Autumn Bliss

Just so pretty, I had to share. There is a lesser known canyon in the south/west corner of our valley that is absolutely breathtaking right now. Every fall we take a Sunday morning drive up this little canyon to admire the beautiful fall foliage. The leaves may not be changing down where we live, but autumn has arrived in full splendor up in the mountains. The top picture is from the same week last year, and the bottom two are from yesterday. Right now there is still a lot of green, so I think it will be beautiful for a few more weeks. If you know which canyon I'm talking about and are tempted to check it out, take a picnic - just over the top and down a little on the other side, there are some picnic areas. Beautiful!!

Pictures as Promised

We've been having problems with our IP & I have to say, one of the pros to being without the internet is I have been able to finish a few projects. The craft room is finally put together, or at least well enough to take a few pictures and share.

Here is the BEFORE, when it was a rarely used playroom (a dead zone)...
And here it is now...

Three projects I finished this week:

Words to live by...

Somewhere to display a few masterpieces...

A skirt to hide the inevitable clutter...

A project still on my to-do-list: a window valance out of this vintage pillowcase.

We use it all the time,which is why it took so long to take pictures - I had to clear the table off. I love finding my children sitting at the desk coloring pictures. The best part is that this transformation was very affordable. Most of the furniture pieces were ugly freebies we revamped with funky colored paint. I have a few more ideas in mind, but for now it's done!

Two Roads Diverged...

I have been in a bit of a quandary of late. I like blogging about my hobbies, and I like blogging about my family, but it hasn’t been working out for me to do both simultaneously in a public forum. About a month ago, I decided to create a private family blog/scrapbook – One that I can fill up with all the family photos & stories I want, and not wonder about who is looking at it or care if it is lacking real entertainment value. Not as convenient, but by doing so, the social recluse in me will feel a little bit more comfortable. I really am more of a “hideaway” sort of person than a public one. So, if you are visiting this blog to catch up with our family, and wondering why I keep posting about projects and other impersonal things, please send me an e-mail.

I'll keep posting on this blog from time to time, just not ALL the time. Writing posts for blogs, reading other people’s blogs, thinking about what to blog, even talking about blogs, is kind of addictive. Entertaining as it may be, it has been consuming too much of my life, and distracting from that which is more important. One of my biggest fears is time passing too quickly. I don't want to look back and regret the way I spent my time when my children were young. I want to be making memories with them and cherishing every second we have together. Guaranteed, if I am sitting at my computer, there is probably something else I could or should be doing that would be more beneficial for my family, and for myself. I guess what I am trying to say is, I am cutting back. Like any addiction, it will be hard. I'll probably have cravings and experience withdrawal, and always be wondering what exciting things are happening out in the blogosphere. But I can do it... Need to do it.

Weekend Wall Art

Part of my Labor Day weekend was spent laboring on a little project. Actually this one was pretty simple - no intensive labor required. One of my favorite fabric designers is Heather Bailey. In fact, some of her fabric has been the inspiration for our craft room. Recently I discovered a few of her fabric designs are also being printed on scrapbook paper and available at her online store. I bought the Freshcut paper pack, and it's stunning! Such pretty paper, just like her fabric. So pretty, I thought up a little project that would allow me to admire the lovely designs all the time.
I had a rather homely collection of picture frames from Dollar Tree…some new, some I’ve been hanging on to for a while, and all affordable (can’t beat $1.00). I spray painted all of the frames that weren’t already a shade of green to begin with, Apple Green (same color as the dresser posted below).

I then cut out the paper, as well as a few favorite fabrics to fit the frames. I left the glass out of the frames so glare wouldn't get in the way.
After playing around with the arrangement on the floor for a while, this is how it turned out...


It's kind of colorful - sure made that empty wall come alive! Not exactly a look I would use in the living room, but for the craft room, where paper & fabric are the main attraction, it works. The best part is I can keep on adding to the collection whenever I am inspired by something new. I also finally finished the chairs, thanks to our fun neighbors who were kind enough to share their staple gun. The fabric I ended up choosing for them is part of my little wall collage. I'll share pics when I get around to cleaning up the debris.

Breaking The Rules

The other day I was folding laundry and watching HGTV. Real exciting, I know. The show was the 25 Biggest Landscaping Mistakes. Most of what they were saying made sense to me. However, for some reason Lucky # 13 really stood out in my mind: Scattered Color. Here is a glimpse of one of our many flower beds…

The voice on the television said, “You don’t want your yard to look like a box of crayons exploded." My first thought was OOOPS. Then 2 seconds later I came to my senses and thought to myself, who are these people? What’s wrong with a little bit (or a lot of) color? My whole world looks like a box of crayons exploded all over it. Probably because our 6 year old is an artist in training, and she is very generous when it comes to sharing her masterpieces. To me, they are the most beautiful sights in the world, even when they are scattered all over the house.
Today my 3 year old and I hit the dollar store, another favorite for the little people at our house. This time I found a treasure for me – a cute little turquoise vase. As soon as we got home he wanted to go pick some flowers. At our house we have such an abundance of flora, there aren’t any rules against picking flowers. We went outside and picked an armful and then proceded to fill the vase up with the colorful little renegades. It was looking kind of crowded, but he didn’t want to leave any of them out saying, “I want the whole rainbow." Wow. You bet, you sweet little boy! I could never deny him the whole rainbow, even a tasteless scattered one. Being happy is what it's all about, and he deserves it. Don’t we all?