back my dad went to the ER with something irritating his eye. Upon administering an eye wash and prescribing him an antibiotic drops to apply to prevent any possibility of infection, he was referred over to Dr. Burton, an eye specialist. Dad had an appointment with him several weeks ago, and during that visit discovered he is developing cataracts and Dr. Burton decided to remove them before they became worse. So, today was the first surgery to remove one on one eye and the second will be done at a later date. Dad went through the out-patient surgery well... came home this afternoon with a minimal amount of pain after the procedure. He returns tomorrow for a follow-up post-op visit where he will discuss the condition with Dr. Burton and I assume preparations for his follow up care and upcoming surgery.

Unable to go along because the only vehicle we have running is the Ford Ranger and it is a standard and small to say the least, I stayed at home and kept myself occupied. I've started on my fall cleaning; just a bit here and there, mainly in our kitchen since I am desiring to get in there soon and tackle painting the remaining part of it. Made a wonderful breakfast of bacon, fried potatoes, and eggs, cleaned up the dishes afterwards and swept and mopped the floors.

While I worked, I kept thinking about the decorating that I am desiring to do around here. After the kitchen is finished being painted red, I'd like to explore my options for new curtains. I have yet to make it to Calico Corners where I seen the wonderful fabrics online that I loved. I'm thinking I'd rather sew them or have them sewn vs. purchasing them. One of the reason is I'd love to co-ordinate them with some placemats and seat cushions. I also thought that I could use some scraps on some dishtowels and just a little country charm here and there. This sort of surprised me, the country theme --- I've always liked the look but not the clutter. Now, I'm not talking total country... just an eclectic mix with a bit of country! I am intending to keep my rooster theme...... I'd just like to add a few things. Maybe a braided rug under the table, a few woven rugs, on in front of the sink and another at the back door... just to assist creating that warm, cozy, nostalgic look. So I did an internet search for some, I did find some at http://www.countrystylehome.com in a barn red; nice but not quite what I'm wanting. Isn't it strange how that works, you get this picture in your mind and cannot get it out. You know what you want, yet cannot find it. Well, I know in time I will; I just have to have some patience. But I did manage to find a few items that I am desiring. From www.tenderhearttreasures.com I found the perfect set of mixing bowls! The item # is 107687 Autumn Riches Mixing Bowls and are $34.95 for a set of 4. I will definately will be ordering these soon! I absolutely adore the colors, the functionality of them, and the style. I, also, found a few other items that I thought I'd put on my Christmas list:

• #104126 Curved Rattan Basket; priced at $5.95
• 107853 5" Rustic Primitive Star Ornaments; priced at $7.95
• 104758 Estate Green Bird Hook; 3 pc. set; priced at $12.95

And this, I love! I have desired one for a few years now ever since I first laid eyes on it! It is #109826 and called Swan Embrace. It is a wood carving of two swans. I've seen this before and remember the story behind them. The first time I seen them, I remember them being called Soul Mates, and the story is about how swans mate for life and the one broke its neck on the ice and the other swan stayed with it and mourned. I know it's sad, but so touching! This is the most reasonable price that I have found this piece for at $49.95; the Soul Mates one was well over a $100.00!

I also got to thinking {because of the painting in the kitchen} about the can of yellow paint that I purchased when I purchased the kitchen paint. I belive I have finally came to a suitable answer for using it within the living room! I know I've talked about this room before and how it is my biggest decorating challenge and I've decided to treat it as two separate spaces. Well, today, while resting on the couch, I got to looking at the way the light was hitting my gold sheer curtains, and it simply dawned on me! Instead of sponging, glazing, faux-finishing, what about painting only the bottom half of the wall! Sort of like a chair rail style. Well, trust me, it wasn't long after that thought that I was looking at the two walls that are painted and realized that it wouldn't take much in wood trim to add one to them. The west wall has the large picture window and the south wall has the front door with a window on each opposite side of it. Without even measuring, I'm thinking 11 1/2' wide x 30' long, minusing the width of the windows and door, I could get by with purchasing about 4-8' sections of trim! Not too shabby! A low finance project with big impact! Right up my alley....

Tinnies..... revisited...

I don't know how I could forget about these. Tinnies! I remember when I first saw them in the pages of Somerset Studios created by Lisa Kaus! These are the most adorable little containers that offer up a lot of possibilities for organizing within a creative space but what their use as a decoration within one's home?

I can see the smaller mushroom and black olive cans being used as Christmas tree ornaments. Remember my circular box ideas..... adding in a syrofoam snowball or a wooden round bead? What about filling the inside with florist foam, adding in a few small floral picks and topping with one of these for a face? Adding in a cone shaped hat? and hanging on the branches of a tree?

