Thursday, August 27, 2009

Some things i love right now...

It's been a little crazy... just a little! We have a new girl around here! My 16 year old step daughter is now living with us & we are loving having her here!! Just not the kind of story i can "put out there" on the web, but it's good & we're getting her settled in. We spent the last 3 days deciding on bedding... hey, we're girls!! We got something today & a beautiful aqua blue wall color & are making big plans... I'll do some before & after shots... of course!
We're headed up North for some fake camping. Fake as in "this girl doesn't sleep in the woods or on the ground", so camping as in "staying in a hotel & visiting friends at THEIR campsite during the day camping"... Several reasons i don't camp, how about: picking sand out of your butt for a week, or showering in a mildewy shower that someone probably just peed in (hey, it's my story & i'm sure they did just pee!) or how about it's just like being at home only harder & dirtier! Seriously: sleeping- no way as comfy as my pillow top, cooking where i have to drag food to the woods & heat it over wood, using public bathrooms where the floor is covered in wet toilet paper & sand.... Don't even try to tell me how fun this is & i'm just "missing the point". Yeah, i AM missing the point, that IS my point! AND... if that isn't enough, let me share just ONE childhood memory of camping 'cause ya know my parents totally scarred me in several areas of life. Picture with me, if you dare: The late 70's, a customized van that reads "BLUE JEANS" on the side & has 3 shades of blue shag carpet. It's midnight my 6'1" father is laying down thru the center of the van in his underwear snoring hard enough to suck the roof of the van in! I'm TRYING to sleep in a vinyl & burlap type fabric reclining seat (can you say comfy?!), i'm short, but sleeping in a van seat... seriously what were my parents thinking? 3 kids with no sleep covered in sand? Anyway: approx 97 degrees in the van, high humidity & holes in the screens that are allowing the van to fill with mosquito's. Now picture 1 mom in a sheer nightie (how am i not an ax murderer?) getting into the drivers seat & driving the van around the campground so she can run the A/C.... for some reason my mom thought it was wrong or illegal or against her religion to just let the van idle & run the A/C. That wasn't distracting to a young child trying to sleep in a scratchy seat covered in mosquito bites & listening to the thunderous snoring of her father... So, if you thought at the beginning of this you could convince me how fun camping is, you now know to back slowly away from me with your bunson burner & pup tent!
so on to better stuff, stuff me likes!
Mini violets!this CD (eric hutchinson)
L'oreal mascara- Telescopic in BLACK
Bare Minerals POWDER sunscreen!! I love the sunscreen i do!!
FRESH veggies in my back yard (although these are in my sink)
Bye-Bye Pie blog... must partake of daily!
Senseo coffee & some coconut creamer (or toasted marshmallow flavoring- pouring from that big glass bottle makes it feel like i'm pouring some wild turkey in my cup 1st thing in the morning, & some days i just like to pretend i'm all naughty like that!)
trust me, you won't go back to REAL chicken... I ♥ these!!
this website, this shirt! Just got it in the mail- hurry, it's on clearance!
this website, this belt because i REFUSE to believe or act like i am 40!

Ok, i have to get to bed, Conan is on & that means its way past my bedtime... We leave early in the morning so i won't be back for a few days (don't try to rob me, the outside dog will eat you, i promise!!)

Have a wonderful weekend & we'll chat soon! Maybe i'll have some pictures of me NOT camping!☺

~m

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Goodies from Grandma!!

My Grandma turned 100 on July 21, 2009. She's in a home now... but it's really not home, is it? So hard to see...
This is a woman that never threw out anything- old cards, hats (i have all these & will try & photograph them at some point), shoes, purses, gloves... Luckily i got my hands on some of these goodies before they went into the trash! My mom has so much stuff & just didn't know what to do with it all, so unfortunately, all those old VINTAGE cards... GONE! I warned her to let me dig through anything else she might get an itchin' to throw out! The things i really wanted were the things i remembered from my stays with Gram. I got the bedroom set i use to sleep in when i was a little girl & stayed with her in the summer. i remember sitting at the dressing table digging through the drawers & jewelry box. This always sat on the dressing table & i LOVED going through it. The other day when i dug it out darling daughter kept calling it "the upside down crown". So weird to go through her stuff & smell "that" smell- you know- the smell that takes you back to the time you're 8 & you're spending a few days with Gram. I think i heard once that smell is the sense that gives you the most memories.don't you love that orange pin?and this locket! i love it, check the next picture & you'll see why!!My grandma, my grandpa, my mom & her brother! In the side table i found this:
& inside this!- a note written by my Grandma that says: 1927 Received for graduation.I don't really remember this book, but it's so cute & in GREAT shape!
0nly 1 little scribble on that "bead doll" Hope you enjoyed a little bit of my goodies from Gram!

