The Red Painted Cottage

Come On Over To My New Blog

2015-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

This really isn't a normal blog posting for me. I just wanted those of you who normally follow via Google or email to take note that my blog has moved. My name is the same, but my address has changed to: www.theredpaintedcottage.com .

Come on over and have a look. It's still being tweaked here and there and I'll be adding more things as we go along. I will really miss you if you don't come, so please follow me at my new site.

It's ArtPrize In The City

2015-09-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

“Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.”
~L. Drachman

The 7th year of ArtPrize just began yesterday. If you never heard of it, it's an art adventure, unlike any other. This year it will run from September 23 until October 11. It's held in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan and artists from all over the world come to participate and to be judged for huge cash awards. The photo below was a grand prize winner from two years ago.

So what do you think this is? It's actual a four-part quilt of the Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan.

Here's a close up of it. Amazing! The winner received $200,000.

This is a huge pencil drawing of a Calvary unit from WWI.

This was another grand prize winner.

I remember the artist for the face shadows was from Japan. The light in the room was cast just right for the papers to reveal the profile of the person.

These exhibits are held in different venues around the city. Some are lucky enough to get into the Art Museum or the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Others exhibit their art in restaurants, banks, even bookstores.

And the city comes alive like no other time of the year. People from all over the world flock to our city to look at and talk about art.

This was another grand prize winner and she actually drew while the exhibit was going on. She kept expanding it in height and width.

You can see all the fine details she put into her drawing.

There's a lot of controversy about this exhibit because of the way it's judged, both by the public and by the experts. Some that you think should win, may not even come close.

I really loved these last two photos, the one above was a painting and the one below was drawn in colored pencils; yet neither were finalist.

Like the saying goes, "art is in the eye of the beholder". I use to volunteer for the first 5 years, registering voters. But last year I had my knee replacement surgery on September 9, so there was no way I could see it. And I won't be able to go this year. I'll tell you why I can't, next week.

Thursday's Ramblin' - Things You May Not Know About Me

2015-09-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

For bees, the flower is the fountain of life; For flowers, the bee is the messenger of love.
~Kahlil Gibran

In school, I was the quiet one and hated to speak up in class. Now, I can't keep my mouth shut; just ask Mr. Cottage. It doesn't phase me at all to get up in front of strangers and talk and talk.

I'm one of many who doesn't like to be around bees, but look above and below as I stood among many of them yesterday, taking these photos of them congregating around this floral bush in our yard.

I'm terrified of height! I can fly on a plane or stand on an enclosed structure and look down and out, but if there's a large window that goes down to the floor and everything looks open, then I can't be anywhere near it. Too scary!

I was flying to Japan on 9/11 and got stuck in Chicago. I ended up getting home at 9:30 pm that evening by car, and I eventually flew to Japan on October 30; and then two other times.

I used to weave baskets and traveled around for juried art shows. I've been down to Stone Mountain, GA (where I made thousands in just one day, for real!), but at another show, which was in Michigan, I sold one $10 basket for the entire day. I've been to shows throughout Illinois, northern Michigan, Ohio, and Minnesota. I hate to say it, but I'll never do another art show again. It's just too much work and too much uncertainty. I applaud all these fabulous artists who travel around like I use to.

Put me on a cruise ship and I would gladly sail the world. I love traveling and I love cruise ships.

So now you know a little bit more about me than when you started to read this post.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY

2015-09-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

"A year from now you will wish you had started today."
~Karen Lamb

I think I mentioned, once upon a time, not so long ago, that changes were coming to my blog. Well, those changes are going to take place THIS week. And I think other than the name The Red Painted Cottage, EVERYTHING is changing!

The above watercolor is a sneak peak of great things to come. I will no longer be with Blogger, so everyone who has been following me through Blogger, will have to sign up to receive email postings for my blog. I've moved over to WordPress, which I probably should have done early on, but better late than never!

In the meantime, here's a look at what I'm currently working on.

I keep telling everyone that we have a pumpkin patch growing downstairs...LOL!

I can't wait to show you the above, if and when I ever finish it.

And still another project. So much to look forward to.

Keys To Our Past, Part 3

2015-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

“My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.”
~Tahir Shah

So where to begin? I literally pulled out hundreds of photos, knowing I would only be using just a handful. Decisions, decisions...which ones to use. I don't remember where I first read this, but somewhere along the way I read "you can use a mixture of colored frames, as long as all your photos are black and white. If you use colored photos, then you want to stick with the same color of frame throughout your arrangement." OK, raise your hand it you said this!

So I decided black and white photos would look the best. After deciding which photos I wanted to use, I then went and had them made into B & W. I didn't like the way the first store did them, so I went to another and redid them all. Mr. Cottage said it didn't make a difference, but that's why I'm the decorator and he's not!

Using a very large Newspaper Print paper pad I bought from Michael's, I laid every frame, one at a time, and traced around it. I also put the title or name of the photo on each one, so I would know which paper went with what frame. Then the fun part began. I know I've read to lay your frames on the floor and decide that way, but for me it was much easier to play with it right on the wall. If I didn't like where one frame went, I just loosened the paint tape and moved it to another spot.

Once I was ready to start hanging the frames, I took each one and marked where the nails had to go. If there were two hooks on the back, then a level had to be used to make sure this frame would hang straight.

Remember my DIY galvanized metal letters? If not, you can read about them here.

I also bought these tiny chalkboard tags from Kohls, knowing I was going to repaint the frames. Fortunately, the chalkboards could be removed easily, which made painting a breeze.

