My red-headed neighbor

One day, about six years ago, I met a red-headed girl named Kristin by my mailbox.  She had just moved into the home next door to me.

We visited for a few minutes, I remember laughing at one of her witty jokes and we’ve been friends ever since. 

I learned early on in life that a red-headed friend is a feisty gift to be cherished, even with the flames.

I love this girl.

(At the baby shower she had for me before Canyon was born.)

She is a giver, eager to share food (and she makes killer guacamole), but even more, she’s willing to share ideas, compliments and concerns.  I never get out of a conversation without honesty and wit. Spending time with her is never boring.

She is an artist, and always willing to put her art and heart into action.  I’ve seen her serve at church and with her family, but there have been times I've been one of her charity projects. 

She's prayed for me, served me, loved me.  

One night, she said she had a dream she built me a pallet wall, so the next day, she did.  

The banner, yep, a gift from her.  

She finishes my unfinished projects, like this clipboard wall art.  

And in her spare time, she built and installed these gorgeous barn wood shelves, "Because I thought you would like them," she said.

Demonstrations of her friendship are all over my home, like these large scrabble letters she made and hung.

What do you do with a friend like this?  How do you give back?

At this point, we are co-parenting our kids, with open doors between homes and kids running in and out through the day and night.  She launders my kid's clothes and I, hers.  She knows where my sock box is, pulling through it looking for her son’s socks and I know the spot under her porch bench where she leaves the items my kids have left behind. 

Our family photos are a combination of each others kids.  She shares hers and I share mine.

When I’m feeling gray, Kristin’s kitchen always has something homemade I can grab. 

I don’t take her for granted.  She’s my go-to when I’m flying high or crashing down.  She picks me up or keeps me up.  She’s seen me mad, I’ve seen her livid.  She’s seen me crushed, I’ve seen her bent. 

This girl has been there for me, through so much.  She’s never a judge, but she does have an opinion and she’s never afraid to share it, I think that comes with the red hair.

Last week, I had a flood in my house.  

For those of you who read my blog regularly, yes, this is the second time in just a few months that we've had some sort of water damage.  Here's the story.  The day before, the pool company came over to fix our pool pump and the system was not put back together properly. 

 Throughout the night, the pool motor pumped and dumped the water from our pool out into our yard and by morning, our living room had 2-3 inches of standing water. 

My first response was to text Kristin.

I gasped when I read her response. 

She shares, cooks, serves, cares, listens, inspires, but this? 

This time she’s gone too far. 

Willing to help clean up my flooded house? 

How did I get so blessed?

Now, I have another reason to love this girl.

She’s so there for me. 

Sidenote:

My baby Canyon got into the flour during this scene.  Funny, baby.

I Make Things - Furniture Make Overs

I love to make things. 

Specifically, I love using items in my art that would normally be thrown out.  

I use old wood, frames, fixtures, even discounted paint.  

I used wood from my dad's stock pile to restore this music cabinet.  I took out the speakers and replaced the panels with aged wood.  

This is still one of my most favorite pieces of all time.

It was a lot of work, but worth it.

I turn old mirrors into chalkboards.

You can read more about how I do this on an earlier post, by clicking here.

The french mirror/repurposed chalkboards sell very quickly. Many mirrors from dressers do not have professional hanging hooks because they attach to dressers.  These are usually the pieces I convert into chalkboards, because once I take the mirror out the frame is light-weight and I can add a hook for easy hanging. Every mirror I work with has a back panel.  I simply remove the mirror and back panel, paint the back panel with chalkboard paint and reattach it.  Other than nails, no other supplies are needed.

With a bit of imagination, chalkboard paint can be added to even the most unusual item.

Like this antique silver platter.

If professional hooks have been installed behind the mirror and I know my client can hang the mirror safely, I might add something special to make an old mirror look new. 

I love using the word LOVE when I make things.

I love using stencil patterns to make something ordinary stand out.

Want to see more chevron?  Click here for a piece I wrote about earlier.

I found this old piece of plank wood and added the chevron pattern with the midcentury swordfish I found at Goodwill.

This took some time to create, 

Before

but I love how it turned out.

After

Midcentury exemplified.

This piece had wicker cabinets and wicker is so not back in style, so I took the wicker out and replaced the panels with old wood, then added the chevron pattern.

Ombre with stenciled arrows.

And if a piece is really lucky, I'll accentuate the natural wood and leave the top butcher block.

My clients really love this look.

So few things are made out of real wood anymore, it's nice to show it off if it's there.

