An Impassioned Life

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things...Finally

2012-06-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I MUST apologize for "slacking off" the last couple of weeks. Second, I need to explain why.

I have been out of town, and out of sorts so much lately that I just did not have the energy or time to commit to "An Impassioned Life". My sister and I are working really hard with our mom, who lives about two hours away, getting her house ready to list on the market for sale. She is going to moving closer to us (Thank ya baby Jesus) and the grand-kids, but until that happens, it means several back and forth trips to her. With my Fibro being a factor, I think, I am just wiped out when I get home and it takes me about two days to fully recover. And by the time I am recovered and back to feeling normal again, it seems like its time to make the trip all over again! So, I sincerely apologize for not posting, but I promise, that time is over.

I will say, I was so completely overwhelmed when I logged in tonight and saw that over 1100 people have read my blog. Talk about a motivational booster!! Your comments, and just the fact that you read my posts, is SOOOOOOOOOO appreciated! I love my readers!

Alright, alright, other than moving mom I have also been working on building up my future Etsy shop merchandise. Which means, lots of jewelry making. I am having a wonderful time doing it and I plan on posting some pics next week. I think I have finally found my niche as far as jewelry making goes. Simple, classic and pretty. I hope to have the shop open in the next month or so. I will be sure to let everyone know when that happens.

So, thank you again for keeping up with me on this journey, I promise to not leave you hanging again. As always, I am always available via email. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, I know here it's going to be a hot one, so remember to stay cool and hydrated!

Such is the busy life of a stay at home mom...

2012-05-23T08:44:00.002-07:00

AHHHHHH! I cannot believe I haven't written in over a week! With school ending last week, Zoe's birthday and party and me feeling like a truck hit me, I just didn't have the time.

So here is a re-cap of what's going on. Iris is now officially a 3rd grader! And Zoe is officially a Kindergartner! Iris was accepted into the REACH program at her school, which is basically for gifted children. (Don't ask me how that happened, I may have street smarts, but books...no way.) She is really excited, I just hope she keeps up that excitement once she is finally challenged in school! She will be working on 4th grade work, so it's definitely going to be a whole different ball game. But I am so proud of her, I am one happy momma!

Zoe turned five on May 18th...I can't believe she is going into school next year. I swear it feels like yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital. She is no longer my helpless little baby! It makes me a little sad, but excited for her future at the same time. She is smart as a whip, and such a comedian. I think my biggest fear is that she will end up being the class clown!! :) She had a blast at her birthday party. Even though it was hotter than Hades out, the kids didn't seem to mind a bit. Momma here though....whew...I hate the heat and humidity! Now, can I just say that this child got enough toys to keep 5 of her busy??? My goodness...she needs her own house just to store all of her toys.

The biggest hit at the party though, was the pinata. The kids each took turns swinging a stick at this thing and let me tell you, these kids have some serious pent up rage...LOL. The looks on their faces was priceless! Once the pinata busted open, it was a complete free for all. Luckily, I put five and a half pounds of candy in that bad boy. So there was plenty to go around.

Tomorrow I am going to the girls' school for a Kindergarten Readiness seminar. It claims to give you the tools and tips to make sure your little one is ready for school. I am really excited and hope that I can come away with some useful information. I really need to work with Zoe this summer to make sure she is on the up and up. (fingers crossed triple time!) I will report back my findings, and share some of the tips I get for your own use!

Iris' last day of school was also on Zoe's birthday. The day before her class had their awards ceremony. Iris got a "Positive Patriot" award for the second year in a row! A Positive Patriot is someone who exhibits, throughout the entire year, a positive attitude, helpfulness, etc... Basically someone who sets a good example for other students. I am so proud of her!! If only she could bring that positivity home with her...(sigh)

So, now that summer has officially started, so has the fighting, bickering, tattling, and general grumpiness. LOL. It's gonna be a long one....

Speaking of bickering...I must go break up the latest round. But I promise to get down to business now that the beginning of summer has started. I have been working hard on some new jewelry and will be posting pics soon. I will also be having a giveaway in conjunction with my latest jewelry venture.

Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday everyone, it's hump day!!

Tuesday Fun! - "My Journal" For Kids

2012-05-15T06:39:00.001-07:00

Good Day! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and for all of you moms out there, I hope your Mothers Day was as good as mine was! My hubby treated me to some new shrubs and flowers for the front yard!! I may have worked my behind off on my special day, but it was so much fun I didn't want to stop! The yard looks wonderful now, and that makes me unbelievably happy. (Major Kudos to my hubby for that!) Zoe gave me a hand colored rock, and a flower she picked on a walk with her papaw the day before. :) Iris gave me a framed photo of herself, she picked the frame out all by herself and paid with it with her own money too. All in all it was a great day, and I am so thankful for what I have.

Ok, enough gushing!.....

Today's tutorial is a project that I finished months ago, but only came across the other day. I got the idea from something I had found on the Internet, but didn't want to pay $30 for!

Basically, this a guided journal. I made one for both of my girls, and my niece. I put various fun questions on a page and then a space for the girls to fill in their answers. I also added a few games, pictures and coloring pages as well. Let me tell you, the girls LOVED their journals. I just gave the journals to them yesterday and all three of them immediately started flipping pages and saying things like "Ohhhh I want to start on this one!", "Who wants to play Tic-Tac-Toe with me??". This would be a great way to keep them busy on a long trip too. I am actually thinking of putting one together for just that purpose. Maybe more games?

I printed all of these on 4x6 plain index cards, but obviously, you can make them any size you wish. I wanted them to be small enough that they could throw them in their bags (or my purse).

There are tons of pages, as you can see from the above picture. You could customize this anyway you want to, the possibilities are endless! Like I said, I am thinking about making a travel one. You could make one that is all story starters, all games, all coloring...whatever you like, or whatever your kids like. This took me a while to put together, but that was simply because I made it from scratch, and didn't really know what direction I wanted to go with it.

When you are creating the pages, there is no need to format the page in Word to the size you are printing. Just make sure when you are getting ready to print, you select the correct paper size. Word (or whatever processor you are using) will shrink it to size. Also make sure that if you have the option, check "shrink to fit paper size" or something along those lines so that every bit of your page makes it on the smaller one.

