Gallery Wall Plans

I've been wanting to do a gallery wall for a long time. However, I was struggling with what I'd put on ours. Then this winter while removing Christmas decor, inspiration finally struke.

Here's what I'm starting with - this is the entryway at the city house. It needs some love. 

I've had   the silver cross and the large "B" with the frame around it for a long time. And of course the photos of my kids.

I like the black frames. I feel like they ground the space. And I like the silver cross. But I'm tired of the antique gold color of the "B". What I'd like to do is add more silver and perhaps white to the mix along with some rustic touches.

These tin letters my friend gave me for Christmas will be used here, you can count on it! 

Then I want to add in more family pictures (Megan and Dylan, me and Bruce for starters), some elements like Scrabble letters, bees (we're starting a hive at the farm this Spring), and weathered wood pieces here and there. Eventually, it will all be at the farm so I'm trying to keep that in mind too.

In the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some DIY projects as I bring my vision to life. 

Also, don't forget to sign up for the Brighten Workshop if you haven't already. It is always fun to get together with other bloggers!

I will be demonstrating  how to stencil and you will get to make and take your own garden sign. The sign up button is at the top of my sidebar. Hope to see you there!

Please join me at these parties:
Show And Share

Brighten Workshop and Afternoon Tea

Hello sweet friends! Some of you might just remember that last year around this time a group of Texas bloggers began to put on their thinking caps on how to create a Bloggers Art/ Craft Retreat. Well, the retreat was a huge success and we had such an inspiring, creative, successful and educational experience that we are preparing for our second year! We are also implementing creative ideas to make it even more fantastic than the year before.  The Brighten organizing team is delighted to announce our upcoming Brighten Workshop.

Brighten is a creative DIY blogging workshop where confidence grows and long lasting friendships are formed.

We  harmoniously gather together to educate, communicate, create, inspire, and at the same time brighten the lives of each other and our readers. 

Our workshop session this year will include lectures and networking as well as a make and take, mini swag, afternoon Tea with assorted sweets, and fruit plate.

Because of our space constraints our workshop is currently open to twenty five bloggers.

Our long term vision for Brighten is continued growth with our workshop spanning over two days.

Tickets Per Person $25.00

Available For Purchase On Sidebar (It's at the very top of my sidebar)

(I also put it at the end of this post)

Location For Brighten Workshop & Tea

Sweet Face Sugar Shoppe & Bakery

134 East Main Street 

Royce City, Texas 75189

Date And Time For Brighten Workshop & Tea

Sunday March 26th, 2017

2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Presenters For Brighten Blogger Workshop & Tea

Joyce Olson From At Home With Jemma~Tips On Using Your Authentic Voice On Your Blog

Carole West From Garden Up Green ~Freelance Writing For Income

Cecilia Bramhall From The B Farm~ Garden Stencil Make And Take

For those of you who are traveling a distance we will be happy to offer Hotel recommendations as well as other activities that you might find interesting.

The Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex has so much to offer that you could easily come in for the weekend.

Now for some glimpses of the Brighten Art/Craft Workshop from 2016.

Tickets on sale today, don't wait! Thanks so much for joining us! SaveSave

Brighten Workshop Ticket $25

Studio Progress In Spite of the Rain

Today I'm sharing the progress on the Tin Roof Art Studio and tomorrow I will be sharing some exciting news about a fun event! So read on then come on back tomorrow!

We just about have the exterior done in spite of the weather. It wasn't very cooperative - it  rained most of the week at the B Farm. Here is where we were a couple of weekends ago:

As you can see, most of the exterior sheathing was up but then Bruce had to head back to the city to work. I stayed hoping to paint and work in the yard.

But it rained almost everyday! It was too damp to do much of anything.

Raindrops hung from plants and spiderwebs while puddles reflected the nearby trees. 

The Sometimes Pond filled up with about two feet of water as well which made the dogs happy - they like to swim and splash!

Things were soggy, chilly, and foggy.

It really kept me from getting as much done as I hoped. But I did get the trim primed and painted.

And I picked out the paint for the front of the studio. I choose SW Aviatrix and Cut Ruby (not a SW color but I had them mix it for me with SW paint) for the front door.

Finally on Friday the sun came out so I pulled out the paint and painted as high as I could reach. Saturday, Bruce was back so he finished up the exterior sheathing and painted the upper portion. It's looking so good!

Next we need to add the trim and paint the door then the outside will be done and interior work will begin. I am truly happy!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow! You'll want to hear what's coming!

Please join me at these parties:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Your Inspired Design

Random Tuesday

Hi Friends!

I just have some random things I want to discuss with you today. Maybe get your thoughts and ideas.
Definitely share what's going on.

Here's a view of our driveway from about half way up looking down toward the road:

This is one of the areas I want to make pretty for the wedding! It needs a lot of work.

