I'll be back soon!

I have had a crazy month or two. Been sick a lot, had a piriformis injection for pain, and right now my sweet kitty Pooky is real sick, I have a lot of posting I want to do, a sweet blogger gave me an award which I want to acknowledge and thank but right now my main concern is taking care of my kitty I am real worried about her, but I wanted to tell you all I will be back real soon, I hope to paint walls before Christmas and then do the decorating so I will have lots to show you. Thanks for your patience everyone! :O)

Tagged, kitties, afghan and collage change! :O)

I have been tagged (yes quite a while ago, I am so sorry!) by sweet Britt of Sparkled Vintage Charm! http://sparkledvintagecharm.blogspot.com/ I love her blog, such pretty things, and she is so nice, also she loves the venetian mirror glass like I do, except she has much more of it than I do! Lucky girl!

So here are the rules for my tagging~

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. Share 7 facts about YOU: some random, some weird...all devastatingly interesting.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list theirnames (linking to them).

4. Let them know they've been tagged by comment totheir blog.

Ok, these may be weird, but I don't know about devastatingly intersting though! LOL!

1. I am crazy about writing lists, I must write a list for everything, haha, drives my Hubby crazy!

2. My closet is super organized, it's separated not only by pants, shirts, skirts, dresses, tops, but then those are separated by color, ie pink, blue, white ..., then each color is separated into order of sleeveless/cami, then short sleeve Tshirt, short sleeve blouses, long sleeve t's, blouses, long cardigan, long sweater and so on. Oh my! :OP

3. Ugh, I am so anal I could just do the post about how anal I am, lol! Well I Love to organize! I mean it makes me feel so happy to organize a drawer, or closet, I feel so satisfied!

4. Ok If I am teasing one of the cats, like Oh you are too fat to jump up there, or you are so weird for doing that, I will then tell her that I am just teasing, because I am worried I will hurt her feelings! lol. Ok, I know the cat has no idea what I am saying, but I do it anyway!

5. I am very very shy! Which starting a blog is a funny thing to do when you are shy, but I did! I get very nervous around people I don't know, more so in person than online. But this decorating/crafting blogging community is so very friendly I knew I wanted to do it. I am not quite as shy as when I was younger, and I can deal with it now, but in the past I have had people think I was a snob just because I didn't talk much because I was shy. Although when I am around people I am close to or comfortable with, I am not shy at all! heehee just ask them!

6. I was into fashion and decorating very young, when I was a toddler I wanted to pick out my own outfits! Mom said I did pretty good and almost always matched well! When I was a teen I used to help my Mom decorate and rearrange the house, we had fun together doing that!

7. Another child thing, I learned to read very young, I was 2 years old when I started reading, my Mom thought at first I was memorizing the stories but then she turned to a part in the book I never saw or heard and I started reading it no problem. Oh boy what has happened to my brains now!!! :O)

Ok, that is what I could think of right now, not extremely interesting, but weird yes. I'm sure there is weirder but you know how it is, when you have to think about it then you can't think of a thing!

So I am going to tag some people...........

Lea from Little Ranch and Candy at midnight : http://littleranch2007.blogspot.com/ http://candyatmidnight.blogspot.com/

And Jenn from Sweet eye candy creations http://www.sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/

And also Lori from Pink Faded Roses http://pinkfadedroses.blogspot.com/

You guys are tagged! Hope you don't want to strangle me! haha! :O)

Ok, on to the pics.............

The first one is the vintage wedding collage, yes I know I posted it last time, but one thing with me, and boy I could've listed this for a weird thing! But I am always changing things until I get them they way I want them, or if my colors change which is what happened. I decided that my color scheme, which is pink, blue, green and white and cream, well I will use a brown accent with it instead of the red I had. At least in the living and dining room. So that meant going back to the first afghan I started that had brown in it. Well my collage, what I changed was the top and bottom of the middle row, I added some brown ruffly paper, it's like a packing material, gift bag stuff. And then I added a dark pink and mint green ribbons. Otherwise it stayed the same.

Here is the progress up to a few days ago on my original afghan, that's the second and third pics. I love those colors too, so soft. My cat Pooky likes sitting on it while it's on my lap while I'm crocheting!!

