Today's Find!

I should have been at home cleaning and painting today, but I can only take so many days in a row before the treasure hunting bug bites hard! Seriously, I have a MOUNTAIN of laundry piled up, floors that desperately need mopping, plants that need planting, dust bunnies collecting, etc. I like it neat and organized (except when I'm working...then it's chaos) and when the house gets in a mess, I get stressed. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...didn't!

Doesn't matter. In the long run, who will care what my house looked like on May 5, 2011 besides me (oh, yeah. I have a hubby. Oh, well!)? Instead, I took the old finished shelving to the booth along with a few goodies and hit up a few of my favorite thrift stores. Want to see my "treasures"? This was my favorite! I'm still giddy about it.

Ain't she purdy?

This is a better shot...no confusing background.

Look at those gorgeous details!

More details (Ignore that "after" to the left. Forgot to remove it)!

Is she not gorgeous?! I found her in our Habitat ReStore. I stood there debating and nearly talked myself out of it. I even got in the car, but I was doing the math in my head and realized that I could make money on it and besides, I LOVED IT! So, out we went, back into the store (little guy was already buckled in!). It's missing a couple of it's crystals, but those are easily replaceable. I'm not even a brass kind-of girl, but I know beauty when I see it!

This is a piece I'm also struggling with letting go of. It's an old park bench that I've seen plenty of, but what got me was the awesome patina on the wood slats. It's currently parked in my yard being used by everyone. Can I bring myself to sell it? If I do, it'll get a good cleaning (not too much...want that mossy patina and chippy paint left) then a thick coat of poly.

See what I mean by Patina? Beautiful!

Wish I had arms like this (minus the rust...already getting that!).

 And last, but not least, I found this ottoman that needs some recovering but is in great structrual shape. Having made one almost identical, I knew I couldn't begin to get the parts for even a fraction of the price I paid for it. It's also an easy quick redo. There'll be after pics of this to come.

Well, there you have it. I pretended I had a clean house, laundry was done, and paint was magically applying itself and took little guy out treasure hunting for the day.

Miss Bee

Old Shelf Reveal

Remember the old Brady Bunch looking shelf I showed recently that was on my list of redos? She's now quite glamourous looking and ready to go out after her make-over.  Ta-dah!



Amazing what paint can do!

Let's revisit how she looked when I found her:

Did you notice that the middle and bottom shelf boards are too long?!

Now, this is by no means my most exciting make-over, but I desperately need shelves in my booth to display on and this was a piece that had the potential to look good from all sides. So, out of my laundry list of items, it came first by necessity. And, since I don't really care if it sells or not (it has a purpose) I thought it'd be fun to experiment on. I found this awesome steely blue sitting on the "Oops!" self at Lowe's and snagged it...$2 for a quart! I've tried to look up the color but can't find it. Must have been a custom match. Then I cut down the two awkward shelves (what was up with that?).

After priming with Zinsser Bin Spray Primer all over to seal the wood and stain in, out came the paint brushes. (Did I mention this was the piece that pushed the old carpel tunnel over the edge - making me take a forced break? Spindles are wicked things!) After a good thick coat of blue, this is what she was looking like:



Beautiful blue, but I wanted to play with it a bit.

Then came the fun part. I'd found the honey hole of decorative paints one day in the Habitat ReStore downtown and had this pot of Pearl metallic I was dying to play with. I think it cost me all of .$50!! I got out a chip brush and dry-brushed the pearl all over to come out with this:

Looking quite refined, wouldn't you say?

A little sealant later, I have a new piece ready to go. I love it. Everyone thinks it's silver until they get up and look at it. Then they realize it's actually white pearl over blue! I thought it would stand out better in a store full of antiques and dark wood (you know...gotta get them to my booth!) if it was light and bright versus the distressed black I'd contemplated.

Want to see it one more time? Of course you do:)

Original, paint, pearl dry brush.

I'm pretty happy with her.  I think she'll make a good addition to my little booth space. Heaven knows I need her! What do you think?