A zoomed in view of the flowerbed that needs to be cleaned out:

There's landscape timbers at the top that probably need to be replaced, I need to dig out all the weeds, and then plant flowers. But whatever I plant needs to be deer proof and butterfly friendly would be a big plus. I have several lantanas that need to be moved so they will probably be planted along here for starters. I open to suggestions but they need to be tough. And I'd love to have a low fence too - maybe split rail?

 And when I turn around, the top of the driveway. The house is to the right:

There's a small strip of woods on the right where I spent a long time raking up leaves. (Pretty sure it caused my allergies to flare up from all the damp leaf mold.) I want to clean that up and plant it with pretty woodland plants since it's a view we see from the front porch. Again any suggestions on pretty deer proof or resistant plants? I'm in zone 8.

Then there's these beauties. They're confused by the warm weather we had up to the end of December:

 Pretty - we don't usually see them until February.

On the front porch is my large lantern turned gnome home:

 I need to work on it. The house is a birdhouse I repainted (it was a schoolhouse and ugly) and added some bits of whimsy to but it still needs work (I don't really like the color I painted it). Plus I need to secure the pieces down - they keep falling over.

Doesn't this look like a fairy door in the tree trunk? I might have to dress that up as well if I can figure out how to get the dogs to leave it alone.

And remember this guy? I finally named him! I figured he needed an English name so I decided on Wyndham. It's really fun watching him change directions as the weather changes. I love that I can see him not only from the back porch of the house but also the art studio. I think we're going to have a lot of adventures through my artwork. He's a friendly dragon after all. 😊

Lastly, I'm in the process of purging the studio at the city house. I have so many bits and pieces from old hobbies that I no longer need plus just the accumulation of stuff that needs to go. I'm making room for my new toy I got for Christmas too - a Cameo Silhouette! I'm not letting myself play with it until I'm done with this purging project because I know once I start, I'll be hooked and not want to do the cleaning I need to do. So, I'm forcing myself to stay on task.
What that means is you might not hear from me much in the next couple of weeks. But don't worry. I'll be back to share more progress on the studio and other things.

Until then, stay warm and well!

Progress On The Studio - First Project of 2017

Hurray! Hurray!! HURRAY!!!

Last week was amazing! Not only did we spend the whole week at the farm, but our son Jay came up and stayed with us for 5 days, Bruce's brother and mom came up for a couple of days, and wait for it...

Tin Roof Studio got her windows and door installed!! 

It was Bruce who thought the barn bay with the concrete floor would make a great art studio.   It was Bruce who strongly encouraged me to think about it. And it is Bruce who is making it all happen! (Go Bruce!)

In the beginning this is what it looked like

And this past week, Tin Roof Studio really begin to look like a real studio.

On Monday, Bruce and Jay got busy getting the wall ready for the first window - framing the wall, cutting the hole and dry-fitting the window. 

I have to admit it was a little scary to watch the tin being cut but it went perfectly

Tuesday, they placed the window.Yippee!  One window down, two to go. 

On Wednesday we went to the same salvage place where we got the two front windows and found a door. (This place is pretty awesome. - they have just about everything! And it's very reasonable. You just have to dig for what you want). Work could now proceed on the front walls!

loaded and ready to take back to the B Farm

Then Thursday, Bruce started building the front walls, getting ready for the two big windows.

On Friday, B's brother Barry and his mom came up and with his brother's help got to work on the big windows and walls! 

The first window went up with our neighbor Simon helping lift the wall. Thank goodness, I didn't have to try to help. That baby is heavy!

As they started the second wall, they had fun teasing me about it being a studio/deer blind. Uh, no! I don't think so. LOL.

Bruce and Barry got the second window in place, then with Jay's help, they lifted it and got it nailed in. By evening, both windows were in, the walls up and secured, and the area above the door also closed in (oops, forgot to take a picture of that). 

And by lunchtime Saturday, the studio had a door! What a difference it makes having it all enclosed. 

Shall we go inside? I know you're dying to see what it looks like!

I can envision my easel here in this corner. The light is going to be fantastic!

My easel will be in the corner where the ladder is

Here's the other side. I plan on having a real cool backdrop area for photographing things:

To say I am excited to have the studio to this point is a definite understatement. The next step will be drying it all in. I can't wait to start creating in there. It's going to be fantastic!

I'd like to give a big shoutout to my son, Jay, and brother-in-law, Barry, for helping get the windows in and the front closed in. And thanks, Simon, for helping lift the wall. (Bet you didn't know you were going to have to help when you popped over to see the progress. 😀) We couldn't have done it without you!

P.S.

Bonnie and I weren't slacking while the guys were working. She and I raked leaves, cut back branches, and hauled leaves to the burn pile. Jay did lots and lots (ok the majority) of leaf raking and burning plus digging out thorny briars. I hope they know how much I appreciate their hard work!

P.S.P.S.

Those pictures of the colored leaves? 

Not from this Fall. I actually took those between Christmas and New Years. Our weather has been crazy warm with a few cold days here and there. While most of the leaves are down, I found these still clinging in full Autumn glory. 
________________________________________________________________________

Head over to my shop - lots of the Christmas items are on sale! Just click on The Tin Roof Art Studio page.