Artistic Endeavors
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Creative Business
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A Slice of Life
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All Things Home
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Furniture Makeovers
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my 45th year
I have been sharing here on this blog since I was 31 years old and today I turn 45. If you've followed me since the early days of blogging, you might remember my boys streaking across photos in...
1970 home renovation | yard clean-up day two
A couple of weeks ago, we started working on cleaning up the yard. (You can read about that HERE.) As I've shared before, we have a great yard with some beautiful mature trees and bushes, but much...
how we’re paying for our renovations
Every once in a while, I get the question, "How are you paying for your home renovations?" I appreciate the honesty and openness of a question like that and I've often wondered that myself when I...
1970 kitchen renovation | faucet, sink & counters
Yesterday, I ordered the kitchen cabinets! Whew, that was a big check and a big thing checked off the kitchen to-do list. Jeff hadn't seen the cabinets I selected in person and, to his credit, he...
the white art supply cabinet
As we were preparing to move from our house in Minnesota, I decided to sell the green art supply cabinet I was using. Selling my art supply cabinets seems to be a tradition when I move. I also...
March 27 original art sale preview
I have been busy painting away since my last original art sale and I'm excited to announce the date for the next one - Monday, March 27, 2023, at 1:00 EST. As with other online sales, this post is...
kitchen renovation cabinet plans
I am so excited to share that the kitchen renovation is falling into place. The new larger window was ordered a few weeks ago and I am ordering the cabinets early next week now that the design is...
crinkled seam binding ribbon & the book of trees
I love how one little bit of inspiration can lead me down a creative rabbit trail. Such was the case with the "Book of Circles" tutorial offered by Rachel of The Travelling Bookbinder. Right away,...
yard clean-up begins
One of the things I love about this house and this neighborhood is the mature landscaping. There are no scrawny saplings or yards covered only by a patchwork of newly-laid sod. Everything is...
sleep week with Marlow pillow
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Marlow. As always, all opinions and words expressed are honest and my own. Did you know it's Sleep Week? I had to give the Sleep Week founders a quizzical...
ironstone cake stands | the holy grail of antique ironstone
Jeff and I were planning to work on the hall trim on his day off a couple of weeks ago, but the weather was rainy and cold and it was not the best day to set up a miter saw on the driveway. On top...
french doors for the studio
I have been looking forward to having doors on my studio since I was able to move in and use the room once the hardwood floors were finished. This room is fairly isolated from the rest of the...
picture ledges & drying racks
One of the things I'm asked about most when I share pictures of my studio (this one and my previous one in Minnesota) is the picture ledges I use as drying shelves and to hold pigment bottles and...
the rest of the studio (for now)
On Monday, I shared the new Billy bookcases I added to the studio to get my library of art books off the floor and organized. It's made the studio space feel much more useable, functional, and...
new exterior lights | 1970 home renovation
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Lamps Plus. As always, all words and opinions expressed in this post are honest and my own. If you missed the post a couple of weeks ago, I shared the new...
billy bookcases for the studio
I don't do this very often, but I fell off the face of the blog world at the end of last week. I really just needed to dive into getting things done and, as you can imagine, stopping to take...
overwhelm & order
Yesterday, I worked on the things on my daily list to get done (I try to limit it to three big things, which you can read about HERE), but then I found myself shuffling around, a little lost at what...
faux boxwood topiaries
When we had the bushes removed from the front and the pine and holly trees removed, it made the house much more visible. That is what we wanted, but now the things we need to work on (like power...
books, bow windows, & blinds
One of the challenging parts about a home renovation following a move (in which things were packed up not knowing what house they were going to) is the stuff management. I mean, we're still not...
ironstone pitchers | which way should the handles face
This post has been sitting in the drafts for a while and I opened it up, looked at the pictures, and it made me smile. So, let's dust it off. This post draft came from a few comments I've received...
front garden plans | 1970 home renovation
When we tell people that we moved to Maryland from Minnesota, the first thing they mention is the winters. "Oh, I bet you'll enjoy these winters a lot more!" Well, actually, no. I'm one of those...
evolution of a window
As I was thinking about what to write about here on the blog, I walked past the door to our room and the light streaming through the window caught my eye. The way it flooded through the window and...
two sketchbook tours | artistic endeavors
As I have shared in a few posts recently, I made the commitment to draw and/or paint daily in 2023. Daily-ish. And I'd say I've done pretty well given the number of paintings I have produced and...
new art prints available on Society6
The upside and downside of pieces of art are each work is one of a kind. That's why it makes it special to own one. But, one upside of a painting is that, unlike a piece of furniture or an antique...
new lights for the hallway | 1970 home renovation
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Lamps Plus. As always, all words and opinions are honest and my own. As I shared yesterday and in other posts about our 1970s home, one of our goals is to...
challenges & opportunities | encouragement
One thing I paid attention to when we were house hunting in Minnesota was light. What kind of light came into the house? Would it have mood-boosting sunny rooms that the camera loves? The house...
tree trimming | 1970 home renovation
As soon as we saw our soon-to-be house in the real estate listing, we knew that landscaping would be one of the projects. We loved this house and the neighborhood because of the mature trees and...
friday’s art sale preview
I've had a few flash sales on Instagram to clear out some paintings, but I haven't had a proper original art sale since we moved! But, as I shared yesterday, I've been painting most days with the...
testimony to practice | encouragement
It wasn't a formal commitment or challenge explicitly set out, but I decided after Christmas that I wanted to try to paint and/or draw every day. By every day, I mean most days, regularly. And,...
reno recap five | windows, wallpaper, details, and more
Since there has been a lot happening in our 1970s brick ranch renovation, I thought it was time for a reno recap. If you missed the previous work that we've done on the house, you can catch up with...