Here and There

I'm still burning the candle at both ends of the day to wrap up my work in time, but I wanted to drop in and let you know about two lovely features.  Along with some of my favorite bloggers, I was included in the Summer issue of Canadian Home Trends magazine as one of five "Reno blogs we love"!

Click here to read the free summer preview!  And check out the other blogs featured: Rambling Renovators, The Sweetest Digs, House Pretty and AKA Design.

In other flattering news, Amy, from Love on Sunday, featured my feminist mirror makeover for her fabulous Thrifted Thursday feature.  I love getting a sneak peek into what other people find thrifting and yard saling, and what they do with their loot.

Back to work!

See My DIY in a Magazine (Again)!

In the fall, my DIY Christmas spider tutorial was featured in Ottawa at Home magazine.  This spring I'm sharing another DIY project!  Because my blog tutorials for DIY art projects are so popular, I wanted to show Ottawa at Home readers how easy it is to make their very own DIY abstract.  What wasn't easy, for me, was painting on demand!  Let me tell you, painting while a photographer hung around and waited for me to say "okay, snap a shot now" was a teeny bit stressful.  As you know, I normally have to tackle the same painting a couple of times (like these and this one), sometimes over days, weeks or months, to get it "right," but this time I only had a few hours!  Happily, I love the finished piece and the only change I made was to hang it sideways. 

See the full tutorial (with glossy, gorgeous photos) in Ottawa at Home online, or head to one of these fine retailers to pick up a copy of the magazine.

I love a DIY painting tutorial that offers step-by-step photos but that can be sooooo tricky to do because stopping to take a photo often means I lose my mojo and the painting turns out weird.  But I've tried to share as many tutorials as I can, with step-by-step photos to give you a feel for how my (novice) paintings take shape.  Check out this black and white painting, the abstract triptych in the bedroom, my fun drippy painting, the Rothko-inspired trio, the geometric painting and its makeover, or, for something a little different, see how I made a simple striped piece with text.

I should mention that although Hubby & I try to support artists when we can (we have bought pottery from independent Canadian galleries and have often bought small works of art when traveling), right now we just can't afford to adorn all of our walls with the work of professional artists.  Happily, many of our family members are artists so we have their work livening up the townhouse.  Our DIY pieces fill in the gaps and add even more colour and life to our walls.  I love our DIY art and think that making your own art really is doable, but I'm not suggesting that the work professional artists do is as easy as 1-2-3.  Please support local artists and artisans when you can! 

P.S. You might have spied this painting in the reveal of a corner of our basement makeover (more soon).  We shot this project before I went to Hungary!  I've been itching to tell you . . .

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See my DIY in a Magazine!

I am super excited to share this news with all of you.  I have had to keep it secret for so long!

Ready?

I wrote a DIY article for the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Ottawa at Home magazine!!  This is only the second time a DIY of mine has been in print, so I am feeling a little giddy. 

If you aren't already a regular reader of the magazine, you are missing out on pages of fabulous inspiration, beautifully appointed homes and, for this issue, my holiday-themed DIY!  Now everyone who reads the magazine has the inside scoop on how to make one-of-a-kind Christmas spiders.  For readers who don't celebrate Christmas, these spiders are still a fun and easy DIY - I turned a few into a sparkly Halloween wreath.

Working with the photographer, Michel Gamache, was a new experience for me but I think we made a great team.  We photographed a few different versions, and more than one was used for the feature.  When I saw the finished piece, I thought that was a great editorial decision because readers can see a few different colour variations.  Having blogged for almost two years, with a bundle of DIY projects under my belt, it was definitely an odd feeling to photograph a DIY project, write up the instructions and then just have the finished tutorial appear in my inbox (if only everything happened that magically)! 

Apologies to anyone with arachnophobia, but I promise spiders aren't a regular theme here.  Really, I have oodles of fun and fabulous DIY projects that aren't in any way creepy (take a look here).  Might I suggest some felted wool billy buttons (you can use the tutorial to make cozy Christmas tree garland, too) or perhaps a pretty chain and coin pearl necklace for something sparkly, but not scary.

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