Domestic Transformations

Spotlight and Giveaway

2011-03-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hey chickadees.. Happy Saturday!

Well, as hard as we have been working over here we're still not quite ready. Gonna be a few more days.. :(

In the meantime however, I've got the most adorable giveaway to share with you being featured on Where Women Create.
Head on over and comment on Jo's Fabulous Friday feature with Anj Snow of Snowy Bliss for a chance to win

Anj's precious owl party decor and gorgeous fabric roses.

Good luck & Have a fabulous weekend!

Spring Is In The Air

2011-03-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

The weather has been gorgeous here in H-Town the past several days.

Pear Blossoms have filled the trees and the sounds of singing birds have filled the air.
Although... I did have a run-in with the first blood sucker of the season.
Unfortunately, it was the

"state bird of Texas" variety
and NOT the

"hot Hollywood heartthrob".
Awe well.. just my luck.. lol

Baby Girl and I are still hard at work getting ready for the
big reveal next weekend.
As my girl Paula would say, "I can't hardly wait y'all". =)
Even Wild Woman is coming to help out this week. Yay!

We've had one itty bitty set back.. well actually its just a little stall.. I've lost the pattern for one of my previous best sellers.. sooooo today I am working on making up a new one.
I think that deserves one more bit of eye candy.

Hope you are enjoying whats left of your weekend.
Smoochies all!

HootSuite Rocks My Socks

2011-03-08T05:23:00.000-08:00

This app is awesome!

What is so cool about it is you link all of your social media apps in and voila! You've got all your accounts in one place, on one dashboard..
You even send and receive updates right there on HootSuite. =) I just signed up last night, so I'm not sure what all you can do with it..
But I am loving what I have seen so far!

Gotta give my girl Cindi a shout out for recommending it.
She is a wealth of knowledge on all things Social Media and Blogging.
If you have never visited her site before, I encourage you to head on over to http://moomettesmagnificents.com and soak up some of the knowledge she is sharing.
And don't forget to show her some comment luv while you are there. =)

Have a fabulous day loves!

What's Kept Me Away

2011-03-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all! Happy Monday.. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
For the past week Baby Girl and I have been working on something
super-deee-duper top secret.
Since it's just between me and you, I'll give ya a little sneaky peek. :)

I am so excited to have Baby partner with me on this.

She is so amazingly talented that simply watching her work inspires me.
Also in the works is a giveaway to help celebrate the big reveal and my

that slipped by me last week.
Stay tuned... It's gonna be a good one. =)
In the midst of all this creativity & planning, Love Bug has started teething. Poor baby has got 3 coming in at one time. =( Thank goodness for baby orajel.
Have a great Monday everyone.

The weekend is here..

2011-02-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Yay! Time to get some stuff wrapped up around here.
I’ve got 3 more boxes left to go thru from my studio. (still haven’t found the power cord for my Cricut.. grrrr.)

Look at my poor little friend.. just sittin’ on the shelf waiting for me to spend some creative time with her. =(
My sewing machine is feeling pretty neglected too lately. I think I might put her back to work this weekend. I’ve got some fabrics that I have been wanting to play with for a while now. =)

March is “National Craft Month”..
Do you have any projects or plans to celebrate?
Me & Baby Girl are organizing a craft night. If this one is a success we’re gonna make it a monthly event.

Have a fun & fabulous weekend everyone!

2011-02-23T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hiya Sweets!
Hope you're all having a wonderful week.
As per the norm, things have been crazy busy around here.
We finally had Baby Girl's shower on Sunday.

Between everyone being sick and not knowing when Love Bug would be coming home, we were on hold with everything. But... as last minute as it was, we had a full house and she had a wonderful time. I love how everything turned out... And this was my first time making a diaper cake. =)

Yesterday was Baby Girl's 22nd birthday.

This was her at 3 weeks old

and here she is 22 years later.

With everything else going on her birthday didn't get quite the attention that it should have. She did however get the best present ever.

