My Creative Space

 

Hi there Blog Friends,

Hoping this day finds you well

and

living in the sunshine

as we are here at the beach today....

 

I want to share my new space I have been working on

for a couple + months....

I actually started this somewhere around

February...

But with all the setbacks I had this winter it took me awhile....

 

 

 

This is my new go to space-

my creative space.

I am so loving this space -

I practically live here 24/7 now.

It is so pretty, peaceful and inspiring.....

 

That wasn't always so-

it used to look like this....

Which was a really nice room also

but...

 

 

It was originally done for the grand kids for

when they came to visit....

However, they moved here

and

it was not getting used like we had intended.

In fact,

I would dare say it went for weeks with no one

even entering it

except to dust.

So, I made an executive decision

and

came up with a brilliant idea.

 

Why not use this for a craft, creative space

for me

instead of the dining room table.

 

So, it became this

 

 

I love it.....

 

I painted several pieces of furniture

we had on hand to use in this space

and I love how they turned out.

 

If you look at the original pic

the walls were contractor beige

but,

I painted them a nice subtle

blue.

Valspar's Ghost Ship.

I really like the way it brightens up this space.

 

 

This is the chifferobe that you see painted

a bright blue green in the original space.

I kept the blackboard on the door

just haven't found a quote to write on it yet.

I repainted the drawers

Valspar's Seashore Fog

which is actually a grey blue.

( I had some left over from our bedroom

and

made it into homemade chalk paint  -  recipe found )

The rest of the piece I painted

Valspar's Anthem White

also made into homemade chalk paint.

This piece is intended to hold all my fabrics and sewing supplies.

 

 

This is a small pantry that we have had for years.

It has been used in so many areas for so many different things

that I think it probably doesn't know

what it is actually supposed to be.....

I also painted it with the home made chalk paints

Valspar's Anthem White and Seashore Fog.

 

 

As you can see it has tons of space

and

at the moment I am working on the organization of it.

This is sure to change as I incorporate

all the pieces I want in this space.

 

 

 

This is another piece that has been around for years.

This was originally dark mahogany

however,

I painted it white and papered it with blue toille paper.

Well, it took me forever to strip that paper

off of all the drawers.

Then I painted it the homemade chalk paint

Anthem White and Seashore Fog.

I put the glass knobs back on but,

want to change them to brushed nickel to

match the chifferobe.

In due time....

This little piece actually is four different drawer units that stack.

I have only three of them here

because......

 

 

I have the top one here next to my desk.

It hold my most used items -

near and convenient.

 

 

 

My desk is an old farmhouse kitchen table

that I picked up

at a thrift store for $25.

It is in perfect condition

and

exactly what I wanted.

Next to my desk are a set of cubbie shelf units

that you cannot see very well

at this time.

I will get better pics and show you when I have the

organization done for them.

The desk chair is going to be

slip covered but that is a future project.

In the meantime,

I am so enjoying this space and getting so much done here. 

I will be sharing some of my storage ideas

with you soon......

 

I don't know what I did without this space for so long.

How bout you - do you have a dedicated creative space?

 

 

 

Cathy....

 

 

 

Welcome Bench

 

 

Good day my blog friends and family....

We have been having a really weird spring this year

as most everyone is. 

It has rained for the last 8 - 10 days

and

absolutely no sun.

I need sun just to function most days so

the last few days have been a challenge.

And - picture taking has been out of the question for nearly

the whole of spring.

Yesterday we had a bit of sun so I took advantage and took some shots

of my latest project.

 

 

Isn't it absolutely adorable....

I love this-

even though it is not my usual furniture transformation.

 

I thought I had a before pic but,

alas - it is not to be found.

It was just plain white.

This little bench has been in our household for several years now.

We have used it everywhere.

 

But, my latest idea was that

we needed something in our empty foyer to dress it up a bit.

 

And thus, the little "Welcome Bench"

was painted.

 

 

This is a look at the front.

