Blessings and Birthdays!

Greetings Blog Friends. As I am about to turn my calender to the month of March, I end February with my birthday today. Yes, nearly leap year for me, but born in time to count another year, every year!! Otherwise I might celebrate birthday number 14 or so. LOL~~oh what fun that might be, having a true birthday every 4 years!! I'm sure it would have been moved to the 28th or March 1st.

However, for me with every birthday I remain continually thankful for the many blessings I have been given from God and seen everyday along my journey. Thankful for my family, friends and all that I hold so dear. Blessings~~far too many to count.

Yesterday in church one of my favorite hymns was sung and one that I hold true for my own life. As we sang, I thought of all that is so important in my life. The simple little daily joys, along with the wonderful people that made the days coming up to this day, so special. The cards, calls, emails, lunches, dinners and gifts will always be treasured. Thank you so very much. You know who you are, and you know, I love you dearly and send my heartfelt thank you.
My gift for you all today, is to share a video of this precious song that I love so much.
Take a minute and enjoy the beautiful music and words that have meant so much to me.
Turn up your volume to listen. My playlist is temporarily empty so you may enjoy this video. May all your days be blessed.

These Alone are Enough (Dan Schutte)



Thank you for stopping by and always for your kind comments. I will be back in a day or two with pics to share of my finished kitchen remodel. Bella Rose Cucina!
Till then, have a wonderful last day of February.
Celestina Marie

Kickin Up Dust! Progress Report!

Never let anyone tell you that remodeling does not make the dust fly. It is so my friends. As many times as I have done these projects, it never ceases to amaze me how the dust settles everywhere. I covered everything so well, and still, my house looks like someone emptied a flour sack here. Of course I am cleaning up as we go, but the real cleaning will come shortly when we are finished and the rest of the fun decorating begins.

As the redo continues, yesterday was the granite day, and after 9 hours of the best fabricators in the world doing an incredible job, the granite is in and I love it. What a difference it makes in my kitchen. Today is tile on the back splash and grouting tomorrow. Still more dust, but the look makes it all worth it for sure.

Here are a few more pics of the progress so far.

Removing old counter tops.

Leveling the island, sink, bar, and stove top areas.



How a granite seam is joined and made to look seamless! And, we only have one seam in the whole kitchen.


This is an interesting process using weights, on each side of the seam line, filled with a special glue and tightened with an air compressor for nearly 30 minutes.
The results are amazing.

Our tile selection is a light creamy ivory with light shades of taupe. The grout will be light too. Very neutral to coordinate with the Giallo Venenziano. They look great together. I choose this lighter tile because I like to change my mind with color now and then. Tuscan Kitchens generally are known for amazing and colorful tiled back splashes, but I thought for us I would bring in that touch of color with my accessories instead. The tile will be applied on the angle diamond shape. This gives a sense of space and interest.

I nearly created a tiled mural for the stove top area, but in the end, I went with a wagon full of pots of roses surrounded by a Tuscan style frame. Here again, when I want to change the look, we are not stuck with a tiled mural that is permanent. Framed artwork can easily be changed.

Here is a little peek of the tile(no grout yet) with the granite and those gorgeous old pots filled with water color roses in shades of reds, pinks and greens. I had this print professional framed under non glare (highly recommend) glass for over the stove.



Well that's all for today's progress report. We reached 78 degrees today. Sure is a welcome change since the bitter cold temps a week ago. Look where my Miss B enjoyed the day. Laying in the sun by the pool. What a life! She looks like a lion.

See you again soon. Have a wonderful day.
Celestina Marie

GIVEAWAY DRAWING, Valentine Wishes,Kitchen Progress and a Few New Treasures!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Today is the drawing for my Valentine Giveaway and we have not only one winner, but a drawing of three. Yes, I had a couple more hearts and wanted to give them away for two more blog friends.

So on with our drawing results.

Like all my giveaways, I pull out the "PINK COWGIRL HAT" and fill it with the names copied from the list of entries. My best guy mixed up the names and then drew the three winners.





Third place winner~~ is Susan!

Second place winner~~ is Lululiz!

And our First place winner is Diane!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS and many thanks to all who entered. I always wish everyone could win, but as we know, it's not possible. However, for this giveaway I am so excited to give three.
First place is the keepsake box with heart and the second and third place winners receive one ceramic heart. Thank you all so much and please email me your addy for delivery!

I hope everyone enjoyed a special Valentine's Day and here are a few pics to share my Valentine Wishes!





Spring Mix of Flowers, Just For You!


On the kitchen progress, we are coming along and finished the ceiling design above the chandy over the weekend. My guy did an amazing job of creating a look that gives some accent to the lighting. Tomorrow the granite will be installed and I will take pics to share later.




From my studio and ready for the shelves in my etsy shoppe, are these few creations with lots more on the way soon.




Thank you for stopping by to visit and share in my giveaway. Another giveaway for St. Patrick's Day is next and will be shared soon.
Have a special Valentine's Day!
Smiles, Celestina Marie

HERE WE GO AGAIN!~~MORE ICE~and GRANITE?

