My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Darling Shoes

UPDATE:
Silly of me to not put the website on here, so with all the requests here it is:
http://stores.homestead.com/GoodyGoody/StoreFront.bok

Chickees, if you want me to answer you I must have an email or be able to contact you through your blog. Otherwise, you can use the email I've provided you on the side bar for me to be able to email you back with an answer. --------------------->
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Sometimes a girl just can't wait!!!! Squeeeeeeal.... I had this post scheduled for the 25th of this month but I just can't wait to show you.
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A couple of weeks ago I was surfing the blogs and saw a pair of shoes with which I just fell in love. Now, these are different from any other shoes and are right up my alley, chicks, so I quickly ordered a pair. They are lounging shoes and not to be worn outside but are they not adorable? They are for women and children. Warning!!! They can be addictive and this blog post is "eye candy heavy."


Trust me, it was very, very difficult making up my mind but this is the pair I chose to buy...this time. Most pairs are $43.00 but I got these on a deal for $34.40! Well worth it for me because I could probably make a pair but the frustration wouldn't be conducive to a happy marriage! ;-) Are these not adorable?!?!
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When money allows, I'll pick up another pair but the choices are difficult as you can see. If you are interested in knowing where to buy them, just let me know and I'll send you there. Just gaze and dream, no more description is needed here. *Sigh*.......beautiful...


























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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Bedrooms 1/7/10

Just a few more bedrooms because I'm sure you'd rather view other rooms and crafts and read my witty thoughts. ;-) But I don't want to bore you too much; I simply want to give you ideas for what you can do in your home and/or bedroom. Just pick something about the room you like and try to think of how it could fit into your setting. It can absolutely be done with little or no money. Look around your home and see what in one room would have a completely different look in another room when paired up with something different for a delightful vignette.

Look closely and you'll notice this woman has an antique egg basket with eggs in it; maybe they're real but I doubt it. You can buy faux eggs now in just about any craft store.
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And if you have the luxury of having a porch such as this one, use it as this homeowner does. Move a bed out there in the summer months, put up some netting to hold the bugs at bay and sleep there or just relax with hubby or a book. Marvelous!
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Checks of any size are one of my favorite decorating fabrics. The size of the check determines whether it's formal or informal, but you can use them in any style. Paired with florals is my favorite scheme.
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This is very similar to my family room area in which I sit. A very luxurious stuffed chair, a buttery yellow and pink flowered quilt thrown over it so it can be easily washed when I spill something on it, a very good lamp for lighting when reading and a table to hold my essentials. My essentials are my scriptures, pen, paper, drink, ottoman, phone and the current book I'm reading.
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While I'm not a devotee of leaving candles burning because of their hazard and young children can be seriously burned, they can certainly set a mood for a short period of time if you are in the room with them. Caution far exceeds romance for me. The dresser in this room is what captured my heart.

My mother and aunt burned a childhood home to the ground playing with candles in a closet back in the 1920s and were saved by an old black man from burning up in that fire. I never knew him of course, but he's a hero to me for having saved my mom and aunt.
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Christmas-y in its feel because of the green and red buffalo pillows, the pine boughs on the mantel and the red and green bedcoverings, this room is just waiting for Santa Claus to happen by. :-)
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Random Thought:

Sometimes I think I should like to leap or erupt from a phone booth in cape and tights or even a ball gown with a smashing pink sparkly tiara, but I can't actually fly so I'm locked in to my wonderful existence of being a wife to Love Bunny and mom and grandmom to 6 of the most exquisite beings on this earth. I'll pass on the recognition I might have had and lean into the winds of "gratefulness" for this life.
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Monday, January 4, 2010

Gorgeous Papers #1

I found these gorgeous papers the other day and thought I'd share them with you. Are they not the loveliest you've ever seen?

For Christmas:

For the lover of antiques.

For the birdhouse lovers, like ME!!! Squeeeeeeal!!!

Two different ones for the Christmas season.

For the lovers of cottage style.

For the roses lover. These are among the most stunning roses I've ever seen on paper. Do you see the little chandelier on the right side? Darling.

This one seems to evoke a french feeling.

More holiday paper.

Ooooh, and when you see something that says #1, a good guess would be that there is, at least, a #2. ;-)
~*~


Saturday, January 2, 2010

Froufrou-ing the Fridge and Random Thoughts for Pink Saturday 1/2/10

Time for another Pink Saturday venturing into the pinks of our lives. Thanks to Beverly of Howsweetthesound for hosting this event.
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Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, ugly goes on my fridge. Actually, I try to keep it uncluttered, but if something needs to be on there, it is put on there with these little magnets that I think are lovely. If you know of any pretty froufrou-y ones, will you please let me know? I can't find any more of them and I need some AND I believe in supporting artisans when I can.


