Muddy Business

Day 4 of the Grand Remodel and I was MIA for all but the barest beginning of the day.  I worked my half day and then it was that wonderfully fun time for the full enchilada hair appointment. I'm talking color, cut and highlights.  I love that appointment.

I have been warned that progress will be slow for the next few days.  It is tape and mud time. Then it will be sanding and skim coating (I looked those up by Googling 'drywall terms', I promise I'm not that smart).

I did not know that there would be a little surprise waiting for me in the shape of a little custom build that we are having done.  I almost didn't notice it at first.  Then, bam!  It hit me upside the head.

Cannot wait to see what is next.

The arrow is pointing to the place where the old overhead
light used to be.  They got that all covered up.  They will
just have to even everything out.

The fans are running.  Bear in mind that we hit a big 10 degrees
today.  Brrr.

Here is my little surprise build.  So excited!

It's Not Easy Being Green

Gotta love mold resistant dry wall.

Such progress that we are seeing in our bathroom remodel!  I am super excited.  This is a good thing, because not much progress will be made in the next few days as the taping and mudding and sanding process begins.

They have put in all of the new insulation, covered the walls with drywall, made the new linen closet and are ready to roll. The green board is apparently mold resistant and water resistant and all of that stuff that is essential for a great bathroom.

The linen closet is a lot smaller than it used to be.  I was kind of freaked out, but we will have more storage in other areas so I'm not too worried.  It does look small.

I discovered one thing.  I have definitely ruled out this shade of green as the new paint color.  Only ten thousand more colors to try and check off my list.  That's my project for the weekend. Paint picking.

The new vanity will go against the left wall.

The wall on the left was not completely up to the ceiling
in the old bathroom.  So excited that this actually looks like a
shower niche.

Ok.  This looks really small in the picture.
It is narrow, but deeper than it looks.
Towels and stuff will fit just fine.

We are going for the industrial look in toilets.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Day 2 saw lots of progress.  The tub is in place.  The new wall that separates the toilet from the shower has been framed.  The new plywood is on the floor.  The walls have been re-insulated (properly).  The electric has been roughed in and there is a fan light!

I came home to about 5 people in my bathroom.  Normally, that would be a party.  However, in this case it was 3 construction guys, an electrician and a plumber.

Things I was most excited about were the new fan light and the new rough in for the light over the shower.  Sweet.

Also, they fixed a light at the top of the stairs that had never worked since we moved in to this house over 20 years ago.

Awesome sauce.

New walls and inuslation.

More new walls and insulation.

Tub!  See the light above it?

You can sort of see the fan light on the
ceiling in front of the window.

Kitties be like, what's this shit?

And So It Begins: Day 1 of ???

Well, we are at it again.  Home destruction.  This time it's the 2nd floor bathroom and a few other things.

They started today on the upstairs bathroom.  I kind of forgot how much I don't like living in the mess of renovation.  I didn't get a shower until about 3 this afternoon as we were without water for a bit.  There is already dust and debris everywhere.  And plastic.  And a new toilet in the living room (Pluto is happy as she likes to stand on top of the plumbing pile).

The bathroom items have been relocated to about 7 different places in the house.  Luckily we only have 3 of us who have to share the one tiny bathroom that is operational.  We have already sort of worked out a schedule.

I am choosing to sleep downstairs until the new toilet is installed and operational.  Swim Girl thinks that I am being ridiculous, but there is no way I am going downstairs in the middle of the night.  No freaking way!  I would be up and raring to go at 3 a.m.  Not my idea of a good time.

It looks like this little project is going to take a while.  By then the snow should be melted and the weather should be warmer.  And our pockets will be much, much lighter.

So, until then, I will try and remember that the end product is worth all of the chaos and mess.

I seem to recall that there is a rule that you don't have to clean your house during a renovation?  Does anyone else remember that rule?  Come on, help me out here.

Pre-demo view into the bathroom from
the doorway.

Oops.

A little further into the bathroom.

Shelves be gone.

The nifty linen closet.

Not any more.

The '70's are calling and want their light back.

OK

The view from inside to the outside (except
the door is shut).

The newest in bathroom doors:  clear plastic
with zippers.

There was a shower and everything.

Gone with the wind.

The Elephant in the Room

Darn those elephants.

Elephants are my thing right now.  I have always loved them.  They fascinated me as a kid.  And the elephant show at the St. Louis Zoo was one of my favorites.  I had to see it every time I went. I would say that they are kind of my spirit animal right now.

For Inspiration Wednesday, Week 3, we learned some new techniques and used some products I had never tried before.  My favorite was the drywall joint tape.  Such cool texture.  I own a roll.  It's in my stash.

