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It All Adds Up

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I was going to post about a pair of red panties. Yes, this is a first {and altogether likely...the last}.

Every now and then I get behind with my laundry. Well I have a pair of red lace panties that I HATE with a passion. Apparently I had dialed back 15 years when I bought them some time ago, I mean seriously...what was I thinking? Anyway, it's a bad start to a perfectly good morning when I open my underwear drawer up and they are the sole pair in the drawer. As I rip them out of the drawer and slam it shut I think the same thing, "these stupid panties need to be thrown away!". Ultimately they are later put through the wash and they wind up right back in my drawer where they wait for the next ill planned laundry quandry.

My point is, why do I inconvenience/annoy myself this way on a repeated basis? All I ever had to do was throw them out. I'll give you another example. I hate to stop for gas. When I do I'm so anxious to get on my way to wherever I'm going that I only put $10 or so in at a time. Consequently I'm always on E. I would have to say that I fear I'll run out of gas on at least a twice a week basis. Do you see a pattern here? Oh but wait...what about the lip liner that I carry in my purse that is so in need of sharpening that I'm painfully scraping wood and very little color on my lips at this point? I could go on but I won't.

I'm starting to identify lots of tiny stresses that I'd rather not live with. And most of them are so easy to solve. I pitched the skivs, swapped the lip liner out for a mechanical one and filled up on my way home today. What I'm trying to say is that you can do alot to make things better for yourself. A bunch of tiny actions really can add up. I'd rather start working smarter than working harder as they say, instead of making any kind of resolutions in the next couple of months.

So do you have "red panties" you can throw out?

Great Shopping in Omaha Part II

This is my last post about my trip. I just wanted to show you a few things that I found at a great nearby antique store. I was worried that there wouldn't be anything left by the time I got there but it just goes to show you that everyone likes different stuff. I went crazy over this purple velvet purse. It's SO worn which both thrills me and breaks my heart at the same time. I mean, to look at this purse you'd have to figure that it was some girls one and only bag...

Just look at the handles, they're almost broken from use...

I plucked up this faded red biscuit tin too. Can't have enough pretty storage now can we? I like how colorful the floral bouquet is...

The picture of this valentine does not do it justice. It's several layers of pretty goodness...

This old lavender makeup tin was a must have. I can only think of 1000 things I could store in it...

In other news, I'm busy at work on several projects, more than I usually work on at once. I'll share them soon.

Great Shopping in Omaha Part I

Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite finds at the vendor faire that they had at Silver Bella. I purchased this gorgeous ring from Beth Quinn...

At another great vendor table I found this old postcard album in a crate on the floor. It's quite big actually, maybe 9x12. I'm not usually one for red but I really liked the embossed pink flowers on the front.

And I love, love, love this shoe made of vintage wallpaper by Denise Nelson. You can't see it in the picture but the heel is a big bobbin with thread.

Tomorrow I will be back with my antique store finds. I'm so happy with the things I found there.

After tomorrow I'll have shared a bunch about my trip and it will be time to move on and address that red panty situation I mentioned last week. Hopefully it will make you smile, laugh even, and get you thinking about...well just wait for it!

They Had Me At Pincushion...

Look at this perfume bottle, a scent that Anthropologie is carrying. I haven't even smelled it yet and I put it on my wish list online for my husband to buy me for Christmas. Presentation IS everything!

Silver Bella Workshop with Teresa McFayden

I'm back with more pictures of projects we made at Silver Bella. This project, taught by Teresa McFayden, was our opening night workshop. You can see hers here. I added some of my favorite items to mine. For once in my life I packed really well for something!

I've had this leg forever, I'm not even sure where it came from. I'm really happy with in right in the center...

And this darling little girl, she looks terrified...like someone is going to rip her beloved basket out of her hand...and oddly, she resembles my Dad, how weird is that?

My remaining projects all need just a little bit more finishing up before I post pictures of them. I'm going to work on them later so that I can share them with you tomorrow.

In other news, coming up is a give-a-way as well as a blog post on red panties. That's all I'm going to say for now, you'll just have to stop back by.

I'm Back From Silver Bella!

I just realized today that I never mentioned on my blog that I would be attending Silver Bella in Omaha this year. It was my first time going and I have to say, it was wonderful. I haven't had a chance to take many classes in the past few years and it was such a treat to walk in to a class, sit down and assemble my project. The above class was one that I took with Charlotte Lyons. She is such a sweet lady. This is the chatelaine necklace.

Making and beading the strawberry was my favorite part of the class...

It was so fun to add little touches that make a project uniquely yours, like the tiny rose applique that I love to put on practically anything that doesn't move...{oooh...I didn't realize when I took this picture that I'd also be giving you a preview of the pocketwatch necklace class I'll be teaching in February}...

I tied lots of my favorite wrinkly candy colored ribbons to the necklace and wound turquoise thread around my spool...

I'll be making up my absence on the blog this week with a few posts of the other class projects that I made as well as a few pictures of my great finds at a local antique store that was close to our hotel.

Last but not least, it was really fun to know that so many people that I don't know read my blog and enjoy it. Now thanks to this very well put together art retreat I know a few that I didn't realize kept up with my crafting and flea market tales. In fact, a few kind ladies asked how my daughter Gracelyn was when they saw my name tag. At first I was confused until they told me they'd read she'd had troubles on my blog. It made for a really small and wonderful world.

Life Resumes - Thank Goodness!

This has been one of the hardest weeks ever. It all started on Saturday of last week. We were getting ready to go to a Halloween party and I noticed that my 4 year old had what appeared to be the chicken pox. I wasn't entirely convinced so I called her doctor who knew she was on an antibiotic for an ear infection. She said that she had an Amoxicillin rash and that she'd be fine. She partied like a rockstar in her costume and was carried in to bed. By morning the rash had spread from head to toe and it was covering virtually every inch of her. The doctor still thought it was related to the antibiotic. By Monday morning her lips, eyes, hands and feet were purple and swollen so I rushed her back to her doctors office. Once the doctor saw her she told me to take her directly to Stanford and that she'd call to let them know that we were on the way. At that point I knew it was serious and I called my Dad {who was closer than my husband} to go with us. I literally put my purse on my shoulder, pulled the t-shirt over my daughters head and got a map from the doctor when my Dad walked in. One of these days I'll have to investigate exactly how he manages to appear out of nowhere when I know good and well there wasn't enough time to get to me that fast.

To speed up the story she had Erythema Multiforme, a skin disorder that is unexplained. They told us that it was harmless unless it spread to the blood vessels in her eyes {Stevens-Johnsons}. We prayed every 5 minutes for the two days following and checked them hundreds of times. Yesterday she woke up with only one small red dot on her cheek. We're so happy to have her well again, there's just nothing like being able to throw worry out the window.