Finding My Joy

                                                      Me: "Oh NO - I lost my joy!!!!
                                                      Bob: "What?"
                                                      Me: "I can't find it - I misplaced my joy!"
                                                      Bob: "What?"
                                                      Me: "You know, the small mixed media collage
                                                               I was working on last night."

And then it hit me - I was talking about misplacing a physical object - a small work of art that I had been working on, but a spiritual message was right there in front of me!

How often have I misplaced my joy? It feels like it's lost, but really it's there, deep down inside, just waiting for me to rediscover it.

Ann Voscamp talks about the word "Eucharisteo," giving thanks. Tucked inside of Eucharisteo is the word Charis, meaning grace. And tucked inside Charis is Char, the root word for Joy. Ann talks about her discovery that Joy is most often found tucked inside Thanksgiving. Reading her work has challenged me to find my joy though moment-by-moment thanksgiving.

Have you misplaced your joy? Take a moment to thank God for the smallest gift of grace in your life - the warmth of the sun on your face, the sticky, chubby hand of a toddler, the rainbow colors in a soap bubble . . . It's in slowing down and staying alert in the moment that we recognize God's everyday gifts. And it's in giving thanks to the Giver of all good gifts that we find our joy.

GIVE - SAVE - SPEND

For Christmas this year, Bob & I decided we would create presents for our 11 grands that would help pass on our values. As a Financial Wellness Coach  Bob is passionate about helping people become wise managers of their resources. We decided to make the kids some "Give - Save- Spend" banks.

At first I thought I'd use old cheese boxes to hold the jelly jars, but they are considered "antiques" now and cost more than we wanted to spend. Who knew?!? 

Sooo . . . . Bob build some long narrow boxes for me, and I sprayed them with a gray prime

I used our printer and made a copy of all their names.

Then I used graphite paper (like carbon paper but not as messy) to trace them on the boxes.

Next I painted their names on and antiqued the  wood. 

I used chalk paint, but acrylics would work great, too.

OK - so 11 kiddos are ALOT! Five Girls and Six Boys

Then I made labels with some of our favorite money verses to put on the inside of the boxes

I bought Jelly jars and got special replacement slotted lids at JoAnn's to turn them into banks.

VOILA!


We did a very short teaching about what Grandpa
believes about money and gave them the banks.
Then we gave them each baggie of  money to put in their jars.

We made some great memories
and passed on some of our values in the process.
SUCCESS!

I LOVE TEXTURE!

Final Painting: Winter Birches

Started with this and re-purposed it:

I saw this painting at the Good Will - a nice canvas with frame for $20 - but not what I would use in my one or office. I decided to take it home and repurpose it. 

I actually forgot to take a picture of it before I started - so this is the original painting with my first coat of Elastomeric Custom Patch from Home Depot. It's a great product to inexpensively add a nice thick texture to a painting.

- I turned the painting sideways.

- I sketched the trees on the canvass with chalk - right over the other painting.

- I texture it with Custom Patch.

Next I started pairing the background, allowing some of the colors form the old painting to show through. I did not paint anything on the trees yet, and this is what it looked like:

Next I began painting the trees

After it was dry I used a permanent fine point marker to  add some "flowy details." Here you can also see some of the texture coming through.

I painted the brassy metal frame with charcoal grey chalk paint. Here is the final painting, ready to hang in the hallway of the Heart of Wisconsin - right across from our office door.

Old Door - New Accent

Saw this door by the side of the road and asked permission to rescue it! It was the perfect piece to add  a little color to the corner of my garden, and the price was right. Two coats of Annie Sloan  Provence with Greek Blue trim - straight from the can - and it's good to go!

Gourds - Who Knew?!?

Bob & I were in St. George Utah visiting his sister, Anne who makes beautiful gourds. I had a fun time visiting her weekly "Gourd Lady Group," and it was really inspiring! She let me take a stab at it, so here's my finished product. I'm sure I'll try another one . . . looks like it could be addicting!

Can you believe the "Wisconsin Gourd Society" is having their annual festival in Madison next weekend?!?!?!? I may have to swing down and take a look!

My very first gourd design

1. I chose a gourd & penciled on a design

2. I used a small drill at the top and bottom of each point;
Then I used Anne's little saw to cut the top into the cover

3. I used the wood burner to outline the design

4. Color was liquid acrylics and gourd dyes;

The inside was painted with acrylics.

5. I managed to get it home on the airplane in one piece!

Applied a little more color and sprayed it with clear satin acrylic.

Ta-da! Thanks Anne!

Master Makeover

Master Makeover

The tired brown on this chair and
a cedar chest was painted white

My 2013 Christmas present from Bob was to plan a makeover for our master bedroom. Well.... We got busy with life and this fall I realized that I still hadn't cashed in on that one! So I got to work and finalized my color choices - and we blocked off time to make it happen before Christmas of 2014. Dark woodwork was painted white, and tired yellow walls were painted a yummy shade of aqua. Here's the result!

Original furniture looks fresh and new
against the new wall color

Before:

Time for the border print and stenciling to go!

Details, Details!

Aqua medallion for the ceiling fan

Found this old grate an an estate sale - love it!

Old brass sconce was antiqued

Closet door knobs form Hobby Lobby

Love the window seat!

Still need to add my photos to these frames on the wall
of the hallway leading into the room

Lamps were antiqued, shutters were dry-brushed yellow to go with
the textured duvet cover from Pier 1

Go Kate Go!

So let me take a moment to say how thankful I am for my daughter, Kate. Back in the day I prayed for a girl, and God answered that prayer with my darling Kate . . . Even way back then I thought about how much fun it would be to have someone who might share some creative interests . . .

Well God certainly does answer prayer! Kate has really come into her own in recent years, and I absolutely love her creativity and style!

This is one of the smaller

bookcases before we painted. 

Last spring when I was there she talked me into helping her paint their dark bookcases white - quite a project because she had a lot of bookcases since they sell books online - but boy did they turn out great!

Here are a few before and afters.

Done painting and starting to put the books back in place

One of the things I really chuckle about is her ability to recognize potential in throw-away pieces. She is constantly spying things by the side of the road in Baton Rouge, picking them up, and breathing new life into them  . . . like this great old piece with a hole in the back! She popped out the back, painted it yellow, and added some baskets. Voila!

A few weeks ago she was driving down the street and a guy was putting this great old, well-used desk at the side of the road. She screeched to a halt and told him she was interested if he was really getting rid of it. He said yes and even popped it into his truck and delivered it for her! Ha! That's my girl! So this week she decided the desk would join her white bookcases . . . .

Go Kate go!
I love it!