It was a Crime of Passion

I should have just made another round of cheese. I realize that too late.

Have you ever gotten yourself into a project that just seemed to grow and grow and before you know it, you somehow feel like while it was a good idea, maybe the timing wasn't so good?

It all started out so innocently, and so excitedly too, darn it.

And it has nothing to do with cheese.

Yes, I really did make a round of cheese by scratch! In fact, I made two rounds, and that will be a future post. So, this cheese photo is a preview, that that project went well.

Just two days ago I was working on some pics for a friend and my computer was acting up, and so I decided to do a non-computer project that I won't tell you what it is, because at the moment, I am not sure how it will turn out. But I decided to close up my computer and start this "exciting project" late one afternoon, and thought to myself, "Wow, this is just what I need!" And boy did I ever get started!

I show the above picture only to show that I took this only days before my insane self took over and now our home looks as though someone broke in, and tried to find something, anything worth taking and decided to just leave it all behind instead!

I share my project mess with you out of the hopes that someone (and I know you are out there) will share that you too, have gotten yourself up to your eyeballs in a mess, I mean project, but somehow had to keep convincing your loved ones with whom you share your living quarters with, "I am almost done!" and yet, you have no clue what you are doing...you think you do, you really do, but as each hour passes, and the sun goes down, and the sofa is calling out to you to in its sofa's soporific voice: "Come...come...lie down a spell and we'll work this out together..." And before you know it, it is 5AM...and you (I really mean, me) stumble into bed, without even taking note of the "project" around me and off to a real snooze. 

And so, my barber husband, who cuts hair early Saturday morning, leans over and kisses my cheek good-bye at 6AM and asks if I got a lot done as he felt me come into bed only an hour ago, and I mumble, "Yes..." and he leaves the bedroom only to be greeted by the crime scene that follows:

Unsuspecting Barber husband enters from the hallway into the scene of the crime...project, I mean.

He looks to his right and sees an array of lights and pillows and wonders if this is some new-fangle sofa trend that his beloved is trying out....he's not sure if he will go along with bulbs and pillows. 

Beat up old grains sacks around the house was pretty daring for him already...

But then he turns to the left and finds cabinet doors wide open and even empty! The CD's! Gone! But then he remembers that most were Elizabeth's "unique" collection of Enya,  Medieval, Boy's Christmas Choir, and he even found Yanni one time! Not grieving this loss he decides...

But now he sees "powder" everywhere, as if someone was dusting for fingerprints...getting a little concern here...but he can't tell if we were ransacked or just sacked...

He notices a little pathway was left open towards the door, and decides that there was no robbery, because he is pretty sure that if he were robbing our place (and would leave empty-handed, he is sure), once in the door, he would have turned right around and gone next door to rob. 

As my barber husband leaves, he takes comfort in seeing a banana peel left on the table from the night before. He is glad that I got a little nourishment for all of my....what would you call it? Work? Fun? Re-doing? No, he is glad I got a little nourishment for my passionate adventure! That is all it is at the moment because adventures lead you somewhere, but you don't know where till you get there.

Now for a little game: can you guess how many pairs of eye glasses that can be found in the above photos? I couldn't believe how many I used last night and how many I have on hand...take a guess and then scroll down for fun....

(No, I do not sleep/snuggle with a grain sack! It is just tossed over the edge of the sofa...geesh! I love them, but not that much! :-)

  

Did you get all of them? As I went through the "crime scene" (and believe me, it is a crime that this stuff isn't put away yet....!) I couldn't believe how many glasses I have around in JUST this room! Have to laugh about it.

Well, after I finish this "adventure" and clean the "powder" off the furniture, (man, dust really shows up in sepia photos, doesn't it?), put the peels in the trash, and the lighting sources back in their places, I will share the pretty after photos. I think after this lot, anything I come up with will be an improvement. Hey... that could be a new gig, just show some really crappy, unfinished-what-in-the-hell-did-I-get-myself-into project photos first, then whatever you come up with will always be better and impressive than the first images! LOL. 

Okay, back to work. Actually, I am having fun rediscovering some lost and forgotten treasures that I am very happy to have found again. Just want to find a good place for them so I don't forget about them so I can use them!

