...and I'm losing:-(

I am doing so much right now! Sitting on the sofa feeding my darling boy, changing diapers on two darling boys, getting breakfast, lunch and dinner for three darling boys/men, washing clothes for five dirty people, cleaning house.....

You get the idea.

My projects are at a stand still. My creative spirit is buried... somewhere.

I'm okay with this, it will return someday.

Right now I am going to enjoy each crying, pooping, sweet baby, sticky toddler, smelly boy second:-)

I am trying to ignore my tetris stack of projects, chores and the like that are piling up.

This is life.

I'll be back...

sometime...

I spent most of last week in Toronto on business, which was awesome, mostly because Toronto was awesomely warm and sunny. And since Toronto is a lot closer to Ottawa than Halifax is, I took advantage of the opportunity to spend the weekend with a couple of girlfriends there. It involved lots of eating, shopping, chatting, and a pedicure. In other words, it was an all-around good time and a nice break from house prettying-up.

So while I haven't had time to take on any big projects lately, I did tackle a couple of small but satisfying ones (posts to come). A couple of weeks ago, I found this super-cute plate at Homesense for a few bucks and knew it would be the perfect addition to my expanding hanging plate display.

I picked up an inexpensive plate hanger at Canadian Tire and in just a few minutes, my new plate was on the wall. It's quite possibly my favourite one so far, so let's admire it shall we?

Wow! It's been a loooong time since I've last updated the blog. Well, things have definitely changed around here since my last post. I am working on getting the blog up and running properly with an awesome chica from here.

After two years on hiatus, in January of this year, I finally decided to come out of hiding and participate in a local craft fair. Now, starting this far ahead of time for a show isn't my normal M.O. BUT remember...change is good.

View of part of my booth at the fair

Vintage Hutch SOLD $320

This is a hutch that I refinished for a client. For some reason, I can't  figure out where most of my before pics are so I'll have to post those later but this one was a mess! The after? LOVED it! Most importantly, the client did too!  

The funny thing about this show is that half of the pieces that I sold at this show were either purchased by neighbors (yup, neighbors) or purchased before I even got to take everything over to the fair! There were a  few pieces, however, that were not soooooo I trucked them down to the site. 

It was worth it. I met a lot of awesome people and made some new friends. 

As many other restoration, junk, refurb lovers who have blazed trails before me, the style of my furniture and refinishing has changed a lot since I started this a few years ago. Still funky. Still fun. More class. Well, at least I think so... *smile*

So, in light of that, I decided to try something new via inspiration from this awesome lady.

Signs. I absolutely love painting them. I was totally terrified at first since the painting is a free hand job after getting the letters on but they turn out way better than I ever expect and are so fun to create!

Most of these sold but I'll be posting a few in my Etsy shop in a few days.

Yummy Turquoise Dresser $290 SOLD
Market Sign $30

Yummy turquoise dresser $290 SOLD (pictured BEFORE holes were closed-LOL)

Cottage Sign $25 SOLD
Home Sign $25 

I lucked up here on the island and found a really cool spot called Re-Use Hawai'i. You can read more about them here. They have a warehouse full of salvaged furniture, hardware and other reusable items pulled from demo jobs or donated to them by local contractors, builders, refurbers,etc. Pretty cool place...anyhow, they have a lumber yard FULL of all kinds of salvaged wood. This is what I use to make my signs. Some of them come "raw". Some with layers of paint. Some chippy. Some not. I love them because they all have their own personality and add that special finishing touch to the final product. 

Antique Dresser $375 SOLD

"BLESSED" Pennant Style  Decoupaged Banner $12

Antique Extending Dining Table $320 SOLD



Altogether, it was a great show! I got to meet lots of amazing people and do what I love most-socialize and talk to people about junk!

More to come later. The journey continues...thanks for riding along with me! 

After years of living in an apartment with a teeny tiny bathroom and a pedestal sink, I admit that I was pretty excited about having a bathroom vanity with drawers.

I've been storing my daily make-up in the top drawer, in a couple of plastic bins I picked up at the dollar store. The only problem is that everytime I open or close the drawer, the bins move all over the place, which really isn't a problem as much as it's just really annoying.

Luckily, the solution was simple. I picked up a package of velcro fasteners at the dollar store (I love that place) and affixed one to each corner of each bin (technically they're not Velcro brand, but you know what I mean).

Then I stuck the bins back in the drawer. Now they stay in place, but can easily be taken out of the drawer if need be. Like I said, simple.

 

While I was waiting for my DIY'ed dresser to dry, inspiration struck. I was thinking about this lamp, and decided to try recreating the shade with some black craft paint and a cream coloured drum shade I had lying around.

Instead of two thin lines, I decided to try a thin line on top and a thicker line on bottom. I used painter's tape to mark the lines, which I just eyeballed as I went around the shade.

Next, I used some acrylic craft paint to fill in the lines.

Good coverage takes a bit of time, but the final product is well-worth it. I especially love the little imperfections that show it's handmade. Now I just need a lamp...