I decided to make them look like galvanized metal, too.

After the paint was dried, I wrote "Keys to our past" on the chalkboard using a General white charcoal pencil.

The hardest part of all this was rethreading the jute through the tiny openings. I finally just rubbed Elmer's glue onto the ends, twisting them as I did this, and then letting them dry. Easy Peasy!

Our fur babies are all part of our family. We have 6 granddogs, and many wonderful other dogs that were all part of our household. I still need to get a few more photos of a couple more dogs.

For those of you not aware, I have a dollhouse and this Fun-Tak is used to hold some of my items in place. A few of my frames didn't want to set real straight, so I used some of this behind them. Voila!

My big oval frame is hanging as is for now. I removed the big rusty wire and replaced it with smaller wires towards the top. I have a big project planned for it, but I'm in no hurry to begin.

So there you are! After months of hard work it all paid off. Ready to start yours?

I've joined the following link up parties:

DIY Show Off
A Tray of Bliss
Something To Talk About
Amaze Me Monday
A Stroll Thru Life
Make It Pretty Monday
Just A Girl and Her Blog
Wow Us Wednesdays
Tuesdays At Our Home
Moonlight and Mason Jars
Work It Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants
Share Your Style
Wordless Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things
Your Turn To Shine
Inspiration Thursday
AKA Design
My Flagstaff Home

Keys To Our Past, Part 2

2015-09-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.
~Unknown

This project took months and months, but that was because we were at the cottage more than we were home. Normally, I would say a few weeks or a bit more. One of the toughest decisions is deciding which photos to use, out of the thousands we had laying around in tubs and more tubs.

The photo above is our family crest that we purchased while at Disney World a few years ago. It was in the United Kingdom Exhibit in Epcot and we had them go ahead and frame it. So this was a must have for our photo wall.

I was going to put Wall Words on this wall until I found this great frame from Target.

I had quite a collection of frames that I had from over the years, but I had to buy a lot of new ones, too. Most, but not all, came from Michael's when they had their sale or coupons. The photo above is of my mother's grandparents, or my great-grandparents from Hungary. Actually, these are copies of the original photos that were in the large oval frames I had. My mother gave me the frames years ago, but she insisted on keeping the photos. OK, no problem, right? Until on one of my visits I found a box of old photos, with heavy items on top, and these large, original photos cracking in pieces below. Oops! After my mother passed away, I took the cracked photos to a good photographer and just had them scan it the best they could. I wasn't going to pay to have them repaired.

My father was the "baby" of his family and that's him sitting between his parents. No one in his family was very tall, but somewhere in the family genes, my father received his height. He towered over his mother and father, and that's where my sister and I got our height. Thank you dad!

This is the original photo and frame that my father had from 1943 when he was in the army. He's in the middle of the second row behind the officers.

My mother in the middle, with her sisters and sisters-in-law.

Mr. Cottage's father on the far left end with all of his brothers. They all lost their parents when they were killed in a car/train crash when Mr. Cottage's father was only 7 years old. A very sad story.

And the photos above are my mother-in-law's parents. Her father was a veterinarian and during WWI he took care of all the horses in his unit.

Isn't it amazing what we can learn about our past. All of our kids had to write a family history project when they were in grade school. Through that project, we obtained more information than any of us could imagine.

On Monday, I'll post the third and final part of this series. It will tell you more about how I created this wall and how you can do the same with your photos.

Thursday's Ramblin' - A Little Show and Tell With Some Noosa

2015-09-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

A simple smile, or "good morning", could change someone's entire mood today. Practice being pleasant.
~Mama Zara

Remember my $5 vintage aqua vase I bought on Labor Day...
Here it sits on our kitchen table with beautiful big white sunflowers. I love the chippy look and the bumps and bruises it's endured over the years.

I rushed into Home Goods the other day, literally was in and out within 15 minutes. I honestly don't know how I did that, but look what came home with me...

This pumpkin weights a ton, well...not really. It's only 2 pounds in weight, but that's still heavy for a faux, cloth pumpkin. And I love the neutral color, the writing on it, the squiggly vine and the price, $7.99!

I have been meaning to write about Noosa for sometime. I am not being sponsored or paid for this, but I would be more than happy to be their spokesperson! It's the BEST new food item I've tried that I love.

If you're not familiar with it, it's an Australian-style yoghurt, that is processed and made in Colorado. You can read about it here. If you love yogurt and haven't tried it yet, you have no idea what you're missing. I've tried the Raspberry, Coconut and the Honey. Unfortunately, it comes in a large size container (8 oz), so you do have the option of eating only a portion and putting the lid back on. I have mine either for lunch or I eat it as a dessert, it's that good. And when I finish the container, I so want to put my face in the container and lick every last bit of it up. (No, haven't done that one yet)

Have a simply wonderful day today, from me to you!

I've joined the following link-up parties:

AKA Design
Moonlight and Mason Jars

Keys To Our Past

2015-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.
~Unknown

I finally finished our family photo gallery wall that I've been working on, like forever! Can I hear an AMEN! We have a walkout lower level, so when you walk into our entry way, rather than going upstairs (because we don't have one), we have stairs that lead down.

So when you stand in our entry, this is what you're looking at if you face the stairway.

And when you get down to the bottom, this is the view. You may have noticed (or not), the blue horizontal tape on the wall. Mr. Cottage is going to make a small console table to put here. I just know he can hardly wait to start on it!

