Meeting a Bloggety Friend!!

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting my long time blogging friend, Tammy, from Not Just Paper and Glue.

She lives outside Dallas where I am visiting my family.  So, we made arrangements to meet at The Little Blue House in Keller, Texas.

The Little Blue House was amazing!  I chose to do these Ho Ho Ho Tags.

These are not mine...mine are still drying because I used WAY to much of the glossy stuff over my letters....but on the bright side....they are looking really good (if they ever dry). ;)

Anywho....I enjoyed finally meeting in Tammy in person.  She is just as sweet as I imagined she would be.   

She made this gorgeous flower ball ornament for me!! 

Tammy is a PK Glitz representative.  She let me try out all her goodies!  

Can I just say.....I AM IN LOVE WITH GLITTER!!!  It was so much fun! The glitter is so fine (not that I can really say I know much about glitter).  But here is what I made.

  

I cannot tell you how happy I am I got to meet Tammy.  If you have time, stop by her blog and check her out. :)

Blog Awards

I received a couple blog awards that I accepted way too long ago.

It's been SOOOO stinkin' hot here in Indy the last few days that I've been stuck inside, so I decided it was a good time to do some blog catch up.  And one of those things is accepting these gracious awards!!

Tracy at The 2010's Housewife gave me the Sunshine Award!!  Although it's taken me for.ev.er to accept, I absolutely appreciate her kindness in giving me this award!!

Here is what I found about The Sunshine Award.  

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world. I'm happy to pass it on to a few of my favorite bloggers.

Here are the rules:

• Put the Logo on your sidebar, or within a post.
• Pass the award onto 12 Bloggers
• Link the nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

Soooo....without further ado. The 12 Bloggers I am passing this award onto are:

1.  Itsy Bits and Pieces
2.  Junkin' Junky
3.  Homework
4.  Home for 6
5.  Don't Disturb This Groove
6.  Chrissie's Collections
7.  The Polka Dot Cottage
8.  Keep'n The Sunny Side
9.  Modern Country Style
10.  Tattered Hydrangeas
11.  That's My Letter
12.  Beautiful Nest

Thank you so much Tracy for giving me this award!!  

You can visit Tracy's blog here:

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Ok, the next one is just down right embarrassing to admit.....

Beth at My Serendipity gave me the Stylish Blogger Award in FEBRUARY!!

I'm SOOOO sorry Beth!  My daughter would tell you this is common for me.  I always have the best intentions, but I am extremely forgetful and then get too much on my plate, then my brain does a data dump....but thank goodness my email doesn't. ;) 

Anywho....it's really, really, REALLY late...but THANK YOU BETH!! :)

Ok..now for the rules.

I am supposed to list 7 things about myself to help you get to know me better. Then pass this award on to 15 inspiring other blogs..which is the difficult part! Not that there aren't 15 inspiring blogs that I follow but because there are sooooo many blogs I love and follow!

Now for the 7 totally random things about myself:

1.  I am completely addicted to magazines!  Home decor magazines that is.  I have them stashed all over my house....under the bed, in baskets, on shelves, etc.  "Do It Yourself" is my favorite, but I have PLENTY more.  And I actually know when my addiction started........

2.  My mom died of breast cancer when I was 10 years old.  My dad was quite the redneck who knew nothing about raising little girls...and my Granny didn't know much more.  Magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour became my go to for make-up, style, and all-things-girly tips.  I had years worth, lined in date order in my closet for as long as I can remember.  (Now you know why I'm so messed up! LOLOL) ;)

3.  I'd LOVE to be a writer someday!  I'd love to write for, I know you're going to be shocked, a design magazine. :)  I'd also love to write a comedy book about my crazy childhood.

