swept away...whatever craft weekend THE BARN!

Kansas...oh how I've never really liked you before.  Hours and hours I've spent driving through your desolate parts, but this time you charmed me.  THIS time...I fell in love with your wide open fields.  Your windmills standing tall and shiny in the afternoon chill.

 

Okay so enough with the ode' to Kansas I guess.  It did really win me over though.  I've driven through many times heading to my sister-in-law's house in Colorado over the years.  It's barren along the interstate.  You could run out of gas between stations.  I've often wondered what in the world people do to live.  Why would they choose to be there?  Of course this is my perspective from a passenger side window and hours of nothing but tumbleweeds to look at. 

 

Obviously there's so much more.  Like views of this.

 

And with a little Lightroom magic there are barns that look ALIVE!!  And trees that make me want to cry they are so beautiful.

We were driving along and happened across this old abandoned farmhouse.  Megan was squealing...stop the car!!!...and before the van had even stopped rolling my soul sister friend was jumping out...snapping pictures like a crazy person.  And I know for a fact she's crazy because if there wasn't an entire van load of crafters waiting I would have jumped out too!  I know crazy. 


If left alone we would have stomped through broken glass, trudged up rotten stairs, pulling cobwebs out of our hair as we explored.  We have that similar adventurous spirit.  She's got wanderlust and I do too.  Now if we only had unlimited resources and all the time in the world...watch OUT!

She's gonna growl at me for posting this, but how awesome is this picture??  It looks like she's running backwards!!!  Oh my sweet wanderlusty friend;)

 

This was the day I was looking forward to the most.  I love creating, but a lot of that goes along with hunting for treasures.  Finding the perfect thing to repurpose...to decorate with.  It makes my mind go bananas.  So when we drove up to these buildings and all the stuff was laying out in the field...I seriously had heart palpitations.  


Before I could even get out of the car Megan had vanished.  I was yelling into the crazy wind...MEGGGGAAANNN!  She was gone....poof!  Like vapor;)  So off I went exploring.

There was almost too much rusty goodness to take in.  It was old things overload. 

 

 

See that door or whatever it is hanging by a thread off the building??  Well it was banging in the wind over and over again against the metal building.  Kansas didn't let us down.  It was exactly as you imagine.  I was just waiting for a twister to pop down from the sky and carry us away.  Wish my blog had sound effects;)  It was the Wizard of OZ in rusty technicolor.  Fabulous!

Finally we found each other.  We ran up and with bated breath in unison we were like "where were you??"... it was straight out of a sitcom or something. 

 

And when I say found each other I really mean FOUND EACH OTHER.  Before this weekend we had never even spoken on the phone.  I'd read her blog, but I didn't really know her.  It was a little risky running off to room with a stranger.  I'd done it before (remember this?) though, and I knew the payoff could be big.   

 

 

I'm so glad I jumped in with that adventurous spirit of mine.  What a blessing I would have missed out on if I hadn't.  Megan was incredible.  I didn't once feel nervous with her.  She's fun, down to earth...real!  She's the check in with you a couple of times a day friend.  That remembers to pray for you friend.  That has your back.  I know this about her and we only had a few days.  Magical days...

My MN Amy;)

 

So that was the barn experience.  Mind blowing! 

(Megan and Jill)

Then we headed to Sonic.  It's a tradition on Whatever Craft Weekends.  We were starving.  Or maybe I should say I WAS STARVING!  I'm always starving.  You need to know that about me;)  Anyway we ordered tons of junk food...mozzarella sticks, tator tots, popcorn chicken and my new favorite...diet coke with vanilla...YUM!  Thanks Kimberlee for that tip:)  Operation Zip Those Pants was takin' a back seat.  Yikes! 

Once we got home we spread out all our goodies on the table and took in everyone's treasures.  How fun is that?  This is what I got at a little antique store in Marion called Bearly Makin' It.  Just thinking about that store with it's stacks and stacks of quilts and bedding about makes a tear pop out!  WHY can't we have reasonable antiquing in VA?  Why God Why??  Shoot I'd settle for expensive antiquing with stuff as good as this!  It was crazy good.  I found so many good things. 


I got this quilt for $30!!!!!  I know.  Stop hatin'.  It's a little messed up, but I'm going to make pillows and a slipcover for my ottoman out of it.  It's gonna make my ugly brown basement couch look so pretty:)  Oh and that owl HAD to come home with me.  I've been looking for one that sweet for years.  It was meant to be.

(Bethany, Shan, ME, Jill, Angela)

So now I'm wrapping it up.  It's almost time to officially end my most surreal weekend experience ever!  Oh and these girls made it even more surreal.  They knew me!  EEEEK!!  They either read my blog or followed me on Instagram (farmgirlpaints) before I got there.  Love that!!  They were so sweet and didn't stare at all... like I'm sure I did with Meg;) 

Here's all of us...the November 2012 Whatever Craft Weekenders.  Feeling all sassy in our aprons that we MADE!  And truly feeling blessed for an amazing, amazing weekend away.  Swept away... 

**If you haven't...go sign up:)  It's based on a lottery random draw. 

Everyone has the same shot at getting to go. SO FUN! 

Have a blessed day.

879.  windmills

880. cows

 881.  i made stuff

 

882.  i'm on the map!

883.  peanut butter knots...man i wish i had one right now!!

Whatever Craft Weekend

Okay I'm just going to jump in. I'm trying to organize my thoughts. Fair warning this is going to be all over the place...it's a little hard to be concise and eloquent when I feel like I just had an out of body experience!


