Painting the Roses White

Chalkboard Plaque

2011-09-05T23:38:00.001-06:00

Wall decor always poses a challenge to me for some reason and the nursery wall decor was no exception. I fell in LOVE with these little vintage chalkboard wall hangings on the RH Baby website and so I ordered the large rectangle one with a special spot in mind to hang it!

credit: RH Baby & Child

BUT... unfortunately RH has sent me 4 different "sorry for the shipping delay" emails and so I got too impatient. Yet again I figured I could make my own version...even though I was SO looking forward to this one.

Credit: RH Baby & Child

I had no idea where I was going to get 'coloured' chalkboard paint...so I looked up online how to make your own coloured chalkboard paint and while at Michaels picking up supplies for the concoction low and behold I found that not only does Martha Stewart carry the PERFECT gray chalkboard paint but she also had shades in mint, and robins egg blue and of course black which I picked up as well! Martha you rock!

I also picked up some champagne coloured ribbon and chalk!

For the MDF board I needed I went to Home Depot where I rummaged through the scraps and found this perfect sized piece...and since it was my lucky day the guys at home depot sent me on my way free of charge!

I used a dinner plate and a measuring tape to try and get the cuts right. I admit they are a little off but it just adds a not so perfect touch which I don't mind. Here is my final product, complete with a French saying to welcome our baby home to!

Giddy-up!

2011-09-05T23:13:00.000-06:00

Although I did order a few items from the Restoration Hardware Baby site, I set out to create a few 'look-a-like' things of my own. One nursery item I fell in love with was this little vintage rocking horse off of the RH website...

credit: RH Baby & Child

At $149 it wasn't that out of our budget so I was considering ordering one.

Credit: RH Baby & Child

It was on an earlier trip to Michaels for something else that I spied the craft of the week which was this little raw wood rocking horse which actually gave me the idea to make my own version of the RH toy instead of ordering one...and at $39 I couldn't resist!

So off to Michaels Craft Store I went again...in search of the perfect craft paint for the task at hand. To my surprise the Martha Stewart Craft Paint was 40% off! Score!

I started out glazing the wood with the "rootbeer float" shade, then added the eye and some dark areas with the "vanilla bean" shade and finally white washed the whole horse with the shade called "wedding cake". And Voila! Baby's own RH dupe!

Nursery Inspiration

2011-09-05T22:28:00.000-06:00

One of the most exciting things I can think of is waiting until the day your baby is born to find out if it is a boy or a girl! Since we don't know the gender of our baby I set out to create a very neutral nursery that would be perfect for our baby boy or girl! One of my all time favourite decor stores is Restoration Hardware and so I have to admit I clocked many many hours on the RH baby & child website collecting ideas and inspiration for our little nest!

Here are all my favorite nursery inspiration photos:

credit: Decorpad

credit: Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

And there you have it... after hours of drooling over their website design gallery I chose elements of the rooms that made my heart sing and got my mojo back!

Earth to Rebecca!

2011-09-05T21:40:00.000-06:00

Hi guys! Wow it sure has been a long long while! Im pretty certain I've lost many of you along the way...and I apologise. But the past 8.5 months have been the busiest, craziest ones in my entire life! And I know I have said that before but cross my heart! So to start I should let you know that shortly after we got home from our Christmas Vacation in Palm Springs I learned that I was PREGNANT!!!!! I still can't believe it and here I sit ready to pop!

Right now I'm in my 35th week and the due date has been set for October 8th! We are actually taking some time off to travel back home to Victoria to have the baby!!!

So as far as this pregnancy goes (my first) I really have nothing to compare it to but I can tell you one thing....BOY OH BOY was I sick for the first 4.5 months. So sick that I had Nathaniel throw out ALL of our house hold area rugs, relocate the cat litter to the basement, and hide all my body lotions, perfumes, scented candles, and home fragrance oils :( Anything that smelled like anything HAD TO GO! Even our poor dogs got a lot less attention during those first months....poor fellas. I barely got through my last semester of my university degree....but am happy and relieved to say that on June 21st I graduated with my Biological Sciences degree! Just in time too as it was a goal of mine to complete my degree before having kids :)

So alas this is why I have all together abandoned the world of blogging. Pregnant, with almost every side effect I can think of, and scrambling to make it to class... I just didn't have any mind space or energy for any decorating, painting, or blogging. In fact, I JUST started and finished the nursery in the past few weeks...

