Where all the art happens....

Actually, that's a total & complete lie. My studio is only clean enough to create in about half the time...the other half, I pull everything downstairs (translation...dig through piles & bags of stuff looking for what I need) & use our dining room table. *blushes* But I wanted something catchy for the title of this post.... it is after all the blogging event of the season...the 2011 Where Bloggers Create party hosted by Karen Valentine @ My Desert Cottage!



click on any picture & then click again to enlarge for details

Welcome to my studio! Not many major changes since the last year... I had sure hoped to have more of my goals accomplished. But I'm very fortunate to have the wonderful space that I do so I won't complain. I'm gonna swing you around the room & try to provide as much of a panaromic view as I can, then I'll move on to the more detailed close-ups.

The first thing you see when you enter the room is my worktable....all 8 ft of it! And as you can see....I don't leave much workspace left. I love the printer's trays I keep on each end though...they're so easy to dig through to find jewels & trinkets & I can still stack stuff on top as I'm working. Please overlook the junk underneath the table...I utilize every inch of this place for storage. I should probably try to skirt the table somehow.

I'm fixing to clean out my junk room & move the computer into there. I love the arrangement of my studio for just me, but it's definitely a one-person studio. I'd like to move the computer desk & printer into another room & move my work table out away from the wall so that both sides could be sat at. That way, I could have crafting days w/ my friends!

This craft armoire is a major workhorse! We once lived in a house and our bedroom had no closets. It was a huge room & I just filled it up w/ old armoires. I converted this one into a craft closet. I'll show you the inside later in the post...but brace yourself, I didn't clean it. ;)

The dresser holds my stamps & crepe papers etc. By the way, everything in this room was bought cheap, cheap, cheap & then painted by me. I got the dresser for $20 (half off day @ GW) & then painted it white. Still need to paint the little $5 end table at the end of it. The shelf above the dresser I paid $5 for.

I found the frame to my inspiration board in someone's trash. It was rickety & wobbly but once it was backed w/ a sheet of sheet music-covered plywood & then covered in chicken wire, it's not only sturdy but beautiful!

You can't see it in this picture but hubby installed a roll of brown craft paper under the lip of the table. I just pull it up & cover the table; glitter, glue, whatever & then tear it off. (you can see it in the above picture of my worktable). I've had this old table for almost 15 years. It has 3 leaves in it & is also a drop-leaf so it breaks down into a table about 2 feet wide by 3 feet long. It's been all over the house, including the front porch, before finding it's true home in my studio. I bought it at the cattle barns flea for $50 & is the only piece I haven't painted or don't have plans to paint.

One of the sets of printers trays at one end.

Wonderful bling!

You'll notice that I have a thing for dolls. I always have. I played w/ Barbies until I was 14 years old!

The vintage stamp in this picture was hubby's grandfather's. The baby boy on the right is my father.

Glass box of goodies on my worktable, within easy reach.

Ballerinas dancing in fairy dust!

The Tickled Pink sign was painted by Karla Nathan. I bought it while @ BirdSong. I bought 2 of her paintings actually...I'll share the other one soon.

This rose painting was a Paper Cowgirl project.

More printers trays full of wonderful bling! The top one is actually an old drawer out of something.

Love this Hendryx birdcage!

Like I said, every inch of space must be utilized for storage.... so I use my unused frames as a window valance. I hung lace curtains w/ upholstery nails & then hung an asstortment of coat hooks to hang the frames from.

Most everything has to have storage capacity as well as being beautiful but I do allow a few "just for shows".

One of the projects I did manage to finish since the last party was to convert this mosaic topped wine shelf into a bookshelf. Although anybody who knows me, knows that when I say that, I mean that I got hubby to do it. Although I did the painting....the painting is always my job.

You might have noticed all the wedding veils I have draped across things. I buy them cheap, may or may not cut them up & Caralyn often plays dress-up in them. Just noticed my Monster energy drink...it's not beer!

These shelves are stashed full of old dominoes, jars of buttons & seam bindings that I hand dyed as well as hand dyed tags. I haven't had a chance to blog about it yet though. But I did them all with vegetables or fruits. It's also home to my collection of vintage, porcelain ballerinas.

This little table & bench was bought when Connor was just a baby. He's 13 now!!!! *sniff sniff*
It also has a pair of chairs to go with but the grands use them as stepstools around the house. Doherty's Antiques was an antique store in Fort Worth in the 50's.

Love me some lace! And this large 2-tiered stand holds a lot!

Doesn't it just make you wanna riffle your fingers through it it?

Another workhorse in my studio is this bench...it was another $20 GW find, that I painted white of course.

Inside the bench is all my sheet music.

