Interior views

Thank you for visiting my post of two slideshows of our "Home Sweet Home", last week.

 Joining with: Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday's "I".

This week, I finally put together collages of the INTERIOR views of our home....

We enjoy watching all the HGTV shows of remodeling, building, before and afters, design crashers, etc... And it would be fun to be a part of that or have someone do something like that...

...but we are very blessed to have a beautiful home and "design" it on our own, with family things and things that we have picked up during our 30+ years of marriage. 

It was the perfect opportunity to put together the photos I had taken about a month back, without my piles of art stuff and sewing stuff out in the open!

So...greetings! And come on in...

1. INTERIOR views of our kitchen...

The door in the top left photo is the entrance into our home, so our kitchen is to the left. The door in the back of the top right photo is the door to our laundry room. The door to the far right of the photo is the door to our master bedroom (but we'll get to that later).

Here are some more INTERIOR views of our kitchen. The three large poster size photos above the stove were taken of things in the kitchen. Each one was taken by each of our kids.

2. Now to the left of our kitchen...is the INTERIOR of our master bedroom...
(Some of our furniture, we got through auctions...the chest of drawers, end tables and the hope chest are passed down from family.)

 3. ...the INTERIOR of our Master bathroom (we like to watch House Hunters and other HGTV shows and I like how some call it "the En suite".)

4. ...as we leave our bedroom...immediately is the INTERIOR of our dining room...
(our oak dining table and chairs were our first purchase together as newlyweds).

 5. in the INTERIOR of this combined space, is our living room...I also like that my mother-in-law would call the living room the parlor...

 6. ...next, as you can see there is a hallway off of the living room...
To the left, you can see the INTERIOR of the "girls' room". (Both our girls were away already in college, but they would use this room whenever they were able to visit).

 On the walls are the Scott Gustafson storybook prints that we bought for our kids when they were younger.

7. Down the hall, opposite the girls' room, to the right, is the INTERIOR of our son's room. (On his bed, he would have the denim quilt my mom made for him. For now, I had changed out the quilt. At the foot of his bed, there is a vintage wool quilt, made from men's wool suits). 

8. In between both rooms, is the INTERIOR of the guest bathroom. After our home was built, we wanted to redo the standard style guest bathroom...so my hubby had put in the new sink stand, sink, mirror, cabinet, double towel bar, and curved shower curtain rod, showerhead and lights. A dear friend and I put in the tile floor. And my hubby and I finished it up with painting.

9. Last INTERIOR view to see is the office. The large cabinet was one that my dad had designed when we lived in Taiwan. With his dimensions and sketches, a local cabinetry and furniture maker in Taipei built it for my dad to keep his reel to reel tapedeck players and turntable for the 45 and 33 speed records. I eventually want to use it for some of my art and sewing supplies.

...well...thank you again for "walking" with me through our home.

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I'm a little late on getting all these photos together for my post this week and now need to work on some art orders.

Here is one that begins with the letter "I"...

IRIS

Home Sweet Home

(This post has some edited elements from an older post in 2010.)

 A House is a building... 

 (this is our home in Georgia)

Home is where the Heart is... 

(and the Lord and a loving family is the Heart of my Home) 

 Growing up with a military dad and marrying a military man, I have lived in many homes. I have photos of some and wish I had at least one of every one....one day, I have to go through the tons and tons of photos and find them.

 I've lived in military quarters, apartments, mobile homes, townhouses, rental homes and we've owned homes...

 Here are where my home has been throughout the years...

...as a daughter of an Air Force dad.

Philippines -> Hanscom Airfield, Massachusetts -> Wakannai Air Force Base, Japan -> San Antonio, Texas -> Taipei, Taiwan (on Yong Ming San aka Grass Mountain) -> Clark AFB, Philippines -> Holloman AFB, New Mexico -> Eagle River, Wisconsin

 ...as a wife of an Air Force/Army hubby. (My hubby was in the Air Force as a Firefighter/Crash Rescue/Spaceshuttle Rescue team when we first met...and then went to the Army to fly helicopters).

