Turquoise Love

Doesn't the word 'turquoise' just thrill you? A Mid Century Antique myself, I can appreciate the word and the color. It hearkens me back to my childhood and images of my neighbors copper gelatin molds, gleaming on the ocean blue of their kitchen walls.  The preferred color at the time was either the turquoise, (sometimes pronounced tur QUAZ by the more dramatic) or pink with gray accents.  I do remember this. So when the current infatuation with all things Mid Century began, I was there.  I believe it probably is some unconscious effort on my part to take a piece of childhood and reconstruct it for good.  To take the essence of the 50's and 60's, recapture it, and bend it to make better memories than perhaps I was endowed with.

Whatever.

    Truth is, I love the color.  Even in 1992 when I bought this dandy Branchell Melamine vegetable bowl (which is  handily holding fresh black raspberries from Gardening Church Friend's abundant fields), at an Estate Sale for a quarter, I knew it's time would soon be coming back. Even though the trend at the time was the Victorian Look Revisited, I knew that the sweet little bowl would just have to start something in my collection.  Ever since that day, bits of kitchen turquoise has been happily appearing.  And thus shall it ever be, that when the time came to replace my elder counter tops, my full commitment to the Beloved Color waved it's flag.  In keeping with my mid century love affair/psychiatric upheaval with the color, the Turquoise Boomerang pattern of long ago shall be my cooking companion  till I am called elsewhere on this sod or the next. So I am busily preparing for the day when The Big Turquoise Commitment arrives.  This would involve a fresh coat of paint to my 70's all maple cabinets.  I know, I know.  My realtor of long ago, who just so happened to be the man that remodeled the kitchen in the 70's, was quite protective of the quality of the all wood construction.  He warned me rather sternly, 'Now don't you go paint those cabinets; those are solid maple!'.  To wit, I nodded in agreement, thinking that maybe a nod would be less of a lie than a verbal acknowledgement.  The smallish kitchen was a little too closed in  to handle all the darkness of the wood's color.  Before the year was out, the first coat of paint had appeared and I prayed that the gentleman would never visit.  I knew the possibility of replacing these gems was slim to none, so I have adapted in the way that one does when one is on a budget: Paint.  In the first redo 10 years ago, I did replace the knobs with the shiny brassy thingys that were ever so popular then.  Twenty seven of them.  Time has passed and the knobs that appeal to me now are way too far out of my Kitchen Update Budget, so again, Paint.  I've spray painted all the knobs my Psychiatric Treatment Turquoise. And the brassy grids of the lighted display cabinet.  And to balance it with the Turquoise, orange , yellow scheme, I've outlined the Former Maple Cabinets with a jaunty yellow stripe. Please do not tell my elderly realtor, if he's still alive.  I think he would ground me.  I had just enough paint left over to cast a dubious eye to my phone stand, that before Saturday,  had managed to escape any paint since the 60's.  It's durable and safe finish has stood guard over my phone and all the area's books for quite awhile now and he just looked a bit sad in all the 50's hoopla and jazziness, so it got sprayed as well.  It is very happy.

You must stay tuned as more of the Tur QUAZZIE goodness spreads throughout my kitchen.  Pardon me while I go and visit my therapist.......

The Art Gallery in My Home

When my children where small, I utilized the plastic white tile that covered my kitchen as the backdrop for their artwork. Every square inch of space was covered in their drawings, paintings and crafts. Children visiting knew that they would get posted after creating something that was singularly theirs.
I enjoyed having a place to encourage burgeoning artist in their craft. Some children that would sweep through our halls had never been introduced to the joys of tempura paints and the mystery of color mixing. Some of them would even check by later to see if their artwork was still hanging in Mrs. Cory's kitchen.
Seeing the benefit of this kind of showcasing, I became fearless in utilizing my home as a display venue to all kinds of artwork.
Even my own nutty attempt.
Back in the 70's when a certain normal (read: boring) decorating mode, required lots of Mediterranean furniture, plastic shelving units and avocado shag carpeting, my heart raged against it. In our first apartment, the walls were normal off white and very tall. The white expanse was pretty cold and clinical to me and I sought an inexpensive way to counter that: I bought yards and yards of colored burlap (.79 a yard then AND I have a fabric store employee discount! :D) I placed the yardage at stripes on two walls of our living room. Warmed it up immediately. Elders of that time would look quizzically and critically at such an avant garde approach. My peers thought it daring but not for them.
And still I'm at it.
Drawing on my walls at will.
One day, Baby Girl came home to find a tree painted behind the toilet in our downstairs bathroom. Her response: 'Mom! What the heck?? You're drawing all over!:

