*NEW ARTWORK* on etsy Friday!

This week has FLOWN by for me... I woke up & couldn't believe it was Friday!

To show you I REALLY have been busy, here are some goods that will be in my etsy store soon:

(I say "soon" & yet, I couldn't even get online yesterday...Grrrr!)

Here are some of my "Cutie~Cupcakes" in their vintage tins:

Cupcake in Red & Turquoise:

My friend, motherof5,  was kind enough to let me know that Pantone has declared TURQUOISE the color of the YEAR for 2010!!

Yippee for TURQUOISE! (& don't you know this blog doesn't have a decent turquoise!)

& then some paintings...

I haven't painted in years & am still trying to "find myself".  I was tramatized in art school by my crappy Prof. (you know who you are KH!).  This week I learned a guy that was in my painting & drawing class died of a heart attack.  We knew each other, but I wouldn't say we were friends- just the kind of guy that was in class with you & you said "HI" to when  you saw him on campus.  I do have 1 very fond memory of him... We were in a drawing class, which REALLY wasn't my thing & our crappy Prof came over to my project & YELLED "you're kidding, right?".  He then went on to belittle me in front of the class- NICE hun?  Especially when my parents were paying BIG $ for me to go to that college!  After class Jon came up to me & said how sorry he was & if KH would have yelled at him like that, he would have cried.  He was proud of me for keeping a stiff upper lip.  A real nice guy that leaves behind a wife & 3 young kids...

Anyway, here are a couple of painted items:

a little clipboard that can be used as a piece of art, or you could clip a picture or note to it!

Here's some homework for you: i have GOT to get this great room painted & I am so stuck on what color to paint!  I know, I know... turquoise!  I think this room a little TOO big to do all turquoise, it's my kitchen, dining area, & living room with NO breaks, it has to be ALL the same color!  It's off my yellow entry way... I like electic cottage & am NOT afraid of color.  Any ideas?  Any good design links?

Thanks dolls!

Have a GREAT weekend

 & share the love- send my blog onto a friend!

Just call me Ugly Betty!

Yesterday I went & picked up my invisalign braces...  I haven't really gone into all my dental going ons, but i got it goin' on!  

(by: buttonsNmore on etsy)

I have to have an implant... no, not that kind, only a tooth!  When I went to see my dentist he said if you want ANYthing done, you have to do it now because once the implant is in, you can't move any of your teeth.  I had braces as a kid, but my front teeth have shifted, so... wanting to maintain my "Trophy Wife" status (haha), we decided to go for it.  I am so thankful I don't have to do those full on SILVER braces- Wheww!  even though the thought of pink rubber bands were tempting...

(by linocutboy on etsy)

Speaking of brushing your teeth... with these braces you have to brush & FLOSS EVERY time you eat or drink... If you want a good way to stop the snacking, here it is!  I've never been much of a snacker, but let me tell you, the thought of flossing EVERY time I take a bite of anything really makes  you stop & get a drink of water instead!!

(by: Livethislife777 on etsy)

(by: sampaolini on etsy)

(Print & brooch both by: Demofia on etsy)

(by: kudulah on etsy)

(by: pillowface on etsy) Oh, this cracks me up!

Honestly, I have done NOTHING this week, just stewed about listing darling daughter's old clothes on ebay... I really don't like to do it, so I just keep stepping over the pile & saying I don't have the right size box to ship them in... I did take a big pile to goodwill yesterday, but the stuff I could get some spending $ for... I'd like to sell.  I want one of those rotating face brushes... do you know of what I speak??

Clarisonic Pro Skin Care Brush (in pink- DUH!)

DO YOU have one???  If so, please tell me about it!!!!!!!  I'm pretty sure Oprah has one & you know if Oprah has one, I want one too!! :)

On a serious note:

Please check out this blog by rubypearl (& how fitting for this post: RubyPearl collects dentures...go figure!)  She sells on etsy & is trying to help this young lady, Caitlyn, who has cancer.  This young girl was in the foster care system & you know (or maybe you don't) my heart for children who need adopted! Ruby Pearl is a REAL blog & a REAL seller on etsy & ebay, this is no scam!

 Please take a look at this post on her blog:

http://rubypearlslips.blogspot.com/

The Good & the ugly...

