Christmas Sale!

One of the things I really look forward to is family pictures.

Getting to coordinate outfits and accessories 

to pull together the picture perfect photo shoot - SWOON!

For now I'll just have to live out my dreams through

my friends and customers

who are constantly challenging me to put together headbands and clips

to bring their vision to life. 

 

So today I'd like to thank my dear friend Ashley

for her many custom orders

and for sharing her beautiful little family -

photographed by Alison Phelps

of Phelps Photographic Art

Ashley is a girl after my own heart

wearing one of my yoyo hair clips,

and her baby girl wearing a custom made

baby girl headband inspired by a traditional headband

 I had in my shop at the time.

And right now you can snag a great deal on all pre-made

Christmas headbands and clips currently in my shop. 

Get 25% off - good until Christmas day!

And for those not so familiar with my work

I put together this little catalogue to showcase my work,

and what makes each yoyo creation unique and just the right fit

from baby girls all the way to us big girls. 

So before it's too late

jump on over to my shop and take a peak at 

my Christmas Sale section. 

Sketchbook Sneak Peak

I'm currently participating in this years Sketchbook Project

which is challenging me in more ways than I ever imagined.

If indeed I finish my book on time, it will be the first sketchbook

I have EVER finished in my life. 

But as with all my sketchbooks... there comes trouble.

Typically it's brought on solely by myself,

ripping pages, and scribbling through my own drawings when not pleased

(and sadly I must report I ripped out 2 pages my first day)

but I've actually been very pleased with my work and efforts 

so it's very disheartening when its founds its way into a little person's hands

and that little person decides they want to include a few drawings of there own.

I also accidentally layed it on my husbands shoe polish cloth! UGGG!

But I keep on keeping on!

The theme I chose was 

"Encyclopedia of"

and I decided to do crazy hair styles

from A to Z

I'm currently at M,

however all but this one is actually complete.

So with the deadline looming in just a month and a half,

I still have a lot of work ahead of me...

and for my sketchbook that probably means more torture to come. 

My hope is to turn some of the drawings into finished artwork

 sometime next year.

Although I still don't know quite how to do that.

I really would LOVE to take some illustrating classes...

but I'm not sure what I would even look for.

there is so much I have zero knowledge of

and it makes me sad and frustrated because I would love

to bring my drawings to life with color.

well perhaps my new years resolution should be something like

learn at least 3 new techniques 

for coloring my pencil drawings

yes that sounds good, now any suggestions?

The Girls Room

Don't just take a peak, come on it!

I'm sure the girls wont mind. 

After all it's my favorite room in the house,

full of all my very special treasures. 

Including my childhood bed, and dresser.

My sister in law helped me paint the room,

as painting is exactly my favorite pass time.

I finished the room off by adding High Gloss Polka dots

of the same color on the blue/green wall.

Of course I don't expect the room 

to stay in photo shoot perfect condition for long.

But I'd rather have the things that are special to me out in the open

than tucked safely in a box...

Remember my Easter Bonnet? Now it's a lamp shade,

and the little bunny box -

a left over from my first little etsy business

Keepsake Cakes. 

You can't see it very well in this picture,

but the art print is from Little Blue Moon

on etsy. 

I purchase quite a few prints from artist that inspire me

but I just have to say that the quality of this cake print

 is so lovely I thought she might have sent the original by accident. 

My little kitchenette is still a work in progress

But as you can see, it's come a long way.

I purchased the crib for $5, the black shelf for $15,

the bathroom hanging cabinet for $8

and the hutch was given to me by a local thrift shop.

I purchased a bowl to make a sink,

but of course the Mr. hasn't quite gotten around 

to cutting the hole out for me. 

The idea for the high gloss dots came from 

Beth of Sawdust and Embryos

I would have never though of using the exact same color. 

Then dots and circles else where in the room 

just kind of found there way into the room. 

Including these Embroidery Hoops

that came to life late one night...

Using lost treasures from my craft "junk" box

and a few cut up vintage baby clothes. 

And lots more little goodies to make this heart.

Wow, was my glue gun busy that night!

I just love honey comb decorations!

My sister -n- law gifted me the bed canopy

and I was just tickled with how it turned out.

The day bed was purchased off of craiglist -

as is just about everything else we own.

the fabric on the canvas 

is the same I had in my room when I was a little girl.

Last spring my grandma helped me make a few pillows

out of a vintage quilt I had that was starting to fall apart.

Isn't that the lovely thing about a canopy bed -

you can never have too many pillows!

The three larger honey comb balls were purchased at

Shop Sweet Lulu 

Well the dots turned our lovely

well except that I accidently flipped the stencil upside down 

and they started to move down hill... so frustration!

So being a bit frustrated with dots, 

I impulsively decided I needed a mural

after -all I'm always painting them of friends walls.

The only problem with starting a project on a whim

is that you tend to not get the best of results

but I was lucky and it all kind of came together...

minus some composition issues that will surely

only bother me...

I think it makes the room extra special 

and a whimsical space for the girls who come into our life.

Our names go back on the emergency call list tomorrow

so we should have new kiddos to share the room with soon. 

The Spell I'm Under

 It's been more than a tad gloomy here in Idaho for the last few days.

Luckily it's not that often that we have to endure day after day of  

cloud cover, but of course such a spell would come along 

just when I come upon a creative spell of my own.

My hubby informed me last night that our entire home

has been transformed in just two weeks.

