Choosing Paint - Not for Sissy's!

My family and friends can tell you how I agonize over paint choices, it can literally take me a year to decide on a color. I know it's said that paint is cheap, but really, it's not! Okay, relatively speaking, paint is an inexpensive way to improve the look of your home. However, when the paint for one room of my home costs more than $100, I can't say that it's cheap. Not to mention the time it takes to actually paint the room! We've painted 3 rooms of our home since June of this year and I've gained some confidence in choosing paint, still it isn't a job for sissy's!

Last week we had our 'roofing system replaced'. We thought we were having our house re-roofed, but it turned out to be more of a renovation. Our roof is new from the rafters up - oh wait! Some of the rafters are even new! The fascia boards are new and some of the siding was replaced as well. This means we need to paint!

Here's a "Before" shot of our roof -

I know, it's not the greatest picture, but I didn't think to take an actual "Before" of my ugly old roof!

Here's an "After" -
We had thought once the roof was finished, we'd have a landscaper come in and help us with the front yard. We'll still do that, but after we paint. Which brings us back to choosing paint. We live in an historic district, and while they don't have strict guidelines, or any at all really, most of the homes are painted colors that blend into nature. I've been walking the neighborhood, looking at houses and the colors they are painted. I noticed there are A LOT of soft yellows and creams, and decided I wanted something different. I've never been a fan of green, but I found a house with a paint scheme that I really like and headed to Home Depot for samples and paint related reading material.
Much of yesterday was spent with the ott light on the table as we looked at different colors together, trying to narrow down the choices so we could buy samples to try on the house. These are the first two selections we'll try.
Kind of a greenish blue with an antique white trim and red doors. I really like red doors. I am also influenced by paint color names - the darker greenish blue is called 'dragonfly' and I like that!

The white across the top is for the fascia and soffits, which we are going to do in vinyl. (Note: Until last week, I didn't even know what fascia and soffits were! Now I know what they are and that it's a good idea to do them in vinyl.)

If these turn out to be the paint colors we use on the house, I'll have made a HUGE break through! Stay tuned. . . .

I'm a Winner!

I have been enjoying Bookreporter.com's newsletter since they were a part of the AOL community. Every Saturday morning I sit down at my computer with a cup of coffee and spend an hour or two with their weekly newsletter. I started out making my reading wish list in a small notepad I could carry with me when I went to the bookstore. After a year or so, I graduated to a PDA. Today, I head to Amazon and send a sample to my Kindle. How times have changed!

No matter how I make my list, Bookreporter has pointed me in the direction of many wonderful authors I may never have found on my own, Lisa Tucker being one of them. Imagine my surprise to learn that I had won a copy of her latest in their monthly drawing! Also included in my package were:

have a little faith, by Mitch Albom

The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks

Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger

The Promised World, by Lisa Tucker

An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon

I'm looking forward to reading all of these, but especially Her Fearful Symmetry, as I loved her first novel, The Time Traveler's Wife. I've only read the first two of Diana Gabaldon's series, but now that I have the latest one in hand, I think it's probably time to catch up!

I hope you all have a great weekend - if you need me, you'll find me curled up on the couch with Jake and Gracie reading!

Is anyone still here?

It's been forever since I've posted, I know. I wasn't sure I would come back to blogging - the longer I was away from it, the harder it seemed to get back into it. I didn't intend to take such a long break, or any break at all really. Things just seemed to get busier than I'd expected. Murph went back to work and Bryn came home from Afghanistan (safe and sound). Then we decided to do a little remodeling/redecorating, that turned into a lot of remodeling/redecorating - it just got away from me!

Things are rather back to normal again, at least for a while! Brutus has moved to NC with Bryn.


Murph drove a U-Haul up with all his furniture, the pool table, things for his kitchen we'd found him, his surf board - all his goodies, a week or so earlier. Once he was settled he came back for Brutus and his bike.He looks pretty happy in the passenger seat next to his buddy, doesn't he? Bryn said he was good for the entire trip - about 7 hours. He's settling in nicely.
This little guy was dropped off in our front yard at the end of June. He had a note on his collar, "I am a good boy. I need a home and love." I wonder how long they watched my house before they realized what a sucker for dogs I am! LOL! We've named him Jake and after a few rough patches he's fitting in nicely and getting along with the girls.
This is the only piece of artwork I've managed since April! I can't believe it myself. I collaged two chipboard pages from a chipboard book by Maya Road. It's the first time I've tried some of the layering techniques here. Since I made it in early September, I went with kind of a school theme.

Yeah, the theme becomes more apparent on the insides!
And the back - I love that little girl with the HUGE bow in her hair!

Thanks for checking back - I'm sure I can do better at posting on a more regular basis!

Of Birds and Books

I've been working on this for a while now, and while it wasn't hard, I kept getting distracted by one thing or another. It's a short children's story about sparrows - in a bird shaped book.
From the side. (The little bird cage is a candle holder I found at Michael's.)
Close up - don't you love vintage millinery flowers? And tulle - I'm a big fan of tulle!
Flower frogs are pretty cool, too. (Did I not give this guy an eye? Oh my!)
Vintage rhinestone buttons.
And a photo of Bryn when he was a little guy.
Little birdies on a wire.
Love that pink button. (That's Murph in his high school football days!) ETA: See the small silver frame on the left, sort of behind the cage - that's Murph!
Gotta have a little bling.
All babies fly the nest sooner or later!

Happy Easter

Thinking of you today and wishing you a wonderful Easter.

A Spring Garland

I really haven't spent much time in my studio since Murph's surgeries. When he went back to work this month - after 4 months of being home - I had a lot of catching up to do! I decided to start easy, with this eclectic garland. The mantle is a piece Murph and I found at one of the antique shops we frequent. We looked at it for weeks before we finally brought it home. This vintage looking garland is a nice touch.
That's an old photo of Bryn, he's maybe 9 or 10 there. We went to Disney World and had our pictures taken in old time western wear. Yes, I still need to decide what to write on the scalloped tag - any ideas?
The M is for our last name, Murphy. You know I had to have a bird, right?
Love the old key!
You can click on the photos if you want a better look. It felt good to be back in my studio, working on something. I've got another project on my desk now!

Bunnies for Kathy

I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the bunnies and goodies I sent to Kathy. Instead of a basket, I found an Easter box for her, lined it with a couple vintage napkins and filled it with candy, including chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies.
And of course the Easter box had a bunny on the top! This is also a better picture of the journal I made for Kathy and the bunny pitcher I gave you a sneak peek of earlier.

Happy Easter!