bags and a traveling show

right about the time you are reading this, i am white knuckle driving through the streets of downtown atlanta preparing to unload for a festival weekend. driving in town normally doesn't bother me, but when you have a car load of breakable stuff filled to the roof and you cannot see anything behind you, all while frequently looking out of your sunroof to make sure the 2 screen display doors strapped to your roof haven't flown off, well, it makes for a stressful hour.

if you are in atlanta and 107 degree temperatures don't scare you off, stop by the vintage revival festival and the goat farm and say hello. i love meeting my blog readers and i will definitely need some entertainment to get my mind off the fact that i will literally be melting. did i say 107 degrees???

this festival is a bit different for me as i am partnering up with joyajewelry in a 20x10 tent. yep, 200 square feet of lovely vintage transformations. and i have furniture people, furniture! prepping for this festival has created a monster - i cannot get enough of redoing furniture. i will also be selling lamps galore, aprons, original artwork as well as prints, travel pouches made from vintage sheets, the list goes on and on.

i will save a place for you by the fan!

recycling and transformations

do you remember this "one mans trash..." post i wrote a few months ago? well, this is what they turned into! i am a frequent thrift shopper and i would always find myself in the kitchen pots and pans aisle. i don't know what would steer me here, but i would stand looking at the sea of cast off metal and think there was something i could do with it. only, i didn't know what that something was.

i took a few pieces home to experiment with and this is what turned out. the bird piece above is my favorite. i often see a lot of these metal casserole dish holders cast off because the dish no longer exists and i was intrigued becaause they have the prettiest details and shape. i added some yellow spray paint, a print out of one of my favorite mixed-media pieces and then finished it off with some blue and white trim to hide all the yucky bits.

this was a large fluted pie plate that i painted pink and added some gold leaf for extra detail. then the same thing, i attached an image of one of my mixed media pieces, gave the whole thing a coat of varnish and the transformation is complete.

i am so excited to here feedback for these pieces at the show this weekend. hopefully they will be snatched up and maybe hung in a kitchen for a second life.

family room and a house tour

round two of my house tour is the family room - or what is currently the only clean room in the house!

i should probably have saved this room for the middle of the pack because it is my problem room. i have just never gotten that "i'm finished" feeling in here. not that you should ever have an "i'm finished" feeling in any room, because then you look around 20 years later and it's all pleather couches and gaudy wallpaper, but hopefully you know what i mean. the mantle is ever changing and really not anything spectacular at the moment, but i do like that my recent luggage painting has found a home there along with a strand of bunting i just made.

when we moved in, the judges paneling in this room was all dark brown and i knew it needed to be painted because the room does not have much natural light. before you get all hot and bothered about painting the wood - the paneling is really crappy 1/8" thick pieces "wood". not beautiful thick cherry which i would never have painted.

a few things about this shot:

• all the tables are second hand
• the child's rocking chair has been passed down many generations in my family
• the orange lamp is a yard sale find that i LOVE - the base has a nightlight in it and glows orange. perfect lighting for movie nights. haha!
• i am a sucker for large floor throw pillows which you see stacked up on an antique chest in the far corner. my trick is to buy the cheapest, ugliest large pillow you can find and then recover them. i think these pillows were $5 each and then i put upholstery fabric on the top and a generic brown on the bottom which is tip #2 - always use a cheap solid fabric on the back of your pillows, it's silly to waste $$$ on the backside of something.  

the best thing we ever did in this room is put in a set of hinge pin doors. previously, we have a tiny single door leading out to the deck which let hardly any light in at all. when we built our new deck, we doubled the door width and it has made all the difference. i knew i didn't want french doors because the couldn't really swing any where. i had settled on sliders, but the contractor talked me out of those because they let a lot of air out. the hinge pin turned out perfect. the left side does not move and is essentially a large window, then the right side is the door part that opens.

a few more things about this shot:

• the mirror is a recent $10 purchase - it's chippy and worn and i LOVE it!
• the tv stand dresser is a $100 purchase. i took out the top dresser, added a mdf plank in it's place, drilled a 2" hole in the back of the dresser for cables and now i have a place for the satellite box, dvd player, etc.

that's it for the tour today - see you next week!

