i'm a late {bloomer}

So, while working on my next project the other day, my mind suddenly wandered back in time, and reached deep into the recesses of my brain, and tucked deep inside my memory banks, it found a most intriguing snippet of my childhood that I had long since forgotten.  My early years began in Cedar City, Utah where my father taught industrial arts at the middle school.  Often, my brother and I were treated to a trip to his "shop", which to us, was probably the equivalent to going to FAO Schwarz by today's standards; we made our fun, today's kids buy theirs.  As my memory transported me back in time, I could almost smell the familiar aroma of freshly cut wood, and the scent of the ajax like, powdered hand soap in the restrooms, that felt like sandpaper searing through the skin on your hands.  We would hammer, and construct, and create.....it was heaven!

This memory was like an old home movie being played out in my mind.  It continued on to our summers that were spent up the mountain a ways, at our family cabin in Duck Creek, where My father would build cabins for others.  Our modest little cabin was situated on a side hill looking out over the most splendiferous meadow with a creek running through the middle.  After a particularly hard winter one year, we were delighted to find the meadow flooded with run-off from the melting snow.  We built a raft out of logs that we painstakingly tied together with twine, and our world was instantly, and magically transformed into an adventure tale straight from a Mark Twain novel.  We would catch ducks by the dozens, and polliwog's by the hundreds!  If my memory serves me correctly, I believe there were even a few water snakes that year....shreek!

When we weren't on the high seas in the meadow, we were constructing something at the cabin.  There was always copious amounts of tools, wood scraps, and paint at our disposal, so inevitably we were in the midst of creating something.  One year it was a tree fort that looked very similar to this one. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the real one, and to my horror, the tree was removed two summers ago, because it had died, and because it was situated so closely to the cabin, we feared that it would come crashing down causing the utter destruction of our little wonderland.  But.....seriously, this one closely resembles our first architectural aspirations.  We were delighted!  In our minds, our images of what it looked like were probably more like the fort in this photo, but we were thrilled with our completed project non the less.

As I was in my own "shop" yesterday resurrecting my creative genius, replaying these childhood scenes over in my head, I started thinking; "What took me so long to tap into my creative genes?", and "I have wasted so much time!"  I've had these abilities all my life, but for some reason I tucked them away...far away.  I thought of all the wasted years that I have told myself that I don't have a creative bone in my body.  I came to the conclusion that I am a {late bloomer}.  I've got to get crackin', I've got a lot of time to make up for!  I searched through the house and found a mirror that was given to me for Christmas one year, that has been in storage because It didn't go with the decor in my home anymore.  Here are the before and after photos:

{before}

{after}

Then I found these old picture frames tucked away in a cabinet:

The after photos will be shown at a later date...I ran out of time!

For my next larger project, I want to refinish some bedroom furniture that I have had for several years.  This end table is part of that collection.  The distress marks just above the knob on the drawer are where Bug {Hayley} cut her first teeth.  Sad to see that piece of history go by the wayside, but excited to see what the end result will be.   I know that I want it to be a fun color, but I'm having a hard time deciding which one, so give me some suggestions.

I'm happy to be back among the blogging world.  I hope that my new found creativeness doesn't fail me again, and I have many more tales to tell, and refurbished treasures to share.  Just a little side note:  not all, but some of these little goodies are available to purchase.  If anyone is interested, just leave me a comment and let the haggling begin!  :o)

Hugs to All,

{kelli}