Furniture Silhouettes: Revisited

A Dutch newspaper wants to do an article about my furniture silhouettes!

Wheeeeee!!!

It's probably totally bad luck to squeal about it before it actually happens.

But I don't care.

Wheeeeee!!!

♥

UPDATE: OK, so this is a lesson in squealing too soon. My furniture silhouettes didn't make it in time for the deadline. Sadness to inifinity...

Week in Review: March 21-27

Amidst the busy-ness of prepping for the grand opening of my friends' business, I did find time to play. And bake. And cook. And twirl parasols. And have a friend over to craft in the art studio. (Which I've never done before---how odd is that?!) And get together with friends to knit. (We call ourselves "The Knit Wits".) And I was so proud because, for the first time, I followed a pattern & made a leaf!! And it actually LOOKS like a leaf!! I tell you, this fear & intimidation I had of knitting is getting knocked down...one teeny stitch at a time. 

Last week I also discovered that both my girls need glasses. Zoey already has hers. Pazely is waiting anxiously for her pair. It just seems sad that such little new eyes don't work so well. It doesn't seem right. It makes me kind of sad. I hate having to wear glasses.

There are so many secret projects & going-ons happening that I'm planning for the grand opening of ON3 Photography that I cannot share. (Only because my friend Laura, co-owner of ON3, & I discussed that she should be surprised with all the fun little details.) But I will have a WHOLE bunch-of-a-lotta stuff to show & tell by the end of this week!

Buuuuut....I might sneak a thing or two in before then. Shhhh! Don't tell! 

OH! And I almost forgot. My cupcake planters were featured in a little TV segment about whimsical spring crafts from Beth Engelman of 'mommy on a shoestring'. HERE is the link. The samples on the show don't look as full as I would have made them. And the sidekick TV host says: "looks like the aliens landed in my garden..." haha! Anyway. HERE is the original blog post about my cupcake planters, complete with how-to instructions!

♥

Long Distance Birthday Love

Today is my mom's birthday. And it makes me miss her real big. My mom & I usually celebrate our birthdays together. (They're only 13 days apart.) And if we don't celebrate them together, we usually do someting fun on each of our separate birthdays, together. Make sense?

Our birthdays usually start out with specialty coffee drinks. Coffee is our thing. And "specialty" coffee just means "fancy" or "froo-froo". 2 sugars, 1 creamer? That's not good enough for us. And, oh, the abundance of coffee shops & drive thru java kiosks back home in the Pacific Northwest! Seriously, I don't think some people understand. ON. ALMOST. EVERY. CORNER. And I'm not exaggerating. It's our fuel for fun.

One year we got all dressed up & went to the opera for my mom's big day!... She & I have gone on random yard sale & antiquing road trips together, to places & towns we'd never shopped... We've gone for pedicures with girlfriends... We've gone browsing in the little downtown shops back home. You know the ones I'm talking about: In your very own backyard. You pass by them almost every day & say, "Someday I'll have to stop by & check those out." And yet you never do. Well we did... We've gone mall shopping, complete with photo booth pics...We've made reservations with a big crowd of friends at a new restaurant we'd never tried down by the river...

For the last few years we've been saying how fun it would be to go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, Washington on our birthday. But we never did. I don't know why. The season just always came & went. I wish more than ever I could go there with her now.

I think this evening the whole family is going out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. And, 1200 miles away, I'm having a little party of my own. It's called "pity".

*sigh*

I miss my mommy.

♥



Sans Training Wheels

Learning to ride a bike is never easy...

 

...but then you get awesome, & it's TOTALLY easy!

♥

Hi Spring!

"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time."

-Deborah Chaskin

♥

Week in Review: March 14-20

The weather is getting all happy again! I opened my windows & front door numerous times last week. My mood has lifted tremendously--& I didn't even realize I had a mood! I also sat on the porch to enjoy the bits of warm sunshine. The girls had spring break (a whopping 2 days long. what?!) & we journeyed overnight to Cheyenne where we invaded Barnes & Noble & then I took the girls to some of our favorite shops: Michael's & The Dollar Tree! I know, doesn't sound exciting, right? Well, living in a small town makes you get excited about things that, once upon a time, you had so readily available & at close proximity.

