This Could Take Awhile...

Arggggggggggggggggg!!! Okay, here's what happened...I tried to post these images in order, but had double-posted one, lost this one, and had to put it here..why, you ask? Because I haven't figured out how to move images around...All I can do is put them up in reverse order, so that the one I want first, I put up last...This image is the second page of a tutorial at the bottem...The next one is the first page of "How to repair drywall"...so, I have to live with it. Ya'll seem to do so well and know all the magic thingys, that make things beautiful, functional, imaginative; things flutter, things float..you can put HERE..and if you click on it, you go somewhere..don't bother clicking on that HERE, for you will go nowhere...stop laughing..stop it.
So, if you haven't read by now, I am archiving many of the articles I've cut out of magazines over the years and placed in sleeves in loose-leaf binders..big binders...I am getting rid of the binders, as they take up too much space, and it's hard to carry such heavy things around...so, I figured I might as well share them with you...

Don't forget to double-click in order to read the articles....I know, you knew that...

This is "moi", in all my glory, trying to reach a spot on my client's staircase (two stories), while sitting on a homemade (do not try this at home, I am a professional) scaffolding, comprised of boards and ladders. The room(s) I glazed -(one is pictured below in a photoshoot for Graber Window Fasions.) added up to 1,000 square feet...lots' of work...My client caught me with the glazing brush between my toes...

Painting stripes can be challenging...math skills needed here; and apparently I lacked them...one has to be very careful not to be off by a quarter-inch here, and a quarter inch there, as one ends up with having to adjust the width of the stripes at the end...I made it barely discernable..it did turn out well, and I learned alot..also, had thighs of steel, after all the taping and painting..going up-and-down a ladder one million times.

I took a faux finish class at New England School of Art and Design, in Boston....This was my final project..got an A...We had to use the Old World techniques, which are much more difficult than the wonderful (and better for your health) products out there today...which is why I want to share what I've learned by just reading...and observing.

I would like to give credit where credit is due, and I try, but some of these images were cut out years ago, and I have no idea...but, thankyou very much....

Faux Finishes, etc...

Since I've been "compartmentalizing", I've been having fun reading and remembering how fun it was to find these articles, and save them. I've spent hours-and-hours, going through magazines, and cutting out these things, and putting them in binders...which take up too much room...making room for my husband's books in a bookcase along side mine in my office....
I am a firm believer that aside from brain surgery, there's not much I can't learn from a book or a tutorial (I need to remind myself, when I am reading tutorials about the computer...there, I freeze up)...anyway, after learning these techniques, as a designer, I did many of my own faux finishes for clients...they loved them..In fact, time permitting, I will put some on the blog.

I do hope you find instruction and inspiration here...I know I did.............Don't forget, you can double-click, and read the print....try it...also, I always suggest doing a sample board before diving it...saves time, money, and tearing your hair out...been there, done that, bought the tshirt.

After learning these techniques, and before ruining my wrist with falls and other abuses, I was able to charge $50 a square ft. (those were the days), or more....everyone loved whatever I did.

Enjoy- I am off to water aerobics.

Compartmentalizing....

My husband is just now finishing a two-year "gig" as a consultant, and is moving out of his office and back home...which means there are boxes of books in our garage..I have my design books, art books, novels, etc., and he has his scientific journals, business books, (okay, I give up here...he has a doctorate in anatomy, and he is a scientist and a business guy)..which means all kinds of books that he refuses (as do I my books) to just get rid of...which means unless we have tons of bookcases, we are in trouble...We don't have that much wall space in our home...lots of windows, arches, and our offices are "chock full"...
So, for years, I have been cutting articles out of various magazines, and filing them away in plastic sleeves in big binders, which take up a great deal of space...also, they are heavy...so, I am compartmentalizing....I have decided to scan my favorites...I have "sewing, crafts, art, kitchens, window treatments, dining rooms, bedrooms, gardens, the whole gamut, all taking up a great deal of space...I have decided to scan my favorites and share them with you...also, they are then on my computer..which I better back up..don't you think?

I am also writing two novels, and a children's book, which is taking a great deal of my time..along with three days a week of water aerobics, and two days a week of power walking...so, I am going to share with you what I've taken from the notebooks, and hoping that you won't think I'm cheating here...but, I LOVE so much of it.

The first thing I got from my "Fabrics inspiration" notebooks were these wonderful articles from "Marie Claire Idees" from years ago...I had forgotten all about them...now, I will share them with you, and perhaps, getting the "creative juices" flowing again as far as sewing...

Remember, you can double-click on the images, and they will be enlarged...enjoy!!!

I do so enjoy taking bits of fabrics (I save everything, especially, scraps of velvet, silks, moires, beads, ribbons,) and making something from them...I am a "she who dies with the most fabric (scraps and all), wins..

I love gold - and I love stamps, and I love what they've done with these bags.

This ribbon embroidery is devine, and I love making pillows from whatever is around...I also love ribbon roses, and have several books on it...This heart is one of my favorites

Tis actually kind of fun..going through my archives... I hope you find some idees...