"The QUILTED Bee"

Sometimes I find inspiration by writing out lists of topics and then trying to think of as many items concerning that topic as I can to create a pleasant composition...

This is the process I used to create  

"THE QUILTED BEE".

First I decided it would be about sewing, so then I started thinking about sewing notions, machines, pins etc.

The CANDY Shack

The inspiration for this piece came from an episode of "Sarah's Cottage", a series that follows designer Sarah Richardson as she designs her own cottage.

In the episode where she is decorating her kitchen, she came across a vintage GROCERY sign at a salvage store.
To view the episode click on the link and go to video named KITCHEN / DINING ROOM / LOUNGE episode #5 part 3, HGTV Sarah's Cottage Video

Now, the sign she found was originally dark but as you saw she ended up with a muted colour scheme to match her kitchen. I am not partial to the pale colour, but the idea was burned into my mind.

As you can see in the photo above, my colours are NOT muted at all. In fact, they are so vibrant that I feel like I have stepped into a cartoon world when I look at it!

My Latest Photography

When I showed my Mom this photo, she was captivated by the fact that the fly only has one wing...She couldn't help but wonder what happened to it.

I have been experimenting with my camera lately to try and understand more of its functions.  I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about photography...I just know what I like!

It also doesn't hurt that I have a professional photographer living nearby...To show how little I actually know, I went over one day to ask him if he could tell me what in the world DPI also known as PPI are!!!  He was kind enough to explain .  (It means DOTS PER INCH or PIXELS PER INCH, it has to do with photo resolution.  If you have a reading of 72 PPI or better, the resolution will remain in focus when you blow it up)

I would like to say thank you Peter for your patience and encouragement.
Take a look at his beautiful work... http://www.marsmanphotographic.com/index.html

"TO BUY, OR NOT TO BUY", that is the question.

"TO BUY,  OR NOT TO BUY", that is the question.

Like many of you out there, I have accumulated a reference library over time.

I have purchased a few craft books focusing on one or more of my interests, I have also collected various clippings of old ads (some for their interesting font styles, vibrant colours or simply the image itself), I also have a collage of iron or wooden furniture pieces from old discarded magazines and even have fabric images and actual samples.

If you see something you like the texture, colour or composition of, save it... and put it in a folder or box. 

This is how you will develop your own personal reference library. 

You may not even know why an item caught your eye in the first place, but it did and the reason will become apparent someday...you may be looking for something entirely unrelated a year or even ten down the road and come across this item and all of a sudden you are totally inspired to create!

How Distressing!!!!

How Distressing!!!

In this post, I will show you how simple it is to distress a piece of furniture.

This technique can be applied to anything that is made of wood, MDF or even metal.  The only thing that changes is the type of paint you use.

The distressed style, also known as shabby chic is not for everyone.  I however, happen to love it.

As you can see from the photo to the left, I started with a simple primed, pine shelf that I found in the garbage.