My Life in a Nutshell...

When in the world

did my life get so stinkin' busy....??

Don't get me wrong.

It's a good kind of busy.

It's the kind of busy that I pray will be fruitful

in some way.

Here's my life in a nutshell lately.....

1.  I had an incredibly fun Sunday a week ago at

Allegan Flea Market with Michelle from Emerald Cove.

(Debbie from Lakehouse couldn't make it this time.

We missed her so much!)

We did meet up with Heather from Simple Daisy.

(Seriously......I felt like I was meeting a rock star.)

[Heather, me, and Michelle]

Heather was so sweet and we all hit it off from the get-go.
(Notice all of that beautiful jewelry on her arm?
Yeah...she makes it and sells it in her Etsy shop.
Check it out.)

2.  I've been picking and freezing ALOT of these...

with this little girl by my side...

waiting for any wayward beans to fall on the floor.
She loves her beans.

3.  I think I've actually discovered my niche ~
in this stage of my life anyway.

It's exciting.

"Live quietly and work with your hands to glorify God"

has been wrapping itself warmly around my heart lately.

It calms me. It just makes me happy.

And I feel like it pleases God.

I have the exciting opportunity to actually be a seller
at Allegan Antique Flea Market
on August 28!

Needless to say,
I'm geeked!

My sisters-in-Christ,
Pam and Debbie
are going to share a booth with me.
Pam's got vintage furniture from her barns;
Debbie's bringing down her beautiful handmade vintage linen pillows,
and me.....?

Well, let's just say that I spent the past two weeks in my basement

swiping some French love on this...

[This sweet table is now residing on my front porch. I just couldn't give her up.]

and this.....

[I keep eyeing this darling little stool and wondering if I can actually let her go...]

and this...

and creating more of these.

Stacks of treasures are growing in my basement,
and I'm running out of room.
It's beginning to look like a flea market down there....

[Dry brushed and stenciled baskets, transfer pots, old distressed frames, cupboard door chalkboards.]

[From plain old wood to these French beauties using a little paint and the Mod Podge transfer technique.]

I never realized how much work goes in to preparing for a show.
I'm pooped!
I'm so behind on posting
and replying to your sweet comments.
My apologies to you all.  ♥

So, I quickly pulled this post together for you while I was waiting for my
ANNIE SLOAN PAINT to dry on another project in the works.
(Yup.  There's now a distributor in Zeeland and Michelle was
sweet enough to pick some up for me.)

LUV LUV LUV that stuff!!!!!
I completed a table (that I'll share with you later) within a matter of hours.
It dries amazingly fast, 
the wax is creamy and smooth,
and distressing is a breeze.

(Did I say how much I LUV this stuff?!)  

So, I've been living busily quietly
and continuing to work with hands
to glorify God.

Life is busy.
Life is good.
God is good!


And I think it'll be a while before I can do this....

{ Hugs }

PS  THANK YOU for your wonderfully encouraging comments on my Pallet Art!  I'm in the process of making more and will be bringing all of them to the flea market...should you want one.
(insert eyebrow wriggle)

PPS....If any of you "professional" flea market booth gals out there have any
suggestions or ideas on pricing, setting up, and running a booth....
I'm all ears.
Please drop me a line with your expert advice.
I could use all the help I can get at this point!  :) 

Thanks!

♥


Linking with the great parties on the lower right of my sidebar.
Give them a click and be inspired!

Pallet Art & Some Thank You's

I MUST start out this post with a HUGE

Thank you

for the wonderfully encouraging comments on my French Flower Pots!

It was fun knowing that they inspired so many of you to try your hand at this technique.

Thank you to all my new followers, too!
I'm truly glad to meet you and am looking forward to getting to know you better!

And last, but not at all least ~

Thank you to Vanessa and Heather

at

At The Picket Fence

for featuring me this week at

Simply Sundays.

Simply Sundays is a beautiful place of inspiration,
and a testament of their love and faith in God.

So, be sure to stop by there for your weekly devotion.

Now ~
are you ready?

I have another project you just may want to try your hand at.

Yup.

I've been busy.
Real busy.

It's been incredibly hot and muggy here in Michigan
so I've been hiding out indoors,
appreciating the AC
with Maizie happily by my side.

This project was inspired by Pottery Barn.
Gotta love that Barn.

Our next door neighbor was busily cleaning out his pole building last week,
when he came trotting over with some pallet-type things.
Dusty, dirty, spider-webby.
Some had hinges on them,
so they must have been some type of gate or something at one point.

He asked if I could use them for anything.

Really???

"Are you serious?"

Well, you know those light bulb moments that I have once in a while...
when I'm really lucky?

Well, the light bulb went on immediately
and I practically grabbed those pallets from his hands
giggling like a little school girl.

He must'ave thought I was a nut-job.

But that would be nothing new.
A lot of people think that.

I think he was glad that it was just one more pile of crap he didn't have to haul away.

He also gave me these.

Ohhhh, yeah - baby.

I know exactly what these will soon become.

Sorry.  
But you've got to wait.
That's for another post...


Anyway, that pile of pallet-thingies sat by my potting bench
awaiting my light bulb moment to come to fruition.

After a good scrubbing,
and a lonnng time drying out in the hot, humid weather,
(things just don't dry with 73% humidity in the air)
I hauled three of them inside and down to the nice, cool basement.

Before I could begin working on them....

we lost power.

Yeah.
Remember those four days
of maniac crafting in the semi-dark?

They sat down there for a couple days until I decided
to make like a modern day pioneer woman
and pull out my little Energizer lantern -
along with my stencils, paint, transfer paper, and brushes.

What else was there to do....??

I dragged the pallets up into the kitchen,
and off to work I went.

{Cloudy skies + drawn shades + no lighting = very poor photos. So, my apologies.
Let's just pretend it's a very rustic look....}

After deciding what verbiage I wanted on each pallet,
I traced the letters onto the wood...

and discovered that I'm still a little "word-spacing-challenged",
but I'm working on it.
Really, I am.

 Dry-brushing this pallet with a little watered down white paint
gave it a driftwood look.

And then, to the hum of my little lantern
and Maizie snoring at my feet,
I began painting.

And painting.
And painting.
And painting.

Letter by letter,
word by word...

with no noise from TV or radio ~
(nor the generator unfortunately)

I have to admit that
it was actually quite a peaceful, fulfilling job.

After a few back-breaking hours,
the "Live" pallet was completed!

I completed the "Sunshine" pallet the next day.

And the third day,
the larger whitewashed "Beach Rules" pallet was finished.

[Before distressing]

[After distressing and waxing]

I added a very light coat of paste wax to them all

for protection and a slightly finished look,

and they are ready to take to Doster Emporium to sell.

 [You can find Doster Emporium on Facebook now!]

Though....I may hang on to "Sunshine".....

she makes me happy.

So, there you go.

Another reclaimed,

repurposed

project 

saved from the burning pile.

 

 

What'cha think?

Will they sell?

{ Hugs }

PS...Some of you asked some questions on my French Flower Pot post, but didn't leave an email so I could get back to you with an answer.  So I answered them all (I hope) in the comment area of that post!

[I'm linking with the parties at the lower right of my sidebar.
Just click on the buttons to meet some new friends and a ton of inspiration!]