What a Difference a Day Makes

Wow, it's been a while since I posted anything.  It's been an insanely busy summer and I have to admit I've been too tired to do anything creative lately.  Hopefully I'll get inspired soon and can blog about what newest thing I'm making.  I did make a skirt for my daughter to wear to a wedding next weekend and boy did it make me miss my studio.  I haven't had to cut out a pattern on the dining room table for many, many years and I'd forgotten how hard it is on the back.  I'm getting antsy to have my studio back!

 Thankfully, DH has been making very steady progress.  Yesterday morning, it looked like this...

by late afternoon, I had a real subfloor that I could walk on...

Today I got walls...

All I can say is whoo hoo!!!!!!!

I was busy today too.  Since we're having a big party here in a week, I figured it was about time I tackled painting the "soon to be" guest bedroom.  When we first moved in 2 years ago, we painted it bright, bright lime green for one of my sons and, although I really love the color, it is a little too intense for a guest room so I'm having to repaint.  I've painted one coat in the closet so far and am headed up to start priming the walls now that the kids have taken everything out of the room.  

 I just hope I can find my painting mojo again--I usually like painting but I'm pretty much hating the whole process today. The best I can say is I'll be glad when it's done.  :)

What Do You Get When You Combine Goodwill Silverware, a DSLR, a Lightbox, and Photoshop? Magic...

I was looking at a home dec magazine the other day and fell in love with some black and white photos of silverware and I thought... hmmm... I have a light box now, I should see if I can take some shots like that.  So this afternoon, I got my light box and clamp lights out of the garage and set everything up on the dining room table and started clicking away. 

I had to do some tweaking in Photoshop to get the really high key look I wanted--I'm not sure I could do it all in camera or not.  I'll have to do some more reading and experimenting to see if I can get the look a little closer in camera than what I managed today.   I still have so much to learn...
  

 I can't belive how good this stuff looks in the photos compared to real life.  Ah the magic of product photography.  :)

Gotta say that shooting these photos was a lot of fun.  I can't wait to find some more cool silverware and utensils at the thrift store.  I might even print some of these and frame them.  :)

Have I Ever Said I Love Blue?

Azure, cerulean, cobalt, peacock, turquoise, periwinkle, navy, teal, midnight...I love them all.  So, I've been trying to figure out how to add some more blue to the kitchen and to the living room.  I thought about a valance for over the kitchen window but I really don't like valances so I had to think of something else.  Ideally, I wanted to find some cool metal grates or registers that I could paint blue and hang up but I didn't have any luck finding any today when I went to Goodwill and the local junktique store.  But, I did score at Joann's.  I found these cheap coasters and buttons and put them together and voila...some new color for the kitchen.  

I think it looks pretty good although ideally, I'd still like to find some cool metal grates or something more industrial that I can paint blue and hang up.

Here are close ups of the coasters.

I also picked up some dye at Joann's and dyed my living room and dining room curtains.  I figured that I didn't have much to lose since they were originally cheap Walmart sheets that I bought when we first moved in.  The color is about the same as the edge of the coasters or maybe a shade lighter.  I don't hate them, but I don't love them either.  I'll give it a day or two (and some daylight) and then I can decide.

Maybe it will give me the little shove I need to go out and find some curtains/curtain fabric that I love, although the search for curtains (and bedding, and towels, and lots of other stuff) usually ends up being very frustrating since the colors I like are brighter than what the majority of people like...