Chimbrary Progress

We've been redoing an upstairs bedroom and one of the things we did is take out a wall and turn the attic into a little library...or at least we're working on it.

Here's how we did it. First my husband and his brother framed it in.

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Then they put in insullation.

And built in a little bench behind the chimney for laying down in a little hideaway for reading. . . what a peaceful retreat. Then they started sheetrocking it.

Then when that was done, we started painting it.

We still need to put in the wainscoting and do some finishing touches but we've come a long way since we started back here.

And Old Lace

I love vintage fabrics and lace, maybe that's why I buy so much of it. So, I always have little leftover strips of the stuff laying around the house and one day I decided to tea-dye some, which might sound difficult but all it means is that I brewed some tea and put the lace down in the pot - you can see it here.

Then I used some fabric stiffener and tried to make it stiff enough to turn it into a bracelet. But it wasn't stiff enough. So then I spray painted the lace and that did it.

Next I sewed on a snap button so I could keep it on my wrist and Wah-Lah! New lace bracelet.

Now I'm thinking of trying this with a few more fabric pieces I have laying around the house.

YA Book Panel in Portland - June 4th at 6:30

Next Wednesday, June 4, at 6:30 pm, Cat Winters will be on a YA panel with fellow Portland-area novelists Paula Stokes, Miriam Forster, and Tara Kelly. They'll be talking about their books and writing in general, answering questions, signing copies of their novels, and mingling with readers amid coffee and desserts.

The event will be held at Manaia Coffee House & Grill, 203 E. Main St., Hillsboro, OR, and it's being presented by Jacobsen's Books.

Here's a website listing more info: http://www.jacobsensbooks.com/event/spring-summer-great-ya-reads.

And here's a copy of the flyer for the event.

August 2-4 Willamette Writers Conference

The Pacific Northwest is known for creative people, we have Portlandia, Grimm and Leverage all right here in little 'ole Portland, Oregon not to mention tons of independent productions taking place all over the city. So, I guess it comes as no surprise that we have a lot of writers living in this beautiful part of the country.

And with writers comes writers' conferences and one that is well known in these parts is Willamette Writers.  Their big event is coming August 2-4 to the Portland Airport Sheraton Hotel.

There will be writers, agents and editors galore. So, if you're a writer or even a wannabe, you might want to make plans now to attend this conference. So, hop on over to the website and check it out here.

Submission Block

I once wrote an article for Writer's Journal called Submission Block because I knew a gal who had written over twelve complete manuscripts, meaning she'd written them, revised them, been critiqued on them and then re-revised them, and she'd never submitted one.

But, if you don't submit, you'll never get published...

And today I was reading an Awesome blog post about the same thing...sort of. It talks about how we, writers, sometimes end up counting the wrong things--like rejections. Instead, I think we need to think of those rejections as proof that we putting our words out there. We're taking the chance, a leap of faith that someone out there will understand us. And that is success within itself. We are living the dream or daring to "just do it" whether or not anyone ever puts our words to press, we have done all that we can do to make the dream a reality. And, what more can a person (or writer) do?

One of my favorite sayings is "I'd rather fail at doing something, than succeed at doing nothing."

And if you want to read writerly words of encouragement, hop over to Operation Awesome...because it will definitely make you feel inspired.  And, remember to count your submissions - not your rejections.

It was a weekend of projects

My hubby and his brother finished the beams in the main part of the remodeled bedroom

Then my husband decided the room gets too hot on warm days. So he climbed up on the roof to add a few more vents to get rid of the hot air.

And not feeling like he'd done enough on a long holiday weekend, he decided to work on my little library (behind the chimney). He was trying to find the right placement for the chandelier.

And it wasn't so easy, because he wants it to be just "write" for me - so I'll have enough lighting for reading...and writing up there.

He's hoping to get the little nook sheetrocked before next weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Rose Festival Fireworks - Opening Night

Friday May 23rd is opening night of the Rose Festival - now called City Fair - fireworks start at 9:45 p.m. at Tom McCall Park.

The fireworks will be choreographed to music provided by 101.9 KINK FM.

Enjoy a FREE concert by Hit Machine at 8:30pm and an encore immediately following the fireworks display.

It will be a weekend filled with amusement rides and fun.