Saturday Project 3-28-09

Well, I have spent most of this rainy morning playing with my blog template to no avail. Hours of sitting here trying out new things and none of them working, (sigh) My brain actually HURTS. I did get some new music up and started using tags (labels). But the good news is that is has stopped raining and I have some great projects to share with you that I have been working on!

You might remember me talking about my PUC's - Projects Under Construction. Well, this year, I hope to complete 40 of them. Some are easily completed, others will take the whole year. One of the ones that will take the whole year is a 9-9-9 Challenge of books to read. The challenge: To read 9 books in 9 different categories in 2009 for a total of 81 books, but you can have at least one book overlap in each category which would give you 72 books. But I'm going with 68. It's still 9 categories but I've adjusted the number of books read to something that I feel I can do without stressing to much.

One of my projects for this year was to get new lampshades for my pair of vintage marble lamps. I was lucky enough to have my MIL ask me what I wanted for Christmas, so I received a giftcard to Lowes, and after the first of the year, I picked out two pretty shades. Then the next step was to paint the two endtables that the lamps sat on.

Here you have the lampshades, the endtables and just a few of my books!

The tables were originally white and pretty dingy. I have been trying to come up with some kind of style that I think I would be happy with and also Hubby. He doesn't understand my fascination with the old things, but I thought that the blues and greens would add some soothing tones to everything.

It's hard to see from the above picture, but after painting the endtables blue, I added a dry brush technique with silver paint. I love it!

This is one pf a pair of vintage drapes that I've held onto. For now, I have literally used thumb tacks and attached them to the wall, but lately, I've been thinking about using one to make a comforter for the bed and using the other as a shower curtain.

And the next thing that I started working on was an interesting technique I saw at 2cre8art. I haven't totally completed the task because I haven't used the wonderful background to make any ATC's or anything, but I love the technique!

I have a confession on this one. One of the steps is to use a spray bottle with water to dilute the colors. I didn't have an empty one, so I poured out the contents of a bleach/water solution and then rinsed the bottle, but didn't think to rinse the nozzle part. So when I sprayed, I got bleach water which turned some of the paper pink. But, hey, I meant to do that ;0)

I used one of the vintage hymnals for this technique also with some other vintage pages. I have some of the hymnals fpr sale in my Etsy shop if anyone would like one. I just love feeling the paper in those books!

Total Obsession

Is there one thing that you just can't seem to own enough of? Yes, I know the proverbial "Can't have too many shoes/purses/hats". But what of the odd things? And I don't mean collections. I mean all-out obsessions. Like every time you go into an office supply store, you buy another pen, when you already have a shoe box full at home. Or maybe you really love music and you have enough songs to fill not only your MP3 player but those of all of your friends as well.



Well, mine is books. Old books. Yes, I have enough newly published books to last a few years but my obsession is really old books. If I go into the thrift store or stop at a yard sale, they seem to chant my name until I find myself kneeling down in front of them touching the covers and smelling the old papers. And then a kind of paternal instinct takes over and I know that I must give this lost book a new home. If only to protect it from the inevitable dump that it might end up in if at the end of the yard sale and the owner doesn't want to haul all the stuff to Goodwill. And I let me add in here that I'm also like this about one other thing, but due to Dear Hubby forbidding me to bring home another homeless animal, I keep myself well away from the Animal Shelter.

All of these I found a few weekend's ago at a yard sale just a few houses down from mine. And all of them are from the late 1800's.

The set of five novels from George Eliot are the most beautiful to me (see very top photo) It's really hard to see in the pictures, but the front covers are engraved and have the most perfect aged look to them.





And some of the others have the most wonderful illustrations!

Unfortunately, there was one set that I only purchased one of, only because #1) I was running out of money & #2) on each copy the front cover was coming off. But who can resist the master himself, Mr. William Shakespeare? The volume that I picked up was "Tragedies".

And I just fell in love with this little fellow. You know I love bats!!

What are your obsessions? Tell me, I want to know!!

Armdrop Racing 2009

I was so excited about coming home this past weekend and showing all the pictures from the car racing, on my post I was going to make first thing Monday morning, but now it's already Wednesday!?! What happened? Who stole my Monday and Tuesday? I want to know!! LOL!! Wow, time can really fly sometimes. But I do want to tell you about this past weekend. There aren't too many pictures, the dang cars were so fast, all I kept getting were blurs!!

This is a jet car that made an appearance. It ran about 396 mph!

This is our friend, Wade's, car. He stayed in until the final 30 people. There was almost 220 people entered.

Me, the kids and Rich Christensen! When I heard that he was out taking pictures, I grabbed the kids and ran. I don't think Charlie even knew where I was for a little while! I did realize that he had started a new event called Arm Drop Racing which was what was being held at the drag strip. A little different than Pink's but still fun!