Ok the last two pics are of my sweet adorable kitties! I told you about their brother Sammy who passed away in July in the last post, well these are my other two who are still with us. The brown and grey kitty is Speedy, she is 17 and she is my shadow! She is so sweet and loves to nap with me and cuddle! I just adore her! And the black and white tabby is Pooky, she is 16, and she is adorable! She will nap with me sometimes too, and loves to be petted! She is a goofball just like her sister! They are both very sweet and friendly and loving cats and they are the best cats ever! (including Sammy) Aren't they cute! They love to purr too! Speedy will start purring if I pet her or even talk to her, or even if she just sees me she will purr!

I changed the pic at the top and the colors to reflect my new decorating colors. I might change the pic at the top again, but for now I like it until I get a new pic together.

Well that is all for now, I am going to try to post sooner than I have been, I have so many more things to show you and talk about! :O)

Oh and I thanked everyone and answered any questions in the comments section of my last post! ;O)

Have a great day!

Erin :O) <3

Hi I'm back, a kitty I loved and will miss,and I jumped on the collage bandwagon! :O)

Hi Everyone, I am back, sorry for the posting lag, soon I will get this blog going better! First I want to thank everyone who has posted such nice compliments and comments to me, I want you all to know how much I appreciate it, I have been able to respond to some of you, but I know I may have missed some, so I want you all to know I appreciate the comment and your visits! :O)

I also haven't visited everyone and all my new friends as much as I want to, so I am sorry for that and want to visit and comment more soon!

Also, Britt from Sparkled Vintage Charm http://sparkledvintagecharm.blogspot.com/ has tagged me, so tomorrow I am going to try to do the tagging post! Thanks Britt! :O) Her blog is lovely and so is she, so go visit!

The first two pics above are my wedding topper from our wedding cake, I wanted to give it a vintage feel. I added some vintage millinery forget me nots ( that I got from Heather Bullard at Present Past Collection http://www.thepresentpast.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_32&zenid=4e325fb9adf141d84190690d579165e0 I am going to post soon about the wonderful experience I had with her and another great shop too!)

I also added a satin ribbon, I would like to find either some vintage ribbon sometime, something a little wider would be better I think, and in the middle of the bow is a vintage rhinestone pin. And on the bodice of her dress I put crystal glitter. The two pink bells on the right side I put to represent wedding bells, they are actually Christmas ornaments, Simply Shabby Chic brand from Target, I got them on ebay in pink and turquoise and I love them! I like the embellishments, I think they spiff it up and make it look a little less modern, and more vintage, plus it has yellowed some, the lace and flowers, over the past almost 14 years. Well, I like it and think it turned out nice.

The third and fourth pics are my cat Sammy who we had to put to sleep in July, he was 17. His kidneys were shutting down and he got real sick, for all of july we were busy taking care of him and cleaning up after him, and then we realized he was getting worse and it was time. I don't feel like going into details of it all, but it was a hard time. I have had a hard time too every since he passed getting myself together, we miss him so much. Thankfully we still have 2 wonderful kitties, one 17, Speedy, and one 16, Pooky, I will post pics of them next time with my tagged post, but when we had the 3 of them they were like the three musketeers (or was it stooges? lol! ) and I had cats in my childhood who I really was close to and loved, but these three cats are the best I have ever had, and being an adult I don't know, they just are so special to me and part of the family, I don't know what I will do when they all are gone, I know we will get more, I always want to have cats, I can't imagine not having at least 2 cats around, but there will never be cats as special as these three. Sammy, you were a sweet amazing kitty, I loved how you would "talk" to us all the time, and I miss you sitting on my lap all the time too, I wish you were here right now I miss you.

On to the others, sorry it's very difficult to talk about, thanks for listening.

Ok, that fifth pic is a new one of me, taken a month ago, I rarely take pics where I don't blink, or my eyes are closed, or I look goofy or sleepy etc, lol, so when I take a half decent pic I am excited haha! Oh, the decorations on the entertainment center have changed too!

The sixth pic is of the collage I made! I have seen so many collages on many blogs, and I think they are all so beautiful and loved the idea, so I wanted to do one of my own. The first attempt didn't turn out like I wanted, so the next day I ripped it all apart, ugh, and started over. I gave a lot of thought and came up with a wedding theme! I thought of the wedding theme because I had just done the wedding topper!