Yes, you guessed it~ more sleeting ice and bitter cold temps with a wind chill of -5 below. Way too cold for me. Texas is not supposed to have weather like this right? Well, we do at least once a year. However this is an unusual season with 2 weeks in a row posting school closings and dangerous travel due to ice and freezing temps.
I could not resist this pic of Miss B's footprints in the sleet. She walked like she was on tip toe to potty. It was so cute and you can see from her print, not your usual dogie paw print. It looks like a little flower in the snow.



Yesterday was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky and somewhat warmer temps. Perfect weather for us to finally get out to the granite slab yard to review our kitchen counter top selection. If you've been following my remodel this season, you know we are updating our kitchen.



So off we went on the hour long trip to view natures natural material from Brazil delivered to the east side of Dallas. Our selection is Gagallo Venenziano. An Italian style look composed of natural stone materials of quartz, feldspar, mica and other colored materials found in nature and mined with this material called granite. The color is lighter in style which will serve our somewhat dark kitchen well. I just love this process and the look and feel of natural stone. Since I studied geology in college, I have always loved these natural beauties and the gorgeous colors found in the earth.

Due to the imperfections of mother nature, it must be viewed for variations in color and pattern. Any areas with flaws can be cut around when planning the counter templates. We were able to work with a wonderful fabricator who shared with us the layout and how he would work with any flawed areas to get the best fit using our chosen slabs.
We had to pick 2 slabs to cut from since we have a bit of counters to replace. So with much patients and time, we finally were able to match two nice slabs perfect for our needs. And the weather cooperated with blue skies and lots of sun.

To begin the process, templates are made ahead of time using thin wood planks, cut to model the counters. Here is a pic of the layouts and pile of patterns all ready for the fabricator.



When arriving to the granite yard, you see rows and rows of beautiful slabs of granite. These slabs range in size from 6' to 10' wide by 10' long.

Fabricators driving slab lifts, pull out the selections for viewing. Many customers were here this day to view their selections because of last weeks bad weather keeping the yard closed for viewing.

Our selection of Venenziano in 2 slabs. Love it!


The install will happen the 15th and I am now in the process of clearing the rest of the room to prepare.
While waiting, my best guy and I have used the time to do our part of the remodel. Here is a little peek of the hood fan over the cook top.

In case you are wondering,?? No, all the cabinets are not black. This is just an accent touch along with the island which I made to look like a furniture piece. Those pics will be ready later as the granite is finished and the back splash is also installed. For that I have chosen a light creamy ivory tile to pick up a bit of the color in the granite and furniture pieces.
So you can see, we are still having some fun and little by little everything is coming along as planned.


Thank you for stopping by to share in my kitchen update. Time to go back to the studio where I have lots of new treasures waiting to be completed and sent to my etsy shoppe. My studio girlyfriend, Miss B, would rather watch TV and the Animal Planet with daddy.


Don't forget to enter my Valentine Giveaway HERE! Drawing on the 14th! Good Luck!


Also, if you feel like shopping, I have a SALE going on HERE till the 14th too using coupon code HEARTS15 at checkout with paypal.



Have a wonderful day and enjoy your winter day wherever you are.
Blue Skies and Smiles!
Celestina Marie

As The Remodel Continues~

What a difference a week makes in the cold days of winter. We are finally warming a bit and just in time for our neighboring city of Fort Worth to be host to the 45th Superbowl. As the sun smiled upon us, the ice melted and the thermometer warmed.
However, "not so fast" says Mr. Winter, "I am not done with you yet." More wintry mix expected this week. Well, so it goes. It is February after all and it is still better then the storms that most of the country experienced this season so far.

So as the flurries continue, I am staying busy and working between studio and home to complete many projects on my list.
As you know, our kitchen remodel is underway and coming along nicely. The counter tops of granite are being finished and while this is on going, I have redesigned two furniture pieces to compliment the new look.

The large and very dated ceiling light box is down also and new chandelier lighting in place. What a big job. But thanks to my guy's electrical skills, we have light and the fixtures are awesome. I will have pics to share of those soon, but for now, here are a few of the process.

On one side of my kitchen near the fridge, I have a corner cabinet hutch that is definitely old world in nature and in need of a makeover. So it went from sage green to a gorgeous cottage cream. I accented the shelves with tea stained vintage lace, trimmed and altered baskets, a few vintage treasures and a tea towel I embellished with buttons and more tea stained lace.

The Before pic in the sage green.

After Pics~






Another little redo, is my step stool redesigned with vintage roses on an old world style background.

On the far side of my kitchen, near the table, is a built in hutch that was also sage green. It too received my new cottage cream, fabric and trim on the inside back wall, vintage lace on the shelves and glass roses on the upper glass doors. On the bottom doors I painted the carved wood accents and bottom feet to look like a free standing piece tucked in the inset. The inset is painted a gorgeous chocolate curl to accent. I am in love with this combination.
Here is the before pics~


The after pics~






And, of course a few inspirations~



So back to creating I go and hoping for old man winter to change his mind about giving more cold temps with snow.

Thank you for stopping by today. I always love to see you. And, if you don't already know, I am having a Valentine giveaway with drawing on Feb.14th. To enter, you can visit HERE.

I also have a SALE starting today the 7th through the 14th of Feb. with 15% off any item purchased in my shoppe HERE. To receive this discount, use coupon code HEARTS15 at checkout with paypal.

Have a wonderful February day!
Hugs from Texas, Celestina Marie