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Jul 28, 2011

...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:
French Country Cottage's: Feathered Nest Friday
Freckled laundry's: Air your laundry Friday
 
 
 
 
here's to ~ lovely lavender!
 


Jul 26, 2011

...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 


Jul 21, 2011

...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:
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!