And when standing at the bottom and looking up, this is the view...

Here, I'm standing further back in our family room...

You'll notice all the keys. I bought them a few years ago from Pottery Barn and rather than using them altogether, I scattered them around horizontally and vertically.

And named this "Keys to our past"...

Here's one more photo of the wall that leads up the stairs. I have so much more I want to share with you, but there's really too much to put into this one post. So I'll be spreading it out in small doses over the next few days.

I've joined up with the following link parties:

A Stroll Thru Life
Just A Girl and Her Blog
Savvy Southern Style
Work It Wednesday
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Tuesdays At Our Home
The Charm of Home
Ivy and Elephants
Share Your Style
Inspiration Thursday
Your Turn To Shine
Wordless Wednesday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Thursday's Favorite Things
My Flagstaff Home
AKA Design
Moonlight and Mason Jars
The Cottage Market
Tater Tots and Jello
Thoughts From Alice
Finding Silver Pennies
DIY Show Off
A Tray of Bliss
Amaze Me Monday
I Should Be Mopping The Floors
The Scoop
Cozy Little House
Make It Pretty Monday

There's A NUMBER Of Reasons To Love This Post Today

2015-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

"Surround yourself with quality, not clutter. Buy it once, and buy it right." ~Marni Jameson

This is a sponsored post for Rob's Rustics.

I'm writing about numbers today. No, not as in mathematics or finances, but as in beautifully designed numbers made of cast iron by Rob's Rustics. Look at our beautiful copper painted numbers on our Red Painted Cottage...

They came from Rob's Rustics.

Remember the copper boiler I showed you the other day? Well, hint, hint...it may have something to do with these gorgeous copper numbers. Our neighbors have even commented on how beautiful our new numbers look.

In addition to using these for house numbers, they can also be used in a number of other ways. Did you know that many weddings are now numbering their tables with numbered centerpieces?

This beautiful coral color was screwed into a block of 2 x 4 wood, that had been stained and covered in burlap and lace. This would look lovely for a barn wedding or any wedding held in the country or other rustic setting.

Aqua is so popular right now. But this would look great in silver or gold for special anniversary celebrations.

A fall or even November wedding would look stunning with white pumpkins and white sunflowers, along with the teal numbers and burlap.

Or even with hydrangeas!

If you need ideas to make it a bit classier, use a silver frame with an old book page about love and marriage. Then tie the beautiful white, silver, copper or any other colored number onto the frame with a wired ribbon and attach a burlap flower. Boxwood always looks great anywhere.

How easy is this...just lean the numbers against a stack of old books with a boxwood arrangement on top.

Table numbers aren't just for weddings. They can be used for any celebration, including baby showers, bridal showers, anniversaries and bar mitzvahs.

Aren't they all beautiful? In addition to house numbers and table numbers, they would be great for mailboxes and to hang above hooks or on baskets. Use your imagination.

Disclosure: I was compensated for the post by Rob's Rustics, but all opinions are my own.
Please see my disclosure page for more information.

I'm sharing this at the following link parties:

Let's Talk Vintage

The Best Ever Texas Sheet Cake That Will Melt In Your Mouth

2015-09-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

“Baking is like washing--the results are equally temporary.”
~Patricia Briggs

So what exactly is a Texas Sheet Cake? It's a large single layer cake that is baked in a large baking sheet pan. From start to finish, it takes 40-60 minutes, and that includes baking and putting the frosting on. In addition to all this, it's also served right out of the pan. It can't get any easier than that. As to why the name of Texas, it's been suggested that Texas is a big state and this is a big cake. Buttermilk and pecans are common in Texas, and that's what the original Sheet Cake called for. However, this cake is popular in the American South and Midwest and appears in tons of cookbooks; and there are so many varieties, not just chocolate.

But the one I'm sharing with you today is for all chocolate lovers. It's not overly sweet, but it's got the chocolate flavor you crave. And did I say it's moist and melts in your mouth.

I'm going to be honest here and tell you this is MY spin-off of the Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake where I made a few minor adjustments.

The Best Ever Texas Sheet Cake That Will Melt In Your Mouth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake time: 20 minutes

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pound of real butter or 2 sticks.
2/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
1 cup of boiling water

Frosting:

1 and 3/4 stick real butter
2/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
6 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 pound powdered sugar
Optional, 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts. I used pecans.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease your baking sheet pan.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt and mix together. Set the bowl aside.
In a smaller bowl, add your two eggs, baking soda, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat together with a fork or whisk and put the bowl aside.
Put the 2 sticks of butter into a saucepan and melt on a low temperature.
Then add the cocoa and stir until it's smooth. In the meantime, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. I used my microwave to boil the water. Add this water to the pan with the butter and cocoa and mix.
Pour this chocolate mixture into the bowl with the flour. Stir together and give the chocolate time to cool a bit.
Then pour in the egg and buttermilk mixture. If you pour this into the chocolate, while the chocolate is still very hot, your eggs could cook; which would not be a good thing!
Mix until smooth and then pour the batter into your baking sheet pan and put into your preheated oven. Set your timer for 20 minutes.
Clean out your saucepan, and then add 1 and 3/4 stick real butter to the pan. Melt on low heat.
While this is melting, measure your milk and vanilla and put this into a small bowl until you're ready to add it.
Once the butter has melted, add the cocoa powder and mix until it's smooth.
Now, go ahead and add the milk and vanilla.
Add all the powdered sugar and stir until smooth.
If you're adding nuts, go ahead and add them in now.
As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, pour the hot icing directly onto the hot cake. Try to pour this evenly so you don't have to spread it more than necessary

Gather all your ingredients. You don't want to have to run to a neighbors or the store in the middle of making this. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease your baking sheet pan. I used a 12 x 17 inch baking sheet pan.