I got home late Sunday night after four unbelievably amazing days at the Whatever Craft Weekend. On the plane ride home I started getting a little sick and by the time I climbed into bed that night I felt like death warmed over. Let's just say Kansas and my allergies didn't mix, but today finally I'm feeling a little more like myself, so blog I must;)!

Yep that's me standing next to my new sweet friends.  Hard to believe I can say that, but they are!  I love these women.  Kimberlee standing next to me was the chef extraordinaire for the weekend.  She kept me in line;)  Told me just what to do.  I need that.  I'm clueless unless told!  Loved her.  She makes me moan...when she feeds me;)  HA! You have to blog stalk her for recipes.  Start begging for the chili recipe:) It's got golden raisens, cocoa and slivered almonds...tell you BEST RECIPE EVER!!

Then there's Megan.  She invited me to come along as a helper.  Can I just say that being a helper was the most fun!  We got there a day before everyone else and folded, fluffed, chopped and diced.  It gave us a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other a little better.  I felt SO blessed!! More about Megan later...

Next to Megan is Meg Duerksen of course.  My first blog love;)  She came out on the porch to greet us as we drove up.  Honestly I had to steady myself.  I know that's ridiculous, but surreal doesn't even begin to describe how I felt inside.  I was hugging Meg!  I slept in Meg's room with MEG!!  It was all sorts of weird.  Took me maybe a day and then I finally felt a little more normal.  I wasn't pinching myself on the inside;)  I hopefully wasn't staring at her...  She of course is just as awesome as can be.  Very chill, laid back...incredibly sweet!  I ended up liking her even more in person.  I know...scary;)




Then there was the surprise new friend...Ashley.  I'd read her blog on and off over the years, but to get the opportunity to meet her in person was such a surprise highlight.  She was lovely and talented and I just know if we lived close we'd be buddies:)  Her little girl was there too...what a sweet treat to get to hold her and hear about her journey with adoption.  It was amazing.

Okay I'm just gonna be honest here, so when I walked into the house I had the strongest urge to throw up my arms and twirl.  It was STRONG people!!  I mean I'd seen this house on screen throughout the years, but to be standing in it!!!  OHMYWORD!!!  It was just all sorts of happy.

After a few minutes of meet and greet I finally snuck away and started snapping pictures like a crazy person.  I'm still getting used to my new lens, which is a work in progress, so bear with me.  Here we are in what used to be the READ playroom.


A lot of these sweet hoop creations are my Megan's.  Did you notice how I just said my Megan??  I've claimed her.  It's official;)  Anyway...isn't she talented?  You must visit her shop.  Before this weekend I didn't think I could find a spot or have the knack for doing a hoop wall.  Now I'm thinking it's a must.  What an amazing way to colorfy (is that a new word I just made up?) your space!!

Okay so one thing I adore about Meg's house is her lighting.  I have a thing for chandies and they were everywhere!!! 

 

And check out these twinkly lights with banners. I got inspiration overload for my basement.  Can't wait to make it fun like this.

 

 

The top pic is of her entryway light.  Such a sweet chandie.  Probably my favorite.  And then there were the globes.  You all know I love globes.  Such an awesome collection.

 

 

The other thing she obviously collects is colorful quilts.  She has one on every bed...and if memory serves me there were 16 beds!!  That's a lot of gorgeous quilts.  Love how she took a plain brown couch and made it sing.  I've got an ugly dark brown couch in my basement, and I've got just the thing to make it happier;)

I remembered this print.  Loved it when she showed it on her blog:)

 

This window was at the top of the stairs. What a beautiful wake-up call every morning!
 

 

 

This was my bed.  How sweet is that?  And it was uber comfortable!  I slept like a baby under that vintage bedding.  Oh and those were goodies (swag) from various sponsors.  Can you say spoiled? 

 

 

These are little touches in the big craft area.  Tons of Katie Daisy prints.  Color...eye candy.  It was awesome.

 

 

 

This is my Megan getting ready to give her craft tutorial.  Go Megan go!!

 

 

 (sorry for the poor quality of these...it was dark)

 

 

And here are some of the crafters I had the privilege of meeting this weekend.  How fun to gather a bunch of burnout moms and crafty wannabes all together to do nothing, but eat and create.  If that isn't a genius idea I don't know what is.

 

 

It's where the magic happened...literally;)  Still can't believe I pulled together almost every craft.  Even that famous ruffled apron.  I did it!!! 

 

 

Meg crafting!

 

 

Here's a glimpse of the kitchen area.  I have no idea why I didn't snag more pictures in here.  They must be on my phone.  I'll show them later.  There was a wall of windows that let in the most perfect natural light.  I can't tell you how badly I want that in my house.  It was glorious.

 

And then there was sweet Minnesota Amy who asked me first.  I still can't believe I actually said no initially.  Just didn't have peace about it.  My heart was beating...knowing I was passing up a chance of a lifetime, then because I was obedient He gave me a second chance and made it known that I was supposed to be there.  That's what happens when we wait on the Lord.  He's faithful.  He hears us.  He knows our heart's desire and works things out in HIS time!  I'm reminded daily of His promises. 

 

She was such a comforting presence in the house all weekend.  It was amazing to reconnect and to see one of my friends from back home.  I love this girl.  She's precious to me.  God gave us this weekend.  He did!!!

I have more pictures.  More stories to tell.  Stay tuned...

Be a blessing.

874.  second chances
875.  glue, glitter and all things crafty
876.  kimberlee's chili, chicken fajitas, cheesy potatoes, creme brulee french toast...CHEESECAKE!
877.  quilts and chandies
878.  megan