.dead.

EEP!
I woke up yesterday to my computer telling me, in a nutshell, that I had no hard drive.
wait.

what?

oooookay.

Call Dell...it is indeedy a failed harddrive...sooooo....since it's still under warranty they are sending out a new one.

All my posts are sitting will have to be redone :( and I'm not doing them on this crappy back up laptop...so 'see ya' soon' :o(

(the eggs are purely because I hate posts with no pictures :P)

.etsy treasury.

Wow, I can't believe the number of treasuries that are including my work. This will be the last one I update on the blog...I feel like I'm spamming my own site right now ;)

Thanks for all the support, EVERYONE :D

Treasury: The Softest Parts by blueorder

.another treasury feature.

Wow, I'm excited about the etsy love I am getting lately! haha...

Another Treasury featured my photo 'taxidermia'...Thanks to WigArcher for including me in the "Colorless Beauty" collection :D

.etsy treasury.

Wow, I came back to check my emails and what did I find?

I was featured in Etsy's Treasury, a collection called "I'm only sleeping" by ArtByAmarose

So exciting :D

.listed.

Just sharing a quick update to the shop.

I have added a handful of my  photos to the shop. I will be adding more over the next day or so, most are from older collections, but I plan on getting some of the newer ones up too...just depends on what suits my fancy ;) :P

.a local awesome.

So, you know of my love for The Black Feather...yeah...still love it.

I also LOVE local examples of AWESOME.

Another one I recently found (ironically-by way of a flier AT The Black Feather) is a new thrift shop.

Lovers Live Longer

(um, you have to love that name...if you don't you are cold.)

I love LOVE thrift stores.
Like, almost as much as my children.

This one is fantastic...I have gotten jeans, skirts, games, purses, shoes, books, JUNK all there...and it was *CHEAP*...like...I can go in with 5 bucks and come out with a pair of pink crocs for Liv, a purple 'hippie' skirt, a fantastic blouse and a judas priest cassette tape....that  kind of cheap.

Go in there...check them out, tell them hi.

Super friendly, super cute...and oh, what's this...an etsy shop as well? EVEN BETTER.

.horses.

So, yeah...we're in the horse capital of the whole entire universe (right? :P)...and occasionally we see some...you know, just a few here and there.

This one was super friendly.

as in, freak me out and my husband and kids laughed from the car while I stood in the rain on a bank trying to get a good shot but also not letting it bite my FACE because it was so friendly

yeah, that kind of friendly.

;)

.branch.

Another project I tackled while Nick was out of town was redoing the guest room.

yeah yeah...not the best quality of picture...but the light in there is not cooperative.at.all.

Nothing huge there, we sold the elliptical trainer, so that freed up quite a bit of space in there.. I was able to rearrange, center the bed, etc.  I painted the walls (2 of them) gray...and then

Here is where I need to insert a disclaimer.  I am usually SUPER GOOD at bookmarking/crediting where I got inspiration for my projects...even if I tweak them, etc.   I'll be straight up honest on this... I saw this somewhere and I don't know where...can't remember whose blog/site/etc.  So if it's you, please yell at me. thanks.

Okay...so where was I? Yes...

and then I painted a branch, hung some hooks (that I painted black because I couldn't find any that day that were already black and wasn't even going to THINK about waiting until I did.) and hung junk on them...and I *love* it....lovealovealove.

.door.

I redid my front porch while Nick was in Cali and driving back across the country home again.

Painted the front door red (a huge improve from the former ewwy brown.)

*quite* a while ago I saw this wreath...and I have been waiting to get the door painted before making it.  It took my all in all about 2 hours? maybe less....super easy.

I had to sacrifice some of Shakespeare's great works...but I think the cause was good ;P...I'm sure he'd be proud.

I just have to spray it with a protectant...I just couldn't wait to get it hung...so I'll fix that later. (don't act like you haven't hung/used/tried out a project that isn't 100% done because you were super stoked about it...we all know it happens).

.knitting.

So, it generally takes me about a year to get a scarf done.  If I start on fall, it'll be ready by the following fall...it's just how I roll  -_-.  (here's the 2 things I have made in my life-not three because I didn't actually finish the orange and turquoise one :X)

BUT, this year I am *deeeetermined* to get finished by the first flake of snow...maybe even sooner.

I feel a serious obsession with knee socks and scarves firing up inside of me right now...so I have some motivation moving me along.

I have no 'knit jargon' to hit you with...so I'll just say I am knitting/pearling in 5x5 squares...hope that makes sense. ;P

.chair.

So, I found this chair at the thrift store...I *really* wish I'd gotten an actual 'before' shot of it..it was UGLY...like....*U*G*L*Y*/alibi, etc. ugly.

But, anyhow.....it had this hunter-green-but-faded-from-years-of-ugly-in-the-sun-plaid fabric on it, and looked like it was sad from it's ugly.

BUT I could see it's potential past the ugly. (Do you get the emphasis on ugly I'm trying to throw out here?)

And for 5 bucks, even if it was a flop...not a huge loss.   I had leftover paints and/or paints for other projects to work with...as well as the fabric in the sewing room.

I started by taking the seat off, setting that aside...I painted an undercoat of turquoise (my absolute favorite color), let it dry overnight and all day in the sun the next day...then I went over with a coat of black. This took a few coats, because I wanted it to be solid.  After that dried a day or so, I distressed it with some sandpaper...I couldn't get it fully captured in the pictures....but it's really vibrant peeking out from under the black!

Next I covered the seat, screwed it back onto the chair and it was BEAUTIFUL....if I do say so myself.



So, now it sits beautifully, stunningly in my guest room ;)...happy as can be in it's newfound gorgeousness :P

It makes me happy to look at it...fo' sho'.

Next up...

.knitting.

aka

If I start my scarf NOW, maybe it'll be done by the middle of winter in January :D

.one month.

Wow, one month to the day since my last update. OOPS.

Busy time getting back into the swing of things with school starting and my routine changing.

Not too much is new on the creative front...did several projects that I need to update with...I'll start with the most recent from last night ;) 

I remember my mom making 'cinnamon swirl bread' all the time when we were growing up...only she didn't use the 'short cut' dough making method I use, a la bread machine.  I don't know why I don't make this more often, it's so easy...literally, a ball of dough from the dough setting, rolled out, sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon and rolled up into a loaf...let it rise, bake it and VOILA'. 

It was great with my coffee this morning.

Lots of posts/projects/news to update with today...hopefully I'll get to them all.