Bits and Pieces



mixed media/china mosaic fireplace with mirrored hearth



Chip china mosaic is one of my favorite things to do, and is surprisingly simple, though it can be extremely time consuming.  This fireplace is the most mixed media mosaic I've ever been asked to do.  I loved hunting for things to embed. and then seeing the direction the design took, once we started placing the elements.  Along with thrift store china, there are bits of iron from a shelf found curbside on trash day, brooches from the client's grandmother, old typewriter keys, game pieces, flowers from a friend's ceramic vase, and a cherub from another friend's garden, broken mirror, and even glass cabinet knobs set at strategic points for hanging Christmas stockings.  Had the kitchen sink not been fiberglass, it might have made it into the mix.

click for close-up, click again to enlarge





mosaic end table

 

Tables present challenges, as even the flattest china plates have some curve, so lamps, knick-knacks and vases may not sit steady.  On this end table, I filled the previously glass center (glass missing) with painted plywood, and added the mosaic to the outside border.  Legs were cut off of a matching table to make the ottoman.




salvaged cabinet door frames a mosaic mirror

 

On this piece, seashells were added to the design, and a small dish to catch rings was clipped in half and added to the bottom.  I actually use tile nippers to break the plates, as it is easier to control the size of the pieces.  Just smashing the china usually creates a lot of unusable shards.

Here's a quick and simple project...Use a papier mache ball, glue on broken teacups, salt shakers, and other convex pieces, then grout in black for added graphic appeal.  Display one atop a candle stick, several in a silver dish, or even hang them as Christmas ornaments on a sturdy branched tree.

Paper mosaic tabletops are even and lightweight.

And then there's the easiest version...Paper mosaic.  Not any faster mind you, at least in the making.  What is faster is the collecting of patterns.  Rather than spending months haunting antique stores and flea markets for just the right colors and styles of dishes, spend twenty minutes at your nearest scrapbooking store.

The method is simple:  Paint your tabletop the color you want the grout to be, cut several patterns of scrap booking paper into inch to inch and a half pieces, arrange into a pleasing pattern, leaving even spaces between them for the "grout" to show, then glue down with white glue.  Once dry, coat with three coats of satin Poly-crylic.  The shine protects the surface, and adds to the illusion of china.   I'm amazed by how many people think this is the real thing, even after they touch it. 

Aside from the ease of collecting coordinating patterns, the other really nice thing is that you don't have to worry about your wine glass tipping on an uneven surface as with most china mosaic.  I don't know about you, but I think keeping a wineglass upright is challenge enough, without the wonky china hazard.

There's More to Belle's Kitchen Than Pretty Paint

I've been meaning to expand the blogging to other days, and other home arts besides decorating, so the easy place to start is with good food, and share the recipe for today's soup.  My only difficulty is that there isn't a recipe.  I cook soup at least once a week, from whatever is in the fridge, and because I had the good fortune to be raised by a chef, among a whole family of creative cooks, I don't use a recipe.  But not to worry, because what I want to inspire you to do is experiment, and trust me, soup is way easier to make than you think.

Start with broth.  I always have fresh chicken stock, as McKinley the Malamute (see photo at the top of the page thartofthehome.com/about-me.html) eats homemade dog food, for which I have to boil chicken.  He gets the meat and fat, I get the broth.  On the slight chance that you don't boil chicken a couple times a week, you might want to buy canned stock, or a condensed one.  Some are healthier than others, so read the labels, and choose a low sodium one, so you can control the saltiness.

For this pot, I used about

5 cups of stock
1/2 of a very large onion, coarsely chopped
2 dark green ribs of celery, coarsely chopped
4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, 1/2" dice
6 or 8 mushrooms, quartered
1 can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
1 can of butter beans
1 or 2 fully cooked brats, chopped
about a tablespoon of dried marjoram
a heaping teaspoon of chopped garlic
about a teaspoon of cumin
a rounded teaspoon of prepared mustard
salt to taste

There are two ways to cook this:  Be chefly and saute your onions until carmelized, brown the sausage, use only fresh garlic, and spend about an hour at it, after which you can wash the extra skillet and utensils.

OR...

Use the easy basic soup method:  Start the stock warming to a boil, and begin chopping and adding the veggies in order of firmness.  I started with the onion, then the celery, then the potatoes, though I would have done those first if they were chopped larger. Toss in the sausage, the beans, the mushrooms, then the seasonings, let it boil about 10 minutes, then check for salt, and add as needed.  You can let it simmer a bit longer, if you like your veggies softer. 

This works for any soup made with pre-cooked beans, and either fully cooked, or diced raw meat.  If using raw meat, boil until pink is gone before tasting, to be safe.  Is this as good as the chefly method?  You lose a little depth of flavor by not carmelizing things in a skillet first, but this is soup for people who have other things to do besides cook, and yet want something better than canned soup.  And it's waaaay better than canned!

It takes about 15 minutes to get it all in the pot, and it's ready for the table in about another 15.  Longer if you use raw meat, or want to let it simmer longer.  If you have a stainless steel pot, you can store it in the pot in the refrigerator, and dip out bowls to reheat for lunch or dinner for the next few days.  Very few dishes, pretty lean if you put in enough sausage for flavor, but not a full serving in every bowl, and very comforting on cold days like this one.

You can easily alter the recipe.  With chicken stock, try light meats like chicken or pork, white beans, and the seasonings mentioned.  With beef stock, use beef, and/or red beans, and use Worcestershire sauce in place of the mustard.  (Mustard and Worcestershire both work to strengthen the flavors, but don't really taste like themselves when used in such small quantities.)  You can season toward any nationality, and alter the veggies according to what's about to expire in the crisper drawer.  Be brave.  It's soup, and just about anything goes.  I can almost guarantee you that even the worst experiment will still taste better than Campbell's!

Paper Or Plastic?

Next time the grocery clerk asks if you want paper or plastic, take a minute to think about your walls.  Really.  Grocery bags are great as either tools or materials for a variety of wall treatments.  For instance, if you want a nice faux leather paint finish, you can get one with glaze manipulated with plastic bags. 


base coat, roll on glaze, smoosh with a plastic bag, repeat very quickly to avoid dark lap marks

However, if you have a room in which the newest of four patterns of wallpaper was applied prior to 1946, and you know the plaster under it is crumbling, you might (if you are as disinterested in tedious repair as I am) want to ask for paper.

I'm  still working on the entry and living room, here in my own house, Belle Ami,  but when I decided to steal a bookcase from the studio for the front hall, I knew I better take care of the studio walls while I had the room dismantled.  For the cost of a gallon of glue (cheaper by far at the hardware store than the craft store, by the way), and six months of accumulated grocery bags (no, I'm not a pack rat, I was saving them

especially for this), you can create some interesting effects.  I left mine simple, as paper arts are a passion of mine, and this is my art room, so having walls that are obviously torn paper makes me happy.

Rip bags, crumple and smooth, slather with thinned Elmer's, slap on wall, slather with more Elmer's, let dry, glaze with burnt sienna, then raw umber.

You can also get a realistic leather effect from brown paper.  The trick is to glaze it first, in a rich brown, or leather shade of your choice, then once dry, rip it and decoupage it onto the walls.  The torn edges will give the look of pieces of uncut rawhide.  It can be done with wallpaper paste, making it "removable", but it still may be best as one of those last-resort-before-new-drywall techniques.  You can do it over tatty panelling too, but do a quick fill of the grooves first with joint compound, and use white glue as your bonding agent.

If you just can't get enough of it, or if you perhaps don't have enough grocery bags (or patience/time/desire???) to cover an entire room's worth of walls, this technique is great on furniture, too. 

click pictures to enlarge, then click again for details

Follow wall directions above, then embellish with scrapbooking diecuts,  paper lace doilies, vintage magazine pictures, and painted swirls and words...or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Makes a nice background for collaged and painted detail, plus it covers a multitude of surface issues, including chipped veneer, gouged leather, and deep scratches.  And, of course, like anything leather, it just looks cool.

If you really want to try this, but need more detailed instruction, email me and I'll be happy to explain more, though there's really not much more to it. dawnmariedelara@gmail.com

Have you checked out the new website yet?  theartofthehome.com

Have a wonderful, wonder-FULL, Thanksgiving!  After dinner with friends old and new, I'll be spending the weekend building new studio bookcases to replace the one I commandeered for the foyer...pic's to come, of course!

Dawn-Marie (Quinche) deLara, Artist in Wonderland at The Art of the Home.

 

Santa Baby...

