happy happy spring!

hi y'all!  remember me?  are you still there?  i am here....
the daffodils and forsythia are blooming here in tennessee....oh, how i love the change in seasons!
....i am posting really quickly, before my computer crashes again..... i am bringing my computer back  for more repair as soon as i finish this post......ug.
fingers crossed.

i have missed you...it has been a while since my last post and i have had such a fun and busy month....i have traveled to chicago to see one of my besties (tell ya about that later)....my sis-in-law from oregon came to visit tennessee for the first time...i have celebrated yet another birthday.....and played and played outside in the gardens...i have tidied up the garden beds and laid 64 bales of pine straw ...planted sweet and fragrant pansy's...
oh my....i have so many images to share with you...including new art!!  i am super excited about this new medium i have been using...i had been  racking my brain, trying to figure out a way to share my art and photos at an affordable price point.....recently i took an "encaustic" art class and fell in LOVE!  

aren't these daffodils amazing...i wonder how long ago they were planted here...they just keep coming back year after year, like happy little miracles!!

encuastic art involves layering images using hot wax.... it is perfect for collaging snippets of some of my favorite photos with images of my art....
i am so excited about this new process!!  i only wish i wasn't having issues with my computer so i could safely download photos and finally get around to starting up my new etsy shop.
although, rather frustrating, i take this all as a sign... to concentrate on the spring gardens and to play with this new art medium....
and so that is what i will do.
i hope you  are having a wonderful start to your spring.
i have a feeling this is going to be a very good one, indeedy!!

erin

p.s.  if you get a chance, check out this great post, over at "folk" magazine featuring my hometown of franklin and leipers fork....
here
I LOVE MY TOWN!

bloggy break

hi friends!
well, my main computer has crashed, just as i was getting ready to open my brand new etsy store...."mouse calls" is running diagnostics on it now.   :0(

my dishwasher won't close properly,  most likely due to the extra weight of the slip cover i made for it....yes, i slip covered my dishwasher....you can read more about that here (.http://erin-artandgardens.blogspot.com/2012/06/call-me-crazy-but-i-slip-covered-my.html)

and i took a hard fall onto my knees, 2/3 of the way, on a 5 mile hike through the woods....knees and pride, bruised and battered, but nothing serious.

i am also gearing up for my super fun trip to chicago in a couple of days to see my friend, anna.....did i tell you she is throwing a college reunion party?  i have not seen some of those people for over 30 years....i wonder if i can loose 10 lbs. in the next 2 days....hmmmmm.

so....
something tells me that this is the time for a bloggy break.
i hope to be back with you shortly.
hopefully i have not lost all of my photos!
oh boy.
wish me luck with that.
i am worried.

my goal is to open my etsy store on my birthday in early march....
i am so excited to share lots of beautiful art and vintage items with the world!

see you soon,
 my dears.

erin

painted stone fireplace before and after

above is the "before" shot of my fireplace.
i have been dying to change the brown stone on my dated 1970's fireplace...we have lived in our house for over 11 years ...the longest i have ever lived in one home...
last week i mentioned to mr. dan that i would like to try painting over the stone and he immediately said "go for it, i have never liked the brown anyway"!!
what? huh?
  say no more...i was on it!

and here is the "after" shot.
love, love, LOVE it!!

i started by simply washing on a very diluted  mixture of annie sloan chalk paint in  paris grey...
in this shot you can see that i have painted about 2/3 of the stone (the grout too).....
already seeing a huge difference.

here you can see one layer of the wash...but some brown tones were still showing through.

so i added another layer of wash...at this point the brown tones were gone but the stones looked too flat.

so i dry brushed lighter shades of the gray
(just added some white house paint to the grey wash)
 until i liked the effect.

so much better!!

yay!
this easy peasy project took just a few hours and very, very little paint.
what a difference!
what do you think?

♥
erin

please click here
for an updated post about my fireplace where i have answered some questions about this painting technique.

snow in tennessee

we woke up to our first real snowfall in two winters....

right in our own backyard...

my house is at the  bottom of one of the best sledding hills around...

walk right out to the golf course behind my house
 and this is what we see...

the snow barely covered the grass....but us southerners dig a rare play day like this!

our white carpet melted by noon...
but
sure was fun while it lasted.

♥
erin

~i hope you are enjoying your winter~