So my hair has started doing this crazy stuff in the morning... so crazy I told the mister -perhaps I should start a new blog segment called: "What the Hair?!!"

obviously this is the "ugly" portion of my title :)

It's weird because a squirrel crawled out as I was drinking my coffee...

Or, is THIS the weird part- the Mister doesn't even look twice when I go into the bathroom with a camera & giant piece of white foam board...

Ewww, let's move onto "The Good"

LOVE...turquoise shoes for darling daughter (Target)!  If these are in the bigger girls section, I'm getting a pair for myself!!  The best part, I bought this dress YEARS ago & have been waiting for her to fit into it for over 5 years

don't you ❤ it when an outfit comes together!!!  motherof5, I know YOU love this too!! :)

I know Christmas is over, but...

69 ornaments for $1.99?! - grab 2! 

 Yes, I WAS that lady switching out the broken ornaments in these 2 containers with the non-broken in the 3rd! Target had their Christmas 90% off!  Imagine how happy my Mister was when I came home with MORE Christmas stuff!!  I believe the exact comment was "More Christmas stuff? I can't get all the %&#$ in the barn as it is", see how excited he was!!?  I have this dream of doing a "candy" tree at some point in our lower level...& don't you know these were just the colors I was dreaming of & obviously since there were Red & Turquoise together I was sucked in!  $1.99 each, seriously, who COULD pass it up?

This picture was given to me by friends when I was waiting to go get Darling Daughter from China.  It came from Pier 1 several years ago.

I LOVE it! 

 There was also a boy but I never felt the need to buy him because I don't have a boy, don't think I want a boy, & just didn't want to spend the $ for it until...

we found him at Goodwill for $9.99!

Darling (who prays for a "baby boy" ALL THE TIME!) wanted to make sure he came home with us so we could "hang it with the girl."  Goodwill...despite the weird smell, I have found some real goodies there!

Like this Quick Curl Barbie!  It's from 1974 & even though some of the parts are missing, the Barbie itself has never been unwrapped from the plastic!  This will be going on ebay... if you'd like to see what I have listed on ebay (nothing, as of this very second) check under my seller name:

chinesebabydoll

I know, it sounds like a porno name... well, I don't know that, but was told by a male friend.  I picked it when I was waiting to go get DD.  Babydoll is a term many granddaughters in my family have been called- guess I didn't realize my grandma's were into porn nick-names!?

American Girl craft supplies at Michael's!!  So cute!!

I had a gift certificate to Hallmark & thought this was PERFECT for my art studio!

Ok, off to the studio, I've got several things in the works!

I've really been working hard to get a variety of goods made... now to photograph & list them :)

Happy Monday friends! 

Welcome New Followers, if only you knew how excited I get when I see a newbie!  Spread the LOVE, send a friend the link!!

NeW GooDiEs on chinamommy!

Honestly, I can't tell you how many times since new years day I've bitten down & heard a crunch because I have *GLITTER* in my mouth... ugh!  Makes my skin crawl just to think of that, but...

GLITTER.... how I love it!!

I've been working on these little houses... but right now I can't find anymore.  I've also got some bigger wooden ones in the works...  Here are the 2 little ones I have finished.  I'll be listing them on etsy (chinamommy) this Monday...

This one is actually quite pink... my picture looks pretty coral to me... Maybe if I could get 10 min of sunshine I could get some better pictures?  Have I told you, the photo taking is NOT my favorite part of listing on etsy... It's just not my thing.  Anyone have a great program or site where I can really "fix" my photo's?  Let me know!!

Hope you like these... Look for them in my etsy store next week!  I'm back to the studio to finish some paintings I have started & a couple other goodies!

Have a great weekend!

Crochet mamma!!!

Remember the 2 crochet classes I took and my granny squares?  Well, I'm still at it & lookie, lookie what I did!!:

I made a cuff!

I've had this vintage rhinestone pin forever & love the size & style of it, but never really knew what to do with it.  It's in GREAT condition & the perfect touch, don't you think?

I don't know that I stayed exact to the pattern, but for my 1st cuff, I'm pretty happy with it... I may even make more!

I was feeling like such a pro, look what else I made:

Another pin for the finishing touch.  This handmade pin is by Juliet of LittleMissCrafty (go check her out!)