I got the idea from Mackenzie Child's style of furniture

Her style is so whimsical and I fell in love with it the minute I checked it out.

 

 

I painted it with black chalkboard paint

and

homemade white chalk paint.

 

 

I used painters tape to mark off all the rows for the checks.

Then I placed an "x" in each box that would be painted black.

I did this so I wouldn't get mixed up while painting and

paint two black ones side by side.

I have been known to do that. 

It took me a while to paint all those little squares

and

a while longer to touch up the white.

Then I used a gold paint pen to outline all the squares to set them off.

The welcome was traced with a stencil, then painted,

then outlined with the gold paint pen.

 

 

Even as hard as I tried some of my lines just weren't straight.

So, the only thing I could think of to do was to distress it.

I love distressed furniture

except for my house.

I want the clean, crisp look of brand new

so I rarely distress anything I am going to use myself.

But, this screamed distressing.

So I took sandpaper to it and distressed lightly.

 

 

You can tell here that the distressing is not done heavily.

Then I waxed it with Johnson's Paste Wax

and buffed it when it was dry.

 

 

I love it.

I painted a terra cotta bunny that was left here

by previous resident

with my homemade white chalk paint

and

picked up a palm to sit on the bench.

The rug come from Wal-Mart -  only $12.

I think it goes perfect with the bench.

 

 

To fill that empty space right above the bench

I am working on an old mirror

(also left here by previous resident).

I am making it into a chalkboard with the same sort of

whimsical painting as the bench.

 

The entryway looks so much nicer now

no longer is it a blah empty space when you come to the front door.

I love it.

 

Do you like your furniture distressed or crisp like me?

What about whimsical furniture - is there room in your home for a

piece or two to just

mix it up a bit and make conversation pieces?

 

Till next time get out there and create something

you love.......

 

 

 

 

                                   Cathy

 

Joining these parties this week:

 

 

http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2013/05/be-inspired-features-and-link-party-69.html

 

 

http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/05/177th-power-of-paint-party-popp.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FANDJ+%28Domestically+Speaking%29

 

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http://www.sewmuchcrafting.com/2013/05/pinterest-power-party_15.html

 

 

 



A Long Hiatus - Ended....

Good afternoon everyone.
Have you been wondering where I have been?
I want to apologize for my absence...
Unfortunately, this past winter was not easy for me....
I somehow caught a respiratory bug
that kept returning
over
and
over and
over, again......

It was not at all fun.
But, with lots of sleep, some drugs and
lots of tea....

 

I am on the road back to the healthy again.

My what a long haul that was.

But, I am now so enjoying this beautiful

Spring weather.....

 

 

The flowers are finally putting forth their best dress

and

aren't they just gorgeous....

 

 

I love flowers and spring

and

Miss A and I have been planting a few things.

 

 

These pictures are of my garden when

I lived in the Midwest.

My, how I do miss this beautiful place.

But, I like to look at these each Spring to get

inspiration

for the present planting season.

 

 

However, living at the beach does not afford us the privilege

of being able to use these type of plants

and so,

I have to come up with some comparable

plantings that are just as

gorgeous.

 

 

We also have very little space to do any plantings.

But,

we are working on it

and

although it doesn't look anything like our little

Midwest garden

I think it will be just as lovely

when we get it all put together.

 

 

So stay tuned as we push forward and get this project

under way.

I will be posting our few gardening projects

and

the many furniture and craft projects I have planned

along with

my Pinterest projects I so love to try.

 

So stay tuned, and welcome back

I am so glad you are here.

 

It's definitely time for this little hiatus to end.

 

What are you planning on planting this year?

Will you be planting vegetables along with your flowers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January Chill

 

 

Good morning my friends.

How is your morning going so far/

I have to say I am cold

and

I mean cold.

I am not supposed to be cold living at the beach!

I not cold, cold, cold

like

frozen cold, like I was two years ago

before the beach

when this is where I lived...

 

 

The year we got between 4-6 inches of snow,

then 2 inches of ice,

then another 4+ inches of snow

so we had

10 - 12 inches of yuck on the ground.

