You Buy One Rug And It Turns The Whole House Upside Down- Just Call Me The Stitch Witch!

My house has been a house of 

subtle earth tones for a long time.

One of the reasons I have stuck to basics

is because we usually live in a house for a few years

and then sell it and move on to another

rehab project.

I always put my personal taste in small things

that I can pack away before showings

and take with me.

Well, I don't know what has happened to me.

I have been longing for a change lately.

The last time I had any BLUE in my house was

in the 80's when I had 

COUNTRY BLUE.

Remember those years?

Anyway,

Lately I have been crushing on 

LIGHT ROBIN'S EGG BLUE.

So, when I saw this rug in Home Goods

I was smitten.

This came home with me along with two runners
that matched.
This is now the anchor under the dinette table.

Well, as you know,
one thing leads to another--at least for me.
Now the dining room needed something to pick 
up the blue in there.
I had taken the curtains down for summer
because I like bare windows when there is no need
for privacy.

But with winter coming I needed something to 
warm those windows up.
Holy Schmoley!
Decisions-Decisions-Decisions-
I love florals and have not had them 
for a very long time.
MyHero thinks he doesn't like florals
so the house is pretty much floral free.
But the dining room?
Well-when I saw this Waverly material
(and it's an old one) called Robin Egg
I knew I had to tote it home.
I waited until Sunday when they had a huge sale
and got it for 1/2 price 
plus I had a coupon for $50. off.
I won't embarrass myself by telling you 
how little I paid
for this material.
I got all they had -just over 7 yards.

Now the trick is-this has to blend with the 
rug that is already under the dining room table.
Blue is NOT an easy color to introduce 
(at least for me).
But, hold your bathroom break-
I like the way it picks up that rusty color in the rug
which is otherwise lost in the big picture of things.

 Whew!  I think it is gonna work.
But, before I put the pedal to the medal
scissors to the fabric,
I pin  the bolt in place and look at it.
And I look at it..
and I look at it.
Should I?
Does it?
How will it..........

It is so odd to look at pattern when 
you have not had pattern in a long time.

Why is it so much easier 
to pick patterns and textures
and accessories for everyone else?
Oh-yeah- It's because I have to 
LIVE with these choices!

So, hemming and hawing
 I did what any weirdo would do...
I took some photos and mailed them to my
good friend and confident and voice of reason
PERSONAL CONSULTANT.
 I won't name her here but she knows who she is.
She said-
Love it-Go For It!

Ahhhh--there it is!
Someone besides me thought it was okay.

What else did I find?
Throws and some fabric for pillows-

The bottom right is the upholstery on the dining room chairs.
That has to stay.
The fabric has that same rosy tone and this also
goes nicely with the rug in there.

Oh- and I found a couple of lumbar pillows 
in the exact shade of robin's egg blue
for the leather chairs.

So--today---
Lord willing 
and the sewing machine 
doesn't seize up
I will be stitching my little heart out.
I hope to have results to show you a 
FINAL REVEAL
by the end of the week.

And just so you know...
I did NOT shop here for accessories!

source

You all have a GREAT TUESDAY!

The Mystery Of Lucy

I am still away from blogging for a while.

We lost a friend, my daughter moved,

and there are some family happenings that

need tending to....

Just a lot on my plate right now.

While I am away I will keep my

Etsy shop open.

For those of you that 

DON'T KNOW

I DID write a book.

I did not even tell MyHero or my family

that I was doing this until I had a

PROOF COPY 

in hand.

Here is briefly what the story is about.

Lucy was born and raised in Ridgebury, in the mountains of Pennsylvania; an area steeped in superstition. When Lucy was 6 she discovered she had the gift of “sight”-the ability to see the future of others but not her own. Her “sight” is somehow connected to the Deep Woods on the back of her farm and makes her an oddity to other children. When her father mysteriously disappears when Lucy is 9, she enters the Deep Woods looking for answers to questions she is too young to ask. As a young girl, she marries into a religious order and eventually moves to the Valley towns of Athens, Sayre and Waverly . As a young wife, she is terribly unhappy and her life takes many twists and turns- including one of forbidden love, betrayal and abandonment. Her quest for love takes her to Florida and the Midwest, but ultimately takes her home to the mountains to seek answers to age-old questions. It is a story that will touch your heart.

Yes-that is ME on the cover.

That is LUCY in the book.

It is an "easy read"-much like

I write my blog.

I would call it a beach read-BUT-

there is no sex, violence, or bad language.

I don't want my grandkids to be embarrassed 

by it someday.

Although there is no sex -

there is fulfilling romance.

You can order it from Amazon for immediate delivery.

It is $14.95 plus shipping.

Click HERE for that link.

-OR-

You can order it from

 

MY  ETSY SHOP-

Diana Kosmoski Author

for the same price but I will pay shipping

Click HERE for my Etsy shop.

AND I will autograph it for you-

It may take from one to two weeks

for it to arrive.

I can only ship to the 48 states 

through Etsy.

It is also available through

Amazon as a Kindle book.

Click HERE to purchase as an ebook.

It is $4.29

So far the reviews have been wonderful--

mostly FIVE STARS (thank you).

Wish I could get it in Oprah's hands!

Where is the press when you need them?

Anyway, thank all of you for your support.

I really appreciate it!

A Peek At The Dining Room -It's PURTY- I Promise

Some of you know that I purchased some 

WAVERLY FABRIC

for the dining room

last Fall before Thanksgiving

and BEFORE I got pneumonia.

