White Lace & Promises

Remember the old "Carpenter's" song?

We've only just begun to live......so much of life ahead.......

We'll find a place where there's room to grow.....

So many roads to choose......


HA!  Now you'll be humming the tune over and over, won't you?  :o)

Back in the 70s, my friends called me "Blue jean Jenny" because I wore blue jeans to work every day.  I loved denim.  And I've decided to play with denim for awhile now.  My last trip to Hobby Lobby I found this little gal half off.  Could not resist!

Brought her home and took her arms off.  Of course, nothing ever works.  The screws stuck out and I found out they were a steel cross form in her body.  So I used my trusty dremel and a cut-off disk and got them right off, then puttied the holes.

Took the hot pink off, cut it apart, and made a brand new cover out of denim.

Then I did some silk ribbon embroidery on the bodice.  Click the image to find swarovsky crystals and glass beads stitched into the design.  White, pale blue and blue silk.....white lace and

promises.....the promise of a new home.  Perhaps I'll go back to the 70s and decorate the house in denim.  It's comfortable.  Wears great.  Goes with anything.  Could be fun!  

The only thing I had to paint was this top piece - it was hot pink.  Gotta love Krylon's paint and primer spray paint - in a single can and covers everything with a single coat.  Best stuff ever!

Hard to believe it's the same dress form. Maybe I should give lessons!  All in a day, too!  Hope you managed to be creative today!

Design U'R Memories

There's a new scrapbook store in Canon City (Colorado) and it's been there for 2 years!  So how is it new?  I just found it!  I'm house-hunting and happened into the store.  Small....but smart.  Copics.  Flower Soft.  Peel-offs.  Things you don't see every where you go.

So I bought some Raggedy Ann papers and made mom a new layout for her door....just in time for Mother's Day:

Just thought this was perfect for mom to hang on her door in her retirement center.  Already putting smiles on the other ladies faces.  :o)

Then I managed to make 7 cards from the leftovers, so for about $15.....I ended up with some fun stuff!!!

This may be my favorite....just so simple:

OK, so to catch you up on my life.  3/28, Kerry was laid off from IBM.  We put our house on the market.  Made a decision to move to Canon City and live the retired life for real.

I had a mammogram, an ultrasound, a 7 needle biopsy, and met with a surgeon who decided the risk of surgery is greater than the risk of breast cancer, so we will wait 3 months and start over with a new mammogram.

In the last 4 years, Kerry had a heart attack, a triple bypass, a double spinal fusion....and I think this must be my body's way of saying "enough!!!"  ENOUGH!!!"

Not to mention the complete, total change of lifestyle with his being laid off, retiring, and now an upcoming move, worrying about our house selling, trying to find a new place to move into......

The old saying - something has to give!!!  And I think it's all good.  God will heal me,  This I know.

But I thank you for your prayers.  

"For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."  PS 91:11

I shall grab hold of that verse in the coming days as my life continues to evolve and change.  In the meantime, it looks like a little more playing is in order!!!

The store is located at 119 N 5th Street in Canon City which I swear used to be the old Daylight Donut shop.  If you want the paper and embellishments, give them a call at 719-275-0818.  I'm not sure we left much behind!  LOL!!!

Rethinking what you have and how you use it

This is ancient!  I've probably had it 25 or 30 years.  It's a shelf that goes over the sink.  Supposedly you were to put soaps, scouring pads, plants on it.  Not me!  

It's in the utility room and it's where I have all my power tool chargers.  Can you see the power strip under it?  All the cords are wound up and tied with velcro strips.  The power strip is velcro'd to the wall (use industrial velcro from the hardware store).  I think you can see the hand dremel in it's charger, and then there's a Bosch battery charging for a power tool.  It's amazing how handy and how easy these are to grab when I need them.

No more going out to the garage to try and find something in hubby's tool box.  They are right here where I can grab-n-go with whatever I need.  

Of course, we are moving, so I'm taking all these apart and packing them up.  Nothing that I use for organization is going to get left behind.....and I suspect I'll come up with even more ideas!!!  

I'm thinking we'll talk medicine cabinet in my next blog.  Take a look at yours....how messy is it???  :o)

Jen

Organized

My friend, Kathy, gave me this magazine.  Have you seen it?  By Better Homes and Gardens....and very interesting.  But really.  They don't know a thing about organizing!!!  I mean, you can give a person a million suggestions and ideas....but isn't organization as personal and individual as a person is?

I know hundreds of artists....and each one of us is unique and different.  My friend, Torrey, needs 6 square inches of clear space to create the most gorgeous designs ever.  I do my best work in a completely clean, uncluttered room.  So how on earth could a person advise both of us to organize our supplies?

I simply don't think they could!!!

But I thought I might start sharing a few other tips I have on organization.  They may or may not work for you!!!  I even re-purpose scrapbook tools!  These 2 metal bars were a doorprize I won years ago at a scrapbook event.  The idea was to hang bins and things from the bars.  But they ended up in the utility room as the perfect "rack" to hang screwdrivers on!

I even hang a hammer on the far end.  It's not close to what it was designed for, but it is absolutely perfect.  Having the screwdrivers right by the door to the garage....I can always find them, I don't have to open a tool box or drawer, I just pull them up and out and then put them back.

But here's the catcher....anyone know how to train your husband to put the screwdrivers back???

LOL!!!

Jen

Video tour of my painted walls!

