so close

happy first day of spring!

i can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

this painting project - which originally i wasn't planning on doing until next month - has consumed me!

i haven't made time for running because i've either been painting or too sore from painting

but hopefully after this weekend i can get back on it!

bill had done the trim and rolled these walls by the time i got home

i came in and re-rolled them with a second coat and touched up some spots.

all we have left for these 2 rooms is the space above the cabinets which you can see above

which comes around and connects to the space around the fridge and left of the laundry door (i should perhaps get out a springier wreath?)

to the right of the door - DONE! 

and for a moment let's not notice the dishes - we were having dinner in the midst of painting - and also- check out all those water marks!  ugh...flat paint is the devil!

i'm trying to decide on a backsplash

we aren't painting behind the sink or stove since we will be adding a backsplash in a couple of weeks

right now i'm really digging the penny tile


from here

i think it looks interesting - and i really like the depth that's added when a darker grout is added with the white tile



i also think it adds a bit of kitschy appeal

i just need to figure out if i want white, a blue or green, or a mosaic....hmm...

my other project this week -




i ordered 2 of these ~4' ledges for over the couch which should be delivered today (i love amazon prime - free 2 day shipping!)

i plan on staggering them a bit to fill up the massive space above my couch

and finally getting rid of my rose pictures - back in my bachelorette days i had a pretty nice shabby chic thing going

i have a few odds and ends i want to add to the ledges -

including my bourbon print i can finally display (top left)

but i've spent some time on etsy looking for a couple of other prints - not only for the ledge

but some sort of grouping of prints to fill our medal wall - which will be moved for the time being.

something kitchen/food related would be perfect!

ok, i have a ton of other plans, but i'll save that for another time!

painting fool

i was quite ambitious this weekend

it all started friday night

when we painted a chalk wall

which turned out to be a lot of fun

and bill and i illustrated our team spirit

 before illustrating woodford's thoughts

painting one wall had inspired me to finish the rest of the room - a task we were saving for a week we had taken off together in april.

so i was motivated to finally choose a color

which i've struggled with in the past

we stopped in sherwin williams and picked out probably 10 different paint chips to sit and think on.

sunday morning we had volunteered to help bill's brother and his wife - who are pregnant with TWINS! - paint their nursery.

i called upon the starbucks gods with a venti skinny caramel macchiato

with espresso coursing through my veins, and 5 of us painting, we knocked out the nursery in no time.

but i as still pumped up to do some more painting

actually i was on a caffeine high

it took just a bit of convincing

but bill got on board with coming home to paint.

out of all our samples, there was a clear winner of what would look best

sherwin williams "jogging path" 

holding the chip up alone, it cast a more beigey tone

but up next to our "peacock plume" wall it looked more grey

and searching the internet for rooms painted in this color - it looked like the shade of grey we were hoping for


it was perfect - so i went ahead and bought 2 gallons of paint

sherwin williams is running an excellent sale through the end of this week - 30% off your total purchase, plus, if you search the internet you can find a $10 off $50 purchase coupon

we came home and moved the furniture out of the way and started instantly.

ok, actually we popped a couple of beers and i threw together a pot of chili...but "instantly" after that

i always get nervous with the first few brush strokes

but after i painted a large area i knew i loved it.  our previous color was starting to look really orangey/yellow and i was over it.

it was hard to get a true picture of the color since it was dark and rainy out and all of our lights were on in the house - it kind of mutes the color

but you can get more of a feel for it in the corner - especially butted up next to the peacock color

the "jogging path" is a very calming color, and i'm thinking of doing the bathroom in the same color

you can see our stopping point above - we were getting tired, and the dining room/kitchen had lots of things that needed pulled out.  we also are saving the edging on the ceiling for next time since it will require a ladder.

this morning i kind of just stared at the walls for a minute - it feels so much brighter and calming now.

we haven't even finished painting this project (hopefully it will get done this weekend) and i'm already planning our next!  (backsplash, bathroom, and office re-do)

maybe i'll get my camera out and try and take better pictures of our new wall color - until then i'm going to browse some bathroom ideas

sucked in

so you know how yesterday i was all like - man let's hold off on christmas - let's think about tofurky or something...

