My Happy Place

For the last few days, I have been in my happy place. Surrounded by the things that I love to play with... Lace, Fabric, Ribbon. The textures, the colors, even the smells put me in a calm joyful space that keeps me playing in the studio until my eyes just can't stay open any longer. 

 I've been playing with books again. It feels so good to get creative in the studio and make something just for the sheer joy of it.

The table is covered with scraps and lovely pieces of lace and fabric for me to scrounge through until I find the perfect addition to the pages.

 We are so lucky to have some wonderful stores here called SAS. They are filled with remnant fabric and yards and yards of lace and trims, all for mere pennies. (Well, it seems like pennies until they add it all up at the register!!!)

I love to go and find new bits to add to my collection. Shopping there puts me in my happy place too.

I bring them home and they go on my wall, beautifying the room with their colors and textures until they find a new home in a piece of art or home decor.

I hope you find some time to go to your happy place too!!!

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Linking up with Becky for Blissful Whites Wednesday. :)

A video to make you smile. :)

A dear friend of mine shared this video with me this morning. It brought tears to my eyes, but they were more happy tears than sad. It is an amazing video and the life experiences that this guy has had must have been incredible so far. The video reminded me that although we as human beings can be extremely different as you travel the world, there are also some basic things that are all the same and we are all fundamentally human with the desire for love and play and joy and a sense of humor too!!

I hope you all enjoy it!!!

Boho Nouveau at Sweet Salvage

This month's Sweet Salvage event was a little different from the norm... Can you guess what it was??? That's right! Color !!!!

 The team was definitely channeling their inner gypsy as they designed the vignettes this month!

My friend Sandie from Sandra Kaye was in hog heaven! She loves color!!

  And I have to admit, that even though I am not a "color girl" being around it for a little while did put a smile on my face!!!

 I didn't find any new clothing to add to my wardrobe, but there sure were a lot of cute things!!

 If I had the space, I would have loved to take home this clock cabinet. And, go figure... it's off white!! LOL!!

I did think this red ceiling tile magnet board was pretty cool too.

So we're walking around and looking at all the beautiful color... and I turn the corner.

And this is what I see....

And my heart SINGS!!! Isn't it just so funny??? I'm surrounded by all those lovely happy colors and the stuff that makes me truly happy has almost no color in it all!!

So for the rest of this post, I would like to share with all of you who have the same predilection for neutrals that I do, the things that made my heart sing at this month's show....

The show will be going on through Sunday so if you haven't already been... go, go, go!!!

There is something for everyone there!

Spring Garden projects

Spring is plowing full speed ahead here in Phoenix. I have been spending almost every morning and sometimes the better part of the day outside playing in the garden. Our hot, hot  Summers are going to be here before we know it (and before we are ready!)

My garden is mostly a container garden due to the really bad soil we have here,  so I am always looking for lovely pots to use. I decided to use one of the many techniques for image transfers that I have seen online, to create some new pots and I am so pleased with the results!!

This one I created using Graphics Fairy images. The original image had something in the center that didn't like, so used my Photoshop Elements program and replaced it with a cute bee.

I kept these simple with some graphic numbers. Part of the image rubbed off the number 3, but it just adds to the aged look.

Another Graphics Fairy Image. The pots I used for most of these, had already been in the garden for a while and were already developing the wonderful crusty scaling that our pots get out here. It really helps create that old look that I was after.

This is my favorite one. If you speak French you will know that the combination of images make no sense. I didn't care (since I don't speak French anyway!) I just loved the way they looked together.

I created the image in Photoshop and then reversed it. The Graphics Fairy has some lovely images that are all set to go and sometimes she reverses them for you too. You could also use Pages (if you have a Mac) or I think you can also reverse an image in Word (if you have a PC).

 This method of image transfer works best on a white base since the paper is white and will be harder to see if there is any residue left.

I then just cut out the design pretty close to ink line. (It really helps if you cut out a large image into several elements) Then I applied some matte Modge Podge to the images and layed them face down onto the pot. I gently rubbed the back of the paper to make sure the image was adhering well to the pot and then let it dry for several hours. Once it was completely dry,  I added water to the paper and began gently rubbing the paper off of the pot. The ink and the layer of Modge Podge stays on the pot and presto, image transfer complete!! If you find there is still white paper residue left after the pot dries again, just add a little bit more water and (again) gently rub the rest of the paper off.

I sprayed the pots with an outdoor matte polyurethane just to be sure the image wouldn't come off in the weather.

This method also works great on wooden signs!!! 

I used some old fence boards and cut them to size with a regular old saw. Then I sanded them and painted them and used liquid nails to adhere two slats of wood to the back so the pieces of fence had something to glue them together.

After the image transfer was complete, I went back and added some white paint to the butterfly to really make it pop.

(Too bad I couldn't apply the words straight!!)

I hope you are all able to get out and enjoy some Spring weather!!

I'll be linking up with Becky for Blissful Whites Wednesday this week!!!