color! pattern! paint!

sure has been depressing around here recently, huh? july 2011 goes down in stone family history as the absolute pits. here's hoping august brings a major upswing.

the antidote to bummertown? color! pattern! paint! OPERATION FINISH! today i completed two projects from my long-standing to-do pile.

first, an old paint caddy of my mom's. if i'm to cart around paint supplies all the live-long day, oughtn't i do so in style?

BEFORE:

please note the carpet. when did we remove the carpet? november 2009. OPERATION FINISH!

a vera bradley napkin, a little mod podge, my kwid imperial trellis stencil and some paint later, the AFTER:

hoarding art supplies? who, me?

infinitely more festive!

next, a plain wooden tray i picked up ages ago. no before picture; just envision, if you will, a plain wooden tray. envisioning? mkay. i painted it white, mod podged a piece of fabric to the bottom, then painted on a monogram. of course.

post-mod podge, pre-monogram

monogram in progress

AFTER:

notice another fabric mod podged project in the background - the pink frame

looks like the various geometric melamine & acrylic trays i've lusted over, but for what? FO' FREE. booyah.

:(

Marley Dog
1997-2011

three broken hearts at our house. we'll always love you, big dog.

operation finish

greetings! anybody still out there? sincere apologies for this most egregious lapse in blogging. it's been a whirlwind few months chez stone, culminating in my decision to quit an awful, time-sucking, soul-crushing job without another one lined up. yikes! sometimes in life, things are not what they seem. time to chalk it up to "life experience" and move on. so, what's next? i'm taking a few weeks to recover and reevaluate. kinda like the post-college gap year backpacking through europe that i never had. except with less gelato and more not spending any money.

in an effort to get back in touch with my poor shriveled creative spirit, i'm going to focus a lot on this blog. there are dozens and dozens of unfinished projects stacked up in my craft room, attic and garage that can be completed for zero dollars. there are also lots of closets, cabinets and shelves (not to mention the aforementioned craft room, attic and garage) that can be thoroughly cleaned and organized for zero dollars. tons of projects! hours of entertainment! zero dollars! and so, friends, it's time for....

OPERATION FINISH

show of hands: how many of you are like me, with supplies out the ears for well-intentioned projects that were never completed? over the next few weeks, i am going to systematically revisit these projects. and finish them. for zero dollars. or as close to zero dollars as possible. who's with me?!

despite the lack of time and will to live blog resultant from my recent workplace adventures, there have been some projects in the works up in here. here's what team stone has been up to over the past few months...

building shutters:

the old plastic shutters in the paint-testing phase

celebrating our 2nd anniversary:

family portrait fail

building a deck:

creating a gallery wall:

still searching for a few pieces...

organizing household storage:

indeed, we are rich in candles

and snuuuuggling:


OPERATION FINISH - it's on.