Happy New Year

Well Hello friends, 

I hope your holidays went remarkably well.

Our Christmas was awesome nice and quiet and just us 5. It was relaxing, which was a pleasant surprise. Our New Years Eve, was just as nice. We decided to stay home and made a fancy dinner and then we took a dip in the HOT HOT tub - then got cleaned up and rang in the new year out back with a bonfire and some silly noise makers. It was nice and safe and just us 5 again.

Fast forward to Monday morning Jan 1st and I was ready to take this year by storm. I have some plans in the work that I am hoping to share soon, something I am really excited about. 

You know how they say things happen for a reason, or things happen in good time? Well, I am a believer of that more so due to things that happened last year that really shook me to my core. Made me think that I need to take control of my life and make some changes. Good, positive changes. Things that will benefit my family. It is something I have wanted for many years now and things that happened last year helped turn my wishes into a reality and my family was all in. 

Up until January 1st, 2018, I had been making preparations in my head and here at home..small steps and well now with the new year I am in over drive - not really but it feels like it inside. 

Things happened to fall into place in my life...which as life would have it, so did things in all 5 of our lives...timing is right for new things and new places and new people. 

I need to take control of my excitement and reign it in. I need to be cautious and smart and take my time and all that is new to me. I am very anxious, very high strung, and very very very Highly IMPATIENT!!!! I know to speed thru this would make it easy for mistakes to be made and for things to not be handled in the most proficient and correct manner. 

So this year I will make changes to my own person, along with that comes my ONE LITTLE WORD.

Which will also help restrain my excitement

ACCOMPLISH

is the word I have chosen - because to accomplish one thing or more if possible a day towards my goal is all I need to get done and still keep to a timely manner and the ease of that will release the stress I put on myself which in turn would make me anxious. 

See its a win-win situation.

Here's hoping you pick the perfect WORD for your year and that you accomplish your own goals with the least amount of stress possible.

Happy New Year and thanks for joining the ride with me for the past few years. But as they say the best is yet to come. So, stay tuned.

Mantel make-over

This year I had a plan to make some serious changes in my life - to live with PURPOSE! I wanted to do things like get in better shape, eat healthier, make some changes in my home, start using what I have and less shopping! I gotta tell you that my list was long...and I am proud to say that I have made lots of progress....I have begun doing some make-overs in our bedroom trying real hard to make do with what I have! I will share those changes soon.

Today I wanted to share my mantel makeover

I have changed this a lot over the years, but never so drastically as this. Here is the before with all the wall art taken down

As you can see the wall is yucky! That faux mantel has been there for 14 years at least and its was dated like way dated...all those little blotches are putty to cover the holes from all the nails I put into it. 

Here is the new mantel and its surround...

Here is an upclose shot - took down the old faux mantel piece - repainted the whole fireplace white and a huge patch up the wall!!! I have to admit that I did that becuase the idea of painting the whole living room seemed daunting and way more work then I had planned. I am planning on making some artwork to place in that space soon. But I decorated the top of the mantel with things I already owned - just took them out of the garage and re-worked some pieces I had around the house already. I live the look of this - time worn...with pops of color and some vintage pieces added in. 

Love the look of it all! I share again when the artwork is up.

I plan on linking this up to the following parties: 

Happy Hump Day and here's to your New Years reorganizing plan! 

xo

T

This time of year

I get to feeling seriously Claustrophobic like the walls of my house are closing in on me. Why? You maybe wondering (if you could careless imma tell you anyway😃) I am busily preparing for my upcoming October show...I have been doing it every year for 4 years...I love doing it! But it's a lot of work. I mean I could do the easy thing and just keep making the same old stuff but I have the most amazing customers that keep visiting me year after year and well I want to give them something special and something really different each year so I go crazy a bit! 

So my living room is a disaster with all my junk putting the finishing touches on my goodies -here's some of what I have done so far...

I have Dia de Los muertos covered

Christmas

And some miscellaneous pointed canvases....

As you can see as a crafter who has some ADD I have various projects going at once which has me pulling out so many different mediums to use on these projects and well eventually it all starts to pile up and then the panic sets in. 

So now I'm off to clean up my living room - happy crafting!!!

xoT