So for the sake of this blog being somewhat of a journal of my life here in Edmonton I thought I`d post a few photos of the evolution of my 'bump'!

Here I am at 21 weeks...the first sign of a bump!

This is a pic at 7.5 months...getting bigger :)

And almost 8 months...

Here's a 3D ultrasound photo of our little dove!

32 weeks

34 weeks

Here's the most recent pic at 35 weeks!

We are so excited about this new adventure in our lives!!! And in only a matter of weeks we will have our very own little bundle of joy!

Bryophyte Art

2010-11-24T23:36:00.003-07:00

What are Bryophytes you might ask? Well the easy answer is Moss (and Hornworts and Liverworts)! And it just so happens one of my University courses this semester is all about these tiny little plants!

One of our lab classes we went on a field exercise to collect various species of these guys to get a feel for their diversity! So after the day was done and I had collected over 20 different kinds of moss, I had an idea!!! Why not make my own moss book plates? So I picked up a bunch of small cheap frames at Ikea and some paper and glue....

I carefully removed each species of moss from my lab book (I had taped them on LOL) and glued them onto the paper backings I cut to fit the frames. While the glue was drying I carefully wrote the scientific name of each moss on the paper and a few of the species unique growth/life characteristics! (these are easy to find via google)

Here they all are framed and ready to go up on the wall! You could really do this with so many different things although I really do think mosses are so perfect for this because there are so many different kinds, they are easy to find, and they add the most beautiful touches of green to your home! No matter how dry they get they won't lose their colour! And you can always fake the species genus name lol!!! I mean how often do we have a Bryophyte expert over? hee hee!

I can't wait to hang them up! I'm going to do a full wall of these!

Happy American Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

Lest we Forget

2010-11-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a whole year since my soldier left for Afghanistan! Last Rememberance Day Nathaniel had only been gone for 11 days. My sister and I attended a memorial service at Rundle Park here in Edmonton....watching the widows, parents, children, brothers, sisters and friends plant crosses for their lost loves...heartwrenching. I remember just looking at my sister and hoping this wouldn't be us next year on this day. It was a sobering reminder to the reality of what was going on in our lives.

This year, Rememberance Day has a whole new meaning to us. Rememberance Day has always had personal meaning in our family; my Grandma lost her first love Dennis in WWII and my Grandpa fought in the same war and lost two of his brothers. This year we have lost a few more that are close to us. Nathaniel lost five of his good friends in Afghanistan. So this blog post is my small tribute to them. To say thank you. To say we miss you. To say we will always remember. And never forget.

We Miss you Fitz

Boo!

2010-10-29T14:38:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again!!! Halloween! Witches, goblins, vampires, ghosts, and ghouls! Carving pumpkins, the smell of ginger and spice, and foggy nights! My favorite excuse to tell ghost stories and watch a favorite spooky movie every night! We watch scary movies a lot any way for fun, but when I know Halloween is coming up we literally have a scary movie marathon as a sort of a countdown! My favorite movies to watch around Halloween are the Shining, the Witches of Eastwick, Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, the Witches, the Hand that Rocks the Cradle, the Good Child, the Exorcist, Halloween, Sleepy Hollow, the Birds, Dracula, the Addams Family and SO many more....which are your favorite scary movies to watch?

I was searching online for some Halloween inspiration and my favorite arts and crafts are always found over at Martha Stewart! I just LOVE these pretty antique lace inspired pumpkins!

A new Halloween inspired use for those garden cloches!

A haunted pet cemetery in your front yard!

Just like Holly and Jessica I have a huge obsession with these black crows! I have a few from last year I dug up!

Eerie specimen jars!

I LOVE these wool pumpkins!

All you need is some garden clippings, a few drops of food colouring, and a few jars to make this ghoulish display!

(all photos above from Martha Stewart)

We had so much fun the other night carving up these pumpkins, roasting the seeds, and eating delicious pumpkin pie!

I tried a Martha Inspired lace pattern on my pumpkin and put a quick wash of cream coloured craft paint on it!

Here's our front porch with our creepy carvings!

