Home Sweet Home, A Scrapbook Layout

Greetings friends! Today I have a bittersweet scrapbook layout to share with you.

While I'm all for young people growing up and taking on adult responsibilities, it's hard on the heart when not only do they grow up, but they grow their wings and fly away!

My son Tayo and his girlfriend Ellie recently moved into their first apartment. And while I'm so proud of them for having done it all on their own, I'm also very sad to have my second and last child leave home.

So what does a crafty mom do? Make a scrapbook page to commemorate the occasion!

To make this layout, I started with two sheets of Pinkfresh Studio's Happiness Blooms paper. I cut the floral element out of one sheet and used the other sheet for the background.

I traced an old Bazzill pink card stock heart that had scalloped edges onto the 'B' side of Jen Hadfields Picnic Basket paper, cut it out and then cut a smaller heart from white Bazzill card stock and mounted it on top of the Picnic Basket paper. 

The placement of the heart was dependent on the large floral element that I had cut from the Happiness Blooms paper. I aligned the cut floral element directly over the florals on the background paper and slide the heart between them.  When I did that, the right edge hung over the background so I cut that portion off. Once I figured out this main placement, I glued the two heart pieces together and then glued them to the background.

I mounted my photo onto white Bazzill card stock, and glued that to a piece of Pebbles Kid at Heart paper from the 6x8 paper pad. I topped the photo with the 'Home Sweet Home' chipboard from the Paige Evans Bungalow Lane Collection and embellished it with the key sticker from Jen Hadfields Live and Let Grow Collection.

I created a journaling box, which I will fill in later, by cutting a square shape from the B side of Jen Hadfields Bouquet paper, then cut a window out of that and embellished it with the gold butterfly from the same sticker pack as the key sticker above.

The 'We Grow Together' and the 'Happy Day' die cuts are from Jen Hadfields Live and Let Grow ephemera pack.

A date stamped with the Roller Date Stamp from Ali Edwards finishes the page!

What life event has tugged at your heart lately? It's a great idea to document these kinds of events, even if you just write something down in a keepsake journal. Your future self will be so glad you did.

Thanks for looking and see you again next month!

Moonshine, Starshine by Yuji Hiratsuka

Hello friends and Happy New Year!

Back in 2018 when I started seeing the end of the child rearing years ahead, I started to focus on what I would want my home to look like once my kids grew up and moved into their own homes. That is when I discovered the Style Matters podcast, hosted by Zandra Zuraw.

Zandra calls her approach to home decor 'slow style' and it's all about "developing a personal style in your home and surrounding yourself with beauty in a way that is meaningful." As an avid collector of mid century and antique home wares, I was attracted to Zandra's philosophy and method and have been working on developing a cohesive eclectic style ever since.

So when I started getting the idea that it was time to purchase an interesting modern, colorful (and fun!) piece of art to add to my living room, I visited the White Lotus Gallery in downtown Eugene. I've been there many times over the years and chose that particular gallery for their selection of original Chinese and Japanese prints and paintings.

On one particular visit the gallery was featuring printmaker Yuji Hiratsuka. There were many of his whimsical, yet metaphysical, intalglio prints lining the walls. Most all featured a central human figure or figures engaged in some activity. I found myself drawn to Mr. Hiratsuka's use of character in this way and revisited the gallery a couple more times, trying to pick a favorite to purchase.

After much thought, I settled on Moonshine, Starshine. It is an intaglio and chine colle', meaning it is an intaglio print that has been collaged.

I wanted something that would jazz up the room and I think this piece does just that. I enjoy the fact that it is modern, yet traditional and incorporates both eastern and western influences.

Have you purchased original art for your home? What were some of your considerations? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for looking and bye for now!

Flattening the Curve, Day 38

Hello everyone. Today is the thirty-eighth day that I have been on leave from my government job due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

It's Saturday and Jim and I ventured out just one time the entire week for groceries. Before we headed out on the trip I contacted our daughter Audrey to see if she needed anything at the stores we planned to shop at.

Really though, it was an excuse to see her. Since we live in different households we have been keeping our social distance. So, since Audrey did need a few groceries, I was happy to pick up the items and stop by her place to drop them off. Of course, that means when I arrived I placed the items on her porch and walked out to the side walk. Then Audrey came out to retrieve them and we talked for awhile...at a distance. No hugs.

Such is life in this new and strange time.

As I mentioned, it's the weekend and on that same shopping trip the other day I picked up ingredients to make a chocolate cream pie. The kids like it quite a bit and it feels like everyone needs a bit of a treat. I also bought flowers. I always need flowers - they brighten my kitchen and elevate my mood.

I spent most mornings this past week working on collage projects. Above you can see a sneak peek of what I'm currently working on. I finished the piece today and hope to get it photographed and share it here on the blog soon. I'm reading the latest issue of kolaj magazine. I enjoy seeing what other collage artists are working on and reading the essays.

Such are my weekend vibes.

I hope you are safe and that you are finding activities to keep you busy during this great pause.

