counting the days...

The RV is parked out in the driveway....

We are leaving in a few days to go on an extended road trip.

Most of our trip involves visiting family and friends, but we are mixing a little work with pleasure at the very end.

Our last weekend in California I am participating once more in the fabulous Remnants of the Past Vintage Show.

Here's a sneak peek at just one of the new designs I will be unveiling at the show...

These ornaments are a beefy 2 inches across.

I have about six different designs.

If you love that silly old bear like I do....

...you will love these in all their bubbly splendor.

And if you love walking through lemon orchards and browsing through booth after booth filled with one-of-a-kind treasures from days gone by...

Save the date.

April 30.

Nipomo, Ca.

Be there.

 



Stay tuned for more stories from the road....

xoxo

a room with a view...

We built our home three years ago and thought we had designed the perfect kitchen.

After living in it for the past few years however, we came to realize that it was way too closed off from the family room.(actually my darling husband did - I had to be dragged to this party)

Not only did I worry about the mess and the hassle and the final outcome, but the wall that had to be removed was THIS wall:

The Great Wall. (more about that HERE)

But after a little coaxing, and knowing what my brilliant husband was capable of, I relented.

I will let the following photos speak for themselves.....

The Process:



I forgot to take pictures of the cabinets before they were taken down - here they are with the doors removed, resting on the counter, getting ready to be moved to their new location.

 



(ate lots of meals from that old crock pot during the remodel!)



That is a load bearing wall, so Dennis had to carefully remove some drywall, install a huge laminated beam, and then patch the drywall back in place.



In this picture you can see a corner of the granite that was on the huge island - we had that removed and re-cut for the new bar countertop.



Here it is in it's new home!



Dennis did all of the electrical and plumbing re-routing, but decided to call on the same folks who built our cabinets to do the finish carpentry - we wanted it to look like it had been here from the beginning.



The Result:



In place of the island granite we went with a beautiful maple butcher block - really warmed the place up!



The Great wall was moved to the other side of the room, where I can see it from the kitchen and actually enjoy it more.





And the view of the fireplace.......PRICELESS!



We found the perfect place to hang Mara's watercolors...



...as well as the perfect location for the cabinets that came down!



Once again, Mr. Johnson was right.

I LOVE my new room with a view....

xoxo

inspired by a friend from Blogland!

I love to blog hop.

Several days ago I popped on over to one of my favorites, Mammabellarte.

Rita, who is the artist extraordinaire behind Mammabellarte, teaches soldering (as well as many other skills).

She lives in California and I live in Idaho, which means that sadly, I cannot participate in one of her classes.

However, a few days ago she shared on her blog about a recent workshop she taught that combined wonderful collage ideas with her soldering.

She used a cheap simple chipboard jewelry box, some glitter, royalty free images, and her soldering skills to create the sweetest little shadowboxes!

Simply brilliant.

This was hers:

and here is my interpretation:

I never thought cardboard would hold up to the messy soldering process....

It was fine!

One thing you don't know about me is, one of my favorite things to do is to cut glass.

I know, weird, huh?

I love the sound of a great score.

So this is very satisfying for me.

On many levels!

Linking to Inspiration Friday over at Common Ground...

Stay warm and keep learning!

xoxo



more smoke 'n mirrors from the attic....

I have been happily working on a little set design again....

Remember THIS?

Smoke and Mirrors Part 1

...and THIS?

Smoke and Mirrors Part 2


Pastor Mike is doing an 11 week series on JOY.

He is referencing the book of Philippians, which is known as Paul's book of Joy.

But how do you illustrate JOY without being too literal....?

#1: THE INSPIRATION

I had just seen this and it got me to thinkin'...

(You're welcome.)

#2: THE EXECUTION

Ever made one of these?

But what material was used in that video?

At a local sign shop I found 4' x 8' sheets of this:

I had to fill a huge space, so I needed a minimum 4 foot circle to start with. Each 4' x 8' sheet provided two 4 foot discs.

Here are eight 4' x 8' sheets ready to go....

cut into 4' squares...

I made an old fashioned compass using string, pencil and nail...

freehanded a spiral...

cut it out with my good sewing shears...

 hardly any waste - me likey that.

The only thing that worried me about these was tearing - since it was so easy to cut, would it hold up to hanging for 11 weeks?

So I cut some smaller discs from the waste.....  

and glued them top and bottom at the center stress point.

Using an eye screw, washer and bolt and some heavy duty fishing line, we hung them from the 'rafters'....

#3: THE RESULT

This... 

became......

THIS!

Joyful?

I think so.

And here's the bonus: when the air kicks on in the building, THEY SPIN!

(Notice the way the power point screens tie in? Thanks to the talented Linda on the creative team for that attention to detail)
I would be remiss if I didn't tell you how important the lighting crew was/is on this project

Without these guys:

...it would just have been a bunch of gigantic rotelle pasta hanging in space. (not to mention these guys also hung these things while I pointed and said, "a little to the left....no right....no wait, left.")

Thanks guys.

Joyfully yours,