When I was finished printing and compiling all of the pages, I simply hole punched the pages and added metal rings to hold it all together. Iris commented that she liked the way she could fold the pages underneath one another without bending any of them. (Score one for mom!)

So there you have it, another kid friendly project! You could collaborate with the kiddos ( I wanted mine to be a surprise) and come up with page ideas together. Maybe make a "Mommy and Me" journal?

Let me know what you come up with! It's hard work, but its so much fun and so rewarding to see the smiles on their faces when you give them their personal journals.

Have a wonderful day everyone, Zoe and I are heading out to get her birthday party goodies. (Ahhhh, I am so behind on this party stuff. I am usually on top of it! )

An Angel With Fashionable Wings...

2012-05-11T09:51:00.004-07:00

Shirley Beth (Naile) Woolfitt

September 21, 1947 - May 12, 2011

Even as a young girl, she always had style.

On May 12, 2011 I received a phone call that no one should ever have to receive. For some reason, it felt like I was in a movie. My sister was the one to call me. The first thing she said to me is "I love you Sascha, I love you." I thought, okay that's sweet, but she's really bothering me at work to tell me that?? Then she told me the bad news, I thought she was kidding with me. (not a very funny joke, mind you) I thought I misunderstood her. But then she started crying and I knew it was no joke. My aunt had just died. I completely flipped. I mean hyperventilating, uncontrollable sobs, the works. We buried her five days later.

She was and still is, an inspiration to me. She encouraged me to continue working on my artwork, she even sold it for me in her shop in Virginia. I would finish a piece, send her a picture and ask her opinion. And she was honest. If she thought something needed tweaking, she would tell me. And I valued her opinion more than anyone's. To this day, I miss that. I find that I have become even more of a critic of my own work, and I think to myself "What would Shirley think of this?". To be honest, since her death and up until about a month ago, I sort of went on a "hiatus" of sorts. I just didn't have it in me to get in to the studio and work. I would try and try and try, but after losing your inspiration, it's very hard.

On the one year anniversary (or a day early, rather) I want to share with you, some pictures, articles and memories of my Aunt Shirley. I want the rest of the world to know what a wonderful person she was, and what my family lost the day she died. Thank you for continuing to read, I know this is a little off track of my normal posts. But this is important for me and I thank you for your support.

My aunt was a funny lady. She was a fiery red head, with the personality to match. She was full of so much energy and life, it was infectious. She was smart, beautiful, funny and caring beyond belief. I remember as a little girl, she would take my sister and I for the weekend and spoil us rotten. She loved to curl our hair, take us shopping, etc...(she generally had shorter hair, and every time she came at us with that curling iron, I just waited to get burned...which my sister and I did on probably more than one occasion!)

She moved away when I was still a kid, so we didn't see her as much anymore. We did visit, and it was always full of places to visit, activities and such. That woman could draw up an itinerary like no one else.

She met Dr. Robert Woolfitt at a car show in Hershey, Pa. and in 2001 they married at my Aunts lake house. She then moved to Norfolk, Virginia. After some time there, she took over a boutique, re-vamped it a bit and opened shop under the name éclectique Melange. She sold high end shoes, jewelry and other accessories. I was able to visit her shop once, and let me tell you, it dripped with her style. It was amazing. Check it out.

Working hard!

Aside from owning the shop, my Aunt was also a milliner. If you don't know what that is, she basically made her own hats from scratch. They were gorgeous works of art too. She trained in London with Rose Cory, who was the late Queen Mother's milliner. She had started out embellishing hats with her own style, and then moved on to hand-making them from scratch. She was really good at it too. Had her own line and everything. Here are a few examples, with my aunt modeling her own handy work.

And some more...

This is my favorite. She looks so elegant and regal. That was her though.

She was also featured in a few articles in the local paper The Virginian-Pilot, for her shop work and her sense of style in general. There are also a couple after her death. Here are a few links, in case you want to check them out for yourself.

The Norfolk boutique formerly known as Melange - 9/24/2008

Great fashion isn't just for the young - 7/20/2010

Get purse fix without losing your wallet - 5/10/2011 - This article came out just two days before she died.

Norfolk boutique owner dies unexpectedly at 63 - 5/14/2011

Local fashionista both lived and died with style - 5/31/2011

Put hangups shelf and have some fun - 5/8/2012

Not only was she a milliner, but she was also a dressmaker. She made the fancy dresses she wore to the Opera events she attended. They were gorgeous dresses too. I don't know how she did it all. I can't even sew a whip stitch properly, let alone sew an entire gown!

My aunt was also an animal lover...more specifically cats (she's had Siamese cats around as far back as I can remember.) and dogs. She was a donor at the local SPCA, and she always had a few cats around the house. She even had her picture taken with her cats, I swear only my Aunt could pull this off without looking like the crazy cat lady!

My Aunt was also a very funny lady...(she is totally going to haunt me for this) she could belch like no one's business...it's a trait that all of us "Naile" ladies inherited and cultivated over many years... :) For as much of a lady as she was, she belched like a man. I loved that about her too, weird huh? She had this infectious smile, and a wicked sense of humor. I think sometimes she didn't mean for something to be humorous, but I would crack up just at the way she said something.

She always insisted on being called "Grand Aunt Shirl" by her great nieces. Something about it sounding better than "Great Aunt Shirley".... :) Again, that was just her... but, looking at it now, I think it fits her. She wasn't just great, she was grand in every way.

It is unfortunate that she never got to meet my nephew Alex. And it is even more unfortunate that he will never meet her. My sister was eight months pregnant with him when Shirley died.

So, there you have it. That is the short story about my beloved Aunt. I would never be able to fully capture her story here, you would never stop reading! Just know that she was much loved, for obvious reasons. I hope that you can see just how much she meant to me, and my entire family.

The below, is a poem I read at her funeral. The picture I took that is behind the wording is of the pendant we all wore (that my mother made in honor of her) and a flower from her casket.

