Thursday, April 28, 2011

Painting and Classes

It has been a few weeks of much progress!  I have resumed painting my outdated kitchen cabinets.  I am changing old dark kitchen cabinets into light yellow/cream color ( with a glazed for antiquing).  One more week and I hope to be completely done with the kitchen cabinets!  When they are done, I will post a before and after picture....

The downside of all this progress is that I have not been able to spend time and visit with my friends...near (Staci & Lisa) and far(June)!  As if painting kitchen cabinets isn't enough to keep me extremely busy during the day, I am trying to keep up with two on-line classes.  When I signed up I wanted to participate by doing the "classwork."  Well, I am behind but I have managed to participate to some degree.  I love to paint, but painting kitchen cabinets is really not fun for me. Now, painting on canvas is fun!  I have given up many hours of sleep to complete my first assignment for the She Art Workshop....but I think it was worth it.  I love that class!

I also love all things vintage and how to use old things in creative ways.  As an early Mother's Day gift, my gift is to take an on-line class with Jenni BowlinBig Picture Scrapbooking provides many on-line classes with many great teachers.  Jenni Bowlin's class is Re-purpose, Re-think, Re-invent; it's a 12 week course.  For the first week, the assignment was to create an inspiration board.  With each passing week, we are asked to post a new inspiration item.  Below is a picture of my inspiration board and the items that inspire me.  First week - mother of pearl vintage buttons (& button card). Second week - vintage postcard (found in Roundtop TX) with roses which remind me of my mom who inspires me to be creative.  Third week - felted wool butterfly...I love to work with felted wool from old wool sweaters and as most people who know me well know, I LOVE butterflies!  Last week I created a scrapbook layout using vintage milk caps using pictures from our recent tour of Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery in Brenham, TX.    I am learning so much...it's great.  And, yes, I have done my assignments late at night, but again....well worth it!



After reading about the She Art Workshop in Rachel Carlson's blog, I realized this course was perfect for me!  It's a mix media class that combines all my favorites....paint, paper (vintage, tissue, scrapbook, etc), various mediums (like texture paste), stamps, rub-ons, lace, ribbon....just about anything that can create layers and textures.

I have only had time to watch all the videos for week 1 but I was so inspired, I had to create the image in my head.  My first She Art had to have purple and butterflies!  Even when I am tired after a long day, sometimes I will find the energy to be creative late into the night.  I worked on her for two nights (until 1 a.m.) but I am so glad I did.  Here is my first She Art project:






 Here is the link to Christy Tomlinson blog where you can get all the details on her classes.  I can't say enough how much I love this class!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Round Top and Warrenton Texas Antiques!

We are now back home to Littleton Colorado!  We had a great trip to Texas.  We are so lucky to have spent time with our friends and family.  On Friday, April 1st, June and I were able to spend an entire day together.  Since we no longer live in the same city, spending time with her is really special to me.  First, we got to spend time on our car ride from San Antonio TX to Round Top TX.  Once we got there, we started out at the Big Red Barn.  You can find more details about  Round Top Antiques here.  I spent a lot of time at one booth, it had more buttons than I had ever seen in one place....it was wonderful!  The ladies were friendly and let me take lots of photos of their booth...Dusty's Vintage Tablecloth & Buttons.  I found they have a page on Facebook and sadly, only sell their buttons at shows. 


 

Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons



LOVED THESE...Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons


Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons

Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons

Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons

Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons

 
Dusty's Vintage Tablecloths & Buttons

After shopping at the Big Red Barn, June and I enjoyed a nice lunch at the Big Red Barn.  We wished we could spend the entire day here but we could not so it was time to decide our next stop.  Like two peas in a pod that we are, we decided to go to Warrenton TX ( a few miles) in search of antique bargains.

If you were to look for Roundtop or Warrenton TX on a map, you will see they are very small rural towns.  However, you might think you were in the middle of a major city when you realize how much time you sit in traffic, going from one place to another during these antique days!


We drove past tents and buildings (acres & acres) of vintage vendors...again, it would take days to properly see all the booths.  June and I parked across this sign and shopped...to give you perspective, we were able to only visit a fraction of the booths available in Warrenton.  It's overwhelming but fantastic at the same time.

I actually planned on taking lots and lots of photos but actually did not take as many as I thought I would.  I kinda forgot, I found I was just enjoying the show so much I forgot to take photos!  Afterwards, June drove me  to Austin, TX  (where my family was now at) and she returned home to San Antonio, TX.  It was a FANTASTIC DAY...thanks June!

Here are some of my favorite photos from Warrenton Antique Show: