Peace and Paintings

At the beginning of March, I was out in the garage and found a 4x16" scrap piece of hardboard and thought it would make a good painting palette.  It's starting to thicken with about 1/4" of paint, but I intend to keep using it until the pandemic is over.   It will be interesting to see what it looks like at the end of all of this.  The paintings below were all done using this one palette.

 

Today,  I would like to get your mind off of all the negative that is going on around us and show you some happy paintings to focus on along with some peaceful scriptures to help lighten your load.  A few of the originals are still available at Dutchland Galleries.

Golden Morning

"His mercies are new every morning.  Great is His faithfulness."  Lamentations 3:23

Garden Tea Party

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?"  Matthew 6:26

Kite Day

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  John 14:27

Tree House

"Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.  She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed."  Proverbs 3:16-18

Whale Tale Cove

"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."  Psalms 139:9-10

Owl Cottage

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

Kitty's Garden

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."  Philippians 4:8

Kitty's Day at the Beach

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  I Peter 5:7

Horse Trot Farm

"The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD."

Proverbs 21:31

Garden Angel

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."  Psalm 34:7

  

Garden Shepherd

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  Psalm 23

Wildflower Cottage

"And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the flowers of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown in the fire, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?  Matthew 6:28-30

Kitty's Cafe

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:31-34

Laundry Room Christmas Make Over Adventure

This Christmas, I'm going with a very subtle color theme in my home with earthy greens for a tranquil vibe, except for one room--my laundry room.  When we bought our washer and dryer eight years ago, the red ones popped out at me (well...really they were floor models on sale at a price we couldn't pass up), but anyway, they still popped out at me!  So, when I looked at how I would decorate for Christmas, I had to go with red and as I decorated the room I decided to use some of my paintings and handmade items that I had created over the last few years that had a snowman theme.  To say the least, it was certainly a decorating adventure, filled with lots of fun and some challenges along the way.  Please join me as I explain how I got from seascape to snowman.

Here are the before pics.

As you can see, we have a beach theme going on in this laundry/half bath with a painting I did of my daughter when she was 4 years old--now she is 20.  Wow!  Where did that time go!!!?  Above it I painted her favorite Bible verse from Psalm 139:9-10.  "If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."

I painted the seascape painting above the cabinet when I was 16 years old from an old greeting card and the two paintings beside the cabinet are personalized with my daughter's name on the bucket.

When I decided to change out the main painting of my daughter with a giant snowman painting I had hiding upstairs, I wasn't sure at first what I was going to do with the scripture.  However after I slept on it for a day or two, I "saw the writing on the wall" so to speak.

We also had this ocean themed shelf on a small wall above our coat rack that houses clothes pins and I had purchased a red one at a second hand store, so that was an easy fix--or at least I thought so.

Lastly, this curtain on our back door,  I am embarrassed to say, was here when we bought the house.  It's pretty drab after 18 years and I can't even remember when I last washed it--oh dear!!!  Please, don't judge me! Yes, I tossed it in the washer--FINALLY, but I'm still making a replacement for my makeover and I'll probably make another one for year round in the spring.

Now for the reveal.

I dug my sewing machine out of the attic and started with 2 yards of this awesome plaid fabric that I bought at Old Country Store in Intercourse, PA.  They have a fabulous selection of fabrics, and I am a little biased too, as the owners are my neighbors (I like to support the community around me).  They sell online as well, so be sure to check out their fabrics here. https://www.oldcountrystorefabrics.com/

After I made the curtain, I gathered it in the middle with a matching handmade fabric bow and finished it with one of my hand painted snowman ornaments.  I temporarily covered the windows with parchment and hot glued some snowflake ornaments on each pane to give us some natural light and privacy in the room.  In the spring, I will pick a lighter fabric, but for now I wanted it to feel warm and cozy.