I'm working on a couple fun projects which will be finalized at the end of the month. The first assignment is to help my friends put together the Grand Opening for their photography studio & frame shop. (It's the same place Crafty Night is hosted once a month!) One thing I'm SO excited about is a sort of polaroid photo booth I'm setting up where I'll have suitcases filled with props. Guests can get all silly-like while I snap a polaroid for them to keep. There will be live acoustic guitar players & wine & yummy eats & mini cupcakes made by moi. OH! And I'm gonna try my hand at making a giant balloon arch to set outside the studio on the evening of the celebration. I'm also putting together photo-themed gift bags for the first 100 guests. I'm having WAY too much fun shopping on Etsy AND crafting up unique items!! (SERIOUSLY, if you're able to make it to Bridgeport on March 31st for the Grand Opening, it'll be a super fun night! Just look for the awesome balloon arch on Main Street. haha!)

The second project is a little less intense, but also involves my friends' photo studio. My amazing photographer friend, Laura, is having Easter photo sessions the first week in April & she's asked me to make up Easter themed goodie bags for the kidlets that participate. I can't wait to show off the fun gifties that the kids will receive. You'll have to wait to see 'em though!! (I might have to peek in on the photo sessions---she's gonna have live baby chicks & a bunny on the scene! Not to mention the most adorable kitty named Carly. I've also ordered pastel colored parasols for additional props. Sweetness to infinity!!)

The next week & a half is gonna be a busy one!

But, golly, when you love what you're doing it doesn't seem to be overwhelming at all!!

Happy Monday!!

Happy Spring!!

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Bicycle

Learning to ride a bike is never easy...

...but then you get awesome, & it's TOTALLY easy!

♥

Going Goo-Goo Ga-Ga for Owlies

 I recently had an amazing opportunity to work with a customer on some special items for her newborn baby's room. The owlie mobile & the bunting were both "firsts" for me. I had such a fun time creating them & couldn't be more proud of getting to be a part of this baby's totally sweet digs.

 I was even called upon to create this owlie pillow as a present for the baby shower.

On top of all that, I was the happy maker of these owlie gift bags for the baby shower.

And, literally, the icing on the cake at the shower was an owlie confection of irresistably sweet proportions, created by Megan Savely of Frost me Sweet and Sweetbeans in the Tri-Cities, Wa.

(Sidenote: Sweetbeans is manna from heaven in the form of a drive thru desserts & drinks shop that serves, among other things, GOURMET CUPCAKES & COFFEE!!! I got to sample some while home on Christmas vacay last winter & they were scrumdiddlyumptious!)

*baby room pics courtesy of Sarah Pearson
*owlie cake pic courtesy of Megan Savely

A job well done?...

..I think so.

♥

1, 2, 3, FOUR!

It passed me by.

And I've been a bit too caught up with other things to make any formal mention of it.

Until now...

 February 25th marked year 4 of this blog.

I feel so proud of this little blog. Time to brag now. (Hey, I never get to! I'm allowed, just this once....)

I've had over 1/2 million hits. I have thousands of visits each month. I have hundreds of fans. (Though most of you keep really quiet, I still love you.)

Thanks to all my readers. You make this girl feel important. And thanks to those who have written me lovely, encouraging emails & messages. You make this girl feel extra special with sprinkles on top. And thanks to those who comment. You make this girl feel like doing cartwheels.

My first blog post (found HERE) was fun to look back on. I dreamed of a space to call my own. "Someday..." I had said. Well, this year, I have my own space. It's mine! Mine! Mine! I don't have to share one square inch! No office-slash-art studio-slash-library-slash-etc. No slashes anymore!! It's simply my creative space. And I love it! So, yeah, I did celebrate with a bit of sparkling cider & Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It was the appropriate thing to do.

