Inspired Sunday!

Hello everyone. I feel like I'm meeting up with dear friends.  Hope your week has been good. I have had a crazy week full of work, work, work (ending with a terrible migraine!)  To relax I hit Goodwill or The Salvation Army at lunch for about 4 days in a row.  Saturday I went to a yard sale and another thrift shop.  I had some great finds, which I will share another time. One thing I bought was this very pretty, but not-so-high-quality silver tray:

I knew it would be just perfect for a small chalkboard, like the kind that we see all over Pinterest right now.  I protected the trim with blue tape, which you have to tear into small pieces

                                                 to make it curve around the tray:

I added exra tape to cover all the silver so the overspray from the Chalkboard Paint wouldn't reach it.  This Krylon chalkboard paint is my favorite.  It makes such a smooth writing surface and goes on so evenly!

I sprayed one coat, lightly sanded with a fine sanding block, and then sprayed again.  Once it had dried for about 30 minutes, I carefully peeled away the tape, pulling the tape away from the painted area:

I let it dry over night, rubbed a piece of chalk on in it to season it, and then wrote with a chalk pen.  The pen I used was for smaller projects. I will have to go out and get the wider nibbed one! Love the pen though! The chalk ink doesn't smear, but comes off easily with a wet paper towel.  Check out the great pens and videos at chalkink.com.

                                   Here is my finished "chalkboard" on the table in my entry:

I'm really pleased with the result, although I just quickly freehanded the lettering to get a photo.  I will definitely rewrite with care!

Inspired Sunday!

So much inspiration from our party goers this week!  Where to begin?????  We are just really getting into the hottest part of the summer here in California and will be enduring summer through the end of October.  So I chose posts that represent the best parts of summer for me.

Debbie at Debbie Dabble shows us that after a sweltering day of blistering summer heat, there's no calmer or cooler place to be than in a garden at night time. Sometimes I open all the doors, turn off the lights, and burn candles to bring this atmosphere indoors.

Dawn, at We Call It Junkin,' reminded me that sometimes the movie theater is the only cool place to be when the thermometer passes 100 degrees.  If the movie has antiques in it like she shows on her blog, I'm there--even if I don't care what the film is about.  (Perhaps that's why I never remember the plot of a film?  head scratch...) 

Christina at PennyWise wrote a lovely post about the refreshing qualities and uses of lavender. Some summers, I've used lavender bath products exclusively to relax and refresh, but she shows so many other wonderful ways to enjoy this divine plant in recipes, vignettes, and mini indoor gardens!

If you can't stand the heat in your kitchen, ha, you might just decide to take a long trip--OVERSEAS!  Brittany from the Roccoco Roamer is living the life I wish all young marrieds could--living in Germany with her husband of one year and traveling all over.  What wonderful memories she is creating!  (My husband and I traveled for a year all over the East Coast and up to Montreal when we were first married.) Her photos are wonderful and she shares many intimate venues that we wouldn't really see otherwise.  The respect for America's soldiers that she captures in some of her photos is truly inspiring.

Aimee at Refresh and Renew shared my favorite part of summer as a girl--picking wild blackberries and making dessert and jam with them!  This memory is really a fiber of my being!

If you do have A/C (not so common everywhere in Southern California), you might just want to stay indoors and come up with clever ways to document the wonderful times in your life through scrapbooking. Newcomer Laura, from live. love. scrap. came up with the absolute cleverest way to document the adventures of her two young sons!  Her mini-album is brilliant, and put a smile on my face!

Sorry for the long post, but now you see how truly inspired I was by your posts! I had a hard time stopping--chuckle, chuckle!  If you've been featured, please grab my button on the right side bar and put on your blog!  Thank you!
                                                                                               Laura

Metamorphosis Monday

Dwelllings' Amaze Me Monday
Weekend Showoff Party
Time Travel Thursday
Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life
Knick of Time Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Show Me What You Got Tuesdays
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
Share Your Cup Thursdays
Grace at Home
Show and Tell Friday
Sweet and Simple Fridays
Feathered Nest Fridays

Now let's see what everyone has going on this week!