For Brenda

A visitor named Brenda asked if I would post more views of the bed in this showhouse room I did in 2006.  

Can you see my handmade glass lamp?  I made it from an inexpensive glass vase, and added a shade from WalMart!  The pair of them looked really great, and I was so excited that noone had bought them by the time showhouse was over.  Unfortunately, one of my clients called me a week later, and wanted to buy them.  I have yet to duplicate them for my own house.  C'est la vie.

The bed is an antique that belonged to one of my great uncles.  I bought it for a bargain at the estate sale after he died.  He was one of my favorite uncles, so it has a nice sentimental value, as well as being an awesome bed!  

This was my favorite showhouse room yet.  I was really happy with the way it came out, although in retrospect, there are some things I would have changed.  Oh well.  It's over and done with.  Next time!  :)  

There are more of my design projects posted on my website, if you're interested.  

www.interiorimage.com 

Welcome!

I'd like to welcome all of Layla's readers, if you're popping in from her blog The Lettered Cottage, and if you're not coming from there, you should GO there and check it out.  She's a sweet, beautiful and talented interior decorator who has applied to be on HGTV's Design Star.  We're all waiting to see if she was picked to be a contestant!

Layla is posting about headboard benches, and used a couple of mine as examples.  I made the bench above this past November, and here is my BLOG POST about it.

I made the white bench above out of the headboard AND footboard of an old bed I found at a flea market.  I just cut the footboard in half, screwed it to the headboard, and put boards across the seat set right on the rungs from the footboard.  Depending on the bed you find, this project can be quite simple.  I think the basic construction for this one above took me about a half an hour!!  Of course, the upholstery is another story, but you don't have to upholster yours!  
I made that one above for a designer showhouse in 2006.  I did a guest bedroom.  If you'd like to see those pics, you can click HERE.  

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments here,
and I'd love to answer them!

Thank you Layla for featuring me today!

Bird on a Pear

I think maybe I should go to bed now.

Another Valentine

Have I mentioned lately how much fun I'm having with Photoshop?  Pretty soon I'm going to have to start charging you for these!  lol

Proud as a.....

Good luck, harmony, serenity, peace of mind, relaxation and protection are all associated with the magnificent peacock.  I crafted that little thing above with Photoshop, of course.  Pretty, right?  (Feel free to copy and print or whatever.)

I'm sorry I have nothing inspiring to write today.  (I think I've been spending too much time on Facebook, and neglecting my blog!! It's fun to find people you haven't seen in 20+ years!  If you're not over there yet, get to it!)   

I will say that I am wishing Barack Obama the strength and perseverance to tackle the enormous job he has ahead of him. I'm going to keep my expectations low, because as this mess was not created by one man, I don't believe it can be cleaned up by one man either.  But we have to start somewhere. I think President Obama is as good a place as any.  GoBama!  Hee!

Andrew Wyeth

1917-2009

He died last night at the age of 91.  The Washington Post did a nice article on him today.

Artist Holly Farrell

You must

check out

her website.

I'm on her mailing list, after discovering her a little less than a year ago online.  I have no idea if she offers prints of these paintings, but I just can't get over this stuff!  It's oil on masonite, and could pass for a photograph if you weren't paying attention.  The subjects are so simple, and yet when she paints them, there is something else THERE.  What a talent.  (I swear we had half those gardening books in that painting above in my house....it could be a vignette from a bookshelf in the house I grew up in, so her work appeals to me on a nostalgic level as well.) 

 Also, she is a self-taught artist!  WTF?!  Amazing.  

My Funny Valentine

OK, so I really need to stop PLAYING with Photoshop, and get cracking on fixing a logo I'm working on for a friend's business website. But really, isn't that the cutest, weirdest little Valentine ever? I think I'll print 'em out and send them to friends. If you'd like to do the same, just email me, and I'll send you a high-res version.

On another note entirely, I've been given a blog award by my good friend Sandra over at
Canyon Wren Cottage.