Hope you enjoyed the visit and being a partner in my crime of passion.

May your passions always take you on adventures...

oh...btw....I do have way cool CD's...my Barber husband just gets a kick out of naming those few "unique" ones he found in my stash...that's okay...I have hair.

from my house to your house,

Porch Pampering

Short, sweet, and to the point: our porch is in dire need of a rehab. I dream of the day that I walk onto my porch that has fantastic railings, a wooden banister, and wood floors that are weathered and worn because that is my faux-finish, not because it is the real deal.

This project of tearing down our porch and building a new one has been a year-long, non-event. Last winter was wet and very cold.  Spring was constant rain, wind and about 200 tornadoes (seriously, 200) through our area, and the summer was heat from hell with triple digits that even this Texan couldn't take.

So, this Christmas, I decided that my pitiful porch needed some pampering, even if only cosmetic, to get through the cold winter. It was sort of like dressing a wet, old, smelly rat in a fur coat and trying to call it a cute little mink. It only works from a distance...and luckily our porch is tiny, and our stoop is up high from the street some, so passerby's can only look up and see only some of our sad little porch. But with one afternoon of grunting, hauling, and setting out some goodies that I found with my shopping buddies (Little Debbie and Renee), I think I will convince most people (if they drive by fast enough) that I just might have a little mink up here after all...

Here is the before...I almost forgot to take the before photos...I was so excited to get out my new-found goodies and dig out my trusty old favorites...

Before:

After:

Before:

After:


What a difference a little paint on the mailbox and light fixture can make! And I grabbed the little matt from the inside and tossed it outside and put the black one down at the bottom of the steps. I just lifted my shade up a bit to show my Belgium curtain from the inside and it has a whole new look...

Before:


I didn't get out the ladder and stood on the sidewalk and just pointed my camera up quickly, as I was excited to just get started...

After:


Now, I got out a ladder to stand on to take the photo...I was in my sweats and as you can see the sun is getting lower in the reflection on the door and neighbors are now driving by as they come home from work. They slow down to see...but I think they are more curious about the woman on the tall ladder, leaning over, with her butt sticking out, wearing slippers, and an apron tied around her neck, as it was in the way as I climbed up and I took it off and tied it around my neck as I didn't want it on the wet grass....what a spectacle! 

Now for the details....

The tiny porch got its make-over in one afternoon.  The lanterns are hung by string and I got them from Ikea...for less than $4 each!

I had white branches in storage as well as this old Swedish chair that "someday" I would re-cane. So in the meantime, it makes a wonderful "stick stand" and I wrapped white lights inside as well. 

I had this little cheapie table from a local craft store for about $22 and it is worn wood. Never really liked it. It isn't functional and so it works perfectly outside with all the other worn wood pieces! My old heavy crock holds it place.

These scrim curtains are from Ikea and are a steal! $1.49 a pair...yes a PAIR. Can you believe it? My girlfriends have them on their porch and I just fell in love with the look...detracts a little from how much my tiny porch is screaming to be torn down.

Is this a great baby bed/bench or what? Got this at the Three French Hens market in Morris IL with my gal pals. It was the perfect size for our little window. The linen pillows are from Ikea...the linen covers with ties are about $14 each and the inserts are $6. They fit perfect. My "Dream" pillow and "Joy" pillow are beautiful gifts from beautiful gal pals as well. The Christmas basket hanging on the window, as well as the glass garland, are from Whismy and Traci is the owner. I love her store! Sort of reminds me of some store I used to know.....hmmmm...wonder why I love it so much??? :-) I added some extra picks to the basket to make it a bit fuller and to match my decor...but don't you just love it?

Had this lantern a very long time...another gift!

Love this coal bucket...another goodie I snatched up at the Three Frenchs Hens market.

I had these old crates for years. The wood is perfect and we pull them out and put our feet up on them.

Remember I said I collected pinecones this year? Well, I played around with them and decided to make a few swags. Here is the one I made for the front door....

I hope you liked my little "faux mink" of a porch. It will have to do for now until the hammer gets to it and the real deal is done. I love it when I can actually complete something in one afternoon. 

