jessica jane: military wife & artist.

2011-12-01T00:29:00.000-08:00

So, it's December!

Things have been crazy around here lately. November went by way too fast. In the blink of an eye my husband turned 30 and I turned 26. I worked a lot, and Thanksgiving was great.

In 4 hours I will be on my way to the airport with the husband, to go visit his mom for a week. We're both very excited to go to Ohio. It's been over two years since we have both been back together. He hasn't even been to his mom's new house since she moved two summers ago. I have never even flown with my husband before! So this will be a first.

I've been getting some inquiries about house ornaments and if I'm going to be adding any before Christmas. I am not going to have as many as the previous years, but I am going to try my hardest to list as many as I can before December 17th.

So, keep in touch with the blog, and hope everyone has a great week!

2011-11-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

Head on over to Mason's Roost for a chance to win an ornament! Carly is super sweet, and I was sucked into reading her blog because of her great craft DIY's and her sweet baby boy!

2011-11-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Head on over to Ashley's blog, The Shine Project, to see her featured handmade holiday tutorials, a refresher on last years bird ornament, and a giveaway!

2011-11-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Things have been kinda crazy around here lately. Good things, and bad things. I'll tell ya the good things first. I got a part time job! Mostly for fun and to get out of the house. Working from home is great, but it gets old. I need socialization. I just got back this week from a short little trip to Indiana to visit my mom, sister, and nephew for his second birthday. It was so nice to see them after over a year. My nephew has grown so much. The trip was definitely too short, but it was worth it. I love the area they live in, just outside of Indianapolis. That was the first time in 4 years that I've experienced a real autumn again, it was beautiful.

Sadly, I came back home to a missing kitty. That was just the crap icing on the crap cake, after news that my mother in law has to start radiation very soon. They had already done a hysterectomy, and at her check up they found that it spread fast to her bladder and other places. I've never known anyone that has went through this, but I've been hearing encouraging stories, and also some that make me very scared. If your the praying type, please say a prayer for her.

Visiting my family and seeing my nephew definitely kept my spirits up. Here are some photos from my trip.

KJ checking out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

Aerial view of the corn maze we went through.

KJ and I in the corn maze.

I don't know why, by this is my favorite picture of him from my trip, he looks so sweet here.

October

2011-10-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on lately, emotionally. That always effects how I blog. Last year when my husband was deployed, I blogged maybe twice. I am definitely an emotional blogger, as in, when I have so many emotions going on, I shut down in the blog world. Things are looking better now though. I just don't like putting on a happy face in the blog world, when that's not particularly how I feel. Know what I mean? I have my few friends and family I'll vent to, but I don't want to spill everything for everyone else to know.

Anywayyyyyy. On a better note!

Here are a few shots of my friend Kim's adorable son, from my trip to Dallas a few weeks ago.

It was a nice little vacation, and I am so glad I got to meet little Cooper.

I've been working on some custom orders lately, and if you want to put one in, do it now! I'll be getting really busy in the next few weeks, plus I may be working part time outside of the house too. So I'll be busy busy.

Here are two little fall houses I'll be adding to the shop today.

The Pumpkin House, $15

The Haunted House, $10

Contact me either by email or in my shop if you'd like to place a custom order, thank you!

fall giveaway

2011-09-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't been blogging much at all lately, but it's for good reason! I just got back from a trip to Dallas visiting my good friend Kim and her family. I did photos for her sons first birthday, and family photos while I was there, and had a great time.

I have offered to do a giveaway on Kim's blog, so if you head over, you could possibly win this fall themed pumpkin house!

husbands are nice

2011-09-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was surprised with these beauties. I asked what the occasion was and he said "just because". I'm not going to lie, I got a little scared, and may have asked more than once what they were for. Our anniversary is in a few days, so I'll just accept them as an early anniversary gift.

We've got a four day weekend in our house! So hopefully we will make the best of it. Hope everyone else does the same. :)

what's in my bag

2011-08-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

My purse.

I love my purse. I am not the type of girl to switch out my purse according to outfits. I buy a purse, and I wear the crap out if til it no longer exists. This one cost me a hefty $15 at Target about 2 years ago. The inside has been cut open in one spot (because some things went missing through a pocket) but I will probably use it until there is a hole in the bottom.

At the top I have four buttons, all gifted. I like carrying these friends around with me.

Contents:

Lotion, zipper bag full of lipgloss/chapstick, hair ties, eye drops, pens, sunscreen (a must for redheads), sunglasses, wallet, and address book.

Along with my purse, my wallet is ancient too. I have had that baby for maybe 6 years now. QuietDoing anyone? The zipper bag was something I won from MadeByHank, and it fits my lip stuff perfectly.

I have more than enough to survive the next couple of years on. My favorite is the Burt's Bees pomegranate lip balm.

Wallet photos: Sonogram of my nephew and two photos of my nephew at 4 months. My husband's boot camp photo I found online when he was gone, I printed it out on paper and have had it in there ever since. And a cute Christmas picture of my husband and Sammich the cat.

So, that's my bag. Nothing too crazy! What's in yours? If you blog about it, let me know!

Point Loma, CA

2011-08-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

Point Loma, CA. If you are ever in the Southern California area, definitely check this spot out. Out where the Cabrillo National Monument is. This is probably one of my most favorite spots in CA, other than Big Sur.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

2011-08-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is my latest project. I have two shadow boxes that have been waiting and waiting to be used, and I'm finally going to use them. I drew up this design in thinking it will go in a child's room. There will be an alphabet bunting, numbered houses, and possibly an eye spy game on the back. The other shadow box will either be Halloween themed or Christmas themed, I haven't decided yet.

I added this little ornament to the shop yesterday. I think my favorite part is the orange gingham ribbon.

Hope everyone is having a great week! I cannot wait for the weekend, I'm going to Disneyland for the very first time!

2011-08-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

This tree house ^ is now listed in the shop, here. (SOLD!)

I also want to add that I am going to be doing custom orders from now until mid October. Once November hits I will be busy stocking the shop with ornaments and Christmas themed houses. So, contact me if you may want a custom order. (I do discounts on large orders!)

Contact me via a convo at my Etsy page- jessicajaneHANDMADE

Examples of previous work:

Hope to hear from you~!

2011-07-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday to my favorite girl!

decorating

2011-07-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

The last year or two I have been really wanting to make my home my own. I want it to look like I live there, not just anyone. Why do I need to decorate my house how other people think it should look? Well, honestly, I never have. But I've also never picked out my own furniture and decor, because my husband (then boyfriend) came furnished with everything! I used to not care what our house looked like when I worked full time. Now that I've been working at home and being a housewife for quite some time now, I am here all the time, and I want to enjoy the space I am in.

Remember the photo shoot my husband and I had almost two months ago? Well, I had one of our photos printed onto a gallery wrapped canvas, and, I LOVE IT.

I made the letters using this tutorial. Super freaking easy guys. So easy, I am making my neighbor some!

{photo source evie-s.com}

I put it on the wall you see right when you walk in the front door, and I put up the bunting we had used in the photo shoot right above the canvas.

Behind the scenes. Haha. Trash cans and fans don't make the photo too pretty, or golf ball eating dogs. Yep, that's a golf ball being shredded laying right by her paws. (Don't worry, it's in the trash now)

I had ordered my canvas through canvasondemand and the quality is really good. I'd recommend it to anyone, although it's pricey without a coupon. I had happened to come upon a Groupon code for it, so hopefully they have another one in a couple of months! I'd like to get another one for the bedroom.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Meet Lucy

2011-07-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

Meet Lucy, the rocker. Lucy was left next to the dumpster about a month ago, and she just got around to getting a makeover.

I didn't take a before picture, which I regret, but here is a picture of her in the middle of being sanded. She was painted an ugly burnt sienna color. I'm not sure if the previous owner's bought her like that, or if they painted her...but, she was ugly. There was no natural wood grain showing through the paint, just a flat brown. So I painted her white, in a dry brush style, so make her feel more farmhouse style.

And now she feels pretty.

I pulled some the the green and aqua from the vintage fabric I used for the cushion, and painted the ribbed detail on the sides.

She's not the most comfortable rocker, but for free, I'll gladly sit in it.

2011-07-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, just stopping in to announce my new shop opening, jessicajaneHANDMADE. This shop is going to showcase jewelry and art. My Petite Houses will now be sold in this shop along with everything else.

So head on over and favorite it if you wish to do so!

2011-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of sad and tragic things that happen daily, and I have had my fill of them this week! I thought I would share this beautiful vlog post with you guys today, by Rebekka Seale. Her and her husband have been trying to adopt for a while, and......just watch the video!

Definitely had me tearing up with joy for them. Congrats to you both!

Original post here.

friendship

2011-07-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

{source}

I love this saying. This week in between this and that, I will be working on some friendship bracelets to send to my friends. I went to the store the other day and picked a bunch of colors out. It will be fun to do different color combos for each friend.

These photos are my inspiration.

{source}

Happy Monday, hope everyone has a great day!

2011-07-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger lately. I could have been blogging about the David Bazan concert, picnic at the beach, or numerous other things, but I haven't. Sometimes I just get caught up experiencing the little things and forget to blog.

What I would like to blog about is some of the engagement photos I took for my friend's Amanda and Jeff, back in Ohio. My sweet friend Victoria was kind enough to give me a rough Photoshop101 class in her home, and I'd say she is a pretty darn good teacher. I am so glad to have a friend like her, cause we can geek out over things like crafts, blogs, food, photos, etc, and not feel totally crazy.

Here are a few of the photos I've edited so far. I think Amanda is going to really like them, if I do say so myself.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

summertime

2011-07-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the comments on my last post! I just washed my kitten shirt, and am hoping it didn't shrink. I think I may out wear it this summer...maybe even today.

We didn't do much for the fourth, although I kind of liked it that way. Our favorite couple to hang out with flew out of state for the weekend so we had a BBQ all to ourselves. It was nice having leftovers for 3 days! I didn't have to cook at all. I did happen to make strawberry shortcake that was shared with the neighbors, and a cake for the fourth. So, I am about caked out for a while.

