INSPIRED by NATURE

Speaking of spring, I thought you might enjoy seeing some furniture I painted.

The vintage french provencial set belongs to my sisters friend and neighbor Christie. After visiting with her and touring her beautiful home I discovered that Christie, an advid gardener, would rather be outdoors than in. So I thought she might enjoy us bringing a little nature indoors. First of all, the headboard, chest and nightstand, were stripped and painted White.

I painted the background areas with Benjamin Moore's alkld Fresh Start a wonderful 'super adhesive' primer, followed later with a pale latte color.

I sketched the butterflies, bird, nest and dragonflies directly onto the furniture with pencil.

Then I painted each design with bottled acrylic paints, using a neutral pallette.

The final step was to brush on and wipe off Minwax Stain and Seal.

NEST!

Spring is here! The grass is green, the birds are singing and everything is growing! It's a beautiful day on the mesquite plains of Texas and after being out of town all week ( painting for a 'fabulous' designer...details in a later post) it is especially beautiful!!!

Having an adventure away from home can be fun & rewarding but Dorothy was right "there's no place like home!"

I love home. Don't you? Just the thought of it makes my nose tingle and eyes water. It all starts in the nest....that cozy little place where life begins. Where your mama keeps you warm and fed and clean, and your daddy watches, protects and teaches you to fly. I cherish the memories I have of home. I am grateful, beyond words, for the love that has been lavished upon me. For love makes all the difference.

We all know life can be hard on our hearts, very hard...but healing and forgiveness are available through Jesus Christ. You simply, get to choose.

So choose your mate with care. Build your nest on truth and fill it generously with love. Nuture your little ones unselfishly. Teach wisdom and grace . Then someday when they grow up they will do the same....love begets love.

My first little grand-chick in a nest of ticking pillows. Cheep, cheep! How sweet. See more at www.bethandcompany.blogspot.com/ HAPPY SPRING!!!

Inspiration

Over the past few weeks, I've snapping pictures around our house. Today I thought I'd share them with you. I hope something here will spark your creativity and send you off into an artistic frendzy!
I love the shades of turqouise found in these old marbles.

Botanical prints, and moss and quail eggs under a large glass cloche'. Eight prints are now hanging on the dining room wall.Vintage linen, needlework and trims. Won't these be fun on something?

A wonderful old buffet with large glass knobs. When I bought it a few months ago it was blue and red. I had planned to remove the paint, veneer on sides and top, then apply beeswax over the pine wood. I love scrubbed pine! However, two quick coats of white latex, sanded edges and Minwax stain and seal (brushed on and wiped off fast) seemed like a better option at this time. Which do you prefer.....painted or stained?
Look at these pretties! Vintage hem tape, bird postcards, old linen needlework and egg'shaped soaps. Below, paper roses made out of old patterns. If you'd like to know how to make these I can post the info.....

Picassette (trash art) framed mirror).

Fun colors!

I found this chippy chandelier at The Backdoor, in Ruidosa, NM. Very nice. I like the way the crystals are hung with wire.

Great harlequin floor pattern. The scale was 9' x 3'. Very cool!

Have a great day!

Color! It makes all the difference.

Cassi and Aaron, moved here less than a year ago from Wheeler, Tx. to join our high school coaching staff (which according to my Coach, is the best in the state, bar none!) Wow! What a couple! Aaron coaches the middle linebackers and does a great job. He, like all of our coaches is committed, intense and is genuinely concerned about the young men he influences. Cassi, a calm mother of two 'darlin' kids and fills the all important position of athletic secretary. She is sincerely helpful......and wears 'many hats' throughout each day. She looks good in all of them!

They bought the cutest 1930's cottage, fully remolded with all the bells and whistles. Lately,with spring in the air, Cassi has made a few changes to the exterior of their home. A little landscaping, an iron flower box and blooming pots at the front door can really make a difference. I had the pleasure of helping Cassi several afternoons. We cleaned out existing flowerbeds, made two new ones using vintage bricks and transplanted liriope. At the end of each work day we stood at the curb, delighted and amazed.



Last week, we primed( B. Moore's alklyd-base Fresh Start), painted and stained the front door and made another important discovery...the powerful impact of 'right' colors. The door which had been' brick red' was given 2 coats of Benjamin Moore's Forest Valley and several hours later Minwax Stain and Seal, Dark Walnut, quickly brushed on & wiped off. The effect was lovely. The door color tied everything together....... roof, trim, porch, landscape etc. Quite charming!




