Lucy, I'm so glad that you were able to meet up with me on my way down to Austin and on such short notice too. I had such a good time and I agree, the visit was waaaaay too short. Everyone, Lucy is just as kind and funny as she is here in the forum. Wish you all could meet her, she will keep you in stitches. The people at IKEA probably thought we were on something as much as we were laughing. We had the best time ever!!! Barb, I'm with you, it would be a blast if we could have a convention somewhere so we could all meet. It would have to be a whole weekend because I know we would have such a good time visiting with everyone. Deb

I'm glad that you all like Something For Judy. She's even better in person. Her colors are more delicate when it is cool, then deepen as the weather warms. I'll look forward to pics of all your new babies when the time comes Dave, and of Ms. Mary too Clairwags. She's one that I've been eyeing up for awhile. :) My shipping date isn't until late May :(, so it will be some time before I see blooms on the new ones, but buds are busting out all over on my present ones. They are all potted and are spending the cool days of spring in the unheated greenhouse and loving every minute. Darleen

Happy Birthday Deb!! Hope all is well with you and yours....where the heck have you been??? Sure hope the Vultures didn't show up again this year...lol : ) David

Thanks Joanne, :) johna I bought the paint in Michaels. It was in small plastic bottles the price was cheap ( about 1.29 - 1.59 a bottle?) I think it was called craft paint, or fabric paint. I bought bronze, brown and gold. First lemme give you the entire story. These shades have been to hell and back. First I tea stained them in the sik, they look great when they were wet, however as soon as they dried, they just looked dirty....so then I dipped them in tilex and water to remove the tea stain, and was back to white. Then I painted them black (the inside as well) and they looked awful! I was going from bad to worse...So I said before I buy new ones, I'll give it another try. I then mixed the bronze and brown and painted the outside ( two coats with a brush) Then I painted the inside solid gold. My shades are a hard plastic inside and fabric on the outside. I can't believe the fabric held on with all the dipping I did, both with the tea stain and removing the tea stain. Here is a photo with the light out and no flash on the camera. This is the way it looks without the light on. I think it looks good, both with the light on and with the light off. Now about the FP lights. I am a little hesitant, cause I'm worried the bronze will disappear against the stone. So now I am thinking of spraying a rag with the bronze paint and wiping it on lightly to allow some brightness to come through??? any thoughts on this? Nothing else in the room is brass. Our FP doors are black.