Wednesday Wants

I love these new towels from Wonder Thunder! I bought their "corn nerd" print for my husband awhile back and I love it as well. Gotta check out their shop!



Another one of my faves is the ever creative "My Paper Crane." Not only is she super nice but super creative! Check out these tacos. I mean come on! She is having a show at Renegade Handmade in Chicago this weekend. I wish I could go!



Pixelthis is has some of the most creative clocks. Check out the record player clock. This would add such a unique touch to any room!



I love Mr. Beardsly over at
Intimidnation creations!"



There are so many more shops on Etsy that I love to check out. They are just so inspiring! A few that I love are "Boopsie Mart." Her work is so colorful and fun!
Roadside Projects I came across over at "Beautiful Mess." I can't stop looking at her work, it is absolutely amazing!
I love the cute arrow bags over at "Dwyer." The colors are super cute!

Well now that I have overloaded you with some of my faves! Check em' out!

Tuesday

I was checking out some new Re-ment, and well I love anything vintage, so these little beauties got me all excited.


As I have a bit of a gingerale obsession, the little cup with the fizz was super exciting


My last post I talked about vintage circus, and Dumbo escpecially reminds me of the old circus.


Okay, who can resist Bambi! And a minature Bambi at that! I love this one.


I love everything about this clock! I would love to have a cuckoo clock one day! I love the white!

Well we hope to go to the park today! It will be in the 60's today. Perfect!

Spring Cleaning Take Two

Well we did your spring cleaning this weekend. It was back breaking, but exciting at the same time. It is one of those things that you dread to do, but are glad you did it. We accumulate so much throughout the year and children grow out of toys and clothes. My husband brought about eight bags of all different things to the thrift store. Onto other news, I was excited that my husbands moped group the "Bourbon Bandits" will be using my raccoon sketch as one of their pins for there rally. They expect almost 300 mopeds to be at their annual rally this year. I get to ride this year with my husband and I'm so excited. I have started some new ideas for my shop. I have been doing quite a bit of sketching recently. Now I am not normally a person who is into the circus. I like looking at all the old pictures, but don't attend do to the treatment of animals. However through this interest I have been working on a circus theme. All these animals were treated with the utmost respect in the sketching and embroidery process. I hope here soon to be putting some of these into my shop. I was so excited this weekend to find some little chicks for easter that I have been looking for. I have been seeing people with these on flickr. I will take some pics when I get a bit of sunshine. Have a great Monday!

Office Spaces

I loved the idea I found from Design Sponge of hanging a picture from garment hangers. I found this at a paper shop in Pasadena like forever ago and finally hung it up like four years after I bought it.


This is what I look at on my desk each day. We love vintage staplers. I would love to collect globes at some time.



I found this via Design Sponge. I love the little splashes on neon in this work space.


I love the colors here! A vintage farm feel!

My one item that I am still in search for, and for the perfect price, is an old school metal desk. I have found some in the past, but I felt like they were very expensive. Our office is our family room essentially. We have the desk and all its items, my treadmill, a couch, bookshelves full of craft books, and my work space. And don't forget the building blocks, legos, and little animals that the kids play with. It is an all purpose room. We have an extra room that my husband has made his moped work area. It was kind of a mudroom. I have dreams of making this into an office slash work space in the future. But for now the family room does its job! Have a great weekend!

Movies

I very rarely find myself in a movie theater. With three kids , one of which can't quite sit still yet, and the massive price of tickets, for these reasons I would much rather buy the dvd. Being a Wes Anderson fan, much through my husband, it was a no brainer that I wanted to own "Fantastic Mr. Fox." I am crazy about anything stop motion and has intricate detail (minatures= excitement). I was super excited for "Coraline" way back when as well. So we watched "Fantastic Mr. Fox" last night , and yes, it was pretty darn amazing, or fantastic. I love how Wes Anderson brought out the actors character as they usually play in movies. Jason Schwartzman was his typical selfish, rude, overachiever, insecure character. Super funny. I love how they use the line, "What the cuss." I believe this will be my new fave phrase. Check out the making of the movie, it is so much fun!'
My husband has been having me watching these shorts called "Brules Rules." They are completely hilarious.