My next project was the little wall shelf.  I found this red one at a second hand store over the summer and it spoke to me.  I had no idea at the time where I would use this, but it was only a few dollars, so I picked it up for later use.  This was an easy swap, so I thought, until the top cracked as I screwed it into the wall.  I even made a larger pilot hole, but sometimes things don't go as planned.  I ended up drilling two more pilot holes to make it more secure to the wall and decided to cover up the huge crack with an antique can and my handmade ornament.  Ta-da!  All is well!

Next, I wanted to make a red and white laundry sign to go beside the white cabinet where the two small paintings were.  I had an old piece of wood in the attic that I got at a yard sale.  I used the magic of the computer to make stenciled letters, folded them in half to match up to a line I drew down the center of the board, so they would be straight when I transferred them with graphite paper and a stylus.  After some tricky measuring, I was able to paint the letters on and ended up with a half decent sign for my laundry room that will be great all year long.  Yay!

Here are some other paintings and handmade touches I added to the laundry room.

I made the snowman from an old wool sweater and the tree was made from a wooden dowel and a lot of tinsel cord.  That's my grandmother's old wooden spoon that Frosty is holding.

As you can see, I got a lot of use out of those two yards of plaid fabric--curtains, ribbons and a tank topper!!! (I am humming Rain drops on Roses now, because I feel like Maria in The Sound of Music when she made all those clothes out of curtains--oh yeah!!!)

And here is the focal point painting that I had hiding upstairs.  At first I tried to cover up the words--by matching the wall color on painted paper and taping it to the wall and that worked great (NOT!) and then I decided to use the Christmas garland that I had stored up in the attic for the last 10,000 years--oh that's right--I sold it at my last yard sale.  Don't you just hate it when you do that?!  Just when I finally needed it, it wasn't there.  So after some thought, I decided to take two wreaths, I wasn't using, like the one I have to the left of the painting and take the greens off the wire and make them into a long garland.  I know you must be laughing at me, but hey, it worked!  This is a lesson, that you should never give up when problems come your way--there is a solution if you search for it and most likely it is in your attic--ha ha!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my laundry room Christmas makeover adventure.  I will be posting more decorating adventures soon.  Thanks for reading!

Green Inspiration

The other day when I was out taking a walk in the rain, a verse came to me.  Psalm 92:14 NIV states, "They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green."  I've been thinking about the color green for quite some time.  I've always loved the fresh vibe that greens give off and you will see it in just about everything I paint.

Painting in Progress

My latest painting in progress has a lot of green and so I was inspired to freshen up the house with a few green elements that I have recently collected to welcome in spring.  When finished, this painting will be available at Dutchland Galleries in Intercourse, PA.

I first started greening things up on the mantle by repainting some old frames with a medium green that I often use in my paintings.   I also found a green glass star at a local secondhand store.

My ivy plant needed a little more light, so I moved it to a brighter spot by the hearth and corralled some green books, a green spring stitchery piece and a faux candle to complete the vignette.

I found two cute leaf pattern pillows at the secondhand store and dressed up the two recliners surrounding the fireplace to add a pop of green.

To complete the spring look, I changed out the painting above the right chair and replaced it with one of my spring canvas prints, "Blossoming Love".  You can purchase or order this print locally at the Peebles and Lace gift shop in Lititz, PA.  In comes in 16x20 (shown here-this frame not included) or 8x10.

I also created a spring vignette on top of my print cabinet using some green books, green frogs and a green nest.  (Coincidentally, I love to decorate with frogs as it was my nickname growing up.)

I found this cute ceramic green boot vase at a secondhand shop and filled them with flowers to greet me each time I do the dishes at the kitchen sink.  This way I don't mind doing them as I have something fun to look at.

And last but not least, I scored this mint green vintage milk shake maker at a public sale that my husband and I recently attended.  I think my hubby and daughter will enjoy giving this machine a work out.

I hope you enjoyed my green inspiration.  Are you inspired by the color green?  What is your favorite way to incorporate green into your decor?  Be sure to get out and take in all the greenery God has given us to enjoy!