And,

we were house bound for three days,

in the middle of the city!

The winter we decided we had had enough

and

it was time to go somewhere warm.

But,

Mother Nature has played a trick on us

and

it is cold enough all I want to do is

HIBERNATE.

 

I want this....

 

 

and this....

 

 

my garden overflowing with flowers

and warmth

and hummingbirds.

I am so ready to start planting

and so

ready for spring.

I have no motivation to do anything

thus,

no projects happening right now.

 

Our older granddaughters spent the weekend with us

and

we did do a Pinterest project..

 

 

 

Wouldn't the kids love these!

hiphiphoorayblog.com

 

Aren't these cute?

 

We did ours a little different....

 

 

We just dipped Oreo cookies in almond bark

and

added some sprinkles.

Then they got a little more creative

and

 

 

Put marshmallows on sticks

and

dipped and sprinkled them.

It made for a fun afternoon and some sweet eating....

Right up our alley

on a cloudy, dreary day....

Then it was movie time....

Even though we had a lot of fun

bundled up in blankets, eating popcorn, hot chocolate

and enjoying the time

I still wish

 

 

Our beach would get back to normal!!!

 

It's time for the sun, flowers, and warm breezes!!

 

How is your winter going? 

Are you so ready for Spring like me?

 

Have a great week and keep warm...

 

 

Cathy

 

 





Faux Sea Glass Painting

Good day my bloggie friends.

Hope you are having a great day...

I have accomplished so much today-

organizing and cleaning the kitchen cupboards....

A not so fun but necessary job.

 

When I posted about my winter mantle I realized I had never

posted about the painted glass

we did last summer.

 

 

Isn't it beautiful.

I first saw this on Pinterest and then my sister did.  

I knew I had to try it.

( I do not know the original source of the pin-

I tried to trace it back and came to a dead end.

So, if this is your original idea

let me know and I will be glad to give you credit.)

 

So, after I saw what my sister created I had to do some.

 

All you need is some food coloring,

Elmer's glue, and clear glass objects.

 

I put some glue in a paper bowl

and

then added food coloring to the shade of whatever color wanted.

Here, you can see I tried some blue.

This becomes fairly translucent when it dries so,

I found that we had to add quite a bit of food coloring to get the deeper colors.

 

This project is quite simple

and

I actually made it an afternoon grand kids project.

 

As you can see we gathered every piece of clear glass

we could find to paint.

we even did mason jars, bottles, candlesticks,

vases, small apothecary jars

whatever we could find.

It becomes quite addictive painting these

and

you will find yourself perusing your house for

anything you can possibly paint.

 

We mixed several colors of paint-

blue, green, pink and made a purple by mixing red and blue together.

You are only limited by your imagination. 

 

The youngest to the oldest can do this.

Here, Miss A is really concentrating on a small

apothecary jar she is doing in her favorite color - pink....

 

Even our guy got in on this fun project.

 

 

Here are a few of the pieces as they are drying.

The candlestick actually dried that very light blue.

It so resembles sea glass.

The only down side to this craft is -

you cannot wash these or get them wet.

The glue comes right off.

 

Here is a Dollar Tree vase I did that I have used constantly

since last July when we did them.

I love it.

The possibilities are limitless

( just think of all those jars, bottles, plain clear candlesticks you have sitting around)

and

the project is quick, budget friendly, easy and most of all fun.

My grand kids loved it.

They put all their glass projects to use in their rooms.

 

Think I have some jars I put away in the closet 

that could use a transformation.

May have to go check that out and get out all that food coloring

I found while cleaning out those cupboards.

You have a great day

and

get out there and create something awesome.

 

 

Cathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Winter Mantle

 

 

 

 

Good day blogger friends,

Hope this is finding you all in good health and enjoying

this lovely chilly weather....

Wherever you are...

 

I thought I would show you our winter mantle.

I know it's a little late in the season

but,

we have been a bit under the weather

and

unable to bring it to you before now....