I miss her so much. To this day, if I think too much about her, I still cry. I am not sure if the heartache will ever go away. I still have the last text message she sent me saved on my phone. It was four days before she died. It simply reads "Love ya kid." Even as I sit here and write this, I am fighting back tears that threaten to spill over. Her headstone sits in northern Indiana, and I can visit it in about 3 hours time. I need to do that soon and have a chat with her. Like her in life, her headstone is over the top and elegant. I am pretty sure she would have loved it.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this post. It was a hard one for me to write. At the same time, it's so easy to talk about her and all of the "grand" things she was and did.

I hope everyone has a great weekend...

For The Love Of Photography

2012-05-10T15:43:00.002-07:00

Good day! I am so sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. I was out weeding and planting flowers all day, and I may have over done it a bit...just a tad (Stupid "Fibro").

I know I said in my intro that I love photography, and I wanted to share with you some of my work. After reviewing a ton of pictures, I realized that I love to photograph flowers and nature stuff. I also love to photograph people, but, something about outside stuff just intrigues me.

Believe me when I say I do not in any way consider myself a "professional", far from it in fact. But, I love to take pictures. Just ask my computer hard drive. It got mad at me and forced me to move about 15K pictures...

Anyway, here is a look at some of my work...

See, I love taking pictures of flowers!

Black and White is also a favorite of mine. I think 2 things about it. 1. It hides flaws and 2. It brings out some of the best features. I loved the way the vintage fan turned out. Unfortunately the fan belongs to my mom... :(

Again with the flowers! Does it ever stop?? :) The apple holder is my little one Zoe, and the hands in the bottom are mine and my husbands. Awwww, how sweet, right?

Let me say that in regards to the "Smoke Crack" picture, while I don't agree with the sentiment, I thought the picture turned out well. The phone booths were somewhere in London, I love the phone booths there. Do we even have phone booths anymore here in the states??? The ehh hmmmm....beverage is a really good beer that I had in Greenwich England. I swear beer tastes better in Europe. And the apples were taken at Anderson Orchard during Zoe's first field trip.

As you might be able to tell, I like to shoot in cemeteries too. I know it's a bit macabre,

but old headstones are fascinating. I am sure I don't have to point out what the first picture is, but I will anyway, Big Ben in London. That clock is MASSIVE. But it is absolutely breathtaking to stand directly underneath it. The beautiful little girl in orange is my daughter Zoe.

My nephew Alex when he was just a day old. What a cutie pie!

Zoe's favorite horse, Rose. She belongs to my cousins in Northern Indiana. She is such a sweetie.

So there you have it. A small glimpse into my ever expanding "portfolio". If I couldn't take photographs, I think I might wilt away. I swear one of my biggest fears is having my pictures or the external drive they are on, stolen. Ahhh, it chills me to even think about it!

Let me know what you think, and please feel free to share some of your own work! Like painting, or mixed media, or any other form of art, photography is a learning process. And the only opinion that matters is your own. (unless you are trying to get into National Geographic or something! )

Thanks so much for reading and following along. I appreciate it more than you know!

**Please be sure to check back tomorrow, I will be honoring my Aunt who passed away May 12, 2011. She was an artist, business owner, philanthropist, fashionista and just a wonderful woman in general. Her life and death has had an immense impact on my life and so many others. I will try to honor her as best as I possibly can.**

Till Tomorrow,

Tuesday's Tutorial - "Deck of Hearts"

2012-05-08T20:21:00.003-07:00

Good evening all! Hope the week is going well for all, so far...it is only Tuesday I suppose. ;)

The project I am going to go through today is a slight spin-off from a piece I saw on...wait for it...Pinterest. Never would have guessed that would you?

The original piece I saw was made from paint chips from a home improvement store, mine is made from playing cards. Have a gander...

This was a pretty easy project from start to finish. The only issue I ran into was finding paper that was thick enough for the hearts. I started out using vintage sheet music but it was so thin and flimsy that it sort of warped when I stuck it to the adhesive dots (I will get to that in a minute). For now, let us please have a moment of silence for the vintage, an totally un-reusable sheet music.............I hate to waste good vintage paper.

So, to start out, I gathered my supplies which consisted of: A heart shaped paper punch ( you could use any shape to your liking though), playing cards, scissors, "ZOTS 3-D adhesive dots", A thick piece of watercolor paper, a ruler and finally a shadow box frame.

The first thing I did was punch out all of my hearts. I wasn't sure how many I would actually use, so I just kept punching away! It actually becomes kind of addictive to punch all of these shapes, I almost couldn't stop!

Next thing I did was decide how big of an area I wanted to fill. Since my frame was a square 12 x 12, I knew I needed to keep it a square shape. I decided on 9x9, to leave a bit of the background visible to give it more depth. After that was done, I lightly drew some lines to give myself an idea of where I wanted to place the hearts.

As you can see above, when I said lightly, I meant it. I didn't want any pencil markings left behind.

Once I had everything lined up, I started applying the adhesive dots. These things are an absolute godsend. They were easy to work with and they have some serious sticking power. If you want to pick some up, I found mine at Hobby Lobby and they are called "ZOTS Singles 3-D Adhesive Dots". For this project I used 1/2", but they had additional sizes as well.

You may be able to tell from the above picture that there are clear squares around the circle shapes. Those are just the backing. I left them on there until I was ready to place the hearts because, like I said above, they have serious sticking power. You will need to remove these, obviously, prior to sticking anything on them.

Once I got the dots where I wanted them, I erased the remaining pencil lines.

***NOTE: I have recently fallen in love with my Sharpie Liquid Pencil. This pencil is great. It's erasable like a pencil (even better than a regular pencil, in my opinion), but you don't have to worry about broken lead, or sharpening because it literally works like a click pen. ***

Anywhoo...Just about finished now! Once I had all of my hearts stuck in place, I attached the finished piece to the velvet background of the shadow box frame with more ZOTS. (So far so good, as far as it staying in place.) I wanted to give a 3-D effect to the whole piece, I didn't want to secure it flat to the background. I felt like it would take away from the whole 3-D thing I was going for. So that is why I chose to use the ZOTS dots (that rhymes!), but you could choose to do it differently. It all about you!

And there you have it! I actually love this piece. I can't wait to find a special place for it to hang. But, for now, it sits on my desk as a reminder of what I am capable of and why I love being creative. :)

Let me know what you think! Shoot me an email, or comment here...feedback is always appreciated!

Don't forget, you can now subscribe to my blog via email to get my post automatically sent to you!

