In Praise of Purple!

I'll admit it. I'm an occasional blogger. This whole experience is new to me. So bear with me. I have good news and bad news. Good news is I have accepted a really good full time job! Bad news is I've developed trigger thumb, so I'm trying to get that surgically fixed so I can start my job. Trigger finger  ( or thumb,  officially called stenosing tenosynovitis) just plain hurts. So I'm seeing a hand surgeon Wednesday. I've tried the shots before and they were incredibly painful and ultimately a waste of time. This girl has too many things going and the fact that it's slowing me down is really frustrating. But, surgery is minor and I bounced back quickly with the other thumb, so I'm hoping this will be the same situation. I've been unable crochet or sew.

Sooo.... In the meantime I'd like to explore the use of purple in decorating. I came across a whole blog post on the subject, so Intead of doing a whole narrative, I thought I'd add some nice photos. The last photo links to the blog post about decorating with purple.

Energetic Purple combo:

Anne Sage

Pops of unexpected lavender:

Power of Paint

Lovely color combo from Ralph Lauren Home:

Ralph Lauren Home

Lavender softens the geometry of Buffalo checks:

The Elegant Chateau

Jenny Komenda's New Studio: 

Little Green Notebook

A pretty kitchen makeover. Click the link to see before and after photos:

Apartment Therapy

A feminine living room. I love how the art peeks out from behind the drapes!

Click through to read the article on purple

Our Empty Nest

Wedding Venue and Decor

I promised a long time ago to post wedding decor. I forgot. I'm a bad blogger. Well, here are the photos!

We held the ceremony at Grace Lutheran Church which is a small church built in Georgetown, Texas in 1881. It's not used as a church anymore, but the Georgetown Heritage Society rents it out for weddings.

Lavender ready for tossing...

The organ is original but is not used anymore. So pretty!

We all wore boots...

The reception table. The wedding cake sat on a doily draped over part of my Great- Grandpa Woodard's moonshine still, an item I cherish. Ann's Kitchen Cakes  made the cakes and cupcakes. Of the three places my sister in law and I tried, hers was hands down the moistest, most flavorful. 

My nieces' tea cup as a cake topper!

The Grooms' cake was a carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

Munchies from FoodHeads . Love that place and they make event food to pick up at a very reasonable price. 

More munchies from FoodHeads! These were called "Devils on Horseback" and are Medjool Dates with cream cheese filling wrapped in Prosciutto. They were the first to go - so yummy! 

And the chicken quesadillas were to die for. I love FoodHeads!

A good time was had by all. It was so gratifying to see the next generation of our family come together from far flung homes across the country. I hope they continue to stay close as the years go by.

Finally got the chair finished!

I bought this five dollar chair at a thrift store; it lacked a seat. Five years later I finally finished it! As a novice DIY'er, I painted the chair with white primer then decided to make it look like this chair


Needless to say when I sanded the edges there was black, white, wood. Not good. So to salvage it I sanded it a lot more then re painted those areas in black only, so when I "aged" it there would be wood showing. My sweet hubby helped me cover the seat and now I have a chair for my work room.

Paint Color Choices

I'm afraid of using color on my walls. I come by this fear honestly. Years ago, after picking out what I thought was a warm beige paint and using it - it read as creamsicle orange on the walls of the spare room I used it in and from that day on I doubted my ability to pick paint (this was back in the old days when you had to buy a quart of paint to try it). Fast forward to today, where you can buy samples of paint. The house I bought has beige walls - and the brown tiles bring out a slightly greenish cast. I've heard Kilim Beige is the de facto standard for beige walls, I'm going to try a sample of that to use in the main living areas. And although I like gray, I just can't see myself with gray walls. OK, my house is stone and has a Tuscan feel to it. I want to take it more towards French Provincial but without the bright colors. In my quest for color, I get sidetracked sometimes. I think I can paint one bedroom Olive. Possibly. Maybe. Still on the fence. All the bedrooms have beige carpet, something I'm not prepared to replace at this time. 

I was reading Jenny's blog, Little Green Notebook - she was the first decorating blog I started following - and she has a post about Olive walls. You can find her post here: Olive Obsession on LGN

She uses a very light blue on the ceiling with the olive walls. Nice. She has a good eye for color.

I especially like this photo of a Harlem Brownstone. The colors are complimentary and I think the red and orange tones enhance the olive wall color.

Elle Decor

I would like to try this in the future. There are so many projects ahead of it, but when I do I will share it with you. 

Here is a list of tried and true color combinations. Notice one of them is like the photo above.

Lonny Color Combos

I've flirted with the idea of brown. Although this is a nice space, frankly I think it would look better with a dark olive instead:

Country Living

I love purple/brown combos. I know I could find a way to incorporate the combo and have my neutral walls too:

Apartment Therapy

The thing to consider is how the light entering the room would change the paint color. 

I found a web site that addresses this very important issue:

How Light Affects Color

Using paint samples is a good idea, but remember the wall color next to the sample can affect how you see it.

Too Many Bad Things

It has been said that bad things come in threes. What is the time frame? Within a few days? That could be said after any third bad thing. My third bad thing was I had to finally put down my beloved dog, Schatzie. She was a good dog, loved my kids as they grew up, was a clown and a clever hunter of bugs. She is deeply missed. I am going to spread her ashes in the garden, her favorite place to hunt. This photo was taken a couple of months ago, sitting with me in the shade out back.

May she rest in peace. 

Setting up a Craft Room

I haven't had a space to craft and sew for as long as I remember. Now that we are totally settled in as a couple, we started to go through unpacked boxes and sort to keep, to toss, and to sell in a garage sale. One spare bedroom room had become our climate controlled attic (helpful hint: don't keep anything of value in an attic in central Texas because it will melt - I'm sure many of you have the same problem). I now have my sewing machine set up and room to sew and craft in. What are some of the most useful items you have for crafting and decorating? I'm loving the chrome Metro shelves I bought from The Container Store a few years back.

I put a slab of granite on top and they served as a kitchen island in a rental, and now the unit stores my supplies. I can hang things from the edges:

 On my list are to create: another garland, finish crocheting a yoga mat bag for a friend, recover two really cheap lampshades in stiff paper and then fabric, modpodge some old photo frames for a photo wall I'm making, and start a quilt for my son's Christmas gift.

He just turned 21 and is "all grown up" (his words) I want to make him a quilt including his favorite colors for him to keep and use. He's still in college, and when not in school he doesn't have his own place yet, but he will - probably sooner than later. Smart cookie, that one. Getting a degree in Computer Science at Texas A&M and already has a job at a local semiconductor design firm.  So now I have a space dedicated to crafting and also a separate room as an office. I guess my next tasks will be to start an inventory, income and expense ledgers. And find a full time job. I had a really good interview last week and then they pulled all the job req's so onward I go. Had a phone screen yesterday with a green tech company, I'll know tomorrow if they want to bring me in.

 Here's my favorite photo from our wedding reception:

Job Interview and More Garland

I went on a job interview today, hopefully it will pan out. In the meantime, I set up an Etsy shop to sell my garlands, wreaths, and some vintage items. I made a pink garland that turned out nicely:

And a simple rag garland in fabrics from Moda Historical Blenders. I've fallen in love with fabric honey buns - so many different things to make besides quilts. I didn't even make the whole honey bun, and it's long enough to swag across one of those big bathroom mirrors. I'l make some small wreaths with the rest.

And I hung the reception table backdrop garland on the fence to get a good shot of it in the sunlight.

I cleared out a garment bag in the closet to store them until they sell to keep the dust off. So this isn't all about my shop, but it's called Misty's Emporium.