back on the WEST COAST

Hubby and I returned from our East Coast trip last night. I realize I didn't even tell you I was on my way. Packing and preparing sucked my time and energy and then we were off! I will share my trip with you next week. It was amazing- especially New York. This weekend I will be working on getting rid of the cold I brought back with me... a souvenir I wasn't looking for... but it was well worth it!

shine a light on my CUP OF TEA

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Found via oh, hello friend

I love this teacup chandelier and am tempted to DIM (do it myself). If this makes it to the top of my To Do list someday, I will be sure to share. 

WEDDING SEASON is upon us...

...and I'm not made of money. As much as I would love to buy extravagant gifts for all of my friends and relatives getting married this summer, I simply can't. EIGHT weddings (if you can believe it) plus who-knows-how-many birthdays (my calendar does) equals a big 'ol hole in hubby's pocketbook... I say hubby's because I don't carry a pocketbook. So here I am, spending all of my time at home due to my health, and with all of these events coming up- it's time to make myself useful. I have had crafty ideas floating around in my head for years now, but I have always been too busy or too much of a perfectionist to take action and do them. This season in my life has presented me with the wonderful opportunity of being able to chill out and stop being so worried about everything being perfect (because really, nothing is, and what fun would there be in a perfect world- hello, Stepford), and it has finally given me time to craft! So here are the first two wedding presents:

I took my inspiration from Jenny Lee Fowler (and all of the other silhouette artists out there), but mostly from Jenny. I wish I could simply look at a photo and cut straight into the paper like she does, but my brain doesn't communicate that well with my hand. I read a few DIY articles on how to do silhouettes and most of them told me to trace the photo first, but my tracing skills never quite developed in elementary school, so I ended up blowing up the photos on the computer and then stapling them to the black paper, then I cut around the profiles from there. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and hubby's pocketbook is very happy as well.

$.40 black cardstock + $.40 white cardstock (it has very subtle stripes in it that you can't see, but I am loving it) + $4.00 frame from Big Lots= $4.80 wedding present

They're crafty and imperfect, but made with love and helping me grow as a person. Cheezy, right? Eh, cheezy is okay.

the EARRINGS of summer '09

I am loving the earrings in OhSoMilla's Etsy shop. The mix of textures and colors are so perfect. Every summer I tend to find one pair of earrings that I wear to death- not because I am lacking others, but simply because they work perfectly with each summer outfit, and better than the rest. I have a feeling that any one of these pairs could be my summer of 2009 earrings. 

lost in a FOREST

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If I can't live with a forest of birch trees in my backyard, I might just have to grow one up my living room wall. 

PIECES of me

I'm not much of a one-piece girl, mostly because my long torso makes it next to impossible to find a suit that fits... but also because once I put a one-piece on, the suit looks miles tall. But, I have to admit, this suit has even me, the one-piece-aphobe, reconsidering my bathing suit beliefs.

i CAN'T stay away

I have missed you all SO MUCH! Thank you so much for your prayers and well wishes. Unfortunately I am still not well, but I have enough energy to be bored some days so I am returning to the blog world. I make no promises of daily posts, but I promise to share all things that make me smile and send me on daydreaming tangents. I discovered Google Reader during my time away and haven't been at a loss for inspiring reading material. You are all so talented. I feel so privileged to have such amazingly creative blog friends.

Did I mention I am happy to be back? Yay!