Sunday, September 30, 2007

Weekend Wrap uP




Here's a recap:

After junkin' on Friday afternoon, I went to a concert with my sister on Friday night-Matthew West, Barlow Girl and TobyMac-the Portable Sounds Tour. WOW! am I old! I had to use earplugs during TobyMac's show, but it was amAzing! He continues to set a very high standard. And Barlow Girl-well, those girls can ROCK! Oh, my! A fun time and thanks to my friend Julie we had awesome seats and still have our hearing (she provided the earplugs)! BTW, check out their websites to find out what they're all about and a sampling of their music. Good stuff! tobymac.com and barlowgirl.com

On Saturday, I was suffering from a TobyMac hangover so production in the Factory suffered a bit. I managed to make one hat and pretty much finish one other project. Jeff and I stayed in rather than going out since I was feeling a bit under the weather. I did manage to be able to clear a couple spots at the kitchen table for us to eat our take-out dinner together.

Today, my boy came home-yeah! We miss him when he's gone-it's such a strange feeling. Anyway, he had a great time with cousin Matt and grandma and grandpa at the lake. Earlier in the day, Jeff and I went to Sunday School and then out to breakfast (First Watch). I managed to sneak in a nap and then ran to Kohl's. Let me just say they have some beautiful Christmas stuff already out. Very shabby chic and vintage. I'm also loving the Vera Wang stuff and hoping Tammy will buy some of it so I can live vicariously through her! Instead, I picked up these for my tootsies. Yep, can't wear the Fergilicious shoes they make either, but scored some adorable slippers. Going to slip into these and listen to the Fergie cd my DS gave me and see what else I can accomplish yet this evening. (I know, the pic i not the best 'cause I was trying to no use a flash so not sure you can you tell just how delicious they are! Trust me-the perfect pale pink sweater knit w/ crushed velvet pink bows. ADORABLE!)


Looking forward to the coming week. Nothing special going on, but hoping to get the rest of the hats completed and start taking back my house. The mess is out of control and making me crazy. I think it's cutting into my productivity. Imagine that!?! Oh, and I have a new addiction thanks to Tammy-iced chai tea latte from Bread Co. Yes, sorry Starbucks, but they win w/ that one!

Have a great week everyone!



Saturday, September 29, 2007

Joyeux Anniversaire!




Wanted to wish my mom and dad a Happy Anniversary. They have been married for 45 years today. I know life has not been a fairytale, but one thing I know for sure is that they love each other deeply. I love you both and want you to know that I am so grateful for the family life you gave us.

Remember-love is all you need! Happy Anniversary!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Hunt and Gather

Been doing alot of hunting and gathering lately. But most of it has been done via Etsy and Ebay since I rarely have the opportunity to comb thrift stores and garage sales. This is one of my recent purchases. It's so fun to get these things because some of the sellers take such care in packaging. Almost more fun just opening the package than using the contents inside!

This tidy little package contained wood dominoes, 2 china doll legs, anagrams (worth the purchase price for these babies!), wood blocks, BINGO cards, Stratego pieces (teeny tiny), wood game pieces-one really old and the perfect shade of shabby chic blue, puzzle pieces and pieces from a letter game. And the little bonus was several round tags punched from my fav Foof-a-la paper! I live for the little bonuses they send!

My next purchase (hopefully) is a china doll head. She's SO sweet! and after the story Grandma Alice told about the doll she received for Christmas one year as a little girl, well, I MUST have it to add to one of my projects!

Wish me luck this weekend. I'm hoping to lock myself away in the "factory" and get ALOT accomplished. Brady will be at the Lake with my folks so I should have no distractions. Just me, my stash of junk and music blaring. Hmmm...we'll see. 22 days and counting until the big party. Guess I'd better step it up!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Ready For Her Close-Up


Stayed up into the wee hours of the morning on this one and sustained my first injury. Just when you think hot glue is not that hot-let me tell you, it's HOT! This has to be my second favorite piece I've made for "the party". It's difficult to part with any of them, but this one and the canvas piece I did first I just have to keep after it's over. Not sure if you can tell, but I covered the form with torn bits of vintage wallpaper. IRL it is yummy! And the brooch on front is so sparkly-love it!

Just wanted to share this before I'm off to deliver my wares and have lunch with my sweet MIL. We're meeting at the Cheesecake Factory (how apprapoe) and to window shop. I'm hoping for a stroll through Anthropologie. ;)

In case your wondering, I didn't make my quota. Just couldn't get the mojo flowin'. Hopefully, before the end of the weekend I can complete 2 more hats and before the end of the week complete the 2 photo pieces I have started. Then it'll be 5 hats and 3 photo pieces to go (for those keeping count). Sounds like a sports score! Bye for now!

Friday, September 21, 2007

The Factory is OPEN!




