I'm finally ready!!!

My photo is framed just in time for the dinner, wine and chocolate tasting for the artists tomorrow night. It was a bit nerve racking since I've never exhibited anything at a fine art show and didn't know if what I was doing was "right".

So, I had taken the photo to a frame shop and was quoted $500 to have it matted and framed. I knew there had to be a better way - so I came up with the idea to get an antique frame since the barbed wire was old and rusty. The first antique shop I looked at - there it was! My boss suggested taking it to a shop her husband uses for his framing. It turned out to be a VERY expensive venture, but it wasn't the framing.

I had a very knowledgeable gentleman help me in the selection of the mat and glass and was happy to hear they could have them cut for me in an hour. Well, the shop is in a busy shopping area that I don't get to very often. My one hour turned into 3 hours of shopping and purchasing! Yikes! I had been looking into getting a down comforter since I feel in love with the one on my bed on my last vacation. My parents had given me money to buy it for Christmas and the more I thought about it, the more I kept thinking that Winter is almost over and after that it's definitely not a down comforter place where I live.

I stopped at a bedding shop and fell in love with a comforter set - to my amazement I got a comforter, bed skirt, two pillow shams, sheets and pillowcases for $99. I also got a down pillow. When I got up to the register the pillow rang up at the wrong price and I asked the cashier about it. She had a coupon and she took the 25% off of the comforter set - so now it was only $75!!! What a bargain...

I'm really not fond of bed skirts, so I am working on transforming it into a canopy. It's a plain gold color, so I got some Tulip fabric paints this afternoon and I'm going to trace the swirly pattern on the comforter onto the bed skirt and suspend it from the ceiling. I hope to do that this weekend and post pictures.

My evening is drawing to a close, but I am relieved that my photo is ready to be hung and am looking forward to tomorrow night!

Joan