It's been pretty warm here the last few days. Our apartment thermostat has been at +80 all week, and we don't have air. So that means frequent trips to the swimming pool and a whole lot of nothing else. When it gets too warm in the apartment I can't function, I just find the nearest fan and sit in front of it.

Last night we took a little trip to the lake on base and fished for a little bit. It was nice and cool, and I got some nice pictures of the lake.

Tomorrow night I am going to the David Bazan show in San Diego, so I'm looking forward to that! Hope you all had a great holiday! Now I'm off to the pool again, I can't handle the heat!!

2011-07-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today some of us girls had a little themed get together for the holiday weekend. I bought this shirt as a t-shirt and sewed it into a tank, and I pretty much love it. Hope everyone has a great Fourth of July! I am thankful to have the husband home this year, so let's see what trouble we can get into. Stay safe!

vacation part 2

2011-06-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some more photos from my vacation!

Dinner with friends.

This girl used to be best friends with my younger sister. They were born hours apart and our moms were in the same recovery room as each other. Somehow her and I ended up becoming good friends over the years. We just hang around the same crowd, and we worked together in high school, and had all our art classes together. I love her.

My best friend Amanda and I.

My cousin getting married at her parent's farm. This was her second wedding, her first one was in India. How amazing is that?

The grandparents.

And a sneak peak at Amanda's engagement photos.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

back to reality

2011-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Back to reality. It's nice to be back "home" in California, but my trip was so good, I wish I could have stayed and had my husband just move everything back to Ohio while I was there. Wishful thinking. I just keep telling myself that we could possibly be moving home by the end of the year, if everything works out how it should, and that is only 6 months away.

During my trip I visited my grandparents a lot, went to a wedding, went wedding dress shopping with the best friend, had a girl's night out, bbq'd, had a bon fire, and did some shopping. I took a lot of photos, and I'll share the more scenic ones today.

There are a lot of farms in Ohio. Flying into Columbus just looking out the window made me get excited. Seeing all the perfectly squared fields from above. This barn was somewhere between Columbus and my friend's house two hours North.

We had a couple days of rain, which I didn't mind. My last night in Ohio, there was a lightning storm and my friends and I drove out to buy some ice cream cones and watch it. I haven't seen one since the last time I was home probably. This photo was taken from my grandparents dining room looking into their back yard. The first day I visited my grandparents, my grandpa and I just sat on the swing in the backyard for maybe two hours talking. It's so peaceful back there. There were cardinals and blue jays flying up to the bird feeder, and there were two deer in the very back by the woods.

This was taken on girl's night out. About ten of us met for dinner and then a few of us went out. This was on the beach right on Lake Erie. I saw an old friend's mom, and she said to me (twice), "You look the same exact!" I think the last time I saw her was high school graduation 7 years ago, so that made me feel good, even knowing I've put on weight since then.

One of the very first nights I was in town, my best friend and I drove out to Marblehead Lighthouse (literally 5 minutes from her house) to look around. I told her I would take engagement photos for her, so we went to scout out some good spots. This photo is looking across the lake at Cedar Point. If you are from Ohio, or Southern MI, or surrounding states, you know very well what it is. I grew up going to this amusement park every summer. It's been a few since I have been there though.

This is the Marblehead Lighthouse. It had been a long time since I had been out there, maybe 15 years or more. It's kind of sad how long it took me to go back. A lot of people get married out there, and fish too. The lighthouse was closed inside but my friend's fiance said he could call someone to have them unlock it for us if we wanted. I thought that was pretty legit. We didn't though, it was kind of late and was about to rain.

Hope everyone has been having a good week. I am going to see if maybe the husband and I can go on a date tonight and see a movie. He was missed. :)

vacation!

2011-06-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today is a rather exciting day for me, as I am about to start packing my bags for a flight to Ohio tomorrow morning. My best friend's fiance bought me a ticket to fly out and go wedding dress shopping with the bride to be. It was supposed to be a surprise up until I walked in the front door of their house, but I couldn't keep it in any longer! She kept sending me these really sad text messages saying "I wish you were here" and "I am not as excited to go dress shopping as I should be, because you wont be here." Needless to say, I ended up telling her 5 days before my flight, and we bought the flight a month ago! So I think I did pretty good.

Anyway I will be MIA for about a week and I will have all sorts of goodness to blog about when I get back. I will be attending a wedding Saturday, doing engagement photos for the bf, and going wedding dress shopping!

For now I will leave you with some photos of recent foods I have made. Do not look at these pictures if you are hungry!

Last Thursday Danni came over and we attempted to make French Macarons. I think they would have turned out perfect had I had a circular pastry tip. Instead I just put all of the Macaronage in a plastic freezer bag and cut a tip on the corner. They still tasted really good and my neighbor's kids really liked them! Haha.

Over the weekend my husband and I grilled, and I made grilled corn for the first time. Okay, so I am kind of dumbfounded how is it that I am from Ohio and have never had grilled corn!!!!!?? (Anyone from or been to Ohio knows the corn fields come in abundance, and we have the best sweet corn! In my opinion.) I could have easily eaten just the corn for dinner. This is what we did.

Pull down corn husks (do not remove), remove silk, put husks back up over corn.
Soak in water for 30 minutes.
Pull husks back down, brush melted butter on corn, add salt & pepper. (I added a bit of garlic powder too)
Put husks back up, wrap in foil, grill for 30 minutes.
Once the corn was done, I removed the husks and let it grill on the rack for 2 minutes.

Late last night I got a hankerin' for some hummus. I used a red pepper recipe my dear friend Tia gave me. And a recipe for naan that Sophie linked me to! Recipe here. I sprinkled a teeny bit of paprika on my finished naan. It turned out great, and that is what I had for breakfast this morning.

Hopefully you didn't gain 5 lbs just looking at those photos. I'll be back next week with tons of photos I hope! Have a great week!

Look mom, I cleaned my room!

2011-06-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

The second bedroom in my house is the art room, computer room, guest room, storage room, etc. As of late it's been a big huge mess and a little out of control. Sort of embarrassing actually, but no one is perfect right? Last week I got down to business determined to clean it up, and that I did. Here are the before and after photos. (We could seriously play 'I spy' for hours with these photos.)

BEFORE

Oh, what is that under the card table, sitting in that box?

Even my cat was getting caught up in the mess.

As you can see my homemade inspiration board took a turn for the worse and fell of the wall one day when I wasn't home. I am surprised nothing got harmed or broken in the process.

AFTER

You can see the floor!

My inspiration board back up where it belongs.

Sammi has a thing for the art room. I can usually find her in there on most days.

Now, my room is clean (just don't look in the closet), and I need to make things!

Out with the old

2011-06-07T04:36:00.000-07:00

In the with new. I decided to do a new blog design since it's been over a year since my last one. I went with a clean and simple layout with no frills. You can find all my links to Twitter, Flickr, my shop, and my blogroll up in the tabs section right below my banner.

While I like my new banner, I miss my colorful one.... I think the new banner kind of sums up my blog, as it's not completely 100% all about the things I make. Just everyday things, some baking here and there, and my art. What do you think? Should I go back to the brighter colors?

I will probably be tweaking it a bit throughout the next couple of days (like widening and centering everything in my posts?), seeing since I was up until 4 am and now I'm feeling kind of loopy! Is there anything you absolutely love while visiting other blogs? A certain gadget or function? Let me know and I can add it to make your browsing easier!

P.S. If you have a blogger button I can add to my blogroll let me know!

Edit: I've made a new one and I believe I am happy with this one, loving the colors.

life...

2011-06-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Life's a picnic.

I think these are my four favorite photos from last Sunday's photo shoot. Victoria did a great job and I am really thankful to have a friend like her. I told her now that she has photographed the most awkward couple ever, she can photograph anyone! Tim has issues with getting pictures taken and PDA (public display of affection). All in all, I think we got some pretty awesome photos to hang up on the wall now!

Now the question is, which one do I get printed on canvas?

Photo credits, Victoria Brown at Ryan Brown Photography

(editing in the first two photos done by me, the last two editing credits go to Victoria)

being suzy homemaker

2011-06-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Now that my dog is out of her 'I'm a puppy I am going to eat everything in sight' stage, I decided to make some pillows for the couch. I originally wanted to go with the grey and yellow theme, which I almost regret not doing, but I think the ones I made will grow on me. I ended up going with yellow and this peachy pink coral color. I've never been much of a pink type of girl...but we all change at some point. At least it's not pastel baby pink, or neon hot pink....right? While those colors aren't bad, they just aren't my taste.

I made the 3 pillows on the right hand side of the couch. Can you guess where the house pillow is from? If you guessed Olive, you're right. Fallon made that pillow for me almost two years ago during a package exchange. It used to have a cute little cloth plaque above the door with our last name on it, but the dog got a hold of that one when she was a little thing. The sewing pattern for the circle pillow came from CluckCluckSew blog. Very easy to make! I am going to make a smaller version to go with the one I already have made.

Surprisingly my husband really likes the ruffle pillow. We'll see what he has to say about the circle pillow when he gets home from work.

One more pillow to go (the small circle one) and I think I am about done with sewing for a little bit.

let's have a picnic

2011-06-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hopefully everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Sunday, my husband and I had family photos taken by Victoria of RyanBrownPhotography. I planned a picnic themed photo shoot and brought all the props, while Victoria worked her magic. If you click on the link highlighted above you can see a sneak peak of one of the photos she took!

Here are some of the props I brought along for the picnic. Instead of cheesecake we had taken a blueberry pie, and sandwiches.

We didn't have a picnic basket on hand, so I went to Goodwill looking for one. As soon as I walked in the door, no more than ten feet away from me sat this straw basket complete with plates and mini wine glasses. It was like it was meant to be. It cost me about $7.20 cause they give military discounts!

I bought some fresh flowers and fancy lemonade too. I love the bottles that lemonade comes in. The bunting in the photo above was made the night before the photo shoot, and only took me about 30 minutes to make it, it is probably 12 feet or longer.

The photo shoot ended up going really well. Minus hauling all the props (the husband's guitar, a chair, ladder, etc.) to our location, which also had signs near it saying no picnicking! We pretended to not see the signs.

