Where Bloggers Create Studio Tour!

I've been soooo looking forward to this event...  Thank you so much Karen for all of  your effort to make this happen.  You won't want to miss the other fabulous spaces either.  Here's a link back to Karen at My Desert Cottage for you....  Just click HERE.

Karen's space is SPECTACULAR!  You'll want to see that, for sure.  But look at mine first please...  It'll look a whole bunch better...  it's gonna be pretty pitiful after seeing Karen's.   :-)

I am CRAZY about Cath Kidston, so that was my inspiration ...  It's so HAPPY isn't it?

I have a teenie, tiny studio space, but have SO much stuff tucked into every, single nook and cranny.

I've tried to get things as organized as possible....  Whew, is that ever a tough task....  If you're an artsy girlie, you'll exactly what I'm talking about.   So many things carry over from one project to another.

Secondly...  I LOVE STUFF...  really love it.  Yep, one of those hoarder kind of girls.  I admit it.  There it is.....  in black and white.      :-)

Here we have my work table ...  I made it... yep, sure did.  It works great.... lots of storage behind that little curtain.  I also made the bigger scalloped shelf and the one with points.  Those little babies hold a lot of goodies.  

Try to ignore the hideous office chair.  The new one  I ordered was really poor quality, so it's going right on back.    I had an old one before that I had made a sweet, 'lil slipcover for, but it was so big and bulky I could hardly move the darn thing.

Making every, single inch count was a priority Chickies...  Just look at all that goodness on crammed onto a six inch wide shelf...   :-)

I've had this odd, old sewing machine table for about a century now... I'd love one of those dandy Koala, fancy ones........... but one would never fit into this beensie space....  And, this one works just fine.

Edward Scissorhands, where are you?  I LOVE the things... probably have at least fifty pair....  

Ugly lamp shade?  Feather boa is the fix!  You can barely see it back behind that stack of books, but that jar with the ribbon?  It's full of precious notes from my daughter.  LOVE it.  And, it was one of my most cherished gifts evah!

No, there are NO diamonds to be found...  but it was easier to write that on the tag than "little, fake, stick on rhinestones"...   :-)  And, more colored pencils.   These are watercolor pencils...  Can't have too many colored pencils.  Seriously.  You can't.  At least that's exactly what I tell the Hubbster.  * I have HUNDREDS of 'em.   :-)   

I bought those two small, fancy 'lil shelves at the thrift store...  just perfect for small stuff...  

Rolling right around to the crammed FULL side of the room.  So happy that you can't see this wall before you're actually IN the room.  But, let me tell 'ya...  I have A TON of stuff stored here.  I just bought the Billys at Ikea knowing how fantastic they would be....  Three of the regular sized ones and one that's skinnier.  Fills the whole wall!  I wish I had been able to buy matching and beautiful containers to use, but that would have been super, duper expensive so I used mostly what I had already.  Yep, PENNY PINCHER...  Tilly Tightwad, for sure.

  

The little child's chair doubles as a footstool and a step stool to reach higher things.  Short.  Yes, I AM.

I bought the little drawer do-hickie at the thrift store for a couple of bucks.  It was part of a vanity, but with some wood filler, paint and knobs it's just great.  

See that adorable red heart up there?  A gift sent to me by Sue at Rue Mouffetard..   I LOVE her.  Thank you SUE!

You still here?  Wow...   :-)   Geeee...  Thanks!

New chair, Ikea.  I swear, I couldn't make the slipcover as inexpensively as they sell them.  And, those shelves!!!  ...  See, I couldn't fit another thing in there!  Packed as full as possible...  Everything is marked, but I want to make a "map" of everything as well.  I'm going to print the pix on regular printer paper and write on each container what's inside.  And, eventually make new and fancy tags.  Right now these will do.

This stool serves as a ............wait for it..........stool...   How clever am I?..... and as an end table when I'm using my chair...  need something more that that little lamp, but where........WHERE ..........would it fit?  

So DEAR Chickies...  there you have it...  TINY... I think my space is about  9 X 10 or so, but it really is my HAPPY PLACE.

So glad you came by.  Now, pop on over to see lots and lots of wonderful places Where Bloggers Create!

Huggies and Lovies...  

Spencer

xoxoxoxo

PS....  Can anybody explain to me how to make my pictures bigger and not run into all that stuff on my right sidebar?  I cannnnnot figure it out.

A Peek At The Bedroom At Bellamere Cottage

Hi Girlies!



Oh my gosh.........It's the Sunday Favorites Anniversary! A WHOLE year of lovely bloggers sharing their lives.

Have you ever visited the sweetest girlie, Chari, over at Happy To Design?
You won't want to miss this chance...she is so DEAR....what a delight. :-)



Right now I'm actually sewing for the master bedroom spring re-do so I thought it would be the perfect time to post pix of the room as it is now.


This post was originally from 4.18.09....just about one year ago!


Soooon it will be a blue room.

(I must say....I just took a peek at the post........I think it took me a smidge too long to get going.



How embarrassing.


It's in PRINT!