You want to put your flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Stir and mix everything together. Set this bowl aside.

In a smaller bowl, add your two eggs, baking soda, buttermilk, and vanilla,

then mix all this together with a fork or a whisk. Set this bowl aside.

In a saucepan, melt your butter.

Then add the cocoa and stir until it's smooth. In the meantime, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. I used my microwave to boil the water. Add this water to the pan with the butter and cocoa and mix.

Pour the chocolate mixture from the pan, into the bowl with all the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir it awhile to let the chocolate cool.

Once the chocolate has cooled enough, pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into the large bowl with the chocolate and mix until it's smooth.

Then pour the batter into your baking sheet pan and put into the oven to bake. Baking time is 20 minutes. While it's baking, let's make the frosting...

Melt 1 and 3/4 sticks of butter on low heat. (I used the same pan and just rinsed everything out really good.)

Once the butter has melted, add the cocoa and stir until it's smooth.

Once it's smooth, add the milk and vanilla to the pan with the chocolate. (I measured my milk and vanilla ahead of time, which made it easier to add when needed.)

Add the powdered sugar to the pan and mix well. At this point, you can add nuts or leave plain. By now your cake is baked, and as soon as you take it out of the oven, you'll pour the hot chocolate frosting from the pan onto the cake.

Let everything set for a couple of hours. The frosting on top will harden up. I took ours to a potluck. Because the frosting was hardened, you can put foil or a clear wrap over the top of the pan without worrying about the frosting sticking to your wrap.

I've joined up with the following link up parties:

DIY ShowOff
Something To Talk About
Amaze Me Monday
The Scoop
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Finding Silver Pennies
Inspire Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Cupcakes and Crinoline
A Stroll Thru Life
Just A Girl and Her Blog
Savvy Southern Style
Work It Wednesday
Tuesdays At Our Home
The Charm of Home
Ivy and Elephants
Share Your Style
Inspiration Thursday
Your Turn To Shine
Wordless Wednesday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Thursday's Favorite Things
My Flagstaff Home
AKA Design
Moonlight and Mason Jars
The Cottage Market
Tater Tots and Jello
Cozy Little House

How To Create The Look Of Galvanized Metal

2015-09-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

“Inspiration comes and goes, creativity is the result of practice.”

~Phil Cousineau

Last week I gave a sneak peek of our family photo wall gallery and to let you see the wood letters I had hung. I wasn't quite sure about the B and the K, which I thought might be too light. Long story short, I decided to try my hand at making these letters look like galvanized metal instead of wood.

Now

Before

I started by painting each letter with black craft paint, letting it dry completely.

Then taking a 3/4 inch flat craft brush, and using a metallic craft paint (I chose Gunmetal, but any shade of medium to dark gray would work, just make sure it's metallic), I dipped the tip of the brush into the metallic paint and dry brushed around on the sides and top. Go in different directions, let areas dry and go back again and again until you have the black covered. You don't want the black to show as black, but at the same time, you want it to show through lightly in areas. See the photo below...

After dipping my brush in the paint, you can see all the places on my palette where I wiped off some of the paint...

I chose to add a touch of rust in a few places on each letter. Again, let the metallic paint dry thoroughly. I mixed Burnt Umber and Light Cinnamon together and used a small dappling sponge to rub in along a few edges.

Here's the before...

Here's the after...

This is at the bottom of our stairs and it's just a very dark corner, so getting the right lighting isn't easy. But I love the galvanized metal look so much better and it goes right along with all the old black and white photos...

I think next week I'll finally be able to show you our completed gallery wall. I've got to get all the photos of our furbabies hung and a few frames straightened, and then I'll be finished with it!

I've joined with the following link-up parties. Come on over and get inspired:

A Tray of Bliss
My Flagstaff Home
AKA Design
DIY ShowOff
Something To Talk About
Amaze Me Monday
The Scoop
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Finding Silver Pennies
Inspire Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Cupcakes and Crinoline
Let's Talk Vintage
Just A Girl and Her Blog
Savvy Southern Style
Work It Wednesday
Tuesdays At Our Home
The Charm of Home
Ivy and Elephants
Share Your Style
Inspiration Thursday
Your Turn To Shine
Wordless Wednesday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Thursday's Favorite Things
Cozy Little House

Thursday's Ramblin' - One Con For Living In A Condo

2015-09-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

“It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference.”
~Zig Ziglar

I love color and creating, which should not come as a surprise to most of you. But after moving into our condo, 2 years ago, I realized our front door was white, as in blah, plain old white. Seriously, I never paid that much attention to the door when we bought the place because we knew we wanted it. It wasn't until later I realized that every door in our condo development looks the same. And those who live in a condo, probably know what I'm talking about. There are RULES! Now, we can do what we want on the inside, but for the outside they want uniformity...

In our previous house, I had painted our front door different colors over the years, always to give it a POP of color for our house. Even our red painted cottage has a lime green door. I mean, shouldn't a cottage be a fun place...

So I came up with the next best thing, color to hang on our exterior door. In the spring I put together and hung my metal container with pops of bright spring flowers...

And the bigger, the better...