Tipper got to wear a different bandana/scarf, but she has been wearing one every day since the shoot. I think she looks pretty darn cute in them. If you go and follow Victoria's photography blog she will probably be posting the photos within the week, if you're interested in seeing my little family!

crafty happenings

2011-05-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon Victoria came over and we sewed some camera strap covers. She had originally purchased one one Etsy, and a couple days later, the seller told her she was all out of the fabric for the original listing. Bummer. I told her they would be easy to sew, to come over and we could have a crafting day and make our own.

After many sewing machine mishaps, and 6 hours later, we both ended up with some pretty cute covers for our camera straps. Here is mine below.

Tuesday was dog park day, and we took the dogs for an hour or so and had coffee while they played. Victoria ended up coming back to my place for lunch, and she helped me put up my paintings. Thank the Lord for that girl, she has a good eye, and really helped me figure out how and where to hang them.

The painting above on the far right in the tan frame is the Zoe Pawlak painting I won on Hearted Girl's blog! It fits perfectly with the other pieces.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, what do you think?

2011-05-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

I am just winding down from the weekend. I was starting to upload photos and realized I haven't blogged in a while. My latest project involved re-vamping my living room walls. My friend Victoria and I took a trip to Paper Source and I picked out a few papers to frame. I framed my papers, and she covered a desk drawer with hers (see here).

Before I could get straight to framing, I headed into the frame stash and painted some wooden frames in a white/ivory color.

Remember when i started painting this? Well, I painted that smallest frame peach to match this painting.

And these are the finished pieces. I have yet to get a frame for the map paper, and have enough left over of the vintage looking paper to do something else with it.

This painting is almost done. I need to finish a few spots, and fix a few things here and there. Technical things that only I probably notice. I'll post a photo once they are ALL up on the wall and looking nice and pretty.

My weekend was pretty fantastic. My husband has been fishing so much lately. He had a tournament this weekend that was hosted by The Warrior Foundation. It was for OIF and OEF veterans and they got to go out with semi-pro fisherman and their boats. He didn't win, but had a lot of fun and got some freebies, which everyone loves. Later that day he got home and we went fishing together and I caught my first California bass! That was the highlight of my weekend probably. What about yours?

weekend recap

2011-05-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty great.

Friday was spent doing some dress shopping for a church event that I was going to the evening. It was a ladies only event, where they had coffee, cookies, comedy, and giveaways. It was nice to hang out with the girls for once. I don't do that enough.

Saturday my friend got out of work to go to UniqueLA with me. She literally went home early so she could go with me! I was super excited cause I didn't think I would make it (Tim was at a unit function, and I was home car-less).

Once he found out I was going, he texted and said "Sweet, get us something." As much as I wanted to buy a bunch of stuff for myself, I found this print below, which was PERFECT for both of us. I love the print, the colors, and design, and it just so happened to have some fish in it. (If you don't know, my husband loves fishing, more than he loves me I think! Ha ha.)

Fish in the Sea poster by ThePosterList

There was a 2 for $20 deal, so I got another one for Victoria, for driving up there. I spray painted a black $4 frame and put it up right by the door, next to Tipper's leashes & potty bags.

I got to see my sweet friend Danni, and she was the reason I went in the first place. I love seeing that girl. She is hands down, one of the sweetest girl's I know. I grabbed up this nifty necklace from her shop, and the more I look at it and wear it, the more I love it.

I saw a lot of really nice shops set up and here are a few of the business cards I grabbed.

Coatt - morse coded jewelry, super neat!

Van Dorm Gourmets - spices, dip mixes, rubs, etc. I tasted the Cajun dip mix and it was delicious.

Fruitition - pretty organic looking jewelry

The Poster List - huge variety of posters

Tasi Designs - beautiful jewelry, my favorite jewelry stop.

Sweet Perversion - some really funny cards and prints

Robin Charlotte - jewelry, bags, home decor ( Had a short funny convo with her about the dead insects she gets from pet stores that she uses in her resin jewelry)

Common Studio - they were selling "seed bombs" and I wanted to get some for my mom, but they didn't have the mid-west blend at their booth.

Check out these shops if any of them sound interesting to you! There were over 300 booths, and these were the only cards I grabbed. It was overwhelming but I had a great time.

How was everyone else's weekend? Happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

2011-05-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Apparently today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. So I thought I would post some photos of my favorite ladies I have met on our journey with the military.

Stephanie was awesome, and she was in the Air Force and her husband still is. I can clearly remember her telling me "You don't seem like a Marine wife." (Because there is a stereotype for Marine wives out there.) She now lives in Nebraska. I am hoping to visit her and her husband on our move back to Ohio next year.

Katie. I love Katie. She has the best personality ever, the kind where she gets along with anyone and everyone. She always laughed so hard at my jokes. She moved last fall to Texas. : (

Tia. Some of you may 'know' Tia! I met her blogging or through Etsy. I got to meet her in real life when my husband had to go to Texas for some training. I wish we lived closer, cause she is my kinda girl (and her kids are extremely adorable).

Kim. I would consider her a sister. I am so grateful to have met her, but so mad we didn't get to spend more time together. I hope we end up in the same place, or within driving distance one day. She lives in Texas now. Dang, everyone lives in Texas!

This girl is my neighbor! Her and her husband come over almost every weekend for poker nights. She is one of the most genuine, sweet girls I have ever met. And she is really mature for her age, which I like. I left her a fancy bottle of lemonade on her doorstep the other night, cause I like her so much.

Victoria. Victoria is another blogger friend who I randomly found through a blog I follow. One thing led to the next and we were out getting coffee. We do this a lot now, it seems. That and get Mexican food with our pups!

I am blessed to have met each and every one of these girls. Sometimes I will get sad and miss my friends back home, but no one would ever compare to these girls. There is a special bond between all of us, cause we are all living the same lifestyle. These girls have all made up, at some point, the last 4 years of my life and without them I would have gone crazy.

2011-05-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

I've added a new blogger button to my sidebar on the left. If you'd like to put it on your page just copy and paste the link into a gadget on your blog design layout. Thank you!! I am slowly going to redesign my blog, I think it has been over a year, so I need to freshen it up a bit.

some Etsy favorites

2011-05-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

Back when Etsy first started, and the couple of years after that, I used to buy off of Etsy like it was my job. I also did many trades. I recently made a purchase of a print, and realized that it was my first purchase off the site in 2 years. The site has had it's ups and downs, and honestly, I sometimes don't have the time of day to sift through the thousands of items that come up in search. So, I stick to my tried and true favorites list...and occasionally add a new favorite here and there. Here are some of my recent favorites.

I really want a globe. My husband is very literate when it comes to different countries and I want to feel as smart as him. I saw this necklace at the UniqueLA show in 2009 and I am still in love with it!

Vintage globe, from nowvintage , $48

Circle mountain necklace, by FigsAndGinger, $45

I am overdue for a new purse, and I love all of Katie Henry's bags, this striped one especially. The hummingbird skull necklace seems a bit dark, but I like it anyway. I probably wouldn't wear it while feeding the hummingbirds outside, or they'd all run away, ha ha. And lastly, is this beautiful forest print in a nice navy blue. I love informational posters/prints, and at the bottom of this one it lists some fun facts of each plant/animal.

The essential tote, from madebyhank, $74

Hummingbird skull necklace, billblue22, $36

Boreal Forest Print, by Banquet, $60

What are some of your favorite shops online? I always love finding a new website to put in my favorites.

2011-05-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

I should get an award for world's worst blogger! Sorry I've been MIA the past two weeks.

I've finally finished the ceramic alphabet. It only took a while!

I had some fun making words and names with the letters.

Today I've spent most of my day online shopping for Mother's Day gifts. The mother in law is getting a covered porch swing, which I am a bit jealous of. I want one. I don't even have a place to put one, but I want one. My mom is getting some gardening things and bath & body items from Etsy. And My sister is getting a custom necklace with her baby's name on it. So they are all making out pretty good this year.

I have some cleaning up to do. It's going to be hard because it's so hot out today, and we don't have AC...so I'll be a little sluggish. The dog and cats are enjoying the tiled floors today, that's for sure.

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable Tuesday :)

2011-04-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling really indescribable lately. A mixture of sadness and very irritable. But nothing makes me feel better than making art, so that is what I am doing today...it's my therapy.

Here is the first batch of letters that came out of the kiln this morning. The second batch is just now warming up. I really love the colors, and think they're quite fitting for the season.

Hope those who celebrate, have a Happy Easter!

2011-04-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Tuesday. Today I got to sleep in until just the right time, and then enjoyed a nice 40 min walk with the pup. The husband even came home to shower after PT so I got to get an extra hug and kiss from him today. Tuesday has been pretty good to me so far.

I photographed the drying ceramic alphabet and had some fun making words with the letters, as you can see above. I made these because I was going to test out different glaze combinations. Once they are all glazed and done, I am going to hot glue them to some wood or canvas and hang it in my art room. I got this idea in my head, that I would use specific stamps to match the letters, (apple for A, bird for B, etc.) and make alphabet pieces for nurseries or kids rooms. My kiln isn't big enough though, so it would take a while to make...I have a small jewelry sized one. I really get too many ideas, and never execute them.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the whole thing will look like once I have them all glazed.

I am remembering why I started using ceramic clay, I love messing with it. Once I get some stock I am going to be opening my new shop up...hopefully within the next couple of weeks!

Hope you all have a great day!

friday friday

2011-04-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been a bit absent this week. I feel like the week went by really fast. I had been helping my neighbor get some last minute wedding details together during the week, and I did her make up yesterday before she went off to get married. She kept saying, "I can't believe it's my turn...I'm not the one helping, or watching, it's going to be me finally." I thought it was so sweet, and I was very happy for her.

I received some new glazes in the mail this week so I am looking forward to trying them out this weekend.

In other news, I did my very first ever guest blogger post, over at Good Good.

