Where Does My Time Go???

I'm sure I speak for most of us when I  say that I don't know where the heck the month of May went!  Just a moment ago, it was April.  All good.  Then WAMMO!  My calendar says it is June and double digit June at that!  Well, I guess when I started doing a little retrospective of what I'd been up to, I can see why my time may have gotten away from me.  I've been sewing up a few of these large lavender heart sachet pillows made out of antique European grain sacks for my Etsy shop.  They smell so good and, I might add, would look great with Maria's square lavender grain sack lavender pillows.

I've been busy listing fun things (besides the lavender sachets) as well.  I love this antique wire basket. Almost kept it. 

 These cool Indian clubs were sold within a few hours of listing (means I sold them too cheap more than likely, but oh well...).

I was fairly busy with helping out with my 5th grader's Shakespeare play, "As You Like It".  The kids did so great.  Pardon the blurry picture, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of photographing stage performances.

 

Never thought I'd see the day when I got to put makeup on my kid and his friends.  They were really good sports though.  I think they were really committed to the production and knew that stage makeup was just part of the deal. My little man didn't need mascara because he has the most amazing naturally dark and super long eyelashes.  SO not fair.

Then there was graduation day.  My big boy is now a middle schooler.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but I think he is. He and his friends clean up nice, don't they?

Then there's my youngest little one.  Some things just defy explanation.  And for the record, he did this to himself.  AND he is still smiling.  That's my boy!

Then there's the impending mutha of all yard sales next weekend followed by our garden which is going to be on a local garden tour the following weekend (Mr. FL has been working very hard to get ready; I'll have to take some pictures and post them soon).  We spent all day getting the covered porch opened up for the season last week.  So much work but we've been in heaven enjoying being out there.

There's also been a few little DIY projects, not really worth mentioning, but time consuming nonetheless.  So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I can't wait to have some free time to catch up on my blogging, but the project list for this summer is lengthy and then I would like to spend a little time enjoying the monkeys while they are out of school, so I may be in and out, but I will catch up when I can.

Until next time,

I'm linking up to Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday.  I can't miss a good party, busy or not!

Random Musings on White Wednesday

Yep...playing with the mantel again.  Our beautiful Snowball bush is in full bloom and how could I resist clipping a couple of branches off and plopping them into my vintage white matte urn?  I couldn't, DUH!  They almost remind me of little hydrangeas, they are so pretty.  We don't really grow hydrangeas here in Colorado; our soil is too alkaline and we're at such a high altitude (over 6,000 feet) and low humidity that they just can't thrive.  For a while, we had a couple of hydrangeas in our yard.  We planted them near the Colorado Blue Spruce to take advantage of the acidity created by the spruce, but they got all of about a foot tall.  I guess it just wasn't meant to be.  Anyway, back to the pretty white Snowball bush...

As you may have noticed underneath my urn, I like to use pretty old books as elevators.  This little grouping is one of my favorites so far.  The one on the bottom was a recent ARC find as well.  I was all yippie skippie over that because of the great color and the gold pizazz.  But I digress.

So forgive my randomness, but I thought I'd share a kind of lame attempt at a redo.  Miss Mustard Seed I ain't, but bear with me.  I got this cute little no big deal hanging wall basket at the ARC thrift store ($ .50, just the right price!).  I liked it, but I wanted to make it look like old wicker.

I did this concoction of water and walnut glaze.  I painted it on with a foam brush (which took absolutely forever).  It really didn't soak in since the basket wasn't actually old wicker, it took freakin' forever to put on because you had to really get it in all of the cracks and crevices, and oh, did I mention, it looked like CRAP?!  I didn't even take a picture of it because it was SOOOOOO bad.  So, I decided to try to pull it out with a coat of paint.  I watered down a concoction of grayish paint and put it over the awful walnut stain.  It isn't what I originally had in mind, but it is OK.  I had this really cool wide wired edge linen ribbon which I girded it up with and then I added some reasonably good fake lavender since my lavender is a LONG way from blooming.  I hung it on the door to my studio (yes, that's an outside door...my studio is over our detached garage, so it is in a separate building).

I think I like it.  Was it worth the effort?   Maybe the jury's still out on that one, but at least it is done.

So, after all of this randomness, you probably should pop over to visit Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday.  There's no doubt oodles of fun posts featuring our favorite color (or is that lack of color?  I think COLOR.)

Until next time,

Antique Ironstone Love

Casseroles and butter pats and platters...oh my!  Now available at my Etsy shop Elegant Farmhouse with more to come as I dig through my boxes and stashes.  I LOVE the clean classic look of antique ironstone, don't you?  It goes with any decor and it mixes and matches with newer pieces as well. 

Speaking of clean and classic, I am SO excited.  Colorado has never had an IKEA store anywhere in the state.  Well, come the end of July, Denver is getting one.  We passed it yesterday on the way up to watch the Rockies play and it is HUGE!  I can't wait to visit it.   I've never set foot in one (since we've never had one-duh!), but I see such wonderful things around Blogland and in magazines that have come from there.  Everyone is so pumped, I'm sure I'll need to wait a bit for things to cool off...or just gird my loins and enter the foray.  Guess it depends what kind of mood I'm in come the end of July!  Not like I'll have any money to spend, but lookie looing is a lot of fun and doesn't cost a thing.

Well, time to go get ready for my real job.  Have a lovely weekend my sweets!

Until next time,

Be Careful What You Wish For...

source

Sometimes, you realize that your deepest wish, your heart's desire, and that which you never thought possible was becoming your reality.  Many years ago, I dared to express out loud what my heart's desire was...and it is becoming apparent to me that this desire is indeed becoming a reality, at least in part.  I am grateful for the chance to live my dream and yet, it is terrifying.  I never actually thought I could live the artful life I am living (no, I haven't given up my day job, but my other life is becoming more and more prevalent).  I never thought the work of my hands and the yearnings of my heart would support me and my family, but it is becoming more and more important in my financial livelihood with Mr. FL not working.  We aren't solvent by any means, but we are hanging in there and I can thank, in part at least, my creative life for helping to keep us afloat.  The grace of God is the other piece of the puzzle.  I keep getting the gentle nudge that says, "Trust me to provide for you.  I will be faithful if only you will put your trust in me."  I must say, every time I get to feeling terrified and panicky, I get a big sale on one of my web venues or something else presents itself that makes me feel like it is a sign that I need to take a deep breath and stop worrying.  I need that, I will admit.  It feels great and yet,  I forget and then I begin to worry all over again.   I should grasp that everything will be fine, it just may not be look like what I think it should look like.  I need to get over the preconceived notions of what my life should be right now and accept what is and be grateful.  I admit, I struggle with that on an almost daily basis....but what is life without struggles, right?   I am trying very hard to remember that all we have is now and worrying about tomorrow is a waste of time, but it is so hard.  I've never been "here" before.  I've never had to rely on the Almighty to figure out how I'm going to pay my bills.  This is uncharted waters and yet, I see more and more opportunity for my creative life of art and antiques to become not only a hobby, but a source of my family's very existence.  So I go back to my blog title, "be careful what you wish for".  It is a double edged sword-wonderful and terrifying, all at the same time.  Satisfying at the end of the day.  Scary.  Warm. Cold.  Amazing.

Thanks for being such a great positive and creative source of energy for me and so many others.  You guys rock and you mean more to me than you know!

Until next time,