Tuesday, October 6, 2015

J. Welch Photography

So after a few technical difficulties, I'm ready to launch my new photography website!  It's a "working design" but it's good to go for now.  I've got two mini sessions planned for the end of the year - Halloween and Christmas - and an so excited to use more of my newly discovered skills and equipment, so pop on over and take a look, more to come soon!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Master bath progress

I forgot to post this from before we left for our trip, (more on that to come, working my way forward on the memory card) but the counter top, sink, faucet have been installed and are in working order!  I love the new look, it was so dated and now it makes me smile to enter!  I found this mirror at Home Good for $24.99, yeah I was surprised too, even the guy at check out double check the serial number with the tag.  I think it works really well in the bathroom, and its so nice to have a mirror that you can actually see yourself in, and not a tiny little mirror.













I'm getting closer to completion, I still have to:
-Paint
-Get a new light fixture
-Finish painting the grout on the floor and in the shower
-Get new shower doors
-New accessories - like towel bars, and artwork

Luckily the heaving lifting is done, and its back to working condition. 

Update: So I wrote this post about 4 weeks ago, sad to say but the only thing new I've done is to hang a towel hook.  I really have been enjoying keeping the towels off the ground, but I could really use some more motivation to get the room finished!  I've got to get this done and my foyer wall paper finished before the end of the year, going to start the new year with brand new projects!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Back 2 School Mini Sessions - One day left!

Day one of the Back 2 School mini sessions went great!  Aren't these girls the cutest!!
 
I still have some open spots for tomorrow (Thursday 9/10) mini sessions - FB or email me (jen.welch1@yahoo.com)


Saturday, September 5, 2015

Back 2 School Mini Sessions

Back to School Mini Sessions!
 
 
 
I'm in need of some new subjects!
I've been taking a photography class, and poor Ellie has been the subject of much of my practice, and is now less than excited when she sees the camera come out. My bribes of M&M are loosing their effect, and the "sad face" follows.
 
 
Sessions will be quick and fun (about 10 to 15 minutes) and everyone gets a high resolution digital download of an image of their choice, along with a private online gallery of all images (10-15 images)
 
To see the whole gallery click here
 
Additional images are $5.00 or purchase the whole session for $30.00, all delivered digitally.
 
 Sessions will be on Monday Sept 7th 10:30-12:00 AM and Thursday Sept 10th 6:00-7:30 PM @ 23035 Balcombe
 
To schedule via FB or email at jen.welch1@yahoo.com
 
Signs from Pre - School all the way to 12th Grade, even if your kids are not school age, come enjoy the fun fall backdrop!


 

Friday, August 7, 2015

Banana Leaf Prints

I was looking for the right piece of artwork for the half bathroom, needless to say I've been looking for months (and months, like last year) now, and just not finding what I wanted.  A few months ago I decided I wanted my accent color to be emerald green and I liked the tropical leaf prints.

What I was seeing was hand painted leaves which are beautiful, but just to exactly what I was looking for or looking to spend.

Then I reading some new posts on Sarah M Dorsey Designs blog and remembered her Large Scale Banana Leaf Prints, I guess I didn't notice before that she was selling the images for $5.00, I got really excited and ordered them from her - see the directions on the bottom of her page.


I had to add a little side note - Sarah is so nice!  I have ordered from her in the past (remember the Living Room Stencil Wall?) She emailed me back so quickly, both times, and from what I can see, she replies to all of her comments on her blog.  I felt like I was talking to a celebrity, cause she's pretty famous in the bloggersphere.

Sarah had order her prints from SnapBox.  I've never heard of them, but decided to follow the link to check them out.  Umm, So. Glad. I. Did.  So first, they offer a 30% to first time buyers.  I ordered my prints in 10 by 15 to keep in scale with Sarah's pictures.  With my coupon the total for the two prints was $21.00 bucks, um yes, for two framed pieces of artwork. AND they can so well packaged with the hanging wire already perfectly attached to the back.  I was really impressed.  I have to add 2 things, first the picture was 10 by 15, but then they put a 3 inch white boarder and a 2 inch word frame, so you are really getting your money worth, and some.  And 2, I ordered on a Tuesday, delivered by Friday.

So hello to photo galleries, now more of my pictures will make it to the wall! 

I just love the way they turned out, I'm not kidding it makes the bathroom look notably larger than before.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Boom!

Ellie was playing, lost her balance and her nose made contact with a corner, needless to say it was tramatic for all involved. Ellie is handling everything like a champ, she gets out her 3 stitches soon. We are so proud of how brave she was over the whole!

The dogs were also flustered by the events, as they, especially Sasha, make it their personal mission to protect her, so Sasha toloraited some extra cuddle time. 

