antiques/junking – Page 35

Where is all the stuff hiding???

antiques/junking, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, how to's

By Karla Nathan / July 11, 2007

My fairy grand baby has loved meeting her Wyoming cousins, and we are all looking forward to the rest of the week together up at Lake Okoboji in Iowa. I probably won’t be posting for a few days, I’ll check in if I can, but most likely won’t have access. You can still enter my drawing if you want to leave a comment, you can enter to win a Cottage Collage Kit, with vintage papers and other pretties.

People have been asking me what I do with all my stuff in the studio when I set up the room for a family reunion.

I hide it all!

This little silver metallic colored wash stand that I painted is full of doll making supplies and trims, the cosmetic case is more lace and doiles, and the wicker basket holds all my original greeting cards. (this piece was free, Beth, http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ gave it to me and I fixed it up.)

And of course, all these baskets are full of supplies too.

I have all my jewelry making goods in the (free from my niece) wardrobe drawers, with mosaic materials in the side door of it.

Drawing and collage supplies are on the shelves ($15 at a garage sale, then I repainted)- and you really don’t want to see behind that screen! ($3 at at garage sale) That area is where the avalanche of junk is hiding.

My sewing machine is in this cute little $5 cabinet that I painted and added a ceiling tin top and a wooden wreath to, and the candy dish is full of seed packets. (and that is my typewriter sitting on the shelf, not sure what I am going to do with it yet)

Two sets of Home Depot basic cabinets ($50 each) are stacked up and placed back to back then filled with more and more junk.

This is all scrap booking goods packed away into these drawers. The dresser was $20 at an auction, it didn’t have a bottom drawer, but I like it this way. I used to keep a tv on top and the video equipment on the open space.

I have stuffed this french vanilla painted wardrobe (that I paid $15 for and rebuilt) full of vintage fabrics and water color supplies. There are more fabrics in the German trunk above it. I don’t really sew, but I sure am a sucker for gorgeous old fabric. Someday….

This glass doored hutch holds some inventory that I am eventually going to sell. I thought I’d set it out and enjoy it until I found new homes for it, instead of storing it in boxes. (This hutch was only $50 at an auction!)

You probably won’t believe this, but this narrow chimney cabinet is empty! Not a thing in it, but I did cover the shelves in old paper, then glaze them in umber, and edge them in vintage lace.

I paid $5 for it at a garage sale, but don’t really need it. I just have a soft spot for storage pieces and cabinets!

This buffet sits near the head of the table, but has nothing to do with food service. It is full of fairies and fairy houses that I made, and vintage jewelry. (it was $75, but needed work too)

So, this room isn’t perfectly set up as a dining room, it still has a studio feel to it, but I really can seat a lot of people at tables in the center of the room, and it is nice to be able to all sit together even if we are surrounded by inventory and supplies!

I’m off to start the dishwasher again. I didn’t have to cook tonight, my brother-in-law made chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and black bean salad! I had 2nds.

I contributed a carrot cake from a mix, that I dumped a can of mandarin oranges, red grape raisins, flax seed, sunflower seeds, extra brown sugar, cream cheese, yogurt and an extra egg into. I kind of cook like I craft, off the top of my head and what ever sounds good at the moment.

I decided what to offer for the July Giveaway!

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, give away, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 9, 2007

Well, we have a houseful of people, kids, and dogs (Twinkle is still being "trained" by Luke), so I am not able to do any craft or art work. But I did manage to put together a few more Cottage Collage Kits (or scrap packs) to sell on Etsy.

Here you can see Twinks getting a lesson in going down the blow up slide in the wading pool. Luckily, she seems to be enjoying all of the so called "dog training". Her feet haven’t touched the ground since the kids arrived.

This visit has been so busy, that we all forgot that we were supposed to have an ice cream buffet last night!! There is a lot going on, when kids forget ice cream!

Once the kids were tucked in, and the guys were settled into a card game, I went to the studio to play with paper (my cleaned up studio!)

I made up bundles with over 30 items in them, including sheet music, vintage wallpaper, copies of my art, pages from old books, a page from a steno manual, a millinery flower, some posies, old buttons, vintage gift wrap, and on and on.

Its so fun to pick through my stash and try to find goodies I think someone might enjoy using.

This tone on tone wallpaper is actually silk.

