Tweet Lil' Birdies

Again, I am going to indulge myself by talking about the loverly artform that is wall decals. How freakin easy are they (very!), and you have an instant effect. Although I ♥ the decals from the company UpperCase Living, there are several etsy people selling their own, similar creations for a LOT cheaper. And I am all about supporting the etsians, whenever possible.

Here are some pics of the dark-brown birdies that I purchased from enoughsaid on etsy. I scattered them around soffet about my kitchen cabinets, to make them look like they are standing in the leaf garland I have up there.

(Ps... avert your eyes from the naked window. We just put in a new window, and hubby hasn't got the trim around it yet... therefore, the beautiful curtains I made are sitting in the pantry, impatiently waiting to be rehung)

Bloggin'... in general

Wow... it is getting so late already, and I just finished making a late-night grocery store run, ALONE. I had to get Brianna's school supplies for preschool... the only thing on the list actually for her was a folder. The rest of the stuff (crap) is for the classroom, like tissues, hand soap, paper towels, and construction paper. (We are paying good money for school, so not sure why we also have to supply the basic needs...) Also, this Sat is my 10 year class reunion, so I had to get some fixin's to make some food for the carry-in lunch at the park. It is family style, but there is cocktail hour at the country club that night...the kids will be at grandma's!

This world of blogging is so much fun, and I love reading other people's thoughts and making new e-friends. Being a stay-home mom, sometimes I feel a bit isolated... the blogosphere really makes me feel connected. It is fun to take pictures, talk about things, and have people read and comment on them. I guess what is bringing this up today is what happened over at The Black Apple blog today (and a few other times, from what I gather). For those of you who don't know, the blogstress Emily just moved cross-country, and shortly after reaching her destination her beloved cat became very ill. After vet visits/emergency surgery, he is recovering but she is left with a hefty bill. When I read the blog this am, I was pleasantly surprised to see that she is running a 2 day sale, in effort to increase sales/raise money to help with all of the vet bills. Finally, a very good excuse to purchase a few prints I have been coveting for as long as I can remember! BUT... of course, a few people had to make some nasty posts on her blog, saying she was tacky and taking advantage of people by using her cat's illness as reason to boost sales, basic bashing and name-calling. I suppose that is the down-side to the blogworld, and the anonymity of the Internet allows some people to say some pretty nasty things to and about people that they really don't know. I have been lucky enough, that so far every single comment I have received has been kind, encouraging, and thoughtful.

A big good-night hug to all of the great blog-readers and bloggers out there... keep it real!

♥♥♥

Cute Kitty-Boy and Pixelated PopArt

Okay, I couldn't help but show off my finished gray kitty from last post. I finished him yesterday, and made his outfit today. I did embellish it a bit from the pattern, with the little pocket and pearl-snap buttons for his suspenders... I am totally lovin' him ♥! I have surprised myself, because he nearly looks store-bought. Now I have to crank out his twin sister (and hopefully several sets of the pair) and get them in my shop during this anticipated revamp.

So soft and huggable!

Apparently, he is a manx kitty, because the pattern does not call for a tail. Don't you love the overalls?

My cat (who lives at my parent's house) Coaly... after my daughter decorated him with Mardi gras beads. He is the same deep, smokey gray that I love!

Okay, this is going to make for a long, picture-filled blog, but as promised, I will show off the Perler projects I just completed! I have always passed by these beads at the hobby stores because I thought they were a "kiddie kraft". THEN... I happened to see the awesome projects that are being done with them to make replicas of Nintendo characters. They are perfect to achieve that pixelated look! Check out Lost Mittens etsy shop, and you will see what I mean! www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=35630 It was her creations, which I first saw on craftster.org, that made me say WHOA!

My first Mario, in the magical shoe

One I am working on now, but ran out of black, tan, etc. beads!

Word of Advice!: It you want to try doing these pics, I would highly suggest you go to ebay and buy the colors in bulk per color. I have found out the hard way that buying the mixed beads from Hobby Lobby, Walmart, etc. is a huge pain in the but because:

A) You have to sort through a big wad of multicolored beads to find what you want

B) There just aren't enough of one color to do much of a project!

Happy Crafting, everyone!