You can see that post by clicking here.

So, I DID get the drapes made

and I DID get them hung.

I had enough left to make a

"runner" for the center of the table.

It's actually a big square that I placed in the center

because I also want to be able to use it as a topper

on my round dinette table.

Yeah- I'm dual purpose clever like that.

I will do a whole post about 

the whole room shortly.

Meanwhile,

Here is the edge of the curtain over the

dining room doors that lead to the side porch.

I guess I should have pulled the curtain back a bit 

off the picture of the 

FRENCH RABBITS.

That's what that picture was sold as
when I bought it about 15 years ago
 but I am pretty sure those are

HIMALAYAN RABBITS!

The little collection below all has meaning for me...

Clear glass from some of the kids- candles in crystal

from some other kids.
The cutting board was a gift from our good friends,
Jeff & Barb.
We visited their beautiful home in 
the Carolinas here.
He is a wood worker extraordinaire.
Also on that cutting board is a

 Green Bay soda bottle 
from my friend, Kris,

@ JunkChicCottage..

She left the price tag on so I would know how much she loves me.lol

Anyway,

I did set the table with some dishes

I have had for a while.

These suckers are HEAVY!!!

They are sitting on chargers that are monogrammed

that belonged to my hubby's grandmother Clara.

The dishes are Isabella by JCPenney
(believe it or not)

My daughter might, or might not be, trying to get them away from me

too bad for you, baby girl.

 And..here they are again-

those wonderful monogrammed napkins

that my oldest son gave me for Christmas.

Just so you know-

this is what that dining room wall looked like when we moved in.

I know- crappy picture.

Here is a brief after...

Side by side:

That is NOT all I have to show you but I do have a

few things to FINISH because I certainly don't want you  to 

SEE THIS!!!!

Yeah--THAT would be embarrassing to have you

SEE THAT!

Have a wonderful Thursday...

and remember YOU TOO can show the messes

real life creates.

MY BIG SECRET! I Can't Believe It Myself! I'm An Author!!!!

Well, I am sorry to have kept you all 

IN THE DARK

for so long.

Just so you know- when I was
SICK THIS WINTER

I was NOT sitting around eating bon-bons

and watching old Columbo movies-

Well, I might have watched a few of those.

However, 

Before I could share this on my blog

I had to get all my ducks in a row~

before I made this announcement.

And WHAT IS IT?

Well,

I HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK!

A bonafide, honest-to-goodness 

PUBLISHED BOOK!

Ready?

TA-DAH!!!!

I did not even tell MyHero or my family

that I was doing this until I had a

PROOF COPY 

in hand.

They about fell over.

MyHero didn't fall over and die-

good thing because he has no life insurance.

Want to know what it's about?

Lucy was born and raised in Ridgebury, in the mountains of Pennsylvania; an area steeped in superstition. When Lucy was 6 she discovered she had the gift of “sight”-the ability to see the future of others but not her own. Her “sight” is somehow connected to the Deep Woods on the back of her farm and makes her an oddity to other children. When her father mysteriously disappears when Lucy is 9, she enters the Deep Woods looking for answers to questions she is too young to ask. As a young girl, she marries into a religious order and eventually moves to the Valley towns of Athens, Sayre and Waverly . As a young wife, she is terribly unhappy and her life takes many twists and turns- including one of forbidden love, betrayal and abandonment. Her quest for love takes her to Florida and the Midwest, but ultimately takes her home to the mountains to seek answers to age-old questions. It is a story that will touch your heart.

Yes-that is ME on the cover.

That is LUCY in the book.

There are a couple of you that knew

beforehand because I needed a bit of help 

along the way.

One friend has read it so she could 

promote it for me on her blog.

She had a less-than-perfect copy

because I only had a couple of proofs

and she got one.

My friend, Jettie Parrish, reviews books

for authors and she helped me navigate

the waters of publishing.

For that I am 

SO GRATEFUL.

Is it a GOOD book?

I dunno!

I THINK it is.

It is an "easy read"-much like

I write my blog.

I would call it a beach read-BUT-

there is no sex, violence, or bad language.

I don't want my grandkids to be embarrassed 

by it someday.

Although there is no sex 

there is fulfilling romance.

You can order it from Amazon for immediate delivery.

It is $14.95 plus shipping.

Click HERE for that link.

-OR-

You can order it from 

MY NEWLY SET UP 

ETSY SHOP-Diana Kosmoski Author

for the same price but I will pay shipping

AND I will autograph it for you-

It may take from one to two weeks

for it to arrive.

I can only ship to the 48 states 

through Etsy.

If you want an autographed 
hard copy/soft cover

from me and live outside the 

48 states let me know and 

I will see if we can accomplish that

via the local post office.

It should also be available

on Kindle very shortly.

I think the cost there 

will be $4 and some change.

edited to add:
Just got the notification from Kindle
Click HERE to purchase as an ebook.
It is $4.29

Whether or not I sell a single copy, 

I wanted to do this for my grandchildren.

Someday they can say their 

grandmother had a book published.

It is an oversized paperback and is

420 pages long with book club questions

at the end.

So---there you have it---

Now you know!

No more secrets here.....

Or are there?

That is one reason for the new picture in my profile.

My son insisted....the brat....

I looked younger in the "old" picture.

And so-

There you have it!!!

Can you believe it?

I still can't!