Check back often, I have some ideas in the works that may involve a giveaway or two!! (Who doesn't love fee stuff?!?)

Weekend Recap

2012-05-07T08:57:00.002-07:00

Whewwww, what a busy weekend! Hope everyone had a wonderful one, I know I did!

Saturday was full of sports. First was Zoe's T-ball game, it was my first one since I missed her first one last weekend. It was SO much fun to watch. I was cracking up laughing throughout the entire game. Fighting for the ball, playing in the dirt, throwing the ball to the umpire instead of tagging someone out. It was comical, to say the least. Zoe had her team pictures that day too, and I cannot wait to see them! I managed to snag a few pictures for myself to post here.

This is Zoe waiting to get her team pictures taken, she did so good and stayed just like this for a good 10 minutes. That's a lifetime for this little girl!!

She got to be the "Pitcher's Helper" which put her right where she wanted to be...able to snag a lot of balls hit her way! She did so good chasing after the balls. Now, if we could only get her to throw them when she got them... :)

I couldn't wait to watch her hit. We have been practicing with her for weeks now and she's got a pretty good swing, if I do say so myself.

Since she was the last to bat, she automatically got to run all of the bases. So, she thinks she hit a home run each time at bat! :) As she rounded the bases, she gave me a huge smile and a wave. Melted my heart instantly to see her so happy and loving the sport.

One drawback of a 9am game was that the grass was still wet with morning dew. I learned that the hard way when I wore my little cotton slip on tennis shoes. They were soaked before I even got to the field! I absolutely hate wet shoes.

As you might tell in the picture, the shoes look sort of dark grey. But in reality they are a very light grey. I kept taking them off to sit in the sun for a bit, hoping they would dry, but to no avail. I was mad too, I love these shoes!

Next up was Iris' soccer. Unfortunately, I missed her first game of the day because it overlapped with Zoe's T-ball, but I did make it to the second one. She loves playing Soccer and I am so thankful for that. She is such a girly girl, I was afraid she would avoid sports all together! She made three goals Saturday. One in her first game and two in the second. Anyone who plays soccer knows how difficult it can be to make one goal, let alone two!

It was so hot out for the second game, I thought the whole team was going to pass out right there on the field! Poor Iris' face was bright red and she was exhausted. But, she played right through it. I could tell by the end of the game though that she was slowing down a bit. As soon as we got in the car, the AC was promptly put on full blast!

One thing I realized about taking pictures at Soccer was, they never stand still! It's so hard to take good pictures when they are constantly on the move. The one picture I did get of her standing still, she said to me..."MOM! NOT NOW!!" :)

So, after all of the games, the girls and I grabbed a healthy lunch at the McDonald's drive through. :) Later on in the evening, we went down to my brother-in-law's house to watch the Mayweather boxing match. I tell you what, I would love to see someone finally beat that guy. He is way too cocky. But, that will probably never happen, because truthfully he is good at what he does.

I got to see a girlfriend of mine that I hadn't seen since Easter time, and I realized how much I missed her face! :) So it was good to see her and laugh with her. The kids had a blast because there were a bunch of kids there to play with. They ended up not getting in to bed until after 1am! I told Iris, who is my early bird, that she better sleep in. Apparently, in her world, that means 9am. I swear that kid just can't miss an hour of daylight. Zoe on the other hand is good for sleeping in. She didn't end up getting out of bed till around 10:30.

Sunday was a good day here at the Escue household. Mike had the girls help him load up grass clippings (with no complaints from the girls! WHHHHAAATT?) and then he took them shopping for a special prize for helping out with no complaints and working so quickly. After that, we all had lunch at the local Mexican restaurant that we love. Later in the evening, we went to Mike's softball game. Unfortunately they lost. But, they made a pretty big comeback in the 6th inning.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better one. Hope everyone else had as good of a weekend as I did. Feel free to share any fun stuff you had going on!

As always...please feel free to email me and PLEASE follow me, by entering your email address over on the right of your screen, or leave a comment!

Here's to a great week!!

Happy Fibro Friday! (And a bit of thrift shopping too!)

2012-05-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my second "Fibro Friday"!

This week has been so-so for me. I've had a few good days, and a few bad days. But overall, I'm not complaining! I received my TENS Unit in the mail yesterday. TENS is an acronym for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. For those of you that don't know it is or what it does, its a little device that has conductor pad thingy's (yes, that is the technical term for them :) ) that send a low voltage current between pads to stimulate the nerves.

It's supposed to help with pain basically. Although, when you are using it, it feels like a tiny rubber band being snapped against your skin. So, I'm a little iffy about the whole thing. Not only the whole rubber band slapping feeling, there are also warnings all over it about where NOT to place the electrodes because of the risk of..ohh...ya know...heart attack. The thought of purposely running an electrical current through my body, low voltage or not, is a little scary for me.

I tried it out for maybe three minutes last night. That was all I could handle after I accidentally turned it all the way to the highest setting and freaked myself out!

Aside from my little mishap last night, the biggest problem I have had this week is my hips. They ache so bad when I sit for long periods of time. I hate the feeling too. It's almost a ache that feels like it needs to pop pain. Does that make sense? I've been having trouble sleeping too, but that's nothing new for me. I also found, at the beginning of the week, that I started developing a patch of Eczema on my face, right smack on my chin. (Eczema has been linked to Fibromyalgia, in case you didn't know.) It wasn't the red scaly kind of Eczema, thank goodness, but it was bumpy and itched like crazy! How do I know it was Eczema you ask? I have suffered from Eczema for years, so I have gotten pretty acquainted with its various forms. Thankfully, I keep a bottle of Aveeno Eczema lotion on hand at all times. That stuff works wonders on my skin!

Alright, enough about the Fibro for today...it's making my back hurt just thinking about it! On a brighter note, I got to spend the morning with my nephew Alex. Dude is so stinking cute! I have the pleasure of watching him a couple times a month when my sister works at my niece's pre-school. Today was one of those days. Of course I take Zoe with me, and she entertains the heck out of him! She's crazy and that seems to make him extremely happy. :)

He is so special to me, probably in part because I always wanted a boy. (but I completely love my little girls!) Now, "dudeman" was born with a club foot, so he has really been through the ringer getting it corrected. He was in a full leg cast for several weeks, and now he has these crazy looking boot things that has a bar connecting them.

