i heart linen

Yellowing

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone's weekend was divine!  Mine was busy, busy, busy! Ikea run, grocery shopping, spring cleaning, laundry, rearranging some of our rooms, worked on some projects, and the weekend is over.  *sighs*  Weekends should be 3 days long. Maybe I can start a petition to change that.

Huge thank you to you all for your comments on my last post!  Some really great suggestions as well, I took some notes! Thanks! And thanks to the folks at Craftzine for posting about my calendar. If any of you make a calendar I'd love to see it, let me know!

Sssoooooo.  I've fallen for yellow!  I know how can you not when it's all over the place these days.  I guess I'm a little late, but I'm finally hopping on the yellow bandwagon.  We even painted one of our walls yellow.

Some newly acquired 'yeller' stuff. The pot and the plant are from Ikea, I chose a succulent because my thumb is every color in the rainbow but green. Please don't fear for this little plant's life! I'm keeping my fingers and even my Technicolor thumbs crossed that I can keep this plant alive. 

The fabrics are mostly from Sew, Mama, Sew from a few weeks back so I'm not sure if they're all in stock still.

I think I've been so apprehensive with it because it's such a hard color to pull off.  I just can't bring myself to wear yellow clothing just yet, I mean I'm 5' 10". I feel like I'd look like a big ol' giant walking banana or something!! Not cool.  I'm sticking to fabric, accessories, and housewares for now. 

Upgrades and the like

I know! two posts in one day! ^_^ *does the runnin' man*

Well, we've been doing a little bit of sprucing up around these parts lately.  We've been painting our living room and I must say it's been quite the adventure.  I actually like painting, it's sorta fun.  Well, when it's your house I guess.....I couldn't imagine doing it as a living.  Ugh.  Anyhoo, we decided to paint each wall in the living room a different color. We're not quite finished but I'll show you the red wall.  It came out so lovely.  I was a little apprehensive at first, red is such a strong color and I just couldn't see painting the whole room this color.  So we did just the one wall. (I'll show you the room as a whole when we're finished.)

As you can see my workstation has had a bit of an upgrade as well! Wooot!  I fell in love with the idea to use the Ikea Asker Series as craft storage.  Where did I see it?  Craftapalooza that's it!

So I made a little Ikea run this weekend and nabbed a couple items to clean up my desk.

Asker series stuff, Rajtan spice jars, some Kassett magazine files and boxes, and  two cutey plants and Billig plant holders for good measure.   

These jars are perfect for holding all those buttons and things that we love so much!

My goal was to make it a little more funtional and have my tools really close to hand.  (Oh and to get rid of my ArtBin toolbox.  It made me feel like I was still at design school.)  Also, my fabric stash has grown so large that I can't store it on the table anymore.  It now resides on three, yes THREE shelves in my linen closet.  The sheets and towels now have a new home. Sorry guys.

Let me also introduce you to my new baby.........

It was time for mama to get a new machine.  My old one has served me well, but it literally was like a no frills sewing machine.  Like it shouldn't have even had "Singer" printed on it......it should have just said..."Sewing Machine".  No cool features or anything, it just did what it was created to do.  Sew. 

But this new machine......*faints*....it's a Janome Memory Craft 4400, computerized, tons of different stitches, drop in bobbin (I had the old fashion bobbin case before...ugh), and it looks super cool when you turn it on in the dark! Tee heeeee!

Can't wait to start cranking out some new projects on this baby. I feel like such a grown up now! ^_^

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Just thought I'd share a cutie pie purchase I made on Etsy.

How lovely is this necklace? I found it in this quaint little shop by the name of EmilyE Jewelry.

Take a look at some of the other oh so pretties Emily has:

I'll definitely be doing some more shopping here.  I think my paypal account is in serious trouble! Happy shopping! ^_^

I'm so proud!!

Hello all!  Long time no see! ^_^  Thank you so much for your comments on my last post!  I think you'll be seeing a lot more of those little coasters around here. 
So, some of the wonderful things I wanted to happen fell through last week.  So, I guess I've kind of been pouting around and didn't feel like posting.  Until I got a little bit of news from my Mom!

Her shop in Miami is featured in the April issue of Lucky magazine!! How cool is that?! You rock Mommy!