Miss Bee
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A Little Secret



"Morning Mist"
B.E. Interiors

 First, a little inspiration for you. I loved how the sun was peeking through this tree out walking one day. Glad I had my ever present camera with me:) Now, down to business. This is not a normal post for me, but for some reason, I have had a nagging feeling I was supposed to write about it and then get back to "normal". So, here goes.

Have you ever had an argument with God? Not a good idea. You know who's gonna win. God and I've had a little "discussion" over the last couple of days. It kind-of went like this:

Me

"Lord, why are my hands and arms hurting so bad? What did I do that has made them so sore?"

God

"You have been painting like a mad woman."

Me

"Yes, but why is my right hand hurting so bad? It's supposed to be fine now."

God

"Your carpel tunnel is back."

Me

"Are you kidding?! Why?"

God

"Remember Paul, in the Bible?"

Me

"Yes. What's that got to do with me?"

God

"Read it. You'll see."

So I did. I also felt like God was telling me to tell you about what I was struggling with, but I didn't want to. Ever tried to tell God, "No"? Doesn't go so well. So, after much prayer and arguing I have decided I should do what I am led to do and quit questioning why. I'll try to make it as short as possible.

Here's the deal. I don't like whining, complaining, or pity parties and the characteristic I despise the most is arrogance (although I am guilty just like everyone else). I want to live by these verses:

"Do everything without complaining or arguing..." Phillipians 3:14

and

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
Colossians 3:23.

and

^"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18

I've been artistic all my life - since elementary school and art contests. I've never considered myself super talented, but just really enjoyed it and pushed myself to excel (that perfectionist thing...ugh!). That alone is not even worthy of a story. The interesting part (apparently) is that God felt inclined to bestow me with a little "thorn in my flesh".

Every since I can remember, I've stuggled with my hands shaking. As I've gotten older, it's gotten worse...to the point I finally went to neurologist about 8 years ago to make sure I didn't have Parkinson's after a good friend asked if he made me nervous! I stared and said, "NO! Why in the world would you think that?" To which he told me how he'd noticed my hands shaking bad. Great. It'd finally gotten so bad other people noticed. So, I got a little worried and made an appointment to get it checked out.

It's not Parkinsons, but something called Familial Tremors. It's a genetic thing that I was lucky blessed enough to inherit along with my baby brother. It does get worse with age, but there are some medications that help. I don't take any, yet. People don't usually notice it, unless it's really bad and I've learned to hide it fairly well. Drawing has always been a nightmare for me (ironic, isn't it?!), but I learned to hold a paintbrush where I could forget about it.

To top it off, I also inherited another gene. It's the one for Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. I have it in both arms and finally had to have surgery on my right hand about four years ago. Freedom! It was awesome. Lately though, I've noticed it's back. That rarely happens. My tremors have also been worse. This has led to some serious frustration, down time to recover when I've pushed it too far, and conversations with God about why? Why now when I'm actually USING my skills?

Of all the people! What is God trying to get through to me? I can think of no ability I'd rather lose (hardly) than for me to lose the use of my  hands (or eyesight). This is what led to me remembering Paul in
2 Corthians 12:7-8 and opening up to read how God used his unidentified "thorn" to keep him humble. I don't want to admit it, but that could be why he's allowed my carpel tunnel to come back and my tremors to increase. It makes it tough, but I've learned to work around it and it could be so much worse. At least I CAN work around it. He knows me better than I know myself. As much as I don't want to believe or admit it, apparently it would be easy to forget where my gift comes from if I didn't have a constant reminder that I need him to keep on using it. It's his blessing to give and take whenever he sees fit. I want to honor him with every minute he allows me to have it.

Whew!!!! It's out there. So, is there a reason God wanted me to send this out to the blog-o-sphere? Did you need to hear it? Why? Regardless, count your blessings and have a great Monday! There's a before and after coming up later on. Just had to get this one out there first:)

Miss Bee



Mother's Day

To all you mother's who've ever tried to take a photo with your kids....



"Let me fix your collar."



"Oh, wait...is that ketchup on your mouth?"



"Please look at the camera!"



"Nice...um...everything!"