I didn't get a full-on shot of the armoire. It was really dark wood but I painted it white & then covered the doors w/ a couple panels of vintagey wallpaper.

OK...are you ready for what that beautiful armoire looks like on the inside? I hope you'll still respect me after this. ;)

EEEKS! It'll look better after I move it to where the puter desk is...I promise! I've already bought more turntables & some clear plastic shoe boxes. When I empty it to move it, I'll put it all back right. I can't promise pretty....I need it to hide all my uglies. But I do promose that it will be neat.

For a while. *grins*

Another change to my studio since last year is this bow-front cabinet. It used to be in my dining room but I replaced it w/ a hutch. I painted it white (of course I did!) & backed it w/ sheet music. It looks just as pretty empty as it does full! I do keep all my pretties in here....buttons, millinery, glitters, laces, etc. The sash on my wire mannequin was made by Ann Denise Andersen & the skirt is a vintage bridal petticoat I wore to the Paper Cowgirl prom. The mannequin is also wearing wedding veil.

Candy dish full of charlottes & porcelain doll parts. And the glass jar is full of wonderful old doorknobs & doorplates.

I got this big wire basket @ a garage sale for $10. It's old & I'm pretty sure it was used to store basketballs & so forth...I seem to recall them from school, way back in the day. It now houses my rolls of wallpaper...some vintage, most not.

I painted my studio this wonder shade of ballet slipper pink not just because I think it's beautiful but because I want to nurture, encourage & inspire the little girl in me. Because after all, grandmothers are just antique little girls. ;)

I hope you all enjoyed your tour of my studio! I had really hoped to have the puter moved & the armoire in it's place & the worktable pulled out into the center of the room prior to today's party but I just couldn't manage it. So for those of you who saw my studio last year, I apologize for it being much the same. But hey...the bow-front cabinet was worth a peek wasn't it?

Be sure & stop by Karen's to see the list of all the participants. Holy shih tzu! There's a lot!!!

He died for us on this day....

& to commemorate that, I want to share my collection of vintage religious prints. I have shared my "Stairway to Heaven" on my blog before but it was a couple of years ago so I thought I'd post it again, for those of you who haven't seen it.

I hang all of my collection on one huge stairway wall, from the baseboards to the ceiling! I can't get it all in one picture so this is from the bottom of the stairs looking up.

This shot is from the top of the stairs, looking down. The stairway is in a dark part of the house so you'll have to forgive the bad lighting. I did the best I could!

Many in my collection are by the artist C. Bosseron Chambers. He was the foremost religious artist of the 20th century...LOVE his work! Most have a trademark "halo" that makes his work easily identifiable, even if it is not signed. This one is of a young Mother Mary...doesn't she look like Drew Barrymore as a girl?

This is another C. Bosseron Chamber & is of a more mature Mother Mary.

Another Chambers....this one is St Anthony.

"I will bless every house in which an image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed & honored".

Love this pair of praying children!

And this guardian angel print!

A beautifully hued print of St Therese.

Another Chambers...this one is of a young St Paul.

And yet another Chambers...this one is St Therese.

Another work of C. Bosseron Chambers...this one is of a young Jesus & Mother Mary. (told y'all I was a big fan of his work!)

Forget each kindness that you do, as soon as you have done it.

Forget the praise that falls to you the moment you have won it.

Forget the slander that you hear before you can repeat it.

Forget each slight, each spite, each sneer, wherever you may meet it.

Remember every kindness done to you, whatever its measure.

Remember praise by others won and pass it on with pleasure.

Remember every promise made and keep it to the letter.

Remember those who lend you aid and be a grateful debtor.

Remember all the happiness that comes your way in living.

Forget each worry and distress, be hopeful and forgiving.

Remember good, remember truth, remember heaven's above you.

And you'll find, through age and youth, that many hearts will love you.

I did have a partner print to this next one; it was of The Last Supper & was also in a rococco frame w/ bubble glass...it fell off the wall & broke. I was so upset about it, that I am ashamed to say, that I used the Lord's name in vain when I discovered it. *blushes* But it was years ago & was the very last time I've done so.

Inside the birdcage is a tiny little print.

The Garden of Gethsemane.

Another beautifully tinted print...this one is of the Holy family.

LOVE this print of St John & a lamb!

but my favorite in my collection, will always be C. Bosseron Chambers' most famous work. It's of Baby Jesus & is titled Light of the World. My grandmother had a copy of this hanging in her bedroom. It was the first of my collection & will always be my most treasured.

I'm linking up to Debra's Vintage Inspiration blog party...be sure & check out all the other vintage inspiration!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Good Friday! I'm keeping Noah today...we're practicing finding eggs so that he can compete w/ his older cousins on Easter Sunday. ;)