She and two of her friends spent two months in Capri, Italy learning how to make wonderful sandals, like the ones below, all by hand.  You can choose what style, colors and adornments you want and they make them right there in the shop while you wait! 

I'm so proud of my mom!  We'll be going to see her in Miami for a week in April.  I don't know if I'm more excited to see her or to get my hands on a few pairs of handmade sandals!  ^_^  They even make little girl sandals!  Bella and I will have the prettiest feet in NY this summer! (After I get a pedicure of course.)

Winter. Blah.

*Crickets chirping*........Helloooo?  Anyone out there?  *tap tap* Is this thing on? Hey! ^_^
I know I've been hibernating.....well it IS winter, what do you expect? Actually, I'm having serious cabin fever! Aaargh!  I'm ready for Spring to be here! Enough already!  Yesterday, it finally snowed here in NYC and then today it rained and washed it all away.......I need some sun! Sun I tell you! Suuuuuuuuun!  So yeah the weather's making me cranky pants.  So we've tried to spruce up the boudoir a little......

We did a little run to Ikea and snagged this yummy duvet cover.  I'm really digging the orange and aqua together.  I was a little sketchy about the color when I put it in the cart.  After putting it all together, with our existing aqua, I love it!  Our walls are so incredibly bare though, so I'm in search of a remedy.  Hubby and I have talked about painting, putting up artwork, decals, faux brick or wood panels.......so many options and the problem is choosing something we both will like.  Our styles are so different!  Mel's style is....well....hmm...I don't know what Mel's style is, but my style is ........well......you know....I don't really have a style myself......we just like different stuff okay. Geez.

Anyone have any thought or suggestions?  I'm all ears and bangs too as you can see......man they're getting long! It's fun hiding behind them.....

Here's the face that hides behind those bangy curtains.....

Seriously, I'm not this cute in real life......Photoshop does wonders for a girl's complexion...teehee!

Am I rambling?  I feel like I am ....oh well, moving on....

The bad thing about winter is that once I get tired of being inside all the time, I go online and start "window shopping", which leads to me putting things in the shopping cart just for fun, which leads to me actually purchasing, which leads to me getting cool mail to cheer myself up, which leads to Mel having heart failure because I bought a ton of really cute stuff and left a dent in the the mouse from clicking "purchase" so many times.......oh I'm rambling again huh? 

What was I talking about?  Shopping! Yeah!

So my bud Charlene opened up her shop!!!!!!!!! *dances* Yay!! I think I've given her enough pep talks and she finally took the plunge!   

I'm loving the linen with the stamps, such a nice idea! Sorry that birdie pencil case is spoken for already. *rubs hands together* Mine!

Her stuff is so simple but classy and cute! She's made some lovely goods and they're all up for grabs!

Charlene's got a lot of other little tricks up her sleeve for her shop in the future. 

I think she's definitely one to watch!

Go Charlene, it's your birthday, you got a new shop, it's your birthday!

Oh! Huge, huge thank you to everyone for their comments on my 100th post!  It really meant a lot, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

*clicks "Post" and dances out of the room, down the hallway into the bedroom and jumps on "new" bed*

I Heart......and I Don't Heart......

....getting cool stuff I bought online in the mail! 

The first cool thing I got today.......

Knit? Knitted? Handmade sushi from my friend Alice!  Yay! So kawaii!  She just opened her shop over at Etsy with super cute sushi, precious children's aprons and lot's of other fun stuff to be had.  Run over and check it out.  She'll be adding a lot more items soon, so stay tuned for more goodies from her.

The second cool thing I got today......

Deco tape that looks like a tape measure!  I looooove this!  You can find it here.  The shop is located in the UK but they do ship overseas.  Shipping isn't that expensive either. 

I'm a little grumpy at my mailman though.  The mailboxes in my building are pretty small, so they always leave one of those pink slips in the box so that you can go pick up your packages.  Well, I got one of those slips in the box yesterday saying that it was a Final Notice and that they would send my package back!  I never got the first two notices!!  My package had been sitting in the post office since December 20th! Jigga what?! *grumbling "wirty dords" under my breath*  I didn't even bother having the tantrum I had planned when I went to pick it up.  I figured why bother. Freaking out on them wasn't going to help me get my package any sooner.  And since the USPS is THE WORST SERVICE ON THE PLANET, they would probably do it again anyway.  *shrugs*  So the what else do I have to say about that? "Boooooo....postoffice.....booooooo....I don't heart you."

