coming soon...

photos of my sew grateful mini-book

it was such a fantastic project for this time of year
and was a great chance to reflect on my birthday.
i hate that it gets so dark so very very early now...
i hate using my flash :)

a case of the Mondays...

* wreath from charmed life *

Well, it's back to the grind today. My work is always extra busy after a holiday, especially one where many people travel. I'd rather be thinking about Christmas decorations!!! We are getting our tree this coming weekend...and I have a little outdoor light project I'd like to tackle as well. And I need to photograph & share my finished sew grateful journal before November is gone!

dirty thirty...

Today I turned the big 3-0! Last night, we had an amazing dinner with my family at an Italian restaurant. It was really the perfect, relaxed evening I had in mind to celebrate the big day. I guess what they say about everything going downhill at 30 is true, because I found myself sick in the middle of the night and feeling pretty awful, sleeping on & off, throughout the rest of the day. So we'll rain check dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant & our trip to see Fantastic Mr. Fox to later in the week. Aren't these little owl cupcakes, cakes & cookies adorable? I'm a wise, older owl now, thank you very much! :)

black friday...

click photos for links to the how-to
Beautiful DIY gift ideas....all from Martha :)
I don't do black Friday shopping...probably never will. I was happier to sleep in and eat leftovers at a leisurely pace today. And I watched Elf on TV earlier while organizing all my embroidery thread. I also got my December Daily journal supplies together...super excited to start on that!

stuffed..

Alvin the Turkey via apt therapy
Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so grateful for the blessings in my life...my family, my friends, my health and my job. We are taking a break before we head off to Thanksgiving #2 - I am feeling stuffed! Hope everyone is having a wonderful & relaxing day spending time with loved ones :)

the eve...

source

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
I am so thankful for being officially on vacation for the next 4 days!
P.S. I am dying to see Fantastic Mr. Fox :)

holiday movie...

This is such a good Thanksgiving movie. I do so love Holly Hunter, not to mention Anne Bancroft and Robert Downey, Jr. And who doesn't enjoy the ginormous pink 80's coat she's sporting...with the awesome shoulder pads! P.S. Her running into the homecoming queen in that coat is totally me. It never fails that whenever I run off for a quick errand in the clothes I was cleaning house in - I run into someone I haven't seen in a while.

Mondays kinda suck...

Rachel's photo - click for link

Ugh, so glad to get Monday over with. I had quite a busy day & have been battling with a nagging headache throughout. As you can tell, I get headaches often and have since I was little. I am planning to relax in front of the TV tonight and work on my sew grateful mini-book. One of the last few things on my workshop to do list is to organize all my embroidery thread and the above photo is great inspiration. Rachel does create the best color combos.

odds & ends

I'm sad to see the weekend come to an end. But our yard is in order for the winter (more thanks to Cory than me), the house is clean, most of the laundry is done, the craft room is one step closer to being complete and I even squeezed a few creative projects in as well! The top photo is just a sneak peek at the workshop make-over and the bottom two are of a simple garland I made to hang in my cubicle at work! The cubicle garland!!

*happy saturday*

felt stockings & owl ornaments on etsy - click photos for links

The sun is shining today!! I can't stay here long...have to get outside while the weather cooperates to do some final yard work for the season. I heard we my get FLURRIES next week - holy cow!! Hopefully I will get some crafting done later today & take some photos of the workshop to share. Enjoy the weekend :)

two blue things...

Happy Friday!
I am so ready to sleep in, spend time making things, meeting up with friends, hanging out with my sister & niece...and RELAXING! I was really needing the weekend & finally it arrived!
Above are two blue things I found on etsy: tiger lily teal moccasins and felt pancakes
*super cute*

woo-hoo!

I have one of Ashley G's bearded guys...and I love him (reminds me of my very own beardo).
I was quite excited to see she's offering a buy 1 print get 1 print free to celebrate 10,000 sales! Above are the ones I chose. Hurry to her shop, sale ends at 9pm tomorrow!
Night :)

holiday yum...

beautiful, beautiful lovelies...

i'm getting in the holiday mood!!
top 3 from apt therapy - wreath is elsie's
(click images for links)

me likey...

