Stripes and Feathers...

So, since i repainted my bedroom blue, i had to paint over the pink stripes on my bedside dresser, because they really just didn't look that good anymore in the room

But that's ok,

 Because there are millions of places to put stripes!

 and for some freaky reason, i like stripes... 

i don't even know what that's about

i really like buffalo gingham checks too

everytime i see them i love them

So anyway.... I just grabbed my Annie Sloan paint and walked myself right into the living room and commenced to putting stripes on the first thing i could find that was standing still, 

and that happened to be a little vintage chest innocently minding it's own business by the front door...

 

stripes are such an fun and easy way to make an impact 

when i look at these pictures, the stripes look like a little much, but in the context of the whole living room they add a great touch

and did you see those flowers in the first photo

the really soft pink one?

well, it is the most beautiful flower in the world ever

it's a dahlia and it's called 'Cafe Au Lait'

my photo doesn't even begin to do it justice... you should google it, it's an amazing flower and the color is like nothing in the world, peaches and creams and pinks... 

of course i got obsessed with it and tried to find some tubers, but every single place in the whole wide world is out of them...

i'm serious

you know how it is when you get obsessed about something and can't take no for an answer, and you start looking in places like Australia for them... 

that was me

this isn't 'Cafe Au Lait', it's another dahlia, still amazing, but not as completely perfect as the Cafe Au Lait

at least to me

but the pink is nice with the gray stripes isn't it! 

 in fact, ... why don't i have any dahlias in my garden?!

what's up with that!

*********

I want to show you a new painting i did today too...

It was so fun to paint

i find feathers here and there every once in a while,  and i  decided it was time to paint a feather!

They really are so pretty

and i always sort of think of them as a special little message from the universe when i find one

it's funnest of all to find a cardinal or bluebird feather

but i like them all

 i had a beat up paint spattered little canvas... and since it was too late in the day to start a painting

i sketched a feather just for fun

i had forgotten how therapeutic it is to just sketch with pencils

and then this weekend, 

I painted it!

So here it is

It's a big painting 24 x 36

and very simple

this shows the scale of the painting

and how minimalist it is

sorry it's a bad photo taken at night

see the doggie bed all smushed up behind the easel - my little dog daisy always gets the hell outta the way when i'm painting because canvases have dropped on her head more than once...
she has no fondness for canvases !

 

It's very simple

But that's what i like about it

often 'the simple things' are the best things of all

you should have seen me, who is messy as anything, trying to keep the canvas clean and white while using all those dark colors

of course i'd use my rag to clean a messy spot, and it would drag through another spot on the painting with wet paint and smear someplace else on the canvas, 

and so on...

it would be kinda cool to do a series of three feathers wouldn't it!

but back to work tomorrow...

so that's for another day

I was taking a break from painting cows!

I sent Marian "Miss Mustard Seed" , her new cow painting last week... so she'll probably show that to you guys soon

and i have another cow i've painted that I'll show you too

...and that's all for now my sweet friends ...

...the end...

More Plywood Floors and Blue Bedroom Walls !

Sooooooooo... I decided to paint my bedroom blue...

OF COURSE ... it didn't go down easy

oh no no no

I obsessed over the color, bought an insane amount of samples

after Mr. Fractured had painted half the bedroom the chosen color,  I decided i hated the color

oh no!

I then asked him to paint it another color... which i was so sure would work since i'd loved it in other bedrooms

after he had painted half the bedroom the NEW color...

I decided i hated THAT color too

...uh oh...

At this point i decided i would call my friend for help

and told her it was 

A ROOM PAINTING COLOR EMERGENCY!!! 

So she came by and said the first color was just fine, and to paint two coats

and she was right!

Geeeesh!

Soooo then i decided i better be very very very nice and sweet to Mr. Fractured - which i was - and then when he was feeling very manly and magnanimous i asked him if he would repaint everything the first color again

Which he did... 

 he was really sweet about it all

i guess he already knows i'm insane and has embraced the horror... ...smile...

Phew!

and  I actually really love it!

Imagine that!

I resisted blue for years

some of my reasons were.....

everyone does blue bedrooms, ,... blue is boring, it'll look too blue... i'll get tired of blue... i really like blush pinks... i really like dark walls...all the blues looked too cold

Boy was i wrong!

It's so peaceful, and clean, and quieting...  

