Saturday, April 30, 2011

COME, SIT, RELAX - white country spindle bench

Take a moment to stop in and enjoy the fresh BC air.

Have a seat, stay awhile.

The longer you stay, George will have to put off

getting on his ride on lawn mower.

Would you like a refreshment?

The truth is I have wanted to take these photos for

awhile, and then when I turned my back George

actually start to mow the lawn.

Well I run outa the house, down the stairs,

waving my arms madly in the air.

STOP...........!!!

Well of course he thinks something is on fire but

does give me a helping hand to carry the bench out,

watches while I take the photos, and then as any

gentleman would, helped to carry it back. I'm sure

he was just eager to get back to his ride.

Some of you caught a quick glimpse of this little

gem during an earlier post about wallpaper, a

highboy, and my new paint sprayer. If you missed

out you can find that here.

This cute country bench is one of the surprise items

held for the Spring / Mother's Day sale

All the information for this event can be found here.

Sharing the fresh air at:

JaPaNeSe FLoWeRs for 3 Column Minima

post signature

Monthly Mosaic April

Another month has passed which means it's time for another mosaic visually summing up all the blog happenings this past month:

I've started a new weekly feature, "Fill in the blanks...", which I'm already enjoying a lot and I've continued making new treasuries with things I currently love on Etsy.

Perhaps my most favorite thing on this blog is the weekly interview with crafty ladies, this month I interviewed Bonita Rose, Rouge & Whimsy, Kamika Kraftz, and Janmary Designs just this week. They were all Indie Biz classmates and I was honored to feature them and their lovely work on here.

Speaking of Indie Biz, we had a huge Launch Day Celebration this month with loads of new shops, new blogs, new products (like my butterfly) and giveaways. I also hosted a giveaway and the lucky winner was the lovely Dimi from Greece.

I've started working on some unicorns, but sadly that's been put on hold again. My physical therapist wants to make sure my tennis elbow and De Quervain's are completely healed before I start doing the very thing that injured me so severely.

So I did some online shopping instead, got myself new business cards, thank you cards and stickers from Moo, and thousands of colorful buttons and a hundred pinback buttons from Etsy.

Wonder what next month will bring?

OPERATING Instructions

Friday, April 29, 2011

Best new illustrators award - audio slideshow

The Booktrust Best New Illustrators 2011 are:

Heart cushion crochet pattern

The heart cushion below is 16 x 11 inches. You work in the round. The patterns is available in my Etsy shop: kandjdolls.etsy.com.

Best Photo from the Royal Wedding

Fill in the blanks...

1. I am looking forward to the end of next month. My mother and her husband are visiting us in San Francisco and we're going to show them around and we're going on a roadtrip through Northern California and probably more! I love road trips, especially in the States, and I also love seeing my mother again after almost a year. It's going to be so great to show them how we've been living our American lives.

2. Something kind of embarassing that I still love anyway is any movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He's my all time favorite actor and I think I used to have a crush on him. Everytime a new DiCaprio movie comes out my husband knows we (I drag him with me) have to go see it, because I love Leonardo DiCaprio so much. No worries, my hubbie isn't jealous, he knows I love him way more.

3. My favorite car is made by Volkswagen. I love the Beetle, the Golf, the Lupo (so cute), the Fox, the Touareg, but if I were allowed to pick one to use right now I'd probably choose the Tiguan. But if they start producing Golfs in the Bon Jovi version again, I might change have to my mind.

4. If I could pick one type of weather to live with for the rest of my life it would be the weather here in San Francisco. Never too hot and humid, most of the time it's pretty and sunny, it makes me want to go outside a lot.

5. My favorite thing to do after a bad/stressful day is get cuddles and kisses from my sweet hubbie, he has this magical power to always make me feel better.

6. This weekend we are celebrating our 7 year anniversary. Not our wedding anniversary but our first kiss anniversary. Which happened in the international student dorm at Emory University and lasted for 6 hours... Yeah, not quite sure how we did that, I guess we really liked it! And on Sunday we're celebrating a friend's birthday with a beach barbecue.

7. If I were a color, I'd be orange because I'm a Dutchie and that's the color of the Netherlands, but I'd also be a fuchsia because that's my favorite color, and that combo would probably make me look like Dunkin' Donuts logo. But I wouldn't mind :).

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Norma

There is more than one way to get where you want to go.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

SOUTH SURREY / CRESENT BEACH - spring show

I've received the email with all the details ..

We are finally having a much requested Spring

Craft and Gift Show in South Surrey.

I've participated with Colleen and Heather for

many years with my driftwood furniture and now

my re purposed furniture and decor revamps.

ORNATE COLOR COORDINATED FRAME SETS

This is a sneak peak of just a few items

that I will be taking to the show.

SHABBY CHIC CHALK BOARDS

WHITE IRON CANDLE STANDS 26" TALL

CHIC TOILE AND DAMASK COASTER SETS

Along with currently available furniture items

and a few surprise furniture items that have been

setting aside for just this occasion.