Have a great day!

Can't wait for Garage Sales and Estate Sales

via weheartit


"My 80 cent picture from the thriftstore"

I get really excited when I hear the words garage sale or estate sale. My husband called me earlier today and told me he heard of one this friday that said "Sixty years of accumulation." Now thats what I'm talking about. I don't have any problem rummaging through someone's treasures. I usually go to look for things to decorate with. All things vintage is my decor style. I usually make a mental list of things that I would be looking for. I get this list going as I go through everyone's room and see if we need any small furniture such as, a book shelf, night stand etc. I absolutely love repainting each thing and then ruffing it up a bit with sand paper to give it a foe vintage feel. I am always look for vintage pictures, frames, old dolls, trinkets and such. I try to stick to my list so I don't come home with too much junk. Oh and yes I look for old cameras as well. I have a small collection of those as well. What is one of the best things you have found at a sale or thriftstore that you treasure? I have a mint green turqoisish telephone table that I adore! One of my fave finds.

My Favorite Place to Eat

I lived in Southern California for several years. I don't miss living there except for three things. 1. Family 2. The Beaches (weather included) and 3. Authentic Mexican food. One of our fave places in Orange County is "Tacos Jalisco" If you ever find yourself in Orange, eat here. The funny part is, is they are in a little shopping strip behind a Taco Bell (not authentic mexican). Anyhow we found a little place here in Kentucky called "Luna's Rotisserie." It is run by a family that are Mexican, super nice, and make some of the most amazing food. We get the Tacos Al Pastor. We went there on Saturday after the thriftstore. I forgot to take a pick of my favorite thriftstore called "Unique." I found this really cool picture of what looks like a dock with boats. The colors are so vibrant and its in a gold frame. I need to get it out of the back of my car so I can take a pic. And it only cost 80 cents. Not bad. I didn't find too much that day though. My little rollerskating bear is featured on "Plush You" for the made-up sport competition for the Schmancy Olympics. The other entries are so amazing! I can't wait to see the results. I hope to have a productive week this week. I don't know if I have mentioned it before on my crafty blog, but I homeschool, so my weeks are pretty well packed during the day, so my only crafty time is in the evening. I need to start drinking coffee in the evening so I can get alot done. Well have a wonderful day! Eat tacos!

Easter coming

Pics via weheartit

Easter is fast approaching now that March will soon come to an end. By the way, where did march go? I'm trying to come up with something cool to make for Easter. I love fluffy bunnies and cute chicks, and all things pastel. Whoa only about two weeks away! Okay that was fast. I need my wheels to get a turning. I made bunnies last year. You know what are so delicious but I haven't had in forever are the Reese's peanut butter eggs. My daughter has a major nut allergy so those never get close to the house. I need to eat one while shopping at the grocery or something. It is kind of tricky with holidays with candy involved, because most of the candies consist of chocolate and nuts. I like to make something special instead. Must brainstorm. I have been wanting to get my own candy molds so that I can just melt my own vegan chocolate for my daughter. Any dessert I make at our house is allergy free so that there are no worries. Well I am off to enjoy this sun shiney day!

Spring Cleaning

My girl decided to do a bit of spring cleaning today!




I love Blythe. My husband bought my one and only girl last year, and I have so much fun taking pictures of her. I had to have the "Friendly Freckles" as I love red hair ;) But the best part is dressing her up and making little scenes with my Re-ment. I don't believe I will ever really grow up. I was reading Skunkboy Creatures blog the other day, and could not believe the new girl that is coming out soon. I must some how come up with some moola fast. I mean look how beautiful her hair is

I'm not sure when she makes her arrival, but I need to figure out how to make a few hundred. Not sure how that will pan out, but maybe I will get that lucky customer who wants a big order. It is such a beautiful day today. The weatherman says that we could get up to 70's tommorrow. Nuts! But I will take the warm weather when I can. I went to the book store last night and was searching for some good reads for my son. We came across "Wind and the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.


