Juxtaposition

I love black & white houndstooth patterns. Found some fabric to go with my houndstooth quilt in living room.

Now What? Decorating Dilemmas

My husband grew up in a home where things were decorated, once, and the furniture stayed in place for years, decades...

My family moved every 4 years or so when I was young. And my mom liked to experiment, change things. I remember my bunk bed in three different places in our San Jose house, and it couldn't have been me moving it by myself?

Part of cleaning a room, for me, is seeing if things would fit better, or look nicer, or be more convenient rearranged. John has learned to turn on the lights before walking through a room, in case the couch is no longer where it was the last time he sat down...

And it isn't always me on my own changing things. Gifts, sharing bounty creates new "problems" to solve. New raw material to play with and create a new environment. Always in the pursuit of beauty/comfort/function.

I have a sweet friend who is a collector/antique-admirer. She gave me this fireplace surround/mantel. Oak under dubious white (lead?) paint. Wash your hands often. There is a beveled mirror that fits into the middle frame. This is waiting for a good cleaning and paint peel. I love the history of this piece, the detailing, the grandness!

(My friend also sent me home with these nifty chairs, enough to make a no-more-waiting for "Elijah" chair for each of my seminary students...either a Christmas present or early Passover gift? I will get them involved in this project and post finished pictures!)

I had just finished gluing on these blue stones to our brick fireplace surround. Cover them up with oak antique? Or take the saws-all and just put the top third of the mantel on top of my existing woodwork mantel??? Secure it how? It is top heavy to begin with, and massive, would need more support below...There are some engineering questions to figure out before I can do anything else with this project.

Finished this zebra pillow for my chair (once an Emma skirt), and then found a great curbside freebee chair...In my perfect living room, there are enough comfy chairs for all of us, sitting around a round central table. That means getting rid of the couch, or putting it in another room...

Do I recover it to match the rest of the black & white & turquoise decor in the living room? Embrace the purple? Start over with a clean slate?

Frivilous problems, these decorating questions of mine. It all has to fit within a budget of use-what-I-have-spend-nothing. SO it is all about rearranging. Editing. Choosing.

New Theme: Purposeful Backdrops

John and the boys are home safely. We will have to make the table bigger again to accomodate all of us (and take off the retro-orange and avocado floral table cloth).

White furry backdrop-rug from IKEA. Thanks to Stewart, patient photographer.

A Tint Better Than a Load?

Do you love black and white photos as much as I do?
Do you like sepia prints? Or straight black and whites?
I prefer the look of this couple photo--you can still see John's blue eyes, and I am not Christmas Red glowing. I used the tint option in Picasa to wash out the over loaded color.

Untouched.

Happy 24th of July! This was my favorite holiday in Utah! There are fireworks tonight at Cal Ripken stadium--not for us, but we can pretend they are celebrating Pioneer Day with us!

I was pregnant 17 years ago and insisted the doctor wait another day before inducing me so baby Maxwell would be born after the family reunion fish fry, after the parade, after the fireworks. He was big. I don't remember how big. I'll talk more about him tomorrow on his day.

Family Photos Before Emma Leaves

Family portrait tips we have learned: squish together, and then move even closer. Outside lighting does nice things, and still use the flash to even out shadows. Take lots, and than take ten more.Before Emma left again for BYU we took family pictures. Last year was white-on-white. This year: dark clothes, so our faces pop. I can't crop this one in any closer to make the background solid. Must try bigger backgrounds.
We've been doing these couple photos so long that we have names for profile-kissing shots: his nose in front.
And my nose featured. It looks like we fit together like puzzle pieces. Grin.

Mom-Jane, this is the one we will send you 8x10 in color for your family wall! (Attention siblings: please send her current, up-dated family pictures!)

Finally, a QUILT to SHOW!

I've been collecting black and white blocks from friends and exchanges, and was spurred on by my Wild Thread quilt group to get rid of UFO's hanging around my sewing room. I picked this great puce booger green fabric to sash it with, made zig-zag borders, and just have to get this quilted up.


Photo credit to patient Stewart. Tomorrow I will show you the family shot we got from this sitting--freezing cold on the front porch with our brown fuzzy blanket rigged up behind us.

Having WAY TOO Much Fun!

(Can you see this as guerrilla art--stencilled all-over town with spray paint? Maybe I'll do it on our garbage-recycling container! I'm not really advocating graffiti--not the vandalism part of it. Legal art, or on your own property...I do love it.)

All the kids are asleep. It is Christmas Eve morning, and a busy, full day planned. Lunch with John's parents. Christmas carolling to deliver G-ma Sandy cinnamon rolls to their neighbors (Grandpa came with us to deliver fudge along our street, singing, "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plain"). Then Max has a Maryland State Boychoir Christmas mass tonight in Baltimore that we are all going to. We have to drop him off 2 hours before it starts, for rehearsal, so we will go look at lights and then come back for the service.

When are we going to squeeze in our scripture pageant? Costumes and acting out the Nativity has been a long-standing tradition while the kids have grown up.

Thinking Tuesday

I think it looks like we are on stage in this picture.

When I mentioned maybe there were too many kissing photos, John said, "Yeah, too bad you aren't in one of those love-less marriages." Ours is very love-ful, and I am thankful.

Tomorrow is John's big interview. The BIG ONE. Praying for success. Could this be the job we are waiting for?

John lost his job and I've gained 5 or more...working more than I ever have painting, quilting for money, crocheting, babysitting, and cleaning. I took a mid-afternoon nap yesterday (jet-lag?) just to get through the day. He is helping a lot. He still does all the laundry here, and the dishes are done by kids.

So I am not complaining about the additional work-load. Just thinking how nice it will be for this job interview to work out for full-time work for my sweetie.

Black and White, continued

(photo taken Saturday 14th @ spaghetti dinner. Love what happens when color is taken out, if there is enough contrast, and if not, I can bump up the shadows.)

Black and White or Sepia

(front porch from 2+ weeks ago. We take more than one photo each session, and this is a great way to show you some of my favorites!)

I am not shopping on Black Friday. Painting in color!

But I love what happens to photos with color taken out. Shapes matter more. Connections.

Good to be connected by technology, if not geographically.