4.  My favorite place in the entire world is the Amalfi Coast in Italy!!  

5.  Given the alternative, I'd rather sit by the pool than sit on the beach.  I hate the feeling of the sand on my skin...which is strange given I was born and raised in Florida!  My ultimate choice would be to sit by a pool while looking at the beach. :)

6.  I actually enjoy getting older.  For one, given my mom and dad's early deaths, I consider getting older a privilege.  I mean, consider the alternative...dying early?  I'll pass.  Two...as I age, I get more and more comfortable with who I am!  There is so much peace in that.   

7.  I love to bake!  I'm a marginal cook, but I'm a pretty awesome baker if I don't say so myself.  ;)  


And now to the most important part of this award....passing it along! :)


1.  Aja Lee's Sweet Life
2.  A. McInnis Artworks
3.  Bunch of Craft
4.  Cedar Hill Ranch
5.  Classic*Casual*Home
6.  Creating Balance
7.  Custom Comforts
8.  Mod Vintage Life
9.  A Pop of Pretty 
10.  Refunk My Junk
11.  Reloved Rubbish
12.  The Cottage Gals
13.  The Shabby Chick
14.  Then She Made...
15.  The Modern Cottage  



Again, thank you to those that honored me with these awards!  I truly do  appreciate it. :)  


I hope you will take some time to visit each of the nominated blogs...these are some of my favorite blogs.  

  

Oooo La-la!!

Ok, so french decor is not really my "thang".  But I sure do admire it!!  

I'm drawn to the romanticism of it!  The softness of it!

All that lace.  The neutrals.  The feminine.  The Parisian flare.  The grays.  The old and vintage.  Lavender scented sachets.

These are the things that come to my mind when I think French Provincial or French Country design.

I mean, what's not to love!

So, even though I don't decorate in that style, when Pattie from The Shabby Chic sent me an email a couple weeks ago asking if I was going to Horton's French Flea Market in Tipton, Indiana, my first response was "Why have I not heard of this!?!?!"  and my second response was "Heck YES!!!!"

I mean, I'm not passing up on an event, that one will be gorgeous and involves shopping!  

And two, allows me to meet Pattie whom I've communicated with since very early on in my blogging days!  And meeting a lot of other Indiana bloggers, who until I started jumping around to blogs that mentioned Horton's and other bloggers attending, I had no idea were even out there! :)

Like:

Donna at D Reyne's
Nicki at The Vintage Farmhouse

Cindy at The Bee Lady from Hilltop Farm

Rebecca at A Re-Purposed Life

Alee at Damask Designs

Several of these ladies are going to be vendors.  Yay!


So, if you live near, I'd love to meet you!  Pattie and I are meeting up EARLY Saturday morning (did I mention early? LOL) and I will be following her to Tipton.  You're more than welcome to join us! :)

I'm taking my camera, so I'll be sure to post pictures. 

I won!!

A long, long, lonnnnnggggg time ago.....back in December...I won my first ever (and only once since) give-away! 

I won a $25 Pier 1 gift card from the absolutely adorable (and pregnant!) Greta at Modern Garden!!

I didn't mean for it to get this far away from me!!  I'm sorry Greta!!!

I had told Greta, back in December, I wanted to wait to use my gift card because I didn't want to use it for something Christmasy...I wanted something I could look at everday!

So, I waited and about 3 weeks ago, once I figured they were pretty clear of Christmas and their regular stuff was back out, I went and used my Pier 1 Gift Card from Greta!

Can I just tell you how much fun I had!!!!  They have SO many wonderful things right now!! 

But, here is what I ended up getting with my gift card!

Picture Borrowed from Pickles and Cheese because my camera is BROKEN!

This gorgeous tray is called the Petite Metal Tray with Bird from Pier 1!  Although, I'm not sure why they call it petite...there's nothing petite about it!  It's a regular size tray. :\  

Anywho...for three weeks I have moved this beautiful tray around my living room and then into my kitchen trying to find the perfect spot (which is why I hadn't posted about it until now - and the whole broken camera thing too!  (Although keep your fingers crossed my replacement comes today!).  I don't want to use it as a tray, I want to display it sitting up, like art!

