It's been a while...

It's been a while since posting.  I was in a funk.  It takes allot out of some people when it comes around to that time of year and then to write more than a week's worth of blog posts about 9-11.  I don't know that I'll do it next year... but I will NEVER FORGET!

I also started taking a new medicine and am trying to quit smoking which both seem to be kicking my ass!  If it's not my stomach, I want a nap!  But I am doing what I can to stay busy, especially keep my hands busy.  I've taken to painting canvas boards.  It's a means to keep my hands busy, practice for my bedroom mural and there will be a Craft Fair here that I hope to sell these at.  I also want to do wooden painted pictures with sayings, so I'm hoping all goes well.

Here are the backgrounds I have worked on:

None of them are finished and some need more work done to them.  But what I am trying to do too is find "my" style.  I lean towards certain colors, to me seeming more tropical than coastal/nautical.  As much as I like the backgrounds alone, I am still working on palm trees (for my mural).  I do want to do some backgrounds alone for sayings on signs.  

And then I sanded and spray painted this chair.  It's in rough shape and was along side the dumpster.  I'm thinking some rope wrapped around the back and in the grooves of the legs, painting on the seat and saying... to make it into a desk chair.

Day 2: My journey ends at THE BEACH


And then there is this:

I don't know what I was thinking... I started with the palm tree, then in between adding the  sun, I realized I was painting backwards.  So I have to prime the door and start over:  background first!

So that's what I've been up to.... what about you?

The day I decided to talk to a chair!

There are things that just hit me and lodge in my brain and an old man talking to an empty chair is one of them.  Before you say anything, I don't really care if he made sense to you.  To me, as he stammered, I was genuinely concerned for Clint Eastwood, and seriously wondered if he was OK.  But he was and in keeping my sense of humor, I'd like to tell you the story about "The day I decided to talk to a chair".

My chair, was a boring white Adirondack chair that sits on my patio.  I have been working on my patio since I moved in here and have been trying to add color as I go along.  I don't mean to hurt my chair's feelings but white just doesn't cut it!  I love the Margaritaville painted chairs but they are out of my league.

So over the Labor Day weekend, Sunday to be exact, I went outside with my coffee to have a talk with my chair!

I started by washing it off... and as I am bent over scrubbing, I hear this fluttering sound...I think I hear voices too... over head!  I'm talking to my chair and I hear voices... happy, excited voices!  Oh dear....am I losing it??

I look around and look up... 

 Oh thank God!!!  I love watching them slowly and almost aimlessly float around and head down below the trees... It's not something I would ever consider doing at this point but I so enjoy watching them.

Skydive Space Center

It was a perfect day for jumping and even perfect for watching!

So back to my chair... 
we were talking about how...Life is good.

and I thought... what a sunny day...

and beautiful clear blue skies....

just a wonderful glow of the sun.....

and wonderful sandy beaches....

and as we talked, my chair and I, we decided we needed a "little palm tree in our world"...

swaying in the tropical breeze....

and remembering that Life is good.

There are birds in "our" sky...

And my dog and I decided to take a walk along the beach, and of course she had to run around the waters edge!

As it was such a beautiful day, gentle waves rippled...

Happy Labor Day!!

So when I went out this morning, to check on my chair, and took a look... it needed a dune fence and some grass along the beach side.

and some grass along the arms...

As I looked....
I decided, it needed just one more thing....

But what??

FINS UP!

 Life...IS...good.

The above picture and saying is borrowed from Paintin Place Decorative Art Studio, who, after the 2 chairs I've completed, has inspired me to do a mural in my bedroom!

  I shared this on the DIY Project Parade.

Just FYI: my shell drawer table

I think my Starfish lamp  (from Ocean Styles) is the perfect finishing touch to this little table!  I wanted to tell you how easy it was to do a presto-change up of this table I've had for years!

Now this is before I was smarter and paid attention to what I was doing so I'll tell you my recommendations rather than what I think I did. 

1. Clean the entire table well and let dry;
2. Give it a light sanding and wipe with damp cloth to get any sand dust.
3. Prime and let dry;
4. Paint; I used sand textured spray paint on the drawer after taping paper around so not to spray anything else but the drawer front.
5. Paint the table; I used the same ACE Paint- Going My Way, as I used on the living room walls;
6. I used the primer in spots and then sanded to distress;
7. I gave it a few days to dry before I added shells to the drawer on top of the sand paint and topped it off with a LandShark beer bottle cap on top of the knob.  FINS UP!
8. Last, you really should, at least, coat or seal the top!

Let it sit for a few days to really dry.

I used it for my printer before moving everything around.

FINS UP!

perfect!!

ta-da!

I think I may have to just add some of my starfish here and it is complete!!