What's In Your Pickup?

 Take a peek....

look what I found yesterday

 It has some rust...oh boy do I love that!

 Some blue and some wicker

Some copper and a bit of weirdness too.

Junk heaven!

What should I do with all of this great JUNK?

Well use it of course....

xo

kelley

PS

Thank you for all of the great comments about the botanical project...it really was fun.

I am a bit behind in responding so please forgive me. 

 I will catch up, I promise! 

Blogger Botanical Project: Finished!

 OK....so 

my idea was to use Barn Wood for the frames

 and keep every thing very natural and simple

 frames $12.95 each  

 over budget but....I like them

 I used the descriptions

for  a border 

cut on the diagonal,

 I know....

 but I had tons of these descriptions

 love me some glue stick! 

  yea baby 

goooo glue 

 tore some hemp paper 

for the corners, 

no cutting needed,

I like it torn and shredded

sort of like photo corners

 like it?

yes I do 

quite nice, indeed

 here they are, 

showcased 

 in the

beautiful guest

"potty room" 

in the Ojai house

I'm done....I loved this project!!!!

please 

join my friends

 and see their work too

The Group:

Andrea:  Faded Plains

Melaine:  My Sweet Savannah

Artie:  Color Outside The Lines 

some of my favorite people! 

xo

kelley

Creative Bloggers: A Botanical Project

I was very lucky last month... 

to have found three of these wonderful old Herbarium books...

full of plant pressings and descriptions.

The entries dated around 1893 to 1898....

quite old,

antique actually

The books themselves are beautiful,

 with linen covers and shoelace binding.

And overall,

 the pressings were in great shape. 

I ended up with about 90 beautiful specimens.

The penmanship on each proceeding page is amazing

 as is the attention to each botanical description.

It shows the time and effort that each student put forth into these Herbariums

So I thought about what I should do with all of these...

well...

  share them of course!

I asked 3 of my blogging friends from various parts of the US,

 if they would like to take a few and frame them in their own personal style!

All of these people have creativity that is undisputed!

They are very personal and original in their approach to design. 

It really shows in their homes and their work.

They all said yes...

which made me really surprised and very happy...

I love that!

Each of these talented people got 4 pressings.

  I stupidly decided that we should set the framing amount at a $20 dollar total...

for everything...

what a dummy I am!

OK

 So now you know who will go over the budget...

 but the rest of the group will get it right

Check out these blogs for more details today...

 and on Friday 

March 18th 

You will see the results of each individual project

&

 I truly believe you will see some really beautiful

and creative work

The Group:

Andrea:  Faded Plains

Melaine:  My Sweet Savannah

Artie:  Color Outside The Lines 

Kelley:  The Polished and over budget Pebble

Please come back on Friday for the art show!

Hope you like it 

And as always

I am so happy to have you here!

xo

kelley
&
friends

Ojai Bathroom Remodel: Stage I "the demo"

I promise I will only show you these photos one time and then be done with it!

You don't even have to look if your squeamish...but I thought I'd show ya anyway just in case you feel the need to have a "before" shot to compare the final result to.

Ah yes...here we are in Ojai, living a life of serenity, beauty and peace and quite. 

 At the end of a long day of gardening and sore muscles...this is what I have to look forward to...

the current master bath, in all of its dated loveliness 

And yes the walls are not square, there is no window and there is a strange hump in the middle of the floor..

uh oh... not good

When we first bought the house this room had a fresh coat of off white paint.  

I changed out a few knobs and put this huge mirror up...

which looks totally ridiculous, I might add,

 but it was sitting in a closet so I hung it here

The sink tops are that weird formica stuff with pinkish swirls and scalloped edges.... missing the stoppers which we never could find a replacement for. 

  Every time I brush my teeth I wind up staring down that little hole and wondering where it all goes....

all the way to the ocean?

I really don't know, but that sink hole scares me...really... I'm not kidding.

And for an added bonus:

Toss in a few mystery stains, hinges with 20 coats of paint, cheap door knobs, a gross shower curtain, a variety of dated wiring, vinyl flooring and zero water pressure....

this all adds up to one thing...

time to demo!

So here we are at the end of day one....

Yes we have a few problems....one of which is how to get that gigantic bath tub out!

I swear the thing is like a cruise ship

Some odd holes and rotten wood..oh dear

And a few other really bad things that I don't dare show you...

think "Willard" the movie

I thought this would be fun...

but now...

not so much

Oh and on day two

Construction person

aka 

"the guy I don't quite trust"

 is MIA!

I need a martini

Vintage Wicker Chair Part II

Here she is 

sporting her new duds

The vintage floral linen was just about a yard 

so I used some natural solid linen to make up the difference

Flanged welts are great with vintage fabric 

because they really define the edges of your cushions

There has been quite a bit of discussion about whether you should or can wash old grain sacks....

I always wash them 

Cold water...delicate cycle

 with Mrs Meyers liquid soap

I also add a generous amount of fabric softener

A few times the fabric has shredded,

 but if the areas are weak they are going to give away when the cushions or pillows are made,

 so I like to know before hand. 

Only the areas that were visible are done in the floral

 with the remaining sides finished in the solid linen

This is a great little chair
definitely a statement
and comfy too!
More fun posts on the way

thanks for stopping by

~kelley~

Winter Veggie Garden Goodness

 On the menu:

beets

broccoli

carrots

arugula

lettuce

peas

endive

bok choi