 

 

As you can see, 

blue and white prevailed for my wintry decor.

Of course,

it doesn't hurt that blue is my favorite color either....

 

Every thing is either

thrifted, handmade or I already had.

Nothing purchased for this little bit of prettiness.

 

 

The trees I made for our Christmas center piece for

the dining room table.

( You can find that post here )

They are all sitting on thrifted candlesticks.

The stack of books are thrifted books I tore the covers off of

and tied with raffia.

The little blue bird - a favorite piece of my Mother's.

The candle came from Dollar Tree.

And the snow ball is a Styrofoam ball

( 3 for a dollar at dollar tree)

that has been wrapped with white yarn.

 

 

I love this little blue bird - he makes me smile every time I look at him.

And that would be several times a day.

 

 

 

On the other side is another stack of thrifted books

and two more snowballs.

 

 

The blue vase is a Dollar Tree find that I painted with

glue and food coloring

I never did write a post about that project - maybe I will

in the future

( Very easy and fun)

I tied raffia around it and filled it with sticks from the yard.

Then I hung a snowflake ornament on it.

This was a gift a long time friend of mine painted.

 

 

The snowman is made from a thrifted paperback book.

I love making these book page art crafts.

But, I love anything with script on it.

These are so simple to make

just like the pillars and pumpkins that are all over blog land

and

I have a tutorial here you just have to draw a

half snowman shape and place it in the crack of the book,

trace the shape and cut out.

Then proceed as the tutorial explains.

Then I added a blue fleece scarf - just a 1" x 12" length and

cut small fringe at each end.

I made the top hat out of black card stock -

two circles - one larger than the other and a strip that is taped to make a cylinder.

Add the circles on either end of the cylinder and you have a hat.

Very simple and

Oh So Cute....

 

 

The picture I painted.

It's a flat canvas from Michael's that I painted with leftover paints and

on hand craft paints.

 

The base color is a sample pot of Valspar's Nordic Blue

that my neighbor gave me.

I then used blues, white, and grey dry brushed over it to

mimic a winter sky.

Took all of maybe 10 minutes.

When it was dry

I wrote the word winter on with a Sharpie white paint pen.

I first wrote the word on a piece of scrap paper the way I wanted it to appear.

Then I covered the back of the paper completely with chalkboard chalk.

( I read this tip on Pinterest - didn't pin it )

Then I traced the word onto the canvas.

It leaves a faint line that can be written over with the paint pens.

When the paint dried I went over that with a glitter glue.

The two snowflakes are a couple of ornaments that I never used.

I just outlined them with glitter glue.

I glued two lengths of sheer blue ribbon on the canvas with hot glue

and then glued the snow flakes on.

I then added a few little freehand snowflakes here and there.

And I have my winter art.

 

 

The book page wreath has been hanging there since I made it. 

We all love it and it may be in it's permanent spot at this time.

 I don't foresee a move for it in the future.

( I didn't write a tutorial on it because they are all over Pinterest and Blogland,

why reinvent the wheel?)

 

 

I really love this mantle it reminds of snow and the winters

we used to have.

Living here at the beach we rarely get snow

and

the temps are usually fairly temperate.

I'm not complaining - that's why we moved here - to get away from that stuff.

But, as long as I don't have to mess with it I'm ok

I just love to look at it. 

This mantle will probably remain for a few more days and then

if I get real motivated

I may do a Valentine mantle.

I am working on other things right now and Valentine's is on the back burner.

We just don't do too much for Valentine's Day.

 

So, how is your winter going?  Did you do a winter mantle or

did  you just move right on to Valentine's?

 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great rest of the week.....

 

 

Cathy

 

sharing with the following parties

 

Embracing Change

 http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com/2013/01/creative-inspirations-linky-party-blog.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FXbDDH+%28Embracing+Change%29

 

Debbiedos Pinterest Party

http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/how-to-turn-a-christmas-wreath-into-a-valentines-wreath.html