Of course, these could be used on a tabletop as a centerpiece too. Filled with lights, potpourri, and a candle. And what about tiering them? Wedding cake style? Okay, you'd have to turn them upside down, use a few different sized tin cans but you could hot glue them together so they wouldn't easily be knocked over. Punch some holes in the surrounding sides of the can above and poke some floral picks in there, layer as many as you'd like and add a small wooden candle holder to hold a taper candle or skip that and simply use a small pillar candle!!!

Another idea....... gosh, where is this coming from???? What about a pastry-style plate? Use the tin cans in the same fashion as above, from the lagest to the smallest, and add a variety of sizes of plates inbetween. Of course, you'd decorate the tins with paper, or spray paint in silver or gold or whatever color theme you're using in your home. Line the plates with tissue paper cut in the circular shape {easy enough using the plate as a template!} and decorate with either fruits of the season or baked goodies! Yummm....

And while I'm one the subject of "creative" decorating, I remember years ago I filled with home with luminaries made of canning jars. I purchased a bag of children's sandbox sand to fill them 1/3 of the way full, added a candle to the inside, and piece of decorative Christmas ribbon tied to the outside of the tops of the jars. I used these both inside and outside of our home. The sand keeps them from toppling over and extinguishes any stray sparks from the candles. The ones I added inside of our home were additional decorated by simply laying some sprigs of greenery, floral sprigs, and/or placing a shiny ornament beside its base.

And I cannot forget dressing up gifts! I love the wide wire ribbon available at this time of year and tend to stock up on it after Christmas is over. I love to use it sparingly around a few specially choosen gifts to decorate.... it adds a festive feel to the gifts under the tree. Bows created are always nice but tuck in a floral sprig and it's heavenly. Cinnamon sticks wrapped with a thinner ribbon and a floral sprig add another simple yet elegant touch!

I wasn't able to get to Vicki's pages or create a sketch for Lianna's last night. Don arrived home shortly after my post and I got sidetracked. I did manage to get a few pieces of furniture back into the living room along with some of my favorite knick-knacks, as well as a few recently purchased. I attempted to put my computer amoire on an angle in one corner, however, I ran out of cable cord... urgh! The electronics layout in this room are my worst nightmare. It isn't that I don't have enough outlets, it is the cable lines that frustrate me. The computer amoire can go in a only spots within the space because either the cable line or the cable modem line interferes. Since we have two big pieces of furniture -- the amoire and the TV... it is hard to balance out the room visually. I'm certain that I will eventually figure something out. Once completed, I'll get some photographs uploaded to show you.

I did manage to get my scanner re-attached this a.m. Then, of course, I had to boot it up, check my email, post in a couple of groups, do a bit of surfing, LOL! So, here I sit.... not accomplishing too much! Oh well, I deserve a break! It was so nice waking up this morning and walking out into the living room and seeing the flooring completed in one half of the room. It makes it appear so much larger than the space actually is, and so much more cozy. Having finished it, I am so inspired to finish up all the other loose ends in our home --- like painting the back section of our kitchen, and re-arranging. I'd love to purchase a few new pieces of furniture but for now will make due with what we have. That doesn't mean that I cannot begin looking. Both Don and I are getting better about reducing the clutter in our home, well at least until we tackle a remodeling project such as this... but everything is beginning to fall into place. Gotta love that!!!
{SMILES}

Just a quick update...

What flooring we have managed to installed is simply beautiful! This side of our living room is beginning to come together just as I had envisioned it. {Don and I are installing it ourselves to save some $$$.} We worked on it late yesterday afternoon and managed to get it from the west wall over to the kitchen doorway where we will continue finishing it up today. We had to stop as Don had to work yesterday evening and I went to the Popcorn parade with Amber, Chris, and Alexxis. This was Alexxis' first time at a parade, and in a large group of people. She enjoyed herself immensely, laughing, cooing, and squealing with delight! Near the end of the parade, we left to go to the actual Popcorn Festival for some sandwiches and french fries. A wonderful time was had by all of us.

Today's agenda is to finish laying the flooring, then cleaning it thoroughly, moving furniture back into place, ect. We have yet to purchase new baseboards but since there isn't a lot of furniture to be moved out of the space, we will adding that in a later date. That shouldn't prove to be too difficult to do as there are only two corners and the walls tie in to two doorways --- one entering the kitchen and the other the front door. Once the furniture is moved, I'm thinking I will set out to re-arranging the opposite side of the room. I've been desiring to do that, just hate fighting with all the electrical components to the TV.

Tomorrow while Don is working, I can tie up more loose ends and in the evening we'll be heading to Mansfield to set up for the Antiques and Collectible show to be held on Sunday. Don is hopeful he will do well there. Like any show of this nature a lot depends upon the amount of people who show up and whether or not they are purchasing.

We've managed to keep up with the majority of the remaining housework as we've accomplished this so I should be able to dive right back in to my artful life near the beggining of next week. I am really inspired to get to working on a few things that have only been in my head for some time and actually get them out into the light of day. More to come soon, I promise.

Catching up...

