Etsy Treasury 11-10-09

I haven't check to see if I have been in a treasury in months. I looked the other day and found this one was active.

Thank you for featuring me in your beautiful treasury. I love the purple theme!

Walk of the Elephants

For Daisy116..
I love them all!

Happy Birthday Mr. D!

Today my baby turns 13 years old. I can't believe I have a 13 year old son!
Everyday he makes me proud, makes me smile and makes me laugh.
How do you do all that in one day??
I love you Honey Bunny!


Happy birthday Toots!

First Magazine

I was ASKED to be in First Magazine last month and just got two issues in the mail. The editor contacted me and asked if I would like to participate in their Gift Guide and of course I said YES! She has been so super to work with. She sent me a lovely hand written letter and two copies of the magazine, SWEET! I scanned the cover and the article. She was nice enough to use me in the example in the "ETSY how-to" (blue block in the bottom of second page).
I can't wait to see it out in the supermarket! It's the Oct.26th Issue and it's page 86 &87.
Now if the ALL You mag. would only come out....

Kitchen before and after

Worth a thousand words.....and I don't even have the cabinet hardware on yet...

Before and After House Pics

Here are some before and after pics for your viewing pleasure...

We have been working SO incredibly hard on our new house. Almost every single day we have been over there doing something. The first four days we owned it we worked 12 hour days, then it went down to about 4-7 hours a day depending on our schedule.

We painted EVERYTHING in the house, all the walls, all the baseboards, all the window trim and sills. That's two bathrooms, four bedrooms and the huge master closet, the halls, the laundry room, the dining room, the living room, and the kitchen (even the cabinets). Literally every wall, window and trim got painted. We have gotten such a workout. Some days I have a hard time getting up out of a chair because my legs hurt so bad from standing and squatting and reaching on ladders...ugh... We are 97% done now, I have to put on another coat of paint on the cabinets and put on the hardware. Then I need to clean up the master bathroom and scrap some of the paint drops of the counter, but other than that, DONE!!! We even got all the carpet replaced in all the bedrooms today. Yippie!

Next I need to replace all the lighting fixtures, but that will have to wait for a few months. Please don't think I picked out those chandaliers.. lol

So here are the pics! I only have before and during for the kitchen, but I will have one up with the cabinets soon!
Enjoy...

Handmade Nation Austin Texas

The Handmade Nation event went well! I met some cool people and hopefully made a few new customers. It was HOT outside and I was ready to go by 4pm. Damn Texas heat...I got to speak to Faythe Levine and told her thank you for having us. She won't remember me, but I wanted to speak to her anyway.. lol Baby Bolt was in the next booth over and had some very cool stuff. We made a trade, she got a coupon organizer and I got one of her crayon rolls. It is super cute! When Dylan grows out of it I am going to use it as a paint brush holder. I should have taken a picture for you, dang! Check out her site at www.babybolt.net

I sold around 20 coupon organizers and talked to a lot of people. I am not the best salesman, but I do say hello and try to have a mini conversation with everyone that stops at my booth. Grace helped me with my booth and was a great companion. I wouldn't have done it without her. She is my rock. Then later in the day M & L came up with the boys and hung out for awhile. They kept the kids over the weekend so we could work on the house and go to the bizarre. They had "family" practice and I think they were ready to give them back by Sunday night.. lol
Thanks girls, you are truly amazing.

My First Jump

I have been saying I am going to jump the pool with my clothes on as soon as we got back from closing on the house and here is the proof I did it! lol

Starbucks Recipe Cards

I grabbed these at Starbucks and plan on trying them out. I love their pastries! If anyone knows the recipe for the Lemon Pound Cake, I would pay you for it. ha ha That is my very favorite! They just rolled out the Pumpkin flavor for fall. Yesterday they had pumpkin scones, pumpkin/cream cheese muffins and of course pumpkin lattes. One of my favorite things about Fall.

Anyway, I thought I would share these cards with you all.
Enjoy!