While it sat on my kitchen counter, I decided I love this tray so much, I wanted to use this tray as the inspiration for my kitchen!!! :)

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Way back before I had many followers, I posted about my kitchen and showed you the sad before and the updates that have been made...mostly with paint.

Well, not much has changed since that September post.  Wait!  No...let me rephrase.  NOTHING has changed since that post! ;)

My kitchen still needs some serious accessorizing!!! 

The colors will stay the same, because, well I LOVE and still, almost 2 years later, ADORE my kitchen cabinet colors!!!  Plus, my tray will go nicely with them too!

Here are pictures of my kitchen (from September...but it looks JUST like this still):

 

   

So, here soon, I will begin....Operation Decorate Kitchen! :)

Just as soon as I finish the other side of Doodle's bedroom. ;)

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So, once again, let me thank Greta at Modern Garden for the generous giveaway she hosted, which I won...that is now inspiring a whole kitchen!! :) 

Need Inspiration?

Are you looking for tons of decorating inspiration...all in one place?

I found an new and totally awesome blog for you to check out then!!   It's called, Inspire Me Heather!!

Actually, I should say Heather found me and left a sweet comment on one of my posts.  In case you don't realize this, when you comment on my blog, one I always reply back (unless you have that horrible no-reply blogger, which you can fix by reading this, and then I can't)...AND I always make a visit back to your blog!  And if I haven't then I apologize and it was a complete and total oversight!  I promise! 

I do this because I like to meet people and I like to know who I'm talking to and whose reading my blog...plus it's just courtesy if someone takes the time to stop by your blog you should return the favor. :)

Well, Heather, takes alot of the work out of the way for you!!  And I mean ALOT of the work!  Her blog has to take a crazy amount of time for each post!  Seriously folks, check her out and you'll see what I mean!

She takes a project, for example I was looking at white kitchens, and then she creates links to all these other wonderful blog posts and pictures all about...you guess it....white kitchens!!  (Plus the picture of her white kitchen is GORGEOUS!)

Seriously!!  It's like an inspiration gift...all boxed up with a pretty ribbon for you!! :)

She has other projects of course, like Black Walls, Letters and Numbers, Dining Room Tables, Upholstered Headboards, etc! 

AND...she is having a VERY generous giveaway right now until January 31st!

Click here to go to Inspire Me Heather's Giveaway Page

All you need to do is become a follower of her blog and leave her a comment!

 

And if you post about her giveaway you get a bonus entry (which I didn't even read until now!  I swear! LOL  I just wanted to send people her way because I liked her blog!)

 

So...go check her out!!!



Playin' Catch Up!

Man, things get away from me REALLY fast!!  Back in November (yes, sadly, I said November), Brandi from Don't Disturb This Groove gave me an award!!

The Stylish Blogger Award!!

And then, last week, Selina from Creative Juices Decor gave me this award as well (which I didn't realize was the same one until I went to type up the post for it and saw it was the same!)



Before I accept this award, I want to tell Brandi and Selina...THANK YOU!!  I am humbled that two wonderful ladies would give me such a fantabulous award!!

If you have not been to Brandi's blog, you have to stop by!!  She is extremely talented at, I guess I would have to say, all things crafty!  She makes ugly, beautiful again...sews...decorates...a jack of all trades I'd say. :)

And on top of it all...she is a very genuine person!!  And I think you'll pick that up as well when you read her blog.

Selina's blog is alot like mine...a little bit of everything!  She shares crafts, decorating, recipes, and great kiddie projects, and all kinds of miscellaneous goodness!!  :)

She has an easy writing style, with bits of humor, which make her posts fun to read!

Now...

In order to accept this award here are the rules:

Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.

Share 7 things about yourself

Pay it forward to 15 bloggers whom you feel are deserving

Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

7 Things About Myself:

Some of these may be repeats that you already have heard, but I always think they are good to know about me.

1.  I live in Indianapolis now, but was born and raised in Bradenton (and Wauchula), Florida.  I left Florida when I was 20 years old.