There is some underpainting on these pages. That is topped by some Golden Fluid Acrylic Titan Buff mixed with gesso.  Add some black paint, some cool sprayed stencils, some scribbles, stamping and there you go.  I thought that I was finished.  This is where our instructor stopped.

You see, I have a problem.  I keep forgetting to stop at the appropriate time. I really, really promised myself that I would stop where Donna did and then if I wanted to go off in my own direction I would do it on another page.  I tried to stop. I planned on stopping.  Honestly.

But, then the elephants were calling.  They are sitting all around me at my art table.  I have them out all of the time.  The big guy just kept peeking at me from the pile.

That grid looking stuff that you see is the joint tape.  Love!

I gave up.  Then I had fun.  Blue elephants. Actually, they were supposed to be teal, but, I grabbed the wrong paint.  Oh well.  I still like them.

Maybe I can finish the laundry now that the elephants are satisfied.  Wait.  They are still in the room somewhere...

The numbers are upside down.  That would be because
I held the stamp the wrong way.  Geez.

All About that Stash

A year ago, my daughters gave me a gift certificate to our local art museum.  I used it to take an art class.  I have since taken a couple more classes. The latest were two basic drawing classes.  I loved learning to draw.  I am not a natural, so it was a lot of work.

Yup.  I did these.

Of course, I could get better if I would practice more.  Oh well.  I am an impatient artist and I get frustrated when what I see won't come out on the paper.  Again, maybe practice would help.

Regardless of whether or not I can draw well, I still consider myself an artist.  I will still try to draw. I will still create and paint and get messy. I will still buy art supplies.

Because, that's really what it's all about, isn't it?  The stash.

S(n)o Pretty - in a Very Wintry Type Way

Those of you who even occasionally read my blog know that I am a heat loving girl.  I love temps well above 80 and to me under 60 is freezing.  I visit Arizona in July and love it.  I live for the heat and sun.

Winter is not my friend.  I have been wearing at least three layers since the beginning of November. Most days it isn't enough.  This year hasn't even been all that cold with just a normal smattering of subzero temps so far.  But, I am still cold all of the time.

This is our one tree that is left in the yard.  So pretty today.

Yesterday it snowed.  And snowed.  And snowed.  It snowed all night Saturday night, all day Sunday and well into Sunday night.  School was called off for Monday sometime after Downton Abbey was over.  I don't like snow days.  I prefer to go to school in the winter when there is nothing else sensible to do around here.

Total snowfall in our area amounted to slightly over 13".  Total in our backyard is up to my knees.

I took the bright light pics at around 12:15 this afternoon.  The sky was achingly blue against the heavy snow.  The darker pictures were taken around 5 p.m.  Not the best time, but I am a busy girl, even if there is snow.

I did attempt to take some pictures from the actual backyard, but I only managed to step one foot off of the deck.  That was enough to figure out I would need hip waders to navigate those depths. Given my tendency to fall on my butt or arm or whatever in this kind of weather, I decided that schlepping around on the deck would do for the time being.

I can't wait for the melting and refreezing.  Should be an adventure.

Our deck.

Our trees at the corner of the yard.

Our backyard.  

The snow was so heavy that there was a lot
of damage and downed lines in our area.
Luckily, we remained unscathed.

This little easement is between our property and the neighbor's yard.  

Inspiration Wednesday Week 2!

That Brown Holes Ready tag on my side bar there?  That's the link to the fabulous class that I am taking with Donna Downey called Inspiration Wednesday.  She releases a new video every other (wait for it...) Wednesday.  I am caught up.  Of course, it is only Week 2, but I am caught up.  For the first time in a class.  Ever.

Modeling paste for extra texture.

This one was tons of fun.  It was collage oriented.  I had no idea where I was going with it at first.  I just followed the video lead so to speak.  I have some really great packaging material that I have been wanting to use in my art and boy was I able to capitalize on that.

Lots of goopy layers on this one.  That equals a lot of drying time which is part of the reason it can take a while to finish.

I took this picture of Alaska Girl at O'Hare the year she
spent a semester in England.

The pics are a few years old. I just printed those out on paper. I was looking for a quote and it struck me that the Latin was perfect.  I have trouble believing my kids are so old.  Heavy sigh.

It is snowing here.  A lot.  We have at least 10 inches and it will probably finish at 12" or so.  I want to go out and take pictures because it is a heavy, wet mess.  Oh wait, the wind is blowing.

Maybe I will stay inside.  Let me check with my injured body parts.  Nope.  They say no way.
Maybe tomorrow.

I inked wings around all of the kids.  Here Swim Girl opens
a Christmas gift a few years ago.

Yummy.  Texture.  I love cool packaging.