Out With the Old...In With the New

Isn’t that what New Year’s is all about? New beginnings? I definitely have some planned. First, I thought those of you following the dollhouse progress would like to see some pictures of it fully loaded. You can click on the pictures themselves for a larger view. The girls had been watching me redecorate the walls and floors (still haven’t finished that darn molding…), but Santa brought all the furniture. The house was sitting next to the tree Christmas morning all decked out when the girls got up before dawn. I did the furniture shopping in a variety of places, but the majority of it came from Maria’s Dolls here in Jacksonville in Avondale. A friend of mine told me about Maria’s and I’m so glad I stopped in! The piano, living room furniture, dining room table and chairs and the animals all came from Maria's. We started out with two dogs and two cats, and are currently down to one dog…I think the girls put the other three animals in the Christmas tree…

My favorite pieces are the three hand painted pieces I found on Etsy. And my most favorite is definitely the painted dresser in the blue room. The same artist painted the dresser and the trunk on the upstairs landing. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for more little lovelies in her store; she‘s from Maine and her name is Grazhina. The girls have enjoyed redecorating constantly and it’s been fun watching them. They really play well together when playing with this dollhouse so that’s definitely a blessing.

I have to say the most magical Christmas morning moment did not involve the dollhouse. Any of you who have been reading this blog for any length of time or who know my girls know of Sarah’s attachment to Bunny. We had two bunnies for a while: Bunny Susan and Sister Bunny. Sister Bunny went missing a few months ago. Still haven’t found her. So believe it or not, the only thing Sarah asked Santa for Christmas was a new sister for Bunny Susan. Well, Santa came through. Acting as one of his little helpers, I found the exact same bunny at JCPenney’s, the last two actually, and bought them both…never know when we’ll need another one! Christmas morning, the new bunny was sitting on the piano next to the tree. DH and I had gotten up at 5am to turn the tree lights on and then just layed in bed watching…with a perfect view of the tree and the new bunny…until the girls came down.

Sarah came down first. She must have seen the bunny from the top of the stairs. When I first saw her, she was standing at the bottom of the stairs just looking at that bunny, dirty old Bunny Susan in hand. Then she slowly walked over to the piano…walking right past the dollhouse…and gently picked up the new bunny. She just stood there for a minute, looking at the new bunny and then looking at Bunny Susan. Then she turned around and ran into our room saying, “Mommy! Santa brought Bunny Susan a sister!” As DH would say, “bring a tear to a glass eye…” I think Livvie’s favorite present has been the dollhouse. She’s a great redecorator. I'll post some Christmas morning pictures and video when I get my film developed!

So about this New Year’s stuff…really makes your reevaluate your life, doesn’t it? I’ve been very lucky to have three weeks off over the holidays and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and doing the things I love to do most…create stuff. My mind has not stopped thinking of new ideas. My only problem is, with a full-time job and twin four-year-olds, there’s just not enough time in the day to do the things I’d like to do. So I hope to become better organized with my time. I guess that’s my biggest New Year’s resolution. Santa brought DH and I a couple big ticket items for Christmas...a new flat screen TV for him and a new computer and camera for me. So with the help of my new computer and camera, you’ll be seeing lots of new things coming to my website and Etsy store. Things other than jewelry, too! Just have to find the time to bring the creations out of my brain and onto my workbench.

This is a time of renewal…out with the old and in with the new. So in addition to your trips to Goodwill to declutter your closets and your house (I can’t be the only person who does a major declutter at the first of the year…), I hope you make time to pursue your dreams and your passions and what truly brings you joy. I plan to, and I hope to help my family do the same. Best Wishes for a very Happy New Year! Like this post? Click here to sign up for free weekly email reminders.

Work in Progress...

We're getting there! I don't think I ever even stopped to eat lunch yesterday! DH and the girls got home about 4pm and played with me for a little while and then I finally came up for dinner about 8:15pm, then went back downstairs and went back to work! Here's what we've got so far...no floors or molding yet, but the walls are almost done!

I started with these two rooms (below)...the smallest! Since I've never really worked with paper, I wanted to start small. This will be the bathroom and one bedroom. The laminate flooring is a leftover from the previous decor!

This is the attic room. I just realized there are no stairs going up to it! It was here I learned that paper really does make a difference. I had been using card stock up until this point. I initially did that back wall with the window with just regular paper stock and couldn't get rid of the bubbles so I tore that out and put this funky card stock in.

This was my first big challenge and light bulb over the head moment. I hadn't noticed that archway until I really looked at the room and then said, "Yikes! A straight line cut that is not!" I looked around my workshop and, as luck would have it, the lid of a coil of copper wire was the perfect fit for the arch. It was about 9:30pm by that time, so I had to run upstairs and wake up DH and show him my ingenuity!

And lastly, this room is my biggest challenge. This is the largest room and not only has the staircase in the middle of it, but also has two little nooks. One, to the back right in this picture, seems to have no purpose other than to aggravate me. The other is the front door foyer around the corner to the left behind the stairs...hmm...maybe if I take the front door off. More updates to come!

Time's Running Out!

Well, it is December 18, and I can procrastinate no longer! My biggest goal for this Christmas was to get my sister's old dollhouse refurbished for the girls. My sister never took it with her when she moved out of Mom's house, so when Mom died, it came to me. It lived at my good friend Jim's house in Tallahassee for a year or two while his daughter Morgan played with it, and then a couple years after my girls were born, it traveled back to us. It's been sitting in my garage for two years now! First, the Granddad said he was going to refurbish it and give it to the girls last Christmas. He got distracted (like me, he easily does) and never got around to it, so he brought it back up to me this summer, and I've been staring at it ever since.

Now this latest batch of procrastination hasn't been entirely my fault. First I had to wait for DH to clean out the old stuff (very ugly 1980 wallpaper and flooring) and then sand the walls and floors so I could bring it back to life. Then I had to visit numerous arts and crafts stores looking for just the right papers and flooring. And then there was the hunt for just the right furniture, which is still not completed. And then, of course, it is Christmas time after all, so I've had lots of Christmas shopping and wrapping to do. You know, so I have been busy! But really, I'm just a professional procrastinator; I truly could have started it last week. I just work best under pressure!

Anywho, I thought I'd show you some before and after pictures. I wish I would have thought about this before DH pulled out the old wallpaper and flooring, but oh well. We have saved the kitchen intact. I just don't think we can safely pull out the cabinetry, so maybe we'll just have a retro 80's kitchen and keep that snazzy brown, green and orange metallic floral wallpaper, the same wall paper that was in my kitchen in high school on Dillon Drive. I'll save that for last and see what I think. To give you some scale, the house is rather large; it's about 3 1/2 feet wide x 2 1/2 feet tall. My stepfather #1, John, built it in 1980 and it's structurally very solid and the exterior still looks great. Just some minor clean up work needed there. Now my job is to make the interior look fabulous again. Somehow over the next three days, since we'll be traveling this weekend... I"ll keep you updated with pictures as we go!

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Free Bling Friday Number 32!

Free Bling Friday time! Last week's winner is Ellie B. from Orlando, Florida. Yeah, Ellie! This week's entry will bring you a touch of royalty. I've combined gorgeous purple and gold hand-torched lampwork beads with 14K gold-filled accents and Swarovski crystals for sparkle. They hang approximately 1 1/2" total in length on 14K gold-filled French wires. To be eligible to win this pair, simply email me by midnight Thursday, December 20, with the subject line FREE BLING and include where you're from. Don't want to miss a single Free Bling Friday? Sign up for free weekly email updates here!

New Works by Up-and-Coming Artists

Since I love to profile outstanding artists and craftsmen here, I thought I'd share these two little jewels with you. Twin sisters, these artists share a very similar style. They work primarly in Crayola and newsprint and seem to be most heavily influnced by Picasso's early works, particularly his animals and sealife series. Note their choices of rabbit and mermaid as compared to Picasso's Rooster, and well as their advanced use of line and texture, with spectacular color stories.

Though I sense some outside assistance in these works, it's obvious these two young masters in the making have very long, successful careers ahead of them. I'll be sure to keep you updated on new works. :-)

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Free Bling Friday Number 31!

Free Bling Friday time! Last week's winner is Rhonda F. from Milton, Ontario, Canada! Yeah, Rhonda! This week's entry is another fun one just in time for Christmas. I've combined yummy pink chalcedony semi-precious gemstone briolettes with red polymer clay roses and creamy freshwater pearls. They'll be perfect for your family Christmas dinner! They hang approximately 1 1/2" total in length on sterling French wires. To be eligible to win this pair, simply email me by midnight Thursday, December 13, with the subject line FREE BLING and include where you're from. Don't want to miss a single Free Bling Friday? Sign up for free weekly email updates here!