"Remembering Moms lessons"

We all have to start somewhere and my beginning
started with my "Mom"... she always had a needle
or a hammer in her hand. Although she has been gone
now for 11 years, I can stil see her making or
fixing something.
This rough photo is her "Embroidery Smpler", of
my house, back in Illinois. (1981) It hangs
with great pride, in my home today!

I have tried to teach my two daughter some
of my crafty self.. and yes, they both have
done some good work.. Cyndi can cross stitch
better than I.. Gina is now so busy with
three baby boys that takes all her time, but
she is trying to find the time to be crafty!

Thank you Mom, for all your lessons!

painting kitchen counter tops

Here is the original kitchen.. My Town House was built back in the 80's
when they loved the 'florescent lighting'...it was dirty, dark and dingy
in there and 'oh so depressing' and the buggs,, ewwww, dead buggs up in the light fixture! so after a year or so I got out the
'sledge hammer' and took the entire ceiling down... raised the ceiling
about 8 inches. Moving all the 'electrical and a/c ducts', was quite a
job... but know what? I did it




After 6 months of work, yes off and on, I took off all the hardware and repainted the cabinets.. What a difference a bit of paint makes.. the room grew in size and I don't have to turn on a light to see, it's so bright now!



This is how the kitchen looks today, the Holidays halted the work and I also had to stop for a while, with the hopes of continuing soon!
I pulled the entire laminate floor only to find 'old Terracotta' tiles.. they are nice but too many chipped spots that can not be re-finished.. I want "Wood" and with a bit of luck will get them soon!
The Counter top is going soon also.. I have a plan to move the part that darts to the left.. the dishwasher is in that space and it's going up against the wall to allow for an island to be built...
OH,, I have so many plans and as you well know..doing such a job, all alone, takes time and money!
Oh, "The Woners of Doing",,, how one thing can take on a life of it's own!
To be continued......

January 2, 2010

I'm a 'creator'... I create nice things for the home.
I have demolished my kitchen, added a new deck
to the back of my house, pulled old floors, put in
new wood shelving in all my closets.. I knit,
crochet, cross stitch and make all sorts of crafty
items for pleasure and for people!
My thoughts are to 'create a blog', to inspire and
maybe 'help' with ideas for others to start doing
all the improvements and creative ideas they
might have.
With any luck I can go into my files and post
many of the photos to show 'how I did it' and
maybe 'tell the story' behind my fun... and yes
all this work 'is fun to me'!
Get inspired everyone cause were entering the
"Wonders of Doing"!!