Coffee shop @ the arts centre

Happy June to all~!!

June is like a happy month… announces the fact that its officially summer and the thought of June has happy pastel, bright and airy colours in my mind.

Adele, Rose & I spend our Sunday evenings (after work!) at the Dubai International Arts Centre. Well!! currently, we are learning to use our cameras better… so hopefully you will see some better pictures.

Anyway… we love going to DIAC, one of the main reasons is their coffee shop… the colours truly inspire me!!!

Here is the entrance… welcome in..

At first glace….






Now do you know why I love this place… Yes!! The orange walls…

The sculpture and paintings here keep changing… they are made by students of the centre.

Some simple yet beautiful décor…

And finally what I love the most…. my cup of coffee…

By the time we finish class its 9pm… this is how the place looks.


Did you like it?? Let me know!!

This is where we spend our Sundays.... what do you do??

It's a Goodwill Party!

Well helloooo ladies! OK, the party is finally here! I am calling this a Goodwill party, but you can link to anything you've purchased "second hand," meaning you purchased it at a thrift store, consignment shop, garage sale, your grandma's attic, whatever!If you have read this blog for one minute, you know I love me some Goodwill! I have three pretty good ones within a five mile radius, and the

Mother of two.

I have long considered myself a mother of two. Even before my son was born, I was a mother of one. One beautiful, sweet, lovely (step)daughter. It is hard for me to call her a stepdaughter. It just doesn't seem right. She has been in my life for such a long time, she feels like part of me, so I call her my child.Not in a freaky stepmother kind of way, mind you. I had one of those a long time ago

Table Dekor

Happy Weekend to all!!!

Most weekends I spend sharpening colour pencils…

This weekend.. I decided to use it as my coffee table décor… This is how it looked

Does anyone have any ideas of what else I could do with these????

So how did your weekend go???

Address It

I found these galvanized planters at the thrift store for three dollars each. I like the galvanized finish, but I wanted them to look a bit more formal.
So out came the black spray paint.
Now they match the other decor on my front porch.Just for fun I put our house number on the front of each using a permanent paint pen.They're the perfect pots for beautiful boxwoods.

Using Ballard Designs as inspiration (part deux)

Here I go again! I tell you what, if you really look through the Ballard Designs catalog, you can find so many items you can make on your own, for a fraction of the price!I saw this one months ago, and I've had everything for a loooong time to make it on my own. I mean, a LONG time. I kept hesitating because of my new found fear of mod podge. I'm sceered. It bubbles up EVERY time I use it. It is

A Clean Slate

Do you ever take all of the accessories out

of a room and live with the

empty surfaces for a few days?Do you ever rearrange the furniture
or does it stay in the exact same spot
year after year?You know that I love my accessories/clutter,
but it's very refreshing
to occasionally remove all of the extra stuff
and change the lay out of a room. It gives you that "just moved in" feeling.
Try It! Go ahead, give your inner decorator
a clean slate.
Allow yourself to embrace change.
Take some time to revitalize your room
and your life.

Simply Pretty Storage

You know of my love for knobs, so you can imagine my delight when I found this little cutie.I was also delighted to find this little wooden box at the thrift store. Sure I could have built one, but finding one for a dollar is always exciting. As you can see, I painted it the slightest shade of blue and did some instant aging with sandpaper and stain.With the addition of the cute little knob, I have a
simply pretty storage solution for those dryer sheets.

Warli - from a little village

Warli is a popular art from a little village in Maharashtra with the same name. This is the most intriguing form of Indian art. My daughters call them the stick men.

Warli paintings are expressions of the daily lives of these tribes. The stories revolve around harvest season, weddings, celebrations, customs, other rituals, etc. Predominately white colour is used on a red earthen background. Just like this house below -

The simple monochromes compositions that mainly consist of geometrical designs, can still be so appealing. The simplest form of art – Warli.


This was painted in my foyer..

I picked up this CD rack from IKEA .. and revived it with a little dose of Warli ...

On the walls ...

a closer look....

I’m currently working on a lamp…. Or rather have been far too lazy to complete it… so post to follow!!!

A playroom for the kids (that works for adults too!)

I know I've been talking about this space for a while, and today I realized I hadn't shown it to you yet! The playroom is our loft, and used to be just an adult space for watching TV, but we rarely used it for a number of reasons -- I'm not sure what those reasons are, but I'm sure there are a number of them. :)We used to have our son's toys in the downstairs office, but it was starting to give

Pardon Me

I'm taking an extra day off to catch up. I hope you'll pardon me for posting an "oldy but goody" from a year ago.

What is it about learning something new?

It's both terrifying and exhilarating!

A few years ago I decided to take a stained glass class. I'd wanted to do it for about twenty years and the timing was finally right. We had tackled the job of remodeling our kitchen on our own, and I wanted one cabinet door to have a stained glass insert. The class was challenging but fun! Someday, when the time is right again, I plan to take another class.
The entire class had to make a small sun catcher as our first project. Much to the teacher's dismay I chose this door insert to be my second project. Luckily, it turned out beautiful, (thanks to a little help from the teacher).
Every time I walk into my kitchen and see my stained glass it makes me happy. It reminds me that

it's important to

continue to learn,

and that you really can teach an old dog new tricks!

What new thing have you learned lately?

I LOVE this country!

For so many reasons, I can't begin to list them all...One of the main reasons is the pride I feel for our military...so today, I say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Your dedication, pride and perserverance is what makes this country great and what keeps this country SAFE. And to the families of our servicemen and women -- thanks to YOU for your dedication as well. I am humbled by your

Sunday inspiration

Another Sunday to start my week...

I truly like day beds... (I think that’s what they are called!!!)

But these beds with lots of pretty coloured cushions look great... in your living room, or in your teenage daughters room.... or just in a small cozy corner of your mansion!!

What do you think

Take it off.

Now, don't get all dirty-bird on me people. Clothing is not optional here at TDC. Well...it's not optional for me...ya'll can wear whatever you want while you're reading.Ummmm....ewww.OK, anyhoo. After this post, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hear a huge, collective "DUH!" across the country.Or as we used to say back in the day, "No duh!" Or my personal favorite, "No doy!"Anyway, I find when I

In Appreciation

In Appreciation of all the men and women
who have and who now
Serve Our Country and to their families. Thank You for Your
Dedication and Sacrifice.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.

A New Outlook

I was blessed to spend this past weekend in
Washington DC watching these because my daughter and son-in-law both graduated.Hooray for them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course we did our fair share of sight seeing.But I also took some time to
notice all of the little things
that are often over looked. Beauty
can always be found
in the details,
even within our own homes.