I'm Going For It! *Creating With the Stars 2014*

You may or may not have heard of this little reality series that exists in our blogland called "Creating With the Stars". It's a fun and quirky competition not unlike Dancing With the Stars, except with less dancing in sparkly costumes and more spray paint and power tools.

The 12 contestants are initially chosen based on a single project entry from their 2013 or 2014 repertoire. From there, they are paired off with 12 "celebrity" bloggers who will coach them through four weeks and four rounds of eliminations.

I normally pass on this sort of thing just because I'm not sure I even have enough energy to make it through one week/project (and uhhh, our bathroom is still "undergoing construction"). But one thing got my heart pounding about it this year, and that is the CELEBRITY judge....

MARTHA. My idol.


I have a vivid memory of a time in 6th grade when our class was building mini adobe houses together. I was, of course, very concerned with the construction and aesthetics of this mud brick pile and as a result, our project was totally kicking butt. I remember one kid saying, "Stephanie is going to be the next Martha Stewart" and the other kids nodding in agreement (or just pretending to know who she was). I'll admit, at the time I wasn't entirely sure who Martha was either, but you bet I made a point to find out after that! What I discovered in the following years was that she was a woman with impeccable taste, a fiercely opinionated, and the creator of such a powerful brand that she could bounce back from a total career killer (hello, jail).

So yeah. Martha.

I thought carefully about what I would submit for my entry. I wanted something medium-scale that required several skill-sets (design, tiling, carpentry, painting, etc.) with a not-everyone-can-do-this WOW factor. Of course, it had to be the fireplace.

.

 And the WOW factor is brought to you in part by just how incredibly ugly it was before.

LONG STORY SHORT, I would be so grateful if you would take a minute to visit East Coast Creative and find my project (the # keeps changing...it was #198 last time I looked) and vote for it by clicking my thumbnail. Let's make this happen, people; let's get me a date with Martha.

UPDATE: I totally did not make it, but (and not to be all sour grapes) I'm kinda relieved. Looking at the contestants' projects this year, there's no way I could have taken on a new job AND competed against these people. Maybe next year :)