My friend Rachel with Rich.

All in all we had a great time. Dane had a blast but after being there all day, all of us were tired.

And I do have a few other pictures of cars that I haven't put up yet. A few weeks back, Charlie held a Car Show at his work. He is hoping to sponsor this each year.


Charlie, being "The Man" and cooking for all the people.


My contribution: A hand painted sign!!! ( Think I did okay! )


A good shot with the store sign in for good measure.


Now this would be one fun car to drive around in!

Produce, Project and Pinks

For some reason, I have found my self overwhelmed with "To Do" lists! I seems that I keep thinking of all of these things I need to do. Maybe it is the touch of Spring in the air & I am wanting to get some things aired out, cleaned out and a fresh start. I have been doing my walking almost every morning, 4 miles. Not today. Today, Hubby is off & Dane is out of school, because we are making a road trip (another one!) to Mobile. The TV show "Pinks", where they race for the pink slips to their cars, is in Mobile, Alabama this weekend filming. Hubby's best friend that re-built the motor for the Camaro has a drag car that he is taking so we are going to check it out! I wanted to make a quick post before we head out. And that's why I didn't walk this morning. But yesterday was a great day to walk, because the track is around the local Farmers Market (being the metropolitan city that it is, there is only one couple who is set up! ) But they have some really great produce. And I know you can not taste it by the picture, but the strawberries were so sweet! And tomatoes were firm yet juicy. Yum!

I have been working on getting my craft room aka Studio organized to where at least I can get in there and work on something. It's still going to take awhile. But I did get my book journal for 2009 completed. I love reading and like to have a little book where I can write a review of the book and other little tidbits of information. I belong to a wonderful on-line group that is part of Shelfari where someone picks a tag each month and each of us tries to read at least one book that falls under that tag. This month the tag is "History". So far, I have finished two books and have a third checked out from the library.

So now I have a pretty book to write about all the books that I read. So people wonder why I write in the journal since you can write your reviews on Shelfari, but there is just something about taking the pen to paper. Plus I write other private things, like quotes that I like or some piece of information that I want to remember.

You can't tell from the picture, but I used an old dictionary to wrap around the spine of the book. Then just bits and picees of various papers to cover the end pages. I'm still working on the inside cover, but I love this picture of the bird with the fruit. The Bible verse is from an old Daily Guidepost.

I will be taking the camera and videocamera with us to the race track. Hopefully, I will have some fun stuff to show you! Have a good Friday the 13th! I'll be back on Sunday!

On The Road Again

This little chickie has been burning up the roads! Since last Wednesday, I have driven just about 700 miles! And pulling a trailer with me the whole way. And then another day was devoted to unpacking said trailer and finding little nook & crannies to put the stuff. And then another day just to get caught back up with housecleaning, laundry etc. So here I am now, finally, back to normal for a few days at least.

Agenda:
On Wednesday, I drove t o Mobile to get our taxes done (Yeah!). But it turned out to be so late I couldn't finish all I had to do. So on Friday, I drove back to pick up the trailer. My sweet Momma gave me an antique wardrobe that I have been eying for a long time. I can't wait to re-paint it and start using it to house all of my craft items. I will need to install some shelves somehow. Unfortunately, the mirror in the long door popped out while driving and the mirror broke. But I already have an idea in mind to cover that up. Then Friday night, Charlie had tickets to the Monster Truck Jam which was in Pensacola. Dane had a blast watching the trucks jump over the cars! Then Saturday, off the Tallahassee to pick up more stuff from the old house. Still not everything. But I did pack in my wonderful blue bench, which I don't have a picture of right now, but as soon as Hubby helps me unload in onto the back porch. I'll snap a few. And with all of this going on, I have had little time to do any crafting! But I will in a few days, once I can get my hands on all of my stuff. I finally got all of my scrapbooking supplies from the old house. I need to start a book for Gracyn and get Dane's up-to-date. I have so many projects to complete, do you think I will ever finish all of them? Not counting all the books I have to read that are waiting on my TBR pile!

Well, just want to let you know where I've been and what I've been doing. Hope all of my friends in blogging land are doing good. Trying to catch up on everyone's post!

ATC Leather Books

Remember the post about my faux leather bottle collection, well, I was playing with one of the bottles and one thing lead to another and ...ta da! I make some leather-looking books to hold my ATC's!

This one is open showing one ATC that I did (the bee) and another one I received in a swap.