yeah...

i spent last night looking at christmas inspired pinterest pins and i checked out handmade christmas on etsy.

it was like i was possessed.

bill was able to get off work early (he works evenings) and i was kinda like....welll...i kind of want to pinterest some more...

i get totally sucked in looking at crafts and then never actually do them.  i have one knit sock and have not even started on its pair!

i'm going to make a promise to myself to knit at least an hour a day to try and get some projects done. 

like































and
 



















and i had a request from my cousin for some knit house slippers - not sure if that's what she really wants but they would be quick to do since it's just the toe and heel part of a sock

i'm pretty good at knitting, but not good enough i can knit and watch tv - especially if it's a complicated pattern.  if it's redundant i could totally knock it out while watching tv

oh and i also want to make a couple more of these - only winter inspired

perhaps for the brother and sister in-laws

with the sun setting at like 4:30 i need keep up with my hobbies or i'll be in bed by 8.

so while i'm not ready to bust out the christmas tree and tinsel - i'm not opposed to doing some christmas inspired crafts and gifts.

honey...get out my glue gun!

peacockin'

Hi from the road!

I made it to Scranton, pa with ease.

I'll be in one of our plants tomorrow to help them get ready for a physical inventory this weekend.

I'm pretty bummed to be away from bill for this long - thank goodness for texting!

Bill is the best and just as impatient as I am when it comes to instant gratification.

After talking about paint colors bill decided to just go ahead and knock out our splash wall.

I came home to this

I tell you, there's not a lot of things sexier than this:

I really thought painting those tall ceilings would be harder than it actually was....I mean I didn't paint it, but bill made it look easy :)

I've tried to capture the true color of the wall which is sherwin Williams "peacock plume" but it's really hard to do...


You can see the paint swatch and it reflects a lot more green in person than the pictures are showing

i can't wait to start painting the rest of the living room and kitchen as well as the bathroom off the living room and spare bedroom

and since i'm by my lonesome i guess i can start researching colors.

goodnight ya'll!

i made it!

as promised

here's what i've been creating this week:

sunday night my painting looked like this

 

and after working on it last night, it now looks like this:

i know...it's not the finished socks.

i finished one and just haven't started on the second

i promise hopefully by the end of this week i'll have another "i made it" post with both socks to show you

i'll be traveling the rest of the week and flying is the perfect opportunity to knit!

anyways -the pumpkin painting -

my "style" of painting? is basically - slap some rough outline of image up on that canvas.

let it dry.

repaint over that image.

repaint again in desired color scheme

change direction and background color

paint sections white because that's easier to paint over top of

finally start to see something that resembles the image in head.

acrylics are so forgiving

i painted over the old lettering, re-did the stem, and then free-handed the new letters with a medium-thick flat paintbrush.

i like it.

bill wanted to know if i was going to outline the letters

no.  my hand is not steady enough to do that, but now all i can think is that it looks  messy un-outlined.

but for sanity's sake, i'm slapping some autumnal colored ribbon to this bad boy and putting it over my tv.

don't worry

i took the spring banner down.

like 3 weeks ago.

whoops.

i'm hoping the pumpkin painting looks cute suspended from the curtain rod

i also wrapped the rod with some fall garland from michaels.

i'll take a photo of the finished masterpiece tonight in between packing and laundry.

it's the perfect day to head back home and crawl in bed while laundry washes, too

it's hard to tell with all the fluorescent lights glaring, but it's quite dark outside and stormy

annnnnd

my baby boy went to the vet this morning

bless his little heart

he was over due for his yearly shots, and seeing as he will be boarded at least for a few days while we're out of town, we had to make sure we got him in to the vet.

he's happy and healthy - a portly 40 lbs.  i cannot believe!  he was only 25 lbs when we got him from animal control - of course he was only about 6 months old too.

bill sent me pictures of woodford, and i guess it's been a long morning

i don't blame him.