If you have any questions you can leave them

below and I'll be glad to answer them.

Music To My Eyes

Image Courtesy Addicted 2 Decorating

Worth getting a battered up ol' piano from the Trading Post I reckon, just to paint it up and stick it in a corner. Who needs it to be in tune (or even work) when it could look this good. Love.

Janmary Designs

1. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm 43, married to a doctor, 3 kids and a cat called George, and live in Northern Ireland.

Love photography, blogging, making jewelry and spending time on the beach (especially in the winter). We have a cottage near the Giants Causeway on the north coast of Northern Ireland.

We have started house swapping for our family vacations, and exchanged twice so far, once to Dublin and one to Boston / Cape Cod. Great way to travel and live like a local, and more affordable than hotels especially when you have 3 kids.

2. What do you make and how did you get into this?

I make jewelery, and especially love to knit and crochet with wire. I started making things for myself about 3 years ago, and soon started getting orders from friends. Started it as a business in May 2009.

3. Why did you name your shop Janmary Designs?

Janmary Designs has been my online name since I joined digital scrapbooking forums about 5 years ago.

4. Where and when do you like to create?

Usually at our dining room table, or in the kitchen when the kids are at school.

5. What inspires you?

When I see new beads, I just can't wait to create something with them. Often when I start, I am not sure exactly how it's going to turn out, but something "evolves"!

6. What’s the best thing you’ve ever made?

Proudest of these crocheted crystal necklaces I made for a wedding - for all the bridesmaids in blues and also one in pinks for the mother of the bride.

7. When you create what do you like to drink, snack on, listen to, or watch?

Drink diet coke and watch recorded TV programs I've recorded - Greys Anatomy, home makeover programs and cooking shows.

8. What skills would you love to learn?

Been taking a silversmith night class this year, and enjoying learning to solder!

9. What are you working on now and what are your goals for the future?

I have been taking the indie 3.0 business course for creative small businesses - I've learned lots, and loved connecting and sharing with my fellow classmates.

10. What are your favorite websites?

Tricky! Pinterest, my Google Reader (love reading blogs - could not possible pick just a few), Home Exchange and am often found on Facebook.

11. Where can we find you online?

Blog | Personal Blog | Facebook Fan Page | Twitter

Next week: Camp Moxie

Coming Soon (fall 2011)

Illustration by Jennifer Thermes

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Fill in the blanks... Continued.

1. Fridays are Fries Days in the Netherlands. Friday is the day many Dutchies go to the local snack bar or turn on their own deep fryer to have Dutch fries with mayonnaise (!), frikandellen and kroketten for dinner. Oh how I wish I could just be back in the Netherlands for dinner on Fridays.

2. The things my husband says to me and does for me make me terribly happy.

3. Something that inspires me is my drawer of supplies. It's so full of good felt and buttons I can already visualize all the softies that will be created from them.

4. If I had the day off today I would rent a car and go on a mini road trip around California.

5. If I had to put a label on my home decor style, I would say my style is utilitarian. When we arrived in the States we had nothing so I went to Ikea and bought the necessary furniture to be comfortable in our studio apartment.

6. Concerning politics I would say I'm indifferent.

7. I'd like to go to Vancouver so I could check out if that would be a nice place to live next.

This is really fun! If you want to read more answers from other blank fillers, check here.

Breakfast

mypansyeyes.tumblr

What a pretty breakfast spot... some flowers, some silver, some timber and lots of white and light.

Fill in the blanks...

Every week on the Curious Pug Alicia fills in the blanks to prompts she gets from Lauren at the Little Things We Do. I've been enjoying those a lot and I've decided to join in on the fun. And because this is the first time, I'm going to two week's worth of prompts, one now and one later today.

1. My favorite daily responsibility is making my husband feel special, loved and appreciated.

2. My least favorite daily responsibility is cleaning. I love organizing and general tidying but I hate cleaning, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, wiping, all of it.

3. My favorite cuisine to eat when going out is Japanese. I miss Japanese food, especially the side dishes, like miso soup, properly cooked white rice, Japanese pickles and cabbage salad. And fish baked in soy sauce... I love to eat in Japantown, which is not the same as in Japan, but it's close enough.

4. My favorite cuisine to prepare at home is anything from the oven. I didn't have an oven in Japan nor as a student in the Netherlands, but now in the States I do, and it's like a magic machine! I love that thing and almost anything that is prepared in it.

5. Andy Warhol said that everyone is famous for 15 minutes. My claim to fame is that time a famous Dutch TV show kidnapped me in a private jet and flew me to Russia to reunite me with my Japanese boyfriend for the Christmas holidays. After that show aired, strangers on the street and in the shop where I worked kept recognizing me and asking me if I was the girl from the TV show.

6. If I could have 3 wishes I would wish for the ability to teleport with a snap of my fingers, to never have to worry about money, and for a healthy and happy life for me and my loved ones.

7. My biggest pet peeve is people playing loud music on their cell phones in public. Just because you like that kind of noise doesn't mean I want to listen to it.