I have started reading along with my son what ever book he reads, and this one is getting me so excited for spring. All the little critters. I am very much inspired to start sketching forest critters. Another book I bought was "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton. I'm pretty sure I read this when I was little, mainly because there are minature things involved. I can't wait to read this one with him as well.
Children's books are so magical. I was an avid reader as a kid. I always love to imagine and create the story in my mind just the way I thought it all went down. I think today I may have to do some sketches.

Middle of the Week Music: Ear Candy

Pics via weheartit


I love to listen to music when I work in the evening. Some of my best hours of work are done after 7:30 until about 10:30. I can concentrate uninterrupted and listen to some music. I usually like a mix of music, so I usually use Pandora. I have customized alot with some of my fave artists. Usually its good, you get those hit or miss nights where you wonder where the heck they found this song. I came across "Taken by Trees" band. I love the vintage feel of her voice, ecspecially in the song "Julia." I am a Belle and Sebastian fan, so this totally gives the sixties or seventies vibe. I am also a fan of Karen O of the "Yeah Yeah Yeahs". I love the song "Let Me Know". Well enjoy!

Monday Monday

I am so thankful to be healthy. I was actually able to work on some projects. I finished my submission for the "Schmancy Winter Olympics." I have had the bear done for sometime but I needed to finish his rollerskates and perogies. I had never heard of perogies until we met some friends from Canada. So I decided I would incorporate this into my made-up sport. My made up sport for the games is quite self explanatory, but goes as follows, " Rollerskating while holding a plate of perogies." I love his expression, I mean , I think I would be shocked to try this as well. I went pattern shopping on Saturday as well. Our fabric store had patterns for $1 and $1.99. You can't beat that. I bought a couple that I knew I would totally make alot of . The first is Simplicity 2593. I love the collar!



The second pattern that I have wanted for awhile and has so many styles to it is Simplicity 2447. I want to find the perfect plaid for this. I know plaid again. I just love plaid.



I hope to make these in the near future. I have a whole bunch of projects for the next two months it seems but after that I am making time for some clothes making. I don't get as stressed out as I used to and enjoy just taking my time making clothes. Have a great day!

Sick Week

This is me this week!

I have to say this has been one of the craziest sick weeks I have had in years. The family was hit hard with some sort of flu and we got it one right after another. This the first day since Tuesday that I have somewhat felt myself. With little sleep, coughing all night, and taking care of three little ones who have fevers, it has been quite the challenging week to say the least. I am so behind on so many things, but getting better is so much more important. I have been cleaning and disinfecting things like crazy trying to get these germs out of the house. I havent' been on the computer hardly at all this week either, but when I checked my etsy this morning, I was so excited to see I was featured on the front page. I hope I can keep up with orders and other projects I have coming up with losing a whole week. I never realize how much I take being healthy for granted only when I get this sick. Well I'm off to continue to get better!

Sketches

All my ideas are sketches. I'm sure all of you work this way as well. I have been working on the "Lost At Sea" pieces and sketching out my ideas. I have one completed and will be starting the second piece this week. I really love sketching. I like erasing, and tweeking my sketches until I have them how I want them. I want to do alot more sketching this year and watercolors. I find this so relaxing. It is amazing to sketch out an idea and then see it come to life on fabric through embroidery, this is one of my favorite things to do right now. I have loved drawing since I was very young. I always had a notebook to draw in. I thought when I was younger that I wanted to be an architect. But, then I realized that I would have to be very good at math, so I didn't fiddle too long with that career idea. However, one of my fave things to do was to draw out elaborate houses, and what would be in each room. I would spend so much time doing this. I believe that is what made want to actually build my own doll house in junior high. I have always been fascinated with old structures and victorian rooms. I could sit and stare at doll houses for hours. I think it has to do alot with being a girl and wanting to decorate exactly how I like. Picking colors, furniture, accessories, all these things get a girl excited to decorate. I think the older I get, the better I get a picking color themes and what goes best together. My theme right now is vintage, bright colors with accenting black woods. That is how most of our house looks. Well I am going to enjoy this weather we are having today. They say we may get to 62 degrees! Crazy!