Ok above is a close up of two of the panels, they aren't really squares like other people had done, I just divided it up so the stuff fit into panels, and I didn't get it quite even but oh well! The top is a bouquet of those vintage forget me nots I got, with a little fan of pink crepe paper behind it and some red rick rack tied on. I like the tiny touch of red, it breaks up all the pink and blue and adds a little brightness to it, plus I have touches of red in my decorating with the pink, turquoise, white and green. So It's the bride's bouquet. Above the bouquet is a vintage rhinestone earring, it was a clip earring that I took the back off of, really beautiful. I love vintage jewelry.

The background of the whole collage is pages from a vintage sheet music book I have, it's from the 60's I believe and it's Mozart Sonatas and Fantasies for the Piano. It's a big book, and quite advanced, so I knew I wouldn't be able to play all of these ( I am probably intermediate piano player) so I figured using some pages here and there for artwork wouldn't hurt, and I love Mozart. Plus the pages are yellowed a little bit around the edges and I thought that looked cool. I used the first page of the Sonata in the middle, then the next page I ripped in half and used on either side. The panels are divided by pink rick rack and the bottom has pink crepe paper ruffle trimmed with turquoise ribbon with white polka dots, the same ribbon I used to hang it with.

The blue box under the bouquet is from my MIL, it holds a pale blue and white garter with white vintage forget me nots on it, it was my Mother in laws from her wedding in the 60's that she gave to me, and I cherish it and wore it for my wedding. It says "For the bride, Something borrowed something blue" and as you can see it is from Carlisles in Pittsburgh Pa (where we live). What is cool is my Mother got her wedding dress from Carlisles too. Apparently they were "The" place to go. I thought the box itself was so gorgeous and looked cool on the collage. I only put a few dabs of hot glue on the bottom to hold it on, so the lid still comes off and the garter is inside, and darnit I forgot to take a pic with the lid off and the garter, oh well maybe another time.

The above pic is a wedding favor my MIL gave me from a wedding she went to. I thought it was cute, it only had the blue mints, the bride and groom, and the pale blue tulle and ribbon originally. I added the vintage forget me nots ( they are pink and blue but the flash washed them out ), the tiny pink rick rack bow and the pink and blue crepe paper fans behind it.

Ok these panels above the top one I put a snowflake with silver glitter, it is actually a Christmas ornament, I have a bunch of them, and I just put it there because I wanted something glittery, LOL! :O)

The middle panel is those same Shabby Chic bell ornaments I have on the wedding topper. Again they signify wedding bells.

The bottom panel, the rhinestone frame is actually a photo frame, I have several of these some in pink and turquoise too, so I took the two clear ones and took the brace off the back and glued more vintage forget me nots in pink in it ( Yes I am totally obsessed with those forget me nots! ) and those are like the bridesmaids bouquets! I thought the rhinestones added more bling, and I love bling.

Ok, now this top panel is a pale green satin bow that when I got my vintage flowers from Heather Bullard she wrapped this ribbon around the box, it's just gorgeous and I am sure vintage, and I loved it so much I knew I had to use it on something. I added some more of the tiny pink rick rack (vintage too) and a vintage rhinestone pin in the middle. Yes it's the same as the pin on my wedding topper bow, I had two of them. I think the touch of green does the same as the touch of red and breaks up the pink and blue and compliments those colors as well. It could be the bow for the brides dress or the bridesmaids, or in the hair or whatever you could imagine!

The middle panel is a dove with gold glitter on the edges. It was a part of a vintage Christmas pick (had greenery and stuff) And I used it to signify the Holy Spirit.

The bottom panel is the same as the bottom panel on the right that I talked about above. Another rhinestone frame with vintage forget me nots , the bridesmaids bouquet. I made those two panels the same because I liked to have a little symmetry to the collage, I am funny like that, I like things casual, but I always have to have a tiny touch of symmetry in my decorating.

So that's my vintage wedding collage! I think it turned out ok for my first collage ever! :O)

Well I have a lot to post about in the coming posts. The next post as I said I will do my tag from Britt as soon as possible. I also want to post about two shops (they also have blogs) that I have bought things from, I had a great experience at both and want to recommend them to you. I went to the flea market for the first time last month and again last weekend and HAVE to show you guys all the beautiful goodies I got at such cheap prices! Also my online (and real life, even though we've only talked on the phone) Friend Elaine sent me some VERY beautiful goodies, she goes to thrift stores to find goodies and found some that she thought I would love and sent them to me! She is a sweet thoughtful person, and I need to show you the stuff.
Lastly a lot is going on with me decorating wise, we are going to paint our living and dining room and up the stairs a robin's egg blue, I think it will be gorgeous and I can't wait to do it! The white trim and doors, and all my accesories, afghan, etc will just pop against that color and pull it all together. We got the turquoise and white vintage light up in the dining room, and will be bringing the 50's dining set up soon, and hope to recover it next month. We also are changing all the curtains to white ruffled cafe curtains, and replacing two chair in the living room with vintage 1914 mission chairs with 1948 upholstery, and changing the coffee and end tables too with mission tables, putting the tv on a tv stand for more room,and rearranging all the furniture! Wow! Is that all???!!! It's going to look awesome when we are done I can't wait, I think it will really capture the 40's/50's look with a Shabby Chic touch! It just takes time to buy and do it all but everything will look much better and be the way we really want it to look.

Ok, are you tired yet from reading this long ass post??? LOL! See you soon with I think it is 7 weird things about me! (only 7?? yikes, I could do more! heehee )

Thanks everyone and have a great day!

Erin :O)


PS hey, if you click on the pics they show up bigger so you can see detail!

Rick rack on a photo frame and a pretty corner

Hi, I am taking you on a tour of one corner of my living room, the other corner is for another time! :O)
Above is my corner shelf, I painted it white of course, years ago, I have family pictures on it in those little rhinestone frames that I got of all places the dollar store! The little box on the bottom I covered with paper from the inside of Cath Kidston's Vintage Style book, it is a picture of her fabric, I just ripped out the two pages and hot glued them on the box. On the top is a painting of red roses I painted, a close up is on another post below, as you can see I changed a few things there, always moving things around, lol! Love the jar of rickrack and ribbons.



Below is a close up of my scrolly mirror, has a shelf to match you will see in a pic below. Love my Holy cards and little umbrellas, flowers and butterfly, I put those everywhere I am obsessed with them! The mirror and shelf originally were painted gold but I painted them white. I have a habit of doing that. ;O)



Here below is a close up of that corner, this pic was supposed to be first, but I screwed up, Doh!
The entertainment center is realllllly old, I painted that white too because it was just that paper fake wood laminate, really ugly, looks better white. And I put on the clear vintage glass look handles on the bottom to make it look a little spiffier (is that a word? Well it is now!) They are also on that table below the mirror, which is actually a nightstand, uh, yes...painted white. :OP




Ok, moving right along, and we're walking, we're walking....lol..... Here is a close up of the top of the entertainment center.....
The birdie runner/tea towl is vintage, I added the rick rack to it. I am going to make a new embroidered runner for there (with rick rack of course) I just haven't decided what pattern to embroider yet.

And this is the photo frame I redid. It was plain wood and I painted it light turquoise and put pink baby rick rack (love) around the center, and then a bouquet of vintage flowers (love too sigh) with a rick rack bow. I just love how it turned out, in it is a picture of my Hubby and I dancing at our wedding, so romantic, we both loved that moment and remember it, this is our favorite picture. And yes, I am actually a brunette, shhhhh don't tell anyone! ;O)

Ok, here is a good close up below (click on the pics) you can see my little pink birdie with flowers, a vintage sugar cup with an umbrella, the blue frame and a red teapot/cup ~ the top is a teapot and the bottom is a cup, my Hubby's Aunt made that, isn't it cute?! The painting above is another one I painted. The lamp was originally gold and of course that got painted white too.