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The Winner is: Green

Remember that garbage desk, well it's finally done!  As you can see I went with green, and I'm happy with my choice.  It did take more cans of spray paint that I thought, but that seems to always be the case. I think it's a really cool piece.  I will probably never pick up a rattan piece that needs work, as fixing the cane binding was not on the top of my list, but I'm happy its done! Currently, I'm using it as my bar in the dining room, under Papa Rooster - can't pass up anything I get to show off my artwork pride and joy.  Will it stay in the dining room?  Probably not, but I have a slight addiction to furniture, with the idea more is clearly and always better, so I just keep moving stuff around to fit more.

Thats a little more my speed...

Have you ever had one of those projects that seems to spiral out of control? "Well if we do this than we really should do that, and if we're doing that we might as well do this" Then before you know it, a little project is a really big project.  Well, I'm determined to make the master bath reno, NOT ONE OF THOSE PROJECTS.  I've never loved the bathroom floor, I'm not sure how many people really "love" their bathroom floor but that's besides the point.  The grout is not dirty but has literally yellowed over time, so I could scrub all day and its never going to get white again.  I have 3 options here, 1. Rip out the entire floor and put in a new tile that I do love.  2. Sand out all of the grout and regrout, or 2. Paint over the old grout with fresh white paint.
 
Well as much as I would love to go with option 1, Its. Not. Gonna. Happen.  This floor was set in 2 inches of cement, yes 2 inches.  We had to build back up the floor under the new vanity.  So I'd have to be crazy to want to take a sledge hammer to that, no to mention get rid of it once its removed.
 
I went with option 3.  I pick up this grout pain and sealer from Home Depot, I think it was like 8 bucks, but I'm just guessing. The bottle could do ever grout line in my entire house if I wanted to, a little goes a long way.  I wanted to start in the shower.  The first 2 feet or so of the shower is permanently stained, trust me I have tried everything, from bleach to acid, and every "miracle cleaning solution" of Pintrest, yeah its never getting white again either.  But the product needs 72 hours to dry before getting wet, so I have to plan accordingly.
 
I started on the floor, I used a small paint brush from one of those kits that come with like 20 bushes for 5 bucks, and just painted the seams, it will stick to tile so you want to wipe off the extra before it dries.  It's truly a less than thrilling job, especially with the amount of grout lines I have, but at the end of the day, it's going to be totally worth it!  It makes the floor look brand new!
 
I have to admit, I couldn't resist trying a little bit in the worst part of the shower, its the back corner so it will stay pretty dry, and it looks like I'm going to need about 3 coats to really cover the stains, however still better than alternative 1 and 2.
 
I'll post my shower before and after's, I hope it will all look uniform after I'm done, but anything is better that what I currently have.


Sunday, July 26, 2015

Finally got my drawers

This weekend we made some good progress on our master bathroom. I am so glad to get my set of drawers out of our bedroom. We assembled it like two months  ago with hopes of getting started but life kept getting in the way. 

We assembled the 30 inch sink base and made a 42 in vanity with the 12 inch drawers. The old vanity was 27 inches with a 39 inch top, I had a few extra inches next to the toilet so I extended the counter to 48.

 
I'm using 24 by 12 tiles, and with the farmhouse sink, so I will only have 1 full seam and 2 seams that will only be about 5 inches, so it will almost look like 1 piece of marble.

I'm happy with the cabinet, it's the same style and color as the half bath. KSI has an outlet in Brighton where they carry 2 style of flat back cabinets, the darker one is the one we choose. The lighter one had more of a country look to it.
Next weekend I hope to have the counter top and back splash done so all of the tiling will be complete. I'm going with a white subway tile to coordinate with the shower. We have NO plans to rip out the Tile from the shower, it's white and in good shape, just need to clean and seal the grout, now that my dad fixed the leak it's has since we moved in.

 
Just some new paint, fixtures, mirror and art and it will be a whole new room, oh and new track less shower doors.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Who's ready for a bathroom remodel?

7:30 on a Saturday morning, makes the perfect time to start my master bath reno.
Everyone is still alseep, so I can sit in peace and plan my Home Depot shopping list. This bathroom will make 2 out of 3 remodeled and the one I have disliked the most, mainly due to the lack of storage, and the fact the counter top is 5 inches shorter than normal. All I've wanted since we have moved in is drawers! Most of the time the counter is so cluttered you can't even see it, which I completely understand is my own fault. It's not Brian's makeup all over. 
I wanted Carrera marble counters, however I almost feel over at the price, over 700 bucks, for that little space, Umm I don't think so! I was thinking the new Formica 180 in marble. Which I was sent a sample and seems petty awesome. When my dad suggested tile. The first thing that came to mind was the 12 by 12 granite tile counters with horrible grout lines. However the Tile Shop had 12 by 24 pieces of beautiful marble, so after the layout with the sink, we will have 1 maybe 2 grout lines, so not a bad compromise for high end marble.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Still in progress...

