Purging Monday

     Actually, I should say Saturday, Sunday and Monday since we have been tackling one room each day. Saturday was the living room, Sunday the dining room and today the kids and I tackled the pantry. Our pantry is also the laundry room and was in serious need of decluttering, purging, dusting and organizing. We went to town! And when my sweet hubby got home all tired from a hard day at work, he took the time to put up a new shelf that required a trip to the hardware store. We now have mountains of things for the garage sale that I am intent on hosting on Thursday and Friday. The tourists will be landing for the Cherry Festival and it is a perfect time to have a ginormous garage sale.
     Tomorrow we have the kitchen and back hall to overhaul. I actually got a couple cupboards in the kitchen started today, and thankfully it is a very small tunnel type of kitchen (though this is something I also lament about being so fond of the kitchen and cooking) so it isn't the massive job it could be. The back hall is another story. It is not a big space, but most of it is wasted. Our charming bunny "Stella" lives in it in his cage, but he only takes up a 2x2 foot space, the rest is basically all clutter, except for the recycling bins, of which there are two, that can easily be moved right into the garage which is adjacent to the back hall. My youngest daughter and I debated about all the things we could do with that little space and finally decided on turning it into a reading and game room. Yup. It will need a couple coats of paint, the bunny will have to move (the location is still tbd, but I just can't give the bunny almost the same amount of space that the kids have for their bedrooms) and we will need to relocate a book shelf or two, but it really has so much potential. It can be cozy and artsy with a mural or mosaic, some fun lighting and some pieces of art that really need to go up. I am  really psyched about this little project. I suppose I should take some before and after photos starting tomorrow.

     Speaking of photos, here is a photo of my daughters' new goldfish. I don't know why, but I felt like getting them some goldfish. One now lives in an old fashioned fish bowl in my youngest daughter's room and the other lives in a small tank that my kids bought for me one Mother's day in my older daughter's room. I did warn them that goldfish sometimes don't live very long but that we could afford to replace them, unless they started dying everyday or every other day. I have a really colorful curtain that looked quite cool behind the fish bowl, colorful, almost circus-like in the photo. Doesn't look like that without the fish bowl in front of it, lol, not at all! My son said he was content with the bunny and did not want a goldfish. But maybe he'll change his mind.

     And then there is my new Gall Bladder badge/patch. I'm feeling so much better, obviously, though the fat free diet is still a pain in my patootie. However, I can report that I must have lost at least five lbs since my brand spankin' new clam diggers are now so loose I have to roll the waist band. Yes I'm thrilled to have lost any weight, but bummed about not fitting into my cute new pants! Life is full of balance right?

Project Updates and New Beads

     I am working on the second phase of my upcycled art supply train case. The paint is dry and I've been adding the collage elements. A couple borders and images that I like, including photos of my four kids on the lid. I think I'll add another border to the edge of the lid, above the silver toned metal border. I've also stamped the words "Art Goodies" on top and plan on stamping and writing a lot more words onto the case. I would like to add some shading to the collage, but haven't decided what would be best. It will all need to be sealed at some point too.

Any suggestions for the sealing compound would be appreciated. I will start painting the new "used" train case today, I'm thinking it would be lovely in a bold shade of pink or bright lime green with a theme of food and cooking, including a couple of recipes for real and imagined goodies. I might even be able to add some food or kitchen type charms to it. Maybe a couple of my glass food beads, like a cupcake or ice cream sundae?

     Another project I am in the middle of is repainting a pair of worn Dansko shoes. I love these shoes, they are so comfy and supportive. As someone who has to deal with Plantar Fascitis, I have to wear good shoes as often as possible and of course the good shoes are always the most expensive! So I wanted to extend the life of this particular pair of shoes. They were originally a dark burgundy/wine color. I love the blue of

the train case so much that I decided the shoes wanted to be blue too. I cleaned them with alcohol first to remove what was left of the finish. Then I painted them with two coats of the blue acrylic paint over the next few days. Most recently, I added black stitches with permanent marker. I'm still deciding what to do for my next step. I want to draw some faces on them and then add some glitz like rhinestones...we'll see.

     And finally, after over 6 months, or 7 or 8, I've sparked up my torch and made a few beads. It was great to melt some glass again, but after I made a few beads, my mind went blank and I couldn't think of a thing to make! I was overwhelmed with all the possibilities and just froze, it was not a good feeling. So I decided to run the kiln with what I had already made and just call it a night. I did have one of them crack, I let it cool too much before putting it into the kiln to anneal. But it will be a gorgeous piece for a mosaic! Always a silver lining...