Share the Memories Update

My first ever give-away!

UPDATE
I extended the deadline because I have run into problems since Google discontinued Friends Connect. I've lost all the contact info for my followers and haven't been able to get the Give Away word out. I'm scrambling to find a fix!

Even though my blog is just a baby compared to others, I was honored to be asked to try the My Memories Scrapbooking Software Suite  and, oh my gosh, was I ever impressed! It was so much fun and so easy! it is intuitive beyond belief!

You can do so much more than scrap-booking. You can do greeting cards, printables, multimedia and more. I did a two page story of snow here on the farm to test it out.

I am a complete novice at paper scrap-booking - meaning I never do it, I just look at all the pretty things at Michaels. But this digital scrapbooking software is so versatile that it will solve my "what to do with digital photos" dilemma.

You pick your own fonts, embellishments, picture effects, background papers and so on. You can use backgrounds provided or use, as I did, one of your own photos. You have full (and easy) control of opacity, cropping and size.

Have I said how easy? And did I mention fun?

 There is even music, but I haven't got to that part yet.

You can experiment. I did the following sign using my own graphic just for fun, as well as to see what I could do in the scrapbook software. The background I used was one of dozens provided.

I used graphics provided for this invitation. There is so much to choose from but I love the
corrugated industrial pattern.

To top it off, they give you the most beautiful pages FREE! Take a look at these. I know you want them!

Aren't they awesome? 
You caught the word "FREE", right?

I've been having all the fun but now here’s your chance!

 I’m giving away one complete My Memories Scrapbooking Suite to one lucky winner:

REQUIRED FOR ENTRY:

1. Follow bad rabbit vintage

2. Like bad rabbit on facebook

3. Like My Memories on Facebook.

4. Go to www.MyMemories.com and choose your favorite layout or background.

Please leave me a separate comment for 
each that you do.

FOR ADDITIONAL CHANCES TO WIN, YOU CAN FOLLOW MY MEMORIES: 

Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite

JUST BE SURE TO LEAVE ME A COMMENT 
EACH TIME, BECAUSE EACH COMMENT 
COUNTS AS AN ENTRY

If you do everything, that's 7 entries!

Contest entries close at 11:59 PM, Friday April 13, and I will announce the winner on Monday!

Good luck everyone!

A good freshening up

When I first got this Lane cedar chest it was stained maple and screamed 1960s Early American decor. Or Colonial. Or whatever they called it in those days. It finally occurred to me that I'd painted just about everything else in the house that couldn't run away, so why not paint this chest and turn it into something I liked?

So I painted the chest Barn Red, which was my favorite furniture color back then. And I sanded and sanded and sanded. I had no idea what I was doing because this was the first piece of furniture I'd ever distressed.

And I added checks to the top along with new hardware. The original was a brass Early American
not-to-my-liking style.

I was satisfied for a few years, then the urge came. That irrepressible urge to paint something a different color. Barn Red had long ceased to be my favorite
furniture color.

A new idea emerged.

(Inspector 19)

Kind of a polar opposite, huh? Ahhh, the wonder of paint. Nothing has to ever stay the same.

Linking to:
my 1929 charmer blog
under the table and dreaming
the gunny sack
the girl creative
keeping it simple
its so very cheri
mod vintage life
my uncommon slice of suburbia
coastal charm
miss mustard seed

Doctor to me: "You're not sick, you have cancer."

Wait ..... What?

I was still puzzling that one through when he went on to say my blood counts were so poor that I couldn't have chemo. I need another adjective. I'm too _____ to have chemo, but I'm not sick.

Quick, someone, find me an adjective!

This is the Catch-22 of cancer. You can't have chemo if you're too, uhhhhhh, where's that adjective?!? Of course, now that I'm away from the doctor's office I have all sorts of questions. 

Seriously though, we have reached the long-dreaded point where there is nothing more they can do for me. At this time. What I need is for the FDA to approve a new drug or for a clinical trial to open for a Myeloma drug. Apparently there are 2 drugs out there that would probably work for me but the FDA is dragging
its lead feet.

So, I paint! Art is a great healer. Passion and art. I've believed that all along.

The specialist (we call him The Big Guy) that I see every 6 months told me the reason I'm doing so well is because the illness isn't the main focus of my life. He's right. I have many things more important to me than cancer. I pretty much ignore it, actually.

Who says denial is a bad thing?

Now, quick! Find me that adjective while I go out and do some passionate junking!

