baby Tater

That's the name I call my in-the-oven-grandchild. We don't know a gender yet, too soon. The big event will be in January next year, pretty dang closed to my birthday. Number 3 on the grandchild count. I am all atwitter (I know all the big words, like mayonnaise and Worcestershire) planning the new nursery. This is my inspiration color for a gender friendly room...

Two different rooms, same color scheme. I love, love yellow and black together. Today I painted that beautiful soft buttery yellow in the room.  Both inspiration rooms have chandelieres in them, but if tater is not a girl, I won't go there. For now, it will be gender neutral. If it is a girl, I'll go with the flow in that direction.






















I am looking for thrifted furniture and have already found two pieces. One is a changing table and the other is a storage piece with shelves and 2 drawers and big, chunky feet. They will both be painted a high gloss black. I promise to post a before and after. I also found a fabulous bumper pad for the crib in an awful, awful brownish gold color (who would put that in a baby's room?) and bought some black & white material to make a "slipcover".  My sweet friend Margie will help me get the sewing done. I absolutely hate to sew. I can do it, I just hate it. Margie loves to sew. She's one of those people that can make something without a pattern, which I admire. I think my aversion to sewing is the math. Ugh! I don't like measurements and fractions and gettin' all "mathy". Yard to feet conversions = Yuck!

I'm working on subway art (above) and am thinking I might frame some black & white quilting square material (also above) into some yellow frames. Oh the possibilities, little Tater! I can't wait to meet you. I already love you. Your brothers want to name you "Batman". Or "Robin". hmmmmm, I sense a theme here. We are all very excited especially mommy and daddy. Thank you, baby Tater for giving me a new fun project. I love the challenge and hope it meets with your approval.

Janny Bum

Janice is the middle sister in my family. She is between me and our oldest sister Ellen. When she was a little girl, my mom called her Janny Bum. I don't really know where that came from, it was some sort of term of endearment. Which implies mom had a sweet name she called each of us. Nope. I was just Karol... Karol Ann with an exclamation point at the end if I was in trouble. I tended to cringe if my name was called out in my house. We were all very, very good at staying below the radar. If you got the attention of my mother it usually wasn't a good thing. If we heard our first and middle names called together, we kind of peed our pants a little. I don't go by Karol Ann, only Karol.
Back to Janice... we are good crafting buddies and feed off each other. She has been the biggest supporter of all my ventures and has joined me in many.

These garden markers are her latest venture. They are so beautiful! She has a great skill at looking at things and seeing a new purpose in them. We can spend hours and hours in places where most people wouldn't even stop, and find bags of treasures to come home and get our creative juices flowing. She also has a fabulous knack of displaying things in a very pleasing way. When we do a craft show together, she puts it all together making sweet vignettes and adding extra touches to enhance our wares.
Just today, I went shopping in Daytona Beach's thrift shops looking for more flatware for her. Score! I found plenty to keep her busy for awhile. We will be displaying them in our booth in the fall and at an Open House near Christmas. Love you, Jan!

Martha

I know she sometimes gets a bad rap. She's a diva for sure, and on the snotty side. Way on the snotty side. But I love what she has given women who love to create and tap into their artsy, whimsical, thrifty, and crafty sides. She has made it cool to be all those things. I subscribe to her Living magazine (actually it is a gift from my sister Jan - thanks Jan) and I get so excited when each issue arrives. OK, I'll admit when there is a 2 page article about how to properly make a bed, I cringe and say "Really, Martha? I'm 59 years old and I know how to make a bed". But the crafting ideas are nothing short of inspirational. Yes, yes, I know she is surrounded by a staff of hundreds who do it all, but take all that away and crafty Martha would still rock. I love this idea in the June issue:

Doesn't it just make you slap your forehead and think... duh! Why didn't I think of that. So cute and so simple. Paper lanterns covered in circles of colored tissue. Beautiful. I see orange and black ones in my next Halloween decorating. So, thank you, Martha. You may not ever be someone who could be my best friend, but I love your Good Things.

Reality Overload

I can't believe I'm willing to admit this, but I have become a reality TV junkie. Oh, I'm not alone! Millions of people - good people like me - are hooked. I know every single Housewife from every single series. From "keepin' it real" NeNe of Atlanta to "table tossing" Teresa of New Jersey. I thought I saw Lauren (Caroline's daughter from NJ) at a restaurant in Asheville NC. I made my sister and my best friend a part of my plot to get her picture while we ate.  Seriously.
I know more about The Donald than I care to admit. I am totally hooked on the Mob Wives. (OMG).  I recognized (I swear) one of America's Top models in a recent ad, even though she was from several season's ago. "That's Bre!" I heard myself say. Geez... and don't even try to call me during Idol.
What is it about these shows that is so irresistible (to me, anyway)? It's the fact that they all make little old me feel so dang good about my little old self. Especially the Housewives series... good lord, I have never seen so many spoiled and obnoxious women who claim to "have" so much, and believe that they are "classy", act like such rude, and classless heathens. Yes, Gretchen, Alexis and Tamra, I am speaking about you. I roll my eyes in disgust yet I cannot turn the channel. It's that train wreck syndrome I suppose, or the reason we have "gapers blocks" on the highways when there is a car accident. People want to see blood and gore. Oh those clever TV executives. Laughing all the way to the bank. Also laughing all the way to the bank - all the players on these shows. So don't judge... I'm only human. And don't call me on Wednesday or Thursday evenings. I'm watching Idol. Go James!

Thrifting Scores

I had a successful thrifting day today. I found these items for future projects.

revolving spice rack

silverplated salt/pepper shakers

 

 

 

hand made magazine rack

The spice rack has so much potential for storage. No bottles were included, but for a $ I can transform it into something awesome anyway. The shakers will become snowmen! the lids are so ornate and will be their hats. Can't wait to see them finished. Jan and I are already working on our newest batch. (I wonder what the collective word would be for a group of snowmen, I'm sure it isn't "batch")
The magazine rack was my favorite purchase. It is in beautiful shape and will be used for storing reference books and magazines in my craft room. I will post the after pix when I'm done "fixing them up".