Anyway, I listed 6 of these on Etsy last night for $14 each. I got to thinking, that maybe a similar one would also be a good giveaway for July. So, if you are interested in a variety mix of a Cottage Collage Kit, leave me a comment and I will enter you in the drawing at the end of the month.

Here is one of the old wallpapers, pretty, huh?

These are from packs I made last week with a blue theme, that have already sold out.

I’ll be sifting through my goodie cabinets and finding some pretties to add to the giveaway, when I get a nice packet together, I’ll show a photo.

Now, I’d better go and see how Twinkle’s training is going!

Madison

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, family, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 7, 2007

Remember how I waited till the last minute to clean my studio and turn it into a dining room for company? Well, something else came up and it still isn’t done.

But it was a very good excuse for not cleaning, Madison (named for Madison, Nebraska- hometown of the Nathans) was born tonight! We spent most of the afternoon and evening at the hospital waiting for our niece to give birth.

The whole family was there waiting for her arrival. We played cards, laughed, made bets on who’s family would have the first baby, ours or the other people waiting that we made friends with. (We won!!) We had baby races with Sugarwings and another baby there with her family.

Finally, Madison came, and we all went back to see her. Sugarwings is enthralled by her new cousin.

So, do you think I’d clean the studio when I got home??? Nope, I fixed up a spice rack that I got today at a garage sale for $1 (including all the bottles) so I could use it to hold all the glitter that I bought today at the same sale (a bagful of glitters, sequins, buttons, and bows for $2).

I used a lot of the goodies I got in the mathcbox swap from Debra at http://www.hophopjingleboo.blogspot.com/ including the doll baby at the top (appropriate for today!). Whenever I glitter something up, I will think of Madison and the day she was born.

Hey, organizing the glitter was a very important part of cleaning up the studio!! How can you have guests over if your glitter is in plastic bottles and laying around helter skelter???

Well, maybe I should try cleaning up a bit now. No more excuses.

PS- All of the vintage paper packs I had listed on Etsy have sold, but I will be making up more soon.

ppss- Thanks for all the feedback on the loading speed of my blog. I’m glad to hear it is faster. If anyone is still having trouble, would you please let me know

pppsss- I really will have a give-away this month. I am counting all comments made in July and will let you know what the drawing is for as soon as I figure it out! (open to suggestions!)

Guests coming and no place to put them admist the junk, so I go and buy more junk

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 6, 2007

I should be getting ready for company. I have half of a family reunion at my house this weekend, then we are all car pooling to Lake Okaboji, Iowa for the rest of the get together.

Instead, I go garage sailing. And found a sweet ballerina doll for Sugarwing’s room. I added butterfly wings to her, so she’d be a fairy ballerina.

Of course, I aways have a stash of butterfly wings for these emergencies. I buy them by the cartload when they go on clearance at Michaels. Usually they can be found for a quarter at the end of the season. And you never know when you will need a set of wings in a hurry!

At another sale, a print shop was closing and I got 5 cases of manila and white mailing envelopes in 4 sizes, 2 cases of white and cream, blank note cards (the kind you send in an wedding invitation for RSVPing), and 3 cases of giant shipping tags!! For how much? TWELVE DOLLARS!!!

Now, am I crazy to think I will need this many envelopes for shipping purchases on Etsy and Ebay, or am I just being realistic, knowing that I am a swapaholic now and will be using lots of mailers???? I’ll also include some of those shipping tags in my give away this month. And probably every month for the rest of my life.

Even twinkle can’t figure out what I am doing with a car load of old windows. Well, sometimes I wonder too. But, I am planning on painting these up for signs, they have a pretty shape and were only a couple dollars for the stack.

This is my $1 table. It had bad veneer, but I already picked it all off so that now there is a new surface to work with. Some putty and paint? Or a mosaic? Or cover it in vintage papers? After the legs are painted, this will be a beauty, no matter which way I decide to finish the top.

This white iron stand with glass shelves was extravagant- $5.

Some days you come here for eye candy, other days, you get dirty old tables, or a dumpster. I almost hate to show you these next pictures. Oh my. But you’ll see why I say I SHOULD BE WORKING.

I will have 9 people staying with us and about 25 or so people coming here for dinner,(and meals in between)from Saturday till Wednesday.

And my art studio, which has seen some heavy duty work lately, plus is piled with garage sailing finds, needs to be transformed into a dining room by noon Saturday. Beds need to be made up and groceries need to be bought to feed us all.

