~ random acts of kindness ~

Hello friends....I know, three posts within a weeks time! I'm on a roll here.

This post is something a little different...no pictures.

You heard me...no photos, but please stay with me.

I would like to share a little something with you.

Years ago I found this quote by Princess Diana and it struck a chord with me..

Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.

I thought about it for quite sometime and one day it just began.....

I was finding myself performing tiny random acts of kindness.

Nothing big...just little things like buying a cup of coffee for the person in front of me at the bakery. Or paying the $1.00 bridge toll for the car behind me when I crossed the Hudson River on my way home for a visit to NY.

Little things.

Very often at the shop if someone admires something from my personal stash and I think they will really appreciate it...it's theirs!

Again..it is usually something very small....I am not giving away dressers!

Most times the acts are anonymous....the receiver never knows it was me.

But once in a while I am gifted with a personal story and when this happens..

I understand why these random acts matter so much.

  This week while instructing a workshop, a woman wondered back into the studio.

I noticed that she made a straight path right to my stash of vintage linens that I use for my sewing projects.

She picked up a beautiful 1940's kitchen tablecloth and gingerly unfolded it.

I noticed the delight in her face and knew what was coming next.

"how much is this?"...she said.

I nicely explained that it was not for sale and that I would be restyling it.

She asked me what I was going to do with it and that she might be interested in purchasing whatever I created.

We talked about our shared love of vintage linens and she told me she had all of her family's heirlooms linens. 

As she spoke, I could tell she truly appreciated what she was safeguarding...

pieces of art.

My could feel my heart plump up just a bit as I handed her the beautiful tablecloth.

"here...I would love to gift this to you" I said.

That's when the reality and beauty of this 

Random Act of Kindness

thing presented itself.

The woman looked at me and told me I would never know what this meant to her.

She went on to share that she had just completed her regimen of Chemotherapy and Radiation for breast cancer and this was the very first day she felt good enough to join the real world again.

There was a reason she picked this day and my shop, The Empty Nest, to venture into.

I am convinced this was not random at all.

So there we were..me crying....the ladies in the workshop crying and lots of hugs being shared.

The best thing about random acts of kindness...

THEY FEEL SO DARN GOOD!

Take a moment during you busy day and look around you.

I bet you can find something, even a tiny something you can do for someone today.

You may never know how that simple act has the power to change the world.

But, more than changing the world...it will change you.

Until next time...be KIND and stay creative!

                                                        

~ and the winner is................ ~

Hello friends.....welcome back.

Are you ready to find out who won the

 SlipcoverDVD and Pillow e-Book

that the generous and talented Shelley

of Custom Slipcovers by Shelley
*****
And the winner is..............
Marji
Congratulations!!!
Marji, Shelley will be in touch with you very soon. I will be watching you and I expect to see some lovely slips posted on your blog,
Ben & Marjorie

Don't feel bad if you did not win the Giveaway....Shelley is so AWESOME, she sent me this message earlier..... Janet, I created a 20% off promo code for you readers, to finish off the giveaway! Promo code is EMPTYNEST and it'll take 20% off DVD, Ebook, or bundle!" Now you all can get your hands on Shelley's wonderful DVD and eBook!!!!! 

Visit Shelley at

Custom Slipcovers by Shelley

****

Many thanks to all who entered and left me such great comments.

You are all winners in my book!

Until next time....be kind and stay creative!

                                                           

~ a day of blues ~

Hello friends......welcome back!

As you all know, last Sunday was Mother's Day.

Mother Nature cooperated beautifully with sunny clear blue skies and soft white clouds.

The theme of blues seemed to be everywhere that day.

My favorite flower, Tall Bearded Iris', where standing tall and majestic in their royal blue uniforms. They smelled divine also.

Our Eastern Bluebird boxes were full of sweet bluebird babies with blue tinged feathers.

Momma Bluebird was watching me very intently as I snapped this photo.

Whenever I check on the babies, I always call up to the Mom on the telephone wire..

"Good job Mom!"

I think she understands I am not going to hurt her little family.

Another box on the property...all snuggled tight together.

Lots of love to be found.

I even found a little love in a Black Walnut seed that a squirrel had broken open.

Look how perfect 

Yes symbols of love and so many shades of blue to be found.

As wonderful and beautiful as Mother Nature's blues are, I experienced a different blue on Mother's Day.

My sweet Mom is beginning to lose her memory and she is starting to forget many around her, including her own children. My sisters Maddy and Joanne (resident angels) have moved Mom out of her apartment and she will now be living in a nice apartment above Joanne's home.

Mom has vivid recollections of loved ones in her past, but often will not remember what she has been doing just hours before. 

I am so afraid and sad to think of the day I will call her and she will say..

"Janet who?"

My heart will break a little when that day comes.

Love the ones in your life NOW....time is so fleeting.

So good blues...bad blues, I guess it is just life going on around us. We just need to take the time to notice and appreciate it all.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

                                                         

Don't forget to enter the Slipcover DVD and Pillow eBook GIVEAWAY!!

Enter HERE

Giveaway ends May 16th

~ Giveaway Time!!! DIY Slipcover DVD and Pillow Talk 'e' Book from Custom Slipcovers by Shelley ~

Hello friends...happy to see you here again.

Remember when I blogged about my foray into the world of custom slipcovers?

You can catch up with the post HERE.

I had always wanted to learn, but they looked so very intimidating.

All that mysterious piping and all....scary stuff!!!

I had started to follow a fabulous master of the art, Shelley, at the blog 

 Custom Slipcovers by Shelley

I followed Shelley's video carefully, rewinding many times. 

That's the beauty of a DVD...

you can rewind as often as you need to and go at your own speed.