Here are some goodies still in my etsy shop:
and... my latest embroidery pattern! Darling daughter wanted a Pirate Girl & don't ya know, i had one!! This is another Elsie Flannigan. I read on her blog that they will soon be adding more embroidery pattern kits to their online store: red velvet art.
https://www.redvelvetart.com/
Have a great day, obviously, i need to go iron that...

Monday, August 24, 2009

Nothin...

i always hate when i go to my fav blogs & there is NOTHING new... but today, that is ME! Gals- i got NOTHIN'. Saturday i felt rotten, Sunday was great fun - we played golf with friends, but me.... i forgot my camera! something is wrong with ME forgetting my camera lately....
So here i sit in my robe with nothin' to show & not much to say! I've got to run darling to a play date & get downtown to get some paperwork done. Grrrr, i won't even start on "the paperwork" mess... Due to the crappiest blog post in history, i will TRY to do something witty & wonderful tomorrow... crap, the pressure of it all!!!....
~m

Friday, August 21, 2009

I've been bit...

by the embroidery bug!! Anyone else re-found this craft???? i remember my mom stitching away on things when i was a kid that still hang in their home today!
there are SO many super cool patterns now, not just flowers and kittens anymore!
These 1st few (PATTERS) were all found on etsy. Just go to etsy & type in: embroidery patterns, you can also search by the sellers name to find these same patterns.
this is by: sadieandoliver
isn't it pretty? i love how delicate her stitches look! these next 2 are by: polkaandblooms. I LOVE her whimsical style & the colors she picked for her finished pieces. love her bicycle image...♥
then these CUTE cakes by: theflossbox
and gnomes by: badbird
are these cute or what?
i talked about sublime stitching a while back & now i've found another cool site called: Pimp Stitch http://pimpstitch.com/
3 ladies with all kinds of cool & kitchy patterns!! Check out the goodies below. They have a fun blog too full of ideas and **FREE** patterns. Just remember you can't use these goodies to stitch & sell!!
owl LOVE!

go check out their blog... so cute!
& you might remember this one that i did a while back: pattern from the online class i took with Miss Elsie Flannigan ( http://www.abeautifulmess.typepad.com/ )
Now i'm on my 2nd one (also an Elsie pattern). This one was requested by my darling daughter...I know i'm super lucky that i have minimal stress in my life, but this is a great way to unwind. It doesn't have to be perfect, its for ME and the patterns are truly addictive! They are really QUITE cheap & almost everyone just sends them right to your computer- so no waiting & no extra cost for shipping- cool, hun?
So ladies, get your stitch on!!
I'd love to hear more cool stitching sites, tips, stitches, or lost needle adventures!
~m

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Beautiful creepiness... i ♥ you!

I know i've mentioned this artist before... Mark Ryden http://markryden.com/index.html
I stopped over at his site this morning & he has some new (to me) things up.
I LOVE this guys style, so cute & whimsical, but look close... a certain creepiness too!Notice the baby leaning on a hunk of meat

And what is move lovely than a child with a saw cutting slices of ham for her guests?!
Don't you love that little animals face, that is JUST how i feel when
i'm surrounded by children...

and i am SO behind this "mad men" thing?!!! i TRY to stay up on things- thank goodness for the Internet or i just might still be wearing 2 piece matching rayon outfits! So i hear in blog world the raves of this show, i guess i'll have to go rent the DVDs! Geesh, i was just telling my step daughter last night, i still haven't read the Harry Potter series & she's asking me about Twilight, & now there's Mad Men & for cryin' out loud i haven't even been able to renew my library card that expired in Feb! I've been too busy researching how behind i am on everything!! So here is my mad men likeness... kinda?! i don't look this mature or classy in real life & i've got the pictures to prove it!
my alter ego apparently: doing a presentation with a martini in hand...
Lots of changes happening around here... I'll be back later to fill you in! Hope you're having a good week. The Sun is out in Michigan, whooo-hoooo!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