So today on the first installment of Art in My Home, we will gaze and laugh and point and stare at Deb's Inexpensive and Expressive Attempts at Art and Decor.
Enjoy!


Cheap dollar general clock.
This will not do!
Expand and recreate! Make a sun in the 'garden' bathroom!

Mirrors can be expensive and when there is one that is perfectly good, how do you make it work? Make your own frame by painting one around it!
Use paper napkins and decoupage around the mirror and add your own 'gild' around the edge....It works! (I also turned the lights upside down to update the sconces that were already in the house then added lamp shades....)

Paint your door red! Go ahead! Whattya got to lose? It's just paint! (my motto) Primer was made for people like me! And if your room needs warming up, over the very warm red entrance, a bit of flourish always adds interest...

And if it looks swell over the door, it should look good over the window on the stairway that has one of Baby Girl's Hubby's cottage window that he sold me years ago....

I have neither the talent or the expertise to make stained glass.
But I love it.
So I collect pieces of glass that I find and use acrylic clear glue to place these pieces on my window. Same affect. The setting sun adds to the craziness of this little bit of whimsy.
(Okay. so no primer will cover this little spur of the moment 'artwork' but isn't it fun? Plain windows can be so, so so....plain.....:D

And lest I ever forget my days of Curator of All Children's Artwork, I always try to keep a fresh supply of little peoples artwork nearby.
This little sweetie is my friend Will's first attempt. Will will be one year old soon.
Keep on drawing, Will!
Come to my house and paint!
Even on my walls!
No one will notice!!!


Tomorrow: Original Art: Yes, You Can Afford It!

Day One of Giveaway Week!

Thank all of you that left comments yesterday!
The cogs are turning and the Giveaway Bag is brewing in my mind....

But firstly, I had some other businessy things to take care of before I could treat my mind and hands to the GB!

Below, is a tidy little bag I made for an eleven year old friend.
She is fond of purples and blues and is on the cusp of junior high hood, so I dare not go too sweet, yet not too grownup either.
Found this material on the discount rack and it really screamed for my little friend.
I thought that a bracelet that Baby Girl received, way back in the junior high days, would make a really nice embellishment/weight...And will probably make enough noise and distraction that her fifth grade teacher may have issues with me!
Like the little bag alot.

I've been painting my guest room.
Thanksgiving Company is coming and a bit of sprucing is always in order.
Even if company is my own progeny. Funny how one day your children are home and doing chores, then one day, they are guests; guests that I clean like mad for and cook like the Queen Mother has scheduled a visit. Interesting, huh?
So.
Painting a room sounds so....practical.
I have to make it more interesting by challenging myself to redecorating a bit, but redecorating completely on the cheap (read: no cost). This little old table has wondered around my house and cottage for nearly ten years. Never been updated, just providing a utilitarian need wherever..
Thanks to my blogger friends especially DottieAngel (click on her link on my blog list) I look at my old furniture with an eye to usefulness and fun via paint.
Don't you think Little Table looks happy in this shade of blue? Almost matching the blue in the quilt but with no intention of doing that? LOVE it when that happens!
Anyway.
More pics of the redo as it progressess...Look forward to a discarded, curbside crib becoming a quilt rack.....!!


And now here my friends, is what you've been waiting for!
A peek at the beginning of the Giveaway Bag!
Nice autumn colors with the rich copper embellishments that just make the colors pop!
Tomorrow, we will begin to cut and plan the course of action of this grand prize bag!!

Tell your friends and get them in on the fun!!