Yes, it's true. I've finally reopened the factory. So far, I've completed two hats. The one shown on the shelf was the prototype I made w/ my collage experiment. After adhering it to the hat form I wished I hadn't. But I hope to top it off w/ some collaged and glass glittered leaves around the bottom trim. Not sure if it will be used as part of the centerpieces or not. We'll see.
<------This new hat is covered w/ paper from the Dollar Spot at Target (sshhh...don't tell)! And the beautiful mother of pearl buttons? Well, they came from the jar of buttons my MIL gave me not long ago. Aren't they pretty? My goal is to have 5 new ones completed by tomorrow morning. So, 2 down, 5 to go. Okay, 1 nearly done (needs ribbon ties) and a second one too (not quite ready for it's closeup-LOL) and 3 more to go!


Feeling much better today. FINALLY, got my hair done. That makes a world of difference all by itself. We love our gal Rachel who does our hair-she's a gem! She always makes me feel like a million bucks.


Okay, back to work. I snuck in a movie this afternoon-The Painted Veil. Very pretty movie, but very sad. Think I'll put on something a little more upbeat while I work tonight. Any suggestions-music? movie? Maybe a little ABBA. ;)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

FliPPing Out





The start of each school year signals one of the biggest events of the year-the Scholastic Book Fair! Usually our PTO hosts a bar-B-que, but this year they mixed it up a bit and instead hosted a pancake supper complete with a professional flipper. What a blast! Brady gets so excited about this event every year, but with the addition of the pancakes (his favorite) he. was. in. heaVen!


<--------Check out all those jacks on the griddle! The pancake man had an awesome machine that dropped all those on the grill nearly at one time. SO cool!
Here is Brady taking his turn at catching his cakes hot off the griddle. After feasting on pancakes and sausage we headed to the gym for the book fair. The boy came home with two books and a poster-anything to get him excited about reading. A fun time!


Oh, and the title has a two-fold meaning. My newest reality TV addiction is Flipping Out w/ Jeff Lewis and the gang. Oh. my. goodness! He kills me! I think that's what I'd be like if I owned my own business. WAIT! that IS me without the business and the pets! Oh, and the million dollar homes and the wardrobe and Range Rover and... well, okay just his neurosis are like mine. It's so scary it's hysterical. Jenni is my favorite. Does she look like Julia Louis Dreyfus or what!?! I love her voice and wish I could tap into her calm energy. Ommmm...


Well, either way, flipping out tonight is/was a good diversion.


I Will Never Forget



I will never forget

seeing the unbelievable images on TV
the tragic statistics
hearing the fear in people's voices

seeing so many flags being flown
the expressions of unity and patriotism
hearing people reprioritize their lives

seeing the faces of the lost
watching their families laying them to rest
hearing the silence

i will never forget
on this day set aside to reflect and remember
i will never forget






Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Wonderfully Exhausting Weekend




This is one of the many treasures I came back with this weekend. My MIL has some of the best photos of her growing up years. This is just one of the many prom pics of her and my FIL. One of her prom dresses was just layer upon layer of chiffon-gorgeous! Ran out of time to scan alot of the photos, but managed to get this one. Check out her shoes-they are almost identical to the Kenneth Cole ones I wore on my wedding day! We had a great time looking at photos and going through stuff for some of the projects I'm working on.
She was so sweet to give me this jar of the most gorgeous buttons and there are several clips including this pair of beauties.
<-----I'm certain they're bakelite. Going to make a cool bag or something and use them on it. Thinking of framing some of the buttons ala Rebecca Sower. I believe they belonged to her mother who was an accomplished seamstress. We had a great time working on "the party" and visiting. Lots of late nights and early mornings.

Taking a break this week and trying to get back in Sunday School mode. Working on decorating the classroom and getting everything in order to begin a 13 week study of the Ten Commandments. Looking forward to seeing "our kids", but will miss Brady as he is now a fourth grader and has moved on to another class. Our lesson series has a travel guide theme-any good ideas for implementing this theme for 2nd and 3rd graders? Can't help but think of the John Candy/Steve Martin film Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Tomorrow is already Thursday and as usual, I'm looking forward to the weekend-sleeping in, trying to get rid of the piles and piles of sTUFF around here and maybe even some shopping. We could use a good catching up on things kind of weekend. Only 45 days and counting until the party of the century! Grandma Alice is SO excited. Tried to get a little info on some of the pics I've been working with when we visited her this past weekend. She is sharp as a tack and a hoot to visit with. I told her I was working with a photo of her when she was 18 and she said, "I was a foxy chick, wasn't I?" Too funny! The clock is ticking so I'll be back to working on those projects by Sunday afternoon. Starting to feel the pressure a bit, but must.keep.moving. Yep, keep moving forward-that's my mantra!