I know how I am and just in case I lose track of time and I don't get back to you before Christmas....I am going to wish you a wonderful one now. I hope to get back...but you know how things go...

May your spirit be filled with peace. May your days be filled with joy. But mostly, may your heart be glad to know that you aren't the one in charge of the timing. Like the little pitiful porch...it just wasn't the right time this past year...and so we wait patiently. 

from my house to your house,

Amazingly Simple

I know I don't have to ask you if you ever found yourself just running and your list of projects just keep growing. That is part of our blog world, I believe. And sometimes, I think when we visit each other, we not only get validation that we are not the only ones that are running around with our heads cut off by reading each others' blogs...but then guess what happens? 

We get even more inspired and motivated by reading each other blogs and just keep adding to our already long list of projects! It is sort of like going to a yard sale and seeing everyone else's junk all over the yard and sighing a sigh of relief that you aren't the only one with so much crap in your basement, and as you sigh, you are buying up more crap from the yard sale! But of course, we tell ourselves,  this isn't crap...it is going to be useful for that project "someday." But who cares? It is recycling! And someone gets to make a buck, and we have fun while buying crap...ahem...recycling. 

See that bowl of string? I just snapped that photo quickly today and downloaded it about 10PM, I think. I am in the middle of about seven, yes, SEVEN projects that all came at once and with short deadlines. And I pushed aside some string and this bowl and tossed them inside to get them out of the way, and I shot it quickly just to test some light and my white balance before I began shooting a project (which has nothing to do with the bowl of string). I forgot I even shot this photo until I just now downloaded the photos and saw it. 

As I looked at the photo of piled up string, some of it tangled, I realized just how pooped I am and how much I feel like that bowl of string right now. Don't get me wrong...I am very happy with all my projects and when I get a breather I will share and in a moment, I will quickly show a little of what I have been up to in the recent past that I haven't even had time to share yet - and those aren't even part of the current seven projects. 

But back to the string. As most of you know by now, I love string, yarn, paper, burlap and textiles. But I believe a bowl of string is just about as lovely as it can get, no matter how tattered or how neatly it looks. String has so many uses and yet, it is so basic. And when piled together, for some reason, it looks amazing. It is amazingly simple. 

And that is how life can be at times: Amazingly simple. 

Sometimes, I have a way of just getting in my own way. I get all excited and happy, and then worried how am I ever going to do it all or get it all done. And yet, for years and years, I have done it, have done it well, and loved it. So, why do I continue to worry when life has a way of piling things up all at once now and again? I wish I could space out nicely all the wonderful projects and line them up only one a month, but life doesn't work that way in this field. Feast and famine at times. And sometimes, (rarely) it can be steady. 

But, every single time, it works out. And every single time, life turns out to be amazingly simple. And I am always amazed by it. And amazed by Jesus, who is always there to untangle everything for me and how God continues to give me challenges (even if all at once at times)and shows me how amazing life is and how simple it can be, even in the most complicated of times.

So, I am going to try to hunt down a few pics on my computer to show you quickly what I have been up to, and will explain it all later...I have a very early morning tomorrow and lots of work. I will tell you that I am very busy doing a lot of shooting, writing, cooking, traveling, designing for clients, and painting. I have some big travel plans in the future that I am VERY excited tell you about and I am in the middle of a living room make-over that I am just not having any time to do....you know the saying...the cobbler's kids have no shoes...

Until next time, I am wishing you all a very amazingly simple summer!

Sorry friends...I am pooped, so the photos are simple and small...with little explanations - until next time!

Colors for our living room....

Working in PJ's today....what am I doing now??

What am I up to here????

Don't even try to guess....

Yes! I have a studio!  Temp for now, but it is a working studio that I  haven't spent a lot of time in, but will soon!

My studio in the making....

Painting/sanding a kitchen...in my studio!

My tool room

Kitchen before...

You will have to wait until I get a moment to hunt down the after photos! Ahhhh! I can't find them on this computer and they must be on my file card still and I am too pooped to download them. Sorry!  But it turned out great - the client loved it.  I know, I know, very lame...no pics.

More photos and words next time...or maybe less words, and more photos?

from my house to your house,