Friday 29 February 2008

February 29th!


I just had to write a quick post so I could see the date!  February 29th doesn't roll around that often, you know.  I've added a few little trinkets to my shop.

Thought I would give you a taste.  Actually, I just wanted to include pictures in my post because I know how much I love to see everyone else's work.

These little sachets are LILAC scented.  Yummm!!
Added some of my old buttons and jewelry to the flowers...
Okay, one last thought.  Now I'm all worried that I may have offended some of you who may possess finer sensibilities than I, with my cornstarch nonsense.....  at least I embarrassed my husband, for some reason.  Probably because he's much more private (and couth) than I am, and he would DIE before he would make a joke like that!  Anyway, if I did, please forgive me.

I'll try to be good.  I'll try to be good.  I'll try to be good.  I'll try to be good.  I'll try........

Thursday 28 February 2008

Whoopee!


A new apron, because two of them just flew the coop....




I just opened my Etsy Shoppe yesterday and today I shipped off my first orders to California and Tokyo, Japan.  Is that cool, or what?  When four of the six things I had for sale went bye-bye, I got so nervous, I ran upstairs and made another little girls apron!  I kinda wish my little girl was still little, so she could wear it.  Now that she's 14, she'd laugh herself silly.
With all the vertical seams from piecing fabrics together, I like to line it so it will look nice and neat.  I might have to make myself a big-girl apron, but somehow I don't think it would look quite as sweet on me...  this is the reverse side.  I guess you could wear it both ways, if your daughter doesn't mind fishing around underneath for the pocket!?
I'm out the door with daughter for Parents' Night at the high school--orientation for incoming freshmen!  How'd she get that old??
One last thing-- dear husband, the prude, thinks my #7 revelation about myself in my tag post was "a little too revealing!"  He should read what some of YOU write!

I've Been Tagged By the Chick Who Lives in My Periwinkle Palace

Okay, Darly from daisyslittlecottage has tagged me and I'm finally getting around to doing it. Here are the rules:  
1.  When tagged, place the "tag-er" URL and name on your blog.
2.  Post rules on your blog.
3.  Post 7 different things about yourself.
4.  Name 7 of your favorite blogs.
5.  E-mail or leave a comment for those 7 people so they know they've been tagged.

Here goes:
1.  I can be very poised and polished when the situation calls for it, i.e. singing, speaking, teaching.  But I can turn on a dime and let my hair down with my bawdy sense of humor and leave people speechless.  Which is most of the time.

2. I love to read, and can't wait to get upstairs to bed so I can get back to my latest suspense thriller.

3.  I find it very hard to resist buying trashy rag sheets at the checkout stand in stores, even though I know they are fake, stupid, and perpetuate society's freaky obsession with celebrities.

4.  I love to hook rugs, and I taught myself a few years ago after a friend showed me the basics.  I have designed & hooked some of my own patterns.

5.  Singing is my all-time passion, and I have been a performer since I was a teenager.  And that's why I have to take a little break now to go watch American Idol.  Be back later.

6.  Okay, I'm back.  And those judges are idiots.  Ummm, let's see.... I seem to have the classic melancholy, artistic personality-- I'm a real recluse.  When I'm on-stage or in public, I'm a total extrovert and love to be the center of attention.  The rest of the time, I love to hide out, alone, and all my friends know better than to ever drop in on me, uninvited.  I'll run and hide.

7.  And this is a real confession to put out for all the world to see, but I have a bizarre fascination with white, powdery corn starch, and one of my strangest fantasies is to roll around in a great big vat of the stuff.  I know.  That's probably more than you ever wanted to know.  

There ya have it.  Now it's my turn to torture 7 other people, and I tried to mix up some old favs and some newer-to-me  bloggers.


Oops, that's only 6.  Oh well.  I'll go find another one.  Enjoy!

Wednesday 27 February 2008

This Is So Random


Talk about completely out of nowhere-- I cleaned out my cache of pics on the computer, and this pic of my dining room cupboard is about the only house pic I have left.  Need to take some more.  I love old, mis-matched dishes and platters, cups and saucers, whatever strikes my fancy.  And this is my fav shade of blue.  I found all the blue cups at Value Village, but not a single matching saucer.  Waaaa!!  I went back repeatedly, but no-go.  Oh, well.