It has been a busy weekend and week! Our sub-flooring is laid, in preparation of the Pergo laminate flooring. Don and I are intending to begin laying it tomorrow and should be able to get my living room back together.

I spent some time with Alexxis this week; actually I had her with me for over 36 hours. She spent the night here with grammie and slept in her nursery. She is such a sweetheart! Very content the majority of the time, as long you don't try to get in between her and her ba-ba! She is continually growing by leaps and bounds. I managed to capture a few pictures --- I'm going to have to get started on her scrapbook soon.

Today, we headed over to Target, I manged to get some of the shopping for our household needs completed. I picked up a few scrabook items out of the $1 spot; I thought they would make for some nice stocking stuffer's for Amber. I usually make up one stocking and stock it with items for Amber and Chris --- this year there will be a few additional items for Alexxis. I also purchased a small cellphone that allows you to record 3 messages on it for Alexxis. These items have been put back for Christmas. I always say that I am going to start our Christmas shopping early --- this year is no exception. I find it a bit easier to pick up things here and there vs. waiting until the last minute. I think I'll be doing some of that in preparation of our holiday meals as well. Somehow, it doesn't seem like it hits us as hard financially this way, which makes absolutely no sense --- you either spend it now or spend it later, LOL!

I haven't managed to get any new creations started. However, the urge and desire to do so has been strong. I think I may have a few ideas for adding to Lianne's deco and Vicky's journal; and I will be working on filling up the Variety Collage swap packages so that again I can make one trip to the P.O. Hopefully, at the beginning of next week --- at least that is the goal I'm striving for.

My special order item arrived today via the big brown truck! I am so stoked!!! I'm excited to share it, however, a photograph taken with my digital camera simply didn't do it the justice it deserves, so I'll have to wait a few days until the flooring is completed and my scanner is hooked back up. I promise, it is worth the wait. I should also be receiving another internet order I placed earlier in the week; so I'll have plenty of new toys to play with and to be inspired by.

Don is preparing for a Collectibles show on Sunday. Packaging all up his collectibles, pricing them. We will be heading over to Mansfield Fairgrounds Saturday evening to set up and then, doing the actual show on Sunday 9-4 p.m.

We should have a bit of breathing room after that, although I am considering starting on my fall cleaning and finishing up some loose ends --- like painting the remaining section of my kitchen. My hope is to have my home in order before the holidays begin to roll in... I don't see why I cannot accomplish that in small chunks of time taken here and there. Gotta leave some room for some R&R and visiting with family and friends. So, there you have it, our lives in a nutshell. Hopefully, I'll have some artwork for your viewing pleasure to share soon. {smiles}

Don and I took a detour this weekend. Instead of traveling, going, seeing, and doing, we decided to make a trip to Lowe's. There we purchased the 7/16th OSB boards we needed for the subfloor underlayment of our Pergo Red Oak laminate to be laid on one side of our living room.
Our living room has been my biggest decorating challenge in our home as it is a long rectangle with 3 doorways, one large picture window on the west wall, and two additional windows along the front. Across from the front door on the opposite wall is the doorway to the kitchen and on the other end {east wall} is the doorway to the hallway and bedrooms. This room gets a lot of traffic in the course of the day.

When our home was originally built by Don's dad, our living room was two rooms --- one living room area and the other a bedroom which has given me the idea to treat the space as two separate areas. One side a more formal living area for when we have company and the other for TV viewing and more everyday use.

We decided we'd love to have more of the Pergo Red Oak flooring in our home some time ago and have since been purchasing boxes of it as we could afford to. Back in May, we finally purchased the last box need but other projects and busy-ness have prevented us from getting the job completed. Until this weekend anyway. After a lot of measuring and sawing, our underlayment is down! I'm thinking by the end of the week, we'll have another beautiful floor in our home. The opposite side of the room will one day be carpeted with new carpeting and will continue on into the hallway. Thankfully, that will be the last of the flooring our home will require for some time. I am so happy that this one area of our home where we purchased what we wanted without making any compromises. The results are going to be fabulous! I have already been busy thinking already about how I am desiring to decorate the space, the small touches and details that we'll add in a bit at a time.

On Monday, we took a trip to Sunbury for the Labor Day Ox Roast and annual antique and yard sales. There weren't as many antique vendors as the previous years so my searching and hoping for ephemera wasn't what I expected it to be. Although, this won't be too much of a problem as I can always go through my stash and have some photocopies made for the Variety Collage Exchange.

After returning back to Marion from our trip, we stopped by to see Alexxis, Amber and Chris. I couldn't resist seeing her.... and turn down the opportunity to have her overnight. My back is doing so much better --- although I will still be seeing the chiroprator later this week. Having Alexxis has been a blessing and a joy! She is so lovable. Oh, and guess what Grandma Highland found!!! Alexxis' first tooth!!! Yep, that's right. My little four month old grandbaby has her first tooth! I think mommy's a little jealous that Grammie Highland found it, but she was excited about it nonetheless.