Marisa Midori asked me to write about some of my favorite things about summer, so check out my post, along with some other great ones! maybe even follow Marisa's blog too, cause she posts some awesome work.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

lemons and clay

2011-04-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars. I've been on a lemon kick for the past couple of weeks. Ever since my neighbor brought over lemonade one night, I've been buying that same kind of lemonade, and drinking it like it's going out of style. Then, she brought over fresh picked lemons from her in-laws house and I thought to bake something with them. I've been baking at least once a week lately...and I think my blog posts can show for that.

They turned out pret-tay good. The recipe (here) called for two lemons, so I used the two biggest, and I almost think I could have used one more. I didn't put powdered sugar on top like the original recipe photo had, cause I didn't want them to be too sweet.

I busted out the em-210 Laguna clay this week. That's ceramic for those of you who might not know. I have bisque fired them already and am going to glaze and fire them again today.

Most of my colored glaze dried out (sad)...so we will see what colors survived the move. I don't think I have used my kiln since I've been in Southern California, and that's going to change. I just put in an order for new glazes, AND got a new shop that will mesh PetiteHouse sculptures and JessicaJane jewelry/wares all into once place. That way I don't have to worry about two shops. Once I get the shop front all ready, I'll let you all know! This is my last and final shop...I promise.

It's sort of gray and rainy (if light mist every hour counts as rain) today, so I think I'll sit inside and enjoy some new music.

flowers, lemons, and jam - oh my!

2011-04-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend went by way too fast! Today I've spent some time doing a little Spring cleaning of the cupboards, and rearranging furniture.

On Sunday, I heard there was a craft fair going on at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, so I asked my husband if he wanted to go. Not even thinking that crafts + flowers = not so much fun for a man. He was a good sport though and didn't complain once. (Like I would after being in the middle of a lake after 4 hours of fishing.)

The flower fields were really pretty. I'm glad we found a BOGO entry ticket though, cause it cost $10 for one person. I'd been wanting to go since last Spring, and I'm glad we went.

Here are a few photos, my favorites, from the outing.

This guy had a wagon behind the tractor, pulling a bunch of people. We skipped the wagon ride and walked instead.

The craft fair was okay. I actually thought it was a bust. The website didn't say how many vendors there would be, but it said it's one of the most popular events at the flower fields.

We ended up stopping at Jackie's Jams booth, and I taste tested about 5 flavors. We walked away with some peach cobbler flavored jam, and enjoyed it for breakfast on toast this morning. Super good!

Later in the day my friend brought me some fresh picked lemons, to which I am going to bake lemon bars later with!

Overall it was a nice weekend. How was everyone else's?

2011-04-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone :) I don't have too much to say really...just wanted to stop in and wish everyone a great weekend!

Enjoy some cute/funny photos of my dog, Tipper.

Halloween 2010, she was a police dog, my husband was a prisoner.

Just being cute

She's always the cutest when sleeping...isn't everyone?

Her talking Pooh Bear that she used to bark at when she was little.

When we got her she was 4 1/2 pounds...Now she is 45 going on 50. She is a big baby, afraid of her own shadow, and barks at the neighbors Chargers flag.

weekend recap

2011-03-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

Homemade peanut butter dog treats for a puppy party.

Saturday night poker game. (this is becoming a weekend ritual with neighbors)

A new planter and plant (let's hope it doesn't die), lazy pets, and covering the inside glass of a wine cabinet with old scarf fabric.

How was everyone else's weekend?

baking again

2011-03-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big fail ( or win, you decide.) when it came time to make dinner. We have been trying to eat healthier dinners, and quite frankly, it's been depressing. I do not want to eat salmon and brussel sprouts every night. Although, they are very tasty, I need a little grease in my life. So I ended up making jalepeno cheddar burgers with bacon and sauteed mushrooms, with a side of fried zucchini. Yeah, total opposite of what I was going for at the beginning of the day.

I want to blame the way I was raised, as to why I don't eat really healthy...but that would be a lie. Kind of. My sugar addiction is definitely to blame on my upbringing. My husband and I really enable each other..like drug addicts, but instead of drugs, it's food. After we ate dinner, my husband wanted oreos. He wouldn't stop mentioning them every ten minutes or so....he wanted me to go to the store and get some. I didn't feel like going, so I looked up a recipe, and made some.

These are good. They aren't a real oreo, but they taste pretty freakin good. They were fairly easy to make and I used a recipe from SmittenKitchen.

Come on over and I'll share!

2011-03-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

The past week has been an exceptional mail week. I got mail from a lovely being in Idaho, a cute drawing from an even cuter babe (see previous post), and yesterday I received a mysterious envelope from this lady. I'm not sure why, but when I opened it and read the note, I teared up. I really love this print. I had blogged about it, and almost had purchased it for myself a few weeks ago. I'm pretty happy I didn't, because receiving it as a surprise was really great.

Now the space on top of our liquor/wine cabinet looks much better. The frame for the print was only $5! I'm not much of a fake flower person, but these flowers were from our wedding reception, so they're allowed to stick around. The bright blue vase came with an edible arrangement I got for my birthday, and the little photo was from a package exchange from this lovely blogger two summers ago.

Thank you Kim! I'll think of you every time I look at it!

2011-03-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

This weeks happenings:

Random mail which makes me so happy inside. Charlie, (Tia's baby boy) sent me this awesome coloring of a hummingbird this week. It is hanging happily on my fridge in the spotlight as of now.

Slowly working and adding to this large 24"x30" painting.

Feeding kitties treats, and taking doggies for walks (and swimming too).

How is everyone else's week going? FYI-I'm not wearing green today, and yes I was pinched for it.

2011-03-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

I have a bad habit that I need to share. I am addicted to baking. Last week the blackberries were on sale so I picked up two packages. Throughout the week my husband and I snacked on them here and there. While cleaning out the fridge I realized I still had a whole other package to eat before they went bad. I looked up some recipes, and viola, blackberry cream cheese coffee cake. My taste buds love me, but my waistline hates me.

The bottom layer is the cake part, not too sweet at all. The middle layer is the cream cheese and berries, and the top is the streusel. It's a good mixture of texture and flavor. Definitely recommend it!

Tipper and I took the most lovely walk today to burn off the calories....and then I enjoyed another piece when we got back home. Food always wins and I have no self control.

I've been working on some of my own personal artwork as of lately, but here is another shot of the custom order I had been working on. Remember the tiny house I made? It's going along with this owl family.

I really like how the owls turned out...especially the grey one, he is my favorite. Well, I am off to clean house and work on some things. Thought I would stop in with some photos of recent. :)

2011-03-07T00:14:00.000-08:00

Touching on a sensitive subject tonight, just a warning.

This is my friend Kim and I at the Marine Corps Birthday ball in 2009.

Kim was one of the very first girls I met when I moved down here. Actually, she was the first girl I met. The first day I met her, she was in sweatpants and a t-shirt , with her hair in a ponytail. That was a good start for me, it was like she was after my own heart. She wasn't trying to impress anyone, and I liked that. The next day, she was driving me to another girls house for 'taco tuesday', is what they called it. I was a bit nervous to be meeting a bunch of new people at once. I can be pretty shy in a group full of new people, and I absolutely hate being the new girl. We spent a few hours there, and after leaving, as she took me back home, she asked if I had a good time. My reply was, "It was alright." I wasn't going to lie to her and say I had a fantastic time, because I didn't. (Haha) She told me later on in our friendship that she knew she liked me right away because of my answer. So, because of her sweatpants, and because of my unenthusiastic answer, we became pretty good friends.

Throughout getting to know Kim, we told each other some pretty personal things. We both exchanged stories and I think this is how we connected mostly. One of the obstacles that was put in Kim's life was her aunt taking her own life a couple years back. She told me that I reminded her of her aunt in some ways because of my creativity. We went to the beach and painted watercolors one day, and I gave her my old sewing machine so she could start making things. It was nice to hear her say that, and almost makes you wonder, if it was a coincidence that we met not even a year after her aunt passed away. I might be going too deep into that, but it's late...you know how it is.

Well, my friend Kim has a blog now. She just posted about that day she found out her aunt passed away, and I wanted to spread the word for her. Her cousin is doing a benefit walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and is trying to raise money. If you would like to read her post, and donate, here is her blog. Here is a link to her family's fundraising page if you would like to go directly there and donate to Hilda's Legacy.

Any little bit helps, even just $5. I knew someone who took their own life, a mother of two young boys who was in a horrible relationship. As frustrating as it can be to try and wonder and question, all you really can do is raise awareness. You can be helped and there are more answers to life. Please check out Kim's blog, and if you can't donate, say a prayer for her and her family.

afternoon walk

2011-03-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

On my daily afternoon walk with the dog, these are some of the plants I see.

I have no idea what any of them are called, any Southern California natives want to give me a botany lesson?

edit: Thank you to Julia A. and amelieandatticus, the yellow are called wattles, and the red is called bottle brush, and both are native Australian plants. Thanks ladies!

2011-02-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday everyone. Hope your weekends were spent well. We got a bit of rain, and I heard it snowed a little up in northern LA. While the husband and I were out driving yesterday I got to see all of the mountains covered in a fresh layer of snow, and it was beautiful. Though the weather calls for mostly clear skies and sunshine all week, I thought I would share these bright and cheery prints for those of you not experiencing the best of sunny skies.

I picked a theme, and thought I'd go with patterned, repetitive, colorful prints.

I love the colors used in this one, and the quote.

Diamond Dreams, by Orignauxmoose

Who doesn't love bikes?

Big Time Cruising, by Den10Studio

I love all things antique or vintage.

Old Fashioned, by Rebekkaseale

A collection of teapots without taking up a lot of space.

Teapots print, lauraamiss

This is sure to brighten up ANY room.

Houses and Birds, JudyKaufmann

Which one is your favorite? It's a hard decision, I love them all, but the teapot collection is tugging at my wallet every time I look at it.

etsy favorites as of late

2011-02-24T01:26:00.000-08:00

Nothing substantial in the home life to blog about. I've been scouring Craigslist for a new living room chair to replace a lazy boy recliner. Those things are so comfortable, but so NOT pretty. Well, thanks to my cat, we are going to be replacing it in the near future. She has used it as a scratching post for the last couple of years. (Use double sided tape or the sticky saran wrap to defend your furniture from kitty claws!)