'Cause you can never have too many socks

i mean you can't can you? i go thru these "stages" where i am ALL about something. It was PJ pants for a while, i have a flannel pair with Chinese kids on them -which always makes me wonder- do they sell PJ's in China with American kids faces on them? I have stripes, dots, dogs, snowflakes, & several with Hello Kitty- i do love myself some Hello Kitty & plan to never give her up... Then it was jeans, gloves, purses, lip glosses... and SOCKS!! Art supplies are a never ending quest so that isn't included in things i am all about at the moment, but then again I've done a "fimo clay" fit, marker quest, bead frenzy... The scary thing- i just read the Shopaholic series and she also had these items that she would focus on & have to have it all... YIKES! Just call me Rebeka Bloomfield!
Sunday the Mister took 2 of his girls & 1 grandson to some car thing where they drive on an oval track for a long time & people watch them drive...WHAT????????????????? Seriously??? I do NOT get that one at all. Hunting- don't want to, not interested a bit in eating or shooting, BUT, i can see why the "hunt" would be fun for some. This car thing baffles me. I often drive on the freeway, i see cars driving, i see myself passing some, i see others pass me & yet i have NEVER for 1 second thought: I'd like to go sit in the HOT sun & watch cars drive on an oval track while i wear a tube-top, eat meat-on-a-stick & smell the others sitting around me... To each his own i guess! Darling Daughter & i went to Church, made our way to iHOP (where everyone knows us by name), then headed to Marshalls & Michael's. I got some darling sweater vests for darling & then saw
THE SOCKS!
i knew they must be mine!
Current sock love: Knee socks!
Current shape love: starsand you can see here, why i felt i NEEDED another pair!! Next stop: Michael's! I've been thinking i'd like to try that encaustic painting with bees wax. I looked at the mini iron i saw Claudine Hellmuth using to melt wax & it was close to $40. The way i change craft loves i wasn't sure i wanted to invest $40 in the iron and another $18 in wax, so i passed, but...
this Sunday, I found this whole "burning set" for $19.99! Let's hope i don't catch the house on fire, which reminds me of a story- geesh, what doesn't?

I worked for Kodak for several years. I worked on the photofinishing side of things & called on all the retailers that offered our service. Yes, i know, we lost your film & sent you some of an ugly chunky kid on his 9th birthday- i apologize! No, we did not honor your coupon, take it up with the store Mgr! Oh sorry... Anyway, we got TONS of marketing flyer's in large cardboard boxes (M&M- you were AWESOME!!). I lived in the city where it was $1 per bag for garbage. As I type this i'm thinking "why didn't i just expense a box of trash bags"? Anyway, being raised by the frugal 2 that raised me, i thought "why don't i just burn all this stuff (the boxes & left over flyer's- M&M don't think i didn't take the store all those goodies you sent us!!) in my fireplace instead of using $24 in garbage bags?". I LOAD my fireplace with cardboard boxes, light it up and hear a sound that is like a locomotive coming full steam out of my living room!! Have you ever seen a fire so hot it was WHITE? Well, i have & let me just say: it ain't pretty, well, actually it is pretty but in a "scary, i'm going to burn my house down" kinda way! It was totally like the movies where things start to move in slow motion: i see the cardboard turn white, i hear the ROAR of the fire & i start to run looking back over my shoulder waiting to be thrown forward by the force of the fire, the glass doors blow apart & spray broken glass all over the wood floor burning little holes into them & i fall to the floor in frantic prayer thanking God for sparing my life! I wish that was just a dramatic retelling of my tale, but, unfortunately, every bit of it is TRUE! This summer i made a bonfire so big i burn the leaves out of the top of a tree - some idiots never learn, do they? i loves me some fire i do!
Now, what was i saying?
Oh yeah, Michael's- they had a clearance going on! I got all kinds of trims for .28!! AND- an iron on of a TV, that will definitely come in handy!?? Darling was so excited the Halloween stuff was out & had to try on several masks:
i love how her eyes are all squished & deformed looking in this one & she's doing a "bear pose"!
Anything you are "all about"??- share!! Let me know i am NOT alone in my madddddnessssss!
Gotta run- she & the puppy have been too quiet for too long...
Happy Monday- it's rainy here in MI, a good day for the studio!


Sunday, August 16, 2009

more ETSY goodies....

Do i *HATE* taking pictures of my items to list on etsy? Yes, yes i do! It feels like i'm wearing my pants on backwards or something... it's just uncomfortable to me, it doesn't come easy. i don't really like thinking up props or checking lighting or any of that other stuff that goes along with product photography. My middle brother was a product photographer for several years. He photographed VERY interesting products... hammers, light bulbs, hoes, electrical cords... He did the photo's for a hardware chain flyer. YAWN-ville! Oh & do NOT suggest he help me... I'd never have anything listed. I love my brother, i really do, but he is about as reliable as.... hmmmm, you'd think i could inject a really witty reference here, but i have nothing. So anyway, he's totally unreliable (& no that is not why he no longer is a photographer) & he lives in a different state, so i plug away at it... I pretty much have: candy, tiny glass vases, & a metal Eiffel Tower for props...
These items will be listed on etsy this week, or not, probably they will, but no promises. Then again... who is it that's unreliable?

I've been painting again too... maybe someday i can get photo's of those to list... a girl can dream!

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