Our Lil' Love Bug got to come home from the hospital yesterday. YAY!

and this has been my view for the past 36 hrs. =) teehee

I suppose it's time for me to get back to work now.. I have 2 new wholesale customers and lots of special requests for custom designs

like these

and these

I love "ALL" my customers! They are the best!

Time for more coffee.. ;)
Have a great night Dolls!

2011: Week 2

2011-01-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

Only 2 weeks into the new year and I am already behind.
We had a death in the family last week which pretty much brought everything to a halt. The only way I can describe the past week is melancholy. I have to say though, the services were beautiful. This is the first time I have ever seen the doves released graveside.. it was a very emotional and breathtaking experience.

Trying to get my focus back has been a challenge. I have almost caught up on orders.. just a couple more days and I should be good to go. =)

Since I have been busy working, I recruited "Wild Woman" to put her creativity to use and decorate my 2011 project binder. She still has to put the finishing touches on it but I LOVE what she has done with it.

Pink, Black, Pocket Tags and Polka Dots!
And how cute is that cocktail!?.. teehee
Isn't it just Deeelish?

Now it's your turn April.. Where's your binder? =)

Okay, it's time for me to get back to work.
Hope you all have a fabulous day!

XO XO,

My Word for 2011..

2011-01-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

I didn't choose a word last year but one sure chose me.
My life went through a complete upheaval in 2010. Everything that was, is no more. But that was then and this is now.
The start of a new year is the perfect time to take the reigns
and "Create" myself anew.
So my word for 2011 is

Create the daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, artist, designer, teacher, business woman, blogger, friend & stranger... the "Me" that I want to be. The "Me" that inspires & nurtures others to be what they see inside themselves.

** Create the highest grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Have you picked your word for 2011?

XO XO,

My Favorite Things of 2010

2011-01-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share with you some favorite things from my year of
Simplicity and "Transformation".

~~ Foodie Fave..

Pink Champagne Cupcakes
Every girl deserves a little sugary pink goodness;
and these cuppies are sooo yummylicious...

~~ I treat myself now..

after going through this transformation in 7 months :)
(this pic is from a couple months ago.. and I have actually lost a bit more)
Yay Me!

**********

~~ Beauty Fave..

Make Up For Ever Powder / Bronzer

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer
my most favorite lip treat

**********

~~ A girl's gotta be comfortable..

Yoga Capri's

Fitted Tee's

Comfy Cami's

Zip Hoodies

my fave Pink Swoosh Air's

my must have "Messy Pony" :)

**********

~~ on TV..

Gossip Girl

**********

~~ at the Movies..

Grown Ups

**********

But my most favorite thing of all..

My Family
Which now includes this precious little miracle that we were blessed with to make our year complete!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year full of Love and Happiness.
I look forward to sharing it with you.

XO XO

Introducing Maddison Lynn

2010-12-18T01:39:00.000-08:00

MZ6WV8CQKRUT

It's been a tough week.. My daughter had complications and they were forced to deliver her baby. The pregnancy caused Cec's liver to completely shutdown so it was a matter of life and death for her. I am so blessed to be able to say that she is doing much better and will hopefully be able to come home tomorrow. And I am happy to introduce to you our precious little miracle Maddi.

She joined us 3 months early but she's a fighter just like her mommy.
I have been sick so I haven't been able to meet her yet or even be at the hospital with my daughter since the first day. And that is driving me crazy.. but I will not chance either of them getting sick.

Now if I could just figure out what my "grandma" name will be.. It's a lot tougher than you'd think.. LOL..

xoxo

Happy Hump Day Before Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

We interrupt this post to bring you a special announcement.
I would like to send a big "thank you" out to my lil' sis, the most unselfish person I know.. Without you this most annoying and inconvenient head cold would not be possible. LOL.. You know I still love you though. =)

Now back to our regularly scheduled posting.

So.. are you all ready for Thanksgiving? Will you be traveling or staying close to home? Have you thought about all that you have to be thankful for?
For me, this year has been one of new beginnings & self discovery. I have learned that I don't have to be everything to everyone.. and that it is ok to make myself happy first. I would have never imagined my life taking the turns that it has, but I also wouldn't change it if I could.