♥♥♥

New camera... and crafty stuffs

Finally... my ☼new☼ camera is now in hand and in use! I finally got to put it to work over the weekend, and I am sooo happy! I am not a photographer, by any means, but it takes such good pics. I am hoping it will be the key to getting me my first etsy sale! My goal is to make up a bunch of stuff and update the shop top to bottom for the fall!

I could have never taken a photo like this with my old camera!

My husband's 90-year-old great aunt is getting ready to move to assisted living, and they are cleaning out her house. My MIL brought me a load of vintage crafty-stuff! A lot of it went into the garbage (polyester or macrame, anyone), but I found a few shreds of goodies. The above pic is of a couple of scraps of adorable vintage fabric. I hope they find more stuff like this!

A few weeks ago, I found a ziplock baggie of vintage toy patterns at a garage sale. There was an adorable, and pretty easy, pattern for these "kitten twins" in there. Being such an old pattern, it called for terry cloth to be used. Thank goodness we have such an array of fabrics we can use today! I found this really pretty gray micro-velvety stuff on clearance at Jo-Ann, and it is perfect! I haven't stuffed him/her yet, or made the clothes yet, but here it is so far. Hand-embroidering all of the features is probably the most time consuming part of it. Maybe you will see these guys in my shop soon!

I have so much to show you all, and so little time! I received more wall decals in the mail today, so I need to go get them up before hubby gets home... it's a surprise!

Hint about next post... two words... PERLER BEADS!!

♥♥♥

Too dang hot!

Last night, I let the girls play in the sprinkler for the first time. I am not sure why I hadn't thought of it sooner, but with grandparents here in town that have a pool...well, that's usually what we do. Anyway, they had an absolute BLAST! It was a definite scorcher, and even at about 7 pm, those sprinkles of flying water felt super-nice.

It was so hot that my camera, straight out of the lovely 72 degree air-conditioned home, wouldn't stop fogging up. Oh well. Guess what the DH was doing while we were messing outside? He was ordering my NEW camera!! I hope to have it by this weekend, when I take Brianna to a b-day party in Quincy. She will see most of her daycare friends for the first time in over a year. I wonder if she will remember them?

Backtracking to a blog-entry from a couple of days ago... here is my new little birdie, which I received today. I think he looks adorable over one of the many doorways into my kitchen. I am afraid I am now going to turn my house into a sticker-book, of sorts, with all of these loverly decals that I am now obsessing over!

Brianna & the Dragon

(Lil Miss Thang and her dragon. Watching a particularly intriguing episode of Spongebob, her latest ensemble consists of her Wall-E tshirt, shorts, a Christmas sweater, and snowboots. Tres Chic!)

I have been sketching some pics lately based on my almost-4 year old daughter, and her big Ikea stuffed dragon. Last night, I decided to try my hand at painting such a picture. Inspired by the recent paintings of the mucho-talented Emily Martin, my canvas was an old R.D. condensed book I found at a garage sale for a quarter. Although not even in the same universe as a Black Apple original, I think I pretty much accomplished what I set out to do with it. And my sweet little recipient is all kinds of happy!

Just Stick It!

Today is the end of a week full of stomach-related misery for myself, and which I have unwittingly passed on to my dear husband. Maybe this week I will have the energy to share some of the great things I have been promising! I have not been a very reliable blogstress as of late.

A while back, my friend introduced me to "Upper Case." Basically, it is like a Tupperware/Pampered Chef kind of party thing, but the product is these wonderful wall decals. They are super-adorable. There are pictures, sayings, etc. I bought a few during this party, but haven't been able to place them yet...as the painting isn't DONE yet...(ahem, too bad hubby doesn't read this). Regardless and moving right along, I stumbled onto some similar wall decals on etsy a couple of days ago while looking through the PIF listings. I purchased an adorable bird from decalmonograms:

I can't wait to see what this looks like somewhere in my house! Now I am totally down with the fake trees with birds on them... and I think I can talk hubster into one if I can find one with a cardinal/red bird on it (darn those STL fans!). Here is great set from Elephannie that I am in love with:

And one last shot from lewasdesigns... this one blows my mind beyond words! I am thinking this one may have to go in my bedroom one of these days!

So, do a search for wall decals on etsy, and croon over these lovelies (and many more) as I did. I am ALL about instant gratification! Let us decorate our walls with giant, beautiful adult-stickers.

♥♥♥