It's ALIVE!!!

Or at least, that's what the "Dr. Frankenstein commentary" in my head is saying!  

You see, I have the absolute latest blooming Irises in the world.  They like to take their sweet time and grow and grow and GROW until they're  HUGE!!  I kid you not, the blooms can easily get 3 ft. tall!!  So they usually don't make their appearance until late Spring, but they stick around for quite a while into Summer (which most Irises don't do).  

Seeing those first few blooms pop up gets me really excited, and I tend to spend more time outdoors (or at least looking out back!).  

I have two varieties of Iris in my garden, a deep purple and a bright white.  The purple Irises have been there the longest and have become extremely well established.  They were a gift from my Mother-in-law a few years after we moved into our house (and were the first flowers I ever grew...AWWW!)  The white ones came from my sister's yard when they re-did a flower bed.  So if you're keeping count that's a whole flower bed for free!!!!  

And although the white ones have some growing to do still, they too are taking off nicely!  When I added the white Irises, I knew there was a chance that the two breeds might eventually merge and create a hybrid (way way way on down the line).  I didn't have very high hopes, because I had been told that it was pretty rare.


Well, low and behold, the first flowers to shoot up and bloom this year was a hybrid!!!!

 

Isn't it gorgeous!! I mean WOW!!  

That's right, my two breeds bedded down, got their mac on, and created this beautiful little hybrid baby!!  Take that statistics!!! Point: God!!!!




 

Family Ties

At some point or another, we all hit an epiphany in home decorating.  It might be to try new colors, or take a chance on a bizarre piece of furniture, or to just go green.  As for me, my light-bulb moment has been staring me in the face for years (I'm just slow and didn't catch on quickly).  And once it hit me, there was no way to go back to my old way of decorating.


But enough of the round-the-bush talk, here's what I mean.  


I was walking around my house the other day (taking inventory of what STILL needed to be done), when I started noticing my "favorite" things in my home.  Overwhelmingly, the scale was always tipped towards a hand made item...or a hand-me-down.  I'd never really noticed it before, but the more I thought about it, the more special each of those items became.  Just like taking pride in the hard labor work we put in the house, these items had special meaning to me.  


And yes, I am a huge sentimentalist when it comes to family history.  I love the steamer trunk that belonged to my great-grandmother (Colton calls it his "special grandmother's"!!), the set of books that Casey's great-grandfather once owned, or the side table my Dad built...these items are the ones worth keeping and passing on to the next generation.  


Which all ties into my latest decorating project:

 If you remember (from some previous post), I had found these forgotten prints in my office when I was doing some Spring-purging a few weeks back.  They were part of a coloring book set (pictured below), and had once belonged to Casey's grandmother.

I never got to meet Casey's grandmother, but I've heard enough stories about her to be drawn towards her.  She was an artist (like me), as well as a art teacher at the school I would eventually attend (small-world side note:  some of my parent's friends actually had her for a teacher).  And although Casey doesn't remember a lot about her, he always talks about her with the greatest affection...which makes me love her that much more!!

So it was a huge honor to be gifted, not only with these prints, but one of her paintings as well(which will eventually get framed in the office...more on that at a later date).

Getting back on topic, I knew I wanted to showcase these adorable prints...and so, after some planning and a new set of frames,  I finally found the perfect place for them, in my bathroom:

I love taking a bath now, and glancing over to see this beautiful arrangement.  It totally makes my day!

And if your wondering how this-whole-shebang changed my decorating style; it helped me to realize that hand made items and hand-me-downs are going to be my new go-to's.  I don't think I'll ever want to go back to store bought decorations again!

The 4-1-1 on my painting

As promised, I'm taking time today to show you how I created my pretty pretty painting!  Pictured here: 

Unlike conventional paintings, I prefer to use wood canvasses instead of cloth.  This is all just sheer preference.  I like the sturdiness of wood, and the way it adds more depth to the finished product, but if you like canvas...go for it.  The only problem with using wood is, you usually have to build your own canvas.