So, I’m off to the grocery store. (I think that there is a neighborhood garage sale by the store, I might have to stop)

A Sterotypical Kansas Day-

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 5, 2007

I had a cleaning day today, and you certainly don’t want to see those kind of photos or hear those stories. We have house guests coming to the cottage again. I swear, if I never had visitors, we’d live in filth, I only clean when someone is coming to stay, and luckily that is pretty regular around here!

I managed to sneak a snippet of time to make up some packages of vintage scrapping goods to sell on Etsy.

These have an aqua theme, with a hint of rose, more blues, and purple. I even had some purple print sheet music to include.

I had a good time picking the pretties out. After doing all that mopping and dusting, I needed a fun break. I can’t stand a day that goes by without some sort of creative activity, even if it is just playing with pretty papers!

I have a vast selection of supplies and know I’ll never get through them all, so thought I’d share a bit of it.

I made up some pink themed ones yesterday and listed them, at $12 each and sold one today. Its always nice to sell something, even if it isn’t a lot of money, it is kind of a confirmation that you were right about the merchandise and someone agrees with your taste!

Oh, that sounds silly, doesn’t it? Maybe the reason I am not a good business person is that very reason, "it isn’t about the money!!"

Yesterday, we went out on the lake for the 4th, and I think that the rest of the town was there, it was the most crowded I have ever seen our sweet little lake.

It was starting to cloud up, but storms weren’t predicted till later. We decided to call it an early day since we had Sugarwings and her mom, our 14 yr old niece and our 9 months and about to pop pregnant 22 yr old niece with us.

We got back to the dock and it was looking bad, so I sent all the girls on up to leave with Sugarwings and her mom, telling them we’d tie up and haul everything up to our car, that they should get indoors.

In the short time it took to pack up, the weather got much worse and all the boats were trying to get off the water as fast as they could, sirens were going off, and the marina was announcing that there were tornado sightings.

As I walked up the dock to the parking lot, I saw a funnel cloud right above us! Luckily, it was dispersing. No touch down, no damage, but I sure thought that there would be wrecks in the parking lot, you should have seen everyone trying to get out and to shelter!

I am pretty proud of myself for not being one of the people who were in panic, but mostly for also not being one of the dumb asses standing there staring and pointing and taking photos. Of course, that means I don’t have a picture to show you here. Sorry.

Everyone figures Kansas is nothing but one Tornado after another, but I’ve only seen 3 funnel clouds since I have lived here.

Maybe I should’ve gotten a picture?

Earlier before the storm, I did take this photo- Sugarwing’s first swim in the lake. She loved it.

I DO have Red, White, & Blue!

antiques/junking, flowers, Food and Drink, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 4, 2007

When I helped my friend Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ redo her booth earlier, I took photos of it, saying that I wouldn’t have any red white and blue to post for July 4th and wanted to use her patriotic display that we made.

So here are a couple of shots of her antique booth. She does have cool stuff.

And then, my match box swap partner http://www.hophopjingleboo.blogspot.com/ sent this piece to me, along with the box full of goodies. I added glitter and punched a star in it to tie a ribbon onto it.

While I was sitting at the craft table, I noticed the stack of matchboxes that I bought for the swap. hey, r,w, & b! (and yes, of course I saved all the matches from the boxes I emptied out)

My glazed pottery jar full of markers was on the work table, and I saw that it was along those lines of patriotic colors too.

I looked around the studio some more and saw a white ironstone cup full of blue bird feathers, sitting on a post card featuring red roses.

I also noticed a collage I had done last year that had this little gal with red roses and blue forget me nots in the center.

The first stepping stone outside the studio has red and blue flowers in stained glass (and whitish cement).

And there are red begonias, white dusty miller, and a blue plumbago outside my door too.

I can’t forget Ole Blue! My ’81 Ford Ranger that has an 8 track player in it and came with a box of country music 8 tracks under the seat when we bought him.

My little red gazing ball has blue flecks in the glass.

Happy 4th! Our coolers are packed and we’re headed to the lake.

A Drawer full of Dorkiness and some other goodies

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, paintings, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 29, 2007

First of all, can anyone tell if my blog opened any quicker??? I did some tweaking.

I should be working, but thought I’d show some of my loot from my trip before I get on with my day.

