Tuesday, September 23, 2014

LR Wall Re-Do


Hi Friends,

It's been a work in progress for several months
But it is finally finished (pretty much)


In 2003 when my husband first became ill
And I knew he would be spending more time in the LR so,
We decorated the living room with all of his favorite things
He and I were married in Bodie, CA 
His family settled Bodie in the 1800's 
They owned the Gold Mine and many of the businesses there
Mark always wanted to get married there even though it is now a State Park

The pen and inks on this wall were drawn by my brother David
He is a fabulous artist, I will always treasure these pictures
We also had many hunting, fishing and car racing items in the room

Mark has been gone to his new heavenly life for nearly 4 years now
So, I decided it was time for a face lift


Several months ago I found this sign in a little boutique that I love to frequent
I purchased it immediately and knew it was the start of a wall re-do

It took several months to find the other pieces to complete the wall
But I found just what I needed over the past two weeks
While visiting some of my favorite shops AND
Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market

I came home from work tonight
And quickly put together this flower arrangement
Not bad for 10 minutes :)
 And it only cost $11


 While at JITT I found those two fence posts which worked perfectly
above the sign with the flower arrangement in the middle


Here's the whole wall
If you remember my post about the new shop I found
I showed this photo below
And mentioned that I purchased two items shown

YEP, That would be the shutters right off the wall
LOVE THEM!!

They are so unique
Usually the shutter part would be horizontal
But if you notice, these are vertical and add more character


Well, there you have it
My LR wall re-do
I am pleased with the result
I have a few more things to do before I show the sofa it is above
What do you think?

Have a Happy Rest of your Week
Blessings to ALL

Sharing at Revisionary Life

Thursday, September 18, 2014

A Bit Random Today


Hi Friends!

I am just sharing a bit of randomness today
Do you remember this photo I shared from 
My trip last weekend to Rusty Saturday


I mentioned that I purchased one item in the photo


I wish I had purchased the cute little pig
However I DID purchase this fun turtle
Because I thought it would be Perfect
For my granddaughters to have outside their Cottage
 

He was definitely a Hit
Lots of smiles today while they played with and on him
 

The above photo (sorry for the poor quality)
 Is something I received in the mail after my vacation
My friend Melanie of Melanie Dorsey Designs
Gifted my one of her canvas paintings
She has talked about doing a painting with a focus on:
"She Considers It Joy"
Melanie told me that she prayed for me the entire time she painted this
And wanted me to have it
What she didn't realize was the very difficult event we were walking through
 On the days she was painting it
It was Totally a God Thing
I keep her on my desk in my home office
She reminds me to Consider All Things With Joy
And to challenge myself to try new things
Love Her
You can find Melanie's Blog Here
 

A few days ago I received this sweet gift in the mail
From another blog friend
Carol from Art and Sand 
She was making some pillows and did not care for how this one turned out
Through a series of comments and emails she graciously sent it to me
As well as the fall banner that she made
So very kind and very much appreciated
There's a little something headed to her house as well :)
 

 I won a blog contest a couple weeks ago
I received this awesome emergency kit from
It is filled with the greatest assortment of goodies
That every person needs to have close by
I've already used a couple of the items
(The Tums have come in handy the past couple of nights)
Kris has a super blog and is SO creative at decorating her home
 

When I ordered cards from Melanie Dorsey Designs
I had no idea that they would come so sweetly packaged
All of her orders are wrapped in vintage hymnal pages or other special paper
 

She also tucked in a special little sachet that I LOVE
Aren't these cards just beautiful
Melanie does an original water color painting
And then prints them on note or greeting cards
You can find her on Etsy here
 

I have been blog buddies with this beautiful lady for about 1 1/2 years
We have been talking about meeting up for at least a year 
But life just gets busy
I finally had the great pleasure of meeting her in person on Wednesday
Is a true joy to visit
AND her Craft Room is to die for........


Such a talented woman, she is!
She gifted me these hand crocheted dish cloths 
That I absolutely LOVE
I finally have my first bit of blue that I have been thinking about adding to my decor

Yes, totally random stuff today
But people I wanted to thank
And women I wanted to share with you
Every one of them is SO creative
You must visit their blogs/etsy shops

Have a super Friday and weekend ahead
I hope to finish my LR wall this weekend
But I'm also going to Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market
On Saturday so we'll see

Any body going to Scottsdale this weekend?
Love to meet up with you!!!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

A New Favorite Shop


Hi Friends, 

I was so excited to find a new area to go junkin'
I ventured Way out of my comfort zone
And drove up to Cave Creek and Cactus
I know, Waaaay out of Ahwatukee :)


I've been following a blog for a few months
And it's writer just opened a booth inside a cute shop
So, I just Had to go visit during their monthly Warehouse Sale


The regular shop is open daily
But once a month they open the Warehouse


Rusty Saturday is the shop
And The Salvage Yard is their monthly special


Above is a photo of the booth that my new blog friend has
My Desert Cottage
I loved everything in her space
But only bought 2 items
They will appear in an upcoming reveal in the next week or two
You can actually see both items in this photo :)


I was happy to find there are several other shops
In the same general location
I believe I ventured into 10 shops
Within 1 mile of each other
Super fun place to hang out with a friend for a day


I also bought one item that is photoed above
Can you guess what it is?