This is the book laying face down. I would still like some way of closing it, but all I could think of was ribbon & that just doesn't go with the old leather. I am making a trip to Mobile today, my SIL wants to take the kids to Chucky Cheese for their birthdays & I have an appointment to get our taxes done. I might make a run to the craft store & snoop around to see if I can find anything.

I am still playing around with this here bloggie, so don't freak if everything looks different in a few days. Just like a piece of canvas gets paint on it, my blog might go through a metamorphism of sorts until I'm happy with it (or change my mind)! So enjoy your Wednesday and take a minute to give somebody a HUG!!

Happy First Birthday Gracyn

Happy First Birthday Pickle!

(yes, it was on Saturday, I'm a little late :0)

I was going to bake cupcakes, but forgot that I had chunked my disposable pans tht I had been using for the last 3 years! Time for some new ones. So I pulled out the Bundt pan. Dane helped me mix up a white cake batter and we had purchased some "Strawberry Mist" frosting. Oh, the smell of that cake backing was just Divine! And the frosting was yummy. I was having some ideas about different ways to use it. Maybe involving fresh strawberries. But more about that later. We had a good time.

And as evidence that she enjoyed her birthday cake!

Out with the old, in with the new

I have an announcement to make concerning my blog, Bella Grace. Since turning 40, I have been doing some thinking about myself: what have I done with my life so far, where am I headed, am I the person I want to be. And since my blog is a reflection of my life, I have been thinking about deleting it and starting a new. To show a new me, the person I want to be, the person I am working to become. But after many weeks of wrestling with this thought, I realized that all of the things, either good, bad or indifferent, are what has made me into the person that I am today: a loved - wife, mother, daughter & friend. And I wouldn't change any of it. So in honor of all that those things, Bella Grace will go on. But she will be having a "nip/tuck". I have a new image I want to show off, so please bear with me in the weeks ahead, as I work on this. This is something that is an on-going process for me, so you will be seeing some new changes around the blog. Once I get all of the elements together, I will host a "re-dedication" party to celebrate Bella Grace's new image. I have a few goodies I'm hoping to give out to celebrate this event. I also have been working on opening a new shop on Etsy which is also under some construction. And if any of you have any ideas/suggestions/words of wisdom, I would love to hear it.

Happy Birthday Dane

Well, it was 6 years ago today that my first child blessed the world with his presence.

And through the years, he has grown..

Into quite a character!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANE!!

New Shop

Welcome to my new shop!!

I have discovered a sweet little shop in downtown Crestview. It's an antique shop with a vintage tea parlor in the back. The owner's daughter runs the tea shop & makes & serves all the lunches. After stumbling upon it, I went in & spoke with the owner & now I have a little space in which to sell some of my wonderful finds! I took these pictures last Friday, the day before Valentine's Day. I'm going back this afternoon to do some rearranging & drop off a few more items.

The above picture with the brick wall, is where I would love to display my items, but I don't have enough right now to fill it. But I'm working on it!!

I took some pictures of the other parts of the shop but didn't get any of the tea parlor. I'll snap some more next trip.

Bottle Decorating

Well, my OWOH giveaway is doing better than I expected! And I believe that the whole event has taken off more than Lisa ever imagined! I can't even keep up with all the giveaways! I'll have to sit here for H-O-U-R-S to get to all of the bloggers involved in this! But I would never spend H-O-U-R-S at the computer, nope, never! I need to update my original post, but I will say here that I gathered up a few more items and will draw some additional names to give more stuff away. This has been so much fun for me! I have discovered so many awesome, new blogs. Gotta get that sidebar updated. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by here to say "Hi". I hope to see some new faces popping in to check up on things.




I have some items listed on Ebay, if any of you gals are in need of some really hip, cool, vintage clothing. Or guys. If you're into that kinda thing. :0)
I have a bunch of coats & jackets that I should have listed prior to winter, but we were moving & things just got away from. Ya know how that goes.



Okay, I love this here blog. I know I haven't been a good Mommy & updated as much as I should, but I do love it and want to really make it special. But I have a confessions...Yeah, some of you are going to be saying, 'Well, duh" but I finally got an account with Facebook!!! And I L-O-V-E it!! I have gotten reconnected with so many of my old friends from High school, Middle & Elementary school!! It's been a blast! If you are on there, come by & be my friend! I check that more now than I do my mailbox. But this little blog is my first and will always be special to me. Especially now with OWOH.



I did some decorating the other day. Tried to work on the Master Bedroom. Ya know, get it nice & romantic. Huh, yeah, with two kids & three dogs! Did I ever tell ya that all three dogs sleep in the bedroom with us? On the floor, until one of us gets outta bed, then in like two seconds flat, up they go onto the bed. It's pitiful!