These are ones I made.
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Random Thoughts:

While driving over to Seattle, Wa., recently we noticed some road signs that were a tad different from ours here in Idaho. One that was intriguing was a sign to report abusers of the diamond lane:

1-800-HERO

Now, I don't know about you, and I hate seeing people in the diamond lane with only one in it, but to call someone a "hero" for turning someone in for that is called something else in my book. I found that unusual.
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Did you know that if you leave your Pepsi/Coke out of the fridge all night that all the calories disappear? Trust me, I believe it. ;-)
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As most of you know, it can get very cold here in Idaho. In December it got down into the teens a lot and into single digits several days and below zero several nights. But through all this I saw teenagers and preteens walking to school with only sweaters and short pants one day in 22° weather. While our cold is different from the eastern cold, that's still a bit chilly to see them almost freezing. These same kids can't sit through church without borrowing daddy's coat when they look like they're shivering in the nicely heated church building! Go figure.
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I have several pet peeves, but one that ranks right up there with trying to pass me on the right shoulder of the road is people who don't return calls. Now look, I may not be too fond of you and certainly don't want to talk to you but there are times when I NEED to talk to you concerning something in my church calling. But you don't answer the phone, let it go to voice mail and I still don't hear from you in this century! Why in the heck to you have 3 phones and I can't reach you on any of them?!
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Recently Love Bunny and I were at our chiropractor's office and 2 women were talking about wrinkles. It's a very small reception room and I couldn't help overhearing but just kept quiet. The woman sitting next to me turned to me and said, "You don't have any wrinkles." Now, this is not entirely true; I do, but that certainly was a nice compliment. Later on as I was mentioning it to Love Bunny he said, "Yes, you do." Okaaaaay, I think I may have to "knee cap" him for that statement. He would have been better advised to keep his mouth firmly closed. Hmmmmmm?
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One of my goals in life is to get through it without my vehicle's air bags deploying!
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Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009 My Year in Review

A fellow blogger is having a year in review so I thought I'd join in and review things I've done this year. Here is Cindy's link so join in and view all the others participating also.
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I have to warn you this is "photograph and eye candy" heavy, chicks. Sorry! I don't do this many very often at all, but it is a "celebration" of what my year was like. I focus on the positive and not the unsavory aspects here. Let's celebrate!

This year we finally got the whole house painted pink. This is the laundry room after I made these little wood letters for the wall behind my washer and dryer. For those of you who don't believe laundry can be beautiful, I say "au contraire, mes amis"! Click here to see the entire laundry room after I froufrou-ed it up.

This is just one of the old suitcases I decoupaged with fabric and store things in. This one is above my living room on my plant shelf.

Just one of the many birdhouses I made this year for friends, myself and Love Bunny's pop-up camper. The pop-up camper and camping is a whole other story, but I declared in the beginning of this post that I should not dwell on any negative aspects. I'll not go there. ;-)

I spent WEEKS on a challenge from my eBay group to have a white, pink and roses Christmas tree this year. I was going to do it through out 2010 to have it for next year but when I'm on a roll, watch out! I did MORE than enough to do it this year.

As you can certainly tell by now I love pink, lace, netting, roses and froufrou things. This is a dress form I whipped up in a day or two for this little "topiary" for the other plant shelf in my home because I was tired of the old gate I had up there. Always changing, always changing, chicks.

Closer view taken inside.

Taken outside.

It sits atop this "topiary" for lack of a better description. Some one called it a "Remembrance Tree" because it is compiled of things my sweet friends on my eBay group spoil me with all year long. I love them all dearly.

Two tree toppers I made this year for the tree. I made another one with silk roses that will be a giveaway soon, so I'd keep watching if I were you. ;-) I have giveaways on a regular basis and they are never, ever disappointing. I do it because it gives me joy to gift someone with one of my handmade items. These two I am keeping though.


Who says old cans don't have a place after the contents are gone? Not ME!

Okay, I have a shoe fetish. I love shoes, but since I'm almost 70 years old I can't wear high heels much anymore. This pair of shoes I bought at Macy's when we lived in California—my absolutely most favorite store in San Francisco, near where we lived. I couldn't part with them and they were worn out after 25 years so I memorialized them with this froufrou-up. They now are on my family room faux fireplace mantel for me to see all the time. They were red, but now one is white and one is pinkkkKKK!