This shelf sits on top of a base with two cupboards and four drawers.  I painted the whole thing blue, and then applied tinted paste wax for an antique, hand-rubbed effect.  I love it.


I just spent the entire morning putting a few items up for sale in my Etsy Shoppe.  Everything is trial and error at this point, but I'm getting the hang of it.  I'm excited to list more things.  I'm even thinking of picking up a few things from the Boutique and bringing them home to add to my Etsy.  Maybe I'll trade out a few things, replace some, subtract some, just to freshen it up a bit.  Can't have the Boutique looking the same every time someone goes in for a peek!

Daughter came home early from school today, sick.  At the moment I'm not too sure how I feel, myself.  You know that "oh-no-am-I-feeling-nauseous-please-don't-let-me-barf" feeling???

And husband just left for a two-day conference in the big city, so we're on our own.  I think I feel a nap coming on...gotta be ready for the girls on American Idol tonight!

Oh, by the way-- stop in at my new Shoppe, and I guarantee, there will be lots more stuff in the near future.  I'm waiting for PayPal to e-mail me their verification that I'm not a low-life, cheating, thieving scammer bent on taking all you guys to the bank.  So just know that PayPal should be operational any minute now.  Don't give up!  And enjoy!  I know, I'm LOVING the whole process!!

Tuesday 26 February 2008

Bits and Pieces


"Anonymous" asked me if these were Ralph Lauren curtains.  The answer is no, they say Springs on the tag.  I got them at the Goodwill, three  of them for my three backporch windows.  Jackpot!!  I strung clothesline rope from hooks and added the old-fashioned clothespins just for fun.



Had to share this pic of my handsome son and his gorgeous girlfriend, holding their darling puppy.  They had just returned from dinner out, and were here to pick up the puppy after we babysat.  It's my only grandchild.  And I'd like to put a diaper on it.
And here is the door to my backyard shop, "Periwinkle, Too."  Just waiting to be filled back up for spring.  We want to add a little porch to the front, and a window where the window frame is hanging, pretending to BE a window.  Then I want pots of ivy to grow up and around everything.  I also want to paint the door periwinkle blue, which my husband said he didn't care as long as it would go with the color scheme of the house and garage.  Hmmm...  OF COURSE it won't go, but I think it would really POP, so I told him it would go great!  Sly, aren't I???
Here's a sad little shot of the inside, stripped bare after Christmas when I took all my stuff down to the Crafters' Boutique.  I've got to get my lazy you-know-what in gear and fill this back up.  Then I can have a spring invitation event!  I've actually never done that before, but I want to.  I love this little room attached to our garage, but I would REALLY love it if we could knock the wall out another six feet or so.  Then I could include a table and chairs for girlie crafting nights!
Well, as the post title implies, this was just a collection of whatever, and now I'm done.  See ya.
Cheryl

Saturday 23 February 2008

Saturday!!!!


Oh, how I love Saturday!  The sun is shining, our daughter is away on a church youth retreat in Oregon, we had a lovely dinner last night with our dear, dear friend, Judy, and we're working on the yard today. My husband is operating the leaf blower, and I scrubbed the winter muck off the front porch.  I threw the pillows and seat covers in the wash from our porch furniture that never seems to get put away.  I'm sure the cats will appreciate a new, clean sleeping spot.

I've finished a few new flower baskets, and they're making me happy.  I've got a bunch of them in the workroom, waiting to be brought to life.


Pink stripes.....
Blue stripes.....
And yellow stripes...  hope this shows up on a pink background.
And time to say bye-bye to a few valentines for another year.  I made this little snowman a couple years ago, and he just seems like a good valentine-guy, with his flowers and his heart in his hands.  I guess I'll keep him!

I'll be back with more later, I think.  Gotta go out to lunch with my sweet husband right now!  I LOVE Saturday!!!!

Friday 22 February 2008

A Few More House Pics

Hello, dear ones!  I promised a pic of my potholder tree, which I leave up all year round.  Unfortunately, since this little table is right next to the back door, it becomes a dumping ground very quickly for everybody's junk, so the potholder tree is usually buried.  But I dug it out, just for you!

My backporch has become a place for me to add a few of my cutesy things, but it also has to accommodate a freezer, washer & dryer, laundry hampers and dog food container.  And thanks to Jack (the interloper, my husband calls him, since he sort of just moved in with us), there's also an occasional pile of dog poop.  Jack just isn't learning...





