Tuesday, June 26, 2007

~ Corners, Faux Leaded Glass & New Art

Here is a quick picture of the faux leaded glass on the storage piece we made for the morning room. This area was the breezeway in the homes built at the time and it is a 10 x 17 ft space right on the other side of the bar. It so nice to have an area to sit and have people there without them being directly in the kitchen.

This shows a closeup of the faux lead glass I did on the doors, along with the new minature art I put in Etsy.
**SOLD*** Thank You Pat!**
The glass was glued in so it was not a good option to take the glass out to have someone work on. And besides this was much cheaper. You can buy the faux lead strips at the craft stores and liquid lead in bottles in the same area.

I looked at a window which I had that was leaded glass and made a pattern similar to it so it would feel as though it was from the same time period. When you use the strips, and cut them, they have a straight cut look to them. So you can use the liquid "lead" to make "blobs" where the strips meet just the same as real leaded glass work.

We used some inexpensive premade narrow cabinets for this project. Although I prefer real wood, I just didn't want to deal with making drawers. The pieces we added to it and the trim are all wood, so once they were painted and the whole thing had a light glaze, it looked like wood.

See you all later, I have some blog surfing to do later on to catch up!

Monday, June 25, 2007

~ Happy Monday, New Art

(** Edit Elaine, to find someone to do just painting to make something look like wood, you would want a good faux painter. But you can change a kitchen drastically with new doors. A cabinet maker is your best bet for a great custom look with the use of real wood!)


It looks like rain! Oh that makes me happy. The water bill is going to be a shocker this month watering so much to keep the plants alive.

(Full size, clicking on picture takes you to Etsy.)
My newest collage. Of course she is a Fairy. I'll enjoy working with the little creatures for a long time. It's been so many years anyway, they seem normal to me.

Did I answer your question?????

Please know that if you ask a question, and I don't answer, it's just because I get running around and forget.

The front door was repainted to look like wood but layering brown wood colors and some yellow ochre. It was done quite a while back, but I remember using brushes and rags both. Then it was waxed with paste wax. The kitchen ones were done by using mostly the same colors, but flogging them with a flogging brush. Basically slapping semi-wet glazes.

The ancient Tuscan looking urn in the kitchen side courtyard is really from Mexico. It's big and really old looking. It's a favorite thing.

The old peeling cross has no holes except to hang it in the back. It is a cross for the Sacrament of the Sick. It still has all the stuff inside that the priest would use. It's a bit old looking though!

Hope you all have wonderful day!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

~ The Daisy Cottage Effect, Sanford Treasure Hunting

My friend Kim, Ms. Daisy Cottage herself, is one of the sweetest persons I know. Of course most of you know her and love her styling ways as well. Usually I complain to Ms. Kim that I can't believe the things she finds while out thrifting. But she sweetly tells me to just keep on looking.

Last Saturday, Sweet Hubby asked if I wanted to go on a short road trip treasure hunting. I chose to go to Sanford instead of Mt. Dora. We went a few months back and had a good time and one or two of the stores were worth a second look. This time we also found the best little restaurant. And food is high on my list of things to enjoy!
Many years ago when I was a kid, we used to go over to Sanford to visit their zoo. It's been a very long time. The zoo has moved and the town has changed, but a lot of it is the same or better.
They have totally redone their main street downtown area. Not to make it new, but to refresh the old historic area. So charming. The whole place is like Mayberry.


So where to go, where to go.....oh yeah, let's check out a small town Good Will like Kim has! We found the Good Will. It was like the ones around here. Not a thing I wanted or needed. Kim has the best, and that's that. Once a year might be enough for me.

But....it was 2 blocks away from the restored downtown area. Lower rent area.
And two blocks down the street was a consignment store. We missed it last time because you have to know it's there to find it!
OK...now this is better!

There were no shelves, things were still stuffed in boxes. Somethings had no prices, and there was a ton of junk. Just plain modern junk.
Aaah, but in between, there were treasures. Here are some of the goodies I found in all the stores. I've wanted a large carved rosary for years. This one is not wood, but it is beautiful, vintage, but I can't find any on line to match it for information.


Look at the Madiera handkerchiefs....they were in the original boxes with the paper lace doilies. They were wedding gifts long ago. The handkerchiefs are so pretty, but it was the paper lace they were wrapped in that I loved as well. The one under the "D" in the first picture is Austrian, not Mediera. The work on it is lovely.
The three better pins below, came from an older French lady who was selling some of her jewelry. They were still in a bag and I got first pick! The D rhinestone is old, but cheap. Perfect. I don't wear crown pins but collect them for using in my art.

I bought 2 bags of things, and then went down to the spendy area and found a few more bags of goodies. Right now I have no idea what I got. However, I found a few of the items to show you pictures.
Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, June 18, 2007

~ Monday ~ Corners a Little Path Out Back

Paths in the garden always attract my attention, especially when you can't quite see where they are going. The area by the fence gets lots of shade, now anyway. It was all full sun years ago, but I kept adding things to finally get some shade. Perfect for some of those very tropicals that like shady. I just moved the hydrangeas over here too, and I think they will like it much better. This is kind of a secret garden area. Very lush and tropical but you can't quite see it unless you go over this little path to the longer one. I'll take a picture of it and show you.
The tree with the pothos growing up it was here and one of the Australian tree ferns, and the varigated Snow Queen hibiscus. I love the plant and the name. We just added the soil and planted almost everything else.
Sweet husband is back to work, but sweet daughter is taking the day off so we are going shopping. First time in a while since she works so much.
Hope you all have a great day. See you later!
Donna

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

~Summertime and the Digging Ain't Easy!

Thank you all for stopping by. I'll catch up with you shortly.
Right now we are taking a week to try to get the gardening in order.
That would be easier if I didn't keep expanding the flower beds.

This is one of the areas where we've been. One side of the walkway is all done and growing for a couple of weeks, this side we started on this week. Great progress, lots of showers and scrubbing. How can one little woman get so dirty?!! Oh yes, it's the tomboy still buried not so deeply in there. But the sweet husband is by far doing the bulk of the work.
After removing the grass, putting in the new stones, and before planting. It looks smaller here. The size is really about 18 feet deep by 22 feet wide.
Hope you week is going great, I'll be by to catch you with you soon!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

~Corners of My Home, Front Door Iron Basket

Oh yes, I know it's not Monday. But I had to think for a minute to figure out what day it really was! So Monday's Corners are on Wednesday this week.

When I came back in from watering the new flower babies out front, I noticed that the porch was dirty. Well, not now of course. You know I cleaned it up before taking pictures.


During each season, I change this iron flower basket to something different. I've had it for years, so it's been changed a lot of times.
Today it has an orchid along with hydrangeas, ivy, berries, and some feathers and other fillers. And I added a new black and white checked ribbon. I stared at 20 ribbons and thought they all would look good, and this one finally won out.



If you haven't seen this area before, you might like to know that the porch floor is faux tile. Another very easy, and time consuming project. This was a quick fix several years ago. It has several coats of waterbased poly on it and it has stood up to being outside (covered) for many years. I am planning to put travertine over it, like the back door area, but just never got around to it yet.

The door has been blue, green, white and goodness knows what. It's been painted an antique faux bois (pretend wood) for lots of years, too. Even though it was natural wood to begin with. This I still love, so it can stay. :)

Hope you are all having a great week!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

~New Art on Etsy

********SOLD*********
Meet the latest little Fairy. This one is a Cottage Fairy, looking for a good home and doesn't eat much. :)


If you click on the picture it takes you to Etsy. Thanks for looking!

Next will be a Fairy looking for a good Nest/Home.

Friday, June 1, 2007

~ Inspired by Nature, Gardening for Friday

Nothing is as inspiring as Nature to me. The combination of colors and patterns and designs are endless and teach you how to mix better than anything else. Except just playing with paint maybe. :)
This is the wonderful little paver courtyard that my sweet hubby put in a few years ago. We live on a corner lot so we put in a berm soon after moving in for privacy. There are foundation shrubs and trees and then we plant color each season. Some of these like the blue plumbago, azaleas, sweet potato vines, lantana, etc., will come back each year.
Thanks for coming by and I hope you have a great weekend. We have been praying for rain down here, and it looks like a tropical storm is finally going to bring it. No complaining.