The Spell I'm Under



 It's been more than a tad gloomy here in Idaho for the last few days.
Luckily it's not that often that we have to endure day after day of  
cloud cover, but of course such a spell would come along 
just when I come upon a creative spell of my own.
My hubby informed me last night that our entire home
has been transformed in just two weeks.
He's right too, I've just about moved every piece of furniture,
and hung and re-hung everything that wasn't literally screwed into the wall.
One reason for my sudden need for change is that we will
be hosting thanksgiving this year. This is big! 
Well at least for this girl it is. 
20+ people, who will all be seeing our new home for the first time.
So of coarse I want it to look perfect.
But also because when I'm stressed 
there is nothing, and I mean nothing that calms my spirits
more than decorating.
As a child you might say I was wound tight, and big cry baby...
so as you can imagine I rearanged my room a lot - A LOT! 
But after getting a fancy degree in Interior Design
I realized something - something I wish I had learned much earlier.
I do NOT like decorating in general.
It's something that comes out of personal anguish.
Just as others may eat or clean;
for me this is when I work the hardest and things just seem to click. 


My crazy decorating spree started 2 weeks ago
when a few personal tragedies really hit me hard
and because such things come in threes -
we also had to say goodbye to two of our foster kiddos.
They had been with us for over 7 months, 
and were our first long term placement to head home.
I actually thought I was doing okay, but I think instead of having a good cry
I just started changing things - my hair included

I fixed these letters up last night. They had been hanging around in the garage 
and on top of dusty shelves for the last three years.
Yesterday was perhaps the climax of my compulsive need for change - 
I when through one very large jar of modge podge!


One of the big changes for me is been letting go of my very girly,
 very childish collection of sweet pastel decor and nic-nacs in my office.
One reason being that my office is literally the first room you walk into
when you come into our home, 
and I wanted it to not feel like you were entering into a child's nursery.
And secondly, because we actually have kids rooms now
I was able to go over the top in the designated girls room!!!
I'm just waiting for mr. golden sun to come out so I can take pictures. 


But just because I'm loosing the pink doesn't mean I'm saying goodbye to my 
nostalgic side. This collage piece I put together yesterday is full of vintage children's illustrations, paper dolls, whimsical vintage ephemera, and paper from Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe Collection. 





Well if you are anything like me, 
creative spells = big mess!
So with just 2 more days before turkey day
this girl has MUST get back to work!


3 comments:

Diane Mars said...

Well I sure think all the changes you made look good. Keep it up I bet it will be fun to have a house full for Thanksgiving~ Hugs, Diane

Corey said...

I have to say that the redecorating you did looks beautiful! That top photo is gorgeous! And I love your collage- LOVE all those sweet vintage illustrations!!

It's been such a long time since I've peeked around your blog- I'm so glad you're taking in foster kids now! How wonderfully rewarding, although, as you've said, having them leave must be heartbreaking. The ups and downs of parenthood are just heart-wrenching, aren't they??

Thanks for checking in with my blog-isn't it crazy that Avery's in preschool? It's just a two-year-old class, and she edged in on the date deadline by two weeks, so she's the youngest there, but bye-bye, little baby!

Hope you're doing well-I'm sending you good thoughts to deal with your recent ups and downs!

Chuck said...

Hi Chelsea

(I wrote you a Flickr mail message saying this same thing below.)

My name is Chuck Sambuchino and I am an author and editor.

Do you own the rights to that photo of "Miller Dog at Tea Party"? If so, I would love to use it for a new humor book that I am putting together, set for nationwide release in 2012. See all details about the book here:

http://tinyurl.com/453aour

If you do own the photo and would consider submitting it to me for the book, please look at that web page and send me the photo via e-mail. Please message me here or e-mail me if you have questions. And if there are more photos like that one that would also be of consideration, please send those as well.

Thanks!

Chuck Sambuchino
(email) reesedn3a416@hotmail.com
Author/Editor
www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog