Summer's End

Hello

I am still here... 

Summer has some how slipped by me, it feels as though I just got back from Washington but that was early spring! I took a week and went to Minnesota to spend a little time with my daughters and mother. Jody and I went and brought Jesse with us. It went by so quickly.  My two little Minnesota princesses Sophie and Savannah are starting school next week. I can't believe how they have grown. We spent a day at the beach and celebrated Jody's birthday. The beach is at my mom's and I spent most of my youth there. 

Mother made a birthday pie.

This week it feels like fall is in the air, it has been cool at night and the sun is warm but the air fresh. There is even a hint of burning wood in the air. I finished the floor in the studio and love it.

Now I am working on pumpkins, pillows and wreaths to take to the Kane County Flea Market

 this weekend. I will be selling there until Christmas.
The studio is still empty but I needed to work on hand made items to sell this weekend and then I will start putting furniture back into the studio. I will post on my progress next week.

I am linking up with my friend Kathleen for White Wednesday at Faded Charm   I love looking at all the white inspiration...

Hopefully I can visit with all of you next week, I am sorry I have been a bad blogger. I am hoping next week will not be so busy.
Many Blessings
Rebecca

Studio Redo: The Perfect Solution

 Hello

I am still in my studio this week and will be for at least a month, I am sure. Just cleaning it out was a major job, so that I could paint and clean all the spider webs out... this space is 271 sq. ft. attached to the back of the garage. It faces the house and goes out to the back yard so it is susceptible to  bugs. If I am in there on a regular basis it isn't a problem but since I have been using it for more storage than anything else this past year, it needed a good cleaning. 

Now that I have gone through the torment trouble of taking everything out, this is the time to do certain things I have been wanting to do for years. One of those things is putting in a floor.
 I have the original cement foundation floor... not very smooth and hard to clean and stand on for any length of time. I had painted it but I always hated it and what would I put in there?

 It was hard to justify spending a lot of money for a studio space that I paint in and do a lot of messy projects. 
With that in mind carpeting was out, even indoor outdoor, tile is just as hard to stand on, wood too expensive... which leaves me with... linoleum?
A couple of weeks ago I was in Home Depot looking at flooring and I saw padded linoleum rugs, the price was right at $1.97 per sq ft. but the thought of rolling that huge thing out and making all the cuts around my counters distressed me.  And hiring it done jacked up the price to where I couldn't afford it.
I decided to just give it all to the Lord and have him show me what to do... this whole studio project has been a tug of war. If you have been following this saga, it started with the tent...
Giving it over and taking it back, finally just giving it.
Yesterday, I finished painting and started on the skirting for the counters - which I happened to find in my stash. I had forgotten but  years ago I had bought tons of paint drop cloth fabric that I used to make slip covers for the family room. 
Anyway, I was at the point to where if I am going to put new flooring in - now is the time, before I need to bring the furniture back in.
So back to Home Depot to look again...
and this time there was a very nice gentleman that asked if I needed help... he led me to this product and educated me on all of it's merits.
 It was the perfect solution!
Allure Flooring

This is linoleum flooring that comes in tile and wood look, it is free floating and comes in approx. 3 ft sections that is easy to handle. There are many different colors and styles. I loved the wood look and thought they looked great. Here are some colors I was considering.

I went with Country Pine

The installation is soooo easy. They interlock with blue strips of glue on the sides. The glue is very sticky so you will want to place it as close as you can and if you mess up you can get it apart and reapply it.

With the planking you will need to stagger the sections so the lines are not straight across. Just like wood flooring.

To cut it, simply score it with a utility knife and snap it

It has a 25 yr warranty but if you damage it, such as me dropping solder on it... you can heat up the strips and replace one. 


The best part about this is most of the styles are in stock and it is affordable at $1.59 to 1.99 a sq ft.

I can't tell you how pleased I am with this and it has warmed up the whole studio... 
I am loving this! Thank you Lord...