Aren’t these 3 ladies something? Hey, it was suggested that we do a Halloween bag swap!! Good idea. And maybe I will save this photo for my bag, I think these old crones could easily be witches!!

My husband had to work a few hours at Columbia Country Club in Missouri, about half way to St. Louis. (and no, that isn’t a polite way of saying he was playing golf, he really had to work). So, I shopped at a mall there. It is far from my favorite place to go, and I really had to make an effort to stay there long enough to stretch out my time, there wasn’t a lot of great stuff. But I found all this!

Those bottles will be fun to decorate and fill, and I got a lot of old photos for under $1 each.

The best purchase (and Twinkle’s fave) is this set of old drawers covered in wallpaper. How handy will that stylish storage be???

Since I slept in the car most of the day, I was up late after we got home. I painted some more of the outlet covers that I had got in the big bag from Goodwill last month. Only 4 left to paint. I am selling them on Etsy and have sold a couple from this blog. These are not listed yet (the 2 switch plates are sold) so all of the outlet covers are available if anyone wants one. I’ll be listing them later this week, or email me here if you’d like one.

I’m off to work, have a decorating/rearranging job to do today with Beth. http://bethleintz.typepad.com/

REDRUM

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, jewelry, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 24, 2007

What a perfect Garage Sailing Saturday! Good weather, lots of sales, good prices, it was just right.

I love the $1 robin’s egg blue frame. I might just put it on the wall and hang plates inside it. I found many 10 cent pieces of glassware, a old pin cushion (with a crown pin!) for 50 cents, a made in Japan pink fish from an aquarium -50 cents, another old floral tray- $1, a solid old chair to paint- $4, a box of Italian framed prints to fix up and add new paintings to- $5,

a bagful of vintage seed packets- $2, 2 dozen old postcards for $1, a beaded purse- $1 and a McCoy pink pot that I splurged on for $20.

I also broke one of my Garage Sailing rules. I usually don’t go to the 2nd day of a sale, but I did to this one, and hit the jackpot. Barkcloth, old table clothes and vintage trim!

I will need some of this silver/grey trim for some Silver Bella projects (and the tiny pin crown too). But I got YARDS of it and will be selling it by the yard at my Etsy shop.

I found old lace too! This crocheted table cloth with fringe will be perfect for my dining room during the Christmas Home Tour. Can’t you just picture the table set up with all white and cream? I have some old white Wedgewood (big stack at an auction for $11), some Ironstone, and crystal. I know it is only June, but I have my Holiday Table all planned!!

Love this trim too. I will be selling it on Etsy, the butterflies are adorable, so I’ll have to keep some. Probably will make an art journal page for Sugarwings with it.

For all that fabric, trim, and a few very old books to cut up, I spent $17 at that sale!!!! I don’t even want to think about the barkcloth I missed by not going on the first day. Oh well, I am happy to just enjoy what I did find, never does you any good at all to be greedy about junk. It comes and goes, I am thrilled when I find goodies, but can’t fret about what I missed.

As if my day wasn’t good enough already, we went to a wedding in Kansas City and stayed over night at the Savoy, where the wedding was held.

This place is a pure faded elegance. It has a run down neglected feel in many parts of it, like this entryway.

And these long, dark hallways make you think that you will meet up with those twin ghostie girls from the Shining around the corner. but around the corner, is- nothing. Empty halls with walls ripped out and doors bolted shut. Very little of the hotel is operational and in use.

The rooms are cozy, and furnished with antiques.

I’d say the bathroom fixtures are original.

It is all decorated in a bare bones way. I think they do the best with the budget they have and let the old architecture speak for itself. There is a lot of charm there, but it is a bit neglected and has the feeling of an old bouquet left in a vase to droop.

There was some fantastic wallpaper in the spooky halls.

And the lobby was pretty much original too.

Since they only have part of the hotel in use, the front desk becomes the bar and the lobby is where the wedding cake was set up.

The cake was delicious, a fudge marble swirl.

The entire front of the old building is stained glass, done by Frank Lloyd Wright himself.

Harry Truman and Harry Houdini used to be regulars here. And the place feels like you could walk up to either one of their ghosts at any time.

I actually had to buy a dress for the occasion. Didn’t care for that. But found this nice, stretchy black one at TJMaxx for $32. Not bad, it was comfy and I didn’t need a new bra or shoes, or have to wear panty hose! What more can you ask for in a dress? I did make a necklace to wear with it.

