And so...

...the madness begins LOL. To all my peeps who are already "experts" send me your best tips. Jewels

Good Grooming

If your a certain type of dog good grooming is essential - that means you Mr. Darcy...

Many "oohs and ahhs" as he met the grooming staff at PetSmart - such a love bug. One hour later, voila - a very handsome dude (though we think their selection of Tie clashes a bit with his leash).  But of course...

... there is nothing like an immediate lovely roll in the dirt after many dollars have been spent to make him smell nice (sigh)...
Enjoy. Jewels

Phase 1 Done

You may recall I initiated some big projects earlier this year. I have been blessed with a great contractor who really has done an incredible number of things for me when I look at the list...
- Fix ventilation and install insulation in the attic
- Repair damage to external wall upstairs
- Remove last of the ugly popcorn ceilings (2 bedrooms and hallway)
- Paint (ceiling and walls) 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, accent wall in Sunroom and a hallway
- Hang new light fixtures (the chandelier!!!)
- Repair damaged fence
- Take out old garden in back and update patio area
- Power wash siding
- Replace all electrical outlets with new ones (lovely white as opposed to that old ugly beige we grew up with)
- Fix and glue legs on dining room chairs
- Fix window latches on various windows and seal around two windows that had started leaking moisture
- Repair trim around Sun Room door (we think ants got behind it and made a mess)
- Fix ornery sump pump (a story in itself)
- Check and clean out gutters
- Arrange for drain tiles to be cleaned out to fix water in the basement problem
- Create path from garage out to a brand new umbrella laundry dryer

Whew! What a lot! But the real  piece de resistance - the bath room remodel... Which went from this....

To this this! Just lovin it

While there are still things to be done (sadly the Money Jar is low at the moment) I am really pleased. 

I do need to get off of my keister and put things away, hang pictures, place furniture (but the Rose Room is ready if you want to visit :>). I get to spend the rest of the summer planning for Phase 2 - how fun. Enjoy. Jewels

Summer of Colour - Sage and Sepia

Well here we are the LAST week of Summer of Colour - wow that went fast. So that means this is my last Girls of Summer story...

Meet Veronica (or Ronnie as her friends like to call her). She is spending her summer vacation on Lake Windermere (that's what it says on the back of her photo) located in the Lake District in England with her fiance Edmond.

If you look closely you can see she is having a cigarette break (tsk tsk well that's what they did in those days).

Edmond has just informed her they have sprung a leak.....  enough said LOL.

I was never sure how my postcards would turn out given the colour themes we have had but I am pretty happy with all of them. This one has a gessoed background. I used acrylic paints including a metallic one for the edge and stickles which kind of looks like sand. The photo has the sepia colour so I did not need to add any in - perfect :). 

You can see everyone else's final entries over at Twinkle, Twinkle...and THANKS SO MUCH Kristin for taking us on this ride - it has been so much fun! Enjoy. Jewels

Gatsby Mail Art and Good Thrift

Two things to share...first was another Mail Art Swap - this one with Beth and Leslie. I went with a Gatsby theme.  

Found this great pic from the 1920's on the Internet - I coloured the young lady in the middle ... notice the looks some of the ladies are giving each other, especially to the left LOL.

I played with pastel colours for the background and stencils

The quote is from The Great Gatsby - isn't it true!

My thrift is something I have always wanted that I found while on vacation...

...not sure what these are called - some kind of "panoramic" picture? Length is 3'! The frame is some kind of plaster and has seen better days but I like it just as is. Not sure where its permanent spot will be. I know, others might not think of it the same as me - but I don't care LOL...Enjoy. Jewels

Summer of Colour - Candy Apple Red and Yellow

Dorothy thought the annual summer family reunion was going rather well...

...until her cousin Lewis showed up!

Can you see him hiding behind her? How embarrassing - just another in a string of tortures he loved to put her through every family gathering... As you can see Dorothy is "smiling" while in fact she is figuring out what her revenge will be this year (perhaps a faulty potato sack for the race, or maybe a tossed horseshoe that goes slightly awry).