Kitchen idea

I played around with photoshop a little tonight and came up with my concept for our new kitchen. Granted I am not a professional graphic artist,but I think you get the idea. Espresso cabinets, deep pumpkin for a few accent walls, white subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances etc...buh-bye pot rack....
We'll see if the REAL before and after pictures compare to my sketch..
:-)

Handmade Nation Austin Texas Premiere Weekend Events

Faythe Levine will be screening her highly acclaimed film in our home town, and we are welcoming her with a weekend of fun including: a book signing party, two screenings with Q+A after each screening, craft bazaar, and post-screening party.

Saturday, September 5th

Book signing party 7-9pm, Domy Books
Faythe Levine will be signing books alongside artists featured in the book (Whitney Lee, Jennifer Perkins, Magda Sayeg, and Kathie Sever) Sounds by DJ Bullet, free Live Oak, and an awesome raffle, packed with prizes from artists and local businesses. Free.

Sunday, September 6th

Craft Bazaar noon-6pm, Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Craft fair featuring some of Austin's most talented up and coming artists, craft demos and giveaways, and stuff for the kiddos. Free.

Handmade Nation Screenings 1:30pm and 4:10pm, Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
The film's Austin premiere! Q & A to follow with director, Faythe Levine, and several of the films' subjects.

BusyBeeWares

Just for Heather.
Let me know on Etsy if you like either of these.
Best Wishes!!

New Sugar Skulls

I thought I would post these new sugar skulls for you today. I LOVE sugar skulls, but I should be charging double for these. It's a bit more work and a lot more imagination to create these things. These are going to be put away until the craft show, but I may make more for my shop. I would be happy make a custom one if you want one!
Enjoy!

First Magazine picked me!

I was contacted by First magazine to do a photo shoot with my Red Poppies on Aqua. It will be just the product, not me... lol
It should be in the October publication. I hope it makes it to print...
:-)

Thrift Store Find of the Day

I went to the thrift store to find something specific (don't ask, long story) and came across these cool chairs. They look 1960's contemporary to me, but I am no expert. They do have a label on the from Jasper Chair Company. I looked them up online. I may contact them to see if they know anything about them.

I looked at them three times before deciding not to get them. I left and went home thinking about the chairs the whole time. I talked to Grace about them and she said they sounded nice, then I called my mom and told her about them. So I thought I am stupid for not getting them and I rushed out 3 hours later to see if anyone gave them a home. To my surprise, no one had gotten them! Yippie!! I am going to put them on either side of the fireplace in the new house or in my office. We'll see! Oh, and they were $7.99 each

Thrift Store Find of the Month

I haven't been shopping as much lately, but I did go to the thrift store to scout out some goodies yesterday. Look what I found! A practically new Huffy tricycle. It is in great condition. It looks like it had been riden 5 times and then kept in a garage. I hardly had to clean it. Dylan needs his legs to grow another inch before he can really ride it. I got it for $6.99, I looked them up and they normally run about $59.99. Good deal!

Treasury 7-28-09

Thanks chrysbonnaylewis for inviting me to your treasury! I love the lavender!

My Beautiful Green Pool

Here is a nice shot of my new pool during our home inspection. What a shock to walk outside and see this. We were pretty upset to say the least. I guess the current tenants thought it would be ok to turn off the electricity. They are SO thoughtful. They have been so rude to us and disrespectful to the owner of the house on several occasions. ANYWAY, I spoke to owner today and he was so upset about it, he totally drained the pool, power washed and hand scrubed it. He is in the process of filling it back up. It should be sparkling when I go to see it Wednesday. That was very kind of him. He has even offered to show me the ropes on maintaining it. That is why I am going out there Wednesday.
God help me, this has been the worst experience I have had buying a house. It will all pay off when we get that key though!

UPDATE!!!
The seller totally redid the pool and it looks awesome! He showed me some features that I didn't even know.. It has a fiberoptic light that changes the color of the water. You can make it red, green, blue or purple. He said purple was his favorite.. lol There are also two sprinkler thingys (I am not a pool expert yet) on the side of the pool and when you turn them on they shoot water up and make it "rain" over the pool... pretty cool, huh?
:-)
OK, now I am happy again...

Starting Our Fifth Year- BFF

I Heart Coffee

MAN, I need to stop making these.. haha