we've been lounging around...

Yeah, right! We just finished the first week of school. My baby went off to kindy!! This picture courtesy of my DS, Vince - as part of a photo shoot he did for an ad for his portfolio. It was a kid's clothing ad and I was happy to supply the clothing as well, lol!

I'm leading Cathrynn's Brownie troop this year. Yikes, the first meeting of leaders was a bit over the top and pretty darn loud, there are some people that are very passionate over the GSA. Now, I have to put my creativity to work and entertain and plan activities for 11 seven year olds. Hints, suggestions and virtual smacks in the head are welcome!

Off to cut fabric at Joanns... ttyl!

~less asylum and more oasis~

Note to self: Please vacuum before taking pix. If you enlarge this photo you'll get a view of the debris on my floor and my messy painting on the the baseboard . And of course, the fabric banner I made would've been a bit more lovely had I pressed it first... I'm all about finishing, not about details if you haven't noticed!

PS, be sure and read Darly's comment for the official history of the junque featured here!!


Here's a sneak. I still have much more to do. Make a really long dust ruffle. I bought those cheapo white plastic risers from Walmart - and tadaaaa... I can hide 8 totes of fabric under this mile high bed! And I need a new quilt from my mom's stash. My bedroom at our last house was periwinkle, but that's my kitchen now, so I needed something different but love how soothing blue is in the bedroom. Heather, if you're reading, I know it must look like I'm a Pretty Petals wannabe - I'm hoping you don't think I copied too much but was just in love with your style! I generally go for more golden tones in my home, but decided after 10 years of debating that I'd give the cool white on white of shabby chic a try. If it feels too sterile and cold in the winter, I'll figure it out then. For now, at the end of summer - I'm loving it! I hope to get more pictures later. Off to the pool for now though...

By the way, the bed came from Dana's mom's basement. And had been dark brown. 4 cans of Rustoleum later and one week later and it is still pretty stinky, but quite pretty so I'm enduring it!
And the old record cabinet next to the bed was at Darly's the last I remember, and I'm pretty sure Dana's before that. I switched out that red toile fabric that was meticulously stapled and trimmed and glued a pretty floral bouquet heavy cotton and had the girls trim it out with mother-of-pearl buttons from my stash. Here are the girls and Skippy. He was purchased by the hubby from a puppy mill guy and has serious issues, but a good personality. Unfortunately, he must be tethered or crated or he'll destroy every thing in his path. We're trying to see how he does and briefly exposing him back to several areas of the house. Minutes after this, he messed on the kitchen floor. Skippy, why oh why???

I'm so excited!

Edited this morning to add: Sheesh, it looks like a sterile hospital ward in the local prison! I swear I'll have it all junqued-up as soon as I complete my 8 hour shift at Joanns. Cutting fabric for other people for minimum wage, surely there is something ironic about this.

My bedroom redo is starting to really take shape!!! The wall color is Sea Glass. The pix makes it look a bit too gray...and dreary!

Back to school clothes

Life was so much easier with Vince. (well, at least for buying clothes, lol!) I'd buy him some khakis, jeans and t-shirts for back to school. Most of the stuff offered at the stores was stuff he wouldn't be caught dead in. And the final touch was the black backpack.Now, I'm faced with two little girls going to school. Yikes! They want everything they see. So much Hannah Montana stuff. Too much! They have some t-shirts but are drooling over the HM apparel at Walmart when I grocery shop.

A trip to another Walmart w/ a fabric department (I swear my DH had something to do with ours closing after I'd skimmed off the food budget for thread, patterns...) presented us with HM fabric for $5/yard. Okay, I'll do it. I'll embellish and alter as much as I can. Add a $3.50 white tshirt to the capri set and less than $10 trendy outfit. Well, at least for a kindergarten student! I think Cathrynn will just want some jeans bedazzled and I may alter a few plain tshirts for her with the fabric as well.
Home improvement projects are wrapping up for the summer. I hope to have some final results to show you soon before I resume my career as my kiddos' chauffeur.

Have a great weekend!

sand & shells

This may be as close to the beach as I get this summer... I've moved on to my next painting project. I decided the paint upstairs needed to be a bit more sand than the taupe in the downstairs.

I somehow didn't notice the color I ended up with is Buttered Up. You can imagine that I freaked when it went on really yellow. But alas, it's nice and exactly what I wanted. Yeah!

And this spot in the upstairs hallway has been troublesome. It always ended up a stopping spot for the laundry baskets, toys... Then, this dresser was on the way to the curb, but DH wasn't in the mood to carry it with me and suggested it looked great there. I coat of white paint did the trick and the hideous 90s bi-fold door has been replaced with an extra panel of toile drapery, leftover from the family room. I love the end result. Just need a mirror or painting for over it...

Summer 2008 - Paint.

And, my mom mentioned that she used to spend every August at the sewing machine whipping out clothes for us girls. And here I am, doing the same... here's a little top I'm working on. The capris will be trimmed with ruffles of course. I love kindergarten... hope Liv doesn't freak and actually goes. Yikes...