I am actually shocked at how much i like it

I'm  not all the way finished fluffing it up, i want some prettier decorative pillows

apparently pillows in soft blues are impossible to find even though i've seen them everywhere i've been for the last 10 years up until now when i want some ...

 

Here are a few pics of the color

 it is by Sherwin Williams

and it is called "Sea Salt"

and believe me it is a chameleon !

it changes so much with the light it's not even funny

here is a pic with the room almost empty

God it felt good to get all the "stuff" out of the space and have the emptiness

 
even in the different photos you can see what a chameleon this color is

plus, blue looks really pretty with baskets, and i love baskets

"Sea Salt" is  a combination blue/gray/green

very very soft

and seems to be gray enough to go with lots of other colors

i want to get an armload of dried gray/green hydrangeas kinda like these to add to a big basket in the room

wouldn't that be pretty?!

AND... guess what inspired me to paint the walls???

We pulled up our carpet and had plywood floors cut up on put down !

Tada!

white washed with good old Annie Sloan chalk paint !

Isn't that cool!

I hired someone to do it - and asked him to cut the planks 6 inches wide - 

so he drove up with a whole truckload of planks about 4 inches wide...

uhhhhhhh...  what was i gonna do, tell him to take them back... ?!

no freakin way

I had taken some days off work, they were ready to get to it, the planks were cut... the bedroom was cleared out

so i just let it go

this size would have to be fine!

They tore up the gucky old carpet

pulled up those nail strips and staples

 

glued and nailed down the floors

 

it took about a day and a half

the carpenter's total cost was around $375.00 for all supplies and materials

Soooo, if you want to do it yourself - that's about what it would cost!

I white washed them with a mix of Annie Sloan paint, some water... and rolled the paint on with a roller

I then sealed them with some acrylic polyeurathane called 

"Stay Clear"   

boy did the wood suck that stuff up!

It all dried really fast, the 'Annie Sloan' and the 'Stay Clear'

and then they were done!

I love them!  The whole room smells like fresh cut wood... and the floor feels so solid,  the colors are all soft, and i got rid of alot of clutter... 

 Mr. Fractured even cleaned off his desk, which, oh yeah... he let me paint  Annie Sloan "old white" with a little wash of "country gray" ..

 the room smells fresh and clean, and feels calming, 

..more meditative ..

even the light is different in here now

it feels pretty darn nice to have most of the work done and a peaceful uncluttered bedroom to come home to

 

...the end...

I Painted My Lampshades Pink!

I have been on the watch for some fun funky pink chandelier shades for a loooong time.  I have seen some for sale online, but they are usually very expensive sooooo....

I had some plain white shades ...

  and i decided to try a trick Amy of "Maison Decor" showed on her blog !

 She is a master of Annie Sloan paint styles and techniques...

 she even used the paint to dye some fabric!.

I grabbed my  little thrift shop white shades - mixed a blob of Annie Sloan Scandinavian Pink with some water, grabbed a paint brush, and just brushed it on the shades!

i wasn't even one bit careful about it at all !

 Scandinavian pink is this wonderful deep almost terra cotta pink color, but when you add white to it it comes up to these gorgeous colors,... deep peachy pinks, then soft lighter peachy pinks...then more blush pink colors depending on how much white you add...

I didn't add any white here... just water... 

I played around and added some faux flower petals...

and even tried some dried hydrangeas

( i was a little worried that they are so paper thin and dry that they might spontaneously combust - (kind of like i have almost done in several situations with my kids over the years- spontaneously combust that is) -

- so i removed them just to be safe)

it was a fun little project - and the paint worked great !

more like a dye than a paint...

there are some spots where the paint soaked through to the underlining and it's not perfectly flawless

but "not perfectly flawless" should be my middle name, because they're just fine for me

and a lot less expensive than some that i have seen online!

 so, if i get tired of them

it's no big deal to change them out for something else

because you know how we all never change things around the house... smile

(just ask the husband's or wives, or signifigant others... they know...)

of course i only had 4 of this shape and size shade and i needed five - so i added this one random pink lampshade i had, in with the mix, and i don't really even think anyone will notice so much... 

can you see it hiding in the back?

it has little fuzzy things on it, and i love it 

maybe you can see it better here....

that's partly why this blog is 'Cindy's Fractured Fairytale' - because nothing..... not one single thing is perfect here...

...the end...