Okey dokey, now we have my Shabby Chic venetian glass frame from target below with another wedding pic, love this frame it's so vintage looking, love that style. Then another one of those umbrellas, and an old pink candle votive holder, then the flowers I tied a blue bow with some pink rick rack and there is a little pink butterfly in them you can see when you click on the pic, and another birdie, and the leaf shaped pink candle holder at the end was my Grandmother's from the 50's, it has a dish to match that is on my coffee table that I loooove, it will be in another post soon. And lastly, the mirror above next to the painting is from Michaels got it real cheap, but loved it, has the beveled ruffled glass edging and I replaced the ugly bow it came with, with some pretty blue with white polka dot ribbon, much better.

So there ya go, that is the corner of my living room that I stare at all day (my couch is directly across the corner) I change things around sometimes but like it how it is decorated now. Next time I may show you the other side of my living room, and soon I will have pics of an afghan update (moving more slowly than I would like) I also hope to start on some embroidery projects I have in mind soon. I hope you enjoyed the tour and have a great day! :O)

Edit: Sorry was just rereading what I posted, I didn't mean to keep saying that I "love" this and "love" that over and over, lol, I really do though! Oh well!

I have been tagged! :O)

Liz tagged me, and like her this is my first tagging ever, cool! :O)

Here you can see Liz's blog and her random facts and pretty stuff! http://fluffyknitting.blogspot.com/

Rules:1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

It is strange to have to think about yourself and come up with 8 things, that is a lot!

But here it goes!

1. Like Liz, I am a perfectionist and control freak, and it drives my Hubby crazy too, I am not spontaneous at all, LOL, and like a plan and make lists for everything. He teases me about my lists, I bought 2 notebooks and showed him saying "these are for my lists" and he said, "that is like giving a knife sharpener to an axe murderer!" LMAO !! Mr. Smarty pants he is!!!

2. This goes with my strange #1, I am picky about food, I want my food cooked etc. a certain way, and when I eat my Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I need to eat them peanut butter side down, so the peanut butter part is what you taste first, and other weird things like that! I am crazy I know.

3. I was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (still here) the best city on the planet! :O)

4. I won my 6th grade science fair, got a trophy and everything! I must admit my Mom helped me, but I still did the work!

5. I broke my arm twice in grade school, first time I was riding a pony, and something scared it, the girl let go of the reigns and the horse threw me off, I was scared because all I could see was the horse jumping up and down over top of me. I broke the lower part of my right arm and it was not fun, have never been on a horse since. The second time, a year later, I was being nosy, my parents had company coming, I was in my room and I stood on a little chair to look out the window, lost my balance and fell off on my arm, broke it again, same arm, same place, but 2 bones this time!

6. I am left handed!

7. I love action/war/guy type movies, both old and new. But they have to be good ones, not stupid no plot ones like those Jean claude Van damme movies or something with just violence, I like a good submarine movie!

8. I Love Football! As long as the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing. They are the best team ever!

Okey dokey, now for the tagging heeheehee! I hope they don't mind! :o0

I am tagging: (I noticed people were tagging 4 people, so I dunno, I will just do that)

Yvonne of Yvestown : http://www.yvestown.com/ (sorry again Yvonne, I'm a dork!)

Jane of Posy : http://www.posy.typepad.com/

Babette of Mother of purl : http://www.mother-of-purl.blogspot.com/

Cherry of Tales from Pixie Wood : http://talesfrompixiewood.typepad.com/weblog/

Go visit their blogs, they are all lovely! I will be adding more blog links soon, I have quite a few more you will love!

Oh, and are you wondering what the picture at the top is? Well I had to post a pretty picture, that is the light we are going to put up in our dining room, it is from the 50's and was my grandparents, LOVE it! That turquoise is awesome. It has a big globe that goes on it.

See we don't have an eat in kitchen, just dining room, so we are making that our vintage 40's 50's type eat in space. I have a vintage china cabinet (and a new vintage looking one) painted white of course, and we are adding the light and our old 50's kitchen table, it is round white top, chrome legs, and the chairs are chrome legs and we are going to recover them in white and light aqua blue naugahyde, it will be so awesome!

The table and chairs aren't the typical you see from that era, but they are really cute. Add a little red and white gingham table cloth, cherry napkins, embroidered table runner with rick rack trim and pink and red flowers, and ahhhhh what a cozy vintage dining room we will have! :O)

Take care everyone!

More posting to come.....

