this is me

day three of cleaning. and it's. not. finished.

i'm a bit of a drama queen at this point. i mean look at me! i'm famished. i'm just done. cleaning is overrated. i'm totally ready to pack my bags and take a vacation from the crap in my studio. ( progress shows in the closet :)

in my despair yesterday i took a mini break and flailed my hands up in the air and said to myself. "MYSELF! Just put a big A** sign up in the door that says HOLY CRAP! and be done with it."

the end. it was not pretty. 

i kid you not. i totally talk to myself. i mean really, who else do i have to yell at right?

well mona spoke up and was like dude, chill yo.

you need starbucks :)

and then we posed for a few pictures just to procrastinate even further.

i totally love that unlike mr.handsome, she is always down for a mini photo shoot. look how cute she is?!  that mona, she's a cutie pie.

so anyway, back to the story... there is a happy ending :)

i'm totally like yes let's go mona! sweet mona, you always know the right things to say :)

i now have a new favorite starbucks drink, creme brulee frap. hello!!! awesome :)

life is so much better with a sugar rush. frosted with a dash of whipped cream and sugar sprinkles on top.

(never mind the crap in the background of the photo.)  i've got my priorities straight :P

happiness. it's in liquid form. and now i am yet again ready to tackle the rest of the mess.

and here is mr handsome. i had to bribe him with dinner at the burger lounge yesterday. he was the best part of my day. :) 

I now have a new favorite day. 

xoxo

i need to take photos of my paper love and share them.

i'm such a procrastinator

i get it from mr.handsome.

>)

xoxo

happy friday!

-d 

ps: I added a few package kits to the shop

r=rrrrrrred

ever since i found my cute vintage metal r i knew we would be friends forever. i don't think little r knew that though :) either way, i had biiiig plans for this little guy. after adding a fresh coat of red paint i had wanted to create this easy project for christmas ( i made a trip to a thrift store last week and spent $2.50 on three boxes of mismatched decorations ) ... even though it was smack dab in the middle of summer... i dared to dream. a dream of red and white and silver and gold all the cute christmas decor stuffed inside my little r. when i told little r my big dream he totally made a face, (just like the M&M in the commercial who doesn't want the pretzel inside the M&M). but i didn't care :) too bad buddy. i snatched up little r early this morning from the wall of frames. and as he slept i spiffed him up a little bit.. christmas style.

he totally rocks the look i think.


here he is still sleeping :) oh.the.joy.


thrifted christmas decor... sweet! I simply used some scotch tape and temporary glue dots to adhere the decor together and to little r. he was such a little trooper. *smiles*


red. is . rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrad.
since we don't do christmas trees i am finding new ways to add some happy christmas decor to our home anyway. kind of fun :)

oh dear little r... trust me next time k?
you look fabulous! (i think he thought i was gonna come after him with my bedazzler. hmm.. good idea actually ;)

I've got some paper love to share tomorrow and hopefully i get to finish cleaning up the studio tonight. ( spring cleaning yet again, total madness but it totally will be worth it - i have to keep telling myself that :)

so happy december!
yay! no stress. just keep swimming. :P

xoxo
-d

giving cheer & love *etsy shop update*

I am adding a few lovely tags to the shop just in time to adorn festive packages. i designed each tag exclusively for this giving season as i want to also add them to my little packages of handmade love to family & friends.

i even thought of some cute packaging for them :) All tags are packaged inside this pretty little mini envelope with a charming red bow :)



mona came back from her spa trip just in time for this super happy photo shoot of christmas giving love. maybe its the bright colors, too much pumpkin pie? either way, it all cheers me right up :) i'm super happy to share my handmade love with you and i hope you love them too. xo



i love retro flowers xoxo



just had to add some grunge splatter to this design :)



cheer looks cuter with a mini tree *smiles*



i don't think i will ever stop loving ledger paper. i srsly love it in red even more :)



i could hug each little mini christmas tree - cute!



the doily lovin' lives on.



teeny tiny merrily tags really make me squeal with delight. even adding the twine i was going crazy at how cute they feel. love :)



more ledger love. really. forever. and ever. xoxo



my love for banners is still kickin'. JOY indeed :)



a larger version of the merrily tags... i'm srsly going to use all of these tags in my december daily album coming up. I'm pretty happy how they printed out and especially look on gifts. I love the whole start to finish of a concept... then actually seeing it in person. I'm hoping to make a few more for different themes :) brain flurry heaven.

SO what's the deal?
Starting today, these babies ship for free until Monday November 29th (midnight). All orders over $15 get a free set ( one of each tag ) absolutely FREE. i puffy heart free.

I'm adding a few extra goodies to every order and i am starting to wrap all orders in christmas paper :) so exciting. i even think i might be an elf. not sure. i totally am going to watch the ELF movie again, sing all the songs at the top of my lungs and eat more sugar ;P

happy days,
xo
-d

blessings & joy

today i woke up a little earlier than i usually do to make these very tasty treats for mr.handsome & his wonderful work family :) I LOVE his work family. I can't quite call them co-workers anymore... i think as the years pass they really are closer friends & new family to us. I've worked with some pretty awful people in my life and now that i'