The stand-in

I love vintage industrial furniture. Love, love, love it. I have hanging cage lights, metal baskets and lots of cool rusty goodness bits and pieces. But I REALLY want this industrial console table from Hudson Goods. 

Unfortunately, $1300 is out of the question, so I researched DIY industrial tables and found some terrific ideas. But, since Mr. Bad Rabbit is doing a lot of traveling right now, making a table won't happen any time soon.

Soooooo. I impulsively decided to make a stand-in. I thought it wise to really make sure I'd be happy with the metallic look before investing time and money. Plus I just had to do something about the bland, outdated table I've put up with for years. I couldn't take it anymore.

I didn't take a before picture, but this is the basic style of the 1980s sofa table I was so desperately tired of.

Boring. 

So I grabbed 3 different silver craft paints and some flat black and got to it!

So much better! Finally, some visual interest!

To achieve the rust stain look, I used these finishes:

They work together to produce a chemical reaction creating "rust." You never know what you will get.

After a quick spray of poly it was ready to make it's debut as an industrial table.

 

Oh, I do like me something shiny!

Wasn't Mr. Bad surprised when he came home from his trip? He really likes the look and is looking forward to doing a DIY table. Meanwhile, I'm content with my stand-in. For a while anyway.

The added bonus is how it shows off Hubby's Olympic Torch, which he carried in 1996. Before, it was lost in all that wood. 

Linking to:
common ground
young an crafty
sassy sites
the girl creative
chic on a shoestring decorating
shabby nest
the gunny sack
a stroll thru life

Ghost table - the rest of the story

I've been getting numerous comments asking how I did the image transfer on my ghost table.

To make it easier for everyone who is interested in the process I updated the original post with a more detailed 'How To'.

You will find it here, just scroll down.

Presto Chango

A girlfriend purchased this amazing vintage ceiling fixture off etsy. Isn't it awesome? It's perfect for her
1800s log house.

Unfortunately, this is the color it really was. It was rather garish, not even close to the picture on etsy. Plus, it arrived broken with more pieces dropping off as it was moved. Heartbreaking!

My friend asked me to repair and paint the light and even though I've never done anything like that before, I agreed to do it. In my box of lamp parts (I am a true junker) I found a cap and a finial that would work. We agreed on a patinated copper look and I got to it.

The first coat of copper spray paint was a little bright. (Yes, I'm using a Puppy Pad as a surface.)

 When the spray paint dried I did a few coats of black wash using black craft paint thinned with lots of water. I dabbed up the excess paint as I went, leaving little pools in the crevices. I wanted the build-up to be gradual.

 Then, when the black wash was dry I went over the entire piece with Plaid brand Glaze Vernis. Again, I watered down the glaze and did 3 coats, dabbing with a rag as I went.

And here is the finished light fixture installed in my friend's kitchen. I love it!

More importantly, my friend and her husband love it. And I got to learn a new technique!

ps. The etsy seller kindly paid for the repair and painting. Sweet!

Linking up to:
savvy southern style
restore interiors
primp

someday crafts
domestically-speaking
house of hepworths
missmustardseed.com
sassysites
common ground
my repurposed life
shabby nest
my 1929 charmer

The Rural Life

I love living in the country. The quiet, the beauty and the critters all make me happy. The drawback? I've been snowed in since Tuesday night. Mr. Bad Rabbit was on a business trip so I was toughing it out alone. It really wasn't all that bad. The worst was lugging firewood through the snow.

My other problem was our electric gate froze shut. I was stuck even if I dared try to drive down our road, which I wouldn't because I've crashed twice in the past even before getting to the gate. Beyond the gate the road gets stupid steep, with deep drop-offs. It scares people even in the summer.

And my oral chemo couldn't be delivered because UPS claimed 'circumstances beyond their control.' I didn't think that truck was going to make it up here anyway. The driver would have been crazy to try. I'll pick it up at the UPS facility today. I hope.

When the snow let up a bit my neighbors made it down the hill to the mailboxes. They brought me the mail and put it just inside the gate. I got my exercise huffing up and down the hill to the gate, that's for sure!

Today is beautiful. The valley below is snow-free but we still have plenty up here. I am crossing my fingers I can make it down the mountain safely today. I'm supposed to be moving into a second booth at the antique mall, plus I have a doctor appointment. Ho boy. I'll be white-knuckling it until I reach bare pavement.

Here's what my world looked like this morning.

The snow is off the trees and cross my fingers, will be off the gravel road, before I have to head into town. I'm not looking forward to loading furniture in the snow, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Right?

Happy Friday everyone!