Lazy Summer Day...

 Yesterday I told you that I was anxious to do some crafting and decided to start with another decoupaged image for autumn. I actually purchased this image from Etsy and thought I might make a number of them to use as gifts this year. I thought maybe my family would enjoy the softer colors of autumn over my usual black and orange of Halloween. But, even though I finally have this where I want it, I don't think it will make the cut as a gift. I have a pile of canvases left so we'll see what else we can come up with. But, I like it enough that I will find somewhere to use it soon.

As always, I started by using the water technique to rip off the hard, straight edges.

Then, I gave the canvas a coat of "plaster" chalk paint. It doesn't change the color but I feel like a coat of paint helps fill in some of the canvas texture and gives the ModPodge a smoother area for the print to adhere. Of course all the while this is taking place, my little shadow is never far away...this can't be comfy but she was like that pretty much the entire time.

I Mod Podged the print on to the canvas and then came back to hit the edges with the "rust" and black that are on the image. I was done but it definitely wasn't "moving me". And so, Hazel and I left it alone and went on to other adventures.

When I looked at it today, I knew it would drive me crazy...there was just something I didn't like. I used the white background because I thought it would mimic the white of the wood on the sign. But, I guess the contrast just wasn't enough for me. And so, I hit the edges with my antique wax...and it is so much better. The funny thing is I must have hit the nail on the head because when I went to paint certain areas, I realized that they were already a part of the image. Lots of that grunging you see on the print is not done by me. Lol

And so autumn begins...at least in my stash of things to come. HL has had things out for awhile and I swear my blood pressure goes down 50 points just walking through those aisles! I'm not sure where this will find a home but you'll be the first to know. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Me and My Shadow

 My grand dog is back with me for another week or so as, once again, her family is traveling. She is good company and follows me everywhere I go. We have been doing all sorts of fun little projects this week but I'm ready for a break today so, while I have an autumn craft started in the sunroom, I thought we could move on to the dining room's late summer decor. Once again, the citrus colors come into play as well as the Mediterranean feel in this room...it is pretty simple without much explanation.

These are the Mason jar sunflowers that I made a few years ago. They were actually easy to do but so time consuming and tedious. I'm not sure I would ever try them again but I like them because they are different from all of my others. I actually saw another new idea on a blog the other night using paper bags to make sunflowers. Usually I am not one to do decor with paper but these actually look like they might hold up OK so, as soon as I can get to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplies, I'll probably give them a try...and, I'll bring you along for the ride.

That's it for this year's dining room. I'll be back to show you what I'm doing for autumn if I like it. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Playing Hooky

 So, I should be outside finishing up more yard work but I am playing hooky. I was outside in the backyard most of yesterday pulling multitudes of weeds and trimming everything that has been growing like bean stalks since we've been getting a bit of rain and, frankly, I thought I was going to pass out! I drank lots of water and tried to follow the shade but it was so scorching that I could hardly breathe. Thank goodness for my pool. I literally would walk in fully dressed, work some more until I was hot again and back I would go. Not an image I would share but it worked. Lol

I didn't get anywhere near all of it done so the plan was to head out again but I had a genius idea. We are supposed to get some rain earlier than normal today so I thought I would come visit with you, let the rains come and then head out...and, hopefully it will be a bit cooler. 

With that being said, let's head into the kitchen today. I just realized my "happy accident". When you look at this picture you see the "market" sign and the market bag in one glance. Serendipity. Haha

This is where the image that I purchased online and decoupaged onto a canvas ended up.

Since this is the decor where I get to add the citrus colors as well as the sunflowers, I'm always excited to pull out as many olive jars, jugs, pots, urns, etc. that I can squeeze in! I know it is out of style these days but I still love the feel of a Tuscan villa!

So that is pretty much the kitchen for this year. Of course, it is lacking fresh sunflowers but I am hoping I will be able to pick up some when I head out tomorrow.

And on a whole other topic...maybe the third time is the charm? I still wasn't happy with the pillow arrangements in the living room so this is where we are right now and I think we finally have a winner! I like both the cream and dark green pillows on the couch but the two sunflowers pillows were one too many...so...

...the second one came out to the sunroom and since there is always a pillow on this chair, this worked perfectly. Ahhhh. Now I can sleep tonight. Lol

The rain I was waiting on has yet to come. I think I will grab a quick lunch and if it still hasn't rained, I'll bite the bullet and head outside. But, I'll be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.

MIA...But Back Again

I'm finally back. I have had a busy week or so - first with lots of company. My grand daughter was here for another fun visit along with Hazel who then just stayed on while her family was off on another trip yet again. And then my brother and sister-in-law came down for a few days as we prepared for the 4th of July. We had a family get-together at daughter #3's house and had such a nice day with as many of the gang as could gather. My plan had been to take lots of pictures but that kind of fizzled after I got just this one. There was too much fun happening to interrupt for photos.

Once everyone left...and the house was much too quiet...I started taking down my 4th decor. As large a project as bringing all of that in is, somehow I forget it will be as large a project taking it out. Red, white and blue really only fit in my decor for the 4th so pretty much everything has to be swapped out. I have almost every room done and most of the things put up so I thought I would take a break and let you start in the living room. We are skipping the porch for now because even though it is decorated, I haven't had a chance to find any new "sunflower-ish" flowers yet and the urns are still full of red, white and blue. Hopefully I'll get out tomorrow and we'll see what I find.

Not sure if you can tell or not, but the small copper mercury glass bottle may look a little different this year than it has in the past. I guess a lot of what I have that I call mercury glass is just a painted version of a more complicated glass process - hence the fact that I have been able to purchase them so readily. None of that matters to me except that either because they are stored in the garage where there is no climate control or just because they are aging, every time I get a new decor out, some of the glass paint peels off of the pieces. From the patch job on this one, I now remember that I touched it up with glass paint that I had mixed last year. I don't have any of that left and I didn't want to get rid of this piece so I just repainted it with some copper acrylic paint that I had. I'm thinking that now that it has cured a bit, I will hit it with a coat of clear finish. When looking at this picture I realize that it no longer looks like "mercury" but I think it's pretty and will work a bit longer.

I'm not sure those dark green pillows will be staying on the chairs. My plan had been to use them on the couch where the color could play off of the dark green leaves on the sunflower pillows. But, when I tried that, there were just too many pillows and so I move them here. For some reason, they look too "heavy" to me and seem to be making the room tilt in that direction. Yep, the more I think about it, the more I dislike them. Going to change them right now! 

I think I like it better now but the jury may still be out...maybe I just need to put the cream colored pillows away. I definitely like the green pillows on the couch because there are a lot of other greens around that help ground them.

Here is where the decoupaged picture ended up.

It's kind of hard to see the glass coffee table in this picture but the large copper bowl is full of citrus fruit. And, of course, on top of it I had to put my shabby book stack. I like to use those colors mixed with the sunflowers for the colors of summer and then as we move into the kitchen and dining room I can bring in a lot of my Mediterranean things. I don't remember where I got them but I happened upon the citrus colored candles a few years ago and they are perfect for this decor.

So, that is the living room so far. There are usually some changes as we go so we shall see. It's nice to be back...see you soon. Stay safe and stay tuned.