I have quite a lot to be thankful for this year, and I wish that you are able to celebrate the blessings in your life with the ones you love.
Our table will be missing one very important person; but he is in my heart. And hopefully they will enjoy some semblance of a Thanksgiving Dinner way over there in Afghanistan.

In case I don't make it on tomorrow,
I want to wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Bisou Bisou.. Mwah!

Happy Thursday!

2010-11-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's me again.. Two days in a row.. I know, right!? Can you believe it? hehe.. I'm working on getting back into the swing of things.. ;) Writing notes to myself seems to be helping.. That is as long as I remember to read them. LOL

Since it's Thursday and my boys are on tonight, I thought "What could be better than a little Salvatore eye candy?" =)

I loooove his eyes!
~Eye Candy of the Day~
Ian Somerhalder
aka Damon Salvatore (the Vampire Diaries)

Sooo, the weekend is almost here, what do you all have planned?
I have taken a few days off from creating so I could work on some of the "behind the scenes" tasks.. Like working on my facebook fan page... (actually, they're not called "fan" pages anymore, but who knows what they are calling them this week.?. business pages? artist pages? or just plain "pages"? lol) Anyways...been working on linking everything up, getting pics uploaded and suggesting to friends... trying to get everything ready for my first giveaway..
(there's a link to my page in the sidebar to the right ;)
Hoping to have everything set and in place for "Small Business Saturday".

Will you be joining in the festivities? If you're interested in finding out more about how you can show your support, click on the link above.

Well, it's time to get back to work.. =)

Have a great day everyone!

Smoochies! xoxo

Middle of November Already??

2010-11-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

Instead of closing out the post with eye candy, how 'bout we do something crazy and open up with it. ;)

~Eye Candy of the Day~
Ed Westwick aka Chuck Bass

Cec came over last night and we had some, long overdue and much needed, self indulgent trash tv girl time. hehe.. Now, after one episode, we are hooked on Gossip Girl. And wouldn't you know, Hulu doesn't even have the first 2 seasons.. Looks like I will be searching for the past seasons on dvd and we will just have to make a weekend of it. Between her pregnancy and my sweetie being deployed, I think we have plenty of time to catch up on Dexter too.

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.. Just a little over a month before Christmas!?! I have been so busy around here.. I miss the days when I had time and was organized enough to blog at least a few times a week.. lol

I am up to my neck in cupcakes and hairbows right now.. Hopefully the weather will cooperate enough this weekend so I can take pics of everything. =)

Hope y'all have a wonderful week!
Mwah! xoxo

Crazy busy....

2010-09-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Lots going on here at LCF headquarters lately. ;) Been keeping me super busy.

I've had several international orders the past few weeks. I always love sending my designs on new adventures to far off places. hehehe
Been getting lots of custom orders coming in as well. Love Love Love! The collaboration between my clients and myself is such an exciting process. It is very rewarding to bring their visions to life in my designs.

The photo shoot for the new media packs is coming together.. Photographer, models, and location are all ready to go. Now it's just a matter of getting the rest of the pieces designed for the campaign. Which means all electronic and print media must be ready to go by the end of October for the launch.

We will also be relaunching the fanpage with lots of new content. There will be contests, drawings and tons of fun stuff going on over there.
One of the new features that I am most excited about is the "Designers Corner". This is where I will promote the designers that use my artisan beads in their creations. All you need to do is send me a pic of your designs and the web address to your shop to be included.
Like I said, crazy busy!

Thank you all so much for the emails, comments, calls & texts. Your friendship, support and encouragement has kept me going in high gear.... even over the speed bumps. =)
I will keep you all updated as things progress.

Big Huggs!

Reflections

2010-09-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

It constantly amazes me how life works itself out.
I don't regret the decisions I have made over the course of mine. Each and every one has played a part in bringing me directly to where I am now. I believe we get exactly what we need, good or bad, when we need it.
Same with the relationships in our lives. Some are lasting, they grow and change over the course of a lifetime and some are only temporary but still important.
No single person or experience defines us... but the sum total of all makes us who we are.

