a.forte's blog of Spain Hill Farm: Touring Through Blogland

Hi all! I hope you're enjoying the Labor Day Weekend. I am especially since fall is my favorite season.

My sweet, talented friend, Coco, at the Crowned Goat, asked me to participate in Touring through Blogland. So, if you're visiting from Coco's blog, welcome!

My sweet friend, CoCo! Isn't she cute?!

This tour has been going for many weeks now and I was so excited when Coco asked me to join.

Love her creative way of displaying teacups...totally stealing this idea!

I'll be sharing a little bit about me and answering 4 questions about what goes into creating The Altered Past posts. At the end, I'll be sending you to another talented blogger to keep the tour going.

A Little About Me

Wife to my best friend for the past 25 years, mom to our 3 beautiful daughters, 15, 17, and 23 that I've home schooled (well, finishing up with the third one...only 3 years to go), director of a local home school tutorial, and a DIY/thrift store shopping/repurposing stuff/artsy blogger. Over the past few years, I had been trying to decide what to do once all of our girls have graduated. Blogging came to be the natural choice. So, The Altered Past was birthed, in 2009, as a way for me to share my altered art creations with others. From there, it has evolved into sharing everything from my art, decorating with thrift store finds, repurposing and revamping things. What all of these things have in common is that they began as one thing and are made into something new...making the old new again. :)

What Am I Working On Right Now?

In short, everything! Well, maybe it just feels that way. I've always got several projects going at once. I think it has something to do with being a creative person. Or, maybe I'm just easily distracted. Right now, I am making seat and back cushion inserts for 4 chrome chair frames that I found at the metal scrap yard. After wasting millions of staples and throwing one staple gun in the garbage, I finally finished one...ONE chair. I have a love/hate relationship with staple guns right now. A trip to Home Depot for a new staple gun and the second chair was done. Thank God!

So, on to the next project, I am finishing up my small work room that my hubby built for me in our basement garage. It's tiny and I have SO much stuff so it's a work in progress for now. And, lastly, I'm preparing to decorate our home for a fall home tour post.

How Does My Work Differ From Others in this Genre?

I guess I'd have to say that just as we are all different individuals, our perspectives, our likes, our talents, our situations all play a role in our work. My work is influenced by what I have on hand or can obtain inexpensively from yard sales, thrift stores, or antique malls. I tend to look at things beyond what they were intended for and try to see what else they could be, like the vintage silverware snowflakes that I used in our kitchen window last Christmas. Viewing things in this way causes me to see value in almost everything. That may also be the mentality of a hoarder so don't mention this to my husband!

How Does Your Creative Process Work?

As for my actual blog posts, um...I usually write it right before I need to post it. Organization is obviously a left brain function. Pre-written? Scheduled? What?

As for my projects, some of this I answered above. My other answer to this would be sort of cliche. Ready? I let the object/room speak to me. I know, I'm sorry. It is cliche. Maybe a more accurate answer would be that it let's me know when it's not right. If I'm decorating a room, I begin with a plan for its function and then begin to build what furniture pieces I have to work with and consider anything that can be used in a different way. From there, I fill in with decorative items, trying to find a satisfying balance with their placement. It's really basic. Now, with my artistic pieces (back in the older days of The Altered Past), the objects did seem to give clues as to what they should be, like my JoBots (Junk Object Robots) or my vintage bottle snowmen that I've made. Other than those two processes, I spend a lot of time gathering inspiration from the many talented bloggers and DIYers on the internet.

"George" the JoBot

"Joey" a Vintage Bottle Snowman

Why Do I Create What I Do?

I love this question. Our Sunday School class has been examining how to live by being who we were created to be. During this, I realized I have to create. I love to create. Whether I have a need for the item I am creating or not, I just love to create. If you have children, I think you will agree with me when I say you can see certain parts of your personality in each of them, sometimes one part will be more dominant than another. Just as we are created in God's image, we have received parts of His personality that are stronger in one area than another. Some are stronger in compassion, some in nurturing, some in giving, some in creating. I got a strong dose of creating. ;) I create what I do to meet a need or a specific function or to tackle a challenge.

This is a photo of my old work space AFTER I had finished a project.

How Does Your Creating Process Work?

I'm a right-brain person. So, when I'm creating, I'm usually oblivious to time. It's probably the one and only time that I am focusing on one thing. The process is usually messy too. I pull out tools and supplies as I go along. I've even worked myself into a tiny 1 square foot of table space (read about it here) while creating once. Sometimes I may not know what it is I'm looking for but if I happen to see it I know it, so I have to have all of my supplies visible too. That may be a sign of a hoarder too. I'd better quit now.

I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you will continue the blogland tour next Monday over at The Striped House!