Small Space Organizing Review and Giveaway

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea.  I am delighted to share a book review with you of my friend Kathryn Bechen's fabulous new book - SMALL SPACE ORGANIZING and combine it with something special just for YOU - a GIVEAWAY to help you use some of Kathryn's great organizational tips. .. details after the review.

By now you have probably read that the month of January is National Organizational Month  and the perfect time for releasing Small Space Organizing. Kathryn Bechen is an award winning journalist in the San Diego. California area,  She specializes in lifestyle feature articles and has published several organizing and decorating ebooks. She blogs about timely lifestyle topics at http://www.kathrynbechenink.com/ .  I met Kathryn in 2008 through her blog and am delighted to call her my friend.  She introduced me to blogging and  encouraged me to start my blog.

When I met Kahryn I was working ten hour days  as a busy Human Resources executive in the Aerospace Industry and trying to find time to pursue my passion and hobby - Impressionist painting.  I started following her blog and using her tips on small space organizing.   I learned that by rethinking and organizing my small art studio space it would free up lots of  time that I normally spent trying to  find things and that I could use that time to paint.  I thought  - WOW - Kathryn is really on to something - she should write a book and share all of the information I was learning with more people.  Well- thankfully she wrote a book.

Relax - have a cup of tea  and I will share with you a few things in my art studio that I learned from Kathryn and that you can learn from her book. My art studio is half of my garage.  Kathryn says that "we don't have to live in rambling estates - but we can enjoy an organized, beauty-filled life no matter what the size of our space." That is what I set out to do in creating my little studio in half of my garage.  I previously faux painted the floor so I had something beautiful to work with.

I purchased wooden storage bins from Joanne's Fabric to store my art books, supplies, etc. in so it would be easy to find them.  I also purchased some baskets from Target to use to organize my paints and stored them according to colors. Kathryn said to "make the most of existing storage space and find clever ways to add more."  I was able to go up with the storage bins and make the most of my small space.

Kathryn said "find creative ways to arrange furnishings and accessories to bring harmony and style to the home."  Since I am a gardener I decided to use  garden containers and totes to store my paint brushes, supplies, etc. in keeping with my "Painted Garden" art studio.

Have another cup of tea - I am so excited about sharing things that I learned from Kathryn and that you can learn from reading her book - I want to share one more  thing  I learned!!!  I love books and for years stacked them up on the floor in my living room.  I refer to the room as "the reading room" as I do not have a TV in the room and everyone loves to sit in the room and curl up by the fire and read and listen to music. 

I had the floor refinished and the carpet removed .After reading a section in Kathryn's book about using wicker baskets  for storage a light went off.  I collect vintage wicker picnic baskets and store them in the living room - why not store some of the books in the vintage baskets!!!!! After all - Kathryn teaches us to live in an organized, beauty-filled home and from the looks of the photo of my living room it  could use a little organization.

My newly  organized living room using tips from Small Space Organizing

Whether you are an empty nester who's downsizing, a newlywed setting up your first nest, or someone who just needs some creative new ideas, you'll love Kathryn's book and the strategies, tips and solutions to maximize space and enhance your quality of space.  I can personally recommend how helpful her tips have been to me in helping me organize my small space since 2008.

 Her book  can be purchased on Amazon.com or by visiting her website at

http://www.kathrynbechenink.com/ to learn about all of the ways to purchase her book. 
You will love her FREE e-newsletter where she posts excerpts from her book the first of every month.

THANK YOU GIVEAWAY FOR MY READERS

As a special thank you to all of my readers and to celebrate Kathryns' new book  and National organization Month -  The Painted Garden is giving away a $50.00 Target Gift card and a copy of Small Space Organizing.  To enter to win - simply leave me a comment that you want to learn more about small space organizing,  A drawing will be held and

the winner announced on Friday - January 20, 2012

Thank you for stopping by.  I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings. Erin

"I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go."  Psalm 32:8

Painting Flowers

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I receive lots of requests asking how I design my paintings and what I use for inspiration.  I am inspired and paint the beauty of God's everyday creations - flowers - gardens - blue skies, and the ocean. I love flower markets and little road side stands selling fruits, vegetables and flowers, picket fences and window boxes with geraniums spilling over the edge.  I am  photographer and have a large collection of photographs to use for inspiration during the winter months when the garden is bare.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, and I will share with you some of my photographs that I will be using for inspiration for a flower painting.

Finding Inspiration . . . . . .

Here . . . . .

There . . . . .

Everywhere . . . . . . .

"May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans." Psalm 20:4

My completed painting using inspirations from some of my photographs of flowers.

Thank you for stopping by.  I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me painting something special.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

Winter White Garden

Welcome.  I am so  happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art.  I like to plant a few pots of Paper white bulbs each week starting in early November so I will have some blooms throughout January until my garden flowers start waking up. In spite of the unusually cold weather and frost we have had in Southern California - my white Iceberg roses are still blooming (they will be cut back in January and seem to want  one last bloom before they are cut back).

Let's join Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, in the garden and we will share our Winter White inspirations with you.

"A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance."  Proverbs 15:13

Wishing you and your family Peace, Joy, and Happiness in the New Year.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and everyone for your visits, comments,

e-mails and to my loyal and special followers. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special. 

Blessings, Erin

Cottage Christmas

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspiration for my art.  This year  Bentley, My Study Assistant, was the inspiration for my Christmas card.

Let's take a little tour of my Christmas Cottage and garden and I will show you the inspiration for my  card.

"And the angel said to them. "Do not be afraid  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people."  Luke 2

Wishing you and your family all the joy, the hope, and the wonder of Christmas.

Blessings, Erin

Legend of Christmas Poinsettia

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a hot drink. We are having unusually cold weather in Southern California and today I made you hot chocolate to warm you up while I share with y0u a beautiful experience that I had yesterday involving Poinsettias. First let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden and he will show you our Poinsettias.

I volunteer at my church to take care of the flowers that people leave at the little stone grotto with a statue of Mary( the Mother of Jesus) outside our Catholic church. I arrange and straighten up flowers that are left. It is a simple and joyful task. Yesterday, December 8th, was a special day honoring Mary . I previously read a little notice on the church bulletin board that suggested ways to celebrate Advent - such as helping the poor and decorating your home with lights and Poinsettia. It said that legend has it that a poor child in Mexico having nothing to give the Christ Child on his birthday gathered some weeds into a lovely bouquet, the only gift she had to offer. When she brought her gift to the manger the simple weeds were transformed into a brilliant red bloom - the Poinsettia - now known as "The Flower of the Holy Night".

I loved the legend and decided to take Poinsettia's to decorate the grotto to go along side of the flowers that others had placed there. As I was placing my Poinsettias, a woman came up carrying a branch of pine greenery. She appeared to be very poor and said that she had never seen the grotto look so beautiful as it did with the red Poinsettias . She said that she had no money to buy beautiful flowers and felt that her pine branch was not worthy to be placed by the beautiful flowers. I assured her that the pine branch was lovely and would be the perfect compliment to the red flowers. I asked her if I could arrange the branches for her and she reluctantly gave me the branch and stood in the background. I broke off the green pine from the branch and placed the greenery among the Poinsettias along with pine cones that another person left. It was amazing how much beauty the greenery added to the flowers. I looked at the lady and she was smiling - we both hugged each other and I said - "look at how beautiful the flowers look with the addition of your pine branch" and she said "yes - together we made something beautiful". I could not help but thinking about the Legend of the Poinsettia .

"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share." Timothy 6:18

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.
Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin