Home Sanctuary

TV Studio - Almost Done

I apologize for not hosting Company Girl Coffee this morning! It's been a long hard week on the TV studio and I had to let a few things go....and that was one of them - argh! I hope you've had a great week, with many of you getting back into the routine of school and packing lunches. I've hated that I've had so much going on during Grayson's first week of school....but he assures me that, as a 17 year old, he can handle it. He's been very gracious.

Saturday *should* be our last long day on the set. We've got two walls to faux finish, a book case to glaze, wrought iron railings to finish, and an antique set of doors to glaze as well. Things have taken longer than we thought, and as the "finishers" we have to work around everyone else who is trying to get THEIR jobs done. In a relatively small space, it can be challenging.

Here, I'm glazing anaglypta wallpaper to bring out the pattern.

Time away from my blog has given me the opportunity to get refreshed for the daily Small Things here on Home Sanctuary, which will start back on Sept. 1!

I've come to realize YET AGAIN how much of my life is made up of small things...little decisions, tiny tasks, and small actions that have ripple effects on my family, home and work. I can't wait to get back to keeping company with you as we do those little activities that gain positive momentum and make good things happen!

Plus, my house looks like a tornado hit it and I'm going to need moral support to whip it back into shape. :)

See you soon!

Rachel

Updates...

Bob, doing what he loves to do - helping people shoot better with DryFire.

Quick update on my father in law, Bob Ridge. He is home and doing well after a second stent was put in on Friday. The doctors and staff said again how lucky he is to be alive. Had he arrived any later to the hospital, the outcome would not have been a good one. We are so grateful and excited that he had such an excellent result. It's been a GREAT weekend of rejoicing!

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. When something like this happens to someone you love, it makes you realize that each day is a gift......and so many of the things we get worked up over are really pretty silly in the big scheme of things. It is good to be grateful, and good to be "in" each moment. None of us knows how many of those moments we will have - and it would be sad to miss out on the preciousness of them in our rush to accomplish the tasks on our To Do lists. 

Today is the first day of school - the "last First Day" for our son, Grayson. He is a senior in high school this year and I am savoring it. I will have our traditional chocolate chip cookies waiting for him when he gets home and I will try not to puddle up when I see him dunking them in milk....just like he has for the last twelve First Days. He's still just as cute as that first grader he was a blink ago! {wiping tear}

Our annual First Day photo.

Embrace the day. :)

Blessings to you, my sweet friends!!

Love, Rachel

Thankfulness and Coffee

It's been quite a week.

My father in law had a heart attack on Wednesday - and it is really an amazing story how he made it to the hospital in time and survived with minimal damage to his heart. This is the short version!

The day started when Tom and I arrived at the TV studio job site and Tom wanted to sit in the car for a few minutes because HE was having chest pain. He took some Tums and I went in to talk with the supervisor and explained that Tom probably had some indigestion and would start working in a bit. The supervisor, Ronnie, insisted that he go immediately to the onsite clinic to see the Doctor and even jumped in his truck to make sure we followed him there.

Meanwhile, Tom's mom called to say that she was taking Bob (Tom's dad) to the doctor because HE was having chest pain and wasn't feeling well. STRANGE!!! We told her that Tom was at a clinic on the other side of Dallas for the same thing, WHAT??? We said we'd keep in touch and talk when we all knew what was going on with each guy.

The doctor at the clinic then insisted that Tom go straight to the closest emergency room, about 35 minutes away.

"I can either call an ambulance for you, or I'll let Rachel take you as long as you go straight there," she said.

So we hopped in the car and took off for the hospital, wondering what was going on with Tom's Dad in the meantime.

After the round of EKG's and blood tests, the ER doctor came in and said that Tom's heart was FINE and that he had not had a heart attack. He ordered him to have a stress test done etc and have his upper GI looked at as well. What a relief! And by this time, Tom was feeling fine and did not have any pain.

As we left the hospital, Tom's mom called to say that Bob's doctor did an EKG and could tell that there was some blockage, gave him some Nitro, made a 2:30 appt. with a cardiologist and sent him home.

SENT HIM HOME.

With Tom's scare so fresh, we immediately said WHAT THE HECK!!!!! Get him to the hospital right away! Do not wait for an appointment! Get in the car and go!

Thankfully, they did just that. They got in the car and took off......and by the time he got to the hospital, he was having a full-blown heart attack. He walked through the door under his own power but within minutes they had him on a gurney and were rushing him to surgery.