One of my all time favorite pieces was this Bassett hutch.  I really worked with the color and pattern.  Funniest thing, when the counselor took this into the shop, he placed the top piece on upside down.

See the electrical cord for the lighting fixture.  Yeah, normally, that should not be on the bottom.  Sometimes men and detail do not go hand in hand, but my man's a keeper anyway.  

  This shows just how well it was put back together, that it didn't completely fall apart while upside down.

There she is in all her glory, right-side up.

Vintage bar painted in red oil gloss paint.  The oil paint went on like sticky marshmallow whip.  I wasn't sure if it would work out, but viola!  

After several days of letting this thing dry out, it was gorgeous.  This piece felt so sweet to run your fingers over.  

I shop Hobby Lobby and when fun items, hooks and knobs are half-price, I stock up.

I took a chance on this Thomasville hutch desk.  

I don't normally like to work on pieces with glass, but I fell in love with this style and those brass fixtures.

I guess I could be called an environmental artist. 

I'm just happy I'm no longer a starving artist!

There are so many items I don't get around to photographing, like my custom shelves and barn wood wall hooks.  You can find my original pieces at either Merchant Square in Chandler AZ, booth 73 or Antique Plaza in Mesa AZ, booth 52.

Someone pinch me - an author's dream come true

Today, I celebrate.  I hold, in my trembling hands, speaking in a whisper with a barely audible voice, with nerves nothing like steel, but more like wet noodles, with knees knocking, heart palpitating and mind-spinning, but in the words of author Elizabeth Gilbert “. . . choosing the path of curiosity over the path of fear,” I step out from behind the shadows of my computer monitor and into the light of Amazon, print on demand and (dare I say it) book reviews (and clearly the longest run-on sentence every written). 

In one hand, I hold my baby, my real baby who set me on this path.  My little boy who is the best thing that ever happened to me as a post-forty-year-old woman.  In my other hand, I hold an advanced readers copy of my memoir Starving Girl – My 30-day Experience with the Miracle of Intermittent Fasting and Prayer (Three Orchard Productions). 

I’ve been working on this book for 8 months – 8 long months of self-revelation, sleepless nights, growth, spirituality, glory, mind-blowing evidence and let’s not forget, hunger. That’s right, hunger has been an incredible motivator - from hitting rock bottom to having to dig myself out to discovering the most beautiful journey.  I’ve done this all with somebody I really didn’t know very well, somebody who I wouldn’t have picked, somebody who I wasn’t sure if she could really do it.  That person is me.  The reason this story has a happy ending is because along the way God showed me who I really am.  Hoping for a release date of September 24, my birthday.  What a gift that would be! 

"Ta-da, my mom did it," Canyon says.  I love this little boy so much.

After much thought, typing, deleting, writing, editing, starting over, looking for deeper meaning and then finally just having some fun with it - here’s the back book blurb. 

The proverbial bowl of flying spaghetti was a common theme for Laura Lofgreen, a 43 year-old mother of six very active children, including a new baby.  Obese, overwhelmed and living in a state of procrastination, she decided to either change her life or age quietly into the sunset of poor health and unfulfilled dreams. Lofgreen had spent decades dieting, but hunger always got the best of her.  When an out-of-the-blue revelation told her to fast for 30 days, she hesitantly stepped into the world hunger.  Why would she put herself in such a position?  Her Christian faith encouraged fasting, a task she’d ignored for 20 years.  Could there be more to this timeless, religious practice than she realized?  Determined, she struggled, resented, fought and eventually rejoiced in the lessons she learned from daily 16-hour fasts. 

Food; a sore spot for many women struggling with body-image reminded her of Eve and the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.  Since the beginning of time, food had been a tool for good or bad.  Laura constantly asked God questions:  Why was obesity wide-spread?  Was over-eating and depression linked?  Why did some have so much while others starved?  Why was body size related to self-worth?  Why had she turned to food after being sexually abused?  When every impulse and craving of her body was not satisfied, her motivation became stronger and she became more present in life.  She experienced improved relationships with her family and her mind became a breeding ground for deep-thinking and positive affirmation.  In essence, the dreams she’d long buried became reality. 

Laura Lofgreen is a published author (The Memory Catcher) and founder of project: USED; raising awareness through vintage dresses for the 1 out of 3 girls who are sexually abused.  Lofgreen graduated Magna Cum Laude in Communication from Arizona State University. With over a million hits, most days you can find her writing on her blog My Dear Trash (www.mydeartrash.com).

When Starving Girl is up on Amazon, I’ll post a link.