This little shelf hangs above our freezer, and I've stashed some of my old children's collectibles here.  I made the Humpty Dumpty a long time ago.  I used to have a doll-making business back in the 80's called Ragg Baggs.  It was very successful, and I had all kinds of offers from reps and buyers and it scared the crap out of me.  I wanted to keep making them myself, but this would have required me to hire outside help.  My "fear of success" sent me running for the hills.  I'll have to scan and share the pic of my Wizard of Oz dolls that were featured in a Pacific Northwest Magazine article on the creations of several artists.  I'm kinda proud of that...


Here's our kitchen, with a little eat-in area.  I love old, chippy shelves and cupboards so I was thrilled to find these.  When I soaked all the old paint off the two doorknobs and discovered green glass, I had to scream!  You know how it is.  Such wonderful serendipity!




I love old kitchen collectibles with green handles, I love Fire King jadeite which I keep on the back porch, I love Peach Lustre Fire King (the mugs), and just about any other collectible glassware you can name.  My friend, Mary, once exclaimed that I must have so much dusting to do!  I said, "Dusting???...."
Once again, you know how it is...




One day I got a wild hair and removed all the kitchen cupboard doors, then sanded and re-painted everything.  I would love to be able to keep each shelf perfectly organized with just the right colors and objects.  I remember when I first did it, my husband said, "Okay, so those shelves are just for decoration now?..."  He's so sweet.  He didn't complain.  It does explain, however, why all of our horizontal surfaces seem to be stacked with things 

that no longer have a home.  Again, you know how it is...

When I wrote this post, my text lined up so nicely with each picture.  Then when I hit "publish," everything formatted in a totally unrelated way.  Oh, well, you get the idea!  Enjoy!

Thursday 21 February 2008

Busy, busy, busy

Isn't this a pretty little picture I found at the thrift store?  It's now hanging in our bedroom, reminding me of our rose garden that blooms like crazy all summer long.
We were so lucky when we moved into this house, because the landscaping and gardens had been done by previous owners.  Some of it is very old, like the apricot tree, peach tree, pears...but also a zillion rose bushes and rhododendrons, that brighten our yard in the warm weather.
I spent a whole lot of time yesterday getting up and running on Etsy Cottage Style, which dear Jen Duncan invited me to join.  What a neat community, with immediate back and forth...click on the badge in my side bar to visit!  I have pics posted, but am not set up to sell yet.  Just need to do it, get PayPal, etc.  

Periwinkle tagged me with a meme about 5 favorite blog posts (my own), but since I'm somewhat new, I'm going to do what she did (she's also a newbie) and just write directly about each topic:

1. Family-- I grew up in an absurdly happy family, where we all loved each other and had a happy life.  Really.  My own family now consists of my husband and our 3 kids, ages 26, 24, and 14, all beautiful adopted children.  Our two older sons are both Asian, and our daughter is a happy mix of Hispanic, Caucasian, Pacific Island (thus explaining her volumes of dark, billowy hair), etc.  Gorgeous.  My husband is a music teacher who used to be a worship director, and he and I do a whole lot of singing together.  In fact, we first met in a band that we were in.

2. Friends-- We have the greatest group of friends, lots of them, for which we are very thankful.  They are really more family than friends, and when we're all old, we plan on moving into the same old folks' home and raising hell.

3. Yourself-- Hmmm... obviously I love artsy-fartsy stuff--all kinds.  I'm also a school teacher, though I quit to raise my kids and have time for other things in my life.  I've been a pop-style singer for a loooong time and have sung my brains out all over the place.  Maybe that's what's wrong with me.

4. Something you love-- I LOVE a warm spring evening, walking around our yard with my husband and a glass of white wine, looking at new buds and sprouts, dreaming of all the great things we want to do with our yard, which we'll never really do...

5.  Anything-- I love to read, sew, craft, thrift, watch TV, and take naps, and I hate to work outside my home.  I'll do almost anything to keep from having to go out to work.  Love being a homemaker, and I wish I had a billion dollars so I could be one for ever and ever.  There.  I've admitted it.  I'll bet I'm not the only one.