I found this wingback chair I really like, pictured below. But it isn't in my price range, go figure! I want it, like a little crying stomping kid in the candy store type of want. I've had a design bug for the last month to just start decorating the way I like. How about we just get rid of the husband's old college furniture? It's a bit overdue, I think.

Here are a few things as of late that I would love to decorate with (or wear).

starting top left and clockwise:

spotty dotty, by AllysonMellberg

vintage flower wall hanging, from nostalgictreasures.

vintage Griffith's spice rack, from HoneyYourHome

black swan oxidized sterling silver necklace, by marKhed

Dr. Pepper Soda Crate, from CheekyChicVintage

Vintage pink radio, from kizzyrayan123 (if this was in good working condition I would have bought it a while ago!)

Mother Bird art print, by Elsita

Vintage Floral Tin, from KitchenTableVintage

I am obsessing over EVERYTHING.

paintings & tiny things

2011-02-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

It's so nice out today. I wish I lived on a ranch, or walking distance to a secluded lake with woods. I just want to take my dog, off leash, and wander around.

I started working on an acrylic painting this week. Working on it here and there, between working on a custom order. I had this great idea in my head...with colors, and design....and after penciling it in, it just didn't look right. This is just a work in progress shot...it is not finished yet. It's kind of big. The biggest I've worked on in years...other than this one, which is hanging on my wall unfinished, hah.

I'm not completely sure if this will hang out in the living room area, or if I will hang it in the art room.

I also wanted to show you this. The tiniest house I have ever made. It is going with the custom order I have been working on. It's maybe a 1/2 inch tall. So little. It has me thinking about some tiny projects coming up.

Well I hope the week is going well for everyone. I have the itch to go thrifting this weekend, so we will see what happens! I'm off to clean the kitchen (thanks husband for leaving the butter right on the counter's edge, Tipper loved it) and get to painting, have a great day!

a simple way to make a change of scenery

2011-02-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, my husband went to college, in a town 55 minutes from my house. Before I ever knew he existed, these two prints adorned his college house kitchen walls. Once we moved in together, these paintings moved with him, and adorned the yellow walls of our very first apartment. Six years later, they adorn the walls in our apartment, 2291.32 miles away.

One day, I got really sick of looking at these pictures. Don't get me wrong, I love coffee, and these prints aren't bad, but they're mediocre. Too mediocre for my kitchen.

One evening while sorting through this vintage hand me down recipe box, I got an idea.

This recipe box holds recipes of my mom, grandma, and great grandma. Some are typed up using a typewriter, some are handwritten, and most are soiled with who knows what. There was also this Julia Child 1976 magazine article of soup making, pretty neat.

I decided I didn't want to look at the coffee prints any longer, and that I would rather enjoy some family cooking history on my walls.

I thought at first I would paint the frames too, but I like the way the natural wood looks. If I get bored with it, I may paint it, but for now, I like it.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who celebrate. :)

I woke up this morning at 7 am to breakfast in bed! On the menu was orange juice, toast, turkey sausage, and two sunny side up eggs. I would have taken a photo to document such a rare occasion, but I ate it right up. After I came out and put my dish in the sink, I said, "I wish it was Valentine's Day every day!" It was such a nice surprise, I didn't expect it at all.

We don't normally celebrate Valentine's Day. We aren't anti V.Day, we just don't buy into all the hype and commercialization anymore. We may have last year because he deployed days after, but I told my husband if he bought me anything, I would be mad at him. I'm just lucky to have him home.

6 years ago, this is what he got me. A pair of chucks and a Salvidor Dali book. We had been dating less than a month. Best boyfriend ever back then. He also made me a red velvet cake and sweet card too. I thought it would be nice to make a red velvet cake this year. We aren't celebrating with lavish gifts and Hallmark cards, but instead, with food. That is definitely the way to both of our hearts.

I decorated the cake with a little bee, since that's his nickname for me.

I have to admit, this is the best red velvet cake I have ever made from scratch. The recipe came from a cookbook my aunt gave me. We split a piece before he went off to work, and I am going to try and not eat any while he is at work either! I'll give some to my neighbors, because we really don't need a whole cake to ourselves.

Do you celebrate this day? If so, tell me what your plans are or what you did, I'd love to hear :)

2011-02-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Today is an Iron and Wine kind of day. Their new album came out last month, and I don't like it very much. So much that I probably wont buy it. I prefer his acoustic type stuff over the processed sounding stuff.

This is what I am currently working on, for a special customer. I can't wait to bake everything, then start painting (my favorite part).

A little owl family in the making...and yes, that is the teeniest tiniest mouse ever.

My husband and I went to the book store the other day. He grabbed a fishing magazine, and I grabbed an issue of Somerset Studio....looked at the price, and thought...you know, I could get a book for the same price!! So I went and looked around at almost every single book and this one caught my eye. It was a little more than what the magazine cost, but I am really happy with my purchase.

Water Paper Paint, Exploring Creativity with Watercolor and Mixed Media, by Heather Smith Jones.

The first few chapters were definitely for beginners and I still read them, although I knew almost everything (except how to make your own watercolor paints). The projects are pretty neat, and I am going to try them. I read the book in one sitting, and have been enjoying going back to it here and there. It's definitely a book that has inspired me to paint more. I thought about sending a copy to my grandma, because of the projects, maybe for her birthday coming up.

I have an old frame with a bad homemade collage in it (with the cutest photo of my husband and I), that I want to replace with a watercolor painting...so maybe I'll get around to that when I have time.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week..it's almost Friday!

2011-02-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, when I take Tipper out during the early mornings, I feel like I'm back home (in Ohio). If I close my eyes for just a few seconds I am transported there. The ducks are talking to one another, and if there is a slight wind, I can hear leaves brushing up against one another. It feels like early fall to me.

Lake Erie.

the girls.

the grandparent's homestead

my nephew.

My mom

My husband only has a year left in the service and we will be moving out of California back to the midwest. In the grand scheme of things, it was a great experience. But nothing means more to me than my family and friends back home. I can't wait to go back.

2011-02-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday, and I have nothing to show you. Sad. Well, other than my cat being bad on my work table...that she isn't allowed on.

Monday, my husband and I made it up to LA to attend a taping of Conan. It was pretty awesome, our seats were directly in front of him, and above the camera man, so when he read the cue cards, it seemed like he was looking right at us, haha. It was a pretty surreal experience walking to his studio through the rest of WB studios and seeing what was taped where. My husband even got to see Jamie Foxx hanging out in his trailer outside of the George Lopez studio. It was pretty neat.

Then all my excitement was halted. When we got home I found a subpoena on my door, and I spent the last two days in court because I witnessed a one car accident last summer that was a DUI. What a waste of my time, and everyone else's time. But, I am glad it's over and I can do something productive with my days now.

When my friend from Ohio was visiting two weeks ago we were looking at old photos....you know, the embarrassing ones in your awkward teen days. Well, I found some of my favorite old family photos. They aren't awkward at all, but I want to make some sort of collage or something with them.

This one is my favorite, of my grandpa, in Chattanooga, TN. (I believe)

I am hoping to find something creative to do with them, other than put them in a frame on the wall. Any ideas?

madebyhank

2011-02-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I received one of my giveaway wins, from madebyhank. I think she had over 300 entries and was giving away eleven little zipper purses, and waddayaknow, I won one!

Of course my cat Sammich had to help me open it. She gets just as excited for packages, especially if it comes with ribbon or in a box so she can sleep in it. Unfortunately for her, this ribbon was too nice to let her play with. Sorry Sammi.

I love the manilla tags she used as a business card, and the cute button. The zipper purse is prett dang cute, and is currently in my bigger purse, holding all of my chapsticks and lip gloss.

Thank you Katie!

Anyone who isn't following her blog or haven't been to her shop you should definitely check them out. She makes some pretty amazing bags, this one being my favorite recently sold one.

(I'm on a purse binge lately)

Hope you enjoy your Tuesday! I may, or may not, have to go to court for being a witness to a DUI accident last summer, blegh.

2011-01-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

It's Friday. I am pretty excited. We're going to go to a movie tonight. We've only been to the theatre once, or as my grandparents call it, the show, since my husband has been home from deployment.

It's been beautiful out all week long. As much as I wish I could be back in Ohio staring at frozen Lake Erie, I do really love seeing flowers bloom in January. And the hummingbirds. They bring me a sense of wonderment. I've been refilling both of my feeders every three days, there are a lot of them migrating this week.

I picked this pink branch of flowers from a bush right outside my door. I was going to take photos of just the flowers then I had an idea....maybe I could get the birds to go to the flower and I could take photos. I don't think they normally get food from these flowers. They're tiny, and normally they are attracted to tube like flowers and vibrant reds. But who knows, I'm not a hummingbird expert.

In the last one you can see his tiny tongue sticking out.

And this was my set up for the photo. I could say I just happened to get a good shot, but really...it was rigged. I put sugar water on the flower petals and stuck it in the feeder.

Next time I'll have the bird eating from my hand. HA!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! (last weekend of January!)

Fossil bags

2011-01-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

If I had, oh, let's say, $752 to spend on new bags, I'd get all four of these.

This would be my lunch purse, or purse that I took whenever I dress up.

This would be my hiking, outdoorsy, taking the dog for a journey bag. My camera would fit nicely in here and I could just strap it onto my back.

This would be my every day casual bag. The one I'd use every day with my wallet, , phone, chapstick, hair ties, etc. inside.

I really love the geometric patterns in this one. I would put my crafty things inside. Maybe some yarn and needles, or my watercolor notebook and paints.

If only I had the balls to spend that much money on a purse. Guess my $15 Target one will suffice for a while...maybe until one of these goes on sale.

You can find all these bags at Fossil. Be careful. It's dangerous.

2011-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

I heart whales. I've been extremely fascinated with whales ever since we went whale watching up north a couple of years ago. Last week when I was in La Jolla I saw a whale while standing on the sidewalk. Like a little kid, I jumped up and down tapping on my husband's shoulder telling him I just saw a whale. He laughed at me. He still laughs at me about it. Our six year anniversary is coming up this weekend, and he said he was going to take me whale watching. We've also got a movie and dinner date, and then Conan on Monday. We rarely do anything date like so this weekend will be extra nice.