May Arts and Graphic 45

it's blog hop time with May Arts, so who is ready for another tutorial?

this time i am bringing you a shadowbox where i combined may arts ribbon with graphic 45 paper and metal embellishments - sort of a scrapbook page on steroids. so many elements in this piece excite me and i can't decide if the wired pom pom ribbon, the metal button or the printed quote is my favorite part!

click here to download the instructions and start crafting!

there are prizes being given away each day, so be sure to check out the May Arts blog for details. make sure to stop by my fellow ribbonista's blogs to see their creations as well today...

Clare
Kristin
Sharon
Jenifer

a hallway and a house tour

i have decided to do a new feature on the blog over the summer since my creativeness takes a back seat to the pool and that area might be lacking for a few weeks! i absolutely love peeking into other bloggers homes, so i thought why not share mine as a visual house tour.

i live in a traditional colonial where you walk in and the dining room is on the left and the formal living room on the right. then you travel down the center hallway and the kitchen is on the left and the family room is on the right. the above shot is what you see when you enter the house. a small table that houses my seasonal vignettes and a vintage mirror above which i absolutely love. my mom has a mirror similar to this that i have coveted for years, so when i saw this one at a thrift store, i scooped it up. i actually decorate with a lot of thrift finds so i will point them out when i can. in my book, this is the way to go. 80% thrift and 20% splurge. you feel so good about the deals you get that you don't feel bad about the one expensive piece you must have.

the color on the wall is "silence" by glidden and is the perfect soft blue for my house - not too baby and definitely not beige! the rule that hallways need to be beige should be tossed out. many other colors can be transition colors between rooms, you just have to forget your fears and go for it - it is only paint after all!

i wanted some artwork to line the walls, but was a nervous nelly about how much it would cost, until i fell in love with a bird calendar by cavallini and my search was over. these calendars are printed on top quality paper and you get 12 individual pieces of art that all relate to one another and look great in a grouping. i am also a huge fan of ikea frames. they are simple enough to not overwhelm multiple pieces of art, but substantial enough to not look cheap.

there you have it, the first stop on your linwood avenue house tour. once i get a sunny day, the family room will be next (because it is the one filled with the least amount of junk at the moment :)

painting and luggage

i had the time of my life last friday night! my friend jenni horne opened up her basement and began her "paint something" workshops in the luxury of her own home. i packed up my decorative paper, a snack to share and lots of excitement and headed over.

i have always shied away from painting because i just thought i couldn't do it. plus, i didn't want to open myself up to another money sucking hobby :)

but something about the way jenni teaches did the trick. she explained all the steps really clearly and i only felt overwhelmed putting the first spot of color onto the board, but after that, it was smooth sailing!

i painted a pic taken on my trip to london a few years back of a bunch of suitcases stacked outside a trinket shop. my partner in crime, joy, painted right next to me - she chose a pic of jane austen's house taken on the same trip.

that's me and jenni - you always have to have a cheesy pic of you and your art instructor! the only thing i left for the next day was adding the text you can see in the first pic. i was way to tired when i got to that part and didn't want to risk spelling something wrong. it reads "to follow your dreams, you have to pack first". it's the gentle reminder that you can't reach your dreams by sitting on your behind - you actually have to do some work to get where you want to go :)

so that's it - my first painting class under my belt and i have the stains to prove it!

blossoms and blooms

i have been completely obsessed with vases of flowers this year! every single hydrangea blossom in my yard has been cut and brought in side, and when those ran their course, i ventured into my neighbors yard for some of her gardenia blooms. some people think the smell of hydrangea is way too strong, but i say the more the merrier!

bunting and a new festival

i have been busy sewing up tons of bunting for the vintage revival show i am a part of at the end of this month.

check out the website and if you are in the atlanta area at the end of june, come check it out. atlanta hasn't had a show like this in a long time and i am mighty excited to be a part of such goodness. the bunting will be part of my tent decoration, but will definitely be for sale as well!

birthdays and roses

happy birthday mom!

juggling and staying on course

the first few days of summer start out ideal. i have plans for the munchkins, i have plans for my graphic design work, for making dinner, for taking walks, etc. but then after a week or so, all hell breaks loose and i feel like i am walking through an obstacle course and doing the best i can to to keep everything in the air.

i know this is nothing new and that every mom feels this same way with summer vacation, whether they work or not. but as much as i plan for it, it always happens.

so, since i can't keep everything in the air at the same time without the help of solo hours during the school year, some things have to give. if you don't hear from me for a few days, don't fear, that just means that i am devoting a bit more time to the things that need me more at this moment. or i might just be hanging out at the pool - who am i kidding:)