Winners

Just to say, I think you are all winners in my book.
 Thank you so much for leaving such beautiful messages on my 600 Give-Back post, 
I loved reading them and appreciate all of you.

 I used random generator to pick the winners and here they are:

The Junk Follower Necklace goes to,

Tammy from Junk Wild

Tammy's profile says,
 I live in North Carolina, born and raised...love it..from the mountains to the beautiful beaches...every inch! I'm a Mother & MiMi, a Daughter, Sister & a Friend. I am blessed beyond in my life... and now I have this neat little business JUNKWILD


I love Tammy's blog and I have enjoyed getting to know her this past year, her blog is full of fun and inspiration. Thank you Tammy.




The White Lovers package goes to,

Jill at Jill Ruths & Co.

Jill lives in Nebraska and her profile says,


  ...just sharing my day


and love of vintage items and antiques. I'm glad you stopped by.
 
Jill has such a lovely blog with beautiful photos and she  is so very creative! Thank you Jill.




The Pink Lovers package is going to;

Freda B at Sew What's New

FredaB's profile says, 


Born in Toronto, Canada where I spent the first 30 years of my life and balance now in the US. 3 children and 6 grandkids. Wonderful husband and will be married 50 years next Aug. 09.
Freda B has a very creative blog and has a variety of interests from collecting to knitting. Thank you FredaB.




...And the Art Pocket goes to;

Tina at TinyBear Studios

Tina's profile says,
 
 I began designing bear in 2001 and I really enjoy making those tiny ones. In between the bear making I love to create shabby chic and vintage inspired decorations and more. I love Flea marketing and love to use my finds in my creations.


Tina is such a talent and was just featured in the latest issue of Sommerset Life. She has a lovely blog and you will be inspired by her beautiful creations from Denmark.


All of the women shown here have lovely blogs and I encourage you to visit them if you haven't already. You will be truly inspired.
Thank you Tina.


I also have to say thank you to 


Cindy at Custom Comforts


for giving me the

With this award comes a bit of responsibility 
7 things about me...
I really don't know if I can tell you anything you don't already know but here goes:


1. My grandparents were European immigrants,
I am German, Swedish and English-which explains a lot.


2. Born and raised in Minnesota but hate the cold.


3. I am too young to have 8 grandchildren.


4. I raised 5 girls and 1 son and still have my wits about me most of the time.


5. I am leaving for Arizona in 2 days woo-hoo!


6. I  am a lover of road trips and travel and wonder if there is gypsy blood in me.


7. I have many faults but I am a work in progress and it is not up to me to complete that work but Christ in me. That is my greatest comfort.


I am passing this award on to all that read this and 
challenge you to reveal yourself :)


Please give Cindy's wonderful blog a visit and see who else she chose and learn more about your fellow bloggers.


Thank you so much for stopping by today and as always...


Many Blessings to You
Rebecca

Inspired Winter Project Part I

January Projects...

Inspired... out of the necessity to keep from screaming...


I am trying to get this project done before we leave on our winter vacation.

 I have been working on my computer room...

I am going to warn you, this may get ugly.

It is a small room off the front hallway when you first enter the house, for all the world to see...
 I don't know what it was originally but now it has a coat closet and bookshelves. 

By the looks of the old wallpaper in the upper cupboards, the woodworking was done in the 30s and not by a craftsman. 

The room itself has some good qualities, a floor to ceiling window and a little nook that gives it some personality.

 The trouble began when it became a catch all with the floor to ceiling shelves and cupboards.

 For 15 years it has housed old bank statements, cards, photos, golf balls ... well you get the picture. 

It had been my husbands study and civil war room but now it is very outdated and cluttered.

Lately it has become even more of a storage area with stuff from the shop. All the books and vendor files from the shop got dumped in here, plus a window and desk.

At some point I put up curtains to hide the messy shelves. 
That just got annoying.

The computer armoir  that is soooo outdated,  just got to be a black hole and I couldn't find anything anymore. And recently we had to bring the computer in and the cords were a nightmare!

