Projects & more makeover

I was at Miss Janice's Monday evening and today working on her room makeover...however, I won't be posting pictures. She is currently out of town and I wouldn't want to ruin her surprise when she returns. SO...until she can spy with her own eyes the transformation of her rooms...I'll hold off posting pictures. I will let you know that most of the furniture is in place -and I did some "shopping" throughout the rest of her house to fill in some spots I thought needed a little "something." (That will peak her curiosity when she reads this...so she'll have to wait with the rest of you!)

BUT...I have been working on some other projects in my "down time"! To begin with I'm working on a collage' currently. I have some more to do, but here is the beginnings of the canvas with the initial back ground colors laid over the picture. I'll be offering the collage' class to the GriefShare group again this year. It was such a blessing last year and they decided they wanted to do it again.I've been working on this German embroidery for awhile. I have the "Gute Morgan" yet to finish. I used an old "ruined" damask tablecloth for my background. I cut away all the good that could be saved and saved the blue border to hopefully use on the finished pillow shams. This has not been a rush job, just work when I feel the spirit leading. Hopefully I will finish it this year!I have many new tablecloths and vintage fabrics that are ready to be re-purposed into new, useful items. All of these have holes, or "blemishes" that cannot be removed. This only forces creative license to work around all the imperfections. I can't wait to get started (but first...finish the room makeovers!)I save every scrap from my vintage fabrics and I've been working on smaller apron versions that can be hung on your Christmas Tree. I currently don't have any trees pulled out from storage, so my thread holder for my embroidery machine works just fine!On a recent outing I found this wonderful jar full of red buttons. I've already been able to use a couple on an apron and on a purse that needed a finishing touch! I have plenty more small aprons to sew...I also found a bolt of Valentine fabric while I was out. I've been working on some Valentine ideas (never too early to start.)I found this frame at a recent yard sale for pennies compared to a new one. I've been looking for something I could showcase these doll clothes. My grandmother made these when I was 7 for a Shirley Temple doll. The white corduroy coat is fully lined and the dress has a sash and very small snaps on the back. The hand work is beautiful. Perfect stitches - even on the little pockets and the rick rack.And last, but not least...I recently re-surfaced the walls in my guest bath. I used a smooth stucco and troweled it on the walls. I found a stencil I really liked and also troweled it onto the stencil around the top of the walls. Once completed I mixed painted the wall a solid beige, then rubbed red diluted with glaze. The nooks and crannies in the wall and the stencil edges took the red and held the color as I worked around the room. It's a pretty small room, so didn't take too long. I really like the over all affect! Well...hopefully my next blog will show the completed pictures of Miss Janice's new living room and dining room. I really like how the two flow together...oh...I might give too much away!

SO...till next time!!!