I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Halloween weekend!!! And don't forget to keep your pets safe indoors :)

Birdcage Atrium

2010-10-12T21:59:00.000-06:00

A couple of Sundays ago my good friend Holly and I hit up an antique auction to score some new treasures!! Since I accidentally slept through the first two hours of the auction (oopsie) I rushed to meet with Holly and see if there was anything sweet left! And luckily there was!!! It seemed like birdcages were a popular item that day since they had 3 there up for auction! The first one was a gorgeous ornate black iron one which sold for more than either of us were willing to pay. So after the second birdcage sold, I had my eye on the third!....duh duh duh... You guessed it, I'm now the proud owner of that birdcage..... and a beautiful old mantle mirror, spending a total of $70.

I always loved old birdcages and this one was no exception...but the true excitement for me is what Holly suggested I do with it....convert it into a plant atrium!

The first chance I had, I flew on over to the most gorgeous garden center imaginable...Wellington. Holly showed me this hidden gem of a store over a year ago and I've been dreaming of secret gardens ever since!

I lucked out too because it just so happened Wellington was having a 70% off sale! You don't say!

There were so many to chose from, too many! Herbs, succulents, grasses, ferns, little flowering plants, and pots galore! I wanted something useful so I chose a combination of herbs and some lavender for the beautiful fragrance! I chose a cute little fern, two types of lavender, bluegrass, rosemary, thyme, and some woolly thyme (fuzzy leaves).

I loved these grey terracotta pots which came in all shapes and sizes...I thought these were perfect for my caged little garden!

I loved how old and worn these pots looked and some of the plants even had bits of moss growing on the soil.

Nathaniel even expressed how much he loved our new plant atrium! I was actually surprised he noticed!

I haven't had the best track record with plants in the past... but so far so good with these little guys. And since I love my little atrium so much I've been extra good at taking care of my little photosynthesizing friends :) I must say it's nice to have some plant life around here.

Bathroom Reveal

2010-09-28T23:05:00.001-06:00

I can't quite remember if I've ever posted a BEFORE picture of the bathroom we have been working so hard on...well in case I haven't...here is the before shot of our guest bathroom:

And without further adieu....here is the AFTER....in all it's SPLENDOR (yes I'm in LOVE):

I really couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. And to think I did 98% of the work on my own! I must say...I am one proud chica :) The paint colour I used on the walls is Benjamin Moore White Dove.

There are still a few small odds and ends to pull together to bring it to completion...a couple areas to re-grout, a small area on the wall to sand and repaint, and of course I MUST buy that gorgeous Anthro shower curtain I've been drooling over. I have literally gone in the store 3 times...picked it up and put it down right before making it to the checkout. On my student budget I can't really talk myself into the $115 price tag...just yet!

The wall art was an easy choice for this bathroom! My mom passed down these two sailboat sketches to me on our last visit home. I am SO happy I get to have them....I always loved and admired them growing up...thanks MOM!

The Mirror is a VERY old antique I picked up on a recent trip to one of our local antique malls. It just so happens that I have TWO antique malls within walking distance of my University classes...look out :)

Now that I can look back on it, I realise how fun this project actually was. I learned so much about tiling and plumbing! And I actually am going to be looking for another antique dresser to turn into a vanity for our master bathroom very soon!

Here is a breakdown of the cost:

*Antique vanity $35

*tile - free...thanks Dad and Leah

*grout, mortar, & tile supplies $100

*paint & paint supplies $50

*Antique Mirror $120

*Light Fixture (Martha Stewart, Home Depot) $79

*Faucet $189

*Sink (American Standard) $134

*Plumber (to fix the things I couldn't) $175

GRAND TOTAL: $882

Since we spanned this project over a month and a half it didn`t seem to cost a whole lot. Kitchens and bathrooms are so important in a house. Especially for resale. They can also cost a lot more to remodel. I can honestly say I probably wouldn`t have even started a project like this without the incentive of free tile! And luckily, since we spent nothing on the tile, I was able to splurge on the sink, faucet, and mirror! I think when I do our master bath I will try and keep the budget at $500...now that will be a challenge...but who doesn`t like a good challenge every now and again!

Antique Dresser turned Vanity

2010-09-02T23:31:00.018-06:00

Hopefully in less than a weeks time I can show off the final reveal for this bathroom makeover! The vanity and floor are complete! Plumbing and all! The only things I have left to tackle besides a few odds and ends are a new shower curtain (hoping to get another pretty Anthro one), a vanity mirror, new light fixture, and PAINT!!!!

Here is a somewhat tutorial on how to transform a dresser into a custom vanity!

First things first...since I am not putting a slab of marble or any other hard surface on top of this piece, I made sure I lacquered the dickens out of the top of it so it could withstand a lot of splashing and water droplets in the years to come! Once dry, I took the sink 'cut-out' template that came with the sink and made a few modifications of my own (specifically, I made the 'cut-out' quite a bit smaller, so the strength of the vanity would be less compromised. I wanted to be able to cut out JUST ENOUGH for the sink to fit snug :)

I cut out the center of the template, so I had a mock paper sink, and the center was the area of wood to be removed. I secured the template with painters tape and traced the inner square onto the dresser.

I actually had step-by-step photos of how to do all this but I think I accidentally deleted them in the process :(

After the square was traced, I removed the template and drilled a hole inside the square so that my skill saw blade had somewhere to start the cut-out process....I then pushed the saw towards the line drawn cut-out and trying my VERY BEST to stay on the lines, cut out the square.

Voila! I'm pretty proud of myself :) As you can see (ahem...the right side of the cut-out), it's not perfect! But it did the job because when I took that sink and plopped it in the hole, it FIT!!!! First time was a charm in this case (this never happens for me)!!!!

I assembled everything up in the bathroom and called a plumber to re-attach the pipes. I could have done this part on my own, but after tackling the toilet myself, I thought I'd sit back and watch on this one :P

As you can see, the walls are still needing paint, and that's the very next thing on my list.

Refitting the drawers was pretty easy as well. Using a measuring tape, I marked where the pipes were on the wooden drawers. Then I took my same handy skill saw and cut out space for the pipes. Using some 1/4" wood I made new drawer edges on the inside of the drawers, using a combination of glue and the odd nail to keep them in place.

I can't wait to tie all the odds and ends together in this bathroom. I love looking at it and knowing that we put the whole thing together. So far the WHOLE project has cost us less than $500!

I'm also seeking your opinions on this one little detail! These pretty antique looking faucet handles came with FOUR combinations as options!!! Stainless or Antique ceramic? English or Francais? (I kinda like the french writing for a touch of whimsy...so I think I'm sold on that idea)...but I really want to know what you think about the two handle finishes??

Stainless?

Or antique ceramic?

I start my last university semester next Wednesday so I NEED to get myself in gear and paint BEFORE I get swamped with biology homework! Someone please light a fire under me :)

Also, any thoughts on paint colours? I'm definitely going with a sort of white in here. Since there are no windows I want to keep it airy and fresh...but I'm wondering what undertone will compliment the mix of cream in the dresser and cool greys in the tiles?

~Happy Long Weekend Everyone~

Bathroom Update

2010-08-22T20:23:00.000-06:00

I have to be honest and admit that what I thought would take a weekend has turned into a 3 week ordeal! The tiling part was by far the easiest part of this reno believe it or not! Since we are SO close to crossing the finish line on this one I thought I would do a quick update on the floor portion and leave the final reveal for a later day.

Since our home is only 5 years old I was told the glue under our linoleum would still be a little soft and therefore it would be much easier to screw in a thin sub floor over top of the linoleum than to peel it up and scrape off all the glue. SO we gutted the bathroom (to find a plumbing nightmare...which I won't bore you with but I will say this: make sure you have shut off valves installed to the water lines supplying the sink if you don't plan on installing a new sink right away!) Then I screwed down a sub floor with 1/4" plywood.

The sub floor took no time at all and by raising the floor 1/4" plus the thickness of the tile I also had to make two other adjustments when the floor was all said and done: shave down the bottom of the door to allow room for the door to fit and add a closet flange extension to the toilet so that the flange would be flush/a little above the newly installed tile (I am an expert at installing toilets now LOL).

A cool trick I learned while helping Tony install our hardwood floors is that in order to get the new floor to fit nicely under the door jams is to put a small piece of the new floor plus the sub floor up against the door jam so you have the new floor height. Then take a saw (there are much easier saws to use than the hand saw I used) and rest it against the top of the sample piece of floor and saw horizontally.

The saw I used took a lot of elbow grease but its flat large size actually helped me saw a straight line and eventually once you get through the wood it takes a little wiggling and the piece should fall off...

