Sneak Peek....

With my recent weather fetish and sharing pics from last fall, you might think I have yet to pick up a paintbrush this year.....

Not So!!

Here's a taste of what I've been working on...

Don't want to show everything because these sweet little hearts are for a Valentine's Swap I'm involved in....shhh...don't tell....

I will say the other two hearts share the same color scheme and a folk art feel (love using these fresh colors for traditional folky subjects), but that's it!

I'm liking the results though, and I think these cuties may be my next pattern....

FIVE Earth shattering things about ME...

Well, Flora at Bonehead Studio and Sharon over at Mustard Seed originals have both "tagged" me to share five things about myself.....

Are you ready? Here goes:

1. I have led a pretty nomadic life, even before I married a soldier. By the time I was ten, we had moved three times, the last to San Antonio (my Dad was not in the military). We moved away from there and back a few more times before my parents decided it was "Home"....

So when people ask me how I can take the constant moving involved with military service (and with this most recent move- the third in two years- people have been asking me that...ALLOT), I guess it's the way things have always been for me.

2. And this should make you shake your head.....I HATE MOVING!!

3. My name is Stephanie, and I am a reality TV junkie....give me a Project Runway marathon, my brushes, paint and a surface and I am a happy camper....Only thing that would make me happier is a LOST DVD marathon (do NOT distract the Momma when she's watching LOST)....but you can't do anything else while watching LOST (you'd miss something very inportant, I'm sure), so no painting supplies there....

4. I think I am addicted to Diet Coke. It's my coffee....

5. And here's one to make you go "ewwww"! I LIKE brussel sprouts....and lima beans....and peas. But put a plate of squash or asparagus in front of me and I will very sly-ly (is that a word?) feed it to the dog....with my luck, she'd probably do the sniff and walk away.....

SO there's my five deep secrets....And I think just about every blogger I know has been tagged, so I am going to refrain from tagging anyone again.....party pooper....

Have a great weekend!

Let's Backtrack a Bit....

Remember last fall when I posted all of those pictures of the Mall in Washington DC? When my in-laws were visiting? Well, here are some more snaps from their visit that I never got to posting (the move kind of sucked all of the blogging energy out of me).

This is Gunston Hall, a Revolutionary- era home near Mount Vernon (maybe 10 miles at most down the Potomac). Don't ask me to recite allot of history about the place, but I did really enjoy our visit. Unlike Mount Vernon, there were few people there. It was quiet and peaceful, making our tour much more in-depth (no rushing to get everyone through-like cattle-in a timely manner) and interesting. It also made it much easier to truly imagine what living in a home like this may have been like....

The picture above was taken walking up to the house...photography was not allowed inside. Oh how I wish it had been! I would have loved showing you some of the most beautiful and intricate hand carved details that I have ever seen (and we visited quite a few "palaces" and "castles" while living in Europe). They were all tastefully done, no gold leafing or tacky baubles- just simple master craftsmanship shining through....

One of the side doors....

An outbuilding....I think this was the smokehouse ...all of the work buildings were built surrounding a courtyard with the water well. The next few pictures were taken inside these buildings....

This last photo is the roof of the water well.....loved the aged wooden shingles....I think I need to incorporate them into some of my painted houses....

This is actually the "back porch"....very similar to the front of the house....Everything about this house was perfectly balanced and symetrical....

A long view of the back...the gardens were to the left and right of these very old boxwood hedges, the Potomac to my back....

This guy called the above hedges home (allright, I took this one for my son but I thought he was kinda cute).....

The school house....try writing "I will not tell a lie" a hundred times on those slates...

Tour's over...heading back to the car and the modern world....

This little guy was there to send us off....well, maybe not. I think nuts were his priority, but he did let me snap this shot....

Hope you enjoyed our little tour...it was a very nice, relaxing morning....

Humor Me...

I seem a little obsessed with the weather lately, don't I? I confess (and apologize), this snow thing has got my attention. In our wanderings, we have lived in Germany and Kansas, both places that are not unfamiliar with severe winter weather. But that was a long time ago (we left Kansas in 2003, so I guess it's not that long ago) and we have been living in more familiar surroundings ever since (Texas, Virginia)....

