Janet of All Trades

I am gone..literally and figuratively most of the time, but today I am one day closer to the beach. Blog in a few days or a week not sure when I will be back...literally and figuratively.

The weather is changing here today and it will be fall like, So I decided to play around with my blog a little to make it look cleaner. Just a few housekeeping details, not much else since we are getting ready to go on vacation and my mind is elsewhere. I really can't be thinking about fall, but it is just around the corner. So here is a lovely image to look at while I dream about vacation!

We did a crazy thing before going on vacation, we bought bedroom furniture! The first of my life since I have been using furniture I have had since I was a teenager that my mother bought at an Estate sale. Well it now has become a total room redesign. I am currently trying to find a side chair for a spot that now looks empty. I have not found exactly what I am thinking of but came across a seagrass chair like this and thought it would work, just the price was no working for me and the store would not budge. Other option is to make a slipcover for a garage sale find. I really don't want to do this, but it might be the only option until I find something I really like. Maybe I will find it on Vacation!

Today I am dreaming of the beach. You see we are headed to the beach in a few days for a greatly needed vacation. It's a lovely little place that we have been to before but it always is relaxing. It was the place that inspired me to paint and this time I will be taking my paints with me so as to possibly capture some of the beauty. I painted these two over the weekend while I was beach dreaming.

It is that time of year when my thoughts of color change to the fall. I have wrote before about the Suntanned Pumpkin color that I am looking for and have not quite found it yet. I just came across this article in Southern Accents and thought I possibly found the color, But I am not sure. They all look a little to peachy for me and that is most definitely not what I want. I guess I will keep searching although I love the quote "This color makes the room glow and the guests look glamourous!"

Before the long holiday weekend started I had grand plans to start and complete a few projects,but some very important family event (see previous post) took place that took presidents. I was able to squeeze in a few projects and one was a total bust and will not discuss and the other I think,in my opinion, is pretty impressive. So here is the back story..  I found this painting on online at Pier One and instantly fell in love with it. Only problem is that it is $350. So I thought I could reproduce it since I already had a blank canvas that someone had given me and we needed a nice piece for above our new bed. It would only cost about 2-3 hours of my time and $20 for a frame. Here is the end result and I actually just finished last night! Low and behold I can create during the week!

My time and thoughts have been consumed over the last few days with the birth of the my two newest nephews. They were so small and fragile when they were born but are continuing to grow and get ever so much stronger everyday. I am amazed at their hands and feet and at the beginning of their lives.

I am setting myself up for the weekend to complete a few art projects and since I have an extra day and why art, I mean why not. The welcoming of my two new nephews will be taking up most of my time, so I will have to squeeze it in between. Inspired by Home & Haven post yesterday and the fabulous t-shirts from JCrew, I will be attempting to create one out of materials I have left over from other projects. This could be art or it might turn in to a dust rag,we'll see. I would also like to produce some paintings and submit work to Monday Artday, Blogger of Note this week, and see if I am worthy of being included in this Art community. I will be working on some paintings to include in my portfolio to demonstrate my so called talent and use this lovely sunrise painting as inspiration. And I love this tissue cover and it needs to be made in a very bold and geometric pattern to keep it looking modern, otherwise it could look like a homemade project gone wrong. So Labor Day Weekend ...

Today I become an Aunt again to twin boys. I don't know their names yet but I am sure they will be calling me Big Aunt Janet. My lovely niece started calling me this when she was about 5 years old. She was telling a story about some girls that she had seen at the Mall and described them as "Big, like Aunt Janet". But mind you she meant to say tall since I am 5'9" and she was 3' at the time. I guess big and tall are synonymous in five years olds vocabulary and I shouldn't take it as an insult. So today we will celebrate two new additions and new names of twins and I will enjoy hearing Big Aunt Janet for the rest of my life.

Yesterday the US Open Started and I will be watching as much as I possibly can. I am in tennis heaven. After being at the US Open Series tournament last month I am in full tennis mode. Last week I watched an old match between Monica Selles and Martina Navratilova. It was so interesting to watch, although in low definition,how the game has changed over the years. The game was more about serve and volley and now it is just hit the ball as hard as you can. It's a slug fest. The equipment has changed as well. When I started playing it was a wood racket that you kept in a vise like frame to keep it from warping. And a metal can of  Penn tennis balls whose rim could cut your hand off if opened it wrong. Now the rackets are metal,composite or graphite and the balls come in plastic cans with protective rim. Hmm ,Tennis heaven, comes in many forms!