Last fall, I bought a HUGE grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby and not one, but two colorful leaf garlands. I wanted a large and very full wreath for our door. I never took photos, but all I did was fasten the garland to the wreath with floral wire, then went around again with the second wreath. I even made a bow with wire-rimmed ribbon (which is easy to use from year to year, just a tad of fluffing and it's good to go). The entire wreath, with the wreath hanger, came to $22...

It's not the black painted door or yellow door I would have liked, but the large colorful wreath perks it up quite a bit. For those of you in an apartment, you can do the same thing on your doors. Just put your personality into it!

I've joined up with the following link parties. Come on over and get inspired:

Share Your Style
Inspiration Thursday
Cozy Little House
Your Inspired Design
Ivy and Elephants
Amaze Me Monday
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Inspire Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Cupcakes and Crinoline

A Mini Tour Of Where I Create

2015-09-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

The bird loves her own nest.
~Latin Proverb

I know I shared a two-part posting, earlier in the year, about my studio. We had just finished painting it. But I know many of you missed this posting, along with some of my new followers; plus I was inspired by WeWork to share my creative space. WeWork has office spaces throughout the world where any freelancer, small business, non-profits, and other businesses can rent office space from them. Right now they're in some larger cities. I have artist friends who I know have gone out on their own and are renting space in other buildings around the country. So I guess I'm rather fortunate I have a wonderful place to work on my blogging and all my on-going projects.

Prior to moving, my studio was in a 10 x 12 room. Although I had it decorated very nicely, it still wasn't large enough for everything I needed to do in the space. You can see it here. Now Mr. Cottage and I share a humongous room, which I've divided with doors and screens, so now I have tons of space and for me, that's very important...

And of course, I brought my great lighting along when we moved. The better to see what I'm doing...

For those who aren't aware, I do everything from painting with watercolors, mixed media, sewing for the house, painting furniture, DIY projects, and the list goes on and on. So yes, it's important I have the space; and I love the extra table we set up against my IKEA desk. I keep all my paints close to me, and my sewing machine is kept under the other table when not in use. I love my privacy screens, plus it gives me a place to hang some of my artwork...

What I really love is the wide sliding door to let in a lot of natural light. My drapes were made by me from drop cloths and there was no sewing involved. At night, I just pull them shut and have my privacy, but during the day I can see and hear the fountain in the pond...

My suitcases are all functional and are labeled with chalkboard tags so I know what's in them...

The IKEA drawers hold large watercolor paper, finished artwork, and pads of papers, along with other large flat items...

And my shelves hold baskets and large numbered boxes to house goodies in...

What about you? Where do you create? On your couch, bed, desk, an office or studio in your house or do you rent a place for your creations? I'd love to hear about where you work on all those projects of yours.

I've joined with some great link parties, come over and get inspired:

Ivy and Elephants
Work It Wednesday
Inspiration Thursday
Cozy Little House
Your Inspired Design
AKA Design
The Charm of Home
My Flagstaff Home
A Tray of Bliss
Something To Talk About
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Some New Old Treasures

2015-09-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

An antique is anything old with class.
~Unknown

I love going to a great flea market. Sometimes I have something in mind I'm looking for, but always, I'm keeping my eyes open for good finds that need a new home. OK everyone, get ready to drool...

Look what I saw yesterday at the Burley Park Flea Market! OMG, you have no idea how badly I wanted to take this home with me. For starters, it was $500, which was a "tad" more than I wanted to spend. Then the question, where do I put it once I get it home? But heck, I didn't need to answer that one because if I brought something home like this, I know I WOULD find a place to put this statement piece into our house! This is the first year I went by myself. Mr. Cottage stayed behind at the cottage and I just had my Jeep. Too small a vehicle to haul this back. So as much as I'm still drooling over this, it's either still with the dealer or it found a new home (other than ours).

I did bring a few goodies back with me. I was on the hunt for the large boiler. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait quite awhile before I show you what we're going to do with it. When it's all finished, I promise I'll write a posting on it. All the other items combined cost a total of $15.

I know this it pretty beat up, but I love the color and shape and I made sure there weren't any holes in it so I can put real flowers inside. Only $5...WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!

The lady in this booth told me everything was half-off. She had a box full of these colored bottles. I'm thinking someone along the way probably did something to them to make them all this pretty color, but then again, I'm no expert. Can you read what's on this bottle below...

'Dr. King's New Discovery For Consumption'. You know what consumption is don't you? TB!

I added two of the bottles to the shelf on our antique medicine cabinet and the larger one is on the top of it.

I was keeping my eye open for just one antler, not a set of them together. Again, I have plans and when I'm finished I'll show you what I'm doing with it.

There were old doors, ladders, and windows galore. Just so much eye candy to look at. But I'm pretty happy with my new old treasures that came home with me.

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Burley Park Flea Market

2015-09-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

It is strange that I enjoy flea markets more than going to a mall.
~Unknown

Today is Labor Day and you know what that means...

As you're reading this, I'm either on my way to Burley Park flea market or I'm searching out the good finds to bring home. We've always been told that Memorial Day and Labor Day are the best, and then July 4. We've never been on any of the other days and we only go once a summer, if and when we go...

These are some goodies I found about three years ago...

The photo above was taken on another Labor Day that was really chilly, year unknown. This year it's suppose to be hot, with a chance of rain in the afternoon. Well, anyone who wants to find goodies at a flea market is going to get there first thing in the morning. Hopefully I'll be on my way back to the cottage by the time it gets really hot or rains.

I hope to share my goodies with you tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Our Fall Entry And A Free Printable

2015-09-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Fall is the spring of winter
~Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Fall is one of my favorite seasons and in celebration of September arriving, I've created a Free Fall Printable for you. My goal is to provide more free printables and some will even include a bit of my watercolor designs...

I shared how to do this Easy Peasy burlap-covered clipboard right here, but you can also put it into a frame or hang it any way your creative mind can come up with...

I've put ours on top of a shelf in our entry area, along with a bit of fall decor...

I'm still in the process of getting all our fall seasonal decor out, but it's the last big weekend at the cottage, so I'll have to finish everything after Labor Day...

No, I do not believe in witches, but autumn and Halloween is one of the few times out of the year that I go a step further in decorating for the season...

Below our entry shelf, we have our handy entry bench, which really comes in handy in the late fall and winter for putting on our boots. The pillow is from Pottery Barn which I was able to scoop up on sale with free shipping.

Click here to print

You can also right-click and save it to your computer, as well as printing it smaller. The PDF is set to print as an 8 x 10.

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Thursday's Ramblin' - Finally A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

2015-09-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.
~Unknown

I think some of you are aware of this never-ending project I've been working on for months. I almost feel like it's been the elephant-in-the-room for me. Of course I shouldn't complain because we have been up to the cottage more than we've been at home; and this is definitely a project for doing at home. My work table has been cluttered with photos, newspaper print paper, hammers, glass cleaner and on and on. I still have photos to cut and pictures and items to straighten on the wall and a few photos to still put into frames...

But I wanted to give you just a sneak peek and if you're willing, your opinion on the letters B and K. They were too dark, so I did a white wash over it and then gave them a good sanding. I'm still debating if maybe I should just paint them white or an off-white color. Feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts...

The photo below is part of the wall that goes up to the main level. Anyways, the large oval frame has been in my mother's family for many years, I think it belonged to her grandparents or great-grandparents. It has a bubble glass and as it stands now, I have an idea for what I'm going to do with it. It's hard to see, but it's in rough shape...

I think it's going to be awesome, but you're going to have to wait until I get it finished; and that won't be until the rest of this gallery wall is completed. Patience my friends! And then onto a ton of other projects.

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Why We Love The Red Painted Cottage And Thank You

2015-09-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

Lose yourself in nature and find peace.
~Unknown

I want to give a shoutout to everyone who wished us a happy anniversary on Monday. Thank you for your very kind words.

Mr. Cottage and I love the Red Painted Cottage, that's no secret, or we never would have bought it. We love the logs, the rustic feel, and the comfort we find when we're there. But what we really love is the nature that surrounds us. All the way from the lake so Mr. Cottage can fish, to all the sounds of the bullfrogs, geese and Sandhill Cranes.

Many of you saw the Blue Heron I posted about earlier this summer...

He's still one of my favorites at the cottage, along with the Sandhill Cranes. Mr. Cottage yelled at me again to bring the camera out and he asked me to look down in our garden...

We've got toads everywhere at the cottage...

And then there's the ones you can barely see because they blend into nature...

Did you see the toad above?

The edge of our lake has tons of bullfrogs, but it's unusual to see them up by our cottage. Mr. Cottage was grilling and told me to grab my camera again...

God is awesome! Look how so many of our creatures blend in or camouflage into their surroundings...

I just finished taking his photo and we heard the roar of an engine. Yes, that's a seaplane...

We might get one or two a summer and it seemed like everything was happening this past weekend...

We ended the evening by taking a pontoon ride and I caught a few rays of the sun coming through the clouds...

Now you know why we love it at the Red Painted Cottage.

An Old Family Heirloom

2015-09-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

"It didn't matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it."
~Peter Buffett

Have you ever looked in an old cookbook? A REALLY old cookbook? I'm sure we've all seen some, but I'm fortunate enough to have one that my mother had actually used for making some of my favorite recipes...

I'm not really sure where she said she got it from, but looking at the dates, it might have belonged to one of her older sisters or even her mother. My mother was the baby of her family...

You can tell how fragile the paper is and even the cover...

I did find the bread pudding recipe she made, which I loved. I have to be honest and tell you I haven't made it yet, but I'm hoping to try it one of these days and I promise to share it with all of you if it's as good as I remember it was. For those of us who love coffee, you'll enjoy reading this page. Boiled coffee?

I have a love affair with cloches and the one below is on a shelf in our living room, holding a couple of old books, including this Magic Chef Cookbook...

When Mr. Cottage and I moved we really downsized. We had a huge estate sale and kept only what we needed or truly wanted. There was no way I was letting go of this treasure.

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7 Ways On How We've Stayed Together For 47 Years Of Marriage

2015-08-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

~ Aristotle

It sometimes seems so surreal that Mr. Cottage and I married 47 years ago today! It seems like a long time ago, but it doesn't feel like it's been that long. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun...

Seriously, it's been quite the journey. I'm not going to sugar coat it and say it's been milk and honey. No one's marriage is perfect. You've heard about the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, well that was my family and Mr. Cottage's family was just like the grooms family in that movie. I'm Hungarian and he's English. We were similar in some ways and as different as night and day in other ways...

Back in the day, we were both kids. I wasn't even 21 years old and hadn't graduated from college yet. Mr. Cottage had just started a new job, so he couldn't get much time off from work. Our honeymoon was staying at The Hotel Breakers in Cedar Point, which is in Ohio. We had a small apartment and lots of used and hand-me-down furniture, and I had to commute to the university to complete all my courses for my Bachelor of Science degree. To say we didn't have much money was quite an understatement...