I Promise I'll Never Ever...

Talk that much in a blog post again, like i did in the last one...

Who wants to read all that stuff!!  What was i thinking !

So just a few pics this time, and as little words as possible!

So i bought this cowhide rug at World Market,  for a pretty darn good price with a coupon.  A lot better than the prices i see online - and i LOVE it!  

My sofa is all messy in this photo... but whatever... i'm sooo totally completely not a photo stager...

I'm pretty sure i have switched pillows on this sofa a thousand times... that round pink one is already gone...

anyway avert your eyes from the messy coffee table and cords in the corner, and just check out the rug

I think i paid about $160.00 with the coupon, soooo... if you want one, you might want to check them out...

 This limelights hydrangea is blooming in it's full glory - 

So amazing, i want to kiss it...

It dries and fades to a soft blush

what could be better than that...

did any of you see this photo on Pinterest?

There is something about this photo that is like therapy to me... whenever i want to feel good i look at it

What is it about this combination that is so completely irresistible!?

I think it's the coral that makes it so perfect

....and...

I went to the beach since the last time i talked to you! 

For the first time in 6 years!  

and i love love love the beach... 

but due to money issues, and anxiety issues, and planning and sequencing issues... and basically every mental health issue you can come up with... it took me 6 years to get back to the beach which is only 3 hours away from my house... 

that shows you a little how crazy i am...

it was a duplex, and it smelled like old tennis shoes, and the decor was AWFUL, and it rained almost the whole 3 days we were there.... 

but we did have one almost sunny day where we had beach time

....and it was wonderful

And since it was rainy one of the days, We took a trip just up the road to the cutest little town called Southport, and there were a million thrift and antique shops, and old homes right on the water, where boats come in

so i was in heaven with that!

Why don't i live there? near the water? it seems so wrong not to be near the ocean!

I'm pretty sure i would be healthier and less neurotic if i did!

 ***

 I haven't told you, but i am working on a new cow painting for Miss Mustard Seed...

and oh how it is giving me trouble

it's kinda hard to beat "Eulalie"

sooo... major performance anxiety here

anyway, i've reached the maximum amount of words i will allow myself in this post after the last one

talk to you sweetie pies later!

...the end...

Hi Everybody, I'm Not Dead...

               

  I know I haven't posted in a long long time!

It's been a hard summer.... 

I mean nothing overtly horrible or bad happened...

It's just i've had alot going on, and alot of people around, ALL THE TIME, and i can't really talk about it all, because i would get in big trouble!.... except that...

HOLY  F!#$!, 

i need my space and my routine, and quiet time, or basically i get  anxious, and depressed and crazy as a loon...

So, i just couldn't bring myself to do blog posts...

I mean, i'm curious, How many of you get energy from alone time, versus energy from being around people.

Mr. Fractured is low maintenance, he doesn't pull at my energy force... he's quiet, he's routine, he does his chores... We have a rhythm, and it works.  Geeeesh, he can fall asleep in a chair in 32 seconds... it's insane

  He dosen't care if we're boring and neither do i.

  Relationships are interesting.  After living this long, i've decided, i have no idea what the hell to think of it all, except some people suck the life force out of you... 

STAY AWAY from them if you can, 

and some don't.  

It's ok to play with them

People always tell me how social i am, and how happy i always seem, and how they think i would be so fun to hang out with.

I HATE FUN!

Every time someone wants to have "FUN" i want to shoot myself in the face!  

Planning to do something "FUN" means you have to drive or fly somewhere where there are usually alot of people you don't know, and do things you're not used to doing, without your stuff that makes you feel safe and comfortable.

If i think of flying somewhere, i immediately visualize being trapped in a guided missile, made of thin metal, packed with highly flammable jet fuel, and being launched 25, 000 feet in the air through cumulus clouds and lightening strikes, where you could potentially plummet to the ground, 

(which, lets' face it, ... would take a really long time at 25,000 feet)

where you would then explode into flames

and if you survive and make it,  to wherever you are going

you have to do it again and fly back!

uhhhh...i don't think so

i can watch the discovery channel 

hang gliding

seriously?

nope

bowling

not a chance

skiing

it's freakin cold, what the heck!?

and you will break your leg and have to be airlifted outta there

and dangling up high in those ski lifts

nuh uh

riding a subway to a 6 story mall packed thousands of people

subway - terrorists

what if i have to go to the bathroom!?

trapped in the elevator

total sensory overload 

panic attack

Camping

just wrong in so many ways

i can do that with just about any suggesetion of "fun"

you should try me out, just ask me one

 

 Fun to me, is hanging out with someone i am completely comfortable with, listening to my music, staying at a little beach cottage right on the beach, painting, fixing up the house, a bonfire, shopping, (not with men)... picking flowers...fishing, that bud lite every evening... especially when it's summer and i can sit outside ...