Tuesday 19 February 2008

You're Not Gonna Believe This


Right now I'm loving this little chick with her big blue sunbonnet.  Easter is NEXT month and I'm still in winter mode.  I need to get out more, feel some sunshine...
Remember I had a little spin-out on the icy freeway last week?  Well, you're going to think I am a maniacal driver, because three days later (Saturday) I was involved in another car accident, here in town.  I had just dropped my daughter off at the bowling alley for her league practice and was sitting in the left-hand turn lane, waiting for the light to change.

All of a sudden a car zooms around the corner to go past me driving the other way, but instead of going past me, she rammed right into me, head-on.  Whoops.  Both cars looked like heck (I think mine is totalled), but nobody was hurt.  Thank you, God.  Not a fun day.

You know those awful Final Destination movies, where people's time is up, one by one, and they can't prevent what happens?  I sorta felt like that!  Since the accident on the pass didn't get me, maybe the "fates" were trying again on Saturday!  Thankfully, I don't believe in fate, so I figure that's nonsense, but it still creeps me out.  Now we are down to one automobile, a  huge pickup truck that sucks gas like a thirsty camel.  Once again, POOP!!

The only nice thing?  I'm on Vicodin for back and neck pain, and Vicodin makes me purr, and tell everyone in my life how much I love them...  I LOVE you guys, too!  Purrrrrrrrrr........

Saturday 16 February 2008

The Day After...


Since I haven't had a chance to post many pics of my stuff (it's all at the Boutique, or it's Christmas stuff, put away), I thought I'd put this pic up for you to see.  The day after a holiday is always so pathetic in the stores.  At the grocery store, all the beautiful candy boxes and gifts are stuffed in a couple of shopping carts with clearance signs on them, when just yesterday, they were arranged in all their glory, waiting to be purchased for that special someone.

I went in to the Boutique and retrieved my various Valentine's Day things that hadn't sold, and they'll go into storage for another year.  Just wanted to get a quick shot of this vignette before I stuff it in a box.


Hope your holiday was full of love, chocolate and gorgeous crafts, gifts and (hopefully) a little revenue for all your hard work!

Bunny by Day, Bunny by Night


I just put together this little spring vignette last night, and I'm still experimenting with taking pics.  In this case, I think I like the night time shot.  The day shot shows that lovely mess out in the driveway-- last summer we went to the Oregon coast for a week, leaving our 23 year old son in charge of dropping by to feed and water dogs, cats, take in the mail, etc.  

I jokingly said, "No parties at my house while we're gone!"  No worries, right?  Because he's got his own place.  Apparently his own place wasn't big enough, because when we returned, we could see the evidence of PARTY CENTRAL out in our yard.  He had set up volleyball standards, a "misting" tent,  tables and chairs for guests, and he had gotten hold of a huge screen and showed a MOVIE, all in our front yard!!!  I wonder how the neighbors felt about that.  They were gracious enough not to say anything... Oh, and he had made iced tea by pouring boiling water over tea bags, into my treasured vintage pitcher- which-looked- like- the-one-my-grandmother-had, and exploded the bottom right out of it!  :(  I think that was the worst part.

Anyway, you can still some of the remains of his party gear left in our driveway.  Not a pretty sight.  And not a pretty story.



I like to make the vignettes pretty from all sides, even though it has a definite front view.
Spring IS coming, you know.  Even though if you could take my camera and pan upwards, you would still see my giant ornament wreath hanging in the bay window.  Pitiful.  

Our school district is now on "winter break" over Presidents' Day weekend so I've got the family here to help get those Christmas things put away once and for all.  Of course if I wait long enough, I can just leave them up because Christmas always rolls round again, doesn't it??

Of course, 14 year old daughter just left with a group of friends for a movie, and husband is in the other room scanning his laptop for rentable movies that we haven't seen, so we'll see how much work actually gets done around here.

Maybe I need to just give up and get my lazy behind in gear.  I really don't need help, I just like to pretend it's someone else's fault for not getting done.  Have a lovely weekend!!!  I'm going to clean house and take more pics!

Friday 15 February 2008

Okay, Okay...


That last post was a little depressing, so after looking at all of your pretty Valentine's greetings, I'll send out this simple valentine with a little children's song that I wrote many years ago:

              I'll take some pretty paper, a bit of lace or two,

          I'll sprinkle it with glitter, and fasten it with glue.

          I'll write a tender message, I know just what I'll say,

          That "You are very special!  Happy Valentine's Day!"

I could even sing it for you, but I'm not that ambitious today.  But I still love ya!  Have a Happy and Blessed Valentine's Day!

