Words for Monday - the late edition

spotted here

I've been sick since Saturday and haven't even touched a computer till now. It feels good to be back among the living. Anyways, here is the late edition of Words for Monday :)

Jenny

Etsy Finds 6.24.11

1. Sterling Silver Necklace -  I just love the layers and how this necklace drapes. So pretty!

2. Avocado Chalk Board  - My favorite color in a fun chalk board. This would look cute in a kitchen.

3. Vintage Red Wire Trays - There's just something about wire trays that makes organizing your office fun.

4. Hammock - Now that summer is here, I've been spending some quality time in our hammock. I love the detailing on this hammock. And the price isn't bad either!

5. Bright Green Floral Tote - I am drawn to this shade of green like a moth is to a light. I love the bright pink roses on this bag. This would make a fun summer tote.

6. Aqua Desk - I love the color and lines of this desk. I could picture myself sitting at this desk typing away on my laptop.

No exciting plans for me this weekend. Jim works both Saturday and Sunday, so I will most likely putter around the house, and maybe take some pictures of the master bath or family room for my next room reveal next week. Wishing you all a Fabulous weekend and Friday! :)

Jenny

Flower Card & Award

Here is my card for my friend Berta's card swap. I made 13 cards. A card swap is where you make as many cards as people signed up for the swap. You usually have a month to make your cards, and of course I wait till the last minute every.single.time! The Swap is due on Saturday and I'm still working on my cards on Monday night. Anyhoo, after you finish making your cards, you mail/drop them off to the hostess, and she then swaps the cards back out from all 13 participants. You receive back 1 of your cards and 12 other cards. It's a fun way to collect beautifully handmade cards. Once I receive the swap back from Berta, I will post all the cards from the swap so you can ooh and ahhh.

I used the stamp set One of a Kind (Close To My Heart). The cards are to supposed to be blank (no sentiment) but I added a sentiment just for my blog readers :)

A close-up of the flowers. I hand stamped the flowers and cut them out and used foam squares to "pop" the flowers and give them dimension.

A side view where you can kinda see the flowers raised.

On another note, Vikki from My House, My Garden nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award before realizing I had already received the award from The Rich Life on A Budget. What a treat to be nominated for the same award in one week! Here is my original post from the award in case you missed it.  I want to thank Vikki for thinking of me. I found her blog while blog hopping one day and fell in love with her bedroom makeover. If I could make my bed over like hers, I would. Vikki has a beautiful house and family and is one of my favorite blogs to read.

Jenny

Words for Monday

spotted here

Happy Monday :)

Jenny

Etsy Finds 6.17.11

1. Vintage Tray turned Chalk Board - Love this! I already have the chalk board paint, now I just need to find a vintage serving tray. 

2. Vintage Silverware Garden Markers - wouldn't these look whimsical in potted herbs on the kitchen windowsill?

3. Amethyst Potion Charm Necklace - I don't think I've ever seen amethyst this color before. I love the size of this necklace. 

4. Buttons and Burlap Love - I'm always on the lookout for ways to use up my collection of buttons.

5.Silver Leaf Earrings - I've been wanting this earrings for awhile now. I should get them. Don't you think?
6. Vintage Glass Covered Dish - I love dishes like this for storing jewelry, cotton balls in the bathroom, or crafty stuff in my craft room.

No big plans this weekend. I need to make 13 cards for a card swap that I signed up for which is due next weekend. So I will be spending some quality time in my craft room this weekend. And maybe catch a movie with the hubby. I'd like to see Super 8.  Any fun plans this weekend?

Jenny

Versatile Blogger Award

The lovely Adrienne of  The Rich Live on a Budget gave me a Versatile Blogger Award.

Thank you, Adrienne. I am very honored!

If you have not already discovered Adrienne's blog, I urge you to go do so now! She has  a wonderful knack for sharing the riches of her life, from fashion, health, food, and wisdom with her readers. Plus, if you did not already know, she is the one who convinced me to start a blog. So she's truly brilliant! ;-)

To accept this award, I am to tell you 7 things about myself that you do not already know. Now, some of you who I have met IRL may have already heard some of these stories but I'm hoping most of these are new and entertaining, if not also funny to read.

Here it goes...

1. Several Octobers ago, I had an unfortunate run in with two deer (not at the same time) in my VW Passat. I hit both deer (actually the second deer ran into me and was entirely at fault), just 5 minutes from my house, and within a 100 feet of each other. What are the odds? I had my car back from the auto shop only a few days after hitting deer #1, when deer #2 ran into me. My insurance agent and the auto shop could not believe I had hit a second deer when I told them what happened. They must have thought I was the WORST driver. My close friends jokingly refer to me as the "deer killer". In fact, here is a photo a friend of mine tagged me in on Facebook. I am so lucky to have such funny friends!

P.S. I am not sure of the condition of deer #1, but he was no where on the road when I came back up the hill so I like to believe that he was okay. And deer #2, after running into my passenger side front fender, got back up on all fours and trotted across the road going along his merry way!

