The Visitor

My house is a wreck, and I am not talking the normal wreck. We are talking wreck, wreck. Mega-yard sale stuff is stacked about 7 feet high in the dining room. Munchkin Market stuff covers my coffee table. Then there are my painting orders scattered all over the living room. Weeeell, I heard a horn blow this afternoon (Thursday.) I looked outside to see a very large and expensive SUV in my driveway. I stepped outside, and she hollered about the furniture that was listed in the paper for my mega-yard sale on SATURDAY! She ended up coming in my house. Yes, you read that right, and no, I do not know her. She shopped for about an hour, filled her backseat, and spent a whopping $35. She plans to return tomorrow night or early Saturday to look through the stuff she couldn't get to today. I really didn't mind; I guess I was just a little surprised by the whole thing:) I hope she loves all of her new treasures!

Check out This Blog

A sweet blogger/etsy customer put my totes on her blog. I have her blog marked, because she has the cutest cupcake liner wreath. I didn't realize she was my wonderful customer until she posted some totes. THANKS, Heather!!

Facebook

I am not into facebook as much as the rest of the world. I get on there from time to time and see what's going on, but that is about it. Two nights ago, I gave in and started a local business page, still gonna skip the personal part. I have been doing my blog for about a year, and I have 39 followers. I started by facebook business about 48 hours ago, and I have 90 fans and several orders. WOW!! Everyone told me that facebook rocks; I guess I should have jumped on that wagon a long time ago:) Funny thing, it suggested Mrs. Semi-Slacker as a friend on my personal page??!! How does it know that I know her:)??


Working on some cowgirl samples for an upcoming party. I am also working on some galvanized pails for a farm party, loving them so much that I may do that for the girls party in winter.

This Week

This week, I will.....

1. Clean out the last cabinet for our HUGE yard sale. UPDATE: Jason will!

2. Finish painting all footprint plates from the party from oh so long ago.

3. Deliver plates to be fired and deliver farm pails to an awesome Pineville customer.

4. Consult with the Footstool about the new colors. The Footstool is now carrying Puddle Jumpers, and they have more exciting changes on the way!! I can't wait.

5. Have the biggest yard sale ever. Let me know if you are looking for something special; odds are that we have at least one in this ever growing mound of stuff. At this point, the pile on the couch to be sold is at least 6 feet tall!

I know it doesn't sound like too much, but add that to chasing two little girls and my regular stuff--and whew! Everyone should head right out and see Ramona and Beezus. It was wonderful! We cried more than once. I came out thinking, "I am raising those two children." My mom walked out right behind me and said, "Those were your kids." I think I am in trouble. Later that night, Molly was cuddling in my lap. I said, "You sure were ugly at the store today." She pulled the thumb from her mouth, smiled the sweetest smile and said, "You're welcome."

A Little of This a Little of That

With a broken card reader and uncooperating blogger, I have not posted many pictures lately. I thought I would do a little catch up and post a variety today.
I did these whales when I first opened my shop last summer. Even though I loved them, they were not one of my biggest sellers, so I stopped posting them in my shop. I had a customer order them last week; I loved getting to work on something a little different.

A local lady makes the cutest cookies. She is sooo cheap, so I ordered cookies for the beach.

The sharks even had little teeth.

This order goes on my top ten coolest orders list! She is a party planner in New Jersey. She emailed me earlier in the summer asking if she could show my stuff to clients. The answer was-YES! These were the first buckets she ordered.

These are the Nemo buckets I did for one of Laura's friends.

She bought each child a fish and put the bag in the bucket with tissue paper.

Girl's Day Out

Growing up, I loved to read. Beverly Cleary was my favorite--Ramona! I read everyone of those books. Remember the one where she cracks the egg on her head:) Well, we are taking the girls to see the new movie tomorrow. Mattie Claire is going for "Alex;" she loves Wizards of Waverly Place. Molly tags along for the popcorn. My BFF all through school and I had daughters within a few months of each other, so they are joining us. My mom and neice are coming too; looking forward to this big girls day out!

There is nothing like little girls. When I was struggling to get pregnant, I didn't care if I had a boy or girl. Now I know that God built me to raise little girls, and I love them both so much. I just read on Semi-Slacker Mom's blog about a wonderful family looking to adopt a baby girl. You never know who my stumble across this, so I thought I would share. Click here to read the profile and get their contact info.

Storytime Live

We took the girls to see Storytime Live this afternoon. I killed myself watching for those tickets!! I stalked the ticket office until they went on sale, and I bought from the pre-sale months ago. What did I get--seats on the second row!! What was my thanks--one child that begged/whined to not go, because she is too cool for Noggin. One child who only cared about Dora; she showed no interest in the first 3 stories. I still think they enjoyed it, whining and all.

I thought I had found a building to have my classes in, but it fell through. UGH! I know it will work out for the best, but patience is not one of my strong suits. We have set a date. The mother of all garage sales will be next weekend. We will have holiday decorations, toys, kids clothes, furniture, craft supplies,.... If you are local, you are welcome to a sneak peak:) We are ready to see this stuff gone. Nothing comes back into this house!! Everything not sold will be donated to a local thrift store. I would love to show you a picture of all the stuff, but I am ashamed that we had that much excess/junk in our house:)

Ribbon Belts

My friend is making ribbon belts to match school uniforms. She is charging $7 and can make any color or design. You can email me if you would like to order, and I will put you in contact. The LSU is precious. I got Mattie Claire the red and zebra--too cute. She is getting ready for back to school. I am proud to say that I have all my school uniforms purchased and hanging in her closet--yay me!

What is My Disorder?

