I FINALLY Got My Chairs Covered !

Finally, finally had these two chairs recovered!

i need to get Amy from Maison Decor to advice me on the paint finish on this girl, it needs a little work and she knows EVERYTHING  about creating a beautiful patina with painted pieces and Annie Sloan paint!

anyway....

 I have had them for years, and i have draped fabric on them...

  glued fabric on them...

but never was able to get them recovered

until my friend told me she could have it done for me for around $50.00 each!

i probably wasn't supposed to tell anyone that...ooops

I was like oh heck yeah!

Of course then i had to decide on a fabric to cover them in and not be all indecisive because i wanted to jump on this chance to have them finally done!

Ok, so let's just say, that was the second hurdle.

How does one decide on a  fabric when there are 18 gagillion possible fabric combinations to choose from!!!?

I have always loved buffalo gingham check

like this...

probably one of my all time favorite dining rooms ever...

from the Cote de Texas blog

wish i could find a less blurry photo 

 

ok, here's a better shot

isn't it just so completely to die for charming!

her using buffalo check again

anyway, i didn't have any taupe buffalo check so i just needed to get over it and move on!

 

 But it just so happened that i had a few scraps of one of my favorite toiles in the world

'Covington Bosporus'

and a sweet lady i know at the local fabric store got in some linen and saved a little for me...

So that was that

like it or not

i was going with that combination dadgumit!

no more indecision!

and i think they turned out pretty cute...

Maybe one day if i find some great taupe buffalo check fabric,

 i can have a big feather stuffed cushion custom make for the seat...

wouldn't that be cool!

 

(will she ever ever be satisfied!???)

...the end...

A Little Yellow, A Little Pink, and Stormy Skies...

A new painting...

I love doing atmospheric paintings like this...

so funny... but i started this painting right before the tornadoes that hit Oklahoma

 

I've done a few skyscapes

painting them involves big swoopy strokes, and soft whispy watery colors

and a different kind of energy and emotion

it's almost like the whole body is involved with the painting

One of my favorite all time paintings is of this tornado

I painted this many years ago

 

and this one too...

I stopped painting tornadoes, because, well,... who's really going to buy them?!  

Not many people want a painting of a tornado in their home

I've had people ask me why i would want to paint tornadoes because they are dark and scary

Then recently i was at one of several galleries in my little town on a Friday night Art Walk , and they were featuring a new artist...

His work is amazing, photos don't do it justice

His paintings sell for around $8000.00 !

His name is Larry Gray

he does lots of moody, stormy skyscapes

and i am enchanted by his work

see the similarities!?

I mean, mine aren't the same really,

but in many ways, it's a similar concept

just goes to show you, that when you do something from more of a spiritual -  life energy place - a place that feels right to you...

you shouldn't doubt yourself so much

****************

Ok, enough about tornadoes and paintings!

Lets look at some pretty stuff!

how much do i love this little cluster rose...

let me count the ways...

found another great pillow at Marshalls

it's the prettiest shade of yellow with a little white bird on it, and down filled insert

$16.99

I love the yellow in the mix with the pinks and whites

it's such a happy color!

and check out this wooondderful vintage pink chippy door that's at the cutest little shop ever called "Nest"   in Mebane, NC 

and finally, i'll end this post by going back to one last skyscape

 

I did this one right before 911

Later it occurred to me that it looked a little like the plume of smoke from the world trade center

but in this painting, the stormy cloud is dissapating and a bright star appears as a guide...

***********

last night i was sitting outside on my little patio dealing with some troubling thoughts 

just me, with the glow from the patio lights, the mosquitos, 

the stars,  and my bud lite...

and the soft night air was the perfect combination of humidity and warmth and scented with all manner of green things, and mulch and loamy soil

and then for just a few moments the scent of gardenias appeared in the air and floated all around me

 lingering there just long enough to slowly breathe it in over and over until i felt like my whole being was infused with gardenias

and then the scent slowly just dissipated

...and was gone

it was wonderful

...the end...

I Don't Call It "Rosebud Cottage" for Nothin!

Ok, i'm gonna bore you to complete death showing you pictures of roses blooming in my yard right now... it is just crazy there are so many rosebuds !

Last year i decided to name my house 

"Rosebud Cottage"

and i know,... 

it's kind of hokey...

I was a little embarrassed because it was such a cutesy hokey name

but i finally decided it was gonna have to be just fine

So "Rosebud Cottage" it is, and it has sure lived up to it's name this year!

 This is a rose i bought from Home Depot about 3 years ago, it cost about $7.99, and i have no idea what the name of it is... But it gets as tall as me and blooms like crazy all summer, single blooms, clusters of blooms, and no rose diseases ever bother it!

it's amazing!

 the color of this is so intense, it's really hard to photograph!

And here is good ole "New Dawn" a prolific climber !

Very old fashioned look and light sweet scent...

corner of the yard with "New Dawn"

Arbor with "New Dawn"

one more...

and just look at this precious little thing

It's a small little cluster type of rose, and i LOVE it...

I think it is called "Peach Drift"

isn't it sooo cute...

am i the only one who talks baby talk to my roses?

and of course there is big fat juicy "Eden" climbing all up over the front porch...

and finally there is sweet little "Pearly Gates"

It is a climber and is the most gorgeous soft peachy pink color when it blooms

but it is a little bit more fragile and sensitive than "New Dawn"

Isn't "Pearly Gates" a great name too...?

Ok, so a quick little story...