They were able to find the blockage - 100% in one larger artery (and 80% in another) and get a stent put in before any more damage was done. It was an incredibly close call. The doctor said he got there in the nick of time.

What was the first doctor thinking??????

I guess we will get that answer another day, but for now, we are so very grateful that the events of the day made us so aware of the importance of not messing around with chest pain. We've said many time since then that if Tom had not been having his own issues, how likely we might have let our phones go to voicemail as we would have been up on ladders and busy getting our project done.

Bob is having another stent put in today - into that other artery - and he is feeling pretty good despite being in ICU. He is a tough man who can work a 25 year old under the table, and is not letting this get him down. Thank the Lord for the strange set of circumstances on Wednesday - I mean how weird is THAT - and for the wonderful outcome. Could you send up a prayer for Bob's surgery today? Thank you so much!

I hope you've had a good week. Link up for a virtual Coffee Time below! I'm already really looking forward to getting back to our daily Small Things together....just a couple more weeks yay!

 

Aspen Painting Progress 2 and Coffee

I pretty much left the Aspen painting alone this week. Oh I tweaked here and there, but decided to let it breathe a little before polishing it later. I gave those far trees some definition by adding shadows, and softened the overall color of them. That lower left-hand corner is still unfinished, but thanks to Zoanna's suggestion in the comments last week, I know just what to do: she said to put my donkey, Flash, in a pen.......because after all, this IS an ass-pen painting. hahahahaha!

I almost cracked a rib laughing over that one. Thank you, Zo, for that!

It's hard to get the lighting right for a photo...but this is close I guess.

I added details to the teepees and I think that helped them look a little more real. I also knocked the brightness of the far teepee back so it would recede, and worked on warming them up at bit. I added detail to the stream.

 

I like the way the trees pop off the distant hills. You can see all the colors that went into the leaves......I'm hoping that when the TV studio is lit, it will be a very warm punch of color.

 

Here, I grabbed a paint brush and pretended to paint for this photo. Why did I grab a brand new brush?? All the ones I actually use - look USED. Oh well.

 

Lest you think I've been partying while on my blog break, I've been working on wall and furniture finishes this week. Sample after sample......staring at colors, going to Home Depot and Sherwin Williams, and even making a 120 mile round trip to McKinney, TX to get some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for the furniture pieces.

I met the lovely Karla - Lady Butterbug - my nearest stockist, who helped me select what I would need. Never having used the Chalk Paint before, I was curious how I would like "the best furniture paint in the world," as everyone raves.

You can judge for yourself. End table Before, just "eh."

After: I used Country Grey on the base and Graphite on the table top. I decided not to purchase the specialty waxes that Karla carries because I had some high quality European waxes at home.  I sorta regretted that decision, mostly because I don't know what it's "supposed" to look like when applied. Mine was much more of a paste than a cream, and I think it made it harder to work with. Anyway, I sealed all with a clear wax, buffed, sanded, waxed again with clear, then randomly scrubbed in a dark wax over the Country Grey. Gold "Rub N Buff" was added and wiped back - I think that added a nice touch.

After: I eliminated all the wood, by painting the entire bottom part in the Country Gray. It makes the piece look richer and more solid.

 

This next item, a small bookshelf, wasn't BAD to begin with, it just wasn't that good. It had yellowed and was done with heavy orangey antiquing. 

Before: close up of the heavy-handed antiquing. Oh those cheap imports.

 Before: Orange blech, and wood top that doesn't match other pieces

 

After: A much softer and more sophisticated finish. The final color goes perfectly with the rest of the items on the set and now that the two pieces match, it feels pulled together.

 

Gold leafing (Rub N Buff) applied sparingly, adds to the charm.

I started on the next piece - a table - and it is mid-progress. The white base is being painted Graphite, and the table top will get a coat of darker stain since it is too orange as-is. I'm going to add some gold scrolly embellishments to the band right under the table top and to the legs.  And this is my son's idea of a nice photo of me working - ha ha, funny.

I'd like to say a special "thank you" to Karla, who graciously gave me a 15 minute crash course in the Chalk Paint. I hope you'll stop over and say hello and enjoy her beautiful blog. Even though I have almost 20 years of furniture painting experience, this is a new product for me and it's taking me some time to learn how to work with it. I will definitely take one of her classes in the future so I can get the most out of it. It's funny how I started my art career painting furniture - back in the olden days before internet and blogging - and how difficult it was to learn without the web resources. Times have really changed and products have gotten better, and this is a great example. Besides the fact that the selection of 24 colors is a "tried and true" palette for French Country, the part I like best about the Chalk Paint is the NO PREP - no sanding, priming etc. A simple cleaning and wiping and I was ready to get to the fun stuff. 