Dear Santa,

For Christmas I want a drill press, an air compressor, an air-powered stapler, and something pink and lacy.  Not that I mind borrowing T.C., the carpenter's (tools, that is!), but it would be lovely to have my own, here at the house, so I can use them anytime I dream up a new project.  I promise to change into work clothes.  Say "Hi" to the reindeer and Mrs. Claus, and let me know if you need any elf apprentices.

Thanks,

Dawn-Marie

Having access to the right tools makes torturing innocent silver tableware sooooo much easier.

Trowelled paint staircase wall in progress.    

                                                                       

Painted bar top in progress.

Last week was wild!  After a jam packed Monday, I spent the rest of the week working on all the details for the projects above, plus a few more.  I'll finish this job on Wednesday, but I won't have pictures for a few weeks, when all the other contractors finish up.  I'll go back to do touch-ups, and get final photos then.

Over the weekend, while much of the area was without electricity, due to a nasty wet snow storm, and despite the fact that my van sprouted electrical problems of it's own (has this thing ever broken down less than forty miles from home?), I got to take a class at Maureen Carlson's Center for Creative Arts www.maureencarlson.com. 

Barb Kobe taught "Making Your ARTfield of Dreams".  This is a personal board game in which you make an interactive map of your goals for the next year, allowing you to plot action and track progress.  

The board is divided into the four seasons, collaged with magazine clippings that pertain to each season, then embellished with quotes, words, and more.  There are playing pieces that represent myself, helpful friends, wise counsel, financial and spiritual resources, resting places, animal totems and more.  I didn't quite finish making the "rewards" cards, or the "Stuck?" cards, so I'll do that next weekend.

This side of my board features a staircase for plotting and tracking the steps for my major goal, followed by a well deserved rest, which I intend to be in the form of a visit to my big sister.  As I've only played with it once, just this morning, I can't speak of great success yet, but I can say it was really inspiring to have a three dimensional map to look at as I set my intentions for the day. 

If this looks like something you would enjoy, Barb offers this as an online class, too, so you don't have to wait until next year.  www.barbkobe.com.

Hats off to the girls!

Mondays are my favorite days, now.  Not only do I get to teach art  classes to two or three 7-9 year old girls, I get to meet with an amazing bunch of female business owners, The Keystone Women's Circle.  Keystone was formed when a few of us noticed that most of the non-bar businesses left in downtown Belle Plaine were owned by women, and yet we had little voice in the Chamber of Commerce.  We meet once a week to share our business plans and dreams, personal goals, frustrations, and successes. 

The energy is amazing.  My friend Cindy joined us for the first time last week, and by the end of the meeting had firmed up her resolution to turn a rental property she has into a place for weddings and other gatherings, and got most of the group to commit to helping her prep for an open house she intends to have five days after her current tenants move out.  Cindy could probably pull this off single-handed, but with the energy of this group, there's no doubt.  Today while we started the meeting, we folded her brochures, which went into gift bags at a local event tonight...state your wish and be prepared to ride a wave of enthusiasm from this group!

Today was hat day for Cat Isles, pictured below.  Cat has a greeting card company, bridgingtheuniverse.com, as well as a children's book coming out in January, and a series of stories about a family of adventurous foxes that is meeting it's publisher next Thursday.  She announced last week that she thought she would like to be a woman who wears hats, so those of us who already do wore ours today, in support, and brought her some to start her collection.  It's that kind of group.  Every dream or idea is a worthy one.

There are lots more in the group, and you can meet most of them on the Keystone blog, keystonewomenscircle.blogspot.com.  I'll keep you posted on all the gals ventures as things progress.  For now, save December 5th to attend Cindy's open house at "Marions Place".

Meanwhile back at the studio, I had two Art Girls today.  Faith starts my Mondays, as she homeschools, and can come in the morning.  She nearly always has a stuffed toy with her in her apron pocket, and today it was a crowd of hamsters, thus...Still Life With Hamsters:

Once finished with the drawing, Faith spent the rest of her class painting a recycled frame in her older brother's favorite colors, as the hamsters are shown drawing a card congratulating him on the birth of his new baby.  Now he has art for the baby's walls, painted by the proud Aunt Faithie.

