Sorry for the extra long wait this time. Between Shea’s grad, packing, moving, working on the new house, etc., I’m just a little behind! I’m working on July’s pattern now and hope to be caught up and on schedule by the end of summer. I’ll keep you posted. June’s pattern is “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears”. If you click on the image, it should take you to the website to download the pattern.
June's Free Redwork Pattern
We moved into our new (slightly unfinished) home one week ago. While the rest of us have been busy unpacking, Martha has been quietly drawing away on her bedroom walls. Here’s her self-portrait.
Martha beside herself!
We’re about 10 days to two weeks away from moving into our new house! While we wait for the house to be finished (we hope to have functioning bathrooms – and maybe a kitchen when we move in!), we have started getting our hands a little dirty ourselves. I had seen chalkboard walls in various magazines for a few years and planned to paint one in our new house. Then our son, Sam, who isn’t usually too into “decor”, said he’d like a chalkboard wall in his new room, followed by Martha, who thought she’d like one too. And then she saw the chalkboard walls on the Anthropologie site and decided her whole room should be a chalkboard! (We talked her down to three walls – and not the floor!)
Anthropologie's Chalkboard Walls
I did a little research on the web and got some good tips on how to paint a chalkboard wall, which I’ll share, along with pictures of Sam’s wall:
1) Tape off the area that you’re about to paint. Use painting tape and use a putty knife to press down the edges of the tape so there won’t be any bleeding. Prime the wall with grey primer. Use a foam roller because you want the smoothest finish. (Note: these seem to come only in a small size, so it takes a little while to roll the wall…)
Step #1 - Grey Primer
2) Paint the first coat of chalkboard paint (I used Rustoleum, but there are other brands). Keep using the foam roller!
Step #2 - 1st coat of Chalkboard Paint
3) Allow sufficient time between coats before painting again. I had enough paint to do three coats from one quart.
Step #3 - Paint subsequent coats
4) Wait three days. Then chalk the entire wall using the side of pieces of chalk. (I had to enlist my husband’s help here as I hurt my back and couldn’t do the ladder that day.)
Step #4 - Chalk the Entire Wall
5) Use a chalk brush to erase the chalk and the wall is ready! The chalk brush we had didn’t clean up the wall as much as I would have liked, so I will be looking for a better brush. Sam is going to draw his own art on the wall soon… Note that you can wash all of the chalk off of the wall, but you must “chalk” it again before drawing on it again.
Step #5 - Erase the chalk and you're ready to draw!
Martha’s three walls are done now too. She can’t wait to get her hands on the chalk, but she has to wait two more days! She’s been busy taking a modern art class and a pottery class at our local art museum this week, so she’ll have some new art to tape up in the chalk frames she plans to draw. (We didn’t need that wallpaper with all the frames after all!)
Last weekend, our third child, Shea, graduated Grade 12. We are very proud, of course! The whole family was able to be there for her big day. She was awarded the Governor General’s Medal and was class valedictorian.
Shea's Valedictory Address
Here she is with her “best friend”.
Shea and Charlotte
Thank you, Grandpa, for the wonderful pictures! And thank you Betsey Johnson for the lovely dress and shoes. It was perfect for Shea – the exact colour of her eyes. Thanks, Pat, for the great “do” – she loved it!
Shea will be attending Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia this fall. It’s a very long way from home (1973 miles or 3175 km) but she is excited to experience a new and different part of Canada. She received a very nice scholarship and is entering the College of Science. She wants to be a doctor by the time she’s done. Love you, Shea!
Darn that Martha Stewart! What were we thinking? We spotted an awesome wedding picture in Martha’s latest wedding magazine and decided “we can do that”! This isn’t the exact picture, but one from Martha’s site:
Martha Stewart Pom-poms
No, we’re not decorating for a wedding. We’re decorating for Shea’s Grade 12 Graduation. We are making over 300 of these pompoms… I think we have over 75 so far. It’s been a marathon of girls and tissue paper this past week. The pom-poms have taken over the main floor of our house and chased us out to the porch for meals. I think we will have to start hanging them upstairs next.
Our attempt at Martha Pom-poms
Did I mention they’re taking over the house?
And more pom-poms!
And did I mention that we’re starting to pack up our house (see boxes on the right above), that we’re into the last two crazy weeks of school and the last couple weeks of our new build?
Now would be a good time to say that the June redwork pattern will be late – sorry! It’s drawn but not stitched. I’ll be on it as soon as I help make another 225 or so pompoms (and get the tissue paper dye off my hands)!