Hey Jenny..this deer stopped us today and asked if we had seen a blond woman in a Passat who had taken out his cousin, oh and Uncle Buck is still waiting for prosthetic.

2. When I was in 5th grade, we moved down to San Pedro for two years. It was quite a culture shock for me. Going from a small town in Northern California (Monte Rio) to a big city all the way in Southern California. While in class one day, me and some kids were talking, and one of the kids asked me if I was a virgin, to which I promptly replied "No, I'm a Leo". I did not understand why they all broke out in laughter. What, were Leos rare in Southern California? I was still puzzled by their reaction when I got home, and asked my mom what a virgin was. She of course asked me why, and I told my mom what transpired in class and what my response had been. I'm pretty sure I turned three shades red when my mom explained to me what a virgin was.

3. When I was 16  I decided that I wanted to dye my blond hair a deep shade of burgundy. I don't remember why. Probably because I was a teenager and didn't think things through. What a ROYAL MISTAKE. Of course my pale skin looked even more pale with burgundy hair! I sent my mom to Safeway to purchase some blond  hair dye. 4 boxes later my hair was blond again but very fried. I think at box 2 my hair was a nice shade of old lady mauve. Too bad it hadn't been around Halloween.

4. In 2004 my husband and I were fortunate to travel to Paris for 2 days and all over Italy for 3 weeks with my family. My great grandparents on my dad's side were both born in Italy, so it was a very special trip for me. I fell in love with Italy, it's food, people, and land. We rented a van and traveled all over, staying at Lake Como, Florence, Padua, Spoleto, Sorrento, and Rome. And we saw so many beautiful places along the way, like Venice, Capri, Pompei, San Gimignano, Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Cortona, Assisi. I hope to go back again some day.

Siena, Italy: Jim, Me, Grandma Virginia, Aunt Gail, Aunt Debbie, David, and Grandpa John.

5. My great grandfather, Vincenzo Sconza, who left his home and family in Italy and arrived to America at the young age of 17 by the way of Ellis Island, started a candy company out of his basement and eventually grew his candy business into a large candy factory in Oakland in 1939. So if you ever find candy at the store made my Sconza Candy Company, that was my great grandfather's company, which is now run by one of his sons. 

My Great Grandmother Maria and my Great Grandfather Vincenzo, and his sons Jim and John (my grandfather)

6. 18 years ago, on July 30th to be exact, my husband called me up and asked me out on a date to the Sonoma County Fair. Up to that point we had been flirting at parties, but I could feel a connection between us, and I was so happy when he called me up and asked me out. He was ever the gentleman and paid for the whole date, which included a day at the fair, where we rode the carnival rides, bet on  the horse races, and walked around with big old grins on our faces. Afterwards we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Burger King where I believe we both ordered the whopper with cheese meal (so romantic!), and then he took me to the movies to see Sleepless In Seattle. I knew he was the one for me when I got him to see a romantic movie! And every year since we relive our first date.

While we did not do the photo booth on our first date, we have made a point to take our photo every year since. We have 17 years worth of photos, these are from 1994 - 1999.

7. In 8th grade I almost failed as a cheerleader. My closest friends were all cheerleaders in 7th grade, and I wanted to be one too. Mostly for the cute outfit. So I tried out and made the cheer leading team. Then came time to learn all the cheers. I have a horrible time remembering things. And the cheers and dance moves were almost too much. I was ready to throw in my pom poms and quit when my friends rallied around me and offered to help me work on the cheers over the summer. With the help of my friends, I managed to remember all the cheers and dance moves and had the time of my life cheering along my friends all of 8th grade.Go Guerneville Gators! And yay for friends!

8th Grade Graduation photo: Gina, Monica, Me, Allison, and Deanna. All of us were cheerleaders except for Alli. And we're still friends to this day.

I selected five blogs to pass the award along to. There is no pressure whatsoever to accept your award, but I think we all enjoy finding out little things about one another.


Always A Crafty Girl
It's Just Not Paper
This, That, and Other Crap
Baylor Says
Stranded In Cleveland

Jenny

Craft Room Reveal

On Sunday, my friend Adrienne came over and played in my craft room for a bit. It was fun showing her the ropes and tools in paper crafts. She made two very cute projects which should be up on her blog soon. While my craft room was still clean, I thought I better take some photos and post them. Because my room does not stay clean for long, especially when I am in a creative frenzy. As long as it takes me put everything away and clean up my craft room, it takes me a split second to mess it up again.

When I first started to scrapbook, ALL my supplies fit neatly into a small rolling case. A year went by and I setup a small desk in the corner of our office and called it my craft space. And now 10 years later my craft space has evolved into an entire room. It's my happy place, where I create and play and make pretty things :)

This is as you enter my craft room from the doorway. The L shaped desk is comprised of 3 desks and offers lots of space to spread out and make a mess on. Most of the white furniture (the 3 desks, 2 small bookcases on desks, large bookcase, 2 rolling credenzas) I scored for FREE from a former job. All the furniture probably cost around $1000 and I got it for free!

Here's a picture from the back of the room looking out towards the window on the front of our house. The walls are painted a soft, shabby shic pink.