I painted a whale in the moleskin to sort of document my sighting.

I also did a little colorful village. It didn't turn out how I had hoped, but..it's okay. The middle house has a whale weathervane.

Hope your weeks are going by well!

2011-01-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Del Mar dog beach fun with Tipper, Forrest, and Sophie. (Ignore the crappy quality of cell phone pictures, I refuse to carry my camera with me while holding the leash of a 6 month old puppy) I met Sophie online through a military website and she just so happens to love anthro and thrifting. Score!

Monday: -Implusive urge to cut bangs straight across, resulting in implusive cutting of the bangs.
- my Ohio state driver's license finally came in the mail (only took 2 months)
-I won 2 giveaways! I will blog about them as soon as they arrive on my doorstep. : )

I'm not sure how long I will sport these bangs. My husband doesn't seem to like them very much (oh well), but I think straight across bangs are kind of a more brave and bold statement. What do you think??

Pretty good Monday, I'd say. <3

p.s. 1 week til Conan!

2011-01-23T11:13:00.000-08:00

My house is empty once again. I can hear the dog chasing the cats, and the clattering of junk on the dining room table from the cats skidding across it. It's warm out today, with a nice breeze. The dog doesn't understand the wind yet, so she seems nervous when I take her out. It feels good, warm air brushing up against my legs, face, and hands.

My visitors left Friday evening and I was in a state of depression until Saturday afternoon. I woke up feeling like someone had died, and I didn't understand why I was feeling so sad. I made breakfast and as soon as my husband walked in the door I started to cry. I never felt so sad leaving my friends back in Ohio. I guess it could be partly because she came to my home this time, and I loved every second of it. Friends like her are one of a kind, and I am blessed that we have stayed in touch through out this crazy ride with the military.

To add to my wonderful Saturday morning, I found a lump on my dog's hind leg. We were able to squeeze in an appointment with the vet a half hour before they were closing at noon. She has a benign tumor called Histiocytoma. The vet said most cases go away on their own within three months, and a lady sitting waiting for an appointment told me her dog had one as a puppy and it went away. Then she proceeded to tell me what a great vet he was and he was always right, so that made me feel one hundred percent better.

After the vet, we dropped Tipper off at home and took a trip to Anthropologie. Every time I step foot in this store it makes me so happy. I wasn't going to buy anything, I was merely going to admire things, until I saw these plates. I broke my resolution, 22 days into the year, and bought some plates I didn't need, but had to have.

I grabbed the bee and hummingbird plates, and was only going to get the two, but my husband actually talked me into getting all four. He's crazy, I know. He liked them just as much as I did, and started going into detail about the humingbird one. It definitely took away some of his gritty military manliness, haha, but I didn't care, I was happy to see him admiring art for a change.

I have them on my dining room wall right next to my vintage hummingbird poster. My husband says soon our house is going to look like the inside of Anthropologie, and I said YES! Maybe they will come out with some largemouth bass decor so he can feel included in the decorating.

Moral of the story is that these plates brought me happiness during my sadness. Had I not been so sad, my husband would have never suggested we go to Anthropologie. He would have rather went fishing, but instead, toughed it out while I went shopping. I feel horrible saying that money can buy happiness, but for me, on Saturday, it did. I would have rather had my friend stay forever, but you know, these plates will suffice.

a visit to the aquarium

2011-01-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I went to the La Jolla Birch Aquarium with my out of town visitors. We also ended up going to Point Loma too. Point Loma is, hands down, my favorite place to go in Southern California. We spent a good couple of hours exploring the tide pools. I didn't take my camera because it was a little bit of hiking and I didn't want to risk maybe dropping my camera somewhere. But, it's so beautiful there. But I did get some good shots from the aquarium. I was really inspired by all of the different colors and textures.

These eels were the first thing we saw. I thought they were really neat and ugly all the same. You can sort of see a bit of the eggs peaking up they were protecting. There were so many eggs, that is probably a tenth of how many there were. The eels kept coiling around the eggs and the eggs would float up. It was really interesting.

The exibits really inspired me to do more watercolor in my book, so after my visitors leave you know what I will be doing. The textures and colors are what got me. I took a million pictures. Okay, that's an exaggeration. I took a hundred, maybe.

I loved this fish. He was pretty neat to look at. :)

Pretty colors. Love this palette.

I think I have a thing for spotted fish.

This crab was teeny tiny. I didn't even edit this photo. The glass I took the photo through gave that effect. His shell was pretty. He lived in the same aquarium as the blue and orange spotted fish.

My best friend and her step daughter looking at the kelp forest.

It was a beautiful day. We later went to their hotel room and went to the hot tub while the sun set. Probably one of the best days I have had in a long while.

I hope everyone is enjoying the week as much as I have. I'm going to be really sad Saturday when they fly out, so I'm hoping my husband will want to go to an antique show with me. Ha~!

2011-01-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

pandas are pretty darn cute.

Happy Friday!

2011-01-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

I am so glad Friday is here. Normally, I don't get too excited about weekends. My husband usually goes fishing and I stay at home, clean, and do whatever needs to be done. We rarely go out anymore, we are very much what you would call homebodies. I am super excited for this weekend because my best friend is flying in tomorrow! Last night I could barely sleep. I took melatonin to help me fall asleep, and still, I layed wide awake until 1:30 in the morning, like a little kid on Christmas Eve.

If you don't hear from me much next week, you know why!

I have picked a winner for the watercolor paint giveaway, and it will be announced at the end of the post. To start off the weekend I thought I would post a couple other neat giveaways that are going on right now.

The first one is a giveaway from Elsa Mora. If you haven't ever seen her work, do so. So much talent, and I love reading her blog. She is giving away 4 papercut hearts to one winner. You can read about the giveaway here!

The second giveaway is a custom covered stone by the wonderful Margie of Resurrection Fern. Her post reminds us that every day should be a celebration, and a good reminder it is. Read and enter here.

And the third one is two owl print by Jo Cheung. This one was my favorite of the two, but you can decide which one you like better. Enter here.

And lastly, I want to thank everyone that entered the giveaway. I also want to say hello to my new followers, I've noticed each and every one of you! So, hello! The winner of my giveaway was Becca.Elpy, congrats lady!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I know I will!

2011-01-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

The view from where I sit right now. It is beautiful out today. We took a nice walk and I let her swim in the pond behind our home, she was rather happy.

I slept in rather late today, as a result of getting a creative bug last night and playing with some clay and painting in the moleskin. I am looking forward to seeing how my painting skills will look at the last pages of the book. I feel so rusty.

A funny thought I had while painting was, 'I wonder what my high school art teacher would grade this as.' Because, in my opinion, she graded really unfairly. She graded on size and time spent on the project, rather than talent. So, when I would turn in a half size sheet of drawing paper with a good drawing on it, she would give me a B. And the kid next to me got an A, all because his project was three times the size of mine, but looked like something just threw up all over it. I am very disgruntled about my art teacher, still, to this day. My college art teacher wasn't much better either. He was the type that thought all art should look a certain way. I am suprised I completed my college art courses, those were the only ones I went to. The others I failed out of because I had no interest in learning math and English. I was only interested in art. Yep, I'm an art school drop out.

My second entry into the journal is of a lotus. I grabbed my wild flower book and went through the pages to find a flower I liked. I'm not the type to just whip up a painting from my memory, I have to look at something to be able to decently draw it. This one caught my eye because it reminds me of the ones back home that grew. I'll probably do some Southern California flowers too, so when I'm old and showing my grandkids, I can say, "When I lived in California this is what I saw every day." Heh.

Well, While Nappy McNapperson sleeps, I'm going to take this as an opportunity to work on some things. She likes to pester me when I am not paying attention to her. Hope you have a wonderful Thursday, enter my paint giveaway if you haven't already! And, if you don't paint, you can always gift it to a friend!

2011-01-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

Today I played with the tripod. I normally use it for hummingbird photos, but today I took a few self portraits. I also painted my very first entry into my watercolor moleskin journal. I am going to try my hardest to do a few small paintings each week in it. I haven't painted watercolor in so long. Speaking of watercolor, don't forget to enter the paint giveaway!

I feel silly posting self portaits.

My husband is really encouraging me lately for me to make stuff, and paint. He has been "daring" me to do a million things. He dared me to fill my watercolor journal up by the end of the month. One night, a while ago, I asked him what his favorite thing about me was, and he said it was that I was artistic. Our first date he took me to the Toledo Art Museum, but it was closed. Hah! Our 6 year anniversary is coming up, and we are going to a taping of Conan :)

The first painting in my journal is of a bee. He calls me "B".

the best friend

2011-01-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned lately that I am going to be the matron of honor in my best friend Amanda's wedding? And she is coming to visit me this weekend? If not, now you know. We go pretty far back, to fifth grade, Mr. Pitts class. She was the new girl. And my poor (money poor, not pity poor), dorky self, stereotyped her and I immediately didn't like her because she was cute and had nice clothes. I became best friends with the other new girl, who also happened to be friends with Amanda, which led to us becoming good friends pretty quick. So, fast forward fifteen years and we are still talking weekly and now I get to help her in all of her wedding chaos. It wont be until spring of 2012, but that's good so I can save up for a trip or two home to help out.

This was Easter time 2002 I believe.

And this was at my going away party, right after I got married and I was moving to California.

Amanda is a true best friend. Someone who I would, at 25, sleep next to in bed and talk, laugh, and cry all night long. She's been there for me through thick and thin, and we have been through a lot together. I can't wait for her to get here on Saturday, I have already been losing sleep over it!

So, if you don't hear from me much next week, this is why. :)

2011-01-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

Our Sunday afternoon at the park.

These two below were my favorite images.

I have been wanting so badly to go out and take photographs this past week. We went to a nice little park near my husband's fishing spot in town, and it was decent. The hike was nice, but the fact that you are still in the middle of town doesn't let me feel like "nature nancy" so much. You can still hear traffic, and actually look to your side, and see it. I just want to lay in some long grass like that, and hear nothingness.

