French Country!!

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Painted Red Coffee Table with Chalk Paint And Waxed with Dark Minwax

Wall Paper from Goodwill.  Lining drawers?  Don't know yet.

Used to be red!  

Coaster I made from antique cutter quilt.

French lace from Goodwill .

 Stool from Goodwill, painted, waxed and decoupaged.

New Hardwood Floor--Lovin' It!!

It's finally here!  Now I get to redecorate with my French Country theme!

What is ART?

Art to me is anything I do that requires creativity.

Painting
Rug Hooking
Punch-needle
Embroidery
Cross Stitch
Vinyl Cutting
Greeting Cards
Sewing
Quilting
Etc.

All of the above is what I love to do.  But, those are the obvious artsy crafty things.  Now on to the not so obvious things.

Organizing my home
Decorating my home
Thrifting for things that I can make other things from
Refinishing furniture
Cooking
Baking
Collecting recipes

Not so obvious things

 This is IKEA cart.  I have a very small bathroom!  I'm talking one-Butt bathroom!  So, I needed something to hold my bottles and meds.  Here's my solution.  I love the color so I went to Sherwin Williams to get paint sample cards to take with me when I shop.  Oh No!  Now every thing in my house will go Turquoise!

I Love GOODWILL!...or any thrift store will do.  

This is my attempt at organizing my kitchen.  I needed my pantry to hold my sugar, flour, sugar and yeast for Baking,  The containers I bought at Goodwill for $4.00 ea.

This is the back of my Pantry door.  I found this narrow rack at Goodwill for $2.00.  If your keeping track, I'm up to $14.00.  The door is very narrow so I looked for this for a long time.

Overflow of Coffee and Tea in my small Kitchen.
I found this perfect small cabinet at Goodwill for $8.00.  It holds all of my coffee and tea. It sits right out side my kitchen door.

Family and 2015

Lina and Dalton

Wedding in June!  Amazing couple.  Love them both sooo much.

 Selfie of me and Jim.  Still in love after all these years.

 Lexi and Ryan
Granddaughter and boyfriend...So cute!  So proud of them both and so glad they found happiness.

Daughter Michele and Ronnie.  She is a piece of my heart!

Son John and his pool table.
He is a piece of my heart!

Lina on the drum...Very convincing.  Love that girl!











We had a wonderful time at Son John's house on Christmas Day.  Thank You John.  We ate, talked, and played pool.  The guys watched a game and the gals talked.  I always end my day with a full heart when I am with my kids, husband and grandkids.   I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!

The Reason For the Season

Winter has arrived and I plan to hibernate until Spring. Not really but almost.   I love to stay in and paint...or quilt...or draw...or maybe even clean my house.

This year we are planning to have our Christmas celebration at my son John's home.  I am so excited to go there as are the other members of the family.  He has been redecorating and it's going to be his unveiling. 

 I have been baking cookies and will be making some dishes and the ham to take to John's home.  I can't tell you how much I love Christmas and giving gifts.  I never forget that this season is about the birth of Christ.  I am so grateful that I have been forgiven because I have made so many mistakes in my life.  Now my life is so good and maybe I won't make so many mistakes any more.  I will do my best.

These pics are of the yard around my home.  The snow is gone now but I'm sure it will come back.  The snow is so beautiful, especially when I don't have anywhere I have to go.

Winter 2014

I haven't posted since September.  My Mother passed away and I seemed to have lost my energy for creativity.  But..It must have returned because I painted my first watercolor for a long time.  This is on Watercolor Workshop on Facebook.

What happened to Summer??

Everything around me looks like Autumn.  I do love fall foliage, pumpkins and  wonderful fall produce.  This pumpkin was at Doran's Farm.  I go every Thursday with my neighbor, Ruth.  I especially like it when the air is cool and the sun is warm.  