This is the view out my back door yesterday afternoon. I'm not so fond of the white stuff when it's coming down (specially if I happen to NOT be home when it starts), but I am literallly enchanted with what is left behind when it's done. There's something in the simple beauty of an expanse of "virgin" snow (don't go there! I'm talking about snow that hasn't been tromped through by my overzealous 9 year old boy) and how it twinkles in the sunshine (just like glass glitter- I LOVE that stuff!). Add the contrast of a very blue sky (no retouching in this photo, btw) and the simplicity of the bare brown trees and it's a beautiful sight. Even more so if you happen to be observing from your cozy living room.....

Give it another month or so and I am sure I will be complaining about the goopy, muddy mess this snow leaves behind as it melts, but for now....humor me.....

In other news, I have had a pretty nasty cold this week and made the mistake of taking two (count 'em) night time cold pills the night before last. Now for me, I KNOW this is a big mistake. If it says "Nighttime" anywhere on the packaging, one will do the trick (even "non-drowsy" medicine makes me nap) but I just wanted some relief and some sleep, not necessarily in that order. Well, I got both wishes. Unfortunately, I dealt with the fallout yesterday-sleeping until 10 am (unheard of in my world- I am an early riser) and feeling like I had been hit by a Mack truck the rest of the day (I never knew there were SO many "judge" shows on daytime tv!).....bleck....

To bring things full circle ( and stop boring you with my ramblings)...Don't think I will be taking anymore pictures like this today....Have a winter storm warning all day...you know they expect it to be bad when they cancel school before the storm has even started....

A Rather Blustery Day....

And NOW I'm starting to really understand what all the fuss about an upstate NY winter is! We woke up to this.....40-60 mph winds and snow....I'm sure the locals would tell me this is nothing, but I'm not buying it...

Here's hoping you are NOT having a rather blustery day today!!

P.S.....I've been tagged a couple of times now...working on it...I promise!

RUN!!! Don't hop....

To...

I know a breath of Spring Air would be quite welcome here in upstate New York....

Imagine my delight when I clicked on a link just like this one on Mustard Seed Original's Blog ....

Just click on the sweet little girl above to hop on over to Nancy Malay's blog and see what it's all about...

If you, like me, are ready for Peter Cotton Tail, you won't be sorry!

Goodbye Hello.....

Well.......I'm back....finally...sort of....about seven weeks ago, I wrote my last post...

We said "goodbye" to one home (Washington DC area) and "hello" to another (Fort Drum, NY). Nothing new in the seventeen years I have been married to the Army....errr.....my soul mate (I LOVE U, Mr. Sunshine!).....

This new home is much smaller (from 2400 sq.ft and a full basement to 1600 + NO basement- you do the math), but we have what we need. And all of my favorite, familiar things have found a home again....

Remember these guys? My button jars were part of one of my very first blog posts....not quite sure why but these old jars have become special to me. Maybe it's because half of them came to me because a good friend left them in my car after a memorable weekend of junking with my SSODS sisters last spring. They'd only cost her $1 each-what a steal!- and it would have cost five times that to mail them to her (they are heavy)....so she let me keep them....Every time I see them (and I used ALLOT of buttons last fall on my spoon ornies), it reminds me of that very fun weekend...When I unwrapped them from deep in a box full of art supplies and paper goodies, I had to smile.....Thank you Diana!

....And my non-working alarm clocks, another part of that great junking weekend. Seems most of my favorite things are attached to memories....I think I previously posted pictures of them also...See the clock all the way to the left? With the red accents....funny story about that one.....all the jarring and moving around must have given it a new life....about an hour after I unwrapped it, the alarm went off...scared the pants off of me! lol....

And above are some more of my favorite things...the quilt was made by Mr. Sunshine's great Grandmother- I love the vivid colors. I found the gameboards and the doilly stretcher (hanging next to the quilt) on my Ohio junking trip also (don't think I will be able to go this year- boohoo!)

In my new "simplified" lifestyle (ie, cramming 2 pounds of sardines into an 8 oz. tin), I will be working in a small seating area right off the kitchen. No more "Me" room, no more guest bedroom/ studio. Now anyone who enters the house will get to see how a messy artist works- oh joy....

This is by no means organized and/or ready for work yet, but this is how my work area looks right now....

I will also be sharing this kitchen/seating area/studio with the Wii and Playstation (and the TV and children that they are attached to), so we will see how this works....

But hey, there's a nice view today....everything white and frosty past the stained glass....great weather to stay home and update a blog....maybe read a few too....