It has been almost 3 years since I have posted on here.  But with all things in my life, I always come back to familiar and comfort.  A lot has happened in those 3 years, but I survived.  I have learned a lot, and just when I thought I had reached a pinnacle, a new peak would come into view.  A new adventure, an old heartbreak, a crazy lesson learned about friendship and who is who and what will never be.  I love to write, and think that it helps release an inner hunger in me. 


I have the most exciting news!  I took the plunge and signed a 3 month lease on a booth in an antique marketplace. It is something I always wanted to do, but have never stuck my toe in the water.  I have some of the most amazing pieces that I have accumulated over the years and have been working on them the last couple of weeks.  I can’t wait to share them with the world. Come check out my Facebook page when you get a chance!


I also built my very own chicken coop from scratch.  What started out as a small project turned into a chicken palace.  I will be including weekly fiascos from my backyard in the blog. 


With that being said, time to sign off and catch some sleep.  I have a lot of painting and distressing to do tomorrow.

Sometimes......

     I haven't been on here in a couple of months, and how I have missed it.  I started a new job, my laptop crashed, life got in the way....all the excuses in the world....lol.  Well, Im back.  I recently went to visit a very close friend of mine, and found inspiration again to write.  I went to Virginia and didnt want to come back home,  I wanted to stay forever with him in Virginia and build a life.  I cried at the airport, cried on the plane, and cried on the drive home.  I fell in love with him and Virginia all at the same time.  He is a wonderful and talented photographer who takes the normal and makes it beautiful(me included). He finds the light in darkness and makes the sun shine when it is raining. Virginia was so beautiful, with it lush green trees and vines.  I could close my eyes and imagine the history that had trampled the wet, damp leaves.....the stories that  the old houses with columns would tell if they could talk. 
     There was a little corner antique/consignment store that was on the corner by his house.  I want to have a shop like that.  Where you can wander around for hours, looking at all the neat old pieces that have been distressed, getting ideas for new projects(I took pics...lol), wondering how much it would cost me to start a business like this.  Colorado might have consignment stores, but Virginia has the history to back it up.  We talked about different props for his photography studio, how this would look or that.  Being with someone that understands you, and appreciates your thoughts and ideas, is so refreshing......When you can be yourself, you can be anyone, do anything....you can live.

     I have attached a couple of the pics that he took of me while I was out there.....he captured something in me that I thought was long gone and buried.......love.

      

                                                                                            www.capturedbyone.com

Gardening from kitchen drawers.....

My newest addiction seems to be the local ReStore(Habitat for Humanity) here in Colorado Springs.  Its almost like I can hear the store calling me from miles away, telling me that there are unbelievable DiY ideas just waiting for me and my credit card.  I get a 30 minute lunch which seems just enough time for me to hop, skip and speed my way over there.  A couple of months ago, I was cruising the aisles and came across these vintage(?) wooden cabinet drawers from a kitchen that probably had stories from long past.  I stood there and could smell the turkeys and hams that had been carefully cooked during holidays, the pies that cooled on the counter, and the utensils or silverware that the drawers had once held.  And...they were only $2 a piece! You would have thought that I had won the lottery...I was so excited, I grabbed 3 of them and stuck them in my cart.  Then they sat in my garage...and sat...and sat.  We have had a very cold winter here in Colorado this season, so I haven't been working a lot on my projects.  But this last weekend, the sun shined, and I felt the urge to create!

                                                                                             

Btw....the ReStore is an awesome place to get paint.  I found out that companies like Lowes, Home Depot and Kmart donate their mistints to the local non-profit.  I have found gallon paints for as little as $5.  I painted each drawer a different color distressed the corners a little bit and got to work stenciling.  I had recently picked up a new stencil at Michaels, and was excited to try it out.  Not so much....the stencil just wasnt working, it kept bleeding through when I lifted the stencil.  As I started to wipe it off with a wet towel, it distressed the stencil and it looked really cool.  So I left it as is....

 

All I needed was to add some legs, drill some holes in the bottom(to let water through) and there are some super cool original vegetable boxes.  I bought lettuce seed and spinach seed to plant in them this spring. 

Welcome Spring!

Auction House Day on March 2nd!

Ohhhhh....its that time of the month again!  My favorite day of the month!  I get so excited when I know that it is auction day at Auction House 109.  I'm like a little kid a couple of days before Christmas.  I have scoured the website preview at least 50 times, seeing if they added anything new to auction day.  Whats so funny is that I haven't even finished all of the projects that I started on from the last time I went to the auction. I have used my power tools though!  I love power tools.....I cant wait for the weather to get warmer here in Colorado, I am over the snow and cold. Once the weather gets warmer, I really want to rearrange my garage so that I have better work-space for my various projects.  At last count, I had 5 projects going!
They are all in various stages, I'm pretty sure that I will finish at least one this weekend.  My ultimate goal is to get a booth at one of the local antique malls!

Auction house nobody wanted chairs.

I bought several cute little chairs at an auction a couple of weeks ago.  Nobody wanted them, so I was able to pick them up at an incredible 3 for $5! That's $1.66 a chair!  I was so excited because I already had in my head what I wanted to do with them.  The first one that I chose to start working on was in pretty good condition, so I threw on a coat of my favorite homemade chalk paint, distressed it, rubbed a dark glaze on it....and then looked at it for a week.....lol.

I really wanted to learn how to transfer designs and lettering on wood, I have read up on it on http://www.graphicsfairy-diy.com/ and was so excited...except, I don't have a laser jet printer.  So instead of moping, I took the designs, cut them out, soaked them in coffee, put them in my oven on 200 degrees to try(took about 10 minutes) and then used homemade mod podge to attach them to the chair back.  I think it came out pretty good for a first timer.....

I then went to my local fabric store and found this really cool looking upholstery "webbing?".  At first I tried to use my staple gun to attach it, but the wood was to hard, so I ended up using a hammer and some upholstery tacks.  I plan on making a little pillow to sit on top...and there we go! Super cute...super easy!

Auction time on Saturday!

Omg.....I went to my favorite auction on Saturday and spent wayyy more than I meant to....it will be a Ramen noodle eating kind of week for me!  I got some great deals though!  I get so excited when I win something, I think the whole auction house turns around and stares at me...lol.  I start texting pics to friends, have to call my mom, I talk to the person next to me, talk to the person behind me...pretty much anybody that will listen to me.

Sometimes, I cant believe how cheap things go for. Got an awesome dresser that was already stripped and sanded, an absolutely stunning headboard for an unbelievable price of  $35.  I even bought power tools...whoohoo.  I posted 2 pics of the furniture I picked up.  Ohhhh....also bought some chairs that had been stripped and sanded.....3 of them for $5! All I have to do is throw some chalk paint, distress, and add a seat cushion and we are getting ready to sell.

Still learning......

As I sit here during my lunch hour at work, I am so excited to get my blog up and running!  I love to share ideas and to get feedback.  I am a firm believer that you can never know too much and learning should be a way of life.  Speaking of learning, I am still trying to figure out all the contraptions and inner workings of my blog, so if things look a little wonky right now, it’s probably because I pressed a button that I shouldnt have...lol.  If anyone has any tips, clues, advice, etc...let me know.  I am constantly cruising others blogs learning what goes on them.  I did finish my cabinet; I just need to take some "done" pics! That is one thing that I am learning about, is to take better pics for my blog! I am budgeting and hoping that when tax refund season hits I can buy a new camera, my phone works great, but doesn’t always get the job done.