Saturday

This morning is such a beautiful sunny morning and I have all kinds of things that would make this day even more swell!


Drinking a yummy mocha! I love the ones at Borders!


Of course going thrift shopping and finding some amazing things!

Okay I have a confession. Lately I have been a little obsessed with "Canada Dry" ginger ale. I have always had a weakness for sugary drinks. This is the one thing that is holding me back in my attempt to eat healthy. It is so refreshing though!


I have those things that are so hard to give up, my little weaknesses. I try to run about three or four times a week, and I eat healthy throughout the day , except for my sweet tooth. It gets me everytime.

Sunshine is headed our way

I believe sunshine is headed our way. We are starting to see more sunny days than not. I can't wait until this weekend when we will get fifties. I feel like this winter has been unusually long. I just want to lay a blanket in the grass and lay in the sun. When my husband and I met in college this was one of our favorite things to do. We would head to the park , lay out a blanket, and just lay in the sun with our eyes closed and talk. So relaxing. I feel like the sun relaxes me. It does give me a healthy dose of vitamin D. I am looking forward to green trees, flowers, birds tweeting, crickets talking, ducks at the park, fresh veggies from the garden. I like just taking road trips just for the afternoon to little towns that we haven't discovered. Finding little shops and yummy places to eat. I'm looking forward to riding on my moped around the neighborhood. Just thinking about all these things makes me get excited.

Busy, Busy and More Busy

I feel like I have neglected a dear friend this week. I have been over my head with busy lately. I feel like I'm working at a snails pace on things, but family calls, and Mommy must harkin to the calls. We have been a house of snotty noses this week, and whiney folks, myself included. I put one embroidery piece in my shop this week and I have one sitting on my desk almost completed. I have a huge project I have been working on that I haven't mentioned yet on my blog. I was asked by Kristen Rask, from the ever so cute store "Schmancy" and the blog "Plush You" to create several pieces for a show at "Gallery Hanahou" in New York. The theme is "Lost At Sea" and I am having a fun time creating these pieces. I am really buckling down to have these completed by the end of the month. They aren't due until the end of April, but I don't want to wait until the last minute. I want to have time to make any changes or anything of the sort before they are sent. I am quite the obsessive compulsive perfectionist at times. I will check and recheck things. If you happen to be in New York betwen May 6th and June 11th, try and check out the show. There are so many amazing artists that will be featured. One being my all time fave Jenny Hart from "Sublime Stitching!" I learned embroidery thru her books. Eek! So exciting. "Where the Wild Things Are" came out on dvd on Tuesday. I have been wanting to see and I finally got to . So cute. The feelings of being a kid and all the thoughts and feelings you have at times that seem so huge. I thought is was so visually inspiring and the music was magical. Alot of the songs in the movie were sang by Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's . She has an amazing voice. One of the songs that I thought was so beautiful was originally written by Daniel Johnston (if you have never heard of him you need to rent the documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a must watch!!!!). The song is "Worried Shoes" it is so beautiful. Bye for now!

Penny and Shopping

My dog Penny will do almost anything for you if food is involved. She will shake your hand, sit perfectly still, and even let you dress her up any funny way. She is quite the obediant dog. Now when it comes to digging holes in my back yard or licking my kitchen chairs for leftovers, not so obediant (we are working on this). Today is Monday of course. I'm not a fan of Mondays so much. I did a little bit of shopping this weekend. My husband needed a few new shirts, so of course what am I supposed to do while he is looking for clothes for himself, but look for clothes for myself. Now I like Old Navy for only a few of their things. I dont' think their quality is all that good, but when they have v-neck tees for $5, I will spend that much. They had some cute colors and stripes in the tees. I bought a grey v-neck and a striped pink, orange, black and grey. I did splurge on a cute dress. I should have waited until spring, but I can wear this with a cardi for the time being. I can't wait to wear my boots with this as well.

What things are looking forward to with spring?