I have had no time to post since I got back from the beach. What have I been doing you ask??? Well, we are cleaning, and I mean cleaning! Jason is on a mission, and I am following his lead. It started with the closet under the stairs, then it led to the upstairs loft. We threw out about 6 large yard bags of stuff/junk, and we have PILES and PILES priced and ready for our huge garage sale. I have been wondering what my disorder is. Am I a compulsive shopper or a hoarder? You would not believe the stuff that has been thrown away or priced to sell; it really would have made a good buried alive story. Under the stairs has been organized into my etsy storage. Shelves have been installed, and products have been organized. My business should be easier with everything neatly organized in one place. I think I am going to turn the empty loft in to a play area for the girls. For those who don't know me, I am exaggerating a little, but I feel so much better knowing that I am on my way to a spotless house!

I have two questions that I would like help on. 1. Does anyone know of any professional cleaners? We want someone/company to come and CLEAN. I am talking baseboards, wipe down walls, wash windows.... I have a friend who had a small kitchen fire a couple of years ago. Her insurance hired a company to come in and clean the walls. Wonder who that was? 2. Does anyone own a shark? I am talking about one of those steam cleaner things that can do furniture and grout. I want to give all of my grout a good cleaning, without the Stanley Steemer. They only do floors, and I want counters too. I'm telling you; we are on a mission!

Pottery Barn Continued from Previous Post

Pottery Barn Sea Life

A family friend in Bama (had to throw that in for Laura) asked me to paint her some sea life from the Pottery Barn summer catalog. She liked all the girl animals, but she needed them painted in boy colors. I dropped all the reds and pinks and stuck to blues, yellow, cream, and green to match his bedroom fabrics. I painted them exactly like those shown in the catalog, but I changed the colors and left off some of the words. I will take them to her when we are at the beach next week. Hope she likes them and maybe I can get her to take some pictures of them hanging in his room!

The photos aren't cooperating. I can't seem to upload anymore. I will try to upload the other 4 in the morning.

I Love Me Some....

....reality tv! I DVR them and watch late at night while I paint. Some of my favorites...Toddler and Tiaras; I mainly watch this one to make myself feel like an awesome mom. Some of the parents are awful, and the kids need a good old fashioned you know what!

Jason and I both LOVE Survivor and Big Brother, which starts tonight. What is my guiltiest reality TV pleasure?? The Real Housewives of New Jersey-as much as I hate to admit it, I just can't get enough of those psychos! For the not so trashy, I also try to keep up with Design Star, Pawn Stars (Jason's fave), and American Pickers. These shows are what keep me awake when I am painting until 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning.

We have been watching America's Got Talent as a family. MC enjoys watching the dancers. She comes in wearing a leotard. I have to ask her name and what her talent is. She then she spazzes out/dances, and I have to tell her she is going to Vegas. I am a little bummed that they put through a granny that can't carry a note, but sent home a group of ex-military/ex-homeless men and women that had the most beautiful voices??!!

Last night, I stayed up unti 3:00 painting some Pottery Barn sea life animals. I will try to finish them up tonight and get some pics posted by tomorrow, then it is off to the beach.

Time for Back to School

I will be placing the back to school order for Puddle Jumpers on Friday. I am offering a special price for anyone who pre-orders. You can call me at home with your order. I am planning to order red and navy, but let me know if you are interested in another color. Don't forget to order at least one size up from her normal size!

So Much To Say

I have so much to say that I will try to my best to keep it short, and I will continue it tomorrow. My father-in-law is home and healing. He will be back to his old self within a week. Thanks to everyone for the sweet emails and calls!

I was contacted recently to offer a giveaway for a blog--it is an awesome blog. Click on the purple link to visit JDanielsMom. She is a super-mom and posts the most wonderful ideas. Welcome to all my new followers and visitors from her blog.

My real life friends know that I am not a big character person. My girls don't really wear screen print character stuff, except pajamas. I don't know why--it is just one of those things. However, having a second child changed me. Molly LOVES Dora, obsessed is more like it. I painted each of the girls an art box to take on our Dallas trip. I filled them with car friendly art stuff, like stickers, color wonder markers, ...

Since I was showing the girls art boxes, I thought I would share these too. A mom on etsy wanted them for her daughter's party favors. She ordered art cases for each child, then gave me a budget to spend on fillers. I filled with watercolors, staplers, stickers, notebooks, pencils...... all the stuff that MC loves to play school and office with, then wrapped with cellophane and topped with a bow.

I Have Lost a Little Faith in Doctors

My father-in-law has been complaining with chest pains for a while. He went to the ER Monday morning and was sent home with a prescription for Prilosec to treat some refluxy/heartburn something. He followed up with his regular doctor the following day and was told the same thing! His doctor also thought it was a gastro thing, but said he could see his heart doctor in a week. Well, Thursday morning we ended up in the Shreveport ER with continuing chest pains. THANK GOODNESS-they admitted him and did a heart cath yesterday. There was some blockage (90%). With a brand spanking new stint, he will be home today!

I think Jason is a LOT like his dad. If he complains, you better call an ambulance. For these two men to finally say something is wrong, I feel like it is usually pretty serious. I was completely frustrated with two sets of physicians to send him home and dismiss as heartburn. It was such a relief for everyone to have some answers and to see him feeling better. All of this reminds me of where we were last year--preparing for Jason's surgery. He had a condition in his legs that would require a 2 inch cut on each leg and a slice to the muscle sheath inside each calf. The 2 inch cuts ended up being more like 6! The 6 inch cuts ended up getting infected....! A lot has happened in the last year, but I am glad we made it over that hurdle. Happy 4th of July!! We are headed to the lake for the rest of the day with family for grilling, tubing, and fireworks.