Bee's Buzzings

sweltering heat in Minneapolis

Earlier we registered a heat index of 116 degrees here in Minneapolis.

Heading out for a dip in the pool. Thank goodness our back yard has a southern exposure and the house blocks the evening sun.

Our Little Silver Lining . . .

Just chilling - the new addition to our family:

After recently losing our two beloved cats within 6 days of each other (Jinx, 13, to cancer and Bobby, 12, to assorted medical issues) we adopted this sweet kitty from the Humane Society. Despite our sadness, Devon has added many smiles to our lives these past few days.

Relaxed cat? She's actually napping in the above photo!

Isn't she just too cute for words??  ♥

Snow, and more snow

Well, this recent round of snow certainly is beautiful, but I'm pretty much sick of it.

Minneapolis broke records in December (greatest monthly snowfall on record) and this month (greatest one day total) and we're looking at a third place finish for greatest monthly totals for February, as well.  And winter isn't done with us yet since March is historically the snowiest month.  Ugh. 

Just hoping our spruce trees are okay - look at the heavy blanket of snow on the limbs.  (I'm not even going to mention the sadness I feel when spying all the snow on our diving board.)

On a brighter note, tickets have been booked to fly to Florida in 6 weeks, so no matter what things look like here in April, I'll be enjoying temps in the 80s before long.  Sweet.

They say the valleys make the peaks that much more glorious.  I'm thinking Spring and Summer are going to be mighty fine this year!

Sweet Little Turtles . . . in BeeDazzles Etsy Shop tomorrow

Yes, I'm finally back to painting!  It's been a while.  Between recovering from all the house issues and then our middle daughter needing major surgery in December, I had to step away from the blog for a bit. 

The good news is our daughter is now doing just fine and I'm back, and with some new art.  Hoping this is just the tip of the iceberg . . . more paintings to come soon!

Here is what these little guys looked like yesterday, while they were still a 'work in progress'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you can see a peek of some of the Easter images I'll be working on (in the photo on the left). In addition to the Mini Notes, all images will eventually be available as Gift Tags, Pocket Mirrors, Magnets and most likely as Note Cards, as well.

Hope you're enjoying 2011 so far, it's been such a whirlwind I'm kind of shocked to find tomorrow is February already!

Pantry Cabinet Makeover - The Before And After

There's one really big upside about living in five different brand new homes over the past eighteen
years.  They'd all had great kitchens.  Usually with some solid surface counters, hardwood flooring . . . and pantries.  NICE pantries.  But there was something I'd learned from living in so many places, and cooking in so many kitchens. Surprisingly, I do not prefer walk-in pantries. 

In our last house, we specifically designed the kitchen with a wall of very shallow 12" cabinets, and several narrow, roll out drawers where the cabinets required a depth of 24".  You don't lose food this way, and there's very little 'pull these items out to get at that' going on.

So here we are, in my first house bought as a resale.  A house I love.  A yard I love.  A neighborhood I love.  But a kitchen, that while awesome in layout, will be seeing a lot of updates in the next few years.  First stop:  The Pantry.  As you can see from the above photo, the stationary shelves made this 24" deep pantry almost a waste of space.  I kid you not when I say we lived out of a lot of grocery sacks scattered around the perimeter of the dining area, at least until the new roll-out shelves were installed.

(click photo to enlarge)

And I knew exactly who to call - I'd worked with many master craftsmen in my previous life as a Selections Coordinator at a custom home builder.  Marty Erlien (reachable at (612) 644-9007 if you're in the Minneapolis area) came out, measured, talked about spacing requirements, and his assistant returned a few weeks later to retrofit the cabinet and install some custom made shelving.  As you can see - it's a perfect solution.  Amazing what these guys (and some full extension glides) can do to make a space SO much more functional.  It's now finally fully utilized and a pleasure to use every time we open the pantry doors.  I'm loving it!

If you like this, just wait until you see what they did for the new tub in our remodeled bathroom!

p.s. don't forget about the free Box of 12 Note Cards giveaway, just leave a comment to automatically be entered.  Just a few more days until a winner is drawn at random.

Thanksgiving Eve!

It was a busy day here - but only partly spent working in my Art Studio.  Since we're hosting a group for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I was also very busy cleaning, getting recipes figured out and cooking potatoes and pies.  But first I wanted to get a few new Mini Note assortment mixes photographed and listed in the Shop.  Here is one of the two new sets, the other is of the Swirly Bird series.

