I surely hope so. The last couple of weeks have found me a little zapped; further proof that I am so ready to be done with this dual household situation. Alas, it is not in my control, but it doesn’t stop me from hoping that it will end soon and that I’ll feel myself again. I have tried getting up in the mornings to go to the gym, hoping that some activity will get the blood and energy flowing again. I have even, uncharacteristically too, sat in front of the television and not had a project in my hands (gasp!). So I’m balancing doing the things I need to do (like eating some fruits and veggies and getting some exercise) and listening to my body which appears to be telling me it would like some down time.

The good news is that I was motivated to work on my kitchen curtain this weekend. I had all the materials and a game plan, thanks to the book Sunset Curtains, Draperis & Shades. I went with the London Shade (thought I made it as a valance). I am very pleased with the end result. I had a little trouble with the pleats, and fought with them and the iron for a good amount of time, but it was worth the effort. They are fully lined and I just love the beaded trim accent. You can see the full curtain here though it doesn’t do it justice as it’s laying down versus hanging. I also hand-stitched the gather in place so I could control how it looked and I don’t think you’d be able to notice except that I told you. And it is in need of a good ironing, but since it’s just going to be packed up in a box, I figured I’d iron it once I get it unpacked.

I am just loving the fabric though which will fit well in my 1960’s - 70’s kitchen. I have some new cushions to make with more fabric in this line (Anna Maria Horner’s Drawing Room), so that’s my next project. And after that, I will work on my living room curtains.

I know that I will be in California eventually and I will be quite pleased that I’ve gotten through as many of these projects as I could. But for the rest of tonight, I think I’m going to read a little and get up early tomorrow.

Things have been kinda rough the last few weeks with Bill on the West Coast and me being on the East Coast. And things don’t look like they will be changing very soon. Plus, he has CJ and Sabrina and the orange tree and I have…the big screen tv? It’s really annoying when people tell you to “count your blessings”. What you really want to hear is “you’re right, it sucks, treat yourself to a mani/pedi” or “you know what helps when you’re feeling crappy, Cold Stone strawberry ice cream with double graham cracker crust in a chocolate covered waffle bowl.” But in the spirit of being positive, I will count my blessings:

1. I am lucky to have a job so that I can afford to treat myself to a mani/pedi.
2. And some new articles of clothing.
3. And shoes.
4. And fabric.
5. And yarn.
6. Bill was visiting this weekend so I didn’t have to get my own Starbucks.
7. I have good, patient friends and a slightly irritating but well-intentioned, loving, healthy family.
8. I’ve confirmed that I really, really love my husband and don’t want to trade him in for a newer model.
9. I have more free time on my hands to work on projects, read, relax and chill.
10. This is only a temporary situation.

Okay so maybe I didn’t take this too seriously, but at the moment it’s all I got.

I have been working on some new pillows for my living room. Here they are in progress. The finished product looks a little more interesting and hopefully I’ll finish them up this weekend. I’ve had a hard time picking out fabric to go with my chairs; I’m a little concerned that the cotton fabric is too casual for the chairs, but I think the green works well.

I also casted on a new project, Peony Knits’ circular shrug. I’m going to knit it in Sundara’s fingering silky merino. The yarn feels amazing and I LOVE the color (caramel apple), but I’ve been stressing that it is going to take me forever to knit up the vest in fingering weight yarn. I’ve been telling myself to enjoy the process and not focus on the result. If you see someone rocking back and forth chanting “knitting is supposed to be fun”, it’s probably me.

My mom and Jacob are visiting this weekend and I have brunch scheduled with the girls on Sunday.

Yes, I do have a lot to be thankful for.

So this post started out with my using the word “artistic” instead of drawing in the title of my post. And while I think it is a stretch to call me an artist, I do feel that I’m creative and someone told me if you create you are an artist. So I changed my title and am going with “drawing”. And I really struggle with drawing. Maybe if I practiced more. It’s just not something that comes naturally to me.

Anyhoo, I am obsessed with bed linens and furniture layout for my house in California. (Still don’t know when I’ll be going out there; fingers crossed that it will be soon.) If I had my druthers I would go with a new look (same furniture, different color scheme) but with the economy the way it is, it doesn’t seem responsible. And I really do like the linens I have. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting something new.

So what does this have to do with my drawing ability? I decided that I would be happy if I had a new pillow for my bed. Something pink to break up the black and white. Pink is my accent color, after all. But what kind of pillow do I want? Hmmmm… And then I remembered this post from ages ago and that sent the wheels a turnin’. I looked on-line to buy some patterns but couldn’t find anything that did anything for me. I did see some cute ones, but not for my bed. And then I decided to draw my own. (A scary thought.)

This gave me the perfect opportunity to try out my birthday present. Bill got me this pen because he remember that I had mentioned wanting one over a year ago. I certainly don’t need it, but birthday gifts are meant to be stuff you wouldn’t normally get yourself, right? What I was hoping the pen would let me do is easily upload my sketch to the computer and then I could manipulate it in photoshop. And yay! That’s exactly what I was able to do (after a bunch of practice sketches that I eventually ended up tracing with my pen).

So my little picture is part of the design for my new pillow. I know it’s not much, but I think when you see the whole thing, you will be more impressed (I hope). I will give you a hint though, those are love birds…

Have I mentioned that this is my first foray into embroidery? I do lots of other needlework, but never straight embroidery. This will be very interesting.

