craft, holiday

Giving it up

by casadeberry2 Comments on Giving it up


I’m giving up purchasing any new craft supplies for Lent.

Yeah, that’s about how I feel about it (image from thefrisky.com)

The good news is, I have a crapload of craft items stored away so it’s not like I’m going to be lacking materials, but it’s always so good to go out and buy something for a new project, isn’t it?

I found a piece of fabric in my old stash that I already have plans for.

I’d like to say that I’m going to clean out most of my stored stuff and use it all up, but who am I kidding? I won’t use half of it and I’ll still want new stuff to craft with.

Alas, I am going into this with the best intentions and that’s all I can ask for.

Are you giving up anything for Lent?

Uncategorized

My date with destiny

by casadeberry4 Comments on My date with destiny

You know, timing is a very funny thing. I had this post brewing in my head about always being presentable, with this quote from Coco Chanel herself as the anchoring motif of the day:
“I don’t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little – if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that’s the day she has a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”

Yeah.

Guess what. I met my destiny yesterday, and it wasn’t pretty.

We all have photographs of ourselves we’d rather didn’t exist. Whether it be an unflattering prom pic, or a snap from days when we weighed more than we’d like, we all have bad photos.

Mine, however, might be available on the whole fracking internet soon. Because the Google Maps street level cam-car drove into our court just when I was carrying plants for my garden. In nasty old sweatpants, a ratty old cardigan that makes me look 8 months preggo and uber-stylish white socks.

The good news is that it usually takes months for updated Google map photos to show up. The bad news is, well, just about everything else regarding this situation.

Sorry Coco, let’s call this one a massive FAIL.

books, decor

What I got last week

by casadeberry2 Comments on What I got last week

Like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I won a copy of The French Room, courtesy of a giveaway at Casa Bella

As you might expect, the book is full of gorgeous pictures and tips to create your own inspired French decor.

This bedroom is a favorite of mine, how lovely and soothing in shades of blue and green!

I love fashion illustrations, I might attempt to create a set of prints for my guest bathroom.

Isn’t this cart gorgeous? It would definitely claim a spotlight in my home!

If you have not yet discovered Casa Bella, go, now, run! Silvia is a fellow sudamericana and has impeccable taste in decor and adornment in general. Thank you, Silvia, for the gorgeous book!

colors, green

March madness

by casadeberry3 Comments on March madness

I will never, ever, rival my college friend Carina‘s masses of nail polish, I’m sure, but I felt like a little green goodness was needed:
I love this shade, it’s a cheapie $2 Sally Hansen color called Ivy League I got at Tarjay the other day.

decor, sewing

More pillow talk

by casadeberry10 Comments on More pillow talk

I made some pillow covers a few days ago, here are some more with the same fabrics. I decided to add some texture and make some ruffles and rosettes.


These are bedroom accent pillows, the large one is a sham-sized cover but I don’t like the ruffle all around so I mixed fabrics and added rosettes. The small one is a copy of similar covers I’ve seen all around the blogosphere, I love the ruffly goodness on the plain tan fabric.

Hope you like these!

Weekend Bloggy ReadingIron Violet Designs

books, food, gardening, giveaway

Giveaway! Urban Pantry

by casadeberry6 Comments on Giveaway! Urban Pantry

Today I’m giving away one copy of this awesome book – Urban Pantry by Amy Pennington.

Urban Pantry is full of tips and ideas for growing, preserving and cooking your own food, it is beautifully photographed and was named one of the top 10 cookbooks of 2010 by Amazon.com.

In order to win you must:
1 – be a follower of this blog
2 – leave a comment

that’s it!
The giveaway closes on Sunday night (March 6) and I will announce the winner on Monday, March 7. Good luck!

boys, family, love

When all is said and done

by casadeberry4 Comments on When all is said and done

I would do it all over again.
There have definitely been times in my life where a different decision would have resulted in a much different present. But whenever I see one of those quizzes about “if you had to do it all over again . . . ” the answer is always yes. I would. If only to see these squishy faces every day.

craft

Let’s make a deal

by casadeberry12 Comments on Let’s make a deal

For the past couple of years I have not indulged my passion for two types of crafting: jewelry-making and cross-stitching.

I used to make jewelry as a hobby, and then as a business, which I did for a few years. I even made my wedding necklace, which you can see on the left. I wanted something striking and with an antique feel to match my gown, so I mixed off-white faux pearls with topaz crystals and rhinestones.

Then I got burnt out. Also, having two squirrelly monkeys grabbing everything and stuffing it in their mouths was kind of scary considering I worked with beads, wire, and other small items that really shouldn’t go into their little mouths. I gave most of my supplies to my mom, who’d just started making jewelry, and called it a day.

A couple of weekends ago I was cleaning out my desk (again) and I found a bag with beads I had ordered years ago, everything was unopened, and I had stashed my jewelry tools in there as well. That’s all it took. My husband was building raised beds for my potatoes and the boys were playing in the backyard, so I sat and made a little necklace. And now I want to make 100 more.

But first! I need to finish a cross-stitch I promised a friend. She gave it to me last year. August of last year. She did say there was no rush but ya know, I need to finish it. I’ve been working on it every day, but with sick kids and a sick husband and not feeling 100% myself, it’s been tough getting consistent chunks of time to work on it. But I’ve made myself the deal that I can only make more jewelry if I finish the cross-stitch.

Then I started looking around for more cross-stitch patterns. Never mind I have like, 20 in the garage somewhere. “New” is always more important than “old in the garage”. I used to make these huge cross-stitch patterns and had them framed around the house, until last year I got sick of them and stashed them in an archival box.

This is my favorite cross-stitch designer. And yes I want to make the latest one:
But I’ve made another deal with myself. I can only get a new pattern if I finish 3 of my old patterns.

It used to take me about 3 months to make one of these, and that was pre-kids. Meaning I will be buying a new pattern around 2025.