Loved this dresser
I am planning on painting my very vintage dresser
That belonged to my grandfather soon
I hope it turns out this nice


So many fun things to look at


Almost bought this sign but it was blue
So, I may actually make one myself


My greatest pleasure was to actually meet 
Karen from My Desert Cottage
She is so very sweet and has a super fun personality
You can visit her blog here
And if you live anywhere in the Phoenix metro or surrounding areas
You can visit her space at Rusty Saturday

Rusty Saturday on Facebook
Rusty Saturday webpage

I'd just Love to take YOU shopping with me

What are you doing Next Saturday?
It's time for "Junk In The Trunk" Vintage Markey
And I'm Going!!!!!! 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

She's Finished


Isn't it funny how certain pieces of furniture
Or even cars seem to have a gender character

This piece I purchased a month or so ago
Is definitely a She

As you may recall
I revealed her 'before' photo
And announced that she was getting a make over




The above photos were how I found her
At one of my favorite little antique/craft stores
'Tillies Attic' for only $20

I mentioned that I was going to use Anne Sloan Chalk Paint
For the first time


Well, She is Finished 
And I love her

She required quite a bit of fix it work
Her door was broken and needed repair



I wouldn't usually use E6000 for this type of project
But it worked extremely well


 Once she was prepped and repaired the process was rather simple
The paint went on very smoothly
It dries quickly so you can put 2 or 3 coats on in just a couple hours


The wax was a bit messy 
I preferred to use an old t-shirt rather than a brush
And then buffed it out
My biggest con regarding Anne Sloan Chalk Paint
Is honestly the price
$40 a quart plus $30 for the wax
It is true that I have enough left for at least 2 more projects
Of about the same size
But it is pricey for most of us

This beauty will sit in my dining area
The drawer will hold napkins and napkin rings

While the lower cabinet will hold other table linens
I do plan to find a couple of small baskets to place inside
That will keep everything looking neater 
And more organized


I LOVE my little $20 girl
I'm sure I will redecorate her surface in the days ahead
Just need to shop my house and find the right pieces

QUESTION:
In the photo above
The sign at the top of the photo
Would you dry brush the frame white???
So much of my home has black frames and black furniture
I'm trying to lighten things up a bit
What do you think??

AND
Inside the drawer I found 3 wheels for the cabinet
Now, I have to go shopping to find a 4th
Maybe that's why it was only $20

I am in Love with Her :)
Thank you for letting me share my Girl!!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Reflecting


Almost quite literally 
Reflecting in the standing pools of water
All over the Valley

Originally I was to post my dresser make over
But I will wait until tomorrow for that
Because We Had:

The craziest weather I have ever seen in Arizona
It all started about 2 AM
Rain, Lightening, Thunder
And RAIN

Here in Ahwatukee
We got about 4.5 - 5 inches of rain in about 6 hours
Chandler got nearly 6 inches


Most all of the roadways had closures
At some point
I even had to detour on my 1.5 mile drive to work
 

I don't know if this was a stupid motorist
Or if he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time
But, fortunately he was rescued
 

Because we have amazing Fire Fighters
 

At this very hour
5:30 PM
There is a sub-division in Mesa that is being evacuated
Due to retention areas that are over-flowing
At least 3 evacuation centers have been opened in the Valley
 

And this is SO sad
This is the church where both my niece and my nephew were married
Totally flooded
They are working hard to clean it up
They are believing it will be open for services on Sunday
Only God!!

I'm thankful that I didn't fill my pool like I usually do on Sunday's
Because my pool is now FULL!!
 My back yard was flooded but nothing in the house

I'm grateful for protection for all of my family
And all of our office staff (some whom didn't make it to work today)

I'm praying for those most severely affected by this weather
Thank you for praying for our community today!

 

Saturday, September 6, 2014

My Little Project


I've been working on this piece today
I found her a month or so ago at a little antique shop
For only $20


She's about half way finished


I hope to have her done and in place tomorrow!
I am enjoying my first experience
With Anne Sloan Chalk Paint

Have you tried it?
What was your experience?

Now, I must make sure the house is secured
As we are in the midst of a Haboob
(Major Dust Storm)
 YUCK!!!!!


Monday, September 1, 2014

The Fruits of my Labor Day


It was a busy day around CC's Place

Early to rise allowed me to work outside
Before it got TOO HOT
(109 today)
I was able to clean up the lawn area

Bagged up 5 bags of 
Weeds, pine needles, grass and other debris
That has landed in the yard after the monsoon


By 10 am it was too hot to stay outside
But I did go back out and hose down the entire patio

Once the weather cools down a bit
The little's will be able to play outside again
Their bikes are just waiting to be ridden
 

Yep,
It's a big patio with not much flare
Bulk trash pick up is this week
So I put all of my worn out, ripped up chairs
Out by the curb last night
They were gone in 20 minutes
Someone has A LOT of work ahead of them
 

I don't have much left out here now
But I'm hoping the tooth fairy will drop 
Some new patio furniture by while I sleep
 

While inside
I got 7 loads of laundry done
Washed, dried, folded, hung and put away

Linens are fresh and I will be ready for a good nights sleep
 

I was also able to shuck the corn
Make a roast
(well, at least put it in the crock-pot)
 

As well as clean the refrigerator out
And cut up the veggies for the week
 

I was able to chat with my mom for a bit
And talk to my bestie for an hour (that Never happens)

So, all I have left to do is
My day 1 Little Black Dress Challenge
(thanks MJ)
And make a bunch of flower pens for the office


I believe my Labor Day was Very Productive

Oh, you are supposed to Rest from your Labor today
Hmmm...I Forgot :)

I hope you enjoyed some fun time 
With family, friends and BBQ's today