Yikes, it’s really been 5 months since I started my bedroom redo. Well, at last it is finally done. It did take awhile to find all the pieces and then even longer to get it put together. Where to start? First, I do have to point out that due to the lighting, the walls photograph much pinker than they are in real life. The color is much more subtle.

Moving on, the wall art is fabric stretched over canvas. The wall is big and I needed something of a decent size to hold its own on the wall. This worked well and was easy to due.

The curtains and comforter are from Target, as are the flowered pillows. I wanted something to break up all the flowers so I made the small striped pillows out of kitchen towels.

The big project was the bedskirt. Apparently, my box spring is a little taller than a normal box spring so the bedskirt hung nowhere close to the floor. Bill found some striped fabric at Joanne’s and I added a border to the bottom of the store-bought bedskirt. It actually turned out pretty well. And the mirror which you can see better in this picture, was hanging in a different room but it works perfectly in here. If you are eagle eyes, you might notice my other framed artwork. And it’s souvenir from a trip my mom and I took to Cabo san Lucas. I also took some stuff off the walls and that made a big difference. Less is more.

I am enjoying the “new” room and am very pleased with my efforts! As is CJ!

I started my master bedroom update last century, at least that’s what it feels like. In reality, it’s been a little over two months. I did some work, lost inspiration, and recently found it. I had been shopping for Papyrus cards for a friend, and saw two that I loved. Loved them. I decided that I would frame them and hang them in my master bedroom. I bought simple black frames at Michaels, and finally got around to washing the glass and framing the cards. I have to say that the pictures look great. They make me smile when I see them. Bill approves too. Since they were cards, I put double-sided tape inside the card to keep it closed. This was more important for the square card which is framed in kind of a floating frame. The card is an odd shape and I wasn’t interested in having a mat custom cut, or having it custom framed. I found an inexpensive Format Frame with a black background. Originally, I thought I should use the same type of frame for symmetry, but the card on top has three dimensional flowers and needed a mat. I also decided everything doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy. I am thrilled with how the bouquet girl looks with the mat. I splurged on a precut double mat (approx. $2), as opposed to the plain cream one that came with the frame. A couple bucks well spent, in my opinion.

I guess the point of this post is to open up your mind. If you see something and it makes you happy, then you can decorate with it. It may take some creativity, but it can be done. And we need to be surrounded by things that make us happy.

Speaking of happy, my mom called me the other day and asked me to be her “joy buddy”. I crinkled up my nose and said, this doesn’t mean I have to be happy, does it? What an odd response! Shouldn’t we welcome all opportunities to find joy and happiness? I’m not exactly sure what my responsibilities are as a “joy buddy” but maybe it’s just to let her know when I find things that make my happy. The truly interesting thing is that earlier that morning, in my car, reluctantly on my way to work, I realized that I was (am) very lucky. Honest to goodness, I looked around (at a red light), saw the sun shining, enjoyed a cool breeze and thought that I was (am) lucky to be alive on such a beautiful day, that I had (have) a wonderful husband, a loving family, a job when others don’t, and all-in-all, much to be thankful for. I shared that revelation with her and we officially became “joy buddies”.

I found some joy at Joann Fabric this afternoon. I went to pick up a few supplies for the bedroom update (bias tape and buttons). They also had some containers that I thought would work for button storage. And I was also going to pick up a pillow form but realized I left my 40% off coupon at home. I held off on the pillow form (plus I had an idea and might not need to buy one). While waiting in line, I noticed the woman in front of me had a page of coupons so I picked up a flyer which they had by the door. I thought I might be able to use one coupon on my order but for everything that rang up that wasn’t already on sale, the cashier scanned a coupon. I got 40% off everything!!! It was like Christmas in July. So go check our your local Joann.

I’m very close on finishing the bedroom update. So close, but this last bit will be the most time consuming I think. Pictures to be posted soon, I promise!

Most importantly, go forth and be joyful.

Ugh, I’ve been sick again. But thanks to better living through chemistry, I am on the road to recovery. Really. Honest. I caught another cold, or perhaps I never really got over my last one, and this was the worse one yet. Really knocked me on my hind-quarters. I was uber congested which aggravated my asthma so I felt like I had a 30-50 pound weight on my chest all the time. I was in urgent care on Monday getting a breathing treatment. And then yesterday I saw my doctor who gave me the good stuff - antibiotics. I am feeling so much better. Still phlegmy, but definitely on the mend. Yay. Unfortunately that also means back to work.

In non-phlegmy news, this is an interesting article about where to donate items. Most of it is specific to the metro DC area, but maybe it will give you ideas. I wish I had this article two weeks ago. In a fit of (frustration, productivity, and an urgent need for space) I threw out a bunch of old sheets. Most were in good condition but it seemed weird to goodwill them. I could have asked our German Shepard Rescue if they needed them. And speaking of the rescue, or rescue pup is guarding one of my many bags to go to Purple Heart.

Also, one of my favorite articles to read in the Washington Post is Housecalls. People submit rooms they would like a professional interior designer’s help with. There’s “before” pictures and an “after” sketch by the designer with a list of improvements. It’s cool and a great way to get some ideas.

If you’re sick, and it seems like so many are, I hope that you’re feeling better; sick enough to be curled up in bed, but well enough to work on a fun, relaxing project (or surf the internet for inspiration!).