Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend.

Never forgetting those that gave their all. 

Back Splash Reveal.

I've had a lot of questions about our back splash on my FB page. I have answered most of them but just in case I missed anyone. Well, the back splash was a very creative and inexpensive way to go. 

I had a budget for every room and exterior projects of our little cottage. My goal was to maybe be a little under budget and in some areas I succeeded big time. 

The reason I fell in love with this little old historic cottage was the farm house sink. I thought I never say this, but the kitchen is my favorite room so far. 

Ok, the back splash, have you figured it out yet? It's nothing more than regular fence boards. My new friend and neighbor did all the painting of the boards, she's an amazing talented artist, architect, interior designer and I can go on and on. I went with gray, blue, yellow, green and white boards. I think what brings it all together is the distressing shabby technique that she did on them. It all has a satin finish coat and it wipes beautifully. 

We both did the leveling and installation of the boards. I think the most nerve wracking part was the shelving brackets because I didn't want to drill extra holes at eye sight level in case I made a mistake. But it all went well. The shelving wood could not be more perfect. I found them in the back yard, they're old and cracked, full of character. All we did to them was a gray wash, but you can still see all the weathering on them and I love that. 

The thing I love most about our little cottage is that is OLD and so unlike our Miami house. No tiles, real old hard wood floors and full of unique character that you can only get in an vintage home.  I know that's not for everyone, but is perfect for us, because that's what we were exactly looking for. 

For decor I went with the popular farmhouse look, that I can't wait to change out through out the year.          

 
The corbels are from HL, they're painted and distressed to match and I love them. 

What's in bloom in the my garden.

It's been raining a lot, but we sure needed it and the plants are loving it. I'm calling my garden this year, "The experimental garden" because all I did was clear an area out, added a little cow stuff and just dropped seeds everywhere. The roses here and the Hydrangeas are from the big box store. As soon as it stops raining again, I'll take pictures of the little garden bed, it's beautiful and it's all coming up. 

      The Azaleas have stop blooming by now, but this one still had a few dying             blooms left.

The Humming bird feeder is in full sun, what do I know. I have since learned that's a big no no. I'm on a missing to attract some Humming birds. Got some feeders and already have a daily beautiful Red Cardinal that comes to feed in the morning and of course lots of squirrels, they're so cute.

What to do when you're all alone on a rainy day.

Mind you I do have lots to do but why not take some selfies just for fun. Look ma, no double chin and not a wrinkle. I love filters but I need to find a really good photo editing software. With my new semi-pro camera I like to shoot in RAW and I need to mainly convert to JPEG. I know what I want, but is so darn expensive, my photography is just for fun, I'm not a pro. I'll just have to keep looking.  

I needed some cheering up today.

Some times you just need something pretty to look at. These are from my garden and a new bloom always puts a smile on my face. 

All settled in my temporary art room.

Now that I've unpacked all my boxes and I'm all organized in my temp art room. I going to have to move it all over again into my permanent space soon. We're getting there little by little, been painting for 2 day and the floor needs to be leveled before we have the bamboo floating floor put in. Of course I would of been finished already if I didn't have a budget to carefully watch all the time. 

Not complaining, I feel so blessed to even have a spare bedroom to temporarily set up in. It was so nice to unpack and display all my pretties and now I'm inspired to create again.        

Mother's Day flowers for my sister.

Not too many flower shops in our little town, I think we have just one and that's ok, we love it like that. I always end up doing my own arrangements anyway. This one I put together for my sister who loves yellow roses. I started with an inexpensive bouquet from Walmart. This spiral bouquet technique I learned in Germany and I always do my hand held arrangements like this. The true test is if the arrangement will stand up by itself. The fillers and greenery I picked from our back yard. She's going to love it.      

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE AMAZING MOMS.

First Mother's Day I don't spend with my sweet mom. She's in Miami and I'm in Alabama, she's having dinner with my other sisters and they're going to pamper her like we always do. I am who I am because of my mom and dad and I love that. 

My Take On The 3 Tier Galvanized Tray In Shabby Chic.

I know it's a bit over the top, specially with the bling, lol. But I just couldn't stop myself. I know that simple farmhouse is really in now and I love that too, but I just can't do simple anything. So why fight it, just do what you like and what makes you happy. 

The tray and the silk flowers I got at HB with coupons and all the other accessories are garage sale finds, so this was a very inexpensive project. 

 My sister did one, not too long ago, and it's gorgeous. She added some trailing black wooden beads and it's so beautiful. I can't wait to decorate it for fall, my fav season.     

Loving this Alabama red soil.

Still have this cold that I can't seam to get rid off and now my allergies have kicked in. Don't have any pictures to share right now but we got a new little kitten, well he's not that little but he's still a kitten. Someone was looking for a good home for him and there I was at right place at the right time. James let me keep him yay. But, I let him in the house for the first night, to make him feel welcome, what a big mistake. He was an outdoor kitten, that's the only way I can have cats. I'm highly allergic and oh boy did I mess that up. I'm on my inhaler and have done 4 Albuterol and nothing. I might have to go for a shot, needless to say hubby is not happy. I'm going to be just fine, like always. Will share pics of him soon, so darn cute. 

These are my first Gladiolus blooms, love them. I havent gotten to fertilizing yet.  I just can't get over how wonderful is this red Alabama dirt, a treat for me. I use to garden on top of coral rock.