Fast forward to having three kids, both of us working and the chaos that many young couples face. Trying to keep our sanity, we still had many things going for us:

Communication
Honesty and Trust
Love and Commitment to one another
Being faithful to each other in our marriage
Being willing to forgive
Respect for each another
Our sense of humor

Too many couples today aren't willing to work at their marriage. There's cheating, lying, being self-centered, controlling and lack of respect for your spouse, and the list goes on and on.

We each have changed throughout the years, not only with more gray hair and wrinkles; but our inner selves, too...

I'm just so happy that Mr. Cottage found me and that I found him and that we hope to celebrate many more anniversaries in the years to come.

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Great Tips for Choosing The Perfect Paint Color

2015-08-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

When your life feels like black and white....make sure that you dream in color.
~Unknown

Have you ever spent the time and the money to paint a room and then afterwards hated it and thought to yourself "What was I thinking?" I sure have; and those "experts" who say it's just paint, well what about all the time spent and the cost of the paint! If you go with a decent or very good brand of paint, you know they cost plenty today...

Years ago, I painted a spare room a blue and the kids nicknamed it "The Smurf Room". Ha, ha...

Through the years I've picked up some great tips for choosing the perfect paint color for your room which I'm sharing with you today.

First and foremost, have patience! Don't rush out and buy a gallon or two of paint just to get the job done. From the moment I decide we're going to paint a room to actually buying it, may take weeks to find that perfect shade.
Don't go to a paint store, look at some colors under their lighting and decide what you're going to buy. Color can look very different in one location than another and in different lighting. You want to see how it will look in your house and your room.
Go to the paint store and grab those color strips. I guarantee that they'll look very different in your room than they do in the store.
Tape these strips to your wall and look at them from a distance. The light in the room will make the color look different from one wall to another. Look at them at different times of the day, and move them around from one wall to another. When Mr. Cottage and I were looking at dark blue for an accent wall in our living room, we saw some popular shades of blue that looked black at night and we didn't want that.
Start the process of elimination. As you look at your samples, try squinting your eyes and move around the room to see it from different angles. Squinting actually works, believe it or not. If you don't like a certain color, now that you see it in the room, remove it from the wall. If you're not sure or hesitate, remove it.
Don't assume that the color you saw on your friend's wall will look the same in your house. Every house, room and wall will be different. The same is true for names of colors that you hear everyone is using in their houses. Gray is very popular and when I decided to paint our family room a few years back, I brought some of these popular paint cards home only to have them show a green or purple cast.
Be aware of undertones in the colors. Some of you who follow me, know that I painted our large room in our lower level. When we bought our new house, the wall looked like off white, but after we moved in, we noticed the pink undertone. Some people love that, obviously, but Mr. Cottage and I didn't like that pinkish look.
Get larger paint card samples and/or buy a few sample jars of the colors you're zeroing in on. Many of the good paint stores offer larger sized paint cards you can borrow. If you do the latter, you can paint it on your walls, but I bought some poster boards and painted the samples on that. Then I could move it around from wall to wall and different times during the day.
As your paint dries, it will darken. Keep this in mind when choosing your color.
A little bit of saturation will go a long ways..That yellow you loved, may look really bright and harsh to your eyes once it's on all your walls. You don't want to be wearing sunglasses inside your house. Or that bright red you want for your accent wall, will look brighter than bright once it's painted on your wall. So keep all this in mind in choosing your color.

Just another little tip...IF you decide to use the paint manufacturer's website to look at color, keep in mind that your computer's monitor will more than likely have a different tone to the color. Every monitor shows color differently, so do NOT rely on this for choosing your paint color. Use it only to help you zero into the color family you might want to use...

Take into account your adjoining rooms. You don't want your colors to clash. If you're making a big color change in one room that's right next to another, try to bring in accent colors from the other room to try and make them blend...

FYI, the red that we used to paint the wall above took only ONE coat of paint with NO priming. We used a great brand of paint and bought the best. It was worth every penny and
it will pay off in the end. Don't be a tightwad and buy the cheapest paint. In the end you might regret it.

Just remember, PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE!

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Thursday's Ramblin' - This Past Week

2015-08-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Life always offers you a second chance. It’s called tomorrow.
~Unknown

Just a bit of a reflection on this past week.

It was a week ago today, I brought our Sunflowers up to the cottage. They had sat in the car (for over an hour) with a "diaper" that the florist has put around it's cut stems. I just did a blog post about them and how to make your freshly-cut flowers last longer. If you missed it, you can read about it here. Here's a photo of them a whole week later...

They look like the day I first got them home!

We had company last Saturday, so I made my famous raspberry pie for dessert. Raspberries have been quite inexpensive this summer, so I've been taking advantage of this and buying up a lot. I sort and rinse through them and combine all my ingredients for a pie, along with the raspberries, into a bowl. After mixing up, I label a Ziploc bag and put them into a freezer until I need them. Just take the bag out of the freezer a day before and once the pie dough is made, pour the raspberry filling into the pie dish directly from the Ziploc bag. If you've never gotten my recipe before, the raspberry pie is here and here...

How many of you remembered that yesterday was National Dog Day? Oops, if you forgot...don't forget to give your pooch an extra hug and treat today! We've been dog sitting for Hoover again, so this is a photo I took of her the other evening, sound asleep on our sofa...

