Tribute to Bob

Bob passed away last Jan. 31st. This is a tribute to him from my daughter, Jill. (one of my favorite people)

I have always loved my dad's handwriting. After he died we went to his house and I told my brother that I wanted to find something with his handwriting on it that I could keep. I think it was by a small miracle that Nick found an index card where my dad had written his values.

I love this index card. I have it nestled in a coffee cup on a shelf in my dining room.

As is tradition with all of his index cards, dad had drawn his infamous swirly-gig on the back side of the card.  However, I found myself wanting the values bigger and more visible.

                          
I have a friend, Katie, who is a graphic designer (http://www.graphicforte.com/) and she was helping me create the logo on my mom's website (it's cute isn't it?!). Necia, my daughter, and I gave my mom the logo as a gift. As my friend, Katie finished that project, I showed her my dad's index card and told her what I had in mind. She agreed to take on the challenge (and trust me it was a challenge!). She gave me a website to search for the background artwork while she worked on enlarging the font. Within minutes of her leaving my house, I found the perfect artwork. My dad loved nature - so I felt this was symbolic and I liked the abstract-ness of it. The colors also match the throw pillows I have in my den.

Once the graphics were completed, we had them printed on canvas. They now hang above his desk (which my mom reinvented - love it!) in my den. Most people would call it an office, but my dad always had a den!
 

(That's right, vigilance is spelled wrong, can't wait to give him a bad time about that when we meet again.)

                                    
                                                  I had Katie put dad's swirly- gig under the love.

As I considered where to place each of his values on the artwork I had the idea for Katie to add a red flag to one of the trees in the "vigilance" section. My dad was famous for tying red flags to branches so people wouldn't run into them. I think this is my favorite part of the artwork - it makes it more personal.

I also had her add a dove in the upper right hand corner of the "good intent" artwork to symbolize his escape from pain and his flight into the peace and freedom he now has.

I love my papa and I miss him terribly, but this artwork has brought a bright spot into my home and my heart. I love pondering what these words meant to him and reflecting on the ways he portrayed them in his life. His values are my values.

This is my beautiful daughter Jill and her two daughters, my grand daughters Necia and Maizy.
Sometimes the loss of a loved one helps us remember how wonderful life is and how important family is. Couldn't have made it through the past year without the love of family. Thanks kids.

Cute little side table

This little table was a freebie from my grand daughter, and my daughter needed a side table for her front room, so I fixed it up for her. It has a cute shape and size, so I painted it and added wallpaper to the front of the drawer. I sanded the edges and added new drawer pulls.

Of course I forgot to take a before picture, but it was stained wood with a mirror on top. I took the mirror off and had my son make a new top.

It matches so cute with this darling chair! It looks perfect in her room.

Wedding Cake.....first one

My friends Joycelyn, Raylene and Becky asked me to help with a wedding cake they were doing for a friend. I thought I was just going to do the flowers but I got to mix the color into the fondant and help put it on the cake.

I couldn't believe how much work it was! It took forever to mix the color into the fondant.

It was so much fun.. I got to help put the fondant on the cake and then try to make it smooth.

It always looks so easy when I watch it on the Food Network, but it isn't! Trying to get the corners smooth is crazy, hence all the flowers on the corners.

It turned out really pretty, I love the calla lilies and the pearls. I have a greater appreciation for those who make cakes for a living. Hats off to them!

Stylish Blogger Award!

Thanks to Audrey at A Day With a Domestic Engineer for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award. How cool is that.







I've learned these are your duties when accepting this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

So share 7 things about myself, well let's see..

1. My Social Security # ohn-on-ono
2. Mother's maiden name.. Stellaluna
3. High School mascot.. Iguana
4. Mother's place of birth.. North of Nowhere
 oh wait maybe that's not the info I should give

1. I have wonderful children and they are my greatest joy!
2. I love fixing things up!
3. It' hard to get a paint brush out of my hand once I get started.
4. I love living in my beautiful state of Utah.
5. I have been blessed with a creative mind, unfortunately it doesn't pay much.
6. I am strong and have weathered some rough storms in life.
7. I find joy in simple things and them change them.
OK so that's me, well how I'm feeling today.  Here are some blogs that I have recently found that I enjoy...


http://dutchbritishlove.wordpress.com/
http://lifeinpinkhitops.blogspot.com/ 
http://thoughtfuldesigns.blogspot.com/ 
http://welcomedtempest.blogspot.com/

there's so many I love it's had to chose!

http://imhungryonabudget.blogspot.com/
http://micheleravendesigns.blogspot.com/wordpress.com/
http://honeyandmaplesyrup.blogspot.com/
http://craftylifeandstyle.blogspot.com/
http://karieschiccreations.blogspot.com/

oh my gosh, so many talented blogs!!

http://sweetasjune.blogspot.com/
http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2011/03/sheet-music-side-table.html

Please stop by and check out these blogs. They inspire me time and time again.

New life for an old mantle

I fell in love with this old fireplace mantle when I saw it at a yard sale and just had to have it, I thought it would be great to use as a shelf.  I've never seen a mantle with drawers. The old paint was crackled and that gave it a very interesting finish.
Here's the before picture, sorry I forgot to take a picture with the drawers in.

I chose the creaming soft yellow paint that I used on my hutch, I love the color, it's happy and light. 

Because this old mantle is so heavy I just left it on the wall to paint.. Now I know I should tape it off, but for some reason I always think I'm a better painter than I really am, (I'm just going to keep thinking that cause I hate taping.)

I couldn't wait to decorate my shelf. The platter and small paint and bowl are old ones made by Homer Laughlin..I have several pieces from that company.

Yes I can see all the smudges on my mirror, just can't find my Windex.

Yay, all done and I'm very happy with how it turned out, the creamy color really helps to lighten up that corner of my front room.
I think my fireplace is next to get a new coat of paint.

I"m thinking spring!!!

I am so happy that it is March and spring is on it's way.... I'm starting to dust off a few of my spring treasurers.
Here a few of my favorite things for spring.

This sweet little vase with the two yellow birds was my Mother-in Law's and I just love it.

 Of course what's Spring without a velveteen rabbit..

and a bird's nest with three little eggs....ahhh spring...

 and a little chick..

and another bunny!

It's fun to start dressing up for spring inside cause when I look outside at the dirty melting snow revealing a lot of yard work waiting to be done...I can wait a little longer!

Dressing table

How cute is this little dressing table...I saw it at a local thrift store and had to have it. Of course I forgot to take a picture before I had  taken it apart and started to sand.

Come on use your imagination...

After sanding I wiped it down with paint thinner. Then I painted it a cream color. Once I got it painted I sanded the edges and stained them with mahogany stain wiping off the excess with paint thinner.

Love the details of this little dressing table.

All finished, love the way it turned out.

Wow, thanks to Lauren at West Furniture Revival for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award.
Please check out her blog, it is dang cute!
Thanks again Lauren.

Happy Hutch

This is one of my favorite pieces to keep all my favorite things in. This is the third time I have re-painted it. This time I decided to go with a creamy yellow color that I have used on some of my other pieces.

I really liked the red color but I wanted to go with a softer happy color. When I got it painted I did some heavy sanding, I wanted to give it that time worn look.

I used mahogany stain on the sanded edges taking off any excess with a little paint thinner.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out, the color is perfect.