*******************************************

Original Post



I was going to wait to do pictures of the house after I finished Spring cleaning, but I'm not doing very well in that department. This grieving thing is so hard and I'm just not making any progress, unless you could call going in circles progress???? My Mum passed away the day after Christmas and I just am not myself. So on we go........The bed is new/old. About 15 years old, actually. I had it powder coated in white. It used to be a rather ugly green.

I love the fabric in here and in the bathroom. I think I bought it at least four times so when I was getting ready to do this room and was going through my "stash" I kept finding pieces of it.........obviously I must have intended it for the bedroom??? :-)

This is my hubby's favorite room in the house and it's the most feminine. I think men actually like all the foo-foo, they just don't like to admit it!

Ahhhhhhhhh...........the chandelier. Five dollars at a garage sale. It is actually just a drippy light fixture that I dolled up. It was brass and the "arms" are supposed to go down and hold those little glass shades that are screwed on??? I painted it, turned the arms upright, added the candle covers from the lighting store and went to town with crystal prisms. I beaded some little drops too. Easy peasy and CHEAP!

Click on any picture to enlarge.........

I "married" the two pieces on the right side of the bed. They're both just little pieces I've stacked up.

The side table on this side (my side) is a piece one of my sweet friends gave to me years ago. I love it!

I don't recall where I got the chair on the left........I've had it for a longgggg time. I do know I didn't pay much for it, I have a passion for chairs and have the hardest time passing one up. I just saw one this past week at the thrift store for six dollars. I had to tie my sweater sleeves in knots to get out of the store without it.

Twice a year we have an all-city garage sale here. I bought the little cabinet at last year's sale for 30 dollars. It's not old, but it's small and shallow so it fits nicely here. It's full of candles. It smells yummy when I open the doors.

Oh yes.............more on the all-city garage sale. Several years ago I was driving past a home while the lady of the house was putting these out on the curb for FREE! I rolled my window down and asked her to hold them for a second while I turned around. I nearly rolled my car getting back there. They were nasty brown herculon, but I whipped up a new slipcover......CUTE......don't you think? The blue is a bit of "poison" in the room. I hate it when everything is tooooo matchy. The other chair is in my closet. I don't have any room for it right now. Maybe someday?? :-) Can't get rid of a chair though, right?

Well, darn it..........two of these pix...........sorry! :-(
Pretend you didn't see the other ........K???

As I've said..........I have tole trays in EVERY room.......... Can you really have too many?

Tiny slip for this little chair. I'm going to paint a number on the back of it, but haven't had the gumption to get it finished.

I LOVE this old cabinet. I bought it many, many years ago. It's supposed to go in the kitchen, but I don't have room for it there in this house, so it's in here. I could never get rid of it. And, yep, that's a nasty old t.v. sitting there on top. I can't get rid of that either. I can see it in the mirror every morning from my bathroom while I put my make-up on. Gotta stay in touch with the world out there.

Isn't this the most adorable little vintage hat? Three dollars years and years ago at a garage sale.

I love old mottos and this one is just so sweet.

Might as well use up some of those old pearl buttons! Vintage white barkcloth and damask linen.

These pillows actually started their life in the kitchen. I bought wicker chairs for the table so we'd sit in there more and wanted them to be really cozy and comfy. No one still sits there, except for meal times and everyone kept removing them from the chairs anyway! The yellow pillow is made from part of an old bit of linen.

Simple little garage sale shelf all dolled up...........naturally, after I went to all the work to add the trim and little balls the darn thing warped. I've been looking for a new one for a long time.

Ahhhhhhhhhh...........that's my little grandson when he was just a little guy.

My tiara.........it's only a cheap one.......I'd like to find a really pretty one.........or two........or three! My daughter wears hers with a cute apron when she cleans. She swears it makes cleaning more fun. :-) That big blue "diamond" was my Mum's.........

Pretty plates............

Gosh I love yellow and pink together!

Look! There's my beautiful daughter and my little guy.......


I hope you've enjoyed the little tour. As I've said, I AM NOT a minimalist. Not that I don't like that look, I sure do, but I seem to like lots of things around me.

Please don't forget to check out all the other lovlies!



Thank you for coming!



God bless you!

Spencer


Now, you're going to want to go over to see Chari at:


www.happytodesign.blogspot.com


And, don't forget to wish her Happy Birthday! :-))


xoxoxoxoxox


PS......she's having a giveaway too! :-)

The Little Bathroom At Bellamere Cottage For Pink Saturday!!!!

Happy Pink Saturday! I'm going out of town today, so I'm not going to be able to peek at everyone else's beauties until I get home......but I'll sure look forward to it. I've decided I'm a busybody.......isn't it fun looking into other ladies' homes? I've gotten so much inspiration by the love that all you gals put into your homes and gardens. Lovely!

Above is an adorable little A.E. Mitchell plaque my daughter bought for me. We love them and collect them whenever we can. God bless her, she has such an eye for these things. We were at a flea market several months ago ..........I went into a booth, came out..........she went in and danced out with an adorable little plaque. DANG!

This is my bathroom.........my husband has his own. It's not

soooo girly! :-)

I love not sharing. Isn't that bad? But all that steam in the bathroom when you're trying to get ready? And, he is not a five minute bathroom guy. He takes longer than I do!