Till next time.

     

York Wall Coverings Project: Mandarin Prose by Waverly Classics

Friends, have you ever dreamt about a home decor project that you felt a strong desire to undertake but weren't sure if you could actually figure it out and make it happen? Me too!

Back two years ago when I thrifted the c. 1950 James Mont Chinoiserie Limed Oak Hutch shown here in my dining area, I imagined how nice it would be to have some kind of wallpaper on the wall behind it to liven up the room and to serve as an interesting backdrop.

And white walls. I really wanted white walls.

I know there has been a lot of discussion in the interiors world about seeing an overabundance of white walls on the blogs and in the magazines but over time I realized how much of an effect the prior turquoise-painted accent wall had on my photography. And, more recently, the sliding door to the right needed to be replaced and I was disappointed when I discovered that the glass in the new door has a blue tint. Furthermore, we live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and cloudy, rainy days are the norm many days of the year. So for these reasons, white walls it is!

Speaking of white walls - while shopping for wallpaper I knew I wanted whatever pattern I chose to be vibrant and have a white or near-white background. Also, it had to be colorful, whimsical and fun because this is the busiest room in the house and it can afford a playful atmosphere. And, most importantly, it had to be in the classic chinoiserie style. Of course I looked at dozens and dozens of wallpaper samples, thinking very carefully about all the choices. When I discovered this Waverly Classics by York Wallcoverings wallpaper in the Mandarin Prose pattern at Mahone's Wallpaper Shop, I knew the fantastical scenery was just what I was looking for.

And then came the hard part. The "I'm not sure I know what I'm doing" part. The "I don't know anything about wallpapering" part. And the biggest doubt of all was the "I've never power-sanded a wall in my life" part.

The uncertainty about taking on a large project with an unknown outcome kept me from taking the plunge for about two years. In the spring of this year I thought a good way to distract myself from my fears about the task was to just purchase my chosen wallpaper pattern and give myself some time to ease into it as this was going to be my big summer undertaking. It was a bit of a mind trick I played on myself as well. I figured I'd feel quite rotten if I spent my hard earned money on wallpaper and never made it happen.

And that is how I got here:

This is what I call "testing your family ties" and "how badly do I want that wallpaper anyway?"

What a mess! Our small power sander has a containment canister on it, but as you can see, there is powder everywhere. And not just in this immediate area. Although I placed painter's drop cloth over furniture and doorways, it still managed to seep past these barriers and, well, it seemed to find its way into every nook and cranny throughout the house. Pardon me, wallpaper project, while I vacuum for a week!

Two other frustrations I had were figuring out the mechanics of operating a power tool and the summer heat. James showed me how to use the sander and gave me a demonstration, but it took awhile until I got it. I started on the smaller wall to the left. It has a lot of scuff marks from applying too much pressure or from staying in one place too long. But by the time I started on the second wall I had it figured out pretty good. Despite the heat.

The outdoor temperature on this summer day was 91° Fahrenheit. While it does stay noticeably cooler inside, wearing all the required safety gear (gloves, face mask, goggles and knee pads), coupled with having to exert a fair amount of pressure on the sander made it quite uncomfortable. I took frequent breaks, drank plenty of water, and laid in the cool grass in the backyard until I felt I could stand it again.

Just so you can get an idea of the task at hand, here is the wall texture before and after:

As I was researching how to hang wallpaper here on the web, I learned that it adheres best to a smooth freshly painted wall. It became quite clear to me that if I didn't make the effort to knock down the 1970s textured wall surface that the project could fail - so why take a chance?

So once the massive clean up and vacuum cleaning was finished I painted the walls to be papered with two coats of white paint. I also painted the door and wall to the left and the wall to the right because my intention was, ultimately, to paint the entire dining area and kitchen white. 

Here's what the dining area looked like with all the painting done:

And finally, the paper hanging commences!

You're probably not surprised when I tell you that the wallpapering was a lot easier than the sanding. In fact, it was so easy that in hindsight it nows seems silly that I fussed over it at all. In fact, I highly recommend that if you are considering trying your hand at wallpapering that you purchase the Waverly brand. It's quality is exceptional - there are no overshadowed lines or inconsistencies in the colors and the smooth texture is easy to work with. Also, the rolls come with a full set of instructions that I felt were well written and easy to follow.

And the best part of all is that it is pre-pasted!

I would also recommend purchasing your wallpaper from Mahone's Wallpaper Shop - a family owned business. My order was shipped promptly in a sturdy box and the packing material was a wallpaper scrap which I thought was an ingenious way of repurposing their product.

Have you been thinking about trying your hand at wallpapering? Don't let your fears get in the way. With planning and a bit of internet research, it's a very doable project.

Have any questions? Ask me here in the comments below or on Instagram.

As always, thanks for reading!

Home Is Where The HeART Is: Thoughts On Art And Home

Our home is a place where artistic expression flourishes. As parents, and as individuals, James and I strive for a supportive home environment that encourages active learning, quiet contemplation, and a healthy imagination. For it is these activities, carried out in the refuge of home, that help to develop our creativity and are what connects our family's hearts and minds to each other and to the outside world.  

