...gather ye lavender buds while ye may!

...ah the heavenly scent

of

~ lavender ~

clean...

...fresh

and simply LOVELY...

hello dear girlie's!!

i hope you're enjoying summer :)

this week,

i've been working on my outdoor

swirly iron garden chairs.

nothing difficult,

i just made new "slings" for them,

out of the softened/non-chlorine bleached drop cloths

and a few new headrest pillows.

i have two of these chairs

and they are perfect for unwinding after a long, hot day:)

like a hammock

but

better!!

(i can never seem to get comfy in a hammock!)

((i just feel "swallowed"!))

so these suite me just fine

did you happen to notice something hanging off of the chair??

and did you also

 recognize the faux "grain sack" fabric??!

i had just enough left over

from my rose-Mary rocking chair make over

to make a

~ flower gatherer ~

and just WHAT is a

~ flower gatherer ~

you may be asking yourself??

why,

it is a lovely carrier

for all your le fleurs of course!

simply grab the smooth stick handles

and away you go to your beloved garden.

snipping and cutting away to your hearts content

thinking about how beautiful

all your flowers will look inside

...or out :)

or maybe,

you like the way they look hanging off of your chair

like i do!

either way,

oh-so-loveliness!

i adore the rustic grommets,

and the hemp tied handles...

and of course

it wouldn't be complete without the ~

RUFFLES!!!

and

a pretty tag...

the little see through vellum strip

 whispers

"find beauty in all things"

after you have your cuttings for the day

you simply gather up the handles...

and you are on your way :)

sharing this with:

Common Ground's: Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage's: Feathered Nest Friday

Freckled laundry's: Air your laundry Friday

 

 

 

 

here's to ~ lovely lavender!

 

...trash talk

...pppsss...

hey you...

yah

YOU!!

would you be interested in a little

trash talkin'??

aahhhhhh

come on ~

i know you must have some good trash to spill ~

 don't ya'?????

i'll make it easy for you

i'll start!!

i never know when i'm going to be inspired

and

just WHAT is going to inspire me!

like, let's say this pile of cast offs

yep!

that's right,

someones discards, from my thrift store...

apparently this basket has seen better days,

or

has it?!

hhmmmm

let's see,

if i just cut away this juicy pink jute rope...

(sooo NOT my color!)

and tear some linen/cotton "sheet" ribbons

i could make a few ruffles...

i

LOVE

my

sewing machine ruffler!

and perhaps,

a few hand stamped ribbons while i'm at it

 wouldn't hurt, right?!

i start by weaving my ruffled ribbons

in and out off the jute

like this ~

all the way down to the bottom of the basket

~pause~

are you feelin' it yet??

ready to talk trash??

~resume~

next comes the lace

you know it needs it!!

yes,

it IS a trash basket,

but can't it be lovely too??

weaving the lace in and out,

random like.

not so concerned with it being straight and precise...

where's the romance in the perfect???

then,  i VERY LIGHTLY sprayed

the wired rose petals with one of my favorite colors in a spray can...

wanna know what that is??

huh??

DO YA"???

then

SPILL * YOUR * TRASH!

 ha...

okay,

i can see you are NOT goin' to spill

so,

i'll tell you anyway...

my fav color is by krylon

it's called "nickel"

and is an indoor satin metallic paint

* it has sparkles...

* i like sparkles...

alot!

after my weaving was complete,

i found i had a little extra lace and ruffly ribbon

so

i made a rosette

and decided on the "inspire" hand stamped ribbon,

as this trash basket is for my studio

and inspiration is what i seek...

i used a HUGE zippy bag for my liner

because honestly,

i just didn't want to see an ugly grocery store bag in there!

and that's it!

my studio trash basket ~

to contain all my mess

beautifully :)

there now,

don't you feel better about dumping your trash??

lol!!

i know i do!

sharing this with:

Faded Charm's: White Wednesday

here's to a beautiful mess!

p.s. for those dear souls that have been asking

about the cello music artist,

his name is: Adam Hurst 

...my jeanne d'arc style, rose-Mary rocking chair makeover

...the rose-Mary rocking chair...

hello dear readers

today is the reveal of what i did with the

faux grain sack fabric from the previous post.

this is a bit long

 but,

this chair,

 has a story to tell.