But I tell you what, those bars don't keep him from doing anything! He can crawl faster than the wind, and he can roll all over the place. He definitely doesn't let it keep him down.

Once my sister got home, we ventured South to my house and picked Iris up from school. Then we headed out to a new little flea market that opened recently...can anyone say jackpot! For the most part it was junk, but I did find a few things that were ridiculously cheap. I came across five vintage tablecloths that were in great condition. Now, if you like vintage tablecloths like I do, you know how crazy expensive they can be. I have seen them in upwards of thirty dollars or so. Well, this thrifty shopper paid a total of $5.50 for all five, together. I couldn't believe my luck! Two of them are Christmas patterns, and those can go for a good bit of change on Etsy and Ebay.

My next "treasure" was a vintage 1950's/60's Samsonite travel case. Now, I just found this sold on Ebay for $15.00...I paid $1.49 for it. Are you kidding me??? So, yes it is a bit rusty around the metal bits, but that just adds to its charm. I am debating on what to do with it though. Keep it and use it to store craft supplies, display it around the house or re-sell it. Knowing me, I will end up keeping it. I hate to give up a good piece.

My last find was a vintage 1950's Androck flour sifter. This thing is so cool. I normally don't like anything with ducks or geese on it, but they just totally fit this piece, and I was in need of a flour sifter. I found this piece sold on Ebay for up to $16.50 and I paid a whopping...wait for it.... .49 cents for it!

Seriously, I couldn't have gotten any luckier. The vintage fairy was on my side today. I also came across some vintage magazines (another of my favorites to collect) and a Physics book from 1915. I paid .75 each for those. Not too shabby of a day.

So, now that I have shared my most recent finds, how about you share some of yours...so I can be completely jealous! Well, I am off to make the kids dinner. (i.e. The Papa Johns delivery guy is here) I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

And don't forget, shoot me an email just to say hi, if you have questions or maybe a suggestion. Comment, comment, comment! :) And I finally added my email subscription thingy, so please subscribe to make sure you know what's going on!

Who Would Have Thunk It Could Work...

2012-05-03T18:11:00.002-07:00

Good day readers! Today I am going to walk you through one of the easiest but most fun and kid friendly projects ever.

**Note: You will start seeing the finished product first, before I go into the step-by-step, so you know what you are going to be looking at! Sorry for the previous tutorials where I didn't do this. But hey, it's a learning process, right?**

I found this project on Pinterest (LOVE that website) a few months back and I have been dying to try it. Finally, this blog gives me a reason to try out all these things I want to do!! You basically grab a canvas, a bottle of Elmer's Glue, and pencil and some paint. Simple.

What I did next is totally optional, if you would rather free-hand just skip this step. I drew out the basic picture I wanted to "glue draw" ,with a pencil. I liked doing this so I could see before applying the glue what it would look like.

Once you have the basic layout, start drawing with glue! Now, what I did find is that it is best to hold the tip of the bottle directly on the canvas if you want it to match your drawing lines perfectly. I did not discover this until I was almost done, but I liked the way it turned out anyway, so I didn't bother starting over.

This is what it looked like when I was done with the glue part of the project. Now comes the waiting...and more waiting...and even more waiting. The thicker the glue, the longer it will take to set. Finally after several hours of drying ( I may have over done it, but I wanted to make sure it was really dry. I didn't want the paint to smear the glue!), just start painting until your heart's content! You could use one color, or you could do a mixture of several colors. It all depends on the look you are going for. For purposes of this tutorial, I painted it one color.

And there you have it, the finished product. I did learn a few lessons throughout the process. As I mentioned before, keep the tip of the glue bottle against the canvas as you "draw" with it. I think the next time I do one of these, I am going to make the glue a little heavier to give it even more texture and 3-D appearance.

I hope you enjoy trying this as much as I did. Please feel free to post your own work, or shoot me an email with questions! Comments are always appreciated so please leave me one!

Until tomorrow, have a great evening!

What A Pretty Little Re-purpose

2012-05-02T12:10:00.002-07:00

Good day to all, hope it's going well for you! Whilst in the garage/studio yesterday, I came across a project that I started about...oh...maybe a year ago. It wasn't like it was a big, complicated thing either...I just never got around to finishing it! Ahhhh, I tell you...I have GOT to get my procrastination under control.

Anyway, I figured I would go ahead and finish it here and let you see the tale end of what I had done and explain the rest. I want to make more, that's all I can say. Here's the rundown:

About a year ago, I was perusing the bins at the Goodwill Outlet and came across this tacky little wooden sort of frame/shadow box. I can't really explain it because I don't know myself what it really was. At any rate, as soon as I turned it on it's side I realized I had to have it. It was made from old yard sticks!

Seriously, how awesome is this? And so easy to make I am sure! Moving on...next I covered the really, really, really tacky image of country ducks in dresses and bonnets up with a pretty and simple scrapbooking paper. I knew I wanted it to look like the sky but no so obviously so.

Next, I crafted some flowers out of old scrap wire that I had lying around (doesn't everyone have that?) and a gear for one flower head, and a flower brad for the other one. Glue gun at the ready, I attached the flowers to the bottom with a bit of hot glue.

After letting the glue dry (i.e. searching furiously for my bag of moss), I cut up some natural moss and glued it along the base of the inside, thereby covering any glue from the flowers too.

Note: If you are going to attempt something like this, a word of advice...put down some newspaper or another type of covering because the moss makes a huge mess! (Note to self as well...I learned the hard way.)

Now, for the finished product...as always, let me know what you think and please, leave me comments!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the day! I am off to tend to these strange, obnoxiously loud beings that I call my children! :)

Tuesdays Rainy Day Tutorial

2012-05-01T17:15:00.002-07:00

Man is it raining here! It has been raining off and on all day, along with all evening last night. I love it though! Truth be told, I prefer the rainy, cool and cloudy days to the hot, humid and miserable ones.

Since Zoe had me up all night, and I was up early this morning with Iris, I decided to throw together a little hair pin tutorial. Granted, it is now evening, but I promise I worked on the project at seven this morning.