Keeping Christmas Simple

I hope you enjoyed Christmas this year with your family and friends.  This year the theme of simplicity kept coming to mind after I experienced simplifying my diet this past summer to help in the healing process for my balance issues.  While I am not 100% cured yet, I have found some very unexpected healing of inflammation in my body and quite an improvement in my balance.  So, I ran with the idea of keeping things simplified for Christmas.

For many, Christmas means added stress.  Since my husband and daughter both work in retail, it's nice for them to come home to some peace and calm.

I think our Christmas theme really started when we bought a tree light timer.  Wow! That sure beats trying to get to the back of the tree each day by parting a jungle of tree branches and tip toeing around wrapped presents.

I kept tree decorating simple, using a few store bought ornaments I had on hand, but mostly my handmade ones.

I also took a decorate-as-you-go approach this year and made small vignettes each week leading up to Christmas.  Here, I corralled some winter items and put them in a wood box on a bench in the foyer.

I also decorated our antique typewriter with some greens and one of my prints, "Warm Winter Wishes" that I cut and mounted to masonite board.

In the kitchen, I set up a snowman themed vignette in one of the windowsills featuring a snowman cupcake that I painted on a piece of wood...

and a snowman pin cushion that I made a few years ago with a hat made from a spool of thread and a wooden disc.  I found the little yellow bowl at a second hand shop to sit him in.  My grandmother's polka dotted spice tins add a fun touch.

In the other kitchen window, I created a gingerbread theme.  The kitchen smelled just like Christmas after I baked some gingerbread hearts for my little tree.  My grandmother's glasses added a nice touch on top of the cookbooks.  Coincidentally, her glasses work perfectly for me when I'm trying to remove a splinter from my finger as they seem to be a perfect match for my eyes.

In the dining room, I filled a box with a few of my painted bowls, some red transferware, a candle, Christmas balls and some Poly-fil for snow.

To keep it simple, I decorated a corner cupboard in my dining room with a sweet vignette that I kept set up from last year.  I simply open the door of the cupboard at Christmas to display it.

I kept that same approach in the master bedroom by using a pre-decorated small tree from last year and found a new place for it on the bedside table.  Our bed was adorned with a paper wreath that I bought at a friend's open house.

In the living room, I decorated the hearth with my Central Market Putz House that I made a few years ago from cracker boxes and added a cute Christmas piece on our lamp table that I also purchased from a friend's open house.  Simple, but so sweet.

My daughter seemed to catch onto the simplicity theme this year by telling me, "If I just get chocolate for Christmas, I will be happy.  She is such a contented person!  Here, I have a little corner set up for the Jacques Torres hot chocolate we bought for her.  After we made some together last night, she remarked that her stomach was very happy!

On Christmas morning, we took a very relaxed approach--sleep in as long as you like.  When everyone was ready,  I made a stromboli for my hubby and daughter with store bought pizza dough and sliced meats and cheeses--no huge meal or cleanup on Christmas--just simple.  For my meal I chopped up some veggies and cooked them together to make a sweet potato hash.

After lunch, we exchanged gifts.  We kept things simple with one surprise gift for each of us and other gifts were things that we needed.   We bought frozen steaks and clothing for my hubby, new bedding and dresses for my daughter, and a few kitchen items like a stainless steel pan and wooden cutting board for me.  This year we also kept it simple by shopping early and online and avoided the long lines and crowds.  At the end of the day, I realized that Christmas doesn't need to be as stressful, as we make it.   If we are stressed over Christmas, I think we need to take a fresh look at the very simplicity surrounding the birth of Christ.  Why do we think we need to compete with or outdo others?  If we plan ahead and make it simple on purpose, it can be a joyous time as we celebrate the real meaning of Christmas with our loved ones.

What do you do to keep the stress out of Christmas?  Do you cook up a large pot of soup or have an easier approach to gift giving?  If you have a fun tradition that brings simplicity to Christmas, please share your thoughts below in the comment section.   I would love to hear from you!

"Better a small serving of vegetables with love

than a fattened calf with hatred."

Proverbs 15:17