I can't imagine I am the only person in the world that has a room that has taken on a life of it's own. We get busy and just have time for so much and some things get pushed to the side. Such as my little room here.

 The shop was priority for some years now but now that I closed it, I have to tackle some of these issues that have been neglected.

How do you tackle projects?

Do you draw up a plan?  What inspires you? 

What determines the color scheme and furnishings?

I thought I would walk you through my little project here and show you what goes through my head when I decorate a room. 

 Now I don't have a pat routine - each project has its own set of different problems but usually there are some rules I follow.

The first thing I do when I am about to embark on a project no matter where it might be, I sit and study the space. I might sit in that room for an hour and come back and sit some more.

This for me is such an exciting part of the project,

 did I mention... I love a good project!

 I usually have a notebook and sketch or jot down some ideas. 

Now back to this project,

 because this is such a small room.

8' X 8' with 12" shelving across the whole room.

I didn't have to sit too long and think about furniture placement, fabric and wall adornments.

The color scheme I decided on is in neutral shades of cream and brown, I know does that surprise anyone?

But this room has problems to consider;

1. Walls are papered with 4 layers and the plaster is not good in this room, 2 large fractures by the window that have been there for many years.

2. The woodwork or painted shelving is not good, paint is peeling (not in a good way) and it isn't good wood to begin with.

So with size, the problems and what I like in mind, I came to the color palette and some solutions. 

1. Leave the paper on the walls, it helps stabilize the plaster

2. I can either sand and repaint the shelves (a lot of work) or I can cover them.

So of course the first step is editing and cleaning... that was quite a job. But 4 large garbage bags later and a dining room full of books... the room was cleared.

I am trying to be conservative money wise these days, after all I am now unemployed. So it is shop my storage and studio time... or going through the stash.

 I have quite a large collection of vintage fabrics and fabric is usually what inspires me... color, texture and print or design.

This bolt of of European linen inspired the color palette for me. 

From there I started my scheme...

Cover the shelving with old book pages, (I went back and forth on this, after all I just did this in the attic but I loved the results... and it is getting so popular, will I get tired of it, if I see it all over?) 
I took a page into the paint store and got my paint color for the woodwork and ceiling. 

I decided to cover the walls with brown burlap. It would give the walls a fresh pick me up and I love the texture and the color is perfect with the book pages and the linen I want to use.

I decided to take off the ugly cupboard doors that swing too far out into the room and skirt the space with the wonderful linen from my stash.

I chose the book to use for the color, size of the page and weight. I wanted a heavier paper so it would be a little more durable. I applied the pages with wallpaper paste. Once dried I sealed the pages with an acrylic sealer, satin finish for cleaning.

Next I painted the ceiling and rough sanded and painted the woodwork a linen white with a paint and primer mixture from Behr. The woodwork would take two coats. This paint is supposed to have a high bonding quality.

The final coat of paint was a satin finish by Behr called Antique White. It was a good match for the room.


The corner with the computer needed a complete re-do, everything about that corner was frustrating. I did have that desk from the shop, so I was going to try and make that work. I loved the old white paint on it and the overall look of it but would it be comfortable sitting.
Because I had to take apart the PC plus the cable and router, we were out of internet service, so this meant get this corner done and back in running order... quickly. 
Everyone in the household was not happy during this process.

This desk worked out quite nicely, I drilled a hole in the back for the cords to go through and then organized the cords with velcro. 

The walls I rolled with wallpaper paste and put the burlap up in sections. I did tack the top with upholsters tacks just to keep the burlap in place while I got the pieces in place.
 Use the paste liberally. 

I have a problem with placing the printer where I can use it easily. It is a large printer with a copier and it is not wireless. I really wish it was wireless!
 I may have to rethink the printer.


Today I am putting the rest of the burlap on the walls and putting up the curtains. 