Maybe next time I'll bring the Ipod and some blinders so I don't see traffic and shopping centers out of the corner of my eyes!

a clean plate

2011-01-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

For the last year the second room in our home has been anything but an art room. I sometimes call it my office, and rarely say art room. It has housed guests, myself for 3 months while my sister visited, and basically acted as a storage room for anything and everything. 99.9% of my creating happened at the kitchen table. The past week I have been slowly decluttering, donating, trashing, and cleaning the "office", which I can now call my art room. For real.

I am pleased with almost everything. The other half of the room is the computer desk, and futon. I wish I could get rid of the futon but I know the second I do, I would regret it. We are keeping it for now, for guests, just in case we have company to stay overnight, or long distance visitors.

The 'bulletin' board in the middle is actually an old dry erase board covered in velvet fabric that came from my aunt's fabric stash. The table in the corner is going to be dedicated to sewing...and I'm sure a shelf for other things while I work. The dark table was once on our balcony, then in the dining room, and now my new work station. It's a good height for me because I get a sore back easily from working and looking downward...so the higher table will be good for my back.

I feel really good now that everything is in its' place and organized.

Check out my watercolor stash in the above photo. This was all given to me by my grandma, pictured below with her older sister. The blue board has some history to it. The fabric came from my aunt, the photo of my grandma, and the spoon is a baby spoon my great grandma gave me when I was a baby. It has a tin that it goes in, with my name engraved on it. I definitely get my creativeness from the women in my family, so I wanted to honor them in my room.

In celebration of the new year, I would like to give away a set of these watercolor paints to a reader. I am going to start a watercolor journal this weekend with my paints, pull out an old palette and get back to my true self.

To enter to win the 8 tubes of paint above, leave a comment. Tell me your first memory of making something, who you get your talents from, or what you would do with the paints. For extra entries you can tweet about this, or blog about the giveaway, just leave me a link! Make sure to leave your email so I can contact the winner. The winner will be chosen in 1 week, so you have until Jan 13th at midnight to enter!

Happy Weekend :)

granny squares

2011-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

As I read my friend Tia's blog yesterday, with her 2011 goals, I remembered a post I wanted to do. She mentioned that she wanted to learn to crochet this year, and that is something I have also been wanting to learn. Specifically, so I can make a granny square blanket or throw.

I had saved some links and photos to my "blog about" folder, and thought today would be the perfect time to bring them out. There are some really inspiring photos out there that I have to share! (minus the self portrait...but I had to show off my new hat and handmade scarf I scored at a thrift store, years ago.)

If I had a hand knit sweater I would have thrown that on too....

Here are a few of my favorite images. I just love the purples, greens, and blues used in these ones below. The tiny granny square necklace is super adorable, it's reversable too! I'd sport that on any of my dress up days.

{images from interior designer Johanna-Vintage, for sale at bethanybutton $55 on etsy, necklace for $30 at acupofgreenginger, image via KnockKnocking on Flickr.}

I love the white and ivory with bright colors.... just the right amount of color to brighten up a room. I am REALLY liking the floor pouf....but I am afraid the puppy would think it was a toy, maybe in a year...sigh.

{image via whereyourheartis, floor cushion for $60 at lacasadecoto, image via dottieangel on flickr, pillow by rettgrayson via flickr.

These are all really inspiring images. I know how to knit already, amateur knitter here. But I would also like to learn to crochet. I want to put together a "square (or 2 or 3) a week" group if anyone else would be interested in doing this with me? Then we can all encourage each other to crochet a square each week, and eventually be able to make a small blanket. Who's in? Anyone? Anyone? If I get a few people who would be interested I would start up a weekly blog post and flickr pool for photos. Let me know!

2011-01-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

Another one of my goals this year is to blog more. Last year was a little more tough than I thought it would be. I thought I would be blogging every day while my husband was gone, but it was actually the opposite. Even if I have nothing to say, I am still going to blog, even if it be nonsense.

I would like to say I woke up to a beautiful morning today....but it's been quite the opposite. Not horrible, but I have had better. Someone started doing construction at seven am, and my dog is learning how to wake me up by wagging her tail against the wire kennel in the mornings. We still make her sleep in her kennel through the night. I am not sure when or if we will ever break this. Maybe when she isn't a puppy anymore. I am in love with my little girl, and I am pretty sure she feels the same about me. I can't resist taking her out of her kennel in the morning when she is wagging her little butt and has her ears back. For those of you who have dogs, where do they sleep at night?

Here's a photo of her I snapped this morning while she begged for some food while I ate.

What was she begging for? Oh, just oranges and apple bread toast, probably two of the best tasting things my taste buds have ever experienced. Although I have to eat the oranges first, then the bread, so I can enjoy the coffee. (Anyone notice my plaid anthro mug { I blogged about} that I got for Christmas?)

I've never been one to like oranges very much. Don't get me wrong, I love orange juice, flintstone orange push-ups, anything orange flavored-except an actual orange. The texture of it just doesn't sit well with me. So I was at Henry's and picked up these pink navel oranges...They're probably the most expensive orange in the store, but if that's what it takes to make me eat them, I'll buy 'em. They are my new favorite breakfast item now.

Now that my belly is full, I am off to take Tipper for a walk in my sweatpants and sweatshirt. Actually, they aren't mine, they're my husband's. Have a great Wednesday!

the start of 2011

2011-01-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Another year has come and gone, let's hope this one goes by fast too! I am getting really antsy at the fact that my husband will be getting out of the military next year. We have been talking about moving back home and buying a house out in the country. Then we can start our family (other than the furbaby family).

My new year started off great with my husband serving me breakfast in bed, and then enjoying movies all day on the couch. We left the house once to get Starbucks. We quit going there a long time ago, but somehow we ended up getting $100 total in gift certificates this year for Christmas. You know, it doesn't take long to spend $100 there either. Crazy.

I have lots of plans with the shop coming up soon. I am just waiting on my order of clay to be delivered...so, it's cleaning and organizing the art room for now. Which is perfect because it's a rainy day today, and the hummingbirds can't resist the fresh sugar water I put out late last night.

What is your New Year's resolution? I deleted my facebook. More creating and productivity will result from that, that's for sure!

worldess wednesday.

2010-12-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

2010-12-27T16:17:00.001-08:00

just a quick post to see if everyone can see my blog posts/blog ok? its been loading slow for me...let me know if you can view my blog okay or not so I can see if I need to change it or it's just my computer. Hope everyone is having a good holiday!

2010-12-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

gifts for our close military friends.

These will be hanging from a piece of yarn wrapped around a plate of yummy Christmas cookies. Download the free gift tags over at Creature Comforts. (maybe it's my printer or computer, but the colors looked different printed out then they did on her blog, but I still like them!)

last minute Christmas gifts for free

2010-12-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

I posted about this a while ago, here, but thought I would re-post because it has some really nice free artwork downloads! I think one of these would be perfect for a friend! Just pull out an old unused frame (i know you all have them like I do, stashed away, just waiting to be refinished) and repaint it in a color that goes well with the artwork.

There are a lot of awesome artists like Elsita Mora, Michele Maule, and Sarah Golden. I printed off a Flossy Particles print and am going to repaint a frame and hang it somewhere. Maybe re-do my art room walls. Here is the link for the downloads!

Hope everyone is enjoying their week. Tim got the day off today (!!) because of the rain. I have been seeing the sun peek in and out of the clouds all day. I am sure Tipper (my 4 month old puppy) will be extremely glad once it's dry out again, so we can go to the dog park.

I am off to make Christmas cookies! I am making peanut butter buckeyes (it's an Ohio thing if you haven't ever heard of them or had them), chocolate crinkle cookies, peanut butter blossoms, sugar cookie cut outs, and a new coconut toffee bar recipe I am going to try out.

Enjoy the day :)

2010-12-20T23:55:00.000-08:00

Despite all of the rain the last couple of days, these guys are still hanging around. This photo was taken through my sliding glass door, pretty good, eh? The rain makes me feel cozy. I've actually been wearing "pajama" type clothes the last two days. And I don't plan on getting properly dressed til it stops raining!

I thought I would share the ornament gifts I made for my family back home. My absolute favorite is the swan. I wanted to keep it for myself, even though it has my cousin's name on it. Second favorite, the camper trailers. My mom and step dad have these mini silver camper lights they put on their tree. Yes, they're classy like that, so I thought the camper would be fitting. The other one is my brother's, last year I made him a beer bottle.

The red and green banner bird ornament is for my newlywed cousin, and cousin in law. Wouldn't you know, she married the boy who sat next to me in homeroom for 6 years in school. The purple and blue bird is for my engaged cousin and those are their wedding colors they picked out. So I tried to be somewhat personal with all of the ornaments.

There were a few more I made but I didn't get to photograph them in time before I shipped them out. I wish I could see their reactions to opening them...hope they like them.

What are your last minute plans for Christmas? I plan to clean house a bit, and make tons of Christmas cookies. The cookies are going to be for our military friends here....of course they'll get ornaments too.

Hope everyone has all of their shopping done and can relax the rest of the week and enjoy family and friends. :)

petite teapot house

2010-12-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

this little piece has been a work in progress for a while.

it is now in the shop as of today.

one more week til Christmas!

2010-12-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

A few things that make me really happy.

1. this dinner set from Anthropology. i have the mug, who wants to fullfil the rest of the set for me?! :)

2. the rain (if i can't get snow i'll take the rain)

3. comfy sweatpants & slippers

4. the sweetest compliments on my artwork. makes me feel like i am doing what i should be doing.

5. watching my pup play with other dogs

6. getting Christmas cards in the mail

7. seeing pictures of my nephew

8. eggnog.

the end. (i could go on forever but i wil save some for next time)

what are some things that make you really happy?

2010-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

My (our) first Christmas card of the year. It's still hard to make it feel like Christmas when we have 80 degree days in the middle of December, but getting mail like this makes it a little easier!

And it came with an awesome handmade ornament too. Aren't her kids adorable? I was lucky enough to get to meet the eldest two, but have yet to meet the newest (redhaired!!) babe.