Anyone else out there crochet (or knit?)?  It still feels uncomfortable, but I can tell you the more you do it & the more you MAKE yourself hold the yarn correctly (& the hook), the more your hand gets use to it. I HATED how you have to hold the yarn & kept trying to find a way that felt normal... it never did, so I went back to holding it the RIGHT way & I'm so glad I did.  I'm amazed I've stuck to it, because it's not easy & I just want to know HOW to do it & be ABLE to do it: NOW!  I found this GREAT site: 

http://cache.lionbrand.com/

If you crochet or knit, or you want to, this site is awesome!  Yarn, FREE patterns, a learning center, "community", shopping, help... it's ALL there!  If you're like me you'll have to check out every free pattern & then feel the need to download & print them all off.  Like I can live long enough to finish all these projects I have...

Of course, for more patterns, there is always www.etsy.com!  I bought patterns for 3 CUTE kids hats (for darling daughter) & a really cute neck warmer...

this neck warmer pattern can be found on etsy (of course), her shop name is:

BellaMcBride

for darling daughter:

this cute "newsie hat" by adrienneengar

how stinkin' cute are these girls?! & don't you love her fingernail polish?  that's how I tend to wear mine too :)

all 3 of these hat patterns also found on etsy at:

adrienneengar

she has a GREAT deal going on now with her patterns: buy 3 get 1 free!!

Gotta go get my stitch on!

Check back tomorrow for my new etsy goods!!

I'm excited about them & hope you will be too, let me just say, I felt myself chomping on glitter more than once this week...

Welcome new followers!!  Leave a comment, I'd LOVE to meet you!

gettin' artsy...

I need to get myself down to my studio & get working on 1 of my new years resolution:

working my

etsy store!!

So when I woke up, I wasn't feeling so artsy, just blah & tired (i MIGHT have mentioned this before, but I HATE the winter...hate, hate, HATE!  SO wish I would have moved to Hawaii right out of college... I could live in a mini-van with no wheels on a beach!).  What do you do when you're UNinspired?  I like to head over to flickr, type in something random like : whimsical chandelier.

Here's what I got today:

Picture by: BettinaPink

Picture by: Adam & Jessica

By the fabulous Danielle Thompson

sometimes all it takes is a little color to get me deep into the right side of my brain...

I'm off to FINISH several projects... Photo's coming, I promise!!

2010...& I'm still alive!

Geesh, I remember as a kid thinking about the year 2000 & how I was going to be SOOOO and & look, it's 10 years past that & I'm still alive!

This years activities were tame, VERY tame...

We ate at our fave Mexican place: The Big Ol' Mexican... not the real name but that building has been The Big Ol...lots of different things.  Remember my picture from Feb at my 40th birthday?  That was taken at the B.O.M

After dinner the 3 of us headed home & just relaxed!  The Mister read a book (his NEW hobby), Darling played the Christmas DS, & I did some crocheting.  I was a little disappointed we didn't have big plans, but it turned out to be a really nice start to a long weekend & a new year! 

(for the record: i did NOT pick out darling daughter's outfit...she's got a lot goin' on!)

Darling & I decided to eat a donut at 11:45 PM, so we could start our healthy eating the NEXT day ☺ The Mister & I had a glass of our Chocolate Raspberry wine & called it a night.

Look how excited she is- it's 12:14 & she's going strong!  I was REALLY worried that the next day was going to be a whine-fest, but she woke up early & in a GREAT mood!  To be on the safe side I made sure she was in bed EVERY night after that BY 8!!

Ok, so it wasn't exciting, but that's what we did...  Anyone out there do anything really fun? exciting? something you wouldn't want your mom to know??? DO TELL!  Resolutions?  Do you do them?  I've never been one to make any, but this year the 3 of us came up with 2 or 3 each, I typed them on the computer, printed them out & put them on the fridge.  The one I came up with that I am the most serious about is: WORKING my etsy store!!  I've been in my studio a ton this weekend thinking about what I like, why I like it & what I want my store to be.  I'm going to be revamping it this week... 

I'm really excited about what I have made so far & am really going to put some REAL effort into making chinamommy a success.

I went to a dentist a few years back who told me he didn't let his kids say "I'll try", he said they needed to DO it, not give themself an out by saying they'd just try... I like that!

Well, here's to 2010- CHEERS!