Kadence comes after the Keystone meeting, when school lets out.  When she appeared with a stuffed squirrel in her pocket, I figured we may as well follow Faith's lead...curriculum?  What curriculum?  So, I give you...Still Life with Squirrel:

I also wanted to share Kadence's fairy house creation today, which she finished while my computer was down.  It actually turned into a house for "zoobles", little toy anime-style creatures that pop out of spheres.  She created amazing details, using all kinds of things from the treasure drawer in the studio. 

This spacious property comes with swing, slide and swimming pool.

I never worry about copying.  Artists are constantly inspired by each other, but as shown in the drawings above, and should you scroll back a ways and see Faiths fairy castle, which inspired Kadence's zooble habitat, creative souls can't be content with copying.  It's fun to watch them all start at the same point and branch off in their own directions.  Makes Mondays the best day of the week!

Ever have one of those days?

Nope, not one of those days.  I mean one of those days where things just fall into place, everybody either loves you or leaves you alone if they don't, the appliances all work, you don't run out of shampoo, toothpaste, or deodorant, the dog does not barf on the carpet, the new client ups the order, and the current client's husband even loves the funky paint job.  Bliss.

I did forget the camera, but said client's husband, Randy, was kind enough to snap me a few pictures and zapped 'em over to me.  I'm doing several things in their home, including troweling four colors of paint on their dining room walls, painting some furniture, and turning builder oak kitchen cabinets into something way cooler.  Here's a sneak peak at one of the doors (Full views next week).

The knobs are vintage and antique metal salt and pepper shakers.  Thank goodness their kitchen isn't any larger, because I've scoured every antique store, thrift shop and occasional sale in a 30 mile radius, and I'm still short three.  Oh well, guess I'll have to go antiquing again tomorrow, on the way to the job site.  I do love my job!

I can't say I've loved the other part of my job these past months, as that's been designing a new website.  Do you know how long it takes to re-size and caption an entire portfolio of photos?  Neither do I.  I lost track of the hours that turned into days that turned into months.  But I'm not whining, because this is one of those days...the day my new website launched!  Check it out at theartofthehome.com!

I'll still be blogging here, in fact I'll probably be blogging more.  There's more to the art of the home than just painting cool cabinets and wonderful walls, and I'm looking forward to writing about the rest of it.  Maybe now that the website is done, I'll have time to actually do some of the rest of it. 

For now, I'm going to call it a night.  I hope you, too, had one of those days.  Wishing you bliss!

Zen and the Art of Cat Herding

Did you miss me?  I missed blogging.  My computer was "on vacation".  That's what they say when they go to the Betty Ford of computer places, right?  Mine needed some serious detoxing, but now she's back, and feeling much perkier.  Can't say as she looks any younger, but she's healthy, and much less moody, so perhaps we can finish the new website in the next few days, get some work done on the decorating book, and maybe up the blog frequency.  One step at a time, of course.

I had some non-cyber adventures while disconnected from the net world.  I've been on a spiritual quest to become a bit more, well, zen.  To go joyfully with the flow, in cooperation with the universe.  Not drowsily calm (even I can't imagine me at anything less than low bounce, and I can imagine almost anything), but not so jerked around by outside forces.  "Be still and know..." and all that.  My friends Ben, Zack and Joey had some fun giving me a midterm test in this course.

These three furballs, one of whom dodged the camera, belong to my friend Beth, who trusts me to feed them and tuck them in for the night when she travels.  This time, they made me work to deserve her trust.  Beth adopts cats, and lets them live in their preferred environment.  These three prefer to be outdoor cats, and so they have the roam of the countryside by day, but at night, she likes them tucked into their cathouse, safe from coyotes and teenage drivers.  The last time I did this was in the winter, when the kitties liked to be inside their heated home, and were already waiting when I arrived to feed them and lock the gate.

Early autumn is a different story.

They came up and hung out, not admitting to remembering me, but finally allowing me to pet them.

They even showed how little the presence of a near-stranger concerned them.

They came running enthusiastically, when I suggested dinner.

Knowing how inferior human brains are, they made sure I knew where to find the human door.

But, no thank you, they weren't particularly hungry, sleepy, nor interested in discussing interior decorating.

In fact, they thought it a lovely evening to sit out and listen to the symphony of buzzing mosquitoes, and quite enjoyed the percussion my slaps added to the drone.

This was one of the more polite suggestions made, as I grew increasingly frustrated with my job as herder of cats. 

