What’s happening?

I’ve been making progress on my dining room; I had my new chandelier installed yesterday.


I’ve made slip covers for my dining chairs

Found a fantastic fabric to cover my bench. The green is scrumptious and spring like (come on spring).

There is still lots to do; paint the bench, paint and stain the table, make cushions. All of which has to wait while I get the basement ready for the 1st of April.

Of course I’ve had some time for Junkin’ :)
I bought two panels of Martha Stewart lined drapes and two panels of Nate Berkus’ chocolate brow, linen panels. All four panels for $45.

I had to do some rearranging in my bedroom to accommodate the craft supplies which I moved to my closet.
The dresser was moved in to my room and therefore I had to move my ironing board too. It’s a little tight, so I’m considering downsizing to a queen sized bed, from a king. I’m one of those people that irons as needed, so I have to keep my ironing board out.
I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

What I like about your blog

Heather, at  Inspire Me Heather has a wonderful series going on, where you can submit your blog to have it critiqued by two others, and you can do the same to theirs.


Heather puts a lot of work into this, and is so gracious to host this party.

I hope to get some suggestions on how I can make my blog easier to read, follow or search through.

I can't wait to get the feedback.

Thanks Heather.

Creating craft storage

My craft room is gone, so I had to do some creative re-arranging to find space for my supplies.

I removed the shelving from the basement and installed it in my bedroom closet.

There is plenty of room for all of my supplies as well as cushion forms and fabric. A few of the containers are still empty, so room for more :)

My clothes are still here; I removed my dresser from the closet and put it in my bedroom.

I had this bench made many years ago, intended for my kitchen, but I never used it. It fits into the nook in my dining room pretty good.

Some rearranging occurred between my kitchen and dining room, swapping the table and McGyvering a smaller table for the kitchen.

The bench and table will be redone to match my coffee table.

 

The two things that I use the most, had to be close at hand; my cricut and my sewing machine. Perfect storage for them in the bench.

And a new chandelier, waiting to be hung.

All of this has to wait while I get the basement ready for my sister. Almost done. It has been a lot of work, purging, cleaning, carpeting, painting. I think the purging part is my favourite :)

Giveaway winners

Thanks to all that entered and left such touching and sometimes funny comments.

Comment #17 is Sally who said…

I would love to just sit down with my husband two daughters - no cell phones, no appointments - just us!
Love the stencils!! Thanks for the giveaway!!!

And

Comment # 10 is Shelly who said…

Mel, think this is a great giveaway..a person to talk to..family (mom or sister) or you (that way I could maybe go thrifting with you..you have a way better selection than I do where I live)!
Anyway, good luck to everyone who enters!
Shelley

I will send each of you a message to get your mailing address.

Giveaway reminder – rustic herb crate stencils

Only 26 entries so far. I am giving away two sets of stencils, so your odds of winning are pretty good :)

Visit this post to enter.

It's give away time - rustic herb crates stencils

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

It's been a long time since I hosted my own giveaway. Remember my rustic herb crates?

I have two sets of vinyl stencils to give away. Although I did not make the Rosemary crate, I have recently created the stencil. You get all four stencils.

These are pre-weeded vinyl, ready to lay down on your surface, then you just paint them in. I recommend using a few very light coats of paint to reduce the risk of bleeding. They can only be used one time, they are not stencils made of acetate or mylar, but of vinyl.

So, in order to win, there has to be a hoop to jump through. Just kidding. I'd like to do something a little different this time.

Leave me a comment telling me one person that you would like to sit down and talk with, and why. That's it.
If you want to follow my blog, great, but you don't have to.

Two random winners will be chosen on Friday February 24th. Good luck, my friends.

P.S. be sure to leave your email address if you don't have one associated with your account.

Cha Cha Cha Changes

The new year didn’t start out too well for me and it seems that my life is soooo busy. Hopefully it will get back to some semblance of normal soon :)

I’m working on emptying my craft room so that my sister can stay with us while she goes to school.  I finally had it organized, and now I am rearranging my entire house to empty the room. LOL

The dining room is getting yet another update as it will become my craft room. My closet will store my craft supplies; that’s the only space I have left.

So, I better get back to work.

before I go, I wanted to share with you my daughters most recent sketch. Sigh, I wish I were artistic like her.

 

It’s a long weekend here in Ontario, so I’m taking advantage of it.  Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

A new tool to determine colours

 

Look at this!  A tool provided by Sherwin Williams that will allow you to find colours used in any online photo. This is a photo of my lamp makeover and it picked the colours out perfectly!  I am already addicted :)

I am soooooooo excited!  Kelly from Jax does design posted about a new tool that she has been turned on to.