He's right too, I've just about moved every piece of furniture,

and hung and re-hung everything that wasn't literally screwed into the wall.

One reason for my sudden need for change is that we will

be hosting thanksgiving this year. This is big! 

Well at least for this girl it is. 

20+ people, who will all be seeing our new home for the first time.

So of coarse I want it to look perfect.

But also because when I'm stressed 

there is nothing, and I mean nothing that calms my spirits

more than decorating.

As a child you might say I was wound tight, and big cry baby...

so as you can imagine I rearanged my room a lot - A LOT! 

But after getting a fancy degree in Interior Design

I realized something - something I wish I had learned much earlier.

I do NOT like decorating in general.

It's something that comes out of personal anguish.

Just as others may eat or clean;

for me this is when I work the hardest and things just seem to click. 

My crazy decorating spree started 2 weeks ago

when a few personal tragedies really hit me hard

and because such things come in threes -

we also had to say goodbye to two of our foster kiddos.

They had been with us for over 7 months, 

and were our first long term placement to head home.

I actually thought I was doing okay, but I think instead of having a good cry

I just started changing things - my hair included! 

I fixed these letters up last night. They had been hanging around in the garage 

and on top of dusty shelves for the last three years.

Yesterday was perhaps the climax of my compulsive need for change - 

I when through one very large jar of modge podge!

One of the big changes for me is been letting go of my very girly,

 very childish collection of sweet pastel decor and nic-nacs in my office.

One reason being that my office is literally the first room you walk into

when you come into our home, 

and I wanted it to not feel like you were entering into a child's nursery.

And secondly, because we actually have kids rooms now

I was able to go over the top in the designated girls room!!!

I'm just waiting for mr. golden sun to come out so I can take pictures. 

But just because I'm loosing the pink doesn't mean I'm saying goodbye to my 

nostalgic side. This collage piece I put together yesterday is full of vintage children's illustrations, paper dolls, whimsical vintage ephemera, and paper from Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe Collection. 

Well if you are anything like me, 

creative spells = big mess!

So with just 2 more days before turkey day

this girl has MUST get back to work!

Look Mom, Pink Hair!

Do you think it's true what they say about blonds?

Not the dumb part, but that they have more fun?

Well then girls with pink hair should naturally have 5 times more fun!

My hubby says I'm going through a quarter of my life crisis.

Well let's be honest, in most cases the things we do during these moments 

of crisis are generally more true to who we really are, aren't they? 

Whatever we change about ourselves, or purchase, are things we have really wanted

but for whatever reason not allowed ourselves. 

We enter these moments not worried or concerned about what others think

but only of what will make us happy.

Well friends, this little pink haired girl is very very happy!

and if I were just a shade or two lighter - oh man the joy could not be contained.

What is it about a camera that makes me turn into a total flirt?

I swear, if I flirted as much with my hubby as I do my camera

we would have one very happy marriage ;)

but honestly, I do not go around batting my eyelashes,

 and pouting my lips on a regular basis. 

Lately I've been getting messages through etsy asking if my headbands fit 

"big" girls. So I made up this simple headband to match my outfit yesterday.

I love my new retro 70's blouse - a recent find at a local antique shop for just $9.

 Thinking I'm going to end up chopping the sleeves off one of these days. 

So anywho if you have been putting of a "crisis"... 

go ahead, embrace it! 

Be true to who you are!!! 

Bingo!

After a year and a half of renting

we are once again homeowners!

What we ended up with is not at all what I would have pictured us in,

but our love of old homes and the country

could not compete with the price tag and benefits of living in town.

So how is life in Suburbia?-

Fantastic!

We have amazing neighbors, and the home is huge -

perfect for our ever growing family. 

So here is the scoop on a few projects

 I've done for our family/dining room

While we were still renting I painted both of these hutches. 

the white one I found on Craigs List for $50

and the blue one was a handy me down.

The blue one has about 8 coats of paint. 

I didn't exactly do any research or prep work

before stating and boy did I pay for it. 

So the goal became more about how to salvage the damage 

than anything else.

But in the end I love it! Thank goodness!!!

For the white hutch I fallowed a fantastic 

step by step tutorial available on My Romantic Home Blog

and while the prep process was painstakingly time consuming

it was so worth while! 

I decoupage the glass doors with vintage red gingham table cloth 

I found at a thrift store for just .50 cents. 

The white hutch stores all my fabrics :D

I wish I had taken before pictures - but just imagine nasty, dark, glossy stain. 

If you have followed my blog for the last few years

you know I love color

and many of my friends refer to our Portland home as Easter Land

so I think I've shocked myself and others 

by going a lot more neutral in my general decorating. 

Did you spot all the vintage crib parts?

Up-cycling cribs is a hot trend right now

and I've been lucky enough to come across 2 amazing cribs

for dirt cheap.

In this room I made the slat wood backdrops on top of the blue hutch

by simply hot gluing crib rails onto boards.

Then I have my crib bed springs hanging on the wall

 (I have one in my office too - they are so handy)

and on top of the white hutch are two decretive panels from the side rails. 

And I still have 3 amazing crib ends to come up with projects for. 

My hot-glue gun and I have been real tight as of late

up-cycling everything from left over fence posts

to a box full of bingo goodies

I picked up the other day for a buck.

If you want to make your own Bingo trees

here is a little visual reference of how to put them together. 

they would make a fab Christmas gift for any bingo loving friends.

Well I better run, while my house was picture perfect just yesterday evening 

it is far from clean now thanks to my 3 little rascals.