This is just a little project I started (Have I mentioned I have an addictive personality?!?!) for fun and it has kind of gotten out of hand. These little scrunched flowers are so easy and fun to make I just sit around sometimes making them to give to friends. Easy peasy, fast and inked on card stock. I did a tutorial somewhere in the last month on these on my blog.

A wreath I made for my front door. The door is red but next summer it will get a new coat of the brightest red I can find—candy apple red.


Just a photo I took of some of my crystal ware during an event hosted by another blogger. I can't remember what exactly it was. I am an old lady, ya know. ;-) But this would fall under the category of perfecting my photography skills. I do this on a DAILY basis!!! When I do something I'd truly like to do it to the very best of my ability. I fail, of course, but I keep trying. Photography is one of the things I love doing—that and using my PhotoShop to edit the photos. I'm truly a computer geekette.

During that same event I showed my favorite plates I got on eBay many years ago. They are covered with 14K gold and it was very hard to get a photo of them but I tried honing my photography skills and got this good one. I was thrilled! It is truly one of the most gorgeous plates you'll ever see. I got 4 of them and we eat off of them on very special occasions.

Another one of my giveaways. I loved these little wood letters with fabric decoupaged on them and would have loved to kept them, but I just had to share with others who don't have the ability to do this.

I made these little letters from papier machè and papers. They are darling but I prefer working with fabrics more. The little fireplace screen is something Love Bunny made for me to put in front of the mantel. I covered it with barkcloth and decals. I was well pleased with the way it turned out even if LB swears he'll never do another one with all the modifications I made to this one. We KNOW who will win this battle, don't we?!

Then I decided I needed to make some "cuffs" that were all the rage earlier in the year. I kept most of them and display them around the house, but I did gift a few to some young girls in my church and friends in my eBay group and then did a giveaway for one. I absolutely love making them and they are quick and easy. A great gift if you want to make them. I personalize them for the person to whom will receive each one. This one is mine to keep forever.

We finally got the whole house painted pink—well, except for hubby's office, which he threatened me with bodily harm if I touched it with pink. It's a bright minty green and he loves it much better than the stock paint in new homes—beige. But this wall is dedicated to Susan Rios, my favorite artist in the whole world. I found her in the Premier edition of Victoria back in the 80s. I've even corresponded with her and she is a true sweetheart. All the art on this wall is hers except for the painting of the woman, which I found at Goodwill for a few bucks. It reminded me of Susan's self-portrait in her book and it has roses on the hat. A bit of serendipity. :-)

I wanted to try and make the most spectacular apron I could. This is what I came up with this summer. I'll never sell it or give it away. I can't find some of these fabrics anymore. It has 11 different fabrics in it.

I'm a rose-painter-wanna-be. This is about the best I can do. I've practiced and practiced for about 3 years now off-and-on. If I didn't try, I'd be disappointed in myself. I'll never be perfect but I can at least satisfy myself and that's what it's all about. I want to do as much as I can before I leave this earth. This was my highest priority goal outside of being more spiritual and a woman of faith.

Okay, you're heard the saga of my "old feet" in the beginning of this blog post. BUT I wanted to try and wear high heels to church a few times just to feel feminine. I didn't get very high ones but I did get 2 pairs I could make look different with detachable clip-on bows. I remember back in the 50s and 60s wearing clip-on bows but couldn't find them anywhere. Sooooo I decided to make my own. I now have several pairs of bows to put on my high heels or even flats. Looks like I have scads of shoes but truly I only have about 15 pair. That's scaled down dramatically from when I was working in California! I just don't need many shoes anymore.


Birdhouses are another thing I love to make. It relaxes me. This one was for a very special friend. I'd rather make these than anything else other than aprons or just about anything with roses on it.

This is the aforementioned Christmas tree this year. It's packed away now but it'll be pretty much the same next year. Yards and yards of tulle netting. If you want to see it with all the photographs of all the things I put on there, look to the right on my sidebar and there is a clickable logo to go view it.

And this is me! I did what I consider an very "intimate" post about me and my views on women. It is entitled The Sum of All My Parts and can be viewed here if you have an interest. I think you'll enjoy it.

So that's my entry for My Year in Review for 2009. I hope you find it interesting. I also do Random Thoughts from time to time on my blog, but I doubt you'll ever be bored, sweet chicks. I'm just an old lady from California living in Idaho with the man I married almost 49 years ago. Drop by from time to time and visit. I love meeting new people.
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