~ Back into business! ~

Hello Dear friends,

Before anything, I want to say a big THANK YOU for all of you who's been leaving me comments even though knowing I'm absent. I really appreciate all of them and now that I'm back, I'll do my best to catch up with all of you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Well, where should I start?
The Summer was wonderful. No rush for anything, just enjoying the kids, going to the Lakes around, being more outdoors then ever!
Then came Back to School, where all of my kids were challenging a new school for them. Now, they are all settle and life goes on smoothly here.
But, yes, I did lots of projects during the summer as well!!! I had also to do something for myself, and as I love summer I also had the chance to paint in the garage with the door open, so I could feel the warm wind coming inside and see the gorgeous blue sky. Just perfect, hum?
Two weeks ago I also was part of a Art Show in the city where many artists from all kind were showing their work. It was a very interesting experience for me, since I still don't call myself "Artist" at all. But anyway, most of the friends I invited came over (some couldn't attend) and it was so nice to see them there, supporting my work and also it was lovely to meet new people.
I had to rush to prepare a portfolio for the exhibition but it turned out really well.
Now I'll show you all the pieces I did and pictures from the event. Have fun looking at them!

Hope everybody is doing fine and having lots of fun in your lives!
I'll come soon again with a new post!

Here are some pieces I did during Summer. I hope you guys like it!

 At the Art Gallery

 That's a nice friend of mine and Me!

Thanks all for stopping by and until next time!

Have a lovely week,

Li :-)

~ Do what you love; love what you do ~

Hello pretty ladies,

Today here in Alberta we had lots, but I mean, lots of rain! For a moment I thought I was back in the tropics! Note that I'm not complaining here. Actually, I love rain. It cleans the roads, the air, everything looks so green. And I love green!

While we've been having a blast outside between lakes, festivals and lots of rain as well. I also been working while the kids are playing just in front of me!!! Yes, and here is a piece of furniture I did this week. It was fun and I just put this one few minutes ago for sale, so as I miss coming here too, why not show you guys this lovely cottage style dresser?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful time and I'll be back with more projects soon.

The grey top. I just add a different color for a bit of contrast here

And Anthropologie pulls, from $14 each to $2.95 on sale! What a bargain, hey?

That's the dresser before:

Lots of scratches on the top and everywhere!

But nothing like a sander to help in the process, right?

That's it girls, a brand new dresser.

I can't wait to finish the kitchen to show you guys!

Have a awesome weekend!

Love, Li :-)

~ OFF from Blogging (for a while) ~

Hello Dear Readers,
It's been a while I haven't post anything here. Since the kids finished school it's been a wonderful time for us to recharge the batteries, sleep in and enjoy the beautiful weather we finally are having here in Alberta. Today we spent the day in a beautiful Lake 1 1/2hr from us and it was wonderful. But the thing is: I don't have time to come to the computer anymore. Because we are spending too much time outside (and too much for us here is never too much, believe me!) I barely have time to open my computer. By the time I think to come and write it's too late or the kids are asking for me to join them for a evening family movie! I simply can't resist that...
So, I'll be OFF from blogging for a few weeks or so. I'll be working in the kitchen Makeover, painting furniture and don't worry, I'll keep you posted when I'm done.
But for now, I think that's it.
I wish you all a wonderful time, no matter where you are, which season you are having, but simply a wonderful time with yourself, family and friends!

With love,

Li :-)

Here are some pictures for you. My daughter were too shy to pose this time...

Moraine Lake,Banff, Alta...It can be chilly there.

"Namastê"

"Chilling out in the Street Car"

"And the boys chilling out with their Popsicles!"

Yummy!!!

Enjoying a nice summer day!

Enjoying simple things in a simple way...

Until next time!

Happy Summer for the North hemisphere and a cozy and lovely winter in the South!

Much love,

Li :-)

~ A Green Kitchen ~

Hello Dear friends, I've been talking about my kitchen for a while but other things came on my way that were more important, so I had to stop this project and turn all the way to "my kids" and forget the kitchen a bit.
The school year is almost at the end and my three kids are very excited for the summer that finally arrived here in Alberta. Now the sun goes down around 11pm and the day starts early too! @ 4am. The only thing I have to say is: Let's us "Canadians" enjoy the summer. In other Provinces they have flowers, vegetables, fruits way before us here, but that's the way it is. My pot flowers are done, herbs, and the tomatoes....I'll probably see them in the middle of August.
So....the KITCHEN!!!! As I've been debating about the color, this and that, I decided to go with white and PRONTO!
I would love to hear your opinion, since the walls I "might" live it the way it is (it's called Sage color), but if you think it will be better in other color, I really appreciate your comment! When I did bathroom make over, I have to say following some advice from you guys, made my job so nice and at the end I loved that I change the wall color! Even though "painting walls" are not my speciality, I enjoyed the results at the end.
So, today I'm busy preparing also our 1st GARAGE SALE for Saturday. As the weather is promising, we are going to give it a try. I've never did one, so wish me luck! What I hear the most is garage sales are too much work, at the pend people get stressed out, and on and on...but as I am a person who believe "you don't try you will never know", I'll try a garage sale. We have lots of very good items and as it will be a beautiful weekend!
As I show my kitchen pictures how it is right now, I'll also write a few ideas I had.
All the material we got so far are "Eco Friendly" made out of recycled and not-toxic. WE changed the floor to a laminated imitating stone (really interesting one) and is a recycled material as well. A year ago we bought new appliances and searching in our budget and also for something nice, we ended up buying stainless-steel which are easier to recycle in the future as well.
Okay, here it goes my little kitchen:

I'm thinking to paint all the cabinets in white and change all the knobs and pulls to stainless steel ones. For the drawers, I'll go with cup pulls. What do you think?

This is our PANTRY  and the door that lead us to the garage.

As the budget is short, I won't change the sink (which I would love to) and the counter top. They will remain the same. Do you think just by changing the color of the cabinets will look better?

In this space I used to have a table with bar stools.  We did this cork corner to protect the wall from the previous iron chairs we used to have. Should I paint it in white as well? I kind of like it the way it is...

And this big frame will be a chalk board I'm planing to do. We need a board in the kitchen for reminders...

And the plates on the wall will be gone. I have a wood shelf and I put 5 little hangers for our 5 breakfast personalized cups that will be in the left wall where one of the plates are.

This is a laminated floor: they come in big plates that attached one into the other and they are made out of recycled material and are non-toxic. I also painted the kitchen a years ago with non-toxic paint as well.

Here is where the I'll replace the plate to the white wood shelf.

I'm planning a kitchen island instead of the table. We need more space to cut the veggies, cheese, etc. and we barely use the table in the kitchen.

OK friends, I think that's it. AS I've been more out than in, at least today I could save some time for this post and I'm already taking the cabinets off (the hardest work!) and soon I'll be painting them (outside!) Yuppie!!!!

Feel free to drop me a line with any suggestion. I love to read them and all the nice ideas that come from you all!

Have a awesome week, coming already to a weekend!

Love,

Li :-)

~ A Beautiful Award from a Wonderful new Blog! ~

Hello everyone and happy week to all of you!
As my Monday started (and it's going to be a very busy week here!) i can't forget to mention a beautiful new blog from a sweet and lovely lady. Her blog is My Summerhouse and her name is Laura. I've met Laura probably 2 weeks ago and it's was just wonderful to meet another new friend around the globe. So, I took a trip quickly to Perth, Australia, and had an opportunity to see her amazing and inspiring Blog! I'm sure you will all love Laura and her beautiful work and ideas. She'll love to meet new friends too! :-)
Laura also gave me this beautiful award. And here I'm going to post it and I also have to write 7 things about myself:
I'll be short, Okay?
Here it goes:

1. I'm a humble person and I watch carefully what I say. Once I read this quote: "the bad thing is not what enters in the mouth, but what it comes out of it", and I really believe that!
2. Love to cook;
3. Love to spend time with my family, friends, our dogs;
4. Love to travel!!! It's always an unforgettable experience and rejuvenating;
5. Love nature, animals, kids, old people, everyone;
6. I accept who I am and always say "Thank You" for one more day!;
7. Love to help others.

It's always wonderful to receive anything from you guys: from a comment to an Anward. They all make me feel so good, so alive!

Now I have to pass this award to 15 Blogs and I know it's not easy to choose 15 when there are so many, but here are the one's I picked for this time. They are all wonderful blogs and beautiful and talented women behind them. Here are they:

RAZMATAZ

RUBBIES PLACE

MACARTHY DESIGNS

DRIFTWOOD INTERIORS

LOYALIST COTTAGE

COTTAGE DREAMERS

LUV DECORATING

COZY LITTLE HOUSE

FRENCH BUTTONS

MAMA WITHOUT BORDERS

THE VG HUIS

ANGELA WALKER JEWERLY

CAPPUCCINO COTTAGE

SHORT SOUTHERN MOMMA

PAINTED WHYTE

THE OLD WHITE COTTAGE

COTTAGE ON ROSEWOOD

Thanks Laura for giving me this wonderful Award and also for the opportunity to spread it with these other friends!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Until next time,

Li :-)

~ Falling for Blue ~

Hello friends,

I know I've been very bad with my posts, but time is getting even shorter for me from the past few weeks. Do you feel the time is running to fast? By the end of the day I wish we have more hours to accomplish everything I want to. And rest!!!

The good news are:

1. I SOLD my very first piece of furniture (the picture will be on my side bar)
2. I FINISHED the cabinet for my "first client"  (which became my second)as well!!!!!

It Feels so good, friends...
When I finally decided to put my first piece for SALE, which I've been postponing (I don't know why),I had to choose which piece I would sale.
So I picked my little desk/chair and posted on kijiji almost two weeks ago, on Saturday night.
Sunday I got first contact and the same person came on Tuesday to pick it up. I explained about the technique of the paint and believe me, the guy really watches those house and home TV shows!
He bought it for his wife and with no doubt, he said she would fall in love with the piece.
Now, I have to finish another desk (it's almost done) to replace that one, and who knows will be gone as fast as the previous one?
This was my first experience selling, and I have to say that I was quite happy, not only because it was a fast sale, but because the person who bought it really liked the job I've done it on that desk. It's a wonderful feeling when the client appreciates your work! For me, that was the best part of the sale!

About "falling for blue?"
Oh my, I just LOVE blue, so I painted this little cabinet in blue and I made the shade of blue myself. A few months ago I bought on the Mistint section a little can for $2.50 in a nice blue, but I wanted lighter, so I kept mixing blue with white, until I got the shade I wanted.
It's fun to make your own shade of paint. I felt like a little kid learning how to mix colors!
Here are the results:

BEFORE the paint:

The cabinet was done from a friend who is taking carpentry course and he made this piece as a project.

After primed and 2 coats of paint, I started distressing it, a little bit here,

and there...

And I can't forget to mention the iron mesh I used, and with the staple gun, I did the job all around;

Here is a picture when I started using the blue over the primer

Volilá mes amis, another project done!

On my next post I'll ask a opinion from you about my kitchen. Yes, I'll finally start painting the cabinets next week. I'm just waiting for the weather to get better so I can enjoy painting outdoors.

I hope you are having a very good week with lots of sunshine in your hearts!

See you soon and enjoy the rest of the week!

Love,

Li