Whatever it is, it will be sweet - and another ::memory:: to share with her grandchildren LOL...
Dorothy and Lewis are actually named on the back of this 1949 photo. She will be added to my Girls of Summer collection. So hard to believe only one week left in our Summer of Colour challenge - but it really has been fun. Enjoy. Jewels (quick - who sang It's A Family Affair???)

Mister Darcy

I am back from vacation and ready to share my news! Today this little man (lm) became part of my family...

We met a couple of weeks ago at the Humane Society where I volunteer. It was pretty much love at first sight. After some mis communication I finally find out the following about him (mostly today when I went to get him). The folks who brought him to the Shelter only had him a couple of weeks - they found him as a stray. Unfortunately he was a biter with their children so they surrendered him to the Shelter - so he was actually on bite quarantine his first ten days. Not much is known about him - his coat was in very bad shape when they found him so they had him groomed properly. He is some kind of terrier mix - possibly a Schnoodle which I hope to confirm with the vet next week.

What sad sack eyes! He has had a check up already and appears to be in good health, approximately 2 years old and a whopping 11.5 lbs! Since he is a stray I have no idea if he has been crate trained, house broken or good with other dogs - so going to be a learning curve for both of us. He is absolutely exhausted and has been resting a lot since he got here - I suspect he is still recovering from his "nuts removal"...which had to be done as well as getting micro-chipped...

As for his name (which is not what I had originally planned), I did a Pride and Prejudice marathon with Colin Firth while on vacation and have decided to go all Jane Austen on him - hence the name Mister Darcy (or Darcy if you are inclined). He is definitely "dark and handsome" (okay down right cute) but yet to determine "broodiness" or propensity if any to jump into estate ponds LOL...

...speaking of which did you see this? OMG how dreadful.... 

...at least you can see the real deal again on YouTube - that Colin really was such a slurpee as Mr. D....Enjoy! Jewels (definitely more pics to come when lm is more energetic)

takin a break::::::::::::

Hello everyone I am off to my cottage (where these lovely orchids grow) in Canada tomorrow. An eight hour drive from Maple Hill which is why I go for big chunks of time to really enjoy it. I'll pop into the village library to take a peek at how you are all doing but not much chance of me posting here (though I may be able to get on to Facebook) . Which means I will get a little behind on some projects - but maybe catch up on others! Yippee...

Oh...and when I come back I have some BIG news - but you will have to wait. Sorry.... Talk to you all soon. Jewels

Summer of Colour - Charcoal Grey and Pale Pink

Ah dear, Felicity is having one of THOSE summers. 

Here it is the beginning of July and there has already been at least one failed romance. What is it about the warmer temperatures that brings out the love bug?

But don't worry, Felicity is not overly concerned. Heck she still has July and August for another fling (or two)! So she has put on her prettiest frock and got out in front of the flowers...

She's the kind of gal who tells it like is "I beg your pardon...". Now get that song out of your head LOL...

What a hoot - another Girls of Summer postcard to add to my collection. Was not sure how this was going to turn out at first but I actually quite like it. The Pale Pink is not as subtle in real life. I did not think about it until afterwards how much the picture contributed to the Charcoal Grey. The background is gesso on watercolour paper that I layered and played with to get a nice effect (took a night to dry). Acrylic paints - I used sequin waste to get my "dots". Little inking around the edge. The roses are tissue gift wrap (again already didn't I use that last time? but I love that technique).
Be sure to check out the rest of the Summer of Colour entries. Enjoy. Jewels

By the way - did you know:
grAy is how it's spelled in America 
grEy is how it's spelled in England

Six Word Story Mail Art

A recent challenge with Jo and Lenna was to come up with a 6 words only "story" and create mail art to go with it. Will show theirs in a later post. 

I knew what my story was but it took me forever to figure out how I would represent it until I found her in one of my old Life magazines...

Instead of the usual 4 x 5 postcard size I decided to do something different - I have a stash of old greeting cards including these two for anniversaries....hmmm

When you open each one up this is what you find! Clever if I do say so myself LOL. Gessoed the surface first then played with different colours to go from bright to dark. The bells are from old wrapping paper. Been trying to get better at my "writing" as well (dang all those online classes should have paid off by now). For those who know me, yes it was therapeutic. Everyone else, enjoy. Jewels