Added notes on using the burlap:
I purchased the burlap at Joanne Fabrics, it comes in various shades of brown and also cream. Because of the 10' ceilings in this room I used approx 15 yards, I got it on sale for $2.99 per yard. When using the burlap do not stretch the fabric when applying it to the wall, it has a loose weave and it is easy to do. I also found that it is a little see through... if you have a white wall underneath this might be a problem. To do over, I would have been a little more careful with the white paint along the edges of the trim.

I will post again when I am farther along and I can show you the finished room. If you have any questions, please just email me and I will be happy to help.


I am linking up with Debra at Common Ground for
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Please visit her and enjoy all the inspiration!

Enter Here




For all of you that are in the area, there is going to be a
Gallery Open House
Friday Jan 28 6pm
Water Street Galleries
160 S Water Street
Batavia 60510
All studios will be open and I will be there from 6 to 9pm
Artwork will be for sale and refreshments served
Hope to see you there!

Blessings
Rebecca

White Wednesday with Friends

Once upon a time in a land far away...

I received a surprise in the mail this week... a package from far away.


 From a land I really know nothing about other than it is
 small, Nordic and cold. 


A flight to Denmark costs approximately $900 
and takes about 12 hours from what I can figure. 

The Danes claim to be open minded and the happiest people on the face of the earth.


That is what their website claims. That is as much as I know and only because I googled it. 


Yet I have a wonderful friendship with a talented lady that lives on an island in Denmark.


 How strange yet wonderful our world is.


I am not the only person in the blog community that knows this kind soul and loves her.


How lucky I feel to be a part of her life in a small 


dimension so many miles away.


I can't even pronounce her blog name correctly 


Den Lille Lade

This lovely package and card personalized for me encased this...

A heart for me.
Can you believe how beautiful this heart is, with a beaded cross tucked in the pocket.

Dejlig Lady min ven

I can say Dorthe  and I can say what a lovely lady she is...

Thank you sweet friend, I love it~


I am going to leave you with some white images for this cold week in January.
From a heart that was warmed by a friend...

Please don't forget to join my give away
Here

And be sure and visit Kathleen at Faded Charm for more inspiring whites. 
Thank you Kathleen.

Please visit Dorthe at Den Lille Lade and say hello to her from me.


 Thank you for joining me today, as always I love hearing from you.


Blessings
Rebecca

600 Followers Give Back on White Wednesday

600

Followers or people that regularly or occasionally read this blog.

 Not many compared to some blogs and more than others...

 I appreciate the fact that someone is interested in what I have to say or show. 
But the numbers do not stand for a popularity contest and this is not a competition. 
 Never... when I started blogging did I think I would actually become friends with such lovely women. 


We become followers of one another because we love to support one another, we are like minded, love what we read or what we see and occasionally we are blessed to become good friends... 

 What I have to say is not earth shattering, sometimes I may be inspired but mostly I just say what's on my mind and in my heart.

 I love blogging because of you. 

You have truly blessed my life and because of that I say a big 

Thank You

So as in Blogland tradition, I would like to give back a little something... it doesn't hold a candle to what you have given me.

To win a gift just leave a comment, and tell me which category you like, it is ok to say as many as you like or all of them and because it is a thank you to my followers... you must be a follower. (this includes all followers worldwide)

So many followers love the bling...

SO I made a necklace that says Follow, just for you

With two old French postcard included just for you French lovers.

So many love to make art...

So I made a pocket full of goodies for you to create something beautiful

So many love Pink...

I made a vintage pink damask heart sachet, along with vintage ribbon, buttons and old millinery just for the pink of it...

And of course so many love White

White stoneware pitcher, small creamer, paper roses with an old floral basket, lace doilies and my favorite a bunch of white tallow berries

For the white lover in us all!

I will randomly pick 4 winners on January 30 and post it on,

the last day of this month Jan 31st. 
Thank you all for your wonderful comments that make me laugh, cry, be encouraged and always lift me up. 

I am linking up with Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday... please join her and be inspired.

Occasionally, a little sun does shine here in these gray months of January.

 And when it does I run for my camera

Wishing you a Happy White Wednesday.

Blessings

Rebecca