2.  I served in the US Navy for 8.5 years.

3.  I am a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers...who eventually gained it ALL back.

4.  While in the Navy, I lived in Italy for 2 years and Hawaii for 6 years (and never actually went on a ship! LOL).

5.  I have a made up song for each of my pets (2 cats, 1 dog, 1 Leopard Gecko) that I pretty much sing to them all daily.

6.  I am extremely sarcastic and have a great sense of humor (and a huge heart.....and butt. LOL).

7.  I LOVE boiled peanuts...which you cannot get in Indiana!  Boohoo. :(

Now the fun part...pay it forward to 15 bloggers whom you feel are deserving.

Anne @ Calamity Anne's Adventures
Kathy @ Dandelions and Dust Bunnies

Mel @ Junkin' Junky
La-DEE Da Creations
Oonafey @ Little Pink House
Robin @ Happy At Home
Greta @ Modern Garden
The Cape on the Corner
Lisa @ Paint in my Hair
Kai @ Love in Idleness
Amy @ Keep'n The Sunny Side
Karen @ Joy, Junk and Juxtaposition
Michelle @ Bunch of Craft
Mary @ Lavender and Linen
Molly @ Molly Susan Strong

I know from past experience, some of you may have chosen not to accept awards, and I completely respect that decision.  So, no foul if you choose not to participate. :)

Please stop by these wonderful blogs!!  Each is unique and fan-flippin'-tastic!  :)

Oh My Gourdness!!

Ok...so...remember on Monday I posted my wonderfully sarcastic post about Martha Stewart (which you can check out here if you missed it)?

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I really do like Martha!  She just cracks me up sometimes.  Oh, and I'm inherently sarcastic anyway.  :)

And in that post I pointed out Martha's wonderful gourd bowls...where I may have mentioned that we don't do this in the real world...although I really wanted to try.

Here is where I insert my foot into my mouth!

Here is where I tell you I was totally wrong!

Real people apparently DO indeed make gourd bowls and all kinds of other neat gourd-ish things!!

Robin at Crafting with Gourds kindly let me know this!  No really....she was super sweet AND she led me to her work at Amish Gourds where you can actually buy gourds all ready for the painting or whatever your goud-ish little heart desires!!

We CAN be like Martha afterall!!! :)

But here Robin takes all the hard work out for you...or not if that's what you desire.

You can buy unfinished gourds to do yourself.

Or you can buy beauties like this birdhouse! 

Which I noticed is on sale right now for $27.75.

Wouldn't that make a unique Christmas gift!

Or this beautifully painted bird house.

Or this bird feeder!

Or if you so inclined, you could take on a project of your own with one of the kits offered at Robin's website.  Like this starter kit:

She even has some unfinished ones that are shaped like apples!

And eggs!  Is it weird I totally envisioned a gourd laying little eggs for these?

How cool are those?! 

Oh...what's that you ask?  Bowls?  Why YES...Robin even carries unfinished BOWLS too!! ;)

And for a little more gourd inspiration...

These pictures are all courtesy of the Annual Gourd Festival website.  

And last but not least I saw this one on Techy3 Design Studio. 

Um....hello!!  How fantastic are those!?! 

So, I owe all gourds (and Martha) my apologies.  Real people DO make gourd bowls...and Robin makes it easy for us.

Go check out Amish Gourds! 

And if you do (or have done) a groud project...let me know! :)

Until next time....

Anniversary Celebration and Giveaway!

Nope, it's not my anniversary.  I haven't been at this blogging thing that long yet. :)

But it IS Melissa's 2 year anniversary at Melissa's Heart & Home.

And she is doing a wonderful giveaway!  Just like Melissa, her giveaway includes elegant and beautiful goodies galore!!! 

Stop by and become a follower if you aren't already.  You will LOVE her...I promise!  She is a gracious blogger!  Sweet!!  Always responsive!!  And gives lots of praise!  Not to mention...her home is STUNNING!  :)