Road Trip to Hell

Well, I wish I had a picture for you, but I haven't had the heart to take one yet.  My poor car.  Yesterday my mom and my oldest son and I were traveling I-90 to Seattle at about 4:30 a.m.  We were taking him over for plastic surgery on a self-inflicted neck injury (that's another story) and had to be there by 7:15.  Snoqualmie Pass has been horrible, with avalanches and closures constantly the last few weeks, but my son was determined to make that appointment.

Long story short, we spun out on the ice and crashed into a guard rail, ending up facing the wrong direction on the freeway with giant semi-trucks closing in on us, in the dark, on the ice...  nobody hurt except the car, but it was drive-able, so I turned around the right way and made my way to the nearest town where I could turn around and go home.  My son was livid, my mom was extremely grateful, and I just wanted to see my home again.

Next time he can go with someone else.  I've gotta call PEMCO.

Wednesday 13 February 2008

It's a New Day


Hey, it's sunny and bright here today, most of the snow is gone and I'm only sniffing and snorting a little bit.  Things are looking up.  I, too, am one of those people who suffers from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) during the winter months, so I REALLY look forward to the spring!  Seems a lot of us northerners have the same problem.

Of course I know this is NOTHING compared to what people in many parts of the country are going through, so I have very little to grumble about.  God bless all of you as you try to dig out of the season's storms and trauma.

Here's little girl apron #2...  I haven't been working on anything too much (again, I blame SAD...) but these are making me smile.



Here are some works in progress, waiting for stuffing, smelly stuff and fussing up with bits and bobs.
And here's a little pillow just finished, but it has a little tear that I had to mend, so I guess I'll keep it for myself.  Pooh.
And here sits my little teacher "bag of tricks," waiting for me to take it substitute teaching.  I'm still waiting for all the paperwork to be finished.  Kinda frustrating, but with all the whackos out there these days, I guess we can't be too careful about who teaches our children.
Well, my dear husband is home for lunch, so I guess I'll wrap this up.  Back later...

Monday 11 February 2008

Blaaaaahhh


Still alive here, but siiiiccckkk this weekend.  Not getting too much done.  But I did find another cool picture of our house, taken in the early part of last century.  (Doesn't that sound funny?  Like, SO long ago).  This room was the parlour, with two large windows, a wide doorway into the dining room, and one (or maybe two) tall, skinny doors with a light above them on the wall, so you could enter from the front entryway.   These doors were removed and walled up before we moved in, but they're still in the attic.  I've wanted to re-install them, but then we would lose the only solid wall in the room, which we now use as the dining room. There used to be an old wood stove against this wall where you see the piano, and that was the only heat in the house, other than the kitchen stove (also wood).  Brrrr...


We have learned from meeting with people who were descendants of the original Webster family that there also used to be a back staircase from the kitchen to the maid's quarters upstairs.  Now it houses the air ducts for the furnace, so it's GONE.  That just makes me sick.
I would love to have a back staircase into the kitchen!  

One time we were so desperate to have a look at what might be left there, that we punched a hole in the wall with a drill, and just barely missed destroying some copper water pipes.  Oops.
And darn, no hidden staircase...
Oh, there are many tales of Webster house yet to tell.......

Friday 8 February 2008

My Backporch


Here we have a couple of rather sad (as in blurry) pics of my backporch, where I keep some of my collections.  I was passionate for green Jadite for awhile. And also for old tins...  It looks like I need to tidy up my dear husband's collection of Bon Appetit mags!  Actually, though he is very supportive of my decorating, he would probably rather use these shelves for storage.  But it just looks so cute!


My sis bought me the old plastic cake carrier on the bottom shelf, probably at a yard sale.  She's the queen of yard sales-- she calls it the "Green Boutique."  

I also love old aprons, and these are just three.  I have more displayed, but it's too dark now to take more backporch pics.  I'll get in there tomorrow and snap away.  I want to show you my vintage potholder tree, which stays up all year 'round.
Better clean up first...  My husband doesn't understand all this posting of pics of the house.  When he saw my picture of our bedroom (pink door headboard, remember?) he said, "Wow, our bedroom hasn't looked like THAT in a long time, but of course, now that you've got a blog..."  Isn't he just a scream?  Yeah, whatever.  Wait til you hear what he said when he found me taking pics in the bathroom...

