The Smell of Fresh Paint...

You might be asking what I've been up to lately and that would be a good question. I've been working on remodeling the house the last few weeks - or should I say my contractor has. I recently finished a class on Visioning based on the book by Lucia Capacchione. 

You create a vision board on the specific thing you want to come true for you. Mine was "My House is my Home". 

Some weird and wonderful things happened which, for me, validated I was making the right decision about Maple Hill. First, my friend Marilyn called me the DAY the class started and asked if I wanted to join. Before the class started I ran home to get changed and in the mail was a refund for almost the exact amount of the class (huh).  

Then, I went searching on Amazon and found a copy of the book which we needed for the class and found it second hand for $1.25 with "some writing" on the inside of the front cover (so the shipping cost more than the book but not by much). The writing turned out to be Lucia's autograph LOL. Then I got a Lowe's gift card which has already been used for a new light fixture...lots of other little coincidences which have just amazed me...

Initially the weather has not been on our side - the first job was fixing my attic and improving my insulation. Torrential rain (literally) slowed things done but I am happy to say it’s finished. Not the most exciting thing in the world but peace of mind and, hopefully, lower utility bills. 

The next job has been this - the dreaded popcorn ceiling (ugh, ugh, ugh). The trend to do in homes started in the 1950's. Some treatments included asbestos until banned in 1978. Fortunately Maple Hill was built in 1979 so no issues there. There are no signs of it after the 2007 remodel on the main floor, but two bedrooms and a hallway still have it on the upper floor. So off it had to come...as well as some wall repairs AND painting.

My choice of paint was driven by two switch plate covers (seriously - how sweet is that) I bought while at the cottage and my desire to bring a lot more colour into my home. This one helped with the first room...

I like to think my new Guest Room is rose (okay some will say pink)...I've had "rose" rooms in the past including when I was growing up. I had the sponge paint version during the 80's (what was I thinking). This one will be a lot of fun when done.

The second room picks up on the purple...

I've always wanted a lavender room - I will be using this one for an office slash art space and I can't wait to get it set up. As you can see for both rooms light fixtures are still to be determined. LOL. Stay tuned - there is a heck of a lot more being worked on... Jewels

Language of Flowers Part Two

Friday I received Jo's mail art so now I can share what came from her and from Lenna...

Lenna obviously enjoyed her first Mail Art swap with us. Lucky girl - she actually has an orange tree recently planted at her new home down in Florida. She provided a lovely description of orange blossoms (purity, innocence and  chastity) and weddings - who knew! I really enjoyed reading it and learning all about how they were popular during the reign of Queen Victoria. The picture on the card is of her tree which I thought was especially cool...

Jo's arrived in a lovely daisy (innocence, purity) stamped envelope (on a very rainy miserable day here at Maple Hill). It is very cheerful. The card has a very fitting poem and a wonderful picture of three little girls. 
Well done ladies - our April theme is based on a Cher song that I've been humming for awhile (don't ask, just the way my mind works some time)....can't wait to see who does what! Enjoy. Jewels

Itchy Fingers

Wow - that is all I can say. A while back I started recording daily gratitudes. I could have filled a book after last night's Guild meeting....

Leslie had already hinted she had something special for me. And she wasn't wrong. Apparently she "negotiated" with a dealer not once, but twice, to get me this little vintage sewing basket. She always makes me laugh with her stories (and she has lots!). And inside I found the scissor case she made and scissors. Thanks so much L - and I promise I will figure something out to put on the top LOL.

Stephanie, who is moving to Arizona, had already contacted me to say she had some old music and would I be interested - but of course! This is only a few pieces - love The Postman song (apparently that is the job aspiration of the young man). The graphics on many of the covers are great and my fingers started to tingle thinking about how to use them...

Then Fran pulled me aside and said "My elderly neighbour (I think she said she was in her 90's) had a flood in her house and while I was helping to clean up I came across these and thought of you"....DAH! This is only a handful of what was in the shoebox. Lovely, lovely old patterns. At this point my itchy fingers were going into overdrive....

But wait!Another Guild member (and I feel absolutely terrible that I don't recall her name) handed me a grocery bag and said I could have all of these photos of "unknown" relatives...