Pinning and tucking as instructed....

I was doing it!!!!

 I was creating a custom slipcover.

The best part was that it was not so scary and much to my surprise, it was pretty much all straight line sewing!

Before I knew it, I had a chair that looked like ...

THIS

Isn't she gorgeous?

I swear...this was the very first slipcover I ever created.

I actually LOVE sewing piping now.

I went a little crazy and within a couple of months, I had sewn up quite a few more slips.

An old velour wingback went from this...

To THIS!

Sewed my first telephone arms and made a pretty pillow to accent the chair.

Even gave her some pretty grosgrain ribbons down her back.

Which my new cat Miss Carmen loves to untie.

I had been working with canvas painters drop cloth material, but finally got up the courage to use real home decor fabric.

Here is my first slipcover using real fabric!

Then I conquered my hide a bed love seat.

And finally created a lovely English cottage inspired slipcover.

I need to add that most of these pieces came from my local Salvation Army and were less than $55 dollars each.

Have you been wanting to learn how to sew your own custom slipcovers?

Well now one lucky reader will have a chance to win a copy of the same DVD I used.

My good friend Shelley has graciously offered to sponsor this 

Giveaway.

You will win a copy of Shelley's 

Slipcover DVD

Retails for $45.00  

But that's not all....Shelley is happy to also gift the lucky winner with her wonderful 

eBook

Pillow Talk

Retails for $20.00

Learn to create beautiful and professional looking pillows.

With ZIPPERS!!!

Seriously...ZIPPERS...Shelley swears that they are easy!

Shelley will walk you through the process...step by step.

Believe me, this lady knows her way around a pillow and a slipcover.

Just look at her work.

Just gorgeous......Imagine being able to transform your outdated furniture.

I can help you restyle your accent tables with Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan

and Shelley will help you reinvent your upholstered pieces.

A match made in heaven!

*****

Ok....so here are the guidelines for the Giveaway

It is very simple...just leave me a comment saying that you would love to learn how to sew your own slipcovers and pillows.

Hop on over to my friend Shelley's blog 

Custom Slipcovers By Shelley

and leave her a comment telling her I sent you.

That's it...easy right?

Good Luck everyone!

I will choose one lucky winner when the Giveaway ends on

Thursday

May 16th 

ready ...Set...ENTER!

PS.....this Giveaway is open to readers within the USA and I have not been compensated in any way for my statements or opinions concerning these products. I truly love Shelley's work!

 

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

                                                         

~ Mother's Day, Paper Mache, Craqueleur, Chalk Paint®, Graphics Fairy and Old Lace ~

Hello friends....welcome back to my little blog.

Although The Empty Nest shop is closed on Mondays, I often head to the shop and work in peace and quiet. At least until someone knocks on the door and has a paint emergency.

Today it was rainy and dreary, so I enjoyed locking myself in the shop and getting creative.

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I wanted to create a few pretty feminine and vintage looking paper mache boxes for purchase as sweet gifts.

Come along...I will show you how I made them.

Paper Mache boxes like these can be found at your local craft store and are very inexpensive.

The ladies in my shop painted an array of boxes in pretty Chalk Paint® decorative paint colors.

I added an Old White wash and created a fun pattern by laying a textured paper towel over the wet wash of Chalk Paint®.

Don't wipe...just gently lay the paper down and press. Whatever print is on your towel will be on your painted piece...cool, huh?

I used this ADORABLE vintage cat image from

 Karen at The Graphics Fairy Blog

The colors printed out so beautifully!

Instead of cutting with a scissor, I carefully tore the edges to give it a softer look.

  

I then decoupaged the paper image onto my painted box.

Apply your decoupage medium, I used Mod Podge, to the area on the box where you will place the image.

Be sure to overlap a bit for good edge adhesion.

Lay down the paper image over the wet area and gently smooth out any wrinkles.

Pay extra attention to the edges as you do not want them to peel up.

I used Annie Sloan's wonderful Craqueleur varnish crackle medium 

to create the china crazing style crackle you see.

A little of Annie Sloan's soft dark wax brought out all the lovely cracks.

Remember...whenever you use Annie's Craqueleur, be sure to keep it away from water or any exterior locations. This product is for dry, indoor use and is water soluble.

To read about this wonderful crackle product, check out an earlier post

 Here

I then had fun gluing bits and bobs of vintage lace and trim all around.

The lace was gifted to me by my dear friend 

Patty Seaman and her sister Karen of Classic Wall Finishes. In case you don't know them, they were one of the original Chalk Paint® Stockists here in the US.

I bought my very first can of Chalk Paint® from Patty and Karen 

and we have been friends ever since.

Here is my pretty Mother's Day Keepsake box all finished.

Isn't she sweet?

All ready to be filled with special trinkets and mementos.

Here is another box in Provence Chalk Paint® and a lovely birds nest image

also from Graphics Fairy.

I transferred my chosen image onto some sheets of antique sheet music I had.

To transfer your image onto sheet music, simply place your sheets of music into your printer and when you print your image, it will be print on to your music instead of plain white paper.

Make sense? 

No vintage sheet music???? 

No problem...here you go!

Thank You Graphics Fairy...you ROCK!!!!

I also crafted a small round box with a vintage rose bouquet image.

So that's it...Chalk Paint® and Craqueleur....Graphics Fairy images and sweet trims all come together for a lovely

 Mother's Day Keepsake Box.

My creations will be at 

The Empty Nest

I am hoping you will create a few of your own now that you know how.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

PS...remember top hug your Mother or any woman who means the world to you!

Whether we are blessed enough to have our Moms with us or not, we all have a woman in our life who inspires us like a mom would...go hug that lady!