MIA - again!

Its been forever since I last did a post, I know, but I spend so much time reading and commenting on everyone elses blogs I don't have the enthusiasm to do my own! I will back track now to the end of March when I took on so much work I thought I would collapse! I am so fortunate to have such good friends who are willing to employ me, keep me fed and watered and put up with my complaining - you are such kindred spirits and you know who you are!  So, I will start with the bathroom renovation...
This was a major undertaking but well worth the effort. My dear friend Nena bought this house 10 years ago but had never lived in it due to traveling the world with her husband and family. A great investment but in dire need of some updates. So we chose to start with the master bathroom. Out came walls, vanities, toilets, laundry shoot and the like and in less than a month --- a bathroom fit for a king!! (or queen for that matter).

Below are the before and after shots.

 

 View from bathroom to master bedroom (no door!)

Progress!

 We added a larger window to give more natural light to the room

We picked this up at ReStore (habitat for humanity) for a mere $80!

 A huge shower in place of the closet

 At last - a door!

 And a soaking tub - what more could you ask for?

 We purchased the double vanity with marble top from Craig's List for a song!  I striped the oak finish base and stained it in a mocha/coffee color then added new handles

 Separate thrown room!

 Seamless glass shower door - yummy! 

 We got the mirror from a thrift store.  It has beautiful carved oak leaves around the frame.  I sanded it and stained it to match the vanity.

I don't think these pictures do it justice as it is now such a beautiful room.  It has heated flooring, double headed shower, ambient lighting and faux finished walls.  But I hope you get the idea.

Nearly everything was purchased on the cheap.  Wall and floor tiles from Home Depot, light fixtures ,faucets, towel rails, shelving from Lowes, and most of the accessories from thrift stores!

It was an absolute pleasure working with Nena - she is the sweetest person in the world!  And she kept me fed and watered throughout this whole renovation!

Lots more of my other 'projects' to follow soon.

Hoping you have a wonderful fun filled week

Anji

Gone in a flash!

We were lucky enough to have Spring for 4 days here in Virginia - then it disappeared again! I did manage to get some photos of my rapidly fading tulips and thought it would be nice to share them with you just so we can all remember what Spring might look like again next year!

Hoping you all have a great week ahead...

Art Is Hard!

It's been a busy week of ceiling painting, faux finishing and commuting and alas, not much time to do anything really creative. But I did manage to squeeze this artwork in this morning before going to work. You know, art really can be hard when you have no ideas running through your head and the weather is just blah and you are simply exhausted! I did have a wonderful weekend away with the 'girls' though last weekend and as soon as I get a chance to sort through my photos I will fill you in with some of the frolicking we got up to!



Enjoy the rest of your week!

More Freebies

As promised - more vintage photos for you to use in your artwork.

Hope you are enjoying your day!

Some Freebies for you

I have had a lot of spare time on my hands over the last 5 days due to the blizzard of 2010 (the new official name for the snow storm we have just had!) and have not been able to get out of the house. It gave me a chance to go through the numerous old photos I have been collecting forever an I thought I would share some with you. Please feel free to use them in your artwork or for anything else. I would love to see what you do with them!

Left click to view large, right click to save

I'll post some more tomorrow.

P.S. If anyone has a tip on uploading more than one picture at a time could you please let me know. I have tried to do it so many times and it never works - thanks!

Lessons Learned

Lesson number 1: You know when those nice people on the weather channels tell you that there is a storm of epic proportion coming your way ~ listen! I, for one, did not. I was all set to go away on Friday morning to a little retreat up in the hills of Shenandoah for a much needed bit of R&R. My girl friends and I had been planning this trip for weeks: a bit of arting, food, wine, chatting and generally just to get away from the stresses of the world and Zen out! Come Wednesday the weather forecast was for heavy snow in northern Virginia and the D.C. area, somewhere between 12 and 24 inches. I was having none of it and insisted to everyone that it would all be okay, just being hyped up and we should still go. Along comes Thursday with even more panic and frantic calls to call off the whole thing, we can always plan another trip when the weather gets better. No, not me, I was still having none of it. Mmm ~ bad idea. When I eventually admitted defeat on Thursday evening and fell into a sulk, I had really not planned on getting supplies in for being housebound for an indefinite period because I was so annoyed at the inconvenience. So Friday it snowed and snowed and snowed! And Saturday it continued relentlessly. When all was said and done, Gainesville had managed to accumulate 31 inches on top of the 6 inches from the Tuesday before. I was stranded ~ alone ~ with no milk for my tea! I spent the best part of 5 hours yesterday trying to unearth my car and make an escape route to civilization! But even today (Monday) the roads are treacherous, there are still over 100,000 people without electricity and I still have no milk! I have severe cabin fever and knew it was getting worse today when I started making my cat some 'kitten mittens' out of duct tape so he get out to pee! So lessons learned from this past weekend: Be prepared and listen to the weather forecast!

My backyard

Ice in my bird bath

And on a more somber note ~ Below is the most recent photo my husband sent to me from Haiti. I think this says it all really. He will be coming back home some time in early March so that will be somewhat of a relief for me. He says things are moving very slowly over there at the moment. Supplies are very limited and disease is everywhere. My heart goes out to the people suffering this tragic disaster.

Haiti


I'm sure I will have plenty of more time on my hands over the next few days to update my blog. We have another snow storm coming this way tomorrow afternoon through Wednesday! Yippee!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Don't Count Your Chickens...

A New Day Dawns

And now it is suddenly January 24th and I did not, for one moment, stick to my new years resolution! I had every intention mind you, but things come along in life so unexpectedly and we are powerless to change them.
When I first heard about the earthquake in Haiti my first thoughts were 'how could this happen and what can I do to help'. I think everyone felt the same at the time but little did I realize that my husband would be whisked away to help with the relief effort - indefinitely. I am so glad that he had the opportunity to do his bit but I must admit (and I am being a bit selfish here) I am constantly worried about his safety. I feel that I have spent the last few months in a state of disbelief and this just adds to my state of mind. During the frenzy of trying to get him ready and on a plane, a very close friend of mine was taken seriously ill and was on life support. I spent a lot of time trying to contact her friends, letting them know her condition, as I felt they would want to send out some positive energy and prayers for her and her family. All I can say is that thank god, after three soul searching days - she woke up. She will be fine but she has a lot of recovering to do and a very long road to travel. I only hope that her family and friends will be allowed to travel it with her.
So, with all my good intentions out the window I think I will just have to come up with a new resolution. One that is very flexible and I don't feel guilty about if I break it! Maybe I will just learn to knit or crochet... on second thoughts.
I did manage to do some digital artwork during my week of mayhem and I must admit I am very chuffed with it. While I was back in the U.K. I managed to scan lots of old family photos and send them to myself via email for when I got back home. I then cropped and re sized and played around with the resolution and saturation and made them into a family tree. I started this project weeks ago and was so glad when I finally got around to finishing it last week. I think it is such a lovely keepsake for my family and is so much nicer than keeping those memories in a shoe box!
If enough people are interested I will try and write a tutorial on how to do it in Photo Shop but as you may have figured out by now - nothing ever really goes the way I plan it so don't hold your breath!

Reflection

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Love Anji