I am sorry I haven't posted much lately, like I said before I have chronic sciatica pain, and other medical problems (gastroparesis, endometriosis, hypoglycemia..) and I am not here to complain about them, but to let you know that I haven't posted lately because they have been acting up and I haven't felt well for quite a while, so I hope things will ease up soon so I can post more frequently. Hoping to make a new post next week!

I have so many things I want to post, I have managed to do a little decorating, and some projects that I need to take pictures of, and some upcoming embroidery projects (my new hobby) that I want to tell you about.

I also was thinking of doing a book review now and then, I have several decorating type books I would like to let you know about and show you some pics of.

So I have a lot of ideas for this blog, and to make and hopefully sell someday, if I can get myself together!

I just wanted to say, hang in there, I'll be back!

I also want to thank Liz for tagging me, I promise I will do that next week!!! Sorry!!!!
Here is her blog here: http://fluffyknitting.blogspot.com/

The picture above is a bit of decorating I did, a corner shelf, more pics of it later! I painted that rose painting! :O) And the rest is just pretties I put with it, the wedding favor was from a recent wedding my inlaws went to and my MIL gave it to me, I thought it was so pretty! Those little umbrellas I am addicted to! And the birdies (and butterflies as you will later see!) Oh, and shells, LOL! And the jar is just full of pretty rick rack (sigh) and ribbons!

See you all soon!!! :O)

P.S. did you know if you click on the pictures they will come up full size? I just realized that, duh! LOL! You can see the detail in my paintings more that way!

Afghan redo and a hot pink, green and turquoise pig!

Ok, so last time I posted I was going to border my afghan with red, well, it didn't look as good as I thought it might, and although I liked my afghan, it wasn't quite right, and I really wanted some red, and realized it would be better in the afghan than around the edge, so I decided to put that partially done afghan aside (I may finish it at a later time) and start another one, I needed to get the colors right, colors that made me happy. So I used most of the same colors, just eliminated the brown and cream, and added the red yarn. It was perfect, the colors go together so well, the red gives it pop, and the soft blues and pinks soften the red. Much more cheerful looking now, and has all my favorite colors! :O)

So here is what I have done so far, still quite a ways to go, but I am getting there.



It was hard to start all over again after having so much done on the other one, but I wanted to be perfectly happy with it, so it was worth it!

That's my cat Speedy on the back of the couch, her favorite spot! I think the cats are really going to like this afghan, they love fuzzy yarn stuff to sleep on.

I made this afghan wider than the other one, I like that better. Plus, being a first time crocheter, I noticed my other afghan was getting wider as I went on, oops, a rookie mistake, so I am being careful with this one that it doesn't do that, so far so good!

Also, I made the stripes on this one two rows of double crochet instead of three, I like that better. I am really happy with it, I just smile when I see those colors together!

So on to the hot pink, green and turquoise pig, LOL! This pig is a piggy bank, my Mom said she thinks it was mine as a kid, but she can't remember! It does look like it's from the 70's about. I love it so much, it's such a cute happy pig, and she even has eyelashes! She has one ear broken off, but hey, we all have had a hard life right?? ;O)

Here is a close up of her, isn't she pretty?! What a happy piggy! She reminds me of my childhood, the 70's, and summer.

That candle, the Our Lady of Guadelupe candle, I got that at Big Lots believe it or not!

So that's what's been going on with me, sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have some medical and chronic pain problems, so sometimes I just am not up to posting, but I will always be back to post later!

Coming up soon, some kitty pictures for my friend Elaine, a dish of pretty goodies I am working on, and a photo frame I am going to decorate ~ but not sure how yet ~ paint, rick rack and vintage flowers? Ribbons? Shells? Hmmm.......

Have a great day! :O)

Inspiration

I had been trying to decide what color to use as the border for my afghan, I knew it would get it's personality from the border color, and the size would be fairly thick, but not too wide, so what would I choose?

Well yesterday it hit me ~ Red! I know, Red? Well, yes, a bright almost pinky red, like a cherry red or strawberry red. Even though I don't have any red in the body of the afghan, that bright shade of pinky true red will go with the other bright colors and really make it pop, instead of being subdued and blending like it does without it. I want it to pop! LOL!