Holloman AFB, New Mexico -> Hilo, Hawaii -> Alamogordo, New Mexico -> Ft. Rucker, Alabama -> Schofield Barracks, Hawaii -> Ft. Rucker, Alabama -> Tulsa, Oklahoma -> Ozark, Alabama -> Ft. Campbell, Kentucky -> Richmond Hill, Georgia...

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The military brought us to the beautiful area off the Georgia coast in 2004. 

We have taken so many, many photos since we first moved here,

but I decided to share again this slideshow of our Home being built 

and some of the events during when it was built in 2004-2005.

...and the next slideshow of our home is one that I had on an even earlier post... 

(so some of you may have already seen this too, but I thought it would be fun to see the "after") 

Friends... the welcome mat is set out to greet you.

Come on in...

 Since this slideshow was first done, we have done a little furniture changing/rearranging...

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 On my next post I'd love for you to "walk" with me inside our home...I am putting together a slideshow of the inside of photos that I took last month.

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 Linking on with: Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday's "H".

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Here are a few orders of homes that I had the honor of drawing for others.

This one was for a thank you/going away gift for a military wife, whose husband served as a military commander.

This was a wedding gift to a customer's brother-in-law and his bride's beautiful old home that they are restoring.

Afterwards, that newlywed couple ordered this one for a Christmas gift, for the husband's parents gorgeous home that was being built.

There are some other orders to share, but I try to wait until they receive them in the mail, before I share them here. And I am working on some more.

Where are the places that you have lived? 

Trash or Treasure?

A few weeks ago...

"...One man's trash...is another man's ...maria's...um...I mean...man's treasure."

Joining Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday meme

for this week's "T" post!

Next door to the dental office I work at, there was a flooring shop. I don't know the particulars, only that they were relocating.   During lunch, I noticed there was a huge rubbish bin and a few men filling it up with odds and ends floor samples, shelves, light fixtures...

I had to ask... if all that was going to the dump. 

It was, and they said take what you want...

So, in my scrubs, during the last few minutes of my lunch break...I am picking through and setting aside some wonderful "treasures"!

My sweet hubby got a call from me to please stop on his way home from work and pick up some wonderful stuff for me... (I drive my mini so there was no way I could put a shelf in there).

Now I have to say that My Handsome Honey is Mr. Organizer and has been working diligently in our garage, going through boxes and getting rid of stuff that I tend to hold on to. (He has been doing this without my help, cuz if I were going through the boxes and stuff in the garage, I would be "saving" more than I should).

Well.....there was a whole lot of stuff that those guys at the flooring store were still tossing over the next few days! 

Two days later, I was off of work, but drove by to see if there was any other treasures to discover.

Here's my trusty little workhorse...

 I do admit that as I was driving back home, I did wonder how low to the ground I was with all that heavy tile!!! The mini rides low already!

The passenger's seat was full, as well as the back.

There were about 30 back boards of tile samples...I'm thinking some of this could be used to do mosaics.

And...there were two full boxes of 20 -8x10 tiles each.

Aren't these two tiles gorgeous? ...these and some of the other unique ones could be used in-laid into a table top. ...or a wooden box cover.

Here is the shelf that I had my hubby bring home in his truck, along with wood floor samples.  The shelves have some other tiles that I had hauled home in my mini...there are about 60 or more tiles!

And then there are the back boards with carpet samples...all which are bound and ready to use...

See? Here is one of them at the door to our garage from inside our laundry room.

Now...this one was a carpet sample on a display that was to simulate stairs. 

(I think that my Handsome Honey had about enough of all my treasures! And the fake stairs was the last straw! haha)

So, I said that I would take it apart and bind the two unbound edges.

So...with a lot of muscle and handy-dandy wire cutters, I was able to get that off the fake stairs.

Gee! They secured that thing on with a bazillion heavy duty staples!

 ...but ta-dah! I had success!

Here it is in front of the drawers that I keep some of my art supplies in. (You can see that each end still needs to be bound so that it doesn't unravel, but it is really plush, thick and beautiful.

I just put it here temporarily, just to see how it looks. After I bind it, I dont know where I will put it.

Here is a close up of that carpet sample that I got off the fake display stairs.

 The flash made the color a little different... 

...the actual color is like the previous photo.

Here it is from another angle.