This tutorial is really simple (that's the way I like 'em) and really cute. I am a huge fan of bobby pins, and I have a small stockpile of them all over the house...in my car...in my purse...just about everywhere you can imagine. So this morning, I pulled a few out and decided to "spruce" them up a bit. I gathered my supplies, which consisted of: My trusty glue gun, scissors, a few bobby pins and a silver clip, buttons, flowers, game chips and a bit of felt for the backing.

The first one I made was with a pink plastic flower that had a flat back. I decided (after the fact and trial and error, truthfully) that I should probably add a bit of felt to the back for some support. You will see what I mean in just a minute. What I ended up doing, after finding that trying to apply the felt after attaching the flower was a major PIB (Pain In the Behind), was sliding the felt bit on first, adding the glue and then applying the flower. Apply a little pressure and voila! You have a pretty little flashy bobby pin!

I tried this on myself, and it looks really cute and dainty...and NO, I am not posting a picture of myself wearing it...I haven't done my hair today...sorry! But trust me when I say, it would be really cute on anyone's "do", but especially in a little girls.

The second clip I made was with the silver clip. I was rummaging through my studio (i.e. my converted garage) looking for bits and baubles and I came across a cute little crocheted flower. Don't ask me where it came from, I have lost track of where anything comes from anymore. At any rate, instead of collecting dust in my much under used studio, it will now sit pretty in one of my girls hair!

As you can see, I was able to apply the flower and not worry so much about having an issue getting the felt on. I think after today, I may stick to these types of clips and alligator clips for awhile. :)

So, So cute! This one turned out to be my favorite of the morning. I may even have to keep this one from the girls and wear it myself.

For the third one, I used another crocheted flower, along with a little metal flower embellishment and added it to a bobby pin. to get the two flowers together, I simply glued them. Easy Peasy!

Ya know, come to think of it now...I think this one might be my favorite. Its so dainty and...well...just...cute.

This would be really cute for a wedding, or first birthday.

Speaking of first birthdays, this last clip has that in mind. Well, in my mind it did anyway. Too bad I don't know any little girls turning one!

I had a random wood game piece with a number one on it. I immediately thought of how cute it would be to do one like this for each birthday year...until they got old enough to to tell you to knock it off anyway. :)

Same principles applied here, I slid the felt between the prongs first (my mind is in such a fog, I literally had to Google "what are those little arms on the bobby pin called?"...Lord help me.) and then applied the glue and finally attached the game piece.

So all in all, I made four clips this morning. Not too shabby for four hours of sleep and terrible coffee!

I am having so much fun with this blog so far! I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. Let me know what you think of my ideas and please feel free to post your own work! Have a great evening everyone, I'm off to finish my latest read, The Hollow by Jessica Verday. (Love this book!)

Monday, Monday...(sing along with me!)

2012-04-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

If you read my last post, you will know I had a pretty rough weekend where my Fibro is concerned. But, that didn't stop me from spending a few hours at one of my favorite antique malls, Southport Antique Mall. I swear, I could have spent the night in that place. I went for a purpose, and lost it about a third of the way through. I went looking for a First Communion gift for my daughter Iris for the next day. (I know, Mother of the year right here, waiting till the last possible moment.) I ended up leaving with that gift, plus some vintage baseball and basketball cards for my husband (big kid at heart) and a bunch of wishes for a wad of cash to burn.

Since I don't like to give just the typical cliche kinds of gifts on special occasions, I ended up buying my daughter an antique rosary, that is supposedly from the Civil War Era. (making it roughly 150-160 years old!) It really is a pretty piece and she likes it because she knows how much I appreciate old things, and I don't buy them for people who aren't special to me. :) Tell me what you think about the piece pictured below, is it as old as claimed to be? Either way, she loves it and I do too. The best part, and most important part when dealing with questionable antiques, is that I didn't pay a lot of money for it.

The mass for my daughter's First Communion was really nice. And although I am not a practicing Catholic anymore (12 years in Catholic school was enough for me.), I am happy that she has found something to believe in. Mass was over an hour and a half long! Luckily the Priest is a funny old guy who cracks jokes and doesn't "preach" too much. Afterwards we went over to the little parish center for a party and pictures. My daughter Zoe told her sister "You look like you just got married Sissy!". It is true, the whole white long dress and veil really does look wedding-ish.

Now, mind you, Zoe had a make-up T-ball game (Go White Sox!), and she showed up to the party in her uniform. I don't normally dress her this way, although, she might prefer it. :)

*As a side note, according to Zoe her team won (they don't keep score) and she hit a home run (impossible). My husband, who coaches the team, did say that Zoe was one of the only players that actually went for the ball when it was hit by the other team! That would explain the grass stains all over her pants I suppose...

Anyway, after a long day of church, party, T-ball and shopping, the girls and I decided to play "Beauty Shop". I had recently purchased a set of hot rollers (I'm old school) and a curling iron with the hopes that my hair was long enough to curl into soft waves. Sadly, I was wrong. I ended up looking like Shirley Temple. On a little girl, cute. On a thirty-blah blah blah year old woman, horrifying. The girls results were so much better than mine, that I had to take a few pictures. Ok, so a few might be a fib...more like fifteen or twenty would be about right. I can't help it though, it's the photographer in me.

You see what I mean about the Shirley Temple look? On Zoe it's adorable! I love it and so did she. Too bad her hair is so fine still that the curls fell out about an hour later!

Iris' hair is so thick I am jealous. Except for when it comes to brushing it. OUCH. But it is so beautiful. Her curls stayed in a bit longer and now I am being told that we should do it every morning before school...yeah, sure. :)

So far so good for this lovely Monday. It's getting ready to storm pretty good here so I need to get my jammies on and get a good book started...it's gonna be that kind of evening and I can't wait.

Fibro Friday (3 days late)

2012-04-30T12:02:00.001-07:00

Ok, ok, so I know I am two days late with this, but my post actually has to do with the reason for my delay. It's so hard to put into words the kind of pain I experience everyday, and the whole journey I have made to get to this point but I will try.