Here's a good pic of the piece that once you pull it out, your tile slides right under for a nice seamless fit (once you caulk of course :)

Hey lookie who is helping me? Yes a rare sight but I had to snap a photo of this! Since it was our first time laying tiles and they are so small and staggered we laid them all out first, numbered them with chalk and did all our cuts before starting to lay them onto the mortar. We also bought this great little wet tile saw from Home Depot for only $64! Since we plan on tiling 3 bathrooms in this house I figured it was worth the investment.

I also installed new 5" tall baseboard to match the new baseboards in the rest of the house....and

TA DA!!!!

It's definitely not perfect but it really does look pretty good and I'm pretty proud of all our hard work. I still have to re stain the room divider since when I pulled it up from when it was on the linoleum the hidden ends which are now exposed need some colour.

I can't wait to get a plumber in this week to extend our pipes up to our new vanity and sink and show you the other half of this transformation!

Sink or Float?

2010-08-10T22:07:00.000-06:00

I have been a busy bee over the past few days and I thought I'd update everyone on our bluestone floor reno! All I can say at this point is that it turned into a WAY bigger job than we expected and I actually swore the other day that I never wanted to pick up a tile or mortar again for as long as I live LOL! Okay I already take it back. BUT I am really needing everyone's help on making a certain decision....

SO we ripped out our old contractor's stock vanity and here is the new antique dresser turned vanity we are replacing it with...remember this before picture from our trip to Victoria?

Here's her debut with a new coat of paint...the two bottom drawers have a slight mint tint to them and the rest of the piece is a gorgeous cream....complete with pretty crystal knobs...

Now here is my dilemma...I cannot for the life of me make up my mind between the following two sinks...

they look quite similar, but there are a few differences which are really making the choice difficult for me...and I really would LOVE your input on this one!

Here is the first one.

pros about #1: its smaller, so there is more counter space, I have to cut a MUCH smaller hole in the counter top to place this one which will help keep the top of the dresser strong and sturdy

cons: it only has one hole for the taps which means I have a lot less choice for the taps and I cannot have those pretty faucets with two handles, and the inside of the bowl is a modern scoop shape which I'm not loving.

Here is number 2

pros about #2: it has 3 holes so I can pick out a very nice faucet! (which seems pretty important to me for the final look and I have a lot more choice of faucets)
cons: I have to cut a much larger hole in the top of the dresser which I worry will compromise the strength of the dresser. However the wood on the top of the dresser is decently thick and sturdy feeling.

SO which should I choose? The one which will maintain all the strength of the vanity top and settle for a less attractive faucet?
OR pick the sink which involves a larger hole to be cut possibly compromising the strength and get to pick the faucet I want?
If anyone has any expertise on this or has done this before how much does a bigger hole compromise the strength of the counter top?
I SOOOOO look forward to hearing what you all have to say!

Bluestone Floors

2010-08-03T21:14:00.000-06:00

As far as stone flooring goes, white carrara marble makes my heart go pitter patter. I have been putting money in a jar for a long time now so that one day we can redo our master bathroom floor in this gorgeous marble stone. BUT I think I have another favorite now!!! Has anyone heard of Bluestone? Well I sure hadn't! When we were home in Victoria, my step mom Leah offered us their leftover honed bluestone tiles they had! And we all know you can't beat free!!! Here are a few pics of this gorgeous stone in action in case you are like me and had never seen it befor LOL!

I love the stone against white walls!

Here is a photo of our new tiles...they are in very long rectangular bricks on a sheet...so we can stagger them nicely. At first Nathaniel wanted to do a feature wall with them, then I thought of doing a bathtub surround, however we have the type of tub with the acrylic surround all in one piece. So I decided it would look great as the new floors for our second bathroom upstairs.

This seems like a pretty big project for me so even though I'm majorly excited to get started, I am a little bit nervous! I have never done tiles before so I need to do my homework on this one!Any tips or tricks would be great:) I also plan on removing the old vanity and putting an antique one in I just refinished...and since the antique vanity has caster wheels I will be going all the way under the vanity with the tiles.

Ship Wheel

2010-08-02T00:15:00.000-06:00

What would my dream dining room look like?...sigh...this...