Our little Miss Molly...

And my friend, Mary's dog, Nigel. I really think Nigel needs his own Facebook page. Isn't he one handsome cowboy...

Have a beauty-full day!

Passion Flowers

2015-08-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

The flower fades that is not looked upon

~Edward Counsel

If you're from the south, you have probably heard of and/or seen passion flowers. We had never heard of these flowers, let alone seen them, until we moved into our new home two years ago...

Aren't they very unusual looking? They look like something you might see in a sci-fi movie...

What we did discover about them is they grow like crazy. Mr. Cottage dug some up and gave it to some of our friends...

There're different kinds of passion flowers, one of them being on a vine. You can read more about them here. They are used for medicinal purposes and for culinary use...

I'm thinking this vine is getting a bit out of control; and living in a condo, this could be a slight problem. I know last year our landscaping people pulled some of it up, thinking it was a weed, and not making Mr. Cottage very happy. So I think we're going to have to get some kind of a small trellis so it won't climb up to our roof...

I'd love to hear from any of you who live in the south. Have you seen these before and/or do you consider them a nuisance? We love them here in Michigan.

How To Keep Cut Flowers Fresh

2015-08-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

If I were a flower..I would be a sunflower. To always follow the sun. Turn my back to darkness, Stand proud, tall and straight even with my head full of seeds. ~Pam Stewart
It's that time of year again, when I received $10 off any fresh-cut flowers from one of my favorite stores, Kennedy's Florist and Gifts. Every year for our anniversary month and my birthday month, I receive this special coupon and usually I bring home sunflowers. Mr. Cottage and I will be celebrating our 47th anniversary in one more week...

So I picked up the sunflowers last Thursday and told them they would be sitting in the car while I got a pedicure. They put a "diaper" around the bottom of the stems and wrapped them up for me. When I finally got up to the cottage, I finally put them into a vase...

A number of years ago, one of our kids worked for a wholesale florist and gave me many tips on keeping flowers fresh for a longer time span. It's always worked for me, so I'm passing them onto you.

Start with a clean container. I make it a habit to thoroughly clean all my vases after every use. I let it dry completely before storing it away.
Use lukewarm water in your vase.
To this, depending on the size of your container, add approximately 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of liquid bleach and about 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Mix well. The bleach will prevent bacteria from growing and the sugar helps to keep the flowers fresh.
Before putting your stems into the vase, cut each stem at a 45 degree angle and put them one at a time into the vase, after cutting. This helps the stem from closing up and not taking in the water.
If you have leaves on the stem that will be submerged once they're in the vase, take them off. You don't want any leaves below the surface of the water as they will decay quickly and form bacteria. For my sunflowers, I didn't have to worry about this.
Put your flowers in a place away from direct sun or any surface that might produce heat. If you're lucky enough to have space in your refrigerator, you can put your vase of flowers in the refrigerator at night and take out in the morning. This will definitely help preserve them.
Every day, dispose of the old water and add new water with the bleach and sugar. I also trim (at a 45 degree angle) each stem again, just to make sure it continues to take up the water.
If you take all these steps and precautions, your cut flowers will last anywhere from one to two weeks.

Have a beautiful day!

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It's Almost Pumpkin Time

2015-08-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
~ Sylvia Plath

It's back again, that time of year when we ask ourselves "where has summer gone to?" I'm seeing more and more blog postings about pumpkins, autumn, back-to-school ideas, and the list goes on and on. Yes, only a couple more weeks and it will be Labor Day, the official end to summer.

I don't usually put out our fall and Halloween decor until Labor Day, but have you noticed that Labor Day is coming really late this year, September 7 to be exact.

But it's not too early to start gathering ideas and supplies to get your fall decorating all set and ready to go. Here are 10 great ideas for decorating with pumpkins:

This first one is from Grandinroad.com and costs $229. I tad more than I can spend for a few pumpkins. But other than the harlequin one on top, the other two would be very easy to paint, and for an orange pumpkin on top, you can always paint another design using black and it would look stunning...

Grandinroad

I really think this would look great on a porch. All the instructions for making this is in the link...

AmandaJaneBrown

Someone might think I love stacked pumpkins...LOL! I don't know if these are real or fake, but you can easily paint your faux pumpkins, stack and glue. Such pretty colors for fall...

AndersonandGrant

Just a simple Sharpie to use for decorating your white pumpkins. I love the one with the words. I would take chalk and make lines around to guide your writing, if you're afraid you wouldn't be able to write straight. Then just wipe it clean afterwards...

BoxyColonial

I'm usually not too big on glitter because of the mess, but it does give a bit of glam to the pumpkin. You could use ModPodge to make any design or initial, and then heavily coat it in glitter. You could finish up with a protective spray to help keep everything on...

HGTV...

Have you ever painted a plastic or faux pumpkin? It's so easy to do. Just follow this link...

Hometalk

This would look lovely on your coffee table, windowsill, or kitchen island. Very simple, but beautiful...

The Idea Room

I'm in love with all the white and touches of aqua and silver. Scatter your pumpkins around on your bookcases and in glass cabinets. So stunning...

The Essence of Home

This is one I made last year. I had seen the monogrammed white pumpkins and had to replicate it for us. I've given you the link to the original site. It's not hard to paint...

The Butler's

This final one is a photo I took prior to us moving. I had seen something similar for using at Thanksgiving, but I wanted this to last throughout the entire fall. Tutorial is on the link...

The Red Painted Cottage

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