1. super cute scrappy tickets from shabby chic crafts

2. cuckoo clock necklace by elsie at red velvet art
P.S. Did I mention how excited I am to finish up the workshop?
(that's what I'm calling it now).
The peg board is up but Cory has taken over my room/desk to write a big paper tonight. Once the man-cave makeover is done, he'll be back to his own designated space.

final touches...

Feeling pretty crap-tastic today. Woke up at 5 a.m. with a migraine & have not felt good since. I will be crawling back into bed for the night very, very soon....where I will dream of.....
hanging my new peg board & finishing up the craft studio!! I am loving this desktop carousel from Target...it may be the final piece to the puzzle. I was able to do a pretty sweet makeover on a really limited budget by using things we already had and shopping sales.
Next up.....the man cave makeover :)

when skies are gray...

gloomy day...the weekend was warm & lovely and now it's in the 40's, gray and raining. we had a very productive weekend and finished all the painting in the house! just waiting for some better light and i will take & post some photos. it is amazing what a huge difference a coat of paint makes! my craft studio is really coming together, too :)

phew...

I finally finished the photos from my sister's wedding!

All the best of the best are now on my flickr.
Cory did an amazing job stepping in as photographer :)

long story short...

Remember how I'm obsessed with kits?
I love this vintage Christmas art journal kit from Evalicous!
I can't wait to get mine :)
In other news...
We got a new laptop today! The one I had been using was a P.O.S. from 2002 (yeah...I'm aware it is 2009). It had been stepped on at a Halloween party I threw in 2003 when I lived in Japan (screen later replaced). And it had been recently crashing like 5-10 times each time I tried to us it! YUCK!
We got a very reasonably priced & very powerful refurbished model.
I love life today!

oooohh... aaahhh

I *heart* this (on apt therapy).
It is so inspiring for the big craft studio re-org & redecorate I have planned for this weekend. There is something so inspiring & fun about a tidy stash of crafty goodness!!

window shopping...

Just browsing....I am going to try and make most of my holiday gifts but we are just coming upon the busiest time of the year at my "day job" so if I run out of time, I have back ups & can still buy handmade. Loving blabla....so happy to have babies in the family to shop for :)

beautiful girls...

My sister Erin and her daughter Addie before the wedding

So beautiful...tugs at my heart strings & makes me smile :)

food coma...

Fiesta was amazing...so delicious, now I am completely stuffed and am going to work on photos from my sister's wedding. November is my birthday month...I'm not going crazy or anything but I did order myself a new hat from Polka Dot Robot...I love it, soooo foxy and also on sale through tomorrow only!! And I'm kind of having this orange obsession right now :)

the vent...

Grrrr....not the best Monday ever. Someone broke into Cory's car last night, it was parked on the street right in front of our house. They stole the stereo, some of his tools, some of our mail, his favorite sweatshirt and backpack (full of text books, class notes and his graphing calculator).
I drove slowly around our neighborhood for hours this afternoon trying to find his text books or class notes (as we figured whoever stole the bag would just toss them). But the piles of leaves on every curb didn't help and I wasn't able to find them. I think we are going for Mexican food tonight.

sunday evening

My sister's wedding was amazing! It was 70 degrees and sunny...in November! It was simple, elegant, touching and such a fun night with family and close friends. The weekend flew by and was a total blast, but I'm pretty worn out today. I am going to bed super early tonight. I will leave you with these....from SuzanneMade. I adored charms when I was a little girl...I am definitely adding one to my birthday wish list. Night!

my wish list...

Here's some yumminess I've been drooling over.

1. fairy door by Boxes 'n More
2. orla kiley handbag...really wish I could splurge on this one :)
3.PONYO - cannot wait until this comes out on DVD!!
4. mixed paper journal from elise blaha these colors = love.
5. Tom's red clay patch shoes, CUTE!

craft to do list...

In the next few weeks, I really need to get down to business on some Christmas gift-making. After my sister's wedding this coming weekend, I need to get into a routine... ...work...exercise...craft...read...sleep, repeat.
And oh ya, finish painting the house - yep, still haven't checked that one off the list. I also need to work on the quilt I cut for our bed, try to design a holiday card, work on my sew grateful journal. Yikes! I would love to get in a great rhythm of productivity this month :)
Here's some inspiration:

1. eye mask by peppy wanders

2. terrarium from doodle birdie
3. zipper pouch from Madame Cupcake
4. owl plush by Hibou Cards
5. coptic journal from evalicious