I have this peony,  it was at the house when we moved in 6 years ago

and every year it would get more and more blooms

till each year it was chock full of blooms

 

but they are this purply pink color and i don't like it,  it clashes with my other flowers

(i know, you can't believe i said it clashes with my other flowers)

anyway, last winter and spring, i would look at it and think, maybe i should dig you up and give you away,

and, i don't really care if you bloom, because i don't like your color

and, oh my gosh, last spring it didn't bloom at all, not one!!!

i felt sooooooooooooo guilty!

what a hater! 

i felt so sad that i had hurt it's feelings and damaged it

it's hard to even tell the story

                                                            

So this spring, i sent it much better vibes

and softened towards it

and felt grateful for it, and appreciated it

and phew... it is blooming again!

Isn't that just so weird

it knew...

 

...the end...

Time to Stop and Smell the Roses...

All my flowers are blooming like crazy...

And instead of looking at the yard and seeing all the stuff that needs to be done... sigh...

I think for one moment it is time to just "stop and smell the roses"...

 Look at these crazy petunias...

I have mixed feelings about them, they kind of remind me of a yellow jacket

but i couldn't resist one pack of them just for fun and interest....

 this years window box...

 geraniums do great with lots of sun, but not so great when their petals get all wet and soggy... so a covered porch, or an area with a roof overhang works great!

I lucked out and found these great window boxes at Home Goods for $35.00 each

they're kind of pricey other places so i was tickled i found them

 

they are extra deep and it took 2 coconut liners to line the inside

but they work much better for the flowers and watering

 

And check out this beauty

Good old "Abraham Darby"

Old fashioned look, perfect color, great fragrance... 

what more could ya ask for?

I love this rose...

The little chrysanthemums aren't from my garden

but they look great in the house, last around 2 weeks, and so for $4.99 from Whole Foods,

they're worth it!

"Abraham Darby" in bud form

"Abraham Darby" unfurling

My climbing "Eden" rose is trying to make a show

but it has not stopped raining here for what seems like 3 months

and "Eden" is getting beat up by all the rain

Still not too shabby though!

Another cool rose in the garden

it has a cream center and pink tips 

sorry,  i don't remember her name

isn't she sweet

i want to kiss her petals

 

 

peonies blooming too...

Before i close

I want to show you a great pillow that have at "Marshalls" right now...

It's a wonderful heavyweight washable fabric, has a zipper and a down filled insert

and it's only $19.99

a pillow like that would cost $40.00 or more any place else...

 

At first i thought it was a little too contemporary for my house,

but i tried a couple out

and i really like them!

oh, and here's what Mr. Fracturedfairytale does if he is with me when i go shopping at antique malls

He searches out and finds the most silly hat he can find

and puts it on and poses like the underwear models you see in Sears catalogs

guys...

Oh well... I  guess it's only fair if i drag him along with me to look at vintage lace, french chairs,  and chippy painted furniture that he is not remotely interested in and that he has to haul in the house...

 I imagine asking him to go shopping with me,   would be like him asking me to sit in the house for 3 hours and watch football or golf, and even baseball on TV

I'd want to rip my eyeballs out and bang my head into the wall!

So, silly hats are allowed!

...the end...

I'm Not Sure if This is Pretty or Scary...

Just about finished with this painting... and I'm just not sure about it... I can't tell if it's really kinda cool, or just a little bit scary...  

I haven't been moved to paint for about 2 months

That happens sometimes

the feeling just goes away

it's not in me, nowhere to be found

Not sure what causes it to go

or why it comes back

But suddenly i'll be burning to paint something again

like an irresistible force

usually when i'm stuck at my desk at work

It's strange, unexplainable

closeup

Maybe the desire came back because

 Rosebud Cottage is Bursting into Bloom all over the place!

I love that big ole snowball bush in the photo above

and of course the coral pink azaleas...

Spring is a wonderous time of year

well, except for the tornadoes !!!

You don't know this, but i have a horrible phobia of thunderstorms!  

I think each and every one of them will have a tornado in it

I'm not kidding

In fact i think that if you aren't scared during a thunderstorm you don't have any sense, so i will never listen to you tell me how safe we are in the car or whatever, because i've already decided you don't have sense enough to be scared!

I will not drive in ANY thunderstorm, Ever

 They ALL look like this to me

only the scariest possible thing ever...

I've tried therapy

It doesn't work

 It is a problem

In fact, sometimes if a big storm is coming....

waaay before it gets here... i will go someplace that is in a big brick building,  and just hang out until it's over....
cause my house is small
it feels like i'm in Dorothy's house from the Wiard of Oz
(think i watched the wizard of oz too many times when i was young?)

Pretty sick huh?

I mean when seen from a distance

a storm can be a stunning, breathtaking act of nature

 

cool!

I call this one

"Uh Oh"

 but if this storm below were coming towards me

i would just have to shoot myself..

I mean,  which way would you run to get away from this!???

  

Of course, most of my friends LOVE thunderstorms

geeeeeshhh!

Anyway, while i was hanging (hiding) out at a brick coffee shop near my house the other day tracking a storm on the radar on my computer

...there was a tornado warning for my county...

GAAAAAHHHH! 

 I noticed a comma shaped blob on the radar indicating a tornadic storm and it was right near my town!!! practically on top of it!!!!!

Another girl was in there on her computer at the same time, and she was giddy because she saw it on the radar too and of course she LOVES storms

We both walked out the door to look at the sky

AND I THINK I SAW A TORFREAKINNADO!!!

Oh my gosh!!!

It was calm where i was, but, pretty as you please, about 5 blocks away to the north there was one moving left to right across the sky!!!

I couldn't believe it!!!, I...., the person most scardest of tornadoes in the whole wide world was seeing an actual tornado!

and where i was standing it was just cloudy and calm... while a few blocks up there was a tornado
what the heck!!!

I wasn't even that sick, panic attack scared  !!

Probably because i could tell it wasn't going to hit us

But whoa... dang... 

So That's my spring tornado story

and NO, i am NOT cured now!  No way...Absolutely not!

 ...the end...