What the Savoy saved on in renovations, they spent on FOOD AND SERVICE. Oh my god, it was better than being on a cruise ship. We were catered to every second. Great staff, some of them have been there for over 25 years. Our water glasses and coffee cups stayed filled to the brim and we had 2 waiters fluttering about.

Starched white linens, heavy silver, great food. And coffee made just for them from the Roasterie (best coffee in KC), called "Savoy Blend". They give you a bag of it in your room! Along with a plate full of fresh cookies, and a gift bag of sample sizes of toothpastes, and toiletries and candy bars. All complementary.

These are the breakfast choices. Notice my husband chose boring old Bacon and Eggs?? What was he thinking?? I got the Lobster Bisque and Coquille Saint Jacques. and it was wonderful.

Breakfast is included in the room price of only $99.

Amazing. I’ve paid more than that to stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

If you are ever in Kansas City, you have to stay here, it is quite an experience, a one of a kind hotel.

And of course, if you are in KC, you have to promise to call me too. I’d meet you there for a cup of that coffee in the morning!

Bunnies, Ballerinas, and Bears, oh my

antiques/junking, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, how to's, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 23, 2007

That dumpster might have been yucky and smelly, but I am loving the stuff I pulled from it.

I dug out an old, broken magazine rack and almost tossed it back in. But it had a cute shape, so I kept it. When I got home, I gave it a good whack with a hammer and tore it apart.

This section with the bear painted on it is the center of the rack, with the handle on the top.

Wouldn’t this be sweet in a little baby girl’s room? $20 if you are interested.

I have a thing for ballerina bears. I have painted a t-shirt for Sugarwings with this on it, and did a mural for a friend’s daughter of a cute dancing bear in a tutu also.

My matchbox is ready to be mailed for Natasha’s Swap. http://natashaburns.blogspot.com/

My partner is Debra of http://www.hophopjingleboo.blogspot.com/ who is a talented artist and a collector of bunnies (she is hosting a bunny swap, you should check it out).

I was fresh out of vintage bunny paper (or maybe I never had any), so I painted some bunnies on my matchbox.

My first step was to paint the entire thing pink, and add some striping. While the paint was wet, I dumped a bunch of glitter to the inside of the newly pink box.

I painted a white rose on one end and a brown bunny to the other end. Then I wrapped the sleeve part of the box in vintage sheet music and wallpaper and painted a bunny on the top.

I drew some gold swirls on the bottom, and glued chenille ribbon and crystals to the sides, so it is pretty from all angles.

I thought it was missing something, so glued 3 little vintage millinery flowers to the top. I bought the flowers from Deb Dusenberry of Curious Sofa http://curioussofa.blogspot.com/.

When she was moving from her old location to her new (and magnificent) store, I worked at her moving sale. How cool to style her shop and get the sale set up!!!! Ooh, I felt schmancy working there. She had bundles and bundles of these posies

marked from $1.50 to $3.00 each so I bought quite a few.

I also bought a pair of these columns from her. I have them in a nook of my studio.

I might have spent more than I earned that weekend working at her shop.

Back to the matchbox- those things are tiny, but you can jam a lot into them!

I found some old bunny shaped buttons, rhinestones, and some small ephemera goodies. To top it off, I put in another teeny bouquet of those posies from Curious Sofa and tied them up with black velvet ribbon.

Last week while Garage Sailing, I found an old jewelry box, for almost nothing and it had quite a bit of old jewelry in it (included in the price).

There just happened to be a bunny brooch inside!Just what I needed for my swap partner who loves bunnies. Fate?!

It is way too big for the matchbox, plus I wanted to add some copies of my little fairy girls too, so I wrapped them all up together in old silk wallpaper and tied it with a silk ribbon I hand dyed.

But the trouble is, now I am SWAPLESS!! I am all caught up and have no swaps to do. Although, I saw an art-doll hat swap that looks really unique…… take a look at it here: http://craftingbycandlelight.blogspot.com/

I was still up and working at 4am last night, so missed Garage Sailing this morning. I thought about just working till 6am, then going out sailing, but realized that I am way way way too old for those old tricks and went to bed for a few hours. I can’t go with out sleep like I used to when I was in my 20s and could stay out all night, then work the next morning.

We had company all day (family BBQ) and all I could think about was a nap.

This little nightstand used to be the right half of a desk. I got it cheap-cheap-cheap because it was butchered up a bit in the deconstruction.

Some wood putty, sand paper, primer and paint is all it needed to be a decent little hunk of furniture.

I was going to do more to it, but thought the hardware was so nice, I didn’t want to distract from it. Plus, it was about 3am.

Well, it is about midnight now, and if I want to go Garage Sailing tomorrow, I’d better get some rest. I cannot miss it two days in a row!! Its already near the end of June and my shopping days are slipping by. The season is just too short around here!!

Ps- the wierd mask is spoken for now.

ppss- don’t forget, only SEVEN DAYS till the drawing for the handpainted charm. leave a comment if you want to enter!

Dumpster redos

antiques/junking, flowers, Hand Painted Furniture, how-to projects, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 22, 2007

Today was mostly a day of primers and base coats. I spread drop cloths everywhere, set up card tables and got out a bunch of junk that needed to be painted white.

I found this little toy vanity/jewelry box at a garage sale last week for $2, and the weird mask thing was in the dumpster that I climbed into.

Presto chango- and abra cadabra- magically these pieces are now transformed.

A light sanding, 2 coats of bonding primer, and some white paint were added to all these items. Then, for the mask and the shelf that I also found in the dumpster, I added 3 more shades of white with a sponge.

Medium grade sand paper, lightly rubbed over the edges of the toy vanity gave the piece an aged feel. I added a vine of roses to the top of its oval mirror, then a garland of flowers to the bottom drawer.

I was glad I got to get some flowers done, because I had so many things to get a coat of white onto, plus visited with Sugarwings for a few hours today, did yard work and went to the grocery store TWICE.
Here is my list of what got base coated today:
the 4′ x 4′ mirror from last week’s garage sale (flowers to be added later)
toy vanity
weird mask thing (finished)
a piece of ceiling tin to add flowers to
part of a desk, cut in half and made into a nightstand -(pictures later, when I add the finishing touches)
the shelf from the dumpster (finished)
4 pieces of a magazine rack I found in the dumpster and took apart to make into wall hangings (pictures later)
a small gold frame that I added music paper and flowers to (finished)
a metal box with a lid to add flowers to later
a watering can to paint flowers onto

I am not sure about the odd mask. It is interesting, but Not My Style. Although, I do like a bit of funky stuff around. Maybe in the garden? Or maybe I’ll sell it, let me know if it is YOUR style.. $15?

Playing with Sugarwings was a good break in the afternoon. After she left, I finished up with the white and then had time to add some flowers.

I had bought this tiny frame (with an ugly picture in it) when I went on vacation last month and shopped at goodwill in Indianapolis. Today, I primed, and painted the frame, then glued down old sheet music. Over that I painted some flowers.

I distressed the frame slightly with sand paper, and coated the whole thing, picture, frame and all, with umber glaze and wiped it off. $35 if anyone wants to buy it. I will add it to my Etsy shop next week, or email me here before then.

My handsome son, Ryan, came down to the studio to talk while I painted. He’s good company and loves to chat. But, he is so shy with other people. I wish he’d meet a girl. He simply will not get out and meet people, and certainly will never find the love of his life playing his guitar or video games up in his apartment, or hanging out watching horror movies with his mom or staying up all night working out with the punching bag or watching wrestling on TV. That is all he does besides go to work.

He is my biggest worry in what I think is a pretty happy life. I just want him to meet someone he can be comfortable with, but he is so reclusive and shy. It certainly isn’t his looks holding him back, is it?? What a cutie.

Typical mom, I worry. I want this son to be as happy as Sugarwing’s dad is with his little family.

Sorry, I shouldn’t be running on like this is a diary and I am pouring out my problems. Back to some eye candy—

Michaels had swavorsky crystals on sale for $2 a bag.

I bought a few bags in different colors and shapes. Love the teardrops.

Oh, I forgot to add this soap dish to my list of what I base coated white today. It was brass before. I might add a glaze to give it some age and depth.

And here is another photo of my new cafe set, just because I like it and it is fun to get new things that don’t need anything done to them! No painting, no fixing, just unload it from the car and enjoy it!

But I did paint the cement cherub statue. She was spray painted gold, uck.