It's Not You; It's Me...

Ever fall out of love with a blog?

Maybe this one, even? Argh! Shhh!

Ah, well. It happens. For me it happens when a blog gets away from why I liked it in the first place. Like maybe it was home improvement, but now it's just filler descriptions of shopping trips. It happens. We all need filler. I'm not judging. I'm just saying, too much and I fall out of love. I'm fickle.

Or maybe it's because there are never new posts. Who would stop having new posts? ;)

So, when you are out of love with your own blog, it's time to have some serious reflection.

What do you think? Serious reflection? I couldn't tell you what he was really doing. :)

Well, maybe not "out of love" because I do actually still like blogging, but going back to school seriously shifted my priorities. Projects are getting so stretched out that it's not nearly as exciting. And posting takes A LOT of time. Time I don't have.

Back when I was going strong, I actually added Art Adventures as filler. My kids love doing projects, and I needed more weekly posts (back when readers were expecting a post a day or at least every other day). I had great plans to do a whole bunch of projects this summer and schedule them throughout the year, but those darn kids have had other ideas. 

Pretty much they just want to paint and do play dough and clay. You all have seen that. I got tired of saying, "Let's do an art project!" And the boys would say, "Yay! Can we paint?" And I'd say, "Well, I really wanted to show you this other project." And the boys would groan. Ah, it warms a mama's heart, that groan. So, I gave up and gave them paint.

It's also been the summer of boring projects. Building shelves for the basement and garage. Replacing the garden path. 

General home maintenance. Lots of Mateo stuff that just has to get done and is not so exciting.

Then, as if nothing else needed to get done, I've been prepping for a solo art exhibit. I have completed 15 large paintings (probably why the boys just want paints this summer, come to think of it) and Matt has had to make all 15 frames (only affordable way to frame 15 paintings). All that ate up a bunch of time.

My dreams of awesome projects and posts slipped away...

So, I know this will disappoint some people, but I will not be doing regular Art Adventures during the school year. Both boys are in school now, and so am I, and that is a lot less time. 

I have a nice archive, and I plan to feature some other projects by some great bloggers to inspire you.

I will post projects as they get done. The kitchen is halfway there. 

The living room is so close! The boys' rooms will be changing this fall. So, stuff will happen and I'll be posting. Just please forgive the sporadic nature of the blog lately. Grad students/mothers/artists are underpaid and overworked! I'm trying! :)

For quick progress up dates with sneak peek photos, follow me on facebook. I also link up new posts, so you know when I actually wrote one. For those of you that have stuck with me and supported me, I just want to say thanks.

Vintage Revivals

I went back and forth about what blog to share with you all first. My browser is full of bookmarks of various design and DIY blogs, isn't everyone's? No? Just me? Moving on.

After we moved in and did the initial painting, had car issues and therefore used up a chunk of our house budget on unexpected non-house projects, I was feeling kind of blue about the house. I did not have money to do the things I really wanted to do. I was definitely in a design funk. And then I stumbled on Vintage Revivals.

It was just the kick in the pants I needed to get back up and running; to remember that I didn't need big bucks to do big things. Mandi was also the first blogger I had ever emailed with a question. I didn't expect to get a response. She doesn't know me and has over a thousand followers (by the way, I could use some followers. Please? Okay, enough begging.), and I basically thought she'd just ignore me. But she didn't. She sent me a really nice response. 

I'm just smitten with lots of her projects. I was probably most inspired by her "Seizure Wall," and you have to just go read the whole story on that one, including how Mandi has since changed it. It wasn't so much that I liked that wall and wished to copy it, as it reminded me how much impact I could have with just a little bit. It also inspired me to add visual and real texture to my house. Which is part of what motivated me to discover my Sharpie Solution, and which has inspired my burlap project (still to come) on my own tv wall. 

So, if you are like me and you stumble around the internet looking for inspiration, Vintage Revivals has to be one of your stops. 

Quick note

Matt's hit a bit of a snafu with the art table. Cutting the slots that will hold the vertical dividers has become a bit of an issue because a guide is missing from his table saw. I guess that's what happens when your table saw travels all over the darn country too.

It's so close to being done though! So close. I'm itching to have it in place and settle in to some creating. :) 

Since my one project a month rule makes for few updates needed, and let's be honest, this project may make me happy, but it's not the single most exciting project to hear about; I've decided to add some posts about other bloggers out there that have given me some inspiration. The people I may or may not publicly follow, but that I check in on frequently because, even if our styles are different, they inspire me to be creative. They are not paying me or bribing me in any way (hmm, I wonder if that can arranged...just kidding!)and they don't know I'm planning to do this. Some may not even know I exist. But I think you should know they exist.

Stay tuned. Right now I have munchkins going bananas, so I've got my hands full. :)