"Open your eyes and hide the green gum!"



"Again, eyes...and close your mouth!"



"Almost....smile!"



"Oh, well! Happy Mother's Day!"

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." Psalms 137:3

Basket Chandelier

Ready for a new project? One that is super easy? One that COULD give you a real "tingle"? How'd ya like to make one of these?

"Basket Chandelier"
B.E. Interiors

"Basket Chandelier"
Put on blinders and pretend you don't notice I've not touched up the ceiling paint where the old fixture was!
B.E. Interiors

This has got to be one of the easiest projects I've done in a while. My sister-in-law was having a yard sale so we stopped by and this basket was sitting there with old paperbacks in it. The handles were loose and it had seen better days structurally, but it was still pretty solid. I asked about it and she told me just to take it. It wasn't even hers. A friend had told her just to get rid of all that was in it including the basket. Done! I loved the wash of paint, shape and size.

I then went hunting for the cheapest LONG chained chandelier I could find. That was the tough part. The existing light fixture in our kitchen was one of those awful fluorescent fixtures and it wasn't even centered over the island! Go figure.

This was the kitchen when we moved in with it's florescent light.

I had to find something with a chain long enough to swag and that made it tough, but I found one at Lowes:

First, I took down the old fixture. Remember the part about the "tingle"? Yes, I've given myself quite a "shock" putting up a fixture before. I tingled all day long after I thought I flipped the circuit back off to fix an issue and found out I'd hit the wrong switch! Zap! No kidding...all day long...so bad I called a friend/neighbor to tell them if they hadn't seen me out later that day to come check on me. I'd just done the dumbest thing ever!

Once that was down, I took the basket handles off carefully since one was broken. I then simply took the light kit apart so that the glass globe was off, fed it through the bottom of the basket and then reattached the ring to hold the globe on without it. It held the basket on instead. I wired it up and hung a string weight from the ceiling down to the center of the island to find the spot to put the swag hook in the ceiling. That's it. Done. How easy was that?!

Need a little more inspiration? Here's what I had collected to convince hubby I wasn't crazy (not sure I really did, but he didn't put up much of a fuss after seeing the idea materialize in my collected pictures). Unfortunately, I have no idea where I got these from. I've just collected and saved them in a file.

Kay Douglas?



I just love this bird nest chandelier. Talk about unexpected and whimsical!





via Kay Douglas




via Kay Douglas




via Elle Decor



Inspired? Good. Now go make one of your own. You can probably get it hung before hubby even notices:)

Miss Bee

*disclaimer*

(I hate having to put this in, but in today's world, you have to.)

Be Careful to turn off circuit switches and don't attempt to hang your chandelier if not sure you can do it correctly (or if you're sue-happy). This is not a "how-to hang electrical" post. It's purely for ideas. Attempt at your own risk.

Linking up to:

 

A Funny Find

This morning after my quiet time, I opened up my new Ballard Catalog to dream a little and get inspired to go paint. What greeted me on the first page made me laugh! Check this out:

via Ballard Designs Catalog

First, I love this room...especially that aqua blue color and the creams. I even think I could survive with that patio furniture (wink, wink), although for some reason that tufting on the back is reminding me a little too much of those old reclining leather sofas of the 80's and 90's. Back to my topic. See that lady planter in the middle? That never would have caught my eye normally. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

So why did this catch my eye? Well, take a look at what is sitting in my bedroom:

"Lady Planter 1"
B.E. Interiors



"Lady Planter 2"
B.E. Interiors

I made this in HIGH SCHOOL! We won't mention how many years ago that was. It was the first and only real attempt at using clay in my life so far. I had a blast making this thing and was heart broken when the base broke and it cracked in the kiln. Now I actually like the "patina" that gives it.

"Lady Planter 3"
B.E. Interiors

How funny is that? I just had to share it. Mine isn't for sale though:) It was made by one very determined teenager back when "small hair" wasn't cool (I don't know why I didn't give her mile-high bangs. I guess even in my teen years I somehow knew the "poodle" look wasn't really classy)!

Miss Bee