I was diagnosed with "Fibromyalgia" about a year ago. Like I said in my welcome post, I am still on the fence about the whole diagnosis. I KNOW I have pain 24/7, I know it can be really hard to manage at times and I know that it will probably never go away. I have had so many CT scans, MRI's, X-rays and blood work that I don't know if there isn't a part of my body that hasn't been invaded in some way. The scale tipping moment that told me this isn't just about getting older, was about two years ago when I had a migraine so severe that I ended up in the ER. While there, I received a "migraine cocktail" that contained three different drugs to kick the migraines behind. And it did, but it left me with numbness and then a fiery pain so severe, in my hip/buttock area, that I couldn't even walk. At the time the doctor thought I had some nerve damage from the shot, ergo the first in a series of scans. Nothing turned up. Nothing at all. And so began the long and tedious journey of trying to figure out what exactly was causing my pain.

The pain has never gone away and it progressed so much that I had trouble getting out of bed most mornings. Eventually the pain spread to my upper back. I literally woke up one morning and couldn't turn my head. That pain too never went away. My trapezoid and rhomboid muscles are so tense all the time that I have lost all curvature in my neck, a condition called Cervical Kyphosis.

I usually sleep with heat patches on my shoulder and hip and it takes me about an hour in the morning to fully wake and be able to do the simplest of tasks.

I finally started seeing a Pain Management Specialist. He is WONDERFUL. I finally feel like I am going to make some progress and I don't feel like he is just brushing me off. I spent two hours talking with him during my initial appointment and he never once hurried me along (not that I felt like anyway!). He immediately scheduled some tests and procedures and prescribed some medication without making me feel like a drug addict.

As of today, I have had 3 injections in my back. One in the Piriformis muscle, one in the Sacroiliac joint and one in the Rhomboid Trigger Point. So far so good as far as the Piriformis and Sacroiliac shots are concerned. Not so much with the Rhomboid Trigger Point injection. And that, my friends, stinks. The Rhomboid issue causes my arm and hand to ache and go numb, causes terrible headaches and jaw pain and generally just hurts like Hades.

Soooooo, my delay in getting my first Fibro post done was due to a really bad week-end and weekend. (Does that make sense?) I was so mad at myself for not having the energy to type this, but, I have learned through all of this, to give myself a break every once in awhile. Anyone here with Fibro will understand what I mean.

Here is to a better week ahead to me, and a wonderful week to you!

The First Tutorial! - Washi Tape

2012-04-26T20:49:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far, thank goodness it's almost over! Then comes a weekend full of tee-ball (Zoe) and Soccer (Iris) games!

Today I decided to try out my tutorial skills. Bear with me here while I get my feet wet. I've visited a lot of blogs that have tutorials on them and they can vary from completely vague to overly detailed...I would like to be somewhere in between. I mean, I don't want to make you think I think you are an idiot now do I? NO! But, at the same time, I also don't want to leave you in the dark and wonder "How did she get to that point?". I also didn't want to start off with some crazy hard project. Mainly because my kids are insane and I don't have the time! :) So, I figure Washi Tape is a good starting point. It's so easy to make and so versatile, I just wish I would have found out earlier!!

So....here we go! I'm going to show you how I am using my homemade Washi Tape to embellish my blog's "calling card".

Step one is to find a good double sided tape. I found that Scotch 3m Scrapbooking Tape is a really good one.

After you have found a good, strong tape, the next step is the best step! Finding the paper or fabric you want to apply.

With so many patterns out there, the possibilities are endless. I chose a piece of polka dotted tissue paper. I really like the tissue because it is lightweight, and still appears somewhat transparent once applied to the tape. But, for added texture, fabric or even scrapbooking paper would work well too.

Once you have completed the daunting task of choosing the pattern you want, (Oh the injustice of so many pretty choices, right?) and cutting it to size, you carefully apply the tape sticky side down (duh!). Make sure you get a good hold on the paper, and that there are no air bubbles or buckling. You can either do this with your fingertip, or use a brayer if you have one.

Once you have the tape secured to the paper, simply trim around it with scissors. Depending on the width of the tape you use, you could even use specialty scissors to create a patterned edge for an extra flair! (I love it when a good idea comes to me spontaneously. Note to self: Invest in pretty scissors!!)

Now, you have your very own, homemade Washi Tape! Like I said earlier I am using mine to embellish my cards. Since I already had them printed, I just needed to peel and stick and voila!

A much prettier and much more unique calling card! Just make sure when peeling the paper off of the other side of the tape, you don't accidentally "kink" it. I did this and although I was able to "un-kink" it, I found it left a little crease. This was probably because I used a thin tissue.

The possibilities are, literally, endless. Embellish a candle holder, envelopes, stationary, picture frames...I could go on and on and on and....well, you get the idea. Endless. Possibilities. Period.

I hope this little beginning tutorial was helpful and inspiring. Ive seen Washi Tape on Etsy and other craft sites and the prices are crazy! I think I paid $5.00 for the roll of tape, and the tissue was from a box of old scraps I bought at the Goodwill Outlet last year. Way more cost effective, and I can say that I made it.

I would love to see what you have come up with, or other ways of making Washi Tape. Post a comment, or shoot me an email with your own ideas! Let's get creative!

Meet The Fam...

2012-04-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

As I said in my intro, my girls are my entire world. However, I failed to mention that I also have a dog (my third daughter) and three, yes three cats. I must be crazy right? Right. My husband is pretty awesome too. He is the male version of myself...for the most part. That is actually a scary thought...hmmm...At any rate, these people are my world. They inspire me everyday to be a better mom, wife, pet owner and person in general. Introducing the people in my life that make life worth living.


This is my beautiful daughter Iris. She is eight going on eighteen. She is my little "fashionista"...I envision her designing her own clothing line one day and I will be front row at her very first runway show! She is so smart and so funny, but man can this girl have a total "diva" attitude!!


This is my funny girl Zoe. She will be five next month! I can't believe my baby will be in Kindergarten! This little girl is the funniest kid I have ever known in my life. If I am having a bad day, this one right here is an instant pick me up. She is also my little artist in training. She loves to create and draw.

And of course, I must introduce my animal babies! What kind of mother would I be if I didn't???

