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All Things Home

All Things Home

April’s Theme – Deep Spring Cleaning

February sort of flowed into March, so I didn’t set a theme for that month.  This whole theme thing is going to be pretty loose, anyway, but I loved how we were working on projects together throughout February – my posts encouraging you and your comments encouraging me.  It felt like more of a conversation and I really enjoyed that, so I’d like to set a theme for a few months this year.  We can work on things together, spur and sharpen one another, but it won’t be the only thing I post about.  I’ll share about it once or twice a week depending on the subject, but try to gear my content around the theme. So, April’s theme will be Deep Spring Cleaning! Several ladies mentioned this as an area where they needed to focus and I need it, too!  I felt so reactionary last year…unexpected homeschooling, stocking up

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All Things Home

how to make a gathered sink skirt

I actually made this sink skirt and shot a tutorial for it over the summer, when I was working on a flurry of projects for my book (coming this fall.)   It was supposed to be a tutorial for the book, but I decided not to add it in.  There were a few reasons for that… 1 – I couldn’t get a really great shot of it, because the bathroom is so small, the lighting is poor, and the mirror would reflect the brightly lit foyer. 2 – I wasn’t sure if it really was a good project.  I sort of made it up as I went along, literally using materials I had leftover from other projects. 3 – Because I was making it up as I went, it’s not perfect. 4 – I wasn’t sure it would be practical long-term.  I even planned on making a new one almost immediately

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All Things Home

newly organized studio reveal

As I shared on my blog last week, I took several days to continue the organizing efforts and focused them on my studio.  I had honestly been avoiding my studio the entire month of February.  I knew it would be tedious work and I knew I would have to dramatically rethink the way I purchased art supplies.  This wasn’t going to be about organizing things in neat piles, bins, and drawers with labels.  I already had that.  This was going to be about touching everything and considering the necessity of keeping it vs. selling or donating it.  This was about taking a good hard look at how I create and deciding which supplies are an asset and which ones were just clutter in my studio. I have to admit that I got off to a slow start, but once I started to feel the liberation that comes with letting go,

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Art

Online Painting Classes

If you haven’t guessed, I almost always have an ambitious list of things I want to accomplish each year.  Some things end up getting kicked down the road simply because I only have so much time and I have to focus on things that are a higher priority.  My little pet projects are the ones that typically get neglected.  One of the pet projects I wanted to finally do this year was to offer online art classes.  This included making new ones, but also putting the free art classes I made last year into a format that was easier to navigate.  I am happy to report that I did it! The first new class available is a master study of Fabritius’ Gold Finch! Here is my version that I did for the class… I absolutely loved working on this painting and filming it for the class.  I review all the

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All Things Home

organizing the art studio | brushes, pastels & rearranging

One of my goals when organizing the art studio was to greatly simplify the amount of stuff that’s sitting out in the open.  I waffle between wanting to see all of my supplies, so I don’t forget them and because they are beautiful, and wanting to have completely clear surfaces.  The former usually wins out and the studio ends up feeling messy to me as a result.  Now, you have to understand that my mess-tolerance is pretty low, so a mess to me probably looks pretty normal to some people!  But, I do like stuff and can let things get a little too cluttered.  Tidy, but cluttered. In order to tackle the clutter, I needed to clean out the drawers to make much better use of them and be honest about what I use most and what really needs to be at-the-ready.  I also have to be honest about what

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All Things Home

Organizing Process | Qualifications for Keeping Things

As I’ve been going through my house, purging and organizing, I’ve had several people ask about my thought process for what I get rid of, what I keep, as well as how I organize it.  I feel like I’ve shared it sprinkled throughout my posts about organizing, but I thought it would be helpful to put it in one post in a more concise, organized way.  So, here we go… Do I love it? I usually start with this question because it weeds out obvious things.  If I don’t really love it, why have it in my home?   But, I have found this question alone can be problematic because it’s such a subjective judgment call.  It can easily turn into a lengthy internal debate about all of the different types of love and varying degrees.  And it’s a question that just doesn’t apply to certain things without sounding crazy…  Do

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Art Supplies

Organizing & Purging the Studio | Paints & Papers

[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text] Well, I’ve spent the better part of the last three days going through my studio with a fine-tooth comb.  I’ve organized the studio before and have cleaned out a few things, but nothing compares to the thoroughness of this most recent endeavor.  As I’ve been working in my studio over the past few months, I’ve realized that the quantity of supplies, instead of being inspiring, has been overwhelming.  It doesn’t look out-of-control because everything is in neatly labeled drawers, but it’s a lot of stuff and I realized the full extent once I started pulling it all out! Having all of this choice might seem like an artist’s dream, but I found it to be more of a hindrance.  It reminded me of when my boys were younger and, after a successful dentist visit, they were able to pick a prize out of the treasure chest.  The experience

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Antiques

Fixing & Cleaning Paint Brushes

As I shared last week, my Victorian-era watercolor box came with a bunch of brushes and other tools.  I finally took some time to give them a little TLC and I thought I would share my process for fixing and cleaning paint brushes.  This is helpful not only if you buy/acquire a lot of vintage or antique brushes, but if you just need to take care of some of your favorite brushes that get heavy use. The first thing I do when fixing and cleaning paint brushes is to pull on the tops to see if they are firmly attached.  Most of these popped off easily, so that was the first thing I needed to address. (Those little marks of dried paint are from Violet’s paws!  She has a knack for stepping straight in any paint if she sneaks into the studio.) I bought waterproof, neutral PH adhesive a while

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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