Friday, August 2, 2013

Sea Shells by the Sea Shore -- a BBA Challenge


Each month the Blogging Business Artisans Etsy team has a challenge project with the theme given by the team members. July's theme was my idea (blush blush) and was to create something that was vacation related -- a vacation memory, something that represents a place visited, colors or scents associated with a special place, or even something funny that happened on a vacation.

With this in mind, I decided that I would finish a sea shell cross-stitch piece that I started years ago, but had never finished (the procrastinator in me is always lurking about.....)



The fabric is really more ivory in color -- I just couldn't get the background color right!



Aren't these colors pretty? Shells always seem to have the loveliest pinks!


I have always loved shells and have quite a few gathered from various places, but I had never done much with them. So when it came time to tear down the absolutely awful very outdated wallpaper that was in the hall bath when we moved in, I opted for a beach theme and used those shells! The bathroom fixtures are kind of an aqua blue and have always reminded me of the ocean. We painted the walls a lighter version of that aqua blue and the granite tile we selected reminds me of sand. So sea shells were a natural for decoration!



Knowing that I have a fondness for shells, my daughter painted this watercolor for me! I love the soft muted colors, especially the peachy pink. I like that she painted it in a style with softened edges and just the hint of a shell, like a fading memory. That blue background is perfect on the wall too -- just a bit darker!




She also gave me this shell shadow box (the shells are not real) and it lives on top of a white wall-hung cabinet in the bathroom. 




It's really cool with three-dimensional shells



I've got to get the cross-stitch framed, but this is sort of what it will look like in a white frame. (This frame is not the right size!)  I think it will be perfect alongside the watercolor! Since this is vertical and the shell watercolor is horizontal, I'll probably do a skinny cross-stitch to fill up the space -- I already have one in mind that has shells in a row! Now, if I can just get it finished before 2020!!


Now on to the vacation memory....

When I was a child, my family always visited the grandparents every summer -- one set in Alabama and the other in Florida. We often took a side trip and one year we spent a few days at a seaside cabin, maybe on the Gulf Coast. It could have even been on a river because, as I recall, it was fresh water! Anyway, I was somewhere between 8 and 10 and my older brother was with us. 

The cabin extended over the water and my brother and I were swimming and saw a flounder! I had never seen a flounder before and my brother told me how they have two eyes on one side of their flat body and that when they turned over, the eyes migrated to whatever side was up! Since he was older and wiser than me, I believed every word! Of course, now I know that a flounder is born with eyes on either side, but that one does migrate over to the chosen side that he turns onto.... but they STAY there, they don't move around the head every time the fish turns over as my brother wanted me to believe!


 Flounder

They're not a very pretty fish but they're great to eat!! 

It was a fun time doing something I had never done before, and to top it all off, I found finger paints in a cabinet... I'd never done that before either!!


Sharing with
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound
Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's


♥♥

19 comments:

pasqueflower said...

Beautiful cross-stitch! And what fun to see your other sea shell accessories!

The flounder story is funny.

Memories for Life said...

Your cross-stitch turned out great! I bet you're glad to have it finished and ready to hang in your bathroom!
Funny story about the flounder and your brother :) I never knew they had an extra eye!

Anonymous said...

love your cross stitch picture, love shells myself an your girl is a grand artist.

Unknown said...

Your cross stitch turned out perfect -- even if it did take you a while to get around to finishing it! Plus you have the perfect place for it!

BeadedTail said...

Lovely cross stitch! I enjoyed your story too!

Hootin Anni said...

Wow....I am so impressed with the seashell cross-stitch project!!! That's another thing I've never tried before...In my 6+ decades, I've not done a quilt, nor cross-stitch. I've just now started a small couch cover/afghan sized quilt for Halloween...maybe with your beautiful work, you've inspired me to do a cross-stitching of some sort!!

I have 100s of sand dollars and sea shells from our beaches.

DeniseinVA said...

What a lovely assortment of cross-stitch. they're all delightful! I also love your seashells.

Ann said...

Lovely colors on the cross stitch and I'm sure along with the shells will make a nice addition to any wall. Boys will be tricky for sure, what a cute story.
ann

Sheryl Hastings said...

What a fun memory! I was always amazed at the flounders eyes!

Your cross stitch project is beautiful!

Jeanne said...

Hi Sarah, Thank yu for your kind words and sympathy in the loss of my darling cousin. I appreciate it so much.
The cross stitch sea shells are so pretty and so is the water color. They will look great together.I grew up on the beaches of Miami and I remember going to the West Coast of Fl. beaches to find shells on Marco Island. This is going back to the 1950's and the beautiful shells are long gone now.
Happy Pink Saturday.
xo, Jeanne

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! Love all the 'shell' creativity ~ Beautiful! ^_^

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! Love all the 'shell' creativity ~ Beautiful! ^_^

Kathleen said...

So funny the way older siblings can tease the younger ones! Oh, wait - I am that older sibling... lol
Great answer to the challenge!

SmilingSally said...

I'm sure your bathroom is pretty with the soft blue walls and the shells.

Brothers are a mess, aren't they?

Have a good Blue Monday, Sarah.

Splendid Little Stars said...

I love your cross stitch! The colors are so pretty! It will look great in your bathroom!
I have plenty of UFOS around. Alas!
That's funny about the flounder. I have a memory that my Dad caught one once when I was a kid and was cleaning it outside our back door. It seemed a strange fish at the time.
I saw a beautiful flounder once in the Caribbean. It looked like it was tie dyed with blue circles of various sizes and designs. amazing!

joyh82 said...

Used to cross stitch but nothing as nice as this. Great work and I love shells too.

2justByou said...

Yay for finishing an unfinished project, and it's beautiful!
As for your memory...I've never seen a flounder before, but if I had been told by an older brother about the eyes - I'm sure that would be something I'd most definitely remember too. LOL
~Kim
www.2justByou.com

Hannah said...

Your cross stitch shells look great. I have a kit I started that may never get finished. I like your color scheme and shells in the frame as well. I love decorating bathrooms with sea shells. I also like painting the walls by sponging, I did one with cream walls with aqua and peach sponged over, then sponge more cream on top to soften the other colors. I also thought of one with a pale blue like yours over white or cream, then also a driftwood brown and more base color over that. But my DIL assures me sponge painting is so over. BTW the Rednesday link had been passed on, and that person didn't have time to continue the Bloghop.

Duni said...

Haha, that's a funny story about the flounder ;-)
Wow, the cross-stitch picture turned out beautiful! I'm way too impatient for cross-stich and always admire the works of others!

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