Hi All,

Is it really Thursday … already?! Well I’m glad, not because the weekend is coming as I’ll be doing wedding work straight through anyway. But Thursday means I can take a nice, long break and get a post out to you! So here are a few thoughts for Thursday.

My fingers are bruised and burned from all the cutting, gluing and re-doing of bouts and bouquets. NO, I’m not finished, not even close, but YES I’ll give you a teaser of progress so far. And YES, I will give you a tutorial post on the bouts, but later …. much later! Remember to click on the photos to get a better look.

As my assembly line routine moves along wih the flowers, I get some daydreaming in while working. Hey, double-duty with my time … yay. Course that might contribute to some of the burns 😦 The idea list for future projects is lengthy, and there have been some great junking and treasure trips of late, so my objects and supplies are growing too! Here’s what I’ve been daydreaming about.

Metals, Woods and Fabric Goods

FABRICS
A planned project is to make several toss pillows. Wal-Mart had some great fabric sales recently, so I marched right over, with definite ideas in my head. We all know that you don’t alwas automatically find what you thought you wanted when you walked in. This trip I wanted 3 (that magic number again!) patterns for the living room. Saw one terrific main design and a second, so-so workable pattern but just couldn’t come up with that third neutral texture. Okay, so mom’s voice said keep an open mind, stay positive. Low and behold, I found 3 fantastic patterns that would work in the guest room, the family room or as a change out in the master bedroom. Eurecka! So, there you go … and here they are, pictured below.

Blues, browns and tan are the main colors in the guest bedroom. Our family room walls are a mid-range tan, sort of dull gold, and the master is a lighter, brighter neutral cream so these choices will work with all three.

WOODS
I’m always scouting for objects with fun shapes and of course, anything wooden is popular right now, in all styles of decor. One of our neighbors about four miles over (remember we live in the country) has a big old poll barn, make that a GIGANTIC pole barn and it’s a picker’s heaven. Here are some wooden pieces I adopted recently at one of his famous Barn Sales.

Now you’re saying, “what the heck can she do with those?”. And my answer is “how the heck do I know … yet”. But Hubs has taken to sketching out some of my ideas and when he starts drawing, something good always happens. You’ll just have to be patient along with me, as there’s often some distance between the drawing and the doing parts. HINT: I want a floor piece of artwork using at least some of the wood stuff, something that stands about 4-5 feet high, and I love copper piping. Wonder what he’ll come up with.

METALS
For some reason, I’ve become drawn to metal baskets and wire containers. You’ll remember the painted buckets from last month, but here are some tiny ones I just found.

And look at these cool baskets and weird little shelf looking objects we’ve collected. My favorites are the bigger milk box that has a Minnesota tag on it, and the wonderful, metal handled basket. I know I won’t paint over the local tag as that’s part of the history of the piece.

The basket is a dilema for me though. It’s just fine (and very appealing) as it is, after a little clean-up. But then, I keep picturing it in some bright color too. We’ll all have to wait and see on that one.

One more shot of fun finds of the fabric kind. I know, I know, I’m not staying in the right order. It’s the old “I’m so excited I just have to write it down quick” thing happening today.

Here are some beautiful scarves I’ve found recently. No collectibles like VERA or KIM PARKERs but nice just the same. Two square ones in different sizes, and two more that are oblong and perfect for table runners OR dress up. There’s that double-duty I like. Spent no more than $0.50 – $1.75 on any of these, so economical too.

Now, I really do need to get back to the flower project. Oops … it’s already 2:00 p.m. Guess it would be a good idea to eat something too! Eating … that reminds me of a great E-Z recipe a friend gave me the other day. YES, me actually talking about cooking … amazing right! But the key words here are EASY, CHEAP, DELICIOUS and PRETTY presentation and it doesn’t even take much time.

But guess what, I forgot to take a picture before I ate it (yes all of it), so you’ll have to stay in touch to find out more.

Meanwhile, have a safe, fun weekend and remember, don’t stress, just start something!

Later – Cheryl
Here’s where I always say thanks “for visiting. You’ve just read “Thoughtful Thursday” on Artzzle. I love comments and questions so send “em” my way”.

Here’s a little something else today. I know from several comments and emails that you’re enjoying Artzzle.com and I’m so glad. Now, can I ask you (actually beg you) to spread the word to your friends … co-workers … strangers on the street … just anyone! I love doing the blog but one of my goals is to acquire some sponsors, advertisers and hopefully a little bit of green, so Hubs doesn’t have to work so hard! For that I need followers, viewers and lots of comments to build my stats and entice those customers over.

Thanks, I knew you’d understand. 🙂

Fozzy and Gracie signing off

Copyright © 2013 Artzzle All Rights Reserved