Dumpster tables.....

.......that's what Danny called them. I bought these at a yardsale (2 for $10) last year for The Fairy's Rest and they were not pretty but I could see the potential at the time.

He could not!

He really really wanted to take these to the dumpster or better yet, cut them up and burn them in our outdoor furnace!

I got up the energy and "want to" today to finally start painting them.

I was just about to let him convince me that they were not suitable for using.

I am glad I didn't!!

I just love how the "character" of the wood shows thru after painting them!!

I have to admit that they were just downright dog ugly before!!

(don't tell him that I felt that way, OK?)

I used Rustoleum High Gloss black spray paint.

Odd for me huh?

I usually paint everything white!!

I love the way they turned out and I can't wait to see them tomorrow at The Fairy's Rest with the black lamps sitting on them!!

I also can't wait to see my husbands expression when he sees them......he will probably think that I bought new tables!!

I am visioning some other items in my house coated with a little touch of color......

wink wink

My Shabby Little Shack Makeover

Let me first explain myself here......

I am so tired right now that I am in a stupor!

I have uploaded these pictures and I had forgot one so I had to add it in here at the top.

I sure as heck was not going to delete all my other pictures just to put them all in order so you guys could understand them!! Hahaha,

that would take way to much energy that I surely do not have right now!

So here goes anyway......try to follow along with me as I narrate in this dead fog......

My Shabby Little Shack was the first name for The Fairy's Rest, back when it was only going to be our retirement/vacation home and not up for nightly rental.

We are sooooooo close to being finished now that I can taste it!!

Do you have any idea how happy that makes me????

VERY HAPPY!!!

The big bathroom before......hold this thought OK?

(circa 11/2008)
The property 11/2008, we had owned it for over a year at that time and the work finally began.

Today 6/21/2010

Quite an improvement No?

Bathroom after!!!!!

I still have to make the cushion for the little bench out of the fabric that is laying on it now.
Did you know that I like toile??

after

The armoire is getting ready to turn white and Danny is going to build me some shelves in it to house linens. I can't wait for that!!

Laundry before

after!!

wootwoot

I LIKE IT!!!

I love love love (in case you didn't already know that about me) white paint!!

On everything!!

{{{smile}}}

OMG I love it so much, I could just stand and look at it all day!

I have to make some more curtains for the door.

I robbed these from the kitchen to help keep the sun out today while I worked.

(92 degrees there today)

We replaced the old door with a new one but Danny tore the other new mini blinds when he took them down.....urgh!!!
That's OK cause I got a new door!

Master Bedroom before.

Now, Kerri this ones for you!!!

This was Kerri's bed that she left me in the home when we bought it from her!

I couldn't wait to paint it cause I knew it would be gorgeous, and she couldn't wait to see the room after it was painted. I am not sure why she didn't like the wallpaper in this room????

after....

Morning Fog Blue bed and dresser to match that still has to be moved.

Also the nightstand is on my todo list for paint!!

The room is now white!!

I do have to say the whole room is so much prettier than I ever imagined it could be!!

The bed I knew would be just perfect and it is in my book!!

Robin embroidered this pillow top for me back in the winter and I finally got the pillow made last week. The back of the pillow is Waverly in a blue and light cream toile and I made a valance for the window out of the same fabric. The front of the pillow is made from an old mattesse bed coverlet that I bought at an antique store a while back.

hallway before

Hallway after!!!

I think I have put just the right amount of "shabbiness" on the place.

I didn't want to scare anyone off ;-)))

We are really only a few hours away from the finish line!!

I will be so glad when that checkered flag is dropped too.

It will be so nice to go there and not have to do so much work all the time.

I want to be a guest at The Fairy's Rest one day too!!

"A Coat Of Many Colors"

(click to enlarge)

Here's my latest watercolor project. This is my out building that is getting ready to be torn down and replaced with my new "Big Girl" goat barn. It was here when we purchased the property, as I am sure you could have guessed! It was painted red many years ago and it has had a few new colors tried out on the sides of it. I don't know who did that?? hehehe There have also been several boards replaced over the years which are different colors too. When we decided to build the barn in it's place I changed my mind about painting it. Instead, I took this picture of it this winter while playing with my new camera, of course when the snow was on the ground. I really saw this building in a new light in this photo and of course I just had to paint it. What's up with me doing all these snow scenes? I don't like snow and I sure find it hard to capture on canvas! Go figure! I think I am always up for a challenge!

This is done on watercolor canvas and is aptly named "A Coat Of Many Colors".

My first watercolor

"Frankie"
Frankie is my dachshund. I took this picture of him
a couple weeks ago when I got my new camera. I planned to paint this one but I didn't plan on watercolors. I made a new friend in Michaels friday while I was hunting paint supplies.
She asked if I had ever done watercolors. I told her no and she said I "should".
She turned around and picked up a pack of watercolors and threw them in my buggy. She said "Here go paint now!"
I said "Oh no I can't draw!"
She said "Learn how."
OMG girls I don't know how to draw.
She helped me pick out a book that I do not like at all now, so I have been on Youtube all weekend and lots today.
I did draw this one all by myself.
Danny even likes this picture. He said it looks just like the digital picture. Yeah, Danny needs glasses too.
Maybe he is just being nice after he made me cry on Saturday critiqueing my oil painting of the barn. I am doing an Impasto technique with a palette knife and he wanted to know what all that stuff was on the canvas. He snarled his nose up and acted disgusted with it. He knew it hurt my feelings so he decided he better say this one was good!! He likes to eat!

I ran out of paint on the barn and have some more ordered. It is a big canvas and takes a lot of white paint to paint all that snow!!!


Guess what this is?

Yep, it's sunshine beaming in my windows today!!
We don't get much of that anymore.
We are to get more snow tomorrow. We had been told anywhere from 15" to 24" but that was just a rumor.....I hope it was anyway. The weatherman is now calling for no more than an inch but it is supposed to snow for about 24 hours.
What's 24 hours? It snows almost every day now.
Not today!! It was sunny enough to lift my spirits and I did a lot of housecleaning and laundry.
Of course I only did those chores while my watercolor was drying!!

I hope we don't get snow because I have a date Wednesday with my new friend Judy that I met at Michaels. She has invited me to go to her tole painting club with her!! WooWoo!! They meet once a month in Roanoke and have class most of the day. I can't wait!
So Please no snow!!

For my closest friends only.............

and you know who you are.

The friends who do not judge me.

Who although they know I am crazy and scatter brained and

suffer from a non professional diagnoses of ADD, wouldn't

ever criticize me to my face or on my blog.

wink wink wink

Those who will understand that I am in no ways

a professional painter.....hahaha....that's funny to even say!! Ha professional!!

They know that I am self taught....if you can even call it that!

So they will see the beauty in my efforts to put this on canvas!

The snapshot taken Dec 19th in our first snow thru the truck window.
This morning......


a little later....
(how do you like my easel? My other one broke and I had to get creative. This works beautifully)


the latest installment............

I just had to share it with you guys!
I am doing this in oils....and it's a good thing because of the extra long drying time.
I have suffered a mind boggling, body numbing, organ shutting down migraine today. It hit me like a meteor out of the sky and put me in the bed midstream around noon today.
I just knew that my life was to end right there in that bed with my oils dried to my hands and my hands were a beautiful smurf blue.
What do you think the autopsy would show??
Hypoxia just went to a new level!!!
I would have died happy anyway......I think painting is truly one of my very favorite things to do. It is above sewing and quilting....believe it or not?

Now that I lived thru that headache I just may be able to finish this up soon.
I know it's rough but it is a work in progress!!

Wish me luck!
Wish my husband luck on getting supper tonight!!!

Love to all,
Picasa Smurf

I just had to show you these......

This is my favorite picture of me! Was I not a beautiful baby? Yes I have to toot my own horn! I was beautiful! Look at those eyelashes and those huge green eyes. The dimples have left my face and went everywhere else now. Those perfectly shaped brows are no more. The curls....what I had curls? One would never know it! The yellow smocked dress was made by my Grandmother Goldie (she was my favorite person in the world) I had Robin's picture taken in the same dress at 1 year old and she had Morgan's taken in it too when she was 1 year old. I have to gather those up and let you see them too. But I want to just warn you that I was a much prettier baby than they were......wink wink wink!!!!! That's OK they are a lot more beautiful young ladies than I am!! (That's my brother with me, David. He was a dapper little devil too!)

Now onto these hotties!! LOL!!
I recreated this picture of Danny and I in 2005 (good thing I dated it, I have already forgot) in charcoal from a little 3X5 sketch that was done in a token booth at Chuckie Cheese. The kinda booth that as adults you have to squeeze into in order to get all your parts in the picture! We look scared don't we? We were afraid we were not going have ears when the picture was finished!! When it was finished I couldn't believe how it turned out, it was by far our best picture together so I had to recreate it. At first I was going to do it in oils but I wasn't sure if I could pull that one off. Charcoal ended up being very easy. I was so pumped when I finished that I wanted to do everything in charcoal.

My children are scared of this picture because they say that the eyes follow them around the room. I just tell them that their parents always have and always will be watching them!!!!!

The truth is ..... I am self taught and have no idea how to fix the eyes ;-) That's OK I'll just stick to my story.....

See I definately don't look as good as I did as a baby! What do you think?

"Sage" this is for you!!

Here is my walnut dough bowl and rolling pin that I found at a yard sale last summer for $35. It is shown with my rendition of a Bob Ross!! The spinning wheel lamp is an Ebay find!!

I made the mini log cabin quilt!

A closer view! Man I am craving a hot buttered biscuit!
Look at that grain! Oh and the chest of drawers is OLDER than ME!!! Yes, older than dirt!!

I have had it my entire life. It has been with me as long as my skin has!!
And this is my incredibly clean quaint living room. Thanks to you I have a lot of clean rooms this week!! You can just barely see the edge of the wood basket that is beside the wood cook stove and it has some newspapers sticking out, maybe not as clean as I thought, huh?

The sectional is just right for the two of us, his and hers! The big enormous crock in the corner came from an antique's store and I am planning on a big batch of 14 Day Pickles, just like Mama used to make, this summer and some kraut this fall. The coffee table was another yardsale find. The entertainment center was a wonderful buy from Leslie and Travis cuz they had to have a big screen HDTV!!! their loss right? And I made the curtains and painted the floor red!!!

Pretty frugal, huh?

The portraits on the wall are my precious little girls that I reproduced in acrylic, don't look too close.

And if for some strange reason you happen to see three different colors of paint on the wall you will need to get your computer serviced. I have heard of some of those puters that do just that and if in fact you do see three different colors please don't tell anyone just get it fixed soon.