That's where my Dad, and his mad wood working skills come in.  After a few hours, a few dozen nails, some wood glue, and sand paper; we turned my 8' x 4' sheet of plywood into these:

Three pretty framed canvasses.  

From there, I primed all the wood, so that it wouldn't soak up my acrylic paint when I started.  I used Kilz, but I think they also have a high-end painting primer you can use...if you want to fork out the extra cash.

I always try to have  a plan of what I want to accomplish before starting.  This was my jumping off point:

 
So once the primer had dried for a few days, I got down to work.  And instead of explaining it all in detail, I'll just show you each step:

Step 1. The top:

Step 2. Base coat on Bottom:

Step 3. Add grass and splashes of greens and blues:

Step 4. Pulling in the orange, red, and yellow tones:

Step 5. Adding the landscaping and final touches:

It took me about 2 days total to finish it, mainly because I wanted to let all the layers dry properly between application.  And then once I painted the edges, I wanted it all to dry another 24 hours before hanging it.

Which, thanks to my Dad again...it is now hanging perfectly level on the wall!!!

My goal is to incorporate all the colors in the painting into my house.  I already have the red and blue tones throughout, so now I'm going to pull in all my accents with the green, yellow, and oranges. 

Here's hoping it doesn't end up looking like a clown decorated it (cross your fingers)!!!

Tackling those projects!!

I've been making a huge attempt this year to be more pro-active with our home repairs.  Casey and I have "lived" (I use that term loosely, since Case has been gone for most of the last year) in our house 5 years come June.  And although we've made huge strides in some areas (like painting most the rooms, and remodeling the bath...which still needs trim btw), we've been pretty lazy in other areas.  I'd like to blame it all on Casey (who prefers demo over clean up), or our general lack of money in the past...but I'm not without fault too.

My biggest problem is I'm a "BIG" dreamer, and half the stuff I want to do with the house is WAY out of our means, ability, and budget...so I tend to fester over what-might-have-been, and forget about what-needs-done-now!!

So my unspoken goal of late is to get a load of stuff done before Casey gets home.  Most of it is cosmetic work, but with any old home, that means a lot more than simply putting down a fresh coat of paint.  It involves sanding, patching, scraping, caulking, mudding, and a whole slew of other processes that make you want to pull your hair out.  

Usually all these steps would annoy me to no end, but lately I've been taking great joy in it all.  I see it as just one more way God has made me self-sufficient this last year.  For example: instead of waiting for Casey to get home to move the VERY heavy ladder for me (like I did in the past), I now find myself tackling that ladder daily...constantly moving it from room to room!!!  GO me!!!  And every step I take to improving my home, is one more step I can take pride in.

So plan on seeing an armful more of posts dedicated to my latest endeavors.

And just 'cause I hate to leave you empty handed, here are some pics of my latest completed project:

If you remember, I posted a while back about wanting to re-do the arrangement above my living room sofa.  Here is what it looked like before (with blue tape marking the future art work):

 
And here is what it looks like now:

Pretty awesome, huh!?!  I'll post later on the whole painting process, and how I took it from start to finish, so keep an eye out for that.  

And what about you?? What new projects have you "tackled" lately?

"Sew" Happy

...and the pun's just keep on coming!

In case you haven't been keeping tabs on me, I posted a while back about trying my hand at curtain making.  Since I made two pillows (pretty successfully), I wanted to take it up a notch for my next sewing project.  

So my first task was to make curtains for my sister's kitchen.  Since "the mom's" are both excellent teachers when it comes to sewing; I asked Jacque (Casey's Mom) to walk me through the whole process.  I wasn't quite sure how to line curtains, and she did a great job of helping me.

 Sorry about the bad lighting...

These next one's are my favorites:

**Insert Micheal Jackson Reference** I always feel like...

...somebody's watchin' me...

...oh-OH-oh

HAHA!! 

Anyways...I finished up Meg's curtains, got them hung up, and she LOVES them...YAY!