I am still working on it and the skirting, so when it is finished I will post.
I am linking with Debra at Common Ground for her Vintage Inspiration Friday party.  She has a big give away for her 1 year birthday. You have to see what it is!
This project has given me so much inspiration and just to make it vintage here are some shots I took in the studio today.

Blessings
Rebecca

Studio Paint

Hello

Well, I have been working in my studio this week, I finally got back at it.  So much going on here the past couple of weeks that I didn't get a chance to work on it. My daughters were home for a week and we played... 

I played with my grandchildren and I got to hang out with my girls. We even took a day and went to my sons new condo to help him unpack and arrange furniture. It was a good week.

This has been a huge undertaking anyway, so the process is going very slowly. I knew it would, but I really wanted to do a thorough job. It has taken hours to just pack everything up into bins and move it out. 

I have not even sorted yet, I have just cleared the space so I could paint. 

I decided on a light paint but with warm tones. It turned out to have more color than I thought. Paint is so hard to see in the store even when I took the paint chip to the window to look at it in natural light.  I chose this color.

 It is Martha Stewart's, Sisal in flat.

I really like it, it is a tan color with gray undertones. This may come to a shock to you but I do not like the color gray on my walls. There I have said it and it is out in the open! I like it on upholstery and fabrics and as accents but not on my walls. When I enter a room I go for the feel of the room first and paint plays a large part in that.

Because I live in Chicago the winters here are long, cold and gray and I do not want to paint that on my walls too. I want the feel of the room to be warm and peaceful. This color is the perfect compromise.

I used Behr, Pearl White on the trim.

I am going to be staying with a neutral pallet in this room because of all the "stuff" I will be bringing back into it. It is a studio and I tend to go in many different directions when I am creating... usually all at the same time.

 I will need a clean pallet. I will be finishing up with the painting today and then I plan on sewing skirting for the counter spaces on my next post.

I also will be posting on my other blog The Love of God... 

 The Lord has been speaking to me about, His connection to the creative process. Please join me.

We had another red letter day in the life of "our little man"...

Jesse

Blessings

Rebecca

Winners for Giveaway

Hello

First of all I want to thank all of you for your kind words of support and encouragement. It was so nice to hear from all of you and you are all the best! Thank you, thank you.

This has been a rather long week for me as I have been under the weather but I am good to go this week... Thank you Lord!

I have not gotten much accomplished on the studio, but sometimes the best plans are... well you know, it just happens.

Jody and I did do the flea market with much help, thanks to my son James and son in law Scott. I wasn't exactly a ball of energy... thanks guys! It was good to see those that stopped by, 

thank you for saying hello!

Now the winners for my follower give away.


Danielle
from My Blessed Serendipity Life
won the apron
She has a wonderful blog and is now featuring a post on
Home is where the Heart is...

Here are some images from her blog, they are so lovely.
This shade she made and featured it in her last post.

I love it...
Here is a favorite post of mine it is her studio,
you can see it here

Don't you love what she did with the door?


And here is a couple of images from her past blog posts
that spoke to me...

Please stop by and say hello to Danielle, you will be happy you did.
My Blessed Serendipity Life




Winner number 2 


but not second in any nature...


Is the infamous southern trash talk'in, silken-ed tongue-awesome 
penned and Texasified sweet sass talker of blogworld... 
Deb of 
Talking Trash
Not only am I honored to call her friend but the girl just cracks me up and has a way of keeping you on the straight and narrow with a little sass and back talk thrown in for good measure.
Deb, a little bling is coming your way...

She also is a talented design artist and sells her trash treasures all around the country.

When you stop by her blog and you must, leave a little sass from me!

Talking Trash 

Thank you again, I so appreciate all of you!

Hope to be around soon to visit, I am totally under the gun to get my stuff back into the studio before it all gets ruined 

under the tent... yes, it is still all under the tent!

Blessings

Rebecca