The realtor put up videos.  The first link is the best as they look skewed on youtube.
Hope it sells like lightening!!!


video includes wall paintings
or
youtube

749 Paschal Dr, Lafayette CO 80026 - artist home for sale!!!

I took Remax classes back in the 80s and know what an outstanding agency this is.  Tom is our neighbor so it is just complete fun having him sell this place for us.  What a neat guy!  But this was a nice surprise as I wasn't really expecting to have a video up online less than 24 hours after he was here.

Finally - the new studio

And it's almost done. OK, is a studio "ever" done???  But I am happy with what we've got done (Colleen helped me with this, too) and am most happy that I can walk away, close the door and leave the mess!

The room faces north.  Wonderful light, but no direct sunlight, so no heat.  This should be a commercial for Jetmax!  Most of my cubes are along the wall on the left.  There's a double desk in the middle of the room.  Another desk from Jetmax cubes on the right under the TV, some behind the door and more in the closet.  I've been collecting the cubes for 3 years.  Mostly on Thanksgiving day when they are 55% off.  That made the older ones ($29.99) about $15 each.  They are light enough that I can move them any time I need to.

Ok, because I shot directly into the bright daylight, it doesn't look too bright inside in this photo - stick with me!

This is from the door going in, there's a small bath on the right and that's a huge walk-in closet on the back right (on the angle.)  Note the flood lights and the alcove lighting.  Plus 2 ott-lites on my desk.  The walls are a very pale blue except the one on the left.  Excellent to view color in any of my art projects.

Don't you love the dress forms and baby dresses?  Nothing is new, just pulled from other dust-catching corners throughout the house.  They are perfect against the dark blue wall.  I split the paint at the right end to cover the cord cover coming down from the ceiling.  Gives the nook it's own place in the room and covers the cord.  These dress forms are from Hobby Lobby.  They come black and I spray them white.  Usually get them on the clearance aisle at 66% off.

Kerry hung a flat panel TV with a built in DVD on one of those mounts that swivel up and down and from side to side.  The chair at the table turns around to the desk under the TV and with the mirror on the right, I can use this as a makeup desk.  I'm old.  I need to sit a lot.  LOL!!!

It's such a perfect reading nook.  I found a memory foam queen pad on Craigslist and cut 24" off for the bench.  (what was left was perfect to go on a twin size bed)  Then I sewed up a duvet and used it like a pillowcase over the foam.  Most of the pillows are from thrift stores as well.  Bleach.  The perfect solution to everything white!  One friend came over and sat down, looked out the window and declared that she is going to do this in her home.  I think that's the ultimate compliment!  The window scarf....$1.99 at Goodwill.

This is the wall that's not done.  I'm going to do swirls in raised plaster painting in white.  When they get done I'll post photos.  For now, it's a daybed.  When my back gets to hurting, I just take a break, put the heating pad on the pillows, turn the TV that direction and take a rest!  The daybed cover was made by cutting off the ends of a queen duvet.  The 2 jetmax cubes face the bed and provide storage for anyone sleeping there.  I should also mention this is an adjustable bed, so if you need a recliner to sit in...you can adjust this to fit yourself perfectly!

Behind the door to the room - more cubes.  The one on the top is the double cube for the cricut and opens upwards so nothing can go on top of it.  This turned out to be the perfect spot with the little drawer shelf above it.  OK....those drawers are empty.  Can you believe that?  Guess I need to find more stuff!!!

 Inside the walk in closet, I decided to put up shelving and use the fabric cubes you get at Target.  Only I found 6 cubes on craigslist for $10.  Amazing deal!  I used my p-touch to label everything.  And it beats taking up space for a dresser - that would probably be too heavy for me to move!  I used 4 more jentmax cubes in here to create a sewing table and put the paper cubes so when I close the door, I don't see that "mess".  Clothes are hanging at the end of the closet on a double rack and there are more shelves on the other side.  The closet is bigger than some rooms at 5' x 7.5'

Next blog (in a couple of days) I'm going to show you that the difference is in the detail when designing your studio.  There are a ton of little tricks you can do to maximize space and just make life a little easier.

In the meantime....I'm in to white right now.  This was one of those dressform notepads that you've seen everywhere.  Again, 99 cents at the thrift store.  It was red and gold.  I recovered the front and back using paper, lace and ribbons.    It's perfect hanging on the back of the ott-lite.

Then, the blog after that, I think we'll talk about re-designing your closet using thrift store finds!  Can you tell I'm having a blast on a budget?  Kerry and I just figured out that with paint, new bookcases from Ikea, new window coverings...and then all my thrift store finds, we've spent about $400 and have a whole new house!  Maybe I really should come up with a book (or a DIY show) titled "How'd you find that?"

I had a paper lantern.....

that had to come out of the new library room and I didn't know what to do with it.  I made it years ago and while it's starting to get fragile, it's still a great conversation piece

There's an opening at the top of the stairs that looks down into the family room.  A very safe place to hang my lantern.  And then I painted a lamp post on the wall.  Notice how I designed the top right to look like the hanger that comes out from the wall?  It turned out great.

You might not be able to tell, but the lamp post is metallic copper, the vines are stickles glitter and the bird is 3D metal:

The pole goes from ceiling to floor and sort of makes guest go "Wow" when they walk upstairs!

You can click on the photo to make it larger.  For $4.99 at the local thrift store I found this candle holder that just seemed perfect for the base of my lamp post.

Someone who saw everything I've done to the house said that I need to write a book titled "How'd you find that!!!"  as I seem to do a pretty good job at thrift stores around the area.  I'm actually working on a genealogy presentation by the same name....but it's about finding people in your family tree!!

Tomorrow I hope to share photos of my new studio.  I'm still painting/repairing windows in the MBR, but the decorative painting in the house is done.....for the moment!!!  Art on the Walls - gotta love it!!!