In The Mood


I'm in the mood to sew aprons for little girls.  I had a good day thrifting fabrics and old buttons, so I threw them all in the washer and dryer and then folded them up (the fabrics, not the buttons).  I love this pink button-- I found 4 of them.  Old pink buttons are like jewels to me!  I hoard them, love them, can't get enough of them.

I especially like the fabric with the little ballerinas on it.  So cute.
Pretty plunder...
I just heard that "Suzanne" on Designing Women put herself in a psychiatric hospital because she has problems with, among other things, HOARDING!!  I immediately thought of my stacks and stacks of old sheets, pillowcases, fabrics, etc. that are sitting around everywhere, even some still in their sacks from the thrift store!  Should I be worried??  (Not to make light of her condition, you understand), but I'm thinking I could probably share a room with her.

But then, I'll bet I'd have lots of company, huh?  It is some kind of sickness, I'm sure...

Tuesday 5 February 2008

Experimental Pictures


Just checking out my two cameras, and the difference between day and night pics.  Hmmm... I think this is a wreath that needs to be put in storage, but that hasn't always been easy.  I made it about 3 or 4 years ago, and each year it has gotten seriously messed up.  The first year I hung it on the front porch.  It was so beautiful from the street, but one night the temperature went plummeting into the single digits, and I could hear the ornaments dropping off, one by one, and crashing to the porch...CRASH...tinkle, tinkle, tinkle...  The next year I replaced all the missing ornaments and somehow, after Christmas it got stashed in the basement/cellar, where it got squashed, stepped on, etc.  (WHAT is that kid doing down there??)  The next year my son stuffed it in the never-ending attic.  Not so bad, until I brought it down and dropped a hammer on it....CRASH... tinkle, tinkle, tinkle...(don't ask).  So I fixed it AGAIN, and I'm sick of it, so now it will go some place safe as soon as I figure out where that is.  




Until that time, it still hangs in our bay window, pretending it's Christmas.  It must weigh 50 pounds by now, with all the glue and repairs.  It's at least 36" across.  So pretty, so impractical.
I'm calling it a day.  I'll figure it all out tomorrow.  Or next week...

SNOW, Snow, Snow


We're covered in white again.  I-90 freeway has been closed for days between here and Seattle, opening only briefly now & then.  I think it's lovely, but I know it's bad for the truckers and travelers.

I think we've got the bugs worked out on the Kodak slideshow, so I hope you enjoy it.  These are all things that I actually made  two or three years ago under the name of "Sugarplums."  I loved that name, but it was so Christmas-y (I started it at Christmas time, making lots of winter scenes, etc.)  






These boys almost escaped my camera, but I got them on the run.  My son, the photographer, just shakes his head...
Hope your week brings great things and much productivity!  Cheryl

Monday 4 February 2008

P.S.

Oh, and I called these BEFORE photos?  I'm a liar.  These are ALWAYS photos.  :)

Sunday 3 February 2008

My New Camera


I am so thrilled with my new camera, that I've been snapping pics of everything!  Including the REAL pictures of my studio/sewing room!  This is an honest, though horrendous, look at some of the views of my workspace.  

These fabrics were neatly folded at one time...

My collection of ric-rac is a lovely jumble!
Flowers on the floor...isn't that where everybody keeps them?
Notice the sign on the end of the bookcase?  Look closely.  It's from my beloved sister, Suzan...
Nice....  I had more to show you but enough is enough!  Come on, people,  I dare you to show us your stuff in the BEFORE photos....

By the way...  CLICK on my link to the Kodak slideshow and see some of the stuff I've made in the past.  Enjoy! 

Friday 1 February 2008

Happy Friday!!


Biscuit says Happy Friday and February 1st to all my creative peeps!  This pic must have been taken in the summertime, because every winter his nose turns pink (kinda gross, but don't tell him I said that).  This is a quick little post, because I love this picture, but I don't really have much else for you right now.

I found a slide show of some of the things I've made over the last couple of years, put together by my computer-savvy husband, so I'm going to grab him and make him figure out how to put it on my blog.  It's mostly spring stuff, papier mache, etc.  but the pics are a lot better than what I've been posting (more light, less blur) so I thought you might like to see it!  Tune in this weekend.  Hopefully I'll have it up and running.


(That's my kitchen floor that I painted on hands and knees two years ago.  The wood was in sad, sad shape, but I wanted to keep it).