‘The Friendship Book’ Jane Austen Portrait

 

James Stainer Clark’s portrait of Jane Austen.  Picture from Artworks Gallery. Follow the link to read more about it.

Ivory Ruffles

Guess who found a roll of a tissue party streamer that had fallen out of the gift wrap box and onto the garage floor? Yes, it’s me.  Then I thought it would be perfect to ruffle with the sewing machine . I don’t have a fancy machine or a snazzy ruffle attachment, I just fed it through fast to gather it. I love the results and want to use it everywhere. I decided to rub the edge of the roll with my antiquing pad so it would look even more aged. Maybe it’s the Fat Book Swap talking, but I’ve had Winter Whites on my mind.

And then that collided with the ruffles that were already on my mind. So is it any wonder that I had to snap these shots while I was at Forever 21 on our ‘Sisters, Shopping and Sushi day?’

At this point I don’t know if it’s inspiration or obsession.

-Lynnae

Mirror and Piano

I finished repainting my mirror and hung it above the piano. Here is a ‘before’ look at the mirror that I got in a thrift store (Well, almost before. I was anxious to start and then remembered I didn’t have a picture).

We have a very old, dark piano. A few years ago I turned the oval panels around to show the light wood, like the inside of my piano. Here you can see those panels.

 

I recently decided to turn them back to the dark wood. While I had my piano all opened up I took a few shots of the details inside the piano.

Seems a shame to have it hidden away!

Here is the finished project.

I set a few things on the piano top so you can get the idea, but I’m getting ready to get the Christmas decorations out, so I didn’t want to spend to much time on it.

It’s time for me to ‘Deck the Halls’, and don’t tell me it’s too early. Today I was at Michaels getting something for a school project of my daughter’s, and I overheard a woman saying “You know, Christmas really snuck up on me this year!” It’s November 17th! I love it.

-Lynnae

P.S. This project also included a lot of spackling and repainting of the previous holes. Especially since the first time I hung the mirror it was about eight inches to high and the hooks showed. I needed a few days to ‘ponder’ the height, and then I took it down and rehung it (and more spackle and paint). I also learned to use the power drill. ( and fill the holes and re-drill) I know, I’m a baby. I need to get used to power tools. Jon said I did a good job though, and he thought the wall looked great. I’m pretty proud of it and can’t wait for Christmas.

Anniversary and Projects

  
  I will start right off with a picture of some of the lovely two-dozen roses Jon brought home on our anniversary. We went out to 0/8 Seafood Grill and had a great time and some delicious seafood. I must mention the lobster bisque.

In addition to getting ready for the holidays I am currently working on two art projects.

The first is a tutorial for a pretty art journal from Heather at Pretty Petals. I have never done a step by step tutorial like this but I wanted a little impetus and was in the mood to do something that was sorta kinda with a group. I will be posting pictures of the journal as I go. The tutorial is available until the end of the month- she’s already extended it, luckily for me, but maybe it’s not to late to buy it if you are a fast worker. This is a picture of Heather’s book, from her blog. They will all be a little different. Especially mine! Because I found a great book to alter, but it was bigger than the suggested size. So I will have to make a few changes here and there.

The second thing is I am working on a Fat Book swap with Robin at the Thrifty Miss Priss blog . We each make 12 of our pages, send them to her, and she is assembling them and sending the books back. The theme is Winter Whites. I can’t wait to have a lovely art book made by fellow bloggers! The picture is from a previous fat book she did with a Valentines day theme.

I’ve been working on my page and am pretty excited about it, but I’m not going to show it until I get it back all finished. I don’t want to spoil anyone’s surprise!

-Lynnae

My Halloween Brag Pictures

Here are a few shots of our creations this Halloween.  Here I am with two of my daughters.

  This is my daughter who is away at college. She is dressed as pop star Lady Gaga. You can see more about her Halloween here.

This is my second daughter. I made her the cute little poodle skirt. She loved it, which I love. She was wearing it to work and got dressed two hours early. And even though she had to work, she was listed on scavenger hunts for two different parties, so friends kept running in to take a picture with her or give her candy. Doesn’t that sound fun?

This is my youngest. She was a Secret Agent. We found a great little trench coat at a thrift store. The best place for costumes!

 

My Husband is pretty creative too. Here is his diorama of a pumpkin being killed and eaten by another pumpkin.

  And here is the finished product of my Princess Angel-Fairy costume. Even though I loved it, it was tiring after a while. I couldn’t really sit without crinkling my wings, and had to turn sideways to go through doorways. Being an angel is tough work.

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!

-Lynnae

A Fashionista Shout Out

  Ladies, if you have never been to Reachel Bagley’s Blog,
 Cardigan Empire, go pay a quick visit. She gives great examples of styles to fit your personal figure, do’s and don’ts, great links to outfits, and more. And she does it all with sweetness and charm, including answering reader questions and offering a style booklet for your own body type. Check it out!

-Lynnae

Special Days

  Here we are with our sweet little second daughter, all ready for the homecoming dance.

Her friends mom invited parents to come in for appetizers when we brought the kids while waiting for the limo. As luck would have it, when we got there her power was out. She was a wonderful hostess, serving the appetizers that didn’t need to be cooked. Her home was lit with dozens of candles everywhere and there were darling Halloween decorations out. I hope I can always be as good at handling the unexpected! To top it all off, the limo was late. We stayed long enough to make sure the kids had a ride, but I think they were glad to get on their way and ditch the parents!

It stopped raining long enough to take some photos (about 100) with the backdrop of fall foliage.