Friendship Painting

I painted Crazy Dee's living room today. Well, first coat. Daylight will have to be in place before the second coat goes on. We are redecorating 'on a dime' by painting, making a window larger by putting up a bigger rod, applying a chair rail, doing some stenciling...etc etc....Fun stuff....

I love my friend so painting for 6 hours was nothing.

CD celebrates my birthday for the whole month.
She has a red and yellow sign for my front yard, reminding passers by that they should greet me all month in celebration of my special day (month).
It is a month long hoot.
Last year, I had a gift every other day of my birthday month.
It was amazing.
We can be totally honest and lovingly joking with each other. We pray for each other and enjoy our bible study together.

I will sew to my fingers bleed for her.
And sometimes they do.

She is a rare and precious friend....
Off to clean my brushes.....

Painting Swan Song

I believe I am done with outdoor house painting.
I'm finishing up painting the trim around my main level windows and around the porch.
These events call for ladders and therein lies the rub.
I have crooked flower beds that butt up to the house.
Very hard for ladders to be level. Or safe.
I am pretty crooked myself lately, having those 'spells' that come with women of a certain age.
So combined, I am an accident waiting to happen every time I haul my huge ladder (not the one pictured!) around the various needy, unlevel locations around my house.
As I wiped my brush for the last time today, I proclaimed to myself, Finished.
No more climbing tall ladders. Especially outside on uneven ground.
An era over.
I've painted a lot of houses, and trim and gutters, so it will seem weird to not automatically assume that I will do it when the need arises, but thus may it ever be.....

And about this ladder. It no longer has it's little shelf that helps keep the ladder open. Very wobbly and very painted on. Can't remember where it came from only that it should have been recycled a LONG time ago.
Can't seem to part with it though.
I remember all the rooms that it helped paint by the memory of all the paint samples covering it.
Kinda like a family history in paint.

It will go back into the garage till the next INDOOR painting project, which knowing me, should probably begin in about a month........

Paint in my veins.......

Its the small things

This year, my home turns 90 years old. In respect to it's age, my husband and I decided to treat it to a manner deserving by sprucing things up a bit. Starting at the top, a new roof was in order. Who knows when the last time it's high peak had been walked upon? New gutters and downspouts added a ribbon like effect to the house package. And now it's my turn; I get to paint the trim around the first floor windows! (Obviously, I'm letting those with younger years and really high ladders do the second story!)



So yesterday, I'm fussing around the fireplace windows. As I'm balancing myself on the ladder by holding onto the limestone sill, I start to groom the chimney. I begin meticulously picking ivy roots from between the grout and pull old vines from around the brick. From my elevated view, I remember how many times my husband and I had driven around looking for houses with this tell tale sign of a fireplace. We would scout the older areas and like a odd game of I Spy, we would shout out our find of a house that had a brick chimney attached to one side of the house, with the customary set of windows on either side. This was our sign of home. Our goal, our longing, our dream, to have the kind of home that would draw our family and friends together around the peaceful setting of a wood burning fireplace.



Ten years ago next week, we moved into our dream home. The home that I literally would day dream about when I wanted to go to a peaceful place. The entry, revealing a generous living room, showcased by a far wall with fireplace and bookshelves flanking both sides and the obligatory windows above both. The staircase would be on the other end of the room, allowing it to be an auxiliary focal point. These two specific things were actually in my day dream that I had for many years. Imagine my surprise when I walked into this home the first time to see it in person and for sale!



So I meticulously continued to clean the chimney bricks, scrape the beloved windows and apply it's first coat of primer. At one point, I believe I even patted the decorative brick around the base of the chimney in some kind of weird affirmation of affection.



It is important to add, that my husband and I should never have been able to afford this house. We have been a one income family since our first pregnancy in the 70's. My husband did not graduate from college, even though the job he now has, requires it. I barely graduated from high school. Our third child was the first in my family to graduate from college and that was just last year. We have been your typical middle class family all our married life. And yet, we are living in the exact house that we would have parked our car on the street to look at many, many years ago. We would have discussed our best guess at how the house looked inside but never, never would have had the gumption to call a realtor over. But yet our dreams persisted and years later this factory rat and his unemployable wife entered the doors of long sought after dream.



Sigh.

God is good.