I had a person who rented a room in my house once

(another story)

anyway, she would take naps on the sofa, help with the dishes, roast marshmallows with the kids,

just easy stuff you know...

I could come home from work and say "don't even talk to me now..., i have to go take a nap" 

and it would be just fine

i LOVED her, that's fun to me, having a friend like that

 

 Do i sound crazy to you?

Well, I am

The way i see it, everyone has their "crazy" when stressed

Anyway,  i have talked way too much

sorry

let's just look at some things around the house

Get some visual's going on here, i'm sure no one came here to read a book about my weirdness and opinions

Okay... 

 

 This little shelf is my solution to dealing with a massively ugly heating vent thing...

the air can pass through, and it is a little less visable...

The cute little shadow boxes with shells in them are from Kohls, i got them on clearance and I love them!

I bet Kohls might still have some...

Ok, so i thought i was so clever with this

I had these target canisters, and i decided i could just tape them off and paint chalkboard paint on them and write on them... and that would be the best idea ever!

Except then... on Pinterest i saw that you can get the cutest little chalkboard decals that are a hundred times more charming... so then i felt stupid

 whatever....  !

Here is a cool old velvet pillow I found at the thrift shop.  It is pretty raggedy, but it is the best color and so soft, and i really like it

Hmmmm, what else can we talk about... 

Ok, you know how everyone is being all Bohemian and layers tons of bracelets together... Well, the thrift shop is a great place to find old necklaces and bracelets for nothin'!  And you can just wind a bunch on your wrist for a few bucks, and mix them all up!

You see that one with the shell on it?  Those are actually napkin rings from Pottery Barn... They are on a stretch band, and they came in a box with six separate rings, and i found them at the thrift shop...

Ok, the best trick ever, i found on Pinterest... Get some eucalyptus and hang it near your bathtub on in the shower... and every time the bathroom steams up it smells wonderful like Eucalyptus!  I had some that was dried, that i bought at Whole Foods months ago, and just tucked the bunch in a little handle on my bathtub, and it really really works... plus i think it is good for you 

I love coral and shells

I found this pretty little piece of coral and just grouped it with another shell i have and put them right on my coffee table

as you can see that candle is just about spent!  it is a Henri Bendel candle, they are the best candles ever!

This one is called Lavender Leaves, and it will make your whole house smell heavenly in about 5 minutes

they're a real treat for me, because they cost about $30.00 each

Bath and Body Works used to carry them

BUT OF COURSE THEY DISCONTINUED THEM!!!

oh yeah, do any of you use Bath and Bodyworks wallflowers?
( and, yeah i know, those plug ins aren't good for you, but i've decided to accept the risks)

because there is a new scent that is wonderful

it's called London Calling 'tea and lemon'

and it makes your room smell like fresh brewed iced tea and fresh lemons

i love it!

you wouldn't believe how dusty that plate was when i was snapping this photo... i just wiped it off with my hand... i'm not really that clean you know...

i mean, cobwebs don't freak me out... 

my mom would have a heart attack and fall over dead before she would have a cobweb in her house

in fact i'm not sure i actually even really know what a cobweb is... i don't think they are spider webs???  are they?  - i mean what are cobwebs anyway?

Here are some pretty dried hydrangeas i tucked in this silver ice bucket - 

I love it when they dry this deep blue...

more dried hydrangeas on a silver tray, with a silver bowl (all thrift shop) - and some happy little chrysanthemums that look like daisys

Here is one of my meadow paintings i gave to my sister hanging at her house...

meadow paintings are some of my favorites, i never get tired of looking at a meadow...

Ok, so have ya'll had enough of me for the day?!

geesh that was a long post
i hope you don't hate me now...

I'm gonna be so embarrassed after i push "publish"
do you ever get embarrassed after publishing a post like I do?

anyway don't forget to tell me...

do you get energy from alone time

or energy from being with people

...the end...