Life's little suprises

Last Thursday my friend Sally and I went shopping for shelves. This was my third time and Sally's second time. We decided to go to WalMart, the one place we hadn't tried (well, at least the one place I hadn't tried).


After loading the car with four sets of shelving for me, and one set of shelving for Sally, along with cat litter we both bought, the car was filled to the gills, so to speak. On our way back from WalMart, we decided to go to lunch at a place I had never been, but knew there was an old motel nearby I was hoping to get some photos of. Sally didn't want to get out of the car because we were under a severe heat advisory that goes through Tuesday night, so she sat in the comfort of the AC while I took photos. We were actually "frittering away" time until the restaurant opened for lunch,


which is the building with the red roof in the far back of this photo. Back to the former motel, I was never a fan of the 50s or possibly 60s, whichever this was, but I've grown to appreciate what people are now calling "mid-century modern."


Whoever took over this old motel has kept it in decent shape, even though the glass windows have been replaced with boards, probably plywood.


If you stopped by yesterday, you got a taste of the metal palm trees that once decorated this place. Of course, I cropped the shots in yesterday's post, so you didn't see all the background that went along with this now deserted area of town.


Directly behind the motel was the sign for the restaurant Sally picked.


It's a good thing the name of the restaurant, Bishop's, was written on the awnings, or I would never have remembered it.


The food was decidedly American, nothing special, but tasty enough. I even ate my entire plate.



When I got home, I was anxious to try the technique I had seen on Marilyn Rock's blog that morning. Marilyn was playing around with the misting sprays and a Magic Eraser. I had this watercolor paper I had painted bright yellow, then turned into a mess when I tried a technique over-painting with black paint and salt. Since the page was pretty much ready for the rework pile (I don't scrap large sheets of watercolor paper), I decided to get out a stencil and my Magic Eraser and see if I could turn this into something usable or useful.


Obviously, the Magic Eraser lightened the area inside the stencil, but it also removed some of the paper. So, I suspect the technique works far better when you use the color mists, than it did when I tried to remove black paint. But it was fun to try and I have Marilyn to thank for this latest tool in my art box arsenal.

Also, you might notice my Artsee button on my right sidebar. Thanks to Patty and Terri, I followed the link and signed up as part of this blogging community. You can choose up to three categories and I chose both mixed media and fiber arts. I hope you will drop by and sign up, too if you are an active blogger.Gone and completely forgotten!!

As for the shelves? You can see them after I get them to the basement and assembled. Right now I'm hibernating, trying to stay cool.