Lots of natural sunlight to create by.

The left side of my desk, where I keep my favorite stamps organized in cute basket.

My Copic markers are within an arms reach in a cute little wire holder that spins. Display + cuteness = bonus!

At the center of my desk sits my "tool caddy". Actually this used to be an old garden tool caddy that was sitting out in our garage collecting dust, that is until I covered it in scrapbook paper and gave it a new purpose. I keep all my essential tools and supplies, like scissors, adhesive, pens etc. in my handy dandy tool caddy. I can just grab it and go when scrapbooking over at a friend's house.

On the far right of my desk sits a spinner rack that holds my ink pads for stamping.

Across from my desk and behind the door, stands two bookcases I got from Target, which holds my scrapbook paper, punches, ribbon, kits, and stamps. The shelf/bulletin board unit I got from Pottery Barn years ago.



More pretty baskets. I spray painted the pink one, it used to be cream. And I tied some fake roses on the baskets for an added touch of pretty.



I keep my scrapbook paper organized in upright file holders by manufacturer and theme. Half of scrapbooking is staying organized.



I wish I could brag that I made these Chinese lanterns, but they were left over from a Chinese New Years Party we had last year, and I thought they would look pretty hanging up in my craft room.



I found this pretty wire card holder while in Oregon on craft weekend with my friends Berta and Lou. It's perfect for displaying handmade cards from friends.



At the very end of my desk, towards the back of the room, sits a tall bookcase with those clear 3 drawers you find at Office Depot or Target, except I covered the drawer fronts in my favorite fabric and spray painted some white. Covering the drawers solved the problem of the visual clutter. I hung some wire baskets on the wall to hold some of my favorite idea books.

Here's a close-up of the fabric covered drawer fronts. I cut a piece of chipboard the height and width of the drawer front, sprayed the chipboard with spray adhesive and covered it with fabric, and then used adhesive to attach the the fabric covered chipboard to the drawer front. An easy and pretty solution to hiding the clutter inside!



I keep the majority of my acrylic stamps organized in these 6 canvas bins, and they are bursting at the seems! I found the canvas bins at Bed, Bath and Beyond.



Cookie jars from Target and Ikea used for storing more stamps.

Pretty things on display.

Flowers and buttons displayed in glass jars from Ikea and other stores.

This and That. I found this metal wall unit in an antique store in Santa Rosa. It's perfect for holding some of my favorite stamps.



A wire Eiffel Tower I found in an antique store, although I don't believe it's an antique.



Banners I made that hang above the window above my desk.

And that concludes the tour of my craft room. Thanks for stopping by :)


Jenny

Words for Monday

spotted here

Happy Monday :)

Jenny

Etsy Finds 6.10.11

1. VW Print - What I really want is the VW symbol in this print! I don't know where I would put it, but I want one.

2. Daffodil Necklace - I've bought a necklace from Tamar's Etsy shop before. She makes the sweetest jewelry. I just love this daffodil necklace. 

3. 1960's Retro Beaded Coin Purse - OMG I had one of these as a kid! I can't believe it's selling for $10. I wish I had kept mine.

4. Calf Portrait - Baby animals are just so sweet. I want to kiss this calf on his big wet nose he's so cute!

5. Crochet Cuff - I need to learn how to crochet. This cuff is stunning!

6. Wavy Bubble Ring - I actually own this ring in sterling silver. The seller, GeobyYWB custom made the ring for me and was super nice. I also bought some silver earrings from them.

Any fun plans this weekend?  

I'm meeting with our 20 year reunion committee Saturday morning to go over more reunion stuff, and then home to do housework and hopefully spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying this finally FABulous summer like weather we're having. And then Sunday my friend and fellow blogger Adrienne from The Rich Life on a Budget is coming over to my place to play in my craft room and get her craft on. I'm super excited and can't wait to corrupt her!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend :)

Jenny

DIY: Faux Flower Arrangement

Here's the last in the series of DIY projects from my bedroom make-over.

This project is super simple.

No crafty skills needed, I promise!

Supplies:

Base (vase, candle holder, urn, even a rinse cup from the bathroom section of Target)
Realistic fake flower bouquet
Styrofoam ball that fits inside your base
Glue gun -but not required


I like to purchase a flower bouquet with a lot of flowers on it and one that has both large and small rose buds.


Next, using scissors or a wire cutter, clip several flowers off just at the base, leaving a small stem.


My base is actually a rinse cup that I found in the bathroom section of Target. Candle holders make great bases too.


Styrofoam balls come in all sizes and can be purchased from Michael's, JoAnne's or your local craft store.


I chose to just place my styrofoam ball inside my base and not glue it in with a glue gun. Depending on how well your styrofoam ball fits in your base, you may want to secure it with some glue. I then started at the top center of the ball and stuck the stem of each flower into the styrofoam, working my way around until the ball was filled in.


Easy Peasy!

Here are some other flower arrangements I have made...






These faux flower arrangements are a fun way to dress up a shelf, dresser, or bathroom, with flowers that never wilt. And they are also easy to clean, just blow them with your hair dryer.

Jenny