In Other News: Today I was out picking up something for dinner and I popped into one of my local thrift stores and low and behold I found this....(normally they have quite the price tag...this one was $20!!). Funny thing is when I got it home Nathaniel said "What the ____ is that for ??" LOL...I should have told him I wanted to build a boat in the backyard :)

I have liked antique ship wheels for awhile now and always wondered about all the voyages and the story behind each one! So I get it home and immediately start painting it...then I changed my mind and painted it with turquoise and white interchanging stripes...and finally brought it back to white again (with a little turquoise peeking through :P). Then I googled ship wheels to see if I could find some great inspiration...and BOY OH BUOY was that a let down! Apparently not many people decorate with these guys!...and if they do (sorry in advance for saying so) their decor is less than inspirational!

I searched on DecorPad, Google Images, Blogs and came up empty handed. This was the CLOSEST I could come to an inspiration photo...

SO after all the coats of paint had dried and I had had my fun with the sandpaper...here is what it looks like...

I actually love how it turned out...and I also like the departure from my usual painting or mirror on the wall.

I even thought if I replaced that rosette in the middle with a pretty rose made of fabric or lace or something a la Rachel Ashwell that would just make it even more unique....

I also wanted to ask YOUR opinion on this one (even if you don't like them)...do you like where I put it? OR do you think it would look better on a wall in another room, leaning on the floor against a wall, or on top of a dresser (leaning against the wall)....or if you have any other ideas (excluding the garbage LOL) please feel free to suggest! One thing I DON'T want is to look like I have a theme room...so as far as beachy and nautical things, the ship wheel and my wall of ship and beach paintings is where it ends in this room. To mix it up I have my super pretty chandelier and a few other whimsical and girly touches.

My New Favourite Painting!

2010-07-31T14:06:00.002-06:00

I am always on the hunt for gorgeous artwork to fill our home with. Oil paintings and sketches are my two favorite styles and I'm so excited to share my most recent addition to my collection! Nathaniel, my very own king of surprises, picked me up this amazing oil painting when we were home in Victoria~

The artist's name is Yves Gosselin and he is the father of one of Nathaniel's best friends. He is amazingly talented and I WISH he had a website of some sort so I could let everyone see his other pieces he has for sale. He is so humble and although he has been featured at the Victoria Art Gallery he still only sells out of his home and by word of mouth. He has many beautiful ship, ocean, and beach paintings as well as other scenery too.

Nathaniel was so sweet, he even surprised my sister with one too which you can see here!

I definitely want one of his gorgeous beach scenes too! As well as one with waves crashing on rocks! His ocean colours and stormy skies just bring so much emotion to me every time I look at my pretty painting!

If anyone is interested in seeing his collection of beautiful oil paintings or would like to buy one please contact me and I will put you in touch with Yves. And in the meantime BOTH Nathaniel and I are going to bug him until he makes a website so everyone can marvel at his talents! OR at the very least help him create an etsy shop!

Cane Table Transformation

2010-07-25T22:03:00.071-06:00

Just yesterday I posted a preview of a few furniture transformations I have up my sleeve...well here's that sweet little cane end table with soooo much potential! Jessica actually picked this guy up for me a few weeks before our visit! She KNEW I would love it....love is an understatement here...

I almost went with a shade of grey on this guy...but at the last moment I decided on a sweet cream.

It's just the right size to hold a few books beside the couch.

I love the carved rings on the little legs and the cane top adds so much interest to such a small table.

Just a little distressing around the edges and legs makes it look like it's been loved for years (and I'm sure it has been).

Just one more piece of furniture I hope I can find room for :)

Back to the Daily Grind

2010-07-24T02:25:00.000-06:00

Well life is pretty much back to normal for us over here. And I'm not complaining :) After 7 months of lonely worry filled days I'm welcoming as much normalcy as possible!! We are both back at work and although we do feel a little blue that the holidays are over, we have so much fun ahead of us this summer and I am itching to post about all my latest furniture transformations! But one thing is FOR SURE...we miss home already!

Being home was just what we needed! Sometimes I wish the days were longer!

Here are the last few pictures of our visit home...the view from my Dad's house made me want to wake up extra early so I could take it all in!

Dad and Leah you two are a couple of lucky ducks!

Jess had a hay day painting with the air compressor...and of course when she found out I was taking some photos she had to strike a pose LOL!

Here's a sneak peek at a few of the items I painted and brought back in our truck!

Hmmm I may need Holly's help on recovering this one HEE HEE!

I will MAKE ROOM for this one in our home...

I can't wait to show you what we've done to these beauties!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

2010-07-24T01:43:00.003-06:00

Rachel over at Rachel Pink Pants has given me the Sunshine Award! I just wanted to say a big thank you to Rachel!!! If you haven't checked her blog out yet you must! I am in love with her recent kitchen post where she made some adorable artwork and put it to good use in her kitchen covering up an unsightly hole! So creative and inspiring! And I LOVE that chalkboard above the stove...what a perfect place to write what's on the Menu for dinner!
So here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
2. List 7 things that people may not know about you.
3. Pass the love to other deserving bloggers that you have discovered recently.
4. Let them know that you gave them an award

OK HERE GOES :)...7 things you may not know about me...

1. I've been married longer than ANYONE in my immediate family LOL :)

2. I have wanted to own my own business for as long as I can remember

3. I don't like change...staying true to my Taurus nature

4. My favorite TV show is True Blood...Nathaniel loves it too!

5. I have REALLY relentlessly curly (thin) hair that I straighten every day!

6. I had the worst acne you could imagine as a teen...If anyone knows what it's like to have the dreaded teenage pizza face it's ME...and there's hardly a pic from the 90's I can look at without remembering what it was like. Thank goodness for all the help and treatments available today!

7. If I had a ton of money I would have a rescue retreat for abandoned animals!

I would like to pass on the award to three of my new favorite blogs:

Jessica at Sea to My Heart
Melanie at The Frosted Gardner
Londen at Sixty-Fifth Avenue

If you haven't checked these awesome blogs out yet I totally recommend! And thanks again Rachel for the awesome award!!

Creamy Bluish Coffee Table

2010-07-22T10:21:00.001-06:00

I realised the other day when I posted about my Mom's two end tables that I had forgotten to mention she also has the matching coffee table... and we made this guy over too! Currently my Mom doesn't have a whole lot of room in her house because my Grandparents live with her so she can look after them instead of them going to an 'Old Folk's Home'...which I think is pretty nice of her. So she made the sacrifice to put all her own furniture in storage so my Grandparents could move their own stuff in and feel at HOME :)

Here is what my Mom's coffee table looks like now and I'm hoping that my Grandparent's see how pretty it looks with their chairs and let it STAY rather than putting it back in storage :)

I know my Mom had a great time watching her furniture come to life again after spending so many years in the attic. She has some pretty good plans for this table...she showed me all her magazine clippings and her design ideas for the rooms of her house...which will one day be all her own again...

We went with a creamy bluish white for the coffee table which is just ever so slightly different from the end tables...

I think my Grandma enjoyed watching someone love her old books as much as she does...She's had some of them for over 80 years!

I hope everyone's having a fabulous week!

House Tour...Nantucket Style!

2010-07-20T00:59:00.001-06:00

Everyone likes a good house tour now and then, right?? Well the other day while in Victoria we went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for a salmon BBQ dinner (actually my Dad and Uncle caught the fish on a recent fishing retreat they had gone on a few days before). It was nice because nearly everyone on my Dad's side of the family lives in Victoria so we were able to see them all, it was almost like a family reunion!

My Aunt and Uncle live in one of my all time favorite houses and I only WISH I had before pictures because they originally bought this place for the property and not the very small fixer-upper home that existed. Shortly after they bought the place they tore it down to the bare bones and built a new dream home onto it! It was actually featured a few years ago in a local magazine...wish I could remember the name of it off the top of my head!

My Aunt did have some help from a local architect with the design but she has amazing taste and I know the Cape-Cod/Nantucket style was all her idea! It's like East Coast meets West Coast!

I kinda sprung it on my Aunt that I was taking some pictures for my blog and so she didn't have any time to tidy... so I kept the photo tour short and limited it to only a few of my favorite rooms...although they are all beautiful!

I love their painted risers and the huge round knobs on the railing!

I dream about a home one day with tons of windows and light like these ones!

I love the nautical style in their home...very East Coast! Their home is filled with galley windows and the smell of ocean air!

I'm even in love with their door LOL

The round and oval windows are my favorite!

Heck I'd even settle on living in their garage :)

As if I could love their home even more??? Well take a look at what's across the street...

Yes, they own a little piece of the perfect view :)

I hope you enjoyed looking at their home and their style!

Postcard From Home

2010-07-18T22:30:00.002-06:00

We had so much fun painting these past few days and we couldn't have asked for better weather!!! Especially considering rain is the typical forecast in Victoria! We had 5 days in a row of gorgeous blue sky!!!

