All things new

Well, all things are not new, but here are all the things that are. New. Is that clear?

Exhibit A

The adorable red and white children fabric (it's actually more of an unbleached white than a bright white) came from the new quilt and smock store I found (with the help of my Aunt Denny) just north of here about 15 minutes. I'm pumped about this store. They sell really sweet quilt fabrics that you just don't see at JoAnn's AND they sell garments for children that are all ready to smock. They even had some little boy onesies. Now they cost an arm and a leg but at least if I want to give up an arm and a leg I know where to go.

So as I was looking for fabric for covering our new dining room chairs (Ingolf IKEA) I was concentrating on not getting sucked in to my usual lots of bright color vortex. I kept repeating "serene, neutral, serene, neutral" to myself. Serene and neutral are not my usual style.

I am trying something new because, you guessed it, I want to add more serenity (at least visually) to my life right now. Also neutrals make all the other brightly colored things I have look more like a plan and less like a catastrophe.

My living room right now is plain vanilla - but it has lots of light. I've decided to keep the vanilla and add strawberries, raspberries and cherries (translate: a discriminate but unpicky use of the color red). I already collect red glass, and have some fake red flowers here and about so that drove the purchase of a red and white fabric. I justified this fabric with my boy-laden family because of the five different children on it, four are boys.

Exhibit B

Then the polka dots were just too sweet without actually having flowers. I totally forgot to buy enough for the back of the cushion but when I got home I had some red corduroy in my edited stash so now my cushions are reversible. You can see the red in one of the pictures.

Smart moment:

I traced the template from the chair seat right BEFORE Mark assembled the chair!
I scalloped the edges because, well, it's awesome, I love scallops and it absolutely HAD to be that way.

I am so happy to be back online, I can tell that my personal editing function has fallen asleep. I have no way of holding back. It seems I'm going to bore everyone with all the details for a while because I CAN!

Exhibit C:

Other new things we have been totally blessed to be able to afford (in a large part because my parents paid for our moving costs):

A new recliner for Mark (slightly smaller, a non-broken lever, and no crumbs from previous owners way down in the crack)

new dining room chairs from IKEA (Ingolf - they don't pinch you in the shoulder blade when you lean back, and they actually slide under the table)

and

a new camera! With money from the piano I grew up playing I got the Olympus Stylus TOUGH. I got really close to getting a DSLR but then I thought wait, I have sons. This camera can go under water and is dust and snow resistant (so we can take it to the beach), it also withstands falls of about 5 ft, and 200 lbs of pressure!

It may sound like I'm bragging but what I really mean to do is say I'm so incredibly blessed to have these things. They are just things, but it is so nice to have them. They don't make life all that much easier they are just an extra blessing. I thank the Lord for these gifts, I thank my husband who works hard at his job everyday by God's grace, and I thank my parents who are full of generosity and thoughtfulness.

God bless you all and Happy Sunday

Lissa