My Grama's Soul

I have shown this work of mine in a previous post. Like most things I do....I'm always revising and refinishing until I achieve the desired result. Still not done here but wanted to show my progress on this little wall piece.  Painted with Behr paints you can by at Home Depot and worked on a little at a time when the spirit moves me. I could not do anything like this when Brad and I were traveling back and forth to the San Juans and out to our little place in Montana.  I was not able to get the supplies easily and it seems as though we were ALWAYS on the move.  Anyway....now that we have settled in our little spot....I can pretty much experiment any way I want as long as I don't rip out walls and attempt to do any major construction.  This is a little slow going as I get older...but it does bring me such joy just to be able to work creatively. I try to be patient with things like this now as new ideas take time to gel. ...

At my age it seems like it takes forever for me to get a project done.  But I keep plugging away at it a little at a time. You can see the changes in the above photo and if you check my last post you can see where I began.  Still have some mantle painting to do...doing a green wash over that black and then coming back with a final light, light wash of gold. Still have to finish up the edges and do a light wash over the face I have decoupaged.   I did a slight wash on the right side panel just to see what it would be like.   As I said Still working........ Hugs. Jo 

I have posted before about the realities of living on a budget as one gets older.  When you leave the working force your income will invariably diminish somewhat.   You can do one of two things, you can complain about it or you can embrace the circumstances and get creative about how to deal with the circumstances.  For the most part, I have always been one who tries to make the best of my situation....this especially applies to my immediate surroundings. I have always been pretty good at making something out of nothing and I continue to do so today.  In fact this ability actually has nothing to do with getting older or being younger.  For some reason I am able to realize that IT IS WHAT IT IS and be somewhat content with that realization.  This probably comes from having a fairly complicated childhood and having very little in the way of expectations. Anyway.....enough of my rambling....the above pic is of my fireplace. ...

William Morris As a woman of a certain age I now feel as though I can pretty much do what I want in my sweet little spot.  I have had these porcelain glove molds for years.  Used to display jewelry on them but every time you touch one of them the darn thing would fall over and I was always afraid it would get broken.     So I put my thinking cap on and decided I could use them in another way that would make me laugh every time I walked in my front door. I had Brad super glue them on wall mounts and will use them to hold various pieces of art  as the mood strikes.  This particular is by Maria Pace-Wynters and is called "The Dreamer".  Anyway I made the spacing wide enough that I will be able to change out the art at will without covering much of the art itself. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....I GET THAT....and don't know if these glove molds are particularly beau...

It seems as though I rarely post on my blog anymore.  Not that I am that busy mind you.... My outside activities mostly consist of just living...seeing friends, going to clubs I belong to and getting together with family. However, lately I have been messing around the house again.  Painting on some of our walls in our sweet little spot.   I really would never consider myself a real artist but I do enjoy the process and my thought is that you can always paint the wall back to its original color.  Although, in this case I think you would have to put on a heavy coat of primer and I have used some pretty dark colors here. I have many pieces of art hanging on my wall but not a single piece of art ON MY Wall!! hahaha.... Hope all of you are having a great day....I am. xo Jo

I certainly don't do as much Christmas decorating as I used to when I was younger.  In fact, since my son passed Christmas is always a bittersweet time for our family.   But this year it has been easier to get in a festive mood, so we got out all the old Christmas things and tried to use them in new ways.  The above wreath is decorated with clear bulbs that my sweet grandson and I tie-dyed to be pink in color.  They turned out lovely and I was able to use them in this old wreath.  I have it mounted on an old bird stand and it is proudly displayed in our living room. Our tree is only about three and a half feet tall and it sits on a desk and the end of our main room in the house.  My sweet sister in law gave me a Christmas book a few years back with all kind of handmade papers and cards.  This year I took it apart and used it to decorate my little tree.   When you retire ...

O.K.....so you might ask.....what is bimbelling?  Came across this word somewhere in my reading.  It is akin to putzing or puttering around one's home or property.  I'm ALWAYS doing that. Thought I would share my  latest adventure into the bimbelling world...covered Brad's dad's old bench in an old scarf I have had for years.  While I was at it I decided to also cover an old cream lampshade with the same fabric.   We also hired a friend to help us hang this gigantic mirror that has been sitting on our floor for the last four years. Little projects being completed with little or no cost to us. Next on the list: This pillow remade with fabric from an old tote that was falling apart.    While I was at it, I used the pom poms on the tote to embellish a favorite jacket.. Also used a strip of the African print on the edge of the pillow above. Added part of an old scarf to a Euro Sham on our bed to fluff...

Yesterday in my yoga class, our instructor asked us the above question.   I must admit....there were a lot of puzzled looking ladies staring back at her.  Everyone one of us can get stuck in a rut with our lives.  In fact,  it does seem easier to do the older one gets.  Your world can become so small that you have absolutely nothing to look forward to. When I left the parking lot, I vowed to begin each of the coming weeks with something NEW to look forward to.  It does not have to be a costly endeavor. It can be as simple as going to a movie by yourself, stopping by the near by library that you have been promising to go to for years,  eating a simple lunch or dinner at a new restaurant, taking a creative class of some sort ( just make sure it is something you have not done before).   Some structure is a necessity in every life...but if you get too STUCK IN YOUR WAYS...you will never learn anything new. ...

I'm always looking for ways to make something on a shoestring.  I think it is wise in today's world to shrink one's footprint as well as doing things as inexpensively as possible. To wit.....I am sharing a little stick light I made from a tree limb found in my yard..and a string of LED lights that plug in to the wall. Had the lights left over from some other project and the best part is I can easily unplug them in the evening when I go to bed. Simplicity and frugality.....the perfect combination. xoxo Jo

Goodness....I have not posted in over a month.  This one will have lots of pics so be prepared.  (O: I was not sure if I was ready to celebrate this year as Christmas day was the last day I saw my son alive....but I know Scott would want me to celebrate the day even though he is somewhere else....hopefully....having his own celebration!!! These old clear bulbs turned into the ones in the shots above.   Still loved the bulbs as they are plastic and unbreakable but wanted to make them a color so took paint and made that happen.   I have used the same decorations now for sometime....just remaking them into something new.   We did not put up a big tree this year as I was just not up to the task...but as you can see I spread little things here and there though the house. The leather photo album in this picture is over 100 years old.  It contains pictures of my aunt, my mom and my grandmother and grandfath...