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to some bloggers who must choose some more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I'm not sure where the award originated...I'm not even sure what language that is up there! I know it's not French...perhaps Spanish? It's funny how small a world it is, thanks to this internet. Anywho...I'd like to thank Sandra for reading my silly blog every day, and for telling others about it. Now it's my turn to share the love. Below are a few of my daily indulgences, some of which I've only recently discovered:

• C Jane Enjoy It Today's post will tell you what you need to know about her blog in a nutshell. I will add that the family tragedy was that her sister and brother-in-law were in a terrible plane crash that left them both severely burned. It's a blog full of love and faith, and just goes to show you you CAN make lemonade out of lemons. Even when the lemons are REALLY sour.
• Renovation Therapy I've told you about Jean's blog before, but I really do pop in on her once a day or so, and she cracks me up.
• Retail Anarchy This is Jean's fiance's blog about shopping, and bargains and whatnot. And he's damn funny too. (I feel a trend...)
• Velvet & Linen OK, I just discovered this blog a couple of days ago...I want to say there was a link on Linda's Lime in the Coconut blog that brought me there....and OH what a bunch of decor eye candy there is there! You must go see what's UP! I plan on becoming a regular visitor to her blog, just because everything looks so YUMMY!

All right, that's it for today. If you have a fun blog you think I ought to see, then please leave me a comment so that I can come visit you! Maybe I'll give YOU the award next time! :)

P.S. How annoying is it to try and read against this background pattern? lol. I'll have to work on that later...NOT now. In the mean time, you'll just have to deal with it. :P

Fun with Photoshop

I've gotten absolutely nothing of substance done today.

Resolutions are for Suckers....

...but that's not going to keep me from thinking "outside the box" this year (unlike Tess, who is INSIDE the box every chance she gets).  

My primary resolution is to make more money this year.  This will entail many secondary and tertiary resolutions, which I will be sharing with you forthwith: 

• Less time on the computer, more time working
• Follow-through, follow-through, follow-through (can you tell I'm bad at follow-through?
• Diversify--this means that I have some new directions I'd like to explore this year, the first of which is spending more time learning web design.  I think this could be a lucrative side business for me.  (Of course, this may negate some of my good intentions with number one, but whatev.)
• Purge.  This should probably have been number one on the list, but we all know it now--I'm disorganized.  Come spring, my plan is to clean out that garage.  BF would love to put his boat in there, so he can work on it and not have to worry about the elements.  In order to do that, however, I will have to get rid of a bunch of stuff that got moved here in April, but for which I no longer have a use.   So...can you say GARAGE SALE?  I hate having garage sales, but it's got to be done.
• I'm also going to make a list of house projects I'd like to complete this year, time and money permitting.  That'll have to be a separate post, or maybe even a list on my sidebar, so I can hold myself accountable for actually getting stuff done.  

Well, that's it for now.  I have lots of ideas swimming around in my head, and I need to write out lists, and lists of goals and whatnot.  I feel like now that I have this house, that I can concentrate on something other than the constant urge I was having to OWN a house over the last 10 years or so.  I'm here, now, and it's time to focus on the future.

Happy New Year, and may all your resolutions come true.  :)

Handmade Christmas

Once again this year, we celebrated Christmas with my best friends Kelly and Jennifer at Jennifer's house. She always does such a great job decorating.

Remember the unfortunate rock candy project I was telling you about? There is the evidence, above, and in all honesty, once you throw those suckers on some mercury glass candle holders, they don't look half bad! Hee! Can you guess which one I made? ;)

...atop Jennifer's mantel

...alongside her stairway to the basement playroom

I just love these mica-glittered snowmen!

And speaking of "handmade Christmas," my friend Kelly made Jennifer and I some gorgeous candleabras. They are made from walnut from Jennifer's mother's farm.

Kelly took a woodworking class just to learn how to do some of this stuff!

She got the little tin cups for the candles in Sturbridge, MA. I haven't found a home for my candleabra yet. Any ideas?

This is MY handmade project for Kelly. It's a mini-replica of her house rendered in matt board and covered with mica glitter. She says that all she needs is a little glittery reindeer in the yard. I think she's right!

I also want to take it back and cover the shutters with silver glitter.

...and this is Jennifer's version. I've decided that I need to paint the green trim around her windows to make it look complete. I did the stone walls though! (on the sides)

Jennifer painted a gorgeous compass rose floor cloth for Kelly, which I did not get a picture of, and her husband made my upper kitchen cabinets for me out of my old vintage windows! My father had given me the windows about four years ago, and it was my plan to use them as doors for two upper cabs. Well, with the sly help of BF and Kathleen, she managed to sneak those windows out of my basement and make the cabinets. They are awesome, but you are going to have to wait for THOSE pics til after they are painted and hung. Boo ya!