I like instant gratification. :)

I'm quite sure I'll post a more thorough review of the paint at a later time. I've got my eye on "Provence," the color that sent my heart racing when I saw the swatch. 

Now, who'd like some coffee after that long-winded discussion of my projects? Friday is the day for Company Girl Coffee....so feel free to link up and let us know what's going on in your life! 

What is on your To- Do list today?

Aspen Painting Progress

I haven't finished my aspen painting yet but it's getting closer. Here's the update:

I worked the leaves over and over and over. Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Orange, purple, blue, green and tan...scrubbed in and filled in with a 1/2 inch brush. This is probably layer #2 of 100.

Next, I added lower foliage and detailed the trunks. How about some boulders? Yeah, I like that.

Now, for the uncharted territory - adding the distant teepees. How big to make them??? I cut different sizes out of paper and taped them up to see which size I liked. It was hard because there wasn't anything around them.....and I panicked after I'd put them in. They looked lonely out there in the middle ground all by themselves. Meanwhile, I've soften the foreground tree leaves and feel pretty good about them.

Wow, this camera on my phone make those colors look bright. It's not that wild in real life.

The teepees need some trees and shrubbery around them to make them feel at home. This is nerve-wracking because it's going to be reeeeaal hard to paint this out if I hate it.

Which I do.

Something about those distant trees is bugging me. I think they take up too much of my open space and look too posed....so I may need to paint some of them out. Sigh. The foreground trees are really my focal point so I need to remember that the middle area is part of the supporting cast. It keeps wanting to steal the show and I must beat it back.

I ran out of good natural light to keep going to I put my brushes down and will come back to it after a good night's sleep.

The next thing to tackle will be the foreground in the lower left corner, and the stream. I just don't know how much detail to add and I don't want to overdo it - which is what I'm afraid I've done with the dern teepees and trees. Grrr.

The phone photos are not great, sorry about that. It takes too long to upload camera photos - I'm too impatient.

Hopefully by Monday I will have this done and will move on to the the collage piece. If you hear screaming coming from the Dallas area, that would be ME, giving up on this painting!!

I hope your week has been productive! I'm still hosting Company Girl Coffee if you'd like to link up.... simply enter your blog *post* URL into the linkytool here on my blog. Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

Aspen Painting Under Way

This is what happens when your family leaves and you don't have any walls big enough for your canvas and you start moving furniture around.

I took over the living room.

I moved a love seat and took stuff off the walls to make room for the 40" square canvas. Since I'm a messy painter, I stapled plastic to the wall to protect it. We'll see if it's adequate protection.

The hardest part of any art project is getting started. Fortunately, I've got some small-scale paintings that I did prior to the Big Dude and that helps. To get myself moving, I start throwing paint at the canvas - you might call it an "underpainting," a guide to tell me how the painting should go. I tell myself I can paint over it if its horrible.

 

This is kind of the skeleton. I pencilled in the foreground aspens and filled them in with white, then scrubbed some yellow into the branches so I can see where the leaves will go. The trees look a little anemic, don't they? I may end up fattening them up but I won't know if I should until I get the leaves filled in better.

I hate leaving a painting alone once I start it. I fuss and fuss and fuss. But last night I was tired and was afraid I'd get careless and do something I'd regret, so I forced myself to sit on the couch and watch a movie...all the while it taunted me to "just do one little thing."

I ignored it, mostly. Today I will keep working on it - don't be surprised if the next photos look nothing like these first ones.

Rachel

I'm Taking a Little Break

Hi Sweet Company Girls!

I hope you had a great weekend. I want to let you know that I am going to take a break from posting our daily Small Things for the month of August. I've got a really full month, with the work on the TV studio taking up most of it. The project takes about 3 hours round trip to drive, plus the long work hours......so I felt like this would be a good time to give myself some space where I could. 

I WILL post here and there to let you know how my project is going and what is happening around here - as you know, I can't stay away from Home Sanctuary.......and YOU! Ya'll make my days so fun that I know I'll miss our daily conversations and encouragement. I hope my house does not go to pot without the Small Things to keep me on track. :) However, I know September 1 will be here in the blink of an eye and we'll be right back to it. Can you make it until then?? Don't say "yes" TOO quickly!!

Bless each of you...and I'll be around. Feel free to email me or leave comments - I always get them and love to hear from you.

Love, Rachel

rachelanne (@) homesanctuary.com

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