make

I love making my house a home. I fell in love with the charm and character of this tiny little cottage sitting just on the north shore of a burbling creek. How could anyone resist such rustic charm? Even when houses are in ship-shape, move-in condition, it can expensive and not all that interesting to buy mass-produced furnishings and accessories. But my little gem turned out to be a bit too full of character, calling for surprise updates and repairs (not of the fun or cheap sort) at a frequency that increased at an alarmingly rapid clip. So decor of the affordable variety has been of high importance. Lucky for me, I have always loved scrounging garage sales, flea markets, and curbsides on garbage day (we have wealthy neighbors who have good taste!) for trickles of trash I can make into treasures...

Of course, I'd never sneeze at an import shop or the local Ikea either; all things can be made to be your own...I thrive on being resourceful, recycling, and being a bargain queen. I am always up for a good challenge of "I can make that for way less" when shopping. It's all about getting inspired to do it yourself.

Crafting has always been one of my biggest pasttimes. I was truly blessed with 2 very creative parents with tons of energy and drive and a need to always be making or doing something. Mom's a tailor by trade and a massive DIY-er around the house, reupholstering this, refinishing that, arranging flowers here, installing ceramic tile there...if she's seen it done on TV, she's done it at home. Pair that with my dad who is a printing plant troubleshooter by day and doodler, electrical wirer, guitar-strummer and drummer, build everything with wooder at home and you'll see why I've always got the itch to make something of my own.

Especially of late, I have been re-inspired to make more, do more, be less of a lazy slug. Could be that I am spinning my wheels now that wedding planning fever has long passed and the holidays are sparse in the bleak of winter. Could be the weather. Could be the house needs a total overhaul. Whatever it is, I am all raring to go and will try to update this page as I complete (or at least, begin) each new endeavor...

Please drop me a line with your own tales of crafty goodness. I LOVE being inspired by others' efforts.

February 5, 2003: I've reconfigured our guest bedroom several times since we've been here. But I've finally decided to go and repaint this baby since I last painted it 4 years back when I first bought this place. It is going to move from the ultra-girly lilac (whatever was I thinking?!) to a more serene soft green. After weeks of thinking I would do it, I have decided to tackle it tonight. Will post pics as soon as I can...this space will now house a dedicated craft/sewing space as well as the guest sleeping quarters, as our regular office is too overflowing with all my craft crap and David's video game stuff on top of our PC's and printers. That room, as well as the master bedroom, is surely on the list of redos, as it is an ergonomical nightmare...