CELEBRATION!

The last two weeks have been busy around my house - getting ready for almost 70 friends and family to help us celebrate my son's great health.  Almost eight months ago, my oldest son was diagnosed with stage two testicular cancer.  Since then he has undergone surgery and four rounds of chemotherapy.  The great news is, being a very curable cancer when caught early, he is doing great!  So the last few weeks have been all about planning, setting up, celebrating, and cleaning up.  Here are just a couple pictures from our 

CELEBRATION BARBECUE!

My daughter-in-law, and her artistic flair, getting the menu board ready.(thank you Karen, from the Graphics Fairy, for the great "MENU" graphic) I just painted a piece of plywood with chalkboard paint and then used white acrylic paint and my overhead projector to get the graphic blown-up to the right size.  The menu itself can be washed right off and used over and over.  

Tables were set with burlap cloths . . .

and centerpieces complete with LIVESTRONG clay tags.

 Even Harley and Harriet (my son's dogs) came all the way from Minnesota to celebrate with us!

Great music provided by good friends Tom and Evan, from Leahy's Luck.
And . . . just a few of the friends and family who were here -

 

     

 

  

  

The guest of honor, Andy, with me.  Doesn't he look great!!??!!

Now.

What to do with all that burlap????

Hmmmm . . .

Sharing on The Graphics Fairy's "Brag Monday"

AFTER THE PARTY . . .

No posts since last Thursday!

And I can see that I've had many faithful visits to my blog since then.

Only to come back to see the same old thing.

Sorry.

Our house has been a busy place lately.  We're getting ready for a very big party in a few days, to celebrate a very big deal!  As I explained in a previous post here, we have reason to celebrate!   Getting ready for that celebration is what has been keeping me off this little blog lately.  I'll be sure to post photos next week.  

However.

That does NOT mean my mind hasn't been flooded with ideas and projects.  One of my ideas is to make something out of good old burlap.  Burlap is all over the decorating blogs and we're using a bunch of it at our party too - more on that later.  But when the party is over . . . what to do with all that burlap?  Maybe incorporate it into a pillow?  Or two, or three???  Here are some great pillows I've been browsing through to get me inspired!  Some are burlap, some are not, but they could ALL be made with some burlap.  If I don't use burlap for the front of the pillow, I could certainly use it for the back.  I think some people might be bothered by the feel of burlap pillows against the skin, but I really like that texture on a pillow.  

This one is a kit you can order here.  Beautiful out of any fabric but wouldn't it be great in burlap?

Anthropologie

Anthropologie, again!

And, again!

Beautiful stitching!  Doesn't the coming of Fall make you want to stitch??

Very whimsical!  My niece would love this one!

Birds!  How I love birds!

A beautiful bird transfer pillow featured on the Graphics Fairy.

And one of my favorites!

What a wonderful thing to be able to say to the one you love!  I have an idea beyond the pillow for this one!

When the party is over and everything is cleaned up and put away I'm going to be getting some of those ideas out of my head and into some fabric.  So, lookout all you friends-who-sometimes-are-roped-into-crafting-get-togethers 
at my house!  Get out your needle and thread and get ready!

A BOW, A CELLO, AND A LESSON

"Unless a man undertakes more than he can possibly do, he will never do all that he can."

-Henry Drummond

I LOVE THAT QUOTE!

I'm about to begin a new chapter in my life.  Fall is right around the corner and the school bells will be ringing in less than a month.   Many of my friends will be heading back to the classroom soon. That means that in the next few weeks, they'll be relishing those last few lazy mornings of summertime.  It also means they'll need to be spending some time getting names on all of the desks, coat hooks, and supplies.

Plus . . .

  Working out lesson plans.  

Getting the schedule together.  

Meeting with parents.  

Organizing their desks. 

Thinking up new bulletin boards.   

Putting up new bulletin boards.  

Basically, doing everything possible to make the classroom a fun, colorful, and interesting place to be.

Oh, and don't forget . . . going to meetings.  

And then going to more meetings.

But not me!  

That chapter is over and I'm beginning a new and exciting one!  And as the quote suggests, this part of my new chapter looks hard, and a little scary, and . . . like more than I think I can do.  But, I'll never know if I can do it, until I try.  So, Im busy gathering my OWN "school supplies" which I will NOT find at Target!  I need this . . .

and this . . .

which I'll put in this . . .

and then I'll head to my very first 

CELLO LESSON!

My instructor is all lined up.  I'm committed to it now.

So!

Friday, September 9th is the day!  

Maybe in a year or two I'll put a little audio clip on this little blog . . . stay tuned!  :-)

THE PROMISED "FAIL".

Okay, last week I listed 5 projects in the making.  A couple days ago I showed you the clay and paper projects.  Well, here's the twig project.  I've made these before and they turned out great - but it just wasn't working this time. 

Below you see what it was supposed to look like!

And . . . this is what they turned out to be!  

There are six of these beauties.  They were supposed to be centerpieces for an outdoor party we're having in a week.  Those of you who have been following my blog for a bit, may remember my speaking about my 32 year old son going through treatment for testicular cancer.  Well, he's all finished with chemo, his hair has grown back, and he's out riding the highways and byways of Minnesota and beyond.  (185 miles in one day a few weeks ago)  He takes his biking seriously.  

Now, he is officially in remission and we're so thankful!  The whole time he was going through chemo, he worked on fundraising for the LIVESTRONG foundation, riding a trainer bike in his basement.  To date, he has earned almost $30,000 and the opportunity to ride with Lance Armstrong in Austin, Texas this fall in the Livestrong Challenge.  We'll be there to see him cross the finish line.

ANDY AND KATE ON THEIR WEDDING DAY TWO YEARS AGO

Anyway, we're going to celebrate his recovery with family and friends . . . and the tables need centerpieces.  These seemed appropriate - kind of "Survivor" type-looking-things.  But they're a little too rugged for me and we're going with something else.  But . . . since I said I'd show the 5 projects, I'm going to show ALL 5 projects!  So, here it is!  Live and learn . . .

And now to try to retrieve a better reputation - it's a good time to throw in some pictures from the garden - since that's where the party will be.  This is the first chance I've had to get outside in a few days - we've been getting some much needed rain.  

Coneflowers - a Wisconsin Native

 Zinnias

 Some pink hydrangeas

Another pink hydrangea nestled into some Lamb's Ears -

 And one of my husband's favorites - the tall Nicotiana.

Jan and I always overestimate how much we'll be able to get done.  So two of the five projects are still in the making . . . coming soon . . . as promised . . . 

birds and furniture!

LIGHTEN UP!

This is an armoire that houses our television and it's been great.  But, I've really been on a painting streak lately and the armoire was next in line.  This was taken with my phone's camera - but you get the idea.  This room is dark anyway and the armoire didn't help.  So, it was time to lighten it up.  I have a lot of brown, beige, and aqua in this room and this piece is going to be aqua.

 The ottoman that I made last winter has the same color aqua in it - a better picture is below.

And a table between the loveseats . . . aqua.

Even the paintings in the room have some aqua in them.

So.  It's done.  It's aqua.  And I love it!  

No Annie Sloan Chalk Paint here.

    

 I used a mixture of Olympia paint from Lowes.  The first color I tried was way too light - it looked cold.  So I added a little more greenish-aqua from the table project above, and the end result was a lighter version of that table.  Then a little distressing and some dark wax.  By the way, the distressing was really easy, even though it wasn't Annie Sloan's famous chalk paint!

Tomorrow, I'm going to share a failed project.  I figure we all have them and I know it does my heart good to read your posts about what worked AND what didn't.