Take care of yourself first and foremost.
Huggs,

I'm Back..

2010-06-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Well, this is my first post in over 4 months. Sorry for such a long hiatus. It seems just as we were picking up momentum here, things came crashing down. I'm not going to get into the who, what, how and why of it all.. Circumstances being what they were, I didn't feel much like sharing. But....

I am back now and ready to get this blog going again!

In the coming week you will be seeing some changes around here.
So excuse the mess while I clear the cobwebs. And when the dust settles we'll have a fresh new place to chat about all of our transformations.

Big Huggs!
Tonya

Making progress..

2010-02-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hi all!
Having a very productive week over here..
Filling orders and now working on a custom order of Caramel Apple beadies.

Annnnd I am making lots of progress in the bathroom.
Got the cabinets, counter, and walls finished..

I am so excited about how well the counter turned out.. It was a little fussy at times (or maybe that was me that was a fussy.. haha) but for the most part it was pretty easy.

Wanna know how I did it?

With this little box of goodies. :)

Box of tiles - $11.00
Can of ORB - $2.97
Caulk - $2.97
$16.94 for a brand new bathroom vanity
And the best part.. I did it all on my own!
Yay Me!

Remember where I started..

Now I have to do the floors and replace the baseboards, doors & casings.
Maybe I will get started on that this weekend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Quote of the day
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ~ William Shakespeare

“Eye Candy” of the day

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Have a great night!
Big Huggs,

What to do when you are sick of being sick...

2010-02-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Mine was great! I got to see all the people I love on Saturday.
Hubby came home for the day and both of my girls and my sis were here. Yay!

I also started on the bathroom re-do.

Here is what I started with..

Awful 3-tone blue/green walls; red carpet; powder blue & white swirly laminate counters; yucky reddish/orangish/brownish cabinets; and on and on…

And here is my progress so far..

Painted the cabinets ORB (oil rubbed bronze), and the walls received 3 coats of Vanilla Brandy.

In the next progress report I will show you my Thrifty Gal trick for ugly counters... and have better pics to share. :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Quote of the day
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. ~ Plato

“Eye Candy” of the day

Josh Holloway
(he is my hubby's doppelganger)
Lucky Me! :)

Have a great day everyone!
Big Huggs,

Retail Therapy

2010-01-28T03:42:00.000-08:00

Been so sick lately but a little shopping and a few great deals does help a bit. :)

Cec and I were out running errands and stopped in Palais Royal. (the only department store anywhere near here)
I’m so glad we did; Major Score!

Got 7 shirts for me and a cute ’lil dress & vamp tee for Cec.
Reg. price for all - $327.
Thrifty Gal price - $54.

Also.. stopped by Lowes and picked up a gal. of “Vanilla Brandy”.

Thought it was about time I get started by adding some color to these walls.

Quote of the day
"Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn. My God, do you learn." ~ C.S. Lewis

“Eye Candy” of the day

Gotta love a guy that sparkles!

Have a great day everyone!
Big Huggs,

Monday, Monday..

2010-01-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

Start of a new week full of possibilities!
Hope you all had a great weekend.

Got an early start today on all the mundane, not so fun stuff... ie housework..
Now its time to get to the good stuff..
~ making Valentine goodies

~ beadies for orders
~ earrings for Jan. group challenge
And any other bits of fun that I can squeeze in.

Quote of the day
We are all led to where we need to be. ~Lo Pan

“Eye Candy” of the day

The boys are back
and Thursday can’t get here fast enough!

Have a great day everyone!
Big Huggs,

Friday is here...

2010-01-15T00:58:00.000-08:00

How has your week been?
Did you get all the things done that were on your to-do lists?
What do you have planned for the weekend?

I have to say.. I am loving facebook.. It has allowed me to make lots of wonderful new friends and to get back in touch with long lost ones too.
Saturday, my very best friend in the whole world will be coming to visit.
I am sooo excited.. We haven’t seen each other in about 9 years.. And the last time we spoke before losing touch again was about 5 years ago. I have missed Laurie so much. I can only imagine the memories that will surface this weekend. From our phone conversation, it feels like no time has passed at all.. No hesitation, no awkward silences.. Just 2 friends talking like we always did!
I will definitely have some pics to share with you all Monday!

