day dreaming

It's been one of those weeks.  You know, where you feel like you're just keeping your head above water, only to wake up this morning to find that the scent of oil in the air you've been smelling for a couple of days now, is in fact a problem and not just your imagination.  It means that the oil burner is breaking, about to turn off and leave you with no heat.  Of course it is Saturday and the repairman will be getting time and a half.

I do try not to get too cranky (my kids might see things differently) and not to let things bother me too much but sometimes it all feels very heavy.  

I picked up this collection of matchbooks at an auction a while ago.  I was just fascinated with these mini advertisements of restaurants, bars and motels from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Utah, Mexico, New Orleans...  I imagine them to be a road map of a time gone by and today I'm day dreaming of taking a road trip with my kids in a new car (that has no transmission problems) and hitting every stop on the matchbook trail.  Especially Terry's Waffle Shop.

 

 

 

And here's a piece I added to my shop! 

can't wait for this

This winter has been very snowy even for upstate NY, so I'm already past spring and onto summer in my mind.

enjoy the scenery

Aimee, over at Artsyville, included my fern in another etsy treasury and I just had to show you. It's a beauty and so is the theme.





Go on over there and check out all the talent at etsy and visit Aimee's shop for some artful words of wisdom.

bittersweet

My daughter has graduated from college and will be leaving home to live far, far away and I'm going to miss her like crazy. When she graduated high school I made an altered book of memories for her.  I say for her, but really it was for me too.  It took me a year to make.  She was already in college as I was working away on it.  It represents all my hopes and dreams for her, all my love.  As corny as it may sound, it felt like a prayer.  Every element in the book has a meaning behind it, a memory it awakens and I got to relive it all through the making of the book.  

Here's a peek at some of it.

 

 

 

 

 
The book has become a tradition in our house.  My son is graduating high school in June.  I look forward to the year of reliving memories as I create his book.

This parenting thing is bittersweet.

this is lisa's brain screaming in frustration

Where are my glasses, my scissors, my blade,  my electric bill?!!!

ok ok ok, breathe...

As usual I'm working on 6 things at once.  I was lucky enough to get this awesome, and I do mean awesome, stainless steel food prep table from my parents awhile back.  It allows me to spread out.  But looking at this mess, I'm thinking maybe that's not such a good thing.

I think I need an intervention....

whoopie pies and treasuries

I was lucky enough to have my mixed media collage, silver lining, featured in a treasury, by Chris Galli at Spoonful of Sugar Bake Shop.  I happened to find her while searching on Etsy for gluten free bakeries.  She makes Italian cookies, gluten free, dairy free and low protein cookies.  All of her creations are beautiful and I can say, having had a few of her gluten free items, that they are delicious too.  Chris knows her stuff and I felt confident ordering gf from her for my son who has celiac disease.  Her whoopie pies and truffle cakes are so good, I mean so good we ate them straight out of the box after our mail man delivered them.  They were so good that the gluten eaters in my house fought for them too.  I can't wait to try her rainbow cookies and chocolate torte. 

Go over there and just look at those pinkalicious cookies and tell me you don't want them...I dare you.

sister diane and ginger, company while painting

I decided to paint my living room, well I should say I decided to start with the living room.  Both the inside and out desperately need some love, but since it's only 30 degrees today and some of the icicles still hanging from my roof look like they could kill someone, the inside is where we begin.

So I had heard about a website called Craftypod and Sister Diane.  I am not terribly computer savvy so I had asked my son, who really is, to download some of her podcasts (first I had to ask him what a podcast was).  Then we discovered that you can listen to them right from her website.  So with paintbrush in hand, I clicked play.  Now, I realize many of you have probably already heard about Sister Diane but this was a first for me and I have to say, I just love her.  From the sound of her voice, the music she uses, to the content, I'm hooked.  Such great information and practical advice in such a creative way.  Really love it.

I started with a couple of her newer ones, Craftypod 125 - Talking SEO with Cory Huff,  (raise your hand if you knew that seo stands for search engine optimization) and 119 - Why Should You Plan Your Blog Posts Ahead? (now I know, but will I actually do it?)  If you are like me and have apparently been living under a rock, and haven't yet heard of Sister Diane, then get your butt over there to check it out!  If you know her already, then you know what I'm talking about.

I've decided to go back and start with Sister Diane's first podcast. After all, I have a lot of painting to do.

Now if only Ginger, the wonder dog, had opposable thumbs.

treasury

I love making treasuries on Etsy.  But what I love even more is being featured in a treasury on Etsy.  Thanks to Artsyville for including lollipop trees.

Aimee also has a website/blog that, on first view, looks to be as beautiful and inspiring as the work in her shop.  I'm heading over now to read about how she made, what she calls drunken tiles!  Scroll down, you'll see them in the sidebar.

one woman's fashion...

is another woman's thrift store find.

Just listed this in my shop and decided it was a great tie in to this website I found.  I think I may be the last person to have heard about it but just in case I'm not, it's called New Dress a Day and it is so clever and awesome I just had to mention it.

Marisa Lynch's idea is simple, to remake a thrift store find for $1 into something hip and cool and to do this every day for a year.  First of all, I love the idea of challenging yourself to do something, whatever it might be, everyday for a year and documenting it in this way so you are accountable.  But what I think I like best about this website is Marisa's sense of humor.  Check out the before and after photos. The faces that she makes in some of the before photos while wearing some of the ugliest clothes ever, are great.  They are honest and funny, like family pictures and I just love that.

Oh yeah, and the things she re-makes are pretty awesome too.  Thanks Marisa for saving us from some hideous fashion.