Shhhhhhh.......don't tell him I mentioned that. ;-)

If you click on my photos you can see a bigger image. I'm hoping you'll be able to read this motto......it's one of my very favorites and I read it often. Words to live by!

This would be the "potty" shot........I tried to leave that little lovely out of the pictures. It's just not pretty, is it??? :-) I love this tole tray. As I've said......I have them in EVERY room! I bought the little shelf years ago at either Joann's or Michaels'.....And, I bought the little clock a zillion years ago at Mervyn's. I neeeeeeeed a clock in the bathroom. I can dink around so long and if I'm not careful, I'll be late. The little drawer do-hicky came from Target quite a long time ago.

The curtains and shower curtain are made with vintage white linen damask tablecloths. The have such a lovely look to them. I really didn't enjoy sewing on it, however. It's a big wonky.




Can you see the little buttons crocheted on the edge of the center towel? Towel bar from Ikea. I just couldn't find anything and this will work for now.




Oooopsssssss..............potty shot.




When I got married my daughter gave me the little charm with my initials on the front and YDLY on the back. From the time she was little I always put YMLY on everything for her.......YOUR MAMA LOVES YOU.......on lunch sacks, presents, hand made things......whatever.....so she did YOUR DAUGHTER LOVES YOU........for me. I wore it on that special day.




I use lots of hair product. It gets everything dirty, so I love things in jars. Easy clean-up.





I bought this little cabinet at Home Depot. Another great spot for keeping things out of the hair spray zone. Little "stuff" inside.......I love all that little stuff.




Another shot of that little cabinet. I added the little knobs. Actually, I bought them at a little store called Keepsakes in Buckley, Washington. (Now closed). The adorable gal is Debbi Bock and has a bloggie now of her own........check her out! Just click on the link on my favorite girlies titled Garden Party.



She's a sweet little Christian gal........you'll LOVE her.




One of my dear friends always tells me......."and God is still in control" when things are out of whack in my life.......it's in the little frame in this snap...inside the jar. You know, it's all about keeping things safe from the hair goo.....

More of the jar.........like I really needed to add another picture of it???

That little curtain under the sink?? Yeah, storage. As I've said my little cottage is pretty small and I have to make every area pay! This holds one of those little plastic drawer do-hickeys for beauty supplies and my little stool. I sit here every single day to put my make-up on.

The bottom of the shower curtain. This is an example of measure twice, cut once??? :-) I had intended a solid strip across the area where the little points are. In the end, although a lot more work, this came out just fine. I can't tell you how many boo-boo's I've made when I'm sewing.

And, finally, my little chair. I LOVE this little cutie. I bought it at an all-city garage sale several years ago for 12.00 and made the slipcover for it. It is my very worst slipcover, but I love it anyway. This was a tough chair to do. It doesn't have a cushion which hides MANY little problems. It's on wheels, so I just shoot it into the closet when I clean the bathroom. I never use all matching fabrics. I like to "shake it up"........or, as my friend Jan says......"add a bit of poisen"......it makes everything much more interesting and achieves the cottage look much better, I think.

I hope you've enjoyed the little bath tour today.

Now, go and have a great time checking out all the other fabulous girls and their Pink Saturday posts.

For a list go to:

http://www.howsweeththesound.typepad.com/

Thank you Beverly!

Many blessings,

Spencer

Little Bellamere Cottage......

This is our cozy, little house in the Pacific Northwest! I wanted to wait to post pix of it until Spring when everything was pretty around here, but decided to use pictures from a couple of years ago instead of waiting........it DOES NOT look like this around here right now. We have soggy ground, droopy plants and sick looking hydrangeas. I KNOW it will be pretty again, right???

Bellamere Cottage is a petite little girl....1500 square feet. Every inch of which is packed full. I am NOT a minimalist AT ALL. Why then, I wonder, do the Scandanavian homes appeal to me so much? Is it knowing that they would take half the time to clean? That I'd be able to actually pull the vacuum cleaner back without hitting something? They are so pretty, aren't they??? If you haven't checked them out before, I some on my list of favs!

Ahhhh.......isn't that little bunny the cutest thing? He's still out there. I think he probably has moss on him now..........not that I don't LOVE moss!

This isn't the best shot, but it's all I have. I posted these pix a long time ago on Rate My Space.......My sweet friend, Jan and I have a garage sale every June. During the entire sale I sat there looking at this adorable little bedstead she had for sale. Ever thinking of making something out of nothing, I began to wonder about making my house sign out of it. So......voile!!! This is the headboard from that set. I whacked off the legs and added the little piece across the bottom to finish it off and painted it up. I read tons of English novels and it seems they always name their homes........hey, I'm English, mine should have a name, right? Although I had been thinking about it for a long time, I hadn't really planned a name, so I went to work. I tried everything out. I didn't want to use our name......well, that would be pretty hard, I kept my maiden name, so whose would I use, my husband's or mine? After many days and a hundred ideas I decided on Bellamere Cottage. Bella means pretty, mere means small.........and so Pretty Little Cottage was born.......


Wishing you a wonderful, blessed Monday!
Spencer