You can see the hand woven rug, by the front door,  that my Handsome Honey bought when he was deployed in Iraq.

Oh..here is a close up of the beautiful, hand-woven rug from Iraq.

...so...thank you for stopping by to see some of my "finds" :o) What would you do with a bunch of tiles?

 My hubby is pretty patient with my "finds"....but to a point! If they don't become something"useful"...they will have to go! :o)

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Here are some recent orders:

This monogram for Erin and her hubby Chris is under what I call "Calligraphics". Each initial in the monogram is composed of the name that the initial represents. 

This Delta logo was drawn for Bret, who works with Delta airlines. This is the current Delta logo.

Please check out my facebook art pate and I'd love if you become a "fan" by liking the page.

& Next week I will finally post the instructions on the cathedral quilt. If you have any suggestions or short cuts, please do come by next week and leave a comment. 

Thank you for visiting and your kind comments. :o) 

I will be sure to return your lovely visit.

G is for our Georgia home...

Georgia...

The military brought us to the beautiful area off the Georgia coast in 2004. 

We have taken so many, many photos since we first moved here,

but I decided to share some photos that show our Georgia home being built 

and some of the events during when it was built.

   

...and the next slideshow of our home is one that I had on a past post... 

(so some of you may have already seen this, but I thought it would be fun to see the "after")

Friends... the welcome mat is set out to greet you.

Come on in...

   

 Since this slideshow was first done, we have done a little furniture changing/rearranging...

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Also...thank you again for everyone's thoughts, prayers, support during my dad's surgery and hospital stay.  He was able to go home Monday.  And he has family that will be taking turns to stay for the next several weeks. My hubby and I will be able to go up the week of Thanksgiving.

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Linking on with:

Jenny's

Alphabe-Thursday meme

for this week's letter "G".

&

Jenilee's Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane .

Oh & here is a fun Blog hop...a great way to meet other bloggers!

(Hosted by Kel of Between the Lines, Survey Junkie, & Kindred Spirit Mommy)

Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop

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I've done other state inspired drawings, but since this is a "G" post...

here is a drawing of the state of Georgia.

And here are some of the latest orders that have been completed and shipped out. 

Thank you to all those that participated in my Giveaways a few weeks back. 

These orders are from some of those winners and what they have to say.

Kel from Between the Lines

Thank you for your order for your father-in-law. 

And please say thank you so much him for his military service!

  "I just wanted to let you know that I received the sketch today.  It looks great!!  I know my father-in-law is going to love it!  Thanks again for creating such unique and personal pieces of art!"

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Angela from Sweet Tea Diaries, 

Thank you for choosing this for your Dad's Christmas gift.

Please let him know we appreciate his military service!

"Thank you so much for the amazing drawing! My mom received the package and was amazed by your work. She is having the drawing framed, and I can't wait to give it to my Dad for Christmas! Thank you again for everything!"

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Angela from A Day in the Life

Thank you for your order of your Christmas gift for your mom.

This is Angela and her brother that is in the military.

Please let him know that prayers are lifted up for his continued safety.

 "I got it today! I love it! Thanks so much!!"

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Christine from Christine's Home & Travel Adventures

Thank you for your order of your husband.

 

It was fun to draw this exquisite Sevres egg from his beautiful collection.

Christine sent me this photo of the beautiful matting and framing she chose for it.

"I love my artwork! I can't wait to see John's face when I give it to him. I know he will be amazed because it is so unique and truly magnificent. Thank you so much, Maria!"

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Sue from Sue's News, Views 'n Muse

Thank you for your order for your son and grandson.

Wishing all the best to your son in his decision to go into medicine.

 

"Very well done and a perfect gift for my son."

And I hope your grandson enjoys his dragon :o)

"Looks great, and I know my grandson will love it."

There are some other orders to share, 

but I'll wait until they receive them in the mail, before I share them here.
And I am working on some more.

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Oh! I also want to extend a big thank you to Veronica from Of Mice and raMEN
for featuring me on a recent post!
I love to see what fun things she finds!
So to be amongst some of the unique and creative finds out there,
I was honored and humbled.
Thank you for picking out some samples of the art that I do.