Gorgeous day

What a gorgeous day it has been today.  We sure have waited long enough for the weather to warm up and hopefully Spring/Summer is now here to stay.  We have suffered a long, dismal winter and most people were getting down in the dumps, even those who enjoyed the outdoors and snow.

Here are a few things I have been working on...

This is a small, older shelf unit, nothing special about it so just spruced it up with a coat of paint....

Before

During

And After

I painted another table in the same colour but this one I added hand-painted blackbirds to it....

From this

To this

To this..

An old sewing machine table (of course I forgot the before picture)...

Looks great...

And lastly...

Two old doll cradles I had in my Boutique for quite a while and they weren't going anywhere so I decided to paint them up and shabby chic them.  Hopefully they will now sell.  Dolls included of course!!

From these

To these

Which ended up looking like this....

Throw in a couple more babies just for fun....

Oh, and I knitted these two scarves.  The yarn was the softest I have ever knitted with.  I can't remember the name of it but it came in skeins and was as soft as bunny fur.

Well, that's just about it for now.  I'll leave you, as usual, with a photo of my sweeties, my grandkids....

Katherine

And Rhys

Not a very good selection - will have to take some close-ups when I go to visit, which I hope will be very soon.

Well friends, have a wonderful week.  Thanks for sharing your blogs with me.  I might not always comment but I sure do enjoy reading and getting ideas.

Hugs, 

Warmer weather is coming, honest!!

Still patiently waiting for the weather to warm up.  Yesterday was not bad at all, sunny and bright, but today it went back to being chilly and dreary.  Good job I can keep myself busy at home.

So, what have I been doing?

I found a rather dirty old footstool and dragged it home and when I went to work on it, ripping off the old material, this is what I found underneath.  Can you imagine how excited I was.  It must be pretty old but I am no expert so when I put it in my Boutique I will ask a reasonable price for it but I think it will be a win/win situation for all.  This is what it looked like (with small legs) when I got it....

and this is what I found underneath that mess.....

Lucky the person who buys this - I think it is a treasure!!

Then I worked on an old cabinet - a dear friend of mine had given it to me and it needed quite a bit of TLC but after going out and buying new hinges and searching for a piece of board to fix the back and painting it, but at the same time keeping the original cracked and peeled paint, I ended up with this beauty.....

If I weren't trying to downsize, I would be holding on to this beauty also.  It will be in my Boutique tomorrow also and I'm hoping that someone will snap it up.  The price will be right.

How about this lovely Inspirational piece I just did.  Wouldn't this look lovely above your bed?

Another piece I finally finished.  I had worked on it a couple of years ago and was using it in my living room but then decided to tidy it up and sell it.  It is so cute in its creaminess with a lovely French decal on top.  I might bring this one back home if it doesn't sell...

Oh yes, and another Inspirational piece I did, this one with a real shabby chic look.  I painted and shabbied the frame and then covered inner board with pale green burlap and then painted letters and glued them on....

It's only when I write my blog that I realize just how busy I have been and not to blow my own trumpet, but I am truly amazed at just how much I can accomplish considering how much pain and ill-health I have.  I am in constant pain with my back and symptoms from Lupus and Fibromyalgia and Heart Disease, and COPD, and, Osteoarthritis, shall I go on?  Better not, because I try not to give place to any of this but sometimes it really is too hard to ignore, so I work through the pain and I always come out ahead.  I'm not the type to indulge in a pity party for too long, except the time when my second hubby died and I had to face all the problems that this marriage and his illness had brought me, and I fell flat on my face, but I managed with some great counselling to pick myself up.

What about this lovely shabby chalkboard?  You like?  You can see that I mainly like doing shabby stuff, LOL

Then there is this lovely little shelf unit.  I keep forgetting to take before pictures but just imagine it a basic typical brown - as you can see, another shabby chic item...

My next project is going to be a cute old desk and chair I bought from a neighbour who was moving out of this apartment building into a retirement home.  This sweet lady, who is in her 80's, said her hubby made this for her many years ago.  Notice the delightfully scalloped edges.  I will also put new hardware on the drawers.  It wasn't cheap but then I wasn't out to take advantage of her, so I will probably have it up for sale in my Boutique when I have it finished for about $20 more than I paid for it and as you can see, it's going to take a lot of work upholstering the chair and chalk painting and waxing both pieces....