Shop Update

2010-12-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Shop update at noon today. Please be patient with me, as I will be listing almost 30 ornaments in the shop, one by one. Fun! :) Here's a peack at all of the finished ornaments that will be added today. Enjoy!

shop update tomorrow

2010-12-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

I know it's short notice, but I will be having a shop update tomorrow-Friday-at noon Pacific time. I have a little under 30 ornaments I will be listing. I've added a wreath to most of the ornaments, and I really love the way they turned out. I have 5 cupcake house ornaments that will be listed as well. I want to get these shipped out as soon as possible before it's too late!

These are still in the process of being finished, I am going to be glazing, and glittering some of them the rest of today, and photographing tomorrow morning to list.

some new favorite shops

2010-12-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Some of my new favorites. (new-ish to me at least!)

sweetbestiary

SarahMcNeil

Toysdreams

ambird

Holiday Ornament Tutorial

2010-12-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

I am going to share a tutorial of the most loved clay birds I like to make now and then. These make great gifts for family members, newlyweds, or Baby's 1st Christmas ornaments!

After the clay has cooled from baking in the oven, paint it any which way you desire. I painted this one mustard yellow, coated it in white glitter, and hung a few charms from the loop at the bottom. The little vile has glitter inside of it.

You can also make your bird plain, without words, and coat it in colored glitter. Or cut words from an old book and use a clear gloss glaze to adhere the paper to the bird.

I hope this tutorial made sense for the most part, if it didn't let me know if you have any questions!

As part of the holiday season I am going to be giving away the yellow 'love' bird ornament. So leave a comment on this post to enter to win! For 2 extra entries, you can tweet, or blog about the tutorial or giveaway. Just leave me links so I know!

(a few of the past ornaments I have made for some ideas to anyone who wants to try the tutorial) enjoy!

Celebrate the Haul-idays book giveaway with Chronicle Books

2010-12-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my friend Danni, I found out about this rad giveaway. Chronicle books is having giveaway to one lucky blogger and a reader. So, this is how it works. I post a list of books I'd like to own, and if I win, one of you will get a chance to win all of the books I have listed. Comment on this post to enter (if you like the same books I chose), and/or post your own blog and enter it into the giveaway over at Chronicle.

I had a hard time choosing which books I wanted to read! I went over $500 and had to take out a few, BUT, these are the ones that made the cut. I would love to read all of these and have them on my bookshelf!

I made a wishlist and you can view it here to see all of the covers without having to click on each individual link that I'm going to post below. All of the books I chose totalled up to $498!

1,001 Ways to Live in the Moment By Barbara Kipfer
All Cakes Considered By Melissa Gray
BirdsIllustrations by Jeffrey Fisher Text by Christine Fisher
Chicken and Egg By Janice Cole
Creative, Inc. By Meg Mateo Ilasco and Joy Deangdeelert Cho
Curiousities
D.I.Y. Delicious By Vanessa Barrington
Decorate By Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick
Garden Anywhere By Alys Fowler
Handmade Nation By Faythe Levine and Cortney Heimerl
Indie Craft By Jo Waterhouse
Lotta Jansdotter's Handmade Living
One Line a Day: A Five Year Memory Book
Paper + Craft By Minhee and Truman Cho
Penny Saving Household Helper By Rebecca DiLiberto
Pictorial Webster's By John M. Carrera
Secrets of Simplicity By Mary Carlomagno
The Anatomy of The Sea By Dr. David Ponsonby
The Exquisite Book Julia Rothman, Jenny Volvovski, and Matt Lamothe Foreword by Dave Eggers
The Theatre of Insects Photographs by Jo Whaley Essays by Linda Wiener and Deborah Klochko
Urgent 2nd Class By Nick Bantock
Whip up Mini Quilts By Kathreen Ricketson

Just in case I don't win I just so happened to forward my wishlist to my grandma, who has been asking what I want for Christmas :)

To keep up with the giveaway holiday madness, I'll be posting a holiday ornament tutorial tomorrow ending with a giveaway. Happy Monday!

VH1 Diva's Salute the Troops

2010-12-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

I really love the promotion poster for this event. A few weeks ago we scored some free tickets to this event. Last night we got all bundled up, and were off to the show. Everyone in the car was interested to see Katy Perry, minus myself. Thanks to her "California Girls" song, I can no longer stand her. I was more excited to see Kathy Griffin and the Wilson sister's of Heart (they played Crazy on You). Overall it was a good time, considering the event was free, and it was dedicated to all the men and women in uniform. I'm definitely going to be watching it Sunday night, looking out for our super tall friend in green. I'm 5'10" and he makes me feel short.

I'm off to work on ornaments today while Tim is off fishing for a world record largemouth bass-haha.

Go HERE and post a photo of yourself if you support the troops, and VH1 will donate $1 to the USO's Operation Enduring Care.

trimming the tree

2010-12-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

This year my husband helped put all of the Christmas decorations (minus the outside balcony ones). I am SUPER thankful I get to have him home for the holidays, and my thoughts and prayers are for those who can't be with their loved ones this season. A good friend, and neighbor, of ours is coming home just in time for Christmas, and I couldn't be any happier for him and his wife. I think that's the best Christmas gift in the world, to get your loved on back safe and sound from overseas. If only they could all come home.

While decorating the tree this year, I noticed I have a lot of handmade ornaments on the tree. We barely have any plain glass bulbs. Our tree is full of handmade ornaments. If they aren't handmade, they're personal ones from friends and family. Like for example, the photo ornament of my adorable nephew, the giant glass cat, or the Wizard of Oz ornament.

I thought I would share some of the handmade ornaments with you. Some of these were from an ornament swap I did last year. The handpainted ones are all from my grandma back in Ohio. The one in the middle almost had me crying when I put it on the tree. It's a frosted glass bulb with a painting of my grandparent's house on it. We wont be able to make it home for Christmas this year.

I really love all of my handmade ornaments. It makes our tree really unique and gives it a lot of personality.

Have any of you participated in any ornament swaps this year? I really want to do another one, but I'm afraid it might be too late.

cat lady in the making

2010-12-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

I found this story book in an old box of mine with photos. I am not sure how old I was when I made this...but it was quite entertaining finding it, and having my husband read it, he thought it was the funniest thing. My concerns are they I started the story out so harshly and what my thoughts were while writing the story. I scanned the whole book to share with you guys, so if you can read through the water/coffee stained pages, enjoy the exquisite art and a laugh or two.

(Once upon a time there was a family of cats. Olive, Peach, Flour (meant Flower) and Ereal (meant Ariel)

(After a while they were the best cat family alive!)

Hope you didn't mind my horrible spelling (Believe it or not I was later top 5 in spelling bees at school) I thought this was cute, and something fun to share. I'm starting on my new batch of ornaments today!

Black Friday Sale

2010-11-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!! Just popping in to let everyone know that from right now, until Saturday, everything in my shop is $5 off. And the custom family wall plaque is $15 off original price. Prices have been already changed in the shop, so head on over and take a look!

http://www.petitehouse.etsy.com/

Happy Thanksgiving :)

2010-11-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to be preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Cleaning and making a few dishes ahead. I got a head start and gave the hummingbirds a fresh batch of food thismorning. For every cup of water you boil, add 1/4 C of sugar.

I find it rather funny how much I like these little guys, and other birds too, because I used to be afraid of birds when I was growing up. Now I have a tattoo of a bird on my body.

After all of the Thanksgiving commotion, and napping, I'm starting a new batch of Christmas ornaments and pieces. Hope everyone reading (in America) has a great Thanksgiving!

shop udpate ornaments

2010-11-09T17:17:00.000-08:00

There will be 18 ornaments total, and 3 mini jar dwellings included in the update tomorrow~!

shop update :)

2010-11-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

I'll be having a small shop update on Wednesday, November 10th, at noon Pacific time!

work in progress photos

2010-11-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

A village is being born.

And maybe being taken over by catzilla.

california fall

2010-10-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

My husband and I were having the conversation the other night about California weather. He loves that it doesn't snow here in the winter...I miss the snow. He asked me would I complain about the snow and cold weather if we ever move back east, and I said no, that I miss the changing seasons. I love experiencing and going through the chilly fall weather, the even more cold hibernation winters, and then spring with blooming flowers, and summer swimming in the lake. I think I start to miss home during fall because it's when things are supposed to change...and they don't. Well, they do slightly..but not like back home.

This is the tree right outside my window. One of the only trees that changes colors in the whole complex. It has some really pretty leaves that fall from it, and I can still appreciate it for what it is...but it doesn't compare to what I'm used to. I am used to 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' and anoying the heck out of my husband by making him look at the brightest and deepest of colors. He was nice enough to bring home a pretty autumn bouquet of flowers last Friday 'just because'. He is pretty sweet.

I took a few fall inspired photos today to share. My little pumpkin basket filled with apples instead of candy. I am trying to be 'good' but I will probably end up making a pie with these in the end. And my new sweater from Anthropology is the perfect fall sweater....and I have to admit it goes with my red hair rather nicely.

Aaaaand, I am keeping my word with the ornaments. I have had a few emails asking if I will be making them again this year, and of course, I am! I will update some more work in progress photos throughout the next few days...and post a date as to when I will be updating the shop.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday as much as I am. Listening to some of this-

baby quilt

2010-10-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

My nephew's baby blanket I made for his 1st birthday.

This weekend was filled with homemade lasagna, friends, craft shows, shopping for a ball gown (failing miserably), and relaxing.

slowly coming back

2010-10-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

Now that my husband is back at work, I am going to slowly be coming back into the swing of things. Back to normal. Having him gone for 7 months wasn't easy, but we survived. I can't be any more thankful that he is home now.

There are a few minor changes in the household. We adopted a shelter puppy a few weeks ago.

She's a small shepherd mix and goes by the name of Tipper. She got her name because the tips of her feet are white. She is a ball of energy and loves chasing the cats.

I just finished a quilt for my nephew's first birthday. That's about the most crafting I have done lately. But I plan to start working on new houses and ornaments here soon. So plan on hearing from me more often. :)

2010-09-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

He is home. We survived.