Greta Bear

Kitty Girl

Smokey Boy

Tucker Man

My husband is such a hard guy to get a really good picture of. He is either making a really weird face, or he avoids the camera all together. Bah! But, I did find my most favorite picture of all. The day our daughter Zoe was born. The look on his face is one of pure happiness and wonderment. I love it. He is such a good father and he is such a wonderful husband. I am so lucky to have found him (and actually been able to snag him!).

So, that is my family. I love, love, love them. And I'm pretty sure they love me too. ;) They better, or they can do their own laundry!

A Peek Into The Past

2012-04-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

So, since my first post was an introduction about me and I mentioned that I was an artist, I figured I better make good on that claim! I took art all through high school, so I spent most of those four years doing art projects that I really wasn't interested in. Figure drawing, pottery and such just are not my thing. I don't like being told what direction I have to go in either! So, as an adult, I have played with many different styles and forms and found that mixed media is a favorite of mine. I also like to make jewelry and other accessories. I get a lot of my materials from the oddest places. "Found Objects" you might say. I love, love, love The Goodwill Outlet. If you don't have one in your area, start a protest! It has to be the greatest store ever. You basically rummage through massive bins of the "unwanted" donations that the stores don't take. Boy, they have no idea what they are missing out on!!! I have found some great vintage papers, fabrics, books, etc...and pay next to nothing for it because you pay for it by the pound! Anyway, enough of a plug for the Goodwill... :) I also acquired a lot of objects for my art from various family members, friends and so on. Here is just a small sampling (i.e. I cant seem to locate all of my pictures, grrrrrrr), of some of the pieces I have worked on. As I, ehem..., locate more pictures of my work I will be sure to share. And please, if you see something you like and want to try it out for yourself but don't know where to begin, let me know! I am always glad to pass on any "industry secrets". But truthfully, I work by trial and error, and more error, and more error....and, well you get the picture. Art is always a work in progress!!

This piece was actually one of my famous "Trial and Error" projects, I liked the way it turned out so much, i ditched all the others and framed this one...NOT what the intended finished project was supposed to be though.


A broken and mismatched earring turned awesome (and heavy) ring


I actually made this for my daughter whose name is Iris. I printed an image of an Iris onto an old dictionary (it was in bad shape anyway, and then I hand colored.


Mixed Media piece made with a vintage photograph, vintage buttons, vintage newspaper and then hand cut bits for the wings, legs and body...added a bit of sparkle with some glitter and aged the paper with ink.

So, as you can see, I am a jack of all trades and a master of absolutely NONE. But, I am good with that. Its fun to create and see what you can come up with. Sometimes I surprise myself even! Again, if you ever see anything you like that I post, please let me know and I can always post a tutorial! Hope everyone has a great week...until tomorrow...

Here We Go!!

2012-04-20T14:14:00.001-07:00

Welcome, welcome, welcome! So, this is my first official blog entry. I am so excited to be finally posting this!

Now, I did a lot of research to make sure I got this thing running in the best possible manner. I poured over countless other blogs and websites. My biggest hang up was “How do I possibly introduce myself to the whole entire world??”. After a ton of stressing and procrastinating, I finally just decided to just wing it. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce...ME!

My name is Sascha, pronounced SASH-UH. Believe me, that's the easiest way to explain it. Born and raised in the Midwest, I am lucky to have a good appreciation for both the big city and the country alike. I am Thirty-blah blah blah years old (Not giving away just everything!) and I am married with two little girls (divas), Iris and Zoe. I have been married now (2^nd time around, ack) for almost five years. I am a stay at home/ work at home mom and I wouldn’t have that any other way. I have worked in Real Estate for about 13 years now, in some form or fashion. And while I really love it, I am soooooo tired of working for “The Man”. My passions in life are my family, arts and crafts, photography and reading my beloved books. I am a total bookworm that only just blossomed in my adulthood. Before age twenty-five, you couldn’t get me to touch a book let alone read one! I love my crazy life, even if there aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. I absolutely detest laundry and I would swear that dust bunnies across the globe have come together (in my house) just to irritate me. I love to tell stories, I am all hands, crazy facial expressions and really bad voice impressions. My mom always tells me I should have been a stand up comedian, but somehow I just don’t think anyone else would appreciate my animated story telling like they do.

Now, what exactly do I plan on doing with this blog? Well, my intentions are to share, inspire and relate to others. I have a mind full of projects (along with a studio of half-finished ones) that I would love to share with others! I plan on posting tutorials, along with pictures, of current and past projects I have done. I find so much inspiration from other peoples work, and now I want to pay that forward and be the inspiration for others.

As I said earlier, I’m a mother to two little girls. They are my entire world. I would not be who I am now without them. They drive me absolutely insane, but I love them to absolute pieces. Having said that, sometimes they completely hinder my much needed arts and crafts time! I usually find myself creating at the most odd times of the day. I get sooooooo frustrated when I have this “brilliant” idea in my head and have to end up waiting til 3am, when insomnia takes over, to actually do something! So, my second intention is to show others that it IS manageable. You can be a great mom and a great artist all at once. You just have to be...creative. :)

Something I didn’t mention in my initial intro, that I plan on blogging about, is my “Fibromyalgia”. I put that in quotations for the simple fact that the issue of whether Fibro is a “real” condition seems to be a hot topic, and unfortunately it feels like there is a stigma attached to the diagnosis. And let me tell you , that sucks. I hurt ALL THE TIME. I have had every possible test run to rule out nerve issues, bone fractures, Thyroid issues...you name it, I've done it. I am a close personal friend of all x-ray, CT and MRI machines within a 20 mile radius...trust me. I will go into the specifics in a later post because I have officially, as of just this moment, made Fridays here “Fibro Fridays”! In all sincerity though, it is an issue that is near and dear to me because it has changed my life in so many ways it's crazy. Along with being a mother and an artist, I am also able to be a chronic pain sufferer and an artist...again it just takes some creativity.

So, that is me...for now...I am really excited to begin this journey and I truly hope you will join me! Its sure to be a lot of fun and hopefully even more helpful to others that might find themselves experiencing some of the same “life's little quirks" like myself. Please feel free to leave me comments or send me an email to feisty.blatherings@gmail.com. It can be something good or constructively critical, I appreciate a bit of everything. And be sure to check back often as I am determined to make this the one blog you will be sure to come back to!

Enjoy!