I got my inspiration from all around me, especially my fabrics. Many of my Shabby Chic fabrics have red in them, as accents to the pink and white flowers. Like above, that is a pillow, see that pretty bright red in it? Well I want to bring that out in my decorating, and in my afghan, I love that shade of red, it is bright and cheery, and looks so pretty with pink and turquoise! Plus it kind of offsets the pastely-baby-ness of the pinks and blues and pastels, so it doesn't get too, uh, baby like, and it gives it a wow pop! Just in little spurts around the room, like the edging on my afghan.

So now I have to go buy red yarn, LOL! I want to start the trim on the top, just a little, so I can see what it looks like!

Here below, you can see my pinky red flowers I have out (they are even darker and brighter in person, damn I need to figure how to turn off the flash!) and the red in the shabby chic fabric I had a close up above, and a red fleece throw I added.

Here, below, another pillow in that same fabric, and the blue pillow on the left has some pinky red too. Again, the colors are more vibrant in real life.

My afghan is getting bigger, I don't have as much time as I would like to work on it!

And here below that same Shabby Chic fabric again, lol, used as a tablecloth, over my blue roses Shabby Chic cloth, more red! Plus in the background, it's a little hard to see and washed out, but the curtains have pinky red too.

And lastly below, more, yes more, Shabby Chic pillows with red!

Also, if you scroll down a few posts to my paintings (and you can see the one at the very top of this post) you will see there is a lot of red and pinky red in my floral paintings, I even have an all red floral painting I didn't post, and need to find a place to put!

I was surprised when I realized how much red I have in things around me, and that it was the perfect accent color, especially with the turquoise and blue, and when I paint my walls blue, it will pop even more, I can't wait!

My Vintage Stripey Afghan! :O)

This is my first afghan, years ago I started a plain white one, but only did a few rows, and never finished. So this is really my first one, I taught myself to crochet about 5 years ago, and really I only know the basics, but I have fallen in love with crocheting and love it, and I plan to do a granny square afghan for Hubby with the same colors, but the light blue will be the background, and I might add a dark pink for some centers of the squares, and a big afghan for our bed, with those colors too, lol, don't know which pattern yet, maybe a ripple? I am obsessed! :O)

I have to first of all before I go on, thank Alicia Paulson for her inspiration! It was her ripple afghan you can see it here ~ http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2007/02/ripple_finale.html#comments

that gave me inspiration to do my own! I acutally went out and got yarn and started it, no, "oh I want to do that" but never actually do it, I really did it!

Also Alicia inspired me with her gorgeous granny square afghan she is working on here ~
http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2007/03/getting_the_gra.html#comments

isn't that beautiful too! You must read her blog, it is awesome!

Anyhow so I chose colors that I love and are in my decorating, I think that the green and brown tone down all the pastels so it doesn't look like a baby blanket, and for some reason it makes it look more vintage to me. I am loving it, I love the stripes with all the florals, and the multi color is so pretty, plus it makes it more fun to work on, to see how it develops.
I did end up making a pattern as you can see, I can't help it, I am anal, lol!
The colors are, in order, brown, light pink, turquoise, white, medium bright pink, green, cream and light blue.
I am just doing a double crochet, three rows of each color. Yes, the second row of brown is a little bigger than the others, I kinda screwed that one up a little, for some reason I decided to add an extra loop and stitch, kinda like a double and half crochet, except for that doesn't exist, duh! Oops, oh well, handmade imperfections give it character, right? RIGHT?? LOL!

In the above picture I have the afghan on the couch with my comforter I made out of vintage sheets and on the other side, Shabby Chic brand fabric, and the little pillow is made from fabric from JoAnn's, and the big pillow with blue flowers is vintage sheets too.

Above is a close up of it, I am currently working on the second row of cream.

And below is where it will reside when it is done. I am so happy with it!

The pillows on the left are the JoAnn fabric, and the blue with pink flowers is Shabby Chic you can buy it here ~ http://www.shabbychic.com/merchandise/bedding/sc_bed_pllw_poplin.htm

it is the boudoir pillow sham in bella rose blue, I am in love with Shabby Chic fabrics and pillows, and have tons of their stuff, in pillow shams alone, I have 17 or 18 of them! Oh my! If Hubby counted them all he would cut me off! :O0 But more about that in another post.