You guys are going to be amazed.

Head on over to Sherwin Williams ChipIt for the details

Ooh La La – Frenchie claw foot coffee table

It took a long time, but I’m done. And I love how it turned out.

This is what I started with

 

The wording was from the Ballard Designs ottoman knock off that I created.

I’m not a fan of heavily distressed furniture, and since this will be for sale, I wanted to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. I distressed and glazed and kept it pretty conservative.

A post on how I created such a big stencil is forthcoming, for now I’ll sit down and relax.

Sharing at

Progress

I have been really busy with stencil orders this past week, so didn’t have time to work on my coffee table. Tonight I finally had a few hours, so I got to work.

This is the final look I’m going for

I created the stencil with my cricut and SCAL software. Because the table is 33” wide, I had to break the stencil into three pieces to get it to cover such a large area.

Now it’s drying and tomorrow I will spend some time sanding it down so it looks like it’s always been on there.

can you see my oops? Obviously I’m not going for perfection :) .

Followers

With the announcement that Google Friend Connect will no longer be available to platforms other than Blogger, I became a little worried. How am I going to let people know that use other platforms, that I still follow them and value what they post? 

Needless worry, but that’s just how I am :)  Brett of McLinky fame, has created a new tool that will allow you to follow blogs, no matter the platform. Linky Followers is his newest tool to help us out.

I’m not sure if I need it on my Blogger blog, but I don’t think it hurts to have it along with GFC, do you?  And what if GFC all of a sudden is no longer available to anyone?!!! Just to have all of my bases covered (‘cause I’m paranoid like that LOL), I also have a Word Press blog.

I’m still figuring it out, so I don’t post there yet, but maybe someday.

I’ve been blogging for a while now, and I am so appreciative of those that follow along with me. To think that people actually want to read the things that I post about, is thrilling!

I am hoping to finish off my coffee table this weekend. I consulted with the best out there, Susan of Maple and Magnolia and she inspired me to create something that is unique.

Where I buy vinyl for my projects

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I love using vinyl for many of my projects.

pssst… a give away for a set of vinyl to make your own herb crates is coming soon

Since I use so much of it, I had to find it at a better price than what I was getting. I found a company online that specializes in sign making and sign making supplies. I emailed the company and a wonderful lady named Kerry hooked me up with the most amazing pricing, EVER!

The company is  All Graphic Supplies, in Mississauga, Ontario.

They carry a line of vinyl that comes in a matt finish and is perfect for all of my projects.

M,K, ready for the price?… $20.00 for 24 inches wide X 10 yards!!!! (black and white) and $22 for colours and metallics. And they will cut it down to 12” for you to fit your cutter mat!  So, you end up with 20 yards of vinyl at 12” wide.

Back in November I ordered some. I will admit that it didn’t cut quite the same as the vinyl I was using from Avery as it’s a little thicker than what I was used to.  With some adjustments to blade depth and speed, I was able to get it to cut perfectly.

I can pick mine up, but even if you live far away, it may be worth it to figure out the shipping charge (they have an online fedex shipping calculator).

Let Kerry know that Mel sent you :)

slow progress – claw foot table

sheesh, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I don’t know how you guys knock off painted furniture so quickly!

I’ve sanded, primed and have my first coat of paint on, and it feels like I’ve been at it for weeks :)

I ran out of my go to primer, Zinsser oil base, and when I went to the store to get more, I found an odourless one! Thank goodness, because I am painting indoors. It really doesn’t have an odour. But, it still irritated my eyes.

The colour I chose to paint it with is Cottage White, in Behr premium plus. I am really liking it, and it was free at the recycle centre.

See that roller, I bought it at the dollar store and it’s FANTASTIC!  Smooth as butter.  Here is a shot with the paint next to the primer so that you can get a read on the cottage white.

One coat down, hopefully only one more to go.

Save a dollar – Pinterest inspired

When I was growing up, a box of tissues was a luxury. With six little girls running around in a northern climate, you can imagine how many boxes we would have needed. We used regular ol’ toilet paper to wipe our noses.
When on Pinterest a while ago, I saw an ingenious idea and had one of those ‘smack my forehead’ moments for not thinking of it myself.
Take a roll of toilet paper and remove the cardboard tube from the center. Find an old tissue box, open it up, insert tissue, pull from the center and glue the box back together.

Yes, I can afford a box of tissues, but I feel like a genius using this method :)

Joining in at

Cutting Edge Stencils winner

Thanks to all that entered.
The winner is

It’s Erin, from Where Beauty Meets Function.  Congrats Erin.
Please email me and I’ll hook you up :)