I'm still working on the updated house tour, just need to get the pictures from the camera to the computer... I want my next camera to run on wifi so the pictures download automatically.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Ones man's trash is another girls treasure

I can't always help my self when I drive by awesome trash at the curb.  I have gotten a few awesome things out of the garbage, like a brass 1950's Italian Chiavari Chair work about a thousand bucks!  So pretty awesome, if I do say so my self!
 
When I saw this rattan bamboo desk, I pulled over and loaded into the back of the van.  The benefit of having a van, EVERYTHING FITS, the cubic feet in that thing is amazing, makes up for the whole "van" thing.
 
 
Pardon the cell phone pic, it was in some rough shape.  A lot of the rattan was missing or peeling and the last paint job was pretty "gloppy" so it needs a lot of sanding.
 
 
Bring on the stripper! 
 
 
In about 4 minutes the paint was bubbling and scraped off with no issues.  If you have never used stripper before, it's some nasty stuff.  Wear gloves and do it outside - it burns if it gets on skin - just don't ask and trust me.
 
 
The rattan was pretty beat up, luckily for about 8 bucks with shipping from Amazon I was able to order new rattan cane. I've never worked with it before so we'll see how it goes.
 
 
I spent about 2 hours sanding down the legs and sides of the desk and now it's ready for prime.  I'm not sure what color to paint it however.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I also got an awesome mirror that needs painting from a garage sale, so I'm thinking of painting them to match, the issue is however where do I put them?
 
I'm feeling Emerald Green right now, but I'll see how I feel after the primer.

Where did my baby go?

It seems like just yesterday E was a tiny little baby, now she's a little adult, with a very busy little mind. Hard to believe she'll be two in a few short months!

Monday, May 25, 2015

Updated House Tour...Coming Soon

I just realized how dated the house tour of our current house it!  It's sad, it need major updating.  We're getting some new furniture in the master bedroom delivered next week, so I'll try and update a room or two a week.  The only updated room is Ellie's!  Our goal is to have the basement "semi finished" by the end of the summer.  Like most older home's the basement still has low ceilings and no windows (sorry I don't count the 1 X 2.5 little slivers of light as a window) so we know that dumping too much money into is not work it, so we'll be working in a tight budget.

Friday, May 22, 2015

That's a ton

Actually it's two tons of slate scape rocks.

We had it delivered from the local landscaping shop, and I always hate guessing if I ordered the right amount.

Both Brian and I commented that we thought there would be more. I guess will find out soon. 

We did -as a family- I may add, Ellie had her own little hand shovel, start spreading rocks. I would say we're about 1/2 done with still about 2/3 of the rocks left, so hopefully we will have plenty?!

Monday, May 11, 2015

E's Big Girl Room

I can't believe my baby is no longer a baby, it's like she went to bed one night a baby and work up a little person.  It feels like just yesterday I was putting the finish touches on E's nursery, but she'll be 2 this fall.  When I first designed Elle's room I designed it to be able to grow with her, and when I saw this Tee Pee I knew I had to have it!
 
 
I switched out the big rocking chair for a smaller vintage bentwood rocker.



Gerald, Seahorse, and Minnie - We must have them every night.  You would not believe the lengths we had to go to make sure we have a back up if any of them...oh parenthood!
 
The Jenny Lind crib has a matching toddler rail


 
Next to go is the changing table, we're getting pretty good at the "big girl potty"
 


 
"But I'm a Pout-Pout Fish" It's a really cute book by the way. 
 
 Ellie's gold play kitchen







As always all photography is from Jennifer Grant  If you have been thinking about doing family/kids pictures - you need to give her a call! I promise you will be blow away by the awesomeness of her work! 

Saturday, May 9, 2015

We have light!

As promised, the pictures of the lighting at night. Looks awesome and I still can't believe how easy it was!

4 Minute Pillow Covers



My new outdoor color scheme is now purple and yellow, so the old red pillows no longer matched.  JoAnn's had canvas on sale for $6.99 and each pillow only took 1/2 a yard so for under 7 bucks all new pillows!  And each pillow took like 4 minutes to make, no joke, super fast!

Step 1: Fold the fabric up about half way up the pillow, I used the finished edge and this edge will be the edge that will be seen on the back of the pillow, so if you wanted you can finish this edge.

 
Step 2: Fold up and set up both sides
 
 
Step 3: Now you have a pocket

 
 
 Step 4: Fold the unsewn side back over the pillow so that the fabrics over laps about 3 inches or so, if the pillow is bigger it you may want to fold the fabric over a few more inches.
 
 
 Step 5:  Cut the extra fabric and finish the edge off
 
 
Step 6: Put the pillow back in place and set up the last 2 sides.  I usually double stick over the edges as they will get the most stress.
 
 
 Step 7: Turn the pillow case right side out and stuff with pillow
 
 
 Step 8: Finished!