Well, that's it for now.  Shall finish up with my usual photos of the two little ones who are so very close to my heart, my grandkids...

Katherine is going to be 2 in March, what a sweetie...

Rhys is going to be 5 in June, what a little imp, but so adorable......

Take care my friends - see you in Blogland.

Oh, and not to boast but the Olympic winners of the Male Curling are from my hometown, Sault Ste. Marie, Yea!!!!

Hugs, 

Dear Friend remembered, and more!!

Only a few months ago, my ex-colleagues and I lost a very good friend and co-worker to cancer.  She had struggled with this "devil" for over twenty years, always silently fighting and putting on a very brave face.  She had the most wonderful sense of humour and would have us in stitches, sometimes at the most inappropriate times, especially when the head honcho was close by and would almost catch us carrying on like silly teenagers.  Ah, those were the days.  I hope that she is now resting in the arms of her Creator and with those she loved.  The reason why I am mentioning her is because many years ago she gave me a beautiful angel as part of a Christmas present exchange, and every year since I have brought it out of its place of honour in my curio cabinet to top my tree.  This year, it felt so different as I placed it on top of my little Christmas tree, the memories and emotions came flooding back and I uttered a small prayer for the repose of her soul.  Rest in peace my friend.  Here are a couple of photos of the tree, graced with the angel.

Now on to other things.  As usual, I have been working on this and that and will be putting them in my Boutique in the hopes that someone will take pity on me and my hard work and buy them, LOL   I nearly always forget to take photos before I begin a project and this first one is no exception.  I found this in an almost abandoned shop a few weeks ago and got up the nerve to go inside and ask the owner if he was thinking of selling it.  The sweet young man gave it to me, so I dragged it home on my shopping cart and here it is..... oh, I did buy him an apple juice and muffin the next day from City Meat Market for his break.

Talking about City Meat Market, here is a wooden piece I did and they bought it to go along with a welcome sign that I sold them earlier in the year....

I just love those people, they are the kindest, sweetest people I know and all their produce is top quality.  There is nothing that they won't do to assist you in your shopping needs, even going out of their way to bring in special items for you.  In my case, they keep me stocked up in ice-cream, pralines and cream of course!!!!  Merry Christmas Rosina, John, Lori, Jamie, Christian and their families.

I found a really old, beaten up piano stool at one of my local thrift stores - it really was in a pitiful state, but not too far gone for me to attempt to revive it.  It still has a few more sonatas worth of life in it.  Here is the before picture, followed by the afters........

I even sawed about 1/2 inch off the legs so that I could fit them with little caps as the original feet had been removed.  I looked online for feet but the prices were just too high to justify me buying them as my prices in the Boutique are very reasonable.  Just have to give it a little more "protection" and it will be ready to sell.  Do you like it?  This is one of the things that I would love to hold on to but I can't keep everything I like - my apartment isn't small by any means, but enough is enough, LOL

Okay, the next two items are magazine racks.  I guess they don't have to be used as such.  I thought one of them would be ideal to use as a Library "holder".  Books and DVD's borrowed could be kept here, easy to see and easy to find when due.  Here they are......

From this....

To this.....

And, from this....

To this....

I made a dear friend a set of three cushion covers to go with a table runner that she had bought for her coffee table.  I wish I had taken a photo of a covered cushion to show just how pretty they looked.  This is the cover, freshly ironed.....

I painted two mirrors - they were white but I think they look so much more elegant painted black...

Re-finished a shelf, from this....

To this....

I chopped off the duck.

And my final projects for this month are wooden signs for that delightful man in your life who likes to have his own space.  Here I will show you the work in progress.....

Let's see if I can find a couple of photos of the little darlings (my grandkiddies, Katherine and Rhys) to end this post..............

Thanks to Anna their most loving day care provider for the photos.

If I don't get around to posting again before the New Year, I take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  May Christmas be everything you need it to be and the New Year bring you good health and happiness.

Hugs,