...another big addition to my "family" picture collection. Oh my, oh my, oh my! Again this is only a small portion of what was given. THANK YOU everyone for your generosity. I love everything given to me and will put them all to good use! Enjoy. Jewels (who has a very big smile on her face at the moment, and more gratitudes in one day than she has ever had before - itchy fingers to)

Language of Flowers Mail Art

My little exchange with Fiddlesnips Jo has grown to include Creative Lenna and we love having her with us! For March we agreed on the theme the Language of Flowers. I had read a contemporary novel recently that had that as the the underlying theme - it got me curious to find out more. You can pop over here to get the more details.

Anyways, the challenge was to select a flower and create a postcard that somehow showed the meaning of the flower without necessarily stating it. I had something in mind and found out there was actually a flower for it - French Willow (which in North America is more commonly known as Fireweed)...It stands for bravery and humanity. 

I wanted to do something different with my background - I've been doing a lot lately playing with gesso surfaces. Jo had also shared a neat technique for printing images on to tissue paper which is what I did with the flowers. The quote came from a young girl recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Though specific to her, it really spoke to me on many different levels given the past year which is why I used it. I thought it was actually quite beautiful.

Lots of changes here on the home front - my contractor has said he can start next week on jobs that have needed to be done for quite some time - beginning with insulation in the attic (I am SO glad you can hire people willing to crawl through small holes into mouse infested areas and scratchy stuff who will actually take care of things for me - money well spent if you ask me LOL).....There will be pics of how things progress and I am really quite excited seeing some of my "vision" becoming reality for this old place. Enjoy. Jewels. 

Calendar Collage April

Ooops falling behind on my 2013 collage...but only a few days late for the month of April...

My lady is from the cover of an old Family Circle - in her Spring bonnet (there is a whole article on how to make one LOL).

Acrylic paint for the background and tissue paper which blends really well. I stamped the "day diamonds" as I could not find a paper I liked. Enjoy. Jewels.

Not so Zen.....

LOL for February (yep two months ago) my Mail Art peeps Beth and Leslie agreed to a Zentangle theme. And here it is April and I'm posting about it. Life sort of got in the way of all of us AND dang if we did not get so Zen over the Tangles...

Still I was very impressed with what they both came up with. Beth completely embraced it and sent this very detailed mail - that's when I started to worry....

Then Leslie's showed up - though she got Zen challenged like me she still came up with a wonderful postcard. We both got into trouble with pens used on our original pieces and what fixative to use without smearing the whole thing. That's where I was at when hers came - but her version sparked some ideas for me. 

I readily admit I am a lazy (oh call me pseudo that sounds better) Zentangler. I had bought the "kit" (oosh save your money) and attempted to get in the zone and doodle but to no avail. I have found though that I can do small doses here and there. For mine I started with this neat graphic which....

...just happened to coincide with a new word in my ever expanding vocabulary - Kaffeeklatsch....I actually first read it in a 1956 issue of Family Circle where an unhappy housewife declared "I'm sick of kaffeeklatsches..." Say what? Anyway I had to investigate...

Kaffeeklatsch -  an informal social gathering for coffee and conversation (sounds like a good old fashioned gossip session to me LOL).

A good match for Ms Chase & Sanborn don't you think? I had not done this size mail art before but it fit nicely in a legal size envelope - and I think my psuedo tangles came out not too bad :). Enjoy. Jewels

Change

Change is hard...but change can also be good. I have gone through a lot of changes this past year and learned what I am capable of. Life's curve balls can be dandies and I have had my share. I won't go into details - we all have our own stories and mine is only one. I know that compared to others my changes may seem minor. A while back I started capturing daily gratitudes and I have to say I have so many - in the end it is all about perspective... I've learned that being positive is really the only way to go and is what will get you through the day.

Still the one thing I do have to say is how much I have appreciated all my friends, both local and virtual,  who have given me encouragement and just good old girlfriend advice - you know who you are :) I have lots to look forward to as my own story continues. I have plans, ideas and well, more changes! I look forward to sharing them with you. Thanks so much. Jewels