These little cuties in my package made up for the delay anyway.  (Yours are coming soon Charlene! ^_^)

Chocolate chip for the soul

A huge thank you to all of you for your kind and loving words during this difficult time. Mel and I appreciate every drop of thoughtfulness from each and everyone of you.  Thank you. *Big Hugs*

I'm not good at dealing with these types of things and I usually end up taking on some type of project to distract me from my sorrow.  Baking cookies was a nice way for me to distract myself from....well......myself, my mind, my sadness.  Mmmm.....Ghiradelli chocolate......mmmmmm....chocolate makes everything better sorta.  Their chocolate chips are some of the best and I love baking cookies with them. Perfect for taming that crazy chocolate craving that rears it's ugly little head once a month.  I know, what you're thinking...."Shame on you, you little indulgent chocolate chip cookie baking minx...rowr."   Okay....maybe you're not thinking that. But I bet I was close!  ^_^

I was preparing to take photos of my cookies for this post and they suddenly took a back seat to this:

I found this oh so sweet little tea set at Ikea this week!  Child size. 17 pieces. $7.99  I bought a set for Bella even though I know she is far too little to play with it now.  But I couldn't resist buying it!  I never had a tea set as a girl and totally wanted one.  Now I have one!

It's just......well......a tad too small for me.   

They have a 24-piece dinnerware set, a 7-piece baking set, AND a 6 piece cookware set.  I'm going back to stock up and put them away for her for when she's older.  I can't wait to play with them!!  I mean for her to play with them...yeah that's what I meant.  It's just screaming for a little linen and patchwork tea cozy and accessories! 

I also found a pattern for a cardboard play kitchen on Etsy for $7.00.  This pattern is incredible!  I haven't built it yet, but when I do I'll be sure to post pictures of it.  It's on my list of projects for 2008.   Has anyone built this already?  How did it turn out?!

Moo!

Moo moo mooo!  Mooo mooo Moo moo moo moo mooo moomoomoo!  Moomoo!
(Translation: "Oh my gosh! Look what I got in the mail yesterday! Woohoo!" )

Haha!  Yeah I know I'm a big dork!  But I'm so excited!

I love these little Moo cards, they are so cool!  If you have a Flickr account you MUST get some.  Even if you don't have a Flickr account, you MUST get some. So cute. $20 gets you 100 mini cards and you can have whatever you like printed on the back of them.  How cool is that?  They ship really fast as well.  I got mine in a week!

Oh, and this cutey patootey sticker book sample, too.  *dances*  I looooove cool stuff. *dances*

In other news.......My shop did indeed open on Friday and it was very successful!   I'm actually really surprised at how well it did.  I just knew I would be staring at the "0 items sold" sign.  I'm really just so overwhelmed and overjoyed!

Huge "THANK YOU!"  to those of you who purchased something! You're the bee's knees! *hugs*  Your wares are being "built" with love and care and I will get them out to you as soon as possible! If you didn't purchase anything you're still the bee's knees! ^_^ *hugs to you too*  You all have been so very supportive and encouraging and I really, really appreciate it.

I will be updating on the next couple weeks with some new items.  Moo mooo moo mooo moooo!
(Be sure to stay tuned!) ^_^

nuno.plus

Yay!  Miki and Eri of nuno.plus at Ebay e-mailed me today to let me know that they launched their new website! Congratulations on the new site guys!

I posted about them before because they're one of my sources for Japanese fabrics. They plan on adding a gallery so customers can post pictures of the kawaii creations they've made with their fabric.  I'm so there  when it's finally up.  They're also having a promotional sale, so run over and grab some fabric before I buy it all! ^_^

Ebay find!

I just realized I failed to share the places on Ebay where I got some of my fabric from the previous post.

Shame one me! *smacks hand 

• The first place I posted about before.  It's Nuno Plus! 
• The second place is new to me.  It's design_cafe.

Very, very, very, very small selection of things at design_cafe.  So you have to be quick!  ^_^  No fighting now.

Some of the things that are listed there:

Happy shopping!