Eventually, after going through my repertoire of preschool teacher up-speak, most of my repertoire of sailor speak, and some undignified begging, I laid on my back in the grass and decided to talk to any angels, gods or passing sprites.  I had promised Beth to tuck them in, and though I had friends waiting at a party, I couldn't just give up.  But, in case you haven't guessed this, I'm not a cat person.  I like them fine, but I've never owned one, and the one time I tried, I discovered that a person can be allergic to specific cats.  VERY allergic. ( Powder lives indoors at Beth's now.)

Then came the voice of reason/angel/sprite/God.  The answer?  "You can't force cooperation from someone who doesn't see a benefit for themselves, even if you see it clearly.  Give them something they want."  Good thing I'm a dog person, and a very good dog person, at that.  Since my dog eats homemade food, there is always fresh boiled chicken in my fridge, so just a quick trip back to town, and I had kitties eating out of the palm of my hand...all the way in through the gate.  

They say they would have gone in on their own, had I left them, and I can let them have the last word.  I'm feeling very zen, after all!  :) 

What Exactly Do I Do For a Living?

Tonight I participated in a ladies night event here in Belle Plaine, The Autumn Gathering of the Goddesses.  It was put on by Keystone Women's Circle, a group of female businesses owners, of which I am a founding member.  We are all dedicated to doing business in a way that supports our communities, expresses our authentic gifts, and respects the planet.  We have joined together to help each other promote and grow our businesses, like a mini-Chamber of Commerce for cool chicks.

Tonight's event was a huge success, and went amazingly smooth, especially considering it's our first one of this kind.  The hardest thing for me, aside from fitting my six presentations into their 25 minute time slots, and getting each group out my front door and headed around the corner to the next location on time, was explaining to people exactly what it is that I do.  Take this past week, for example, and tell me how to describe it in a sentence...

Along with having two art students on Monday,  making programs and presenters name tags and hand-painted personalized wine glasses for every participant in tonight's event, I tricked out one pick-up in girly swirls:

I think Sherry is pretty happy with it, judging by the look on her face!

Photographed a cabinet job I did a few years back:

"McKenzie finish" is a blend of cream with ochre and umber streaks.  It is named for a certain collectors china that it coordinates with.

This end cabinet was stock, until I added the crown (salvaged from an old dresser mirror frame - dresser and mirror both long lost), and the wood appliques at the hinges.  The idea was to make it look like this kitchen was made up of custom cabinets built in around an old posh hotel ice box, instead of '80s builder oak.  As you might imagine from the acid green wall color, this client has a bold sense of personal style, which makes her great fun to work with.   The close-up below shows the black-rub over peacock blue finish. 

and did a chip-china/mixed media mosaic for the same client on a fireplace:

The client, Jodi, worked with me on this, which really contributed to the final look, and the fact that it only took four days, and not six or seven.  Most china mosaic is very sweet, but this, with all sorts of interesting bits of iron, glass and mirror, and cocoa brown grout is a little more edgy, which perfectly suits the quirky, dark romantic style of this home and it's owner.

I guess what I do for a living is help clients express their creative imaginings in whatever way best suits them.  Perhaps I'll have to change my business card to read "artistic translator". 

For tonight, I'm going to sign off of here, go put my feet up, enjoy my sparkly clean house and the contented exhaustion of having successfully pulled off tonight's event.  I'm fairly certain that after four straight hours of presenting,  I will have no voice when I awake in the morning, but hey, I don't meet with my newest client until noon, so no worry!

If a blind woman is the only one to see the clock, what day is it?

It's a real question, and one that only my mother knows the answer to.  You see, I do not know for sure if I was born on September 30th or October 1st, though my birth certificate says October 1st.  My mom says it was the stroke of midnight, and the doctors forgot to look at the clock, as they were too busy looking at my club foot (and I forgive them their slip, if that's what it was, as the repair to my ankle is the best that many doctors have ever seen...thanks guys).  Mom says they told her she could choose, and since my oldest brother Ramon Jr. was born on the 30th, she chose the 1st, to give me my own birthday.

Do I know how to party, or what?  Apparently, I learned the "always snag a reserve bottle" trick by my first birthday.

That was the sentence that made me question the story.  Just check the family albums...every childhood birthday shows a two-tier cake, with my candles on one level, and "Tad's" on the other, and both of us standing behind it.  Furthermore, my sister pointed out that Mom was blind without her glasses back then, and would not have been wearing them in the delivery room, so she could not have seen the clock.  Then, from somewhere in my memory banks, comes a story of several false alarms the week before I was born, and something about maternity insurance not kicking in until October 1st.  Hmmmmm...

So, that's my entry into the world...my life begins with a very fishy story, possible insurance fraud, and the theory that time is relative (to the occasion).  If I was inclined to blame life's disappointments on birth trauma, I think I could get a lot of mileage out of this added bonus material.  As it is, I've decided it's a good excuse to celebrate my birthday twice!

Nature puts out unrivaled party decor. 

'Kinley rode along to check out the fall colors today.  I'm seriously not sure I should be allowed to drive this time of year, as the sumac and alders, like these chokecherries are extremely distracting in their crimson and gold splendor.  Talk about A.D.D. !  Oh, look....!

I'm celebrating today already.  Thanks to all who sent cards and emails!  I just opened a box from my friend Roberta, who lives in Chicago.  The box itself is a gorgeous designer thing, and unbeknownst to her, I actually have a thing for gorgeous gift boxes.  Inside was a beautiful meditation drum with CD and instruction book, which is perfect, as I've been meaning to check out this increasingly popular form of meditation and celebration.  Also in the box was a book, The Creative Entrepreneur, A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real, which I am dying to curl up with and enjoy.  Alas, not today, as a few of my girlfriends are having a party for me this evening.  I have been promised chocolate cake and sex on the beach.  The latter is a drink, the former is probably the name of a drink too, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting the solid kind with candles.

Tomorrow, I have to return to the "scene of the grime", and finish grouting the china mosaic fireplace.  I absolutely do not mind spending my birthday there, as my client Jodi is working with me on it, which makes it really fun.  Besides, not only is the project coming out gorgeous, which makes any job fun, but Jodi has promised me something yummy for lunch, and has stroked my vanity, insisting she thought I was about 10 years younger than I am.  Who better to spend the day with???.

So, no work photos until next week.  Aside from the fireplace, my focus this week has been finishing the website (getting very close), and working on some marketing things.  For this, I had to have head shots done, which was surprisingly painless, and the previews I saw were pretty good, considering Toni (frontporchphotos.com) did have to bully me a fair bit, and tell me to shut up more than once.  Sheesh, talk about tough love.  Gentler love was earlier in the week, when one of my young students, Kadence, insisted on drawing a portrait of me.  I always say learning to draw is about learning to see.  I think I like what she sees...

Thank you, Precious.  It's my favorite present.

So, Happy Birthday to Dona, Heather, Teri and Tad, and A Very Merry Unbirthday to all the rest of you!

p.s.  to those who know the birthday/dog curse...McKinley is healthier today than he was last year, so no worries.

Creative Connections

The Creative Connection Event, the conference I attended last week, was wonderful.  I was a volunteer on Thursday schlepping boxes of books, and roving the Handmade Market, offering booth sitting and errand running to vendors.   On Saturday, I attended Breakfast With the Editors, a jewelery making class (I made something really tiny, no small feat for a mural painter, and made a fabulous new friend), and in the afternoon, attended a panel discussion where I learned a huge amount about Internet marketing and etail.  I met dozens of artists whose work I have been admiring in magazines for several years, and many not-yet-published ones like me.  I also got to meet and chat with Jo Packham, former president of Chapelle publishing, and the Editor-in-Chief of Where Women Create Magazine, and the soon to launch Where Women Cook Magazine.  I am looking forward to November, when she has promised me a somewhat longer conversation.  She has snapshots of Belle's Kitchen (May 16 blog entry). :))))

One of the artists I met is Kay Foley of Ampersand Cards  http://www.ampersandcards.com/.  She is the only vendor who took advantage of my volunteer service, with a request for a cup of ice.  I bought two of her cards, because I love her wit and style, and then won two of her books in a prize drawing Saturday evening...easily a ten-fold return, I think.