After the fact, Cassi and Aaron were watching HGTV's Curb Appeal, where they commented that the single most dramatic change to your homes exterior can be achieved by changing the color of the front door. What do you think?

There is no place like home!

Huddle Up Girls!

Two weeks, a few of the coaches wives (H.U.G's) gathered in my backyard studio for our 1st ever 'Craft Night! I have noticed that one of the many things that women have in common is they like to create? Well, these girls are no different, and they wanted to 'make something'! So we rolled up our sleeves and 'popped' the lids on 6 giant tubs of various chipped and broken vintage dishes and jumped in!


Our project that evening was to cover a wooden heart with pottery shards to create a Mother's Day gift. Each of us thought of a sentiment to express with tiny letter beads.



This one says, 'Even if she weren't my mom I'd go out of my way to be her friend'. (see curly girl's design site for more sweet verbage...she has the cutest cards!)

So with hammer and snips, we broke and glued and talked and laughed! It was alot of fun! As you can see...

*NOTE TO SELF: next time provide snacks!

Here are our hearts at the end of the evening.





We let them dry for a few days and then got back together the next week to fill in the spaces with sanded tile grout. They turned out so cute. Don't you agree? I know our Mothers will like them!
The H.U.G's are already wondering what we'll make next. Do you have any suggestions?

Miracles do happen!

The most amazing thing just happened to me (I can hardly wait to tell you but I can hardly tell 'anything' quickly, so bear with me....)! This morning, I opened up my blog, like I do every morning ............. just to look at it. I know this sounds silly, but I do! The same way I look in the mirror each morning to see if I still look like me and the way I've started checking on the flower seeds I planted a few days ago (there were 6 tiny sprouts this morning, only 3 yesterday)

....... ANYWAY as you can imagine, when I just now checked on my 'new-born' blog like I do every morning, a HUGE SURPRISE was waiting for me!!! I don't know what to think! I don't know how to explain it, but my blog has been healed!!!

That's right! The awkward 8" space between the title and 1st picture were gone. Completely gone! And not only that, the duplicate photos, that I didn't know how to delete, were gone too! There is the remaining issue at the bottom of the entry, with one photo laying on it's side, but 'Hey! Whose perfect!" I suppose some of you might try to convince me that this is the obvious work of the Blogspot Fairy and that she carefully watches over every blog to make certain that everything looks it's best! Others might say my poor little blog was so terribly embarrassed, by all the other lovely blogs surrounding it, that it gathered up every ounce of strength and pulled itself together. But I however, am convinced that my Heavenly Father, who is capable of any and all things, who continuously reveals His love, in 'eye popping', and 'breath catching' ways, did this for me, ....just because He can. I love you back, LORD!

One last possibility comes to my mind!...... Perhaps my sweet daughter, my first-born, who is thoughtful beyond measure, saw 'a need' and in the quiet of the night, thoughtfully helped her momma...like so many times before. I love you too!

Progress.....slow as a herd of turtles!

It's been over 2 months since my last post. Obviously I'm off to a slow start. Now don't get the wrong impression. I'm not being lazy, I have been working on many different projects. All of which fall into the decorative painting category. I finally had the opportunity to spend a weekend in my 'up and coming studio' organizing paints, brushes and lot's of creative supplies. The results were encouraging. My friend Cassi came over and we took pictures and she showed me how to download them. (Thank you, Cassi!) I was feeling optomistic. Twice I attempted to post. I've got the writing part down. Yeah!....but the picture part has been an obstacle! I'm even wondering if blogging is for me....Will it become a' time intensive' distraction that will take me futher away from my dream of painting? I'm not sure at this point so I'm going to push through the uncertainty and the unfamiliar mechanics of posting, downloading pictures, retrieving them etc. This would not be difficult for anyone with basic computer skills but that would 'not be me'. So I'll try it again, but not before asking the God of all creation for divine assitance. (Why I try to do anything without Him, is beyond me!)
....Hi Lord. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like this but I know you care about every detail of our lives, even blogging, so I'm asking you, in the name of Jesus, to enlighten me with your wisdom and guide my' button pushing' fingers, that all I do and say will honor you and be helpful to others. I love you!...and I'm thanking you, in advance. Amen.

Welcome to my art studio! It's a prefect location......just a short walk out my back door, down a cobblestone path (pavers) to our 1937 detached garage. The walls are white, with exposed rafters, four windows and an automatic garage door (great for plein air painting).

So take a look around. Check out the progress.....

It won't be long now.......