So my next task was to do some of the same curtains for my bedroom.  I'll tell you now, it about killed me.  I wanted 8 1/2 foot long curtains (so they would pool a little on the ground), but I never realized how hard it would be to make...otherwise I would have enlisted help.

The time and effort it took to lay out the curtains, iron them, pin them, press them, re-press them, and sew them was crazy (7 hours in case your wondering).  And most of that time was spent crawling around on the floor, making sure everything was straight, flat, and even (ouch!!).  

But it was well worth it, and I had some gorgeous curtains to show for it.  

Again, sorry about the bad lighting...

I hung them high and wide on the windows.  And I found a really great deal on the curtain rod ($20 for a 10 footer at Hobby Lobby...score!).

In case you're wondering about the top, I ended up sewing a stiff liner in it (to get them to hang that way), and then hung them from tabs on the back (by far the most difficult part). 

I can't really complain though, they turned out great.  And they really help lighten up the bedroom.  I have more plans for our room this summer, but for now I'm happy with my small handmade updates!!

N'awlins

For all of us non-Southerners...that's New Orleans.  

Since Biloxi is only about an hours drive from the "Big Easy", we decided to take a day trip to see some of the sights.  Admittedly, we had no idea where we were going, or what there really was to see.  We wanted to go to the French Quarters, see the famous above ground cemeteries, and maybe do a plantation tour...but didn't really have an itinerary for the day.

I will tell you this, if you ever visit the French Quarters...NEVER, and I mean NEVER go anywhere near Mardi Gras.  You will regret it.  We went at the end of March...which was about 20 days after Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras)...and it was still packed (at least around the main square).

Not only that, but it smelled (Hence Casey's stinky-face picture...not really he was just being a goof!).  I'm serious though, it reeked of vomit, pee, booze, and Lord only knows what else.  The sidewalks were all slippery from constantly being hosed down, and it gave the whole place a feel of uncleanliness.

That being said, I cringe whenever I'm in a dirty place...so the whole experience was not so bueno.  I felt like if I sat in the wrong place I'd catch an STD...ewwww.  And I wore flip flops...out of all the icky, rotten luck.  So I can't really say I enjoyed the whole trip.

But, before you discredit this post all together, I will tell you it wasn't all that bad.  We found the most amazing candy shop.  Which boasted the best pralines in town, but I was more interested in their homemade peanut butter cups...YUM!!

... and a really yummy open air restaurant.  Here's Casey eating his Muffelata...and a picture of my AMAZING red beans and rice!

 

 

...We also visited the local Cathedral with it's nice garden square, surrounded by local artists showing off their wares.  

 

So we strolled around town, saw some interesting sights, and some not-so-nice sights (Bourbon Street boasts plenty of nude-y club pictures...'nough said).  And after a few hours of wondering, we decided we'd seen enough.  

 

Some beads left over from Mardi Gras:

Any other day, and I might have been up for more, but Saturday was my last full day with Casey...and I wasn't really interested in spending that time with him as tourists.   So we headed back to base, and made the most of our time together.  

It was still a good day trip...just not the best timing.

Biloxi Trip: Part 2

After spending a few days with Casey, enjoying the beach, and sight-seeing; my parents headed off.  I had a few days alone with Casey, before his parents joined up with us.  And so, while Casey was in school, the parents and I headed out to do more sight-seeing.

One of the first places we hit up was the Beaurivage Gardens in Alabama.  60+ acres of beautiful lush landscaping.  The gardens used to be a private residence, and there was a house tour, as well as garden strolls and ferry rides.  We decided to forgo the ferry ride, but definitely wanted to see the house.

It was AWESOME, but a bit pricey ($20 for garden access and house tour...per person).  And they didn't have a military discount...which generally annoys me.  But, I can't deny, I was seriously impressed with the magnitude of it all.

 Here are a few pictures of the house.  It was HUGE!!

We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside, so this courtyard was the closest we could get.

 

And here are pics from all the gardens:

The English garden:

And the Oriental garden:

And ALL the AZALEAS!!!  They were everywhere!!!