And on top of ALL that....exactly 4 years ago (from today) I opened up my Etsy shop, WhiMSy love.
To celebrate, I'm having a sale! Through Saturday March 19th, everything in the shop is 40% off!
When chekcing out, just mention the coupon code 4FUNYEARS to receive the discount!
Look for new Spring Vintage Button Rings to arrive during the sale too!!

♥

Week in Review: March 7-14

Someone recently told me that having Crafty Night once-a-month makes it seem like a special holiday. And I couldn't agree more!!! I'm still buzzing from last Tuesday's crafty holiday!

And last week I also got to introduce my girls to cootie catchers. (Also called "fortune tellers".) American Girl Crafts (which I am TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH!!) has a kit that is so amazing for those just beginning to make cootie catchers. The folds are all pre-scored & there are 8 different designs in the kit, complete with stickers & "fortunes". Super fun!

The week ended with a night of bowling, complete with super nachos, grilled ham & cheese, cheesy fries, a super deluxe large root beer....but surprisingly: no heart burn.

Happy Monday!

 Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Crafty Night • March 2011

Crafty Night (March 2011) was so amazing!!

We created wreaths made from pages of vintage books. Old, discarded books.

While everyone crafted away, I wandered around & snapped photos. It was just so much fun to see everyone's spin on this project. AND I munched on THE most amazing cupcakes---EVER: Chocolate chip cookie dough. (If I can get the recipe, I'll share it with you.)

I gave away 2 of the 3 wreaths I had made earlier in the day. And there were handmade cootie catchers for everyone to take home. (Made from pages of a vintage dictionary.)

To view the rest of the pics, click HERE.

Can't wait for next month!!

April 12th

6-8 p.m.

ON3 Photography

Bridgeport, NE

Reserve your spot!

((Crafty Night operates via donations.))

♥

Week in Review: Feb. 28-Mar.6

Happy 12th Anniversary to me & the hubby! A dozen?! That seems like forevers!!

Crafting, thrifting, knitting, sipping, making, visiting, cutting.

Quite a lovely week.

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

Crafty Night is tomorrow night (March 8th) from 6-8 p.m.

@ ON3 Photography in Bridgeport.

Reserve your spot!

♥

Ruffled Bottlecap Brooch

Inspired by the embellishment I created on the duct tape notebook cover, I decided

to make the fun decoration into a brooch. Easy peasy. Here goes!

First, you'll want to drill 4 holes into a bottlecap. Top, bottom, both sides.

Next, make a yo-yo.

I used a 6" circle, which made a yo-yo that ended up being almost 2 3/4" across.

Then, cut a strip of fabric that is about 1 1/2" to 2" wide & 14" long. Sew along the bottom & gather it all together in a circle. (It could be longer or shorter, depending on how "ruffly" you want your circle.)

Now, cut a circle from felt & sew on a pin.

You should now have 4 pieces that will come together to make the brooch.

Stack the bottlecap, yo-yo & circular ruffle together & sew them up using the holes

in the bottlecap.

And lastly, stitch the felt piece on the back.

All done!

Pin 'em anywhere & add a little bright & happy to your day!

(Can't wait to have your very own? Hop on over to THE SHOP & take your pick!)

♥

LOL

Locks Of Love

I had over a foot of hair cut off & am sending 12" to Locks of Love.

It's the 2nd time I've done this. And, golly, it feels great!!

Click HERE for the before & after.

♥

Duct Tape Notebook Cover

While peeking around THIS BLOG recently, I came upon a nifty craft that looked like the perfect quick fix I needed. (Sometimes we crafters need to pause for a bit of quick happy crafting.) The original source was found HERE. And it's definitely worth the visit to both blogs to see the fun spin put on this duct tape notebook makeover!

 I've been dying to craft something with those super fun duct tape designs!

Who knew tape could rock so hard?!

 ♥