All that being said, our home is a constant flurry of daily activity (school, work, shopping, errands, and the never ending 'to-do' list), with the added confusion of various creative 'works in progress' occupying the dining room table, the living room floor, and don't even ask about the garage! Guests may notice that our house is small and cluttered, that it is a bit disorganized and the floors probably need sweeping. But frankly, we are too busy to be thoroughly organized and dust free. After all, there are magazines that need to be cut up for collage projects, guitars that need to be hot rodded, and paint that needs to be splattered. Not to mention a garden that needs tending, teenagers (and birds!) to feed, and well, fifteen mile bike rides or paddles up the millrace in the canoe for the requisite exercise.

In spite of never having enough time, each of the four members of our family has found ways to enjoy following our passions: developing our skills, actively experimenting in our chosen mediums and forms of expression, and becoming comfortable working within our own unique styles.

For example our young adult daughter Audrey enjoys working in mixed mediums, incorporating paints, paper and fine-point drawing pens in her art. Besides being a self taught artist, she also loves to knit, is an avid reader of literature and still finds time to go traveling, camping, and hiking. Audrey is on her own now, and although she is quite outgoing and social, I can see that she still values time well spent at home in creative endeavors.

Our teenage son Takeō is also a self taught artist. In his younger years, Takeō drew mostly in pencil, but these days he draws using a stylus on a Wacom tablet:

Like many teens, he spends the majority of his time while at home in his bedroom creating his art and thumping on his electric bass or strumming his ukulele, and yes, playing video games! Like his sister before him, 'alone-time' in your room at this season of life is all about exploring, learning, and practicing.

James is what I call a Renaissance man. When I met him, James was already an accomplished musician, sound engineer and producer. He also wrote songs, played in several bands, and in his spare time enjoyed customizing his guitars and amplifiers. I was impressed that he was a math whiz, read widely about a lot of subjects, and could repair anything - cars, computers, plumbing, appliances, and turned his basic bicycle maintenance into a full fledged bike rebuilding operation.

Besides taking on the role of running our household and all that entails, you'll still find him rummaging through boxes of guitar parts, pulling the back off some speaker cabinet he just found at a yard sale, or hunkered over his soldering iron intently rewiring a circuit. He also enjoys what he calls "amateur low-fidelity photography".

This next photo shows a sampling of some of James' custom work:

In his own words: "Playing a jazz standard or a cover of an old rock song can be a lot of fun, but what's really satisfying is performing an original composition. In much the same way, there's a lot of satisfaction to be had picking up an instrument you've put together from various parts, and playing that through a home-brew amp. In the picture above is a "Parts-O-Caster" or "Franken-Caster" guitar created with random components both new and vintage; an ampifier head made by removing the electronic parts from an old tube-style paging amplifier, and rewiring the empty chassis according to a circuit schematic I drew up beforehand; and an early '60s Hammond organ speaker cabinet that was converted for electric guitar use. Between the guitar and the amplifier is a hand-built distortion booster pedal made by my friend David, a luthier and electronics genius."

You can find James on his blog Origami Night Lamp, where he's posted detailed descriptions of the processes involved in some of the creative activities he loves.

Finding time to explore and make art is one of my biggest struggles.  Between work, my kids, an elderly mom, and the general business of home and family, I have a very limited amount of time left to pursue my interests.I find myself seeking out those fringe hours where I can spend some time doing what I'm passionate about. As my kids get older and need me less, a window of time has opened up, and I've been able to follow my dream of living a creative life. Having a home studio is a big contributing factor toward making that happen. It's only a small space, half of what used to be the garage (remember that mess I was telling you about?), and yet it is the place where I can gather my ideas and materials and get to work; I also do a lot of my work at the kitchen table, next to the large patio doors, when I want a lot of natural light.

As you can see, like Audrey, I enjoy working in collage. These interests of ours developed independently over the last several years, although I guess you can say that we have always been somewhat of the same mind.

Another interest I have is collecting vintage 1950s and '60s furniture and household goods and displaying them in my home. I have been a crazy collector of these items for some years.

Many of the books I like to collect are also from that era.  They provide great insight into how the vintage items I have were used in the home back when they were made.  I also like books about art, art history, design, and gardening, and use these books for inspiration, often supplementing them with regular trips to the public library.

You could say that the expression, through art, of what home means to me began with photography and memory keeping. Ever since I can remember, I have always loved taking photographs and documenting family and life events. When I found scrapbooking, it provided a context for all of the photos and memories I had been gathering over the years. One of my favorite bedtime rituals as of late has been taking the time to journal. A personal, private journal, where I tell the stories of our family, became a part of my scrapbook journaling, and now is a part of our family's history - a history about life, family, and yes, home.

For no matter where we go, we inevitably carry what we've learned at home with us. Home is where the roots of our beginnings lie, where our first memories are made, and where our story begins.  

Thanks for reading!