Besides painting a few of our own furniture items, my mom had asked if we could paint a few of hers too! She had two of these pretty end tables since Jess and I were small and I couldn't wait to colour them white!!!

Here is what they looked like after a little white LOVE! And I must admit how much I loved getting to play with my Mom and Grandma's antiques again.

The paint colour we used was a white with a hint of pale turquoise! We decided to just lightly distress these guys too!

I just LOVE the lines on these pretty tables and the light paint just made them so much prettier!

I feel kinda bad admitting this but I actually tried to convince my Mom to give these to me LOL...I'm glad she insisted on keeping them though...I can go find my own!!! The hunt is half the fun!

I hope everyone had a super fun weekend!

Journey Home

2010-07-12T22:29:00.000-06:00

This week Nathaniel and I took a much needed trip back home to Victoria. We decided to take the truck and drive the 15 hour journey so that I could take along my air compressor and a few other items that could never fit in our carry-on if we flew (although the flight would have only taken us just over an hour to get home).

The drive from Edmonton to Victoria is beautiful and it reminds me how pretty this country is. These are a few pictures of the scenery we saw as we drove through Jasper...

This guy was HUGE! I'm amazed at all the wildlife we saw on our drive. We saw Elk, Rams, and even a young black bear! I only wish I got a photo of the black bear but he crossed the road as we were driving in an area where there was no place to pull over.

This guy was a major daredevil walking down the road in the oncoming traffic lane....we drove very slowly beside him so traffic would notice and he eventually left road!

I know I'm in Victoria when I can smell the ocean, my heart starts beating faster, and I feel at home again...

It's beauty still amazes me...and each time I come home I grow more and more in love with this place...

I can't wait to share more of our trip home. We were SUPPOSED to leave today to come back to Edmonton but our house sitters were so very kind and said we could stay a few more days! Victoria is overflowing with Antiques and so Jess and I did a marathon of furniture transformations and I'm over the moon with how they turned out! Let's just say when we do drive home our truck is going to be full to the brim with new treasures!

Chandelier Glam!

2010-07-08T00:38:00.002-06:00

I've been keeping an eye out for a chandelier for our master bedroom for quite some time now. I've actually had my eye on this certain one at Home Depot ...but at a nearly $200 price tag I have been able to talk myself out of impulsively buying it...just knowing I would find something better...cheaper....and I did!!! So here is a picture of our OLD light fixture which I installed shortly after we moved in. There was nothing wrong with the one we had, but I have been longing for some glamour in this bedroom of ours!

The light fixture alone is beautiful but I thought a 24" ceiling medallion would add that something extra to our new chandelier!

To do this I had to use a longer center screw in order to attach the light to the ceiling with the medallion in between...

I used Alex Plus DAP to caulk in between the medallion and the ceiling for a seamless finish...wiping the bead with my finger and a damp cloth...

And here it is...our new $99 chandelier found at Rona! It's no steal...but it's $100 cheaper than the one at Home Depot! Cha-ching!

It kinda takes my breath away a little when I wake up and see this beauty staring down at me...

And the Winner is....

2010-07-05T01:28:00.001-06:00

According to Random.org lucky number 8 is the winner! Deb I think thats you :) Just send me an email with your address and let me know which one you want and it'll be on it's way to you!! Thanks to everyone for entering!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Canada Day/July 4th weekend! We had tons of fun up at the lake with Holly and her family! I only wish I had brought my camera!!!

Introducing: Sea to My Heart!

2010-07-02T23:31:00.007-06:00

I am SOOOOO super excited to introduce to you my one and only sister Jessica's blog Sea to My Heart! She's not only my sister but my best friend! Since we don't get to live in the same city as each other right now this just seems like another cool way we can stay close! Jess is probably the funniest person I know and she has ALWAYS had fantastic style....as you will see from some of the pics below (LOL...you will see what I mean)...

I've always admired my sister's fresh and usually beach inspired style! These are some knobs my sister bought for me not so long ago and she's been dying to see me do something with them! I can't wait either!!

Here are some photos of the inseparable duo over the years...sorry for the poor photo quality the photos are ~~old~~ a little rustic :)

If you get a chance to stop by and check out her brand new blog I promise if she doesn't hook you with her amazing style she will eventually make you laugh!!! :)