But I did manage to get some pictures on the walls and some really pretty picture frames for some photos of the family. My good friend Rachel took some great pictures of Gracyn wearing a beautiful dress & I printed one out & framed it. On one blank wall, I hung some of my Italian pictures and a little shelf with knick-knacks.

And my bottle collection!! Do you like my old, antique, leather bottles? Do ya, do ya?

Guess what? My grandfather made them!! He likes to tinker around, and lately he's been doing these bottles. He knows I sell stuff & he asked if I thought I could sell these. But I told him I'd love to have them. Sad thing is, there is not telling what kind of bottles are underneath!!!

One World One Heart 2009

Well, the time has come...to pick a winner. But first I want to say a huge Thank you first of all Lisa for hosting this wonderful event. I have visited so many wonderful new blogs, I started making a list and after about 100, I just could not keep up with all of them. Second of all, I would like to thank each one of you for stopping by and entering.
Now for the big announcement: My wonderful little cross stitch piece will go to...Art of Jan!! And the most amazing part, she also loved in Florida!! Out of all of the people who entered, I pick someone who is within driving distance from me!


So about the late posting, I drew the name early this morning, but with Hubby's birthday, we've had a busy day. We just had some birthday cake, and about to watch a movie.

~#~#~#~#~#~~#~#~#~#~#~##~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

*~*I will take comments until the witching h our of Wednesday, February 11 and draw the names on the morning of the 12th. And I have a few extra goodies to giveaway, three to be exact. So I will draw for the grand prize, the cross stitch and then have three more names to draw for some extra surprises! *~*

And I want to thank each of you who have stopped by. I know this has been a busy time in blog land but I hope you will come back and visit again!

Well, I finally got something made for this wonderful event!! I know it's not as creative as some of the beautiful things out there, but since I still don't have all of my art supplies, I had to use what I could find. And this is it! So, without further adieu, Welcome to my OWOH Giveaway! Please leave a comment on this post to be entered in my giveaway. Anyone can win, just make sure I have a way of notifying you to tell you that "You Won!". I will draw the winners' name on February 12th (my Hubby's birthday!!) . Now, about what you are winning:

Every Good Tree Bears Good Fruit

This is a sweet little piece cross stitched by my own two little hands and blessed with my own good intentions that it brings happiness to it's new home! It measures 11" X 5.75". I have strayed from the original pattern by blending some of the thread colors and using some different stitches in place of the normal X stitches. The hearts are done with satin stitches and the bottom checkerboards are done with Algerian Eye stitches.




A beautiful Pear tree sits in the center, surrounded by two little black birds. At the bottom is a verse from Matthew: Every good tree bears good fruit. This piece can either be framed, made into a pillow or wall hanging, or you might have an even better idea! I toyed with the idea of framing, but realized that it would become very country style in a rustic frame while in a more sleek modern frame it would look contemporary. Upon winning, I will discuss what the best options are for that particular person!



I'm so happy to be a part of this wonderful event and I'm excited about meeting/making new friends-the overall reason for the event. And I would like to Thank each of you for stopping by. Good luck!

Vintage Heart Swap

Yeah, I finally made it into a swap before it was closed!! The wonderful Dolly at From My Cherry Heart is hosting her second annual Vintage Heart Swap. I know who my swap partner is & so far, I've picked up a few things. But man, it's still hard for me not to run up to the local crafts store to pick up any little old thing I need! I'm having to make a running "I Need" list for my day planner so that the next time I make it to Pensacola or Mobile, I can run into Michael's or Hobby Lobby & know what I'm looking for. If I don't write it down, I will never remember it, until I get back home that is!!! And in both stores, I get so distracted with all the goodies, I'll completely lose track of what I'm even doing there!!

But I did manage to get a little crafting done the other day. And Dane was right there with me!

And the final product-

Not your most traditional house, but when it's made by your own kid, it's still a masterpiece!!

I did get a book journal made for my reading list for 2009. I'll get some pictures of that. And I have a new friend at Shelfari that wants to trade some ATC's with me! I haven't traded any ATC's in a really long time. I love making & trading them. I am by no means good at making them, but I just find their size so satisfiying.I have a hard time with knowing when something is "completed". I always think it could use "just one more thing." I hosted a Halloween ATC Swap a few years ago. I'm thinking I would like to host another this year. Yes, I know, that's a long way off, but it is coming. Just like Christmas, and Christmas wasn't a joyful to me because I didn't feel ready for it. The move was one thing, but just the overall feel just felt...rushed. Hurried. So I've already picked up a few things. Yeap, that's right. I have a box inside my closet that is hading a few things for the kids & I have seen some beautiful things that I would like to pick up for some family members already. I know Christmas is coming & I'm going to be ready!! LOL!!