A few others you might want to check out:
http://www.barnbarnbaby.com/  nice gal from just norh of where I grew up
http://www.glassgardenbeads.com/  from near here.  Nice selection
http://www.simplyposhdesigns.com/ lovely tattered treasures

Back to real life, I've spent the week doing paperwork, turning an overabundance of garden veggies (gifted by friends, as I only grow mint and ditch lilies) into soup and spaghetti sauce, doing a few small studio projects, playing art teacher to two of the art girls, working on the staircase, and a bit of mirror mosaic.  Later today, I get to start a china mosaic fireplace surround.  It will actually be a mixed-media job, with bits of interesting wood and metal salvage mixed in with the broken teacups and plates.  Should be fun, as my client has a quirky, kind of dark romantic sense of style.  It might be finished before next week's post.

Here are a couple of shots of my staircase, where I am in the process of replacing the crumbling rubber treads with varnished fabric ones.  Floor cloths for the stairs, basically.  Couldn't find an affordable runner that knocked my socks off, didn't really want to paint, in case a future owner wanted to restore the natural finish, and couldn't bear the thought of stripping and refinishing the treads myself, so this was my solution.  The only problem is the upholstery tacks...I really stink at pounding nails.  I'm great with a circular saw, a jigsaw, a drill, a screw gun, but it takes a major effort for me to get a nail into anything without bending it, and there are a lot of nails in these.  I'll finish by Christmas, I'm sure.

My favorite Jacobean floral vine, glued onto my signature leopard print, with a painted border between.  The varnish dulled the raspberry tones a bit, but just as well, to give it a bit more age, to blend with the slightly worn finish of the stairs.

Across from the staircase, this radiator was a flat off-white, but a lick of black enamel and a bit of gold to highlight the raised detail is much prettier, and balances with the dark wood stairs.  I replaced the flimsy metal topper with a mantle built of an old headboard laid flat beneath a dresser-top mirror frame.  Tonight, I filled the empty mirror space with broken mirror, mosaic fashion, and will show a photo of it in the near future, once I've had a chance to grout it. 

I'm off to bed, but before I go, a reminder about the Autumn Gathering of Goddesses!  I still have tickets to sell.  Scroll down to the end of the last entry to get all the info.  With six mini-workshops and some great gifts to take home, it is easily worth twice the ticket price.  Hope to see you there.

Holy rollin' billboard, Batman!

One would think that having owned a sign shop for eleven years, and then having been in the wall painting business for 12 years since then, that I would have gotten around to lettering my work van long before this.  It's a little looser than I would have done a few years back, but I'm a little looser about a lot of things, now.  I've had a habit of waiting until I can do a thing perfectly before I do it at all, and perfection usually takes more time than I have, so consequently I miss out on a lot.  There are so many things I want to do in this lifetime, and I've spent most of the first half (or so) of mine, waiting for the perfect time or situation, which never seems to come.  I've heard it said that perfectionism is the highest form of self-abuse.  I choose to treat myself much better these days.

Yeah, that's the new website is listed on the van.  I guess I better get it finished and launched!  Hmmm...probably time to give up on perfecting it and just hit the go button.

I really think Mango Lace should be a dealer option

Owning a vehicle with 174,000 miles on it definitely frees a person up to do slightly less ordinary things.  I just painted this on Sunday and Monday, and already people are stopping me in parking lots to ask how I got the lace effect.  Answer:  A can of Krylon, a yard of lace fabric, and a very light touch.  Hopefully people will begin stopping me to ask about the decorating services listed on the side!

What a hodge-podge week it's been.  I turned three concrete statues to marble...

...zipped up to St. John's to pop a cross above the door to the sacristy...

...lettered the van, patched some small statues, worked a bit more on the staircase here at Belle, and built a mantle for the foyer radiator tonight.  I expect to have photos of Belle's progress next Thursday.

The other thing I worked on this week is helping plan a special event being hosted by my women in business group, Keystone Women's Circle...

Autumn Gathering of the Goddesses

A different kind of Ladies Night, featuring six mini-sessions

Essential Oil Blending

Yoga

Massage

Hypnosis for stress management

Fall Make-up colors

Home decorating tips and tricks

(feng shui, American style)

It's on Thursday October 7th from 5:15-9:15

starting at Mystic Journey, 109 N. Meridian, Belle Plaine

Refreshments will be served before and after the workshops, and participants will go home with gift bags valued well over the ticket price of $30.

Pre-registration is required, and space is VERY limited, so get a hold of your girlfriends and give me a call or email me.  Seriously, with eight women inviting their clients, and only 30 spots available, we'll fill up quickly.

(952)873-4493   dmquinche@gmail.com