~

this,

 is my jeanne d'arc living style,

french rose-Mary rocking chair...

back in May,

i stopped by a promising yard sale ~

please understand that where i live,

we are allowed to have a yard sale only twice a year

one in May and one in October

sooooo

sometimes some really nice stuff is out there ~

...such as this rocker

  

now,

you must also understand,

i was

NOT

seeking a rocking chair ~

i did

 NOT

want a rocking chair ~

(been there, done that!)

and more importantly,

i had

 NO-where

 to put a rocking chair ~

but

...it found me...

i purchased a few vintage crystals and fabulous lace bit pieces

from the woman at the yard sale

(she revealed that she had once owned a bridal veil shop and made them)

so i felt thrilled with my new

f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s bits!!

(expensive mind you

but

fabulous none-the-less)

anyway,

as i was walking away with my stash o'lace bits and sparkles,

she asked me if i'd please take this rocking chair.

an awkward silence followed ~

i paused for a moment

and pondered...

she sensed my apprehension and said "it is from France"

"hhhmmmmm, it does have the potential to be lovely" i thought

but

it reaaaaallly wasn't what i was seeking that day

and the color was way to dark for me

as was the HIDEOUS tapestry on the seat

(wished i had taken a photo of that!!)

and

WHY was she trying to give it away???

but

she was persistent ~

i tried to be gracious and suggested

that if it didn't sell by the end of the day,

i'd be happy to give it a home. 

she said

"no, i want YOU to have it NOW"

(i'm thinkin' "really?? me?? you don't even know me")

((whyyyyy!!))

then the little voice inside my head said,

rosemary, this is just for you...

make it beautiful!

so,

i  brought it home

  

above is a picture that began my inspiration thoughts.

i let the colors and image steep awhile

like 6 weeks to be exact!!

and then,

then this vision came... 

i first painted my chair

with a base coat of the "quiet rain"

(doesn't the sound of that soothe you already??)

then i dry brushed it with "toasted white" 

next,

the faux grain sack cloth.

the seats have a horse hair lining

i covered over this twice with muslin before putting on the "grain sack"

can you say S-C-R-A-T-C-H-Y??!

after the front seat and back seat were complete

i had envisioned putting that image of

 Mary smelling the roses on the front.

but when i finally got to that step

she quietly said no...

not there...

 where then??

as my heart was really set on using that image ~

 the back of the chair then revealed how it wanted to look...

make me into ~ a memory board!

with a ruffled pocket no less,

so my bible would always be within reach..

i love to look at it...

wouldn't you?

  

a special place to put inspirational pretties :)

  

and you know how

 i need my ruffles!!

lace

and even Mary liked her surroundings

all i heard from her was...sigh...

  

a miniature whimsy flower bouquet...

rosemary and lavender

one of my paper clay sacred hearts...

aahhhhh ~

a lovely transformation...

"but wait!"

the chair said!!

"you aren't done with me yet!"

it's true,

it wanted more...

the entire back piece is now Velcro-ed

so that i may pull it back and place my spirit's desires beneath

spirit secrets...

  

there are three sections.

 i have chosen to put my favorite verses in the first section,

prayer request's in the second,

and the third

is my section for gratefulness

i guess you could say that this chair has really "rocked" my world!!

(oh, that was bad!! lol!)

can you see why i call it the rose-Mary chair

besides the visual carved roses

and the Mary image??

because ~ little touches of me are infused into it,

within it,

all

the

way

to

it's

core...

and that my dears,

is how He inspires me...

all the way to my core!

i hope you are inspired 

 with how you can transform an object

into something more,

something meaningful and lovely for your home! 

sigh

i'll just be over here ~

in my rose-Mary rocking chair,

thinking about just WHERE i am going to put it!

but my guess is,

 it already knows!!

sharing this over at:

Common Ground's: Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage's: Feathered Nest Friday

Freckled laundry's: Air your laundry Friday

Miss Mustard Seed's: Furniture Feature Friday

the diy club's: 31-days-of-painting

here's to when things, somehow find ~ YOU!