For now though, here are some pics of the house that I promised.
We have lots of work to do with the landscaping (the house has been empty for 12 years). But I will wait until spring so that I can see just what treasures we have lying dormant under the surface.
There are lots of Crape Myrtle & Mimosa trees.. And I love both!
Oh and tons of Oak trees!

These were all taken before we bought it
so a lot has been done and still more left.

~Front~

~Back~

~Detached Garage & Workshop~

And for your viewing pleasure…

~Eye Candy~
(I am so glad Leverage is back on) :)

Have a wonderful weekend all!
Big Huggs,

Yay.. I'm back!

2010-01-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Did y'all miss me? :)

Well, we got moved and settled and made it thru the holidays.
It is definitely a slower pace out here.. annnd very nice.
And it has done wonders to get my creativity flowing again. My muse ran off to here several months ago and we’ve now been reconnected. Hehehe

Here is what 2 days work produced:

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some of the house photos resized so I can share them with you.

Have a wonderful Tuesday evening all!
Big Huggs,

Ya Gotta Get One..

2009-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows how I feel about supporting Breast Cancer Research and Awareness.
Well, hubby called me this morning and asked me to get on line and order him this t-shirt. He wouldn't tell me what it was (wanted me to see for myself), so I went and checked it out. When I seen it there was no hesitation, I ordered it right then and there. I almost ordered one for myself too, which I still may. ;)

photo courtesy of Bull Shirts

Isn't it awesome?! I love it!

Click on the pic to see a bigger image and to order.

The shirts are only $15 and all the proceeds go to M.D Anderson Cancer Center.
If you aren't familiar with M.D.A Cancer Center, they are the best.
My grandma, grandpa, dad & myself have all been patients and gotten our treatments there. My dad was actually told that there was a 5% chance that his treatment would even help. Well he has been completely cancer free for about 8 years; and I have been cancer free for 11 years. (My grandparents have since passed from other causes).

It's a good cause.

Be sure and let me know if you decide to get one.

"Boobs Rock"

Huggs

Getting Ready for the Move...

2009-10-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all...
Soooo sorry for the long absence.
Been fighting the flu for over 3 weeks now and haven't been able to completely shake it. Along with being sick, I have been trying to get things packed up.
Yep, we are moving.. We found a place in the country so we decided to buy it and sell our house that we just had built 2 1/2 years ago. And ya know, I am sooo ready..
I have to tell ya, it may seem like the best thing to be able to build a house in a brand new neighborhood. Everything is all nice and shiny and new; but seriously... be careful.
We love our house and we really like most of our neighbors but it's the developer mostly that has caused so much grief.
When we bought into this neighborhood we were the 11th home built. There were a lot of promises made for what would and would not happen as the neighborhood developed. None of which have held true. And to top it off, one of the builders went bankrupt and left about 1/3 of the lots undeveloped and you know what that does to property values.
Anyways.. Longer story short... We found a place that we love about an hour & a half out of the city and on the lake, so we are movin' on out the first of November.
I probably won't be posting much until we get settled in but there will be a lot more DIY posts and before/after pics then. :)

Hope everyone is doing well and I will talk to ya soon.
Huggs,
Tonya

Monday's here...

2009-08-31T01:24:00.000-07:00

Hope y'all had a great weekend.
It was a busy one around here. Then again, when isn't it? :)
Don't believe me? Well have a look at my mess..

Yep, I've been working on beadies all weekend.
But that's not all... I've been doing some cleaning too...

This is what I am getting off of the mirror that came with the bedroom set.
Yuck!

Look at the difference already.
I have cleaned the right side but haven't gotten to the left yet.
And yes, it is really taking that long. This thing is D-I-R-T-Y. :(

Well, I have more candy corn & santa beads to make.

So, what did you do this weekend?

smoochies,