I'm thankful for many things, first and foremost my wonderful family and friends.  But also way up there on the list is having a job that allows me to work from my home studio and be here when our kids need something.  As most moms know, it seems just about every other week during the school year there's either a late start, a teacher in-service day or some type of vacation day.

And today?  It was a gorgeous scene outside (as the sun was getting ready to set) but the weather we're having here in Minneapolis kept me looking out the window and checking my cell phone until the girls were all safely home, or in Danielle's case, safely to Florida, where she will be until Sunday.

If you are here in the States and celebrating tomorrow, I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.  And to all others, a wonderful day and remainder of the week!  I'm also very thankful to all of you!

♥ Bee

Feathered Friends . . .

Love these little birdie mirrors and just had to share!  Busy morning so far packing and shipping out some Etsy orders, and also designing new Stationery for the shop.  Hope to have time to paint after Thanksgiving is over, but VERY much looking forward to some relaxing time with family and friends on Thursday. 

Finally got the bedroom drapes up

There's always a fine line when balancing "hard" and "soft" elements when decorating.  And of course, personal preference (and climate) plays a part in the equation, as well.  As cold as it is here in Minnesota, I'm definitely drawn towards cozying things up.  And our bedroom is no exception - especially with such a large expanse of windows on the southern wall.  So almost exactly 180 days since moving in, I finally installed the draperies - and WOW what a difference it makes.  

Proof, here is a Before photo

and a shot from the upper landing, looking in.

After waking up this morning to 20 degree temps outside (and a slick of ice covering every imaginable surface), we really appreciated how comfortable things are finally starting to feel inside.

Jim teases me that he's tired of hearing me say it . . . but I really LOVE this house ♥

six months later - new house, new pool, new addition

Okay, I'll admit it. Six months since my last post I'd hoped to have everything in my life in order and be eating bon bons on a regular basis.  Or at least be sipping lemonade by the pool while reading magazines - yes the ones that go mostly unread month after month for too many years to count even though I continue to renew my subscriptions (after all I can get THREE years for the price of one!) but alas, the stack continues to grow.  Much like the items on my To Do List.

But things are definitely looking brighter.  And one thing Jim and I made certain to do amidst the chaos was enjoy our newly installed pool, if even only for 20 minutes a day.   For those of you who have had one built, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  The 'we paid waaaay too much to not get in it'.  Right??  And growing up outside of Boston, I have a case of what's know as Yankee Thrift.  Buy a new shirt?  Heck, if it's on sale for only $35.99 and I wear it at least once a month for the next three years, it's only a dollar each time I wear it. What a deal!

So I've decided to live in the pool.  Even in the winter.  In Minnesota.

All kidding aside, we had a very interesting six months.  Sold our house, packed it up, moved a lot of stuff into storage, moved into the new house, closed on both houses the same day, broke ground on the pool less than a week later.  And two weeks after that we moved more stuff into a second storage unit and ripped the roof off the garage to begin a 700 square foot, 2 bedroom addition.

It's been a wild ride.  More details and photos coming soon :)

 

New House = New Adventures

How life changes!  About two weeks after my last blog post, I was awake in the wee hours of a chilly, early March morning.  All my Etsy orders were filled, and it was far too early to wake anyone else up with housecleaning chores . . . so I filled some time scanning the For Sale listings at EdinaRealty.com - and one caught my eye.  It was love at first sight.

By the time Jim woke up, I was convinced it was "The One" and tiptoed through a somewhat calculated plan of attack to talk him into putting our house back on the market.  As it turned out, my planning was in vain.  He agreed with little or no resistance.  Our intent to downsize last Fall had brought on dreams of a lake lot (and future retirement home) that enticed him more than even I had realized.

So I called the Edina offices later that day and set up an appointment to see some homes early the following week.  "The One" was first on the list.  Upon entering, Jim and I were both immediately enchanted by the story and a half ceilings, open floor plan and walls of windows.  Peeking out to the backyard my enthusiasm only increased - a southern facing backyard with some mature trees already in place.  I could barely contain my excitement . . . until I'd seen all four bedrooms.  This house that seemed absolutely perfect (4 bedrooms plus a spot for my studio at an amazing price!) had one big flaw.  Two of the four bedrooms were way too small.  And the 'laundry room' could hardly be called a room.  I tried not to let my disappointment show too much, but it was hard.

We saw a couple of other homes that night and realized how committed we were to downsizing here and eventually building Up North.  The next morning I once again woke up in the wee hours and had a lightbulb moment.  An addition over the garage at my Dream Home would make everything perfect!  Later that day I was on a wing and a prayer as I called the agent back and told her we'd be ready to list our house by the weekend.

. . . to be continued