Yesterday, we went apple picking and today I will make applesauce for Winter.  Oh no!  I said the "W" word.  I just have to get my apple peeler to work!  I was told that Jonathan apples were the best apples for applesauce and I hope thats true.

Oh, Noodle making on my Kitchenaid.  Did I tell you I love my Kitchenaid!

 

 Drawing and Painting and Garage Sales

This is my take on Carnival Glass.  If you can see the paper on the lower left, It's because I spelled Carnival wrong!  On my Facebook Group "Sketchbook Skool", Others have said they have done this and I don't feel so bad.

 The peppers are from my adventure at the farm and the clock is from my adventure at a garage sale.  Drawing and Painting!  My Seth Thomas Clock.  The soft chime sounds like church bells!  Also, I have been told that I am "overchaired" but, I love little antique chairs!

The Parker Family Reunion

On July 5th we met in Wooster Ohio for a family reunion.  I went dreading the experience and left feeling connected and loved.  The photo is of my Mama and her two sons, John and Jim.  I took more photos but I have to be careful with posting too much of my 3 sisters, nieces and nephew.

We met at a beautiful venue!  At a Wooster park, we met at the renovated cabin and grounds that my brother John takes part in the success of this wonderful place.

My Mama is 94 years old and I sure hope I got her longevity genes!  We have had our struggles but the reunion seemed to smooth out the rough edges of our relationship.  Mom wanted all of her 6 children together and we managed it.  Thank you John and Cindy for your hard work!I believe that all families have their difference but in the end, we are family

Oh No! Not another Craft!

Yes, my dear Husband bought me a Silhouette Cameo before Christmas and I have been making things.   The "Parker" family tree was for my brother and his wife.  BTW, the machine is a vinyl cutter.

You all that know me, know that I dearly love my dogs.  This is Maggie and Charlie.

Summer Activities

Lina's Bench
After

Trying My Hand at Chalk Paint

Lina's Bench before
$5.00 at a garage Sale

Lexi's Slipper Chair slipcovered

Hand Sewn Journals
Bookbinding

New Computer

I always buy Dell computers.  That is not the learning curve.  Windows 8 is the learning curve.  I have had XP for years and I learned easier, younger!  Oh well, I have had it less than a day and I am learning it. Maybe not learning but getting used to it.  I bought the Inspiron 15 and I do love the num pad.  the screen is wider but shorter so all of my keys are at a different place.

The old computer was full of photos so I am hoping I get get them off before the big crash!

A Great Creative Day with My Granddaughters

Such a Great Day!  I spent the day with my granddaughters, and we created.  Here are Lina's creations.

Old weathered wood, turned into a beautiful wall hanging

 Baseballs!  So Cute!

An old clock turned decorative and modern 

Ahhhhh!

And...Lexi's Creations

A remodeled Vintage Suitcase!  So Cute!  She also made two other projects but they are gifts so Shhhhh!

What A summer!

In an effort to spruce up our Westerville home, we had a new cement (why does that remind me of a "cement Pond" from the Beverly Hillbillies?) driveway installed  Jim fixed the ceiling in our kitchen.  We had a wall taken down between the family room and dining room.  Jim built in cupboards (a gift from our son)and counters in my art room.  We contacted to have an in ground pool installed.  My son John and Jim rebuilt the falling down shed.

The wall with the mirror is now gone!

Jim supervising the cement driveway

Cement truck

Newly decorated shed

My art room.  I love it!

You will notice that there are no pictures of our pool!  We contracted in May and we still have not broken ground!  20 straight days of rain and more rain and more rain!  It turns out that pools can not be dug in the rain according to our contractor.

Journaling

Ever since I went to the Danny Gregory weekend I have been drawing.  I know it seems simple but he gave me permission to not do it perfectly, to draw for me, and have fun.

I always thought I wanted to put a bit of "me" in my watercolors and now I think I know what that means.

Of all the things I love to do with my time, sewing/quilting is one of my favorite things to do.