So that is my work in progress afghan, I am truly enjoying it and looking forward to doing more.

Butterflies and Birdies and Peeps oh my!

Here is my easter decorating, I really enjoyed doing this, spring is my favorite season, I glittered tons of stuff this easter, the lambs, some bunny statues, the eggs in the dish, and some shells and silk flowers. I just took some waterbased Varnish, you can get it in the craft paint section, and slop it on whatever you want to glitter, then sprinkle on crystal glitter and let dry! Voila, sparkly vintage inspired decorations! They used to call it "sugaring" and used real glass glitter. I love the look it gives and plan on doing it to some of my Christmas decorations.
Can you spot the peeps below in the dish?! Aren't they adorable! I have them scattered throughout my decorating. I bought them, and the birdies, and butterflies and eggs at the craft store, the butterflies came in a big pack of several, so I had to buy 2 of them, lol, if I love something I have to buy 2 of them if I can! I am obsessed with those little umbrellas too, and scatter them around as well as the butterflies.

The pink long dish was my Grandmother's from the 50's, love that pink!

Oh, and in the picure above, on the couch is my vintage stripey afghan I am working on, more about that soon!

These lambs are vintage, they were my Mom's, same with the baskets, I glittered them both, but the baskets just the inside and the handles, I did the handles because they had broken and it hides the glue! Love these lambs so much!

More peeps below..........

And yet more peeps! Can you spot the birdie in the flowers?

Ah, I can never get enough spring, or never enough glitter! :O)

Happy Spring everyone!

I Love Painting

I started painting I think it was about the year 2000, I taught myself, just by looking at other paintings and practicing.....a lot! I use acrylics, sometimes fancy artists acrylics, sometimes just craft paint. I love doing florals the best but I also love seascapes and landscapes. I might possibly venture into portraits someday too. I used to draw, usually in pencil, it's easiest to shade, all the time when I was younger, and just decided I wanted to paint. I wanted my colors in paintings to match my decorating, so I just did it myself! :O) It is very relaxing and fun.

The artists Andrea Dern and Christie Repasy are my favorites, love their style. I have used some of their paintings for inspiration.

The last painting on the bottom right is my favorite of all, I have it above my entertainment center in the living room. It's hard to see but the background is a soft blue, with white swirly wispys almost like clouds. The ship picture is a remake of a small one my Hubby bought at walmart and he has in his den, I copied it so I could put one in our living room.

The top one on the blue wall is in our bedroom, one of my firsts, along with the all white roses. See that gorgeous robin's egg blue wall? That is the color of our bedroom, I love that color so much, turquoise and pink are my favorite colors, and sometime this summer I am painting the living and dining room a lighter shade of that color, I can't wait, but more about that at a later time.

So anyhow those are some of my paintings, I just love flowers, and colors like pink, turquoise, white and green, with touches of pinky red and brown mixed in, those colors make me happy!

Oh, by the way, sometime in the future, maybe in the summer, I will be making paintings to sell on ebay, I figured why not give it a shot??!! I will let you know when I do. I am just hoping people will like them and buy them!

Welcome

Hi and welcome to The Happy Housewife ~ Decorating Adventures!

My name is Erin and I am 36, happily married 13 years with 3 cats. I am a happy housewife :O)

I love decorating and crafty stuff, and on this blog I will show creations, I am working on a vintage stripey afghan, and my decorating, which has a shabby chic vintage vibe, and my paintings, mostly florals in acrylic, and any other decorating adventures I go on I will share with you!

Please feel free to comment or ask questions, even if the post is older, I will check them and keep in touch. I love discussing decorating with others.

Yes, this is a picture of me! :O0 This was taken this past Christmas of 06, when my Hubby and I were about to go out to his company Christmas party. Um, don't ask if the blonde is natural, heehee. I am very fair and pale, but the flash makes it look even paler oh my! That is my favorite painting I did in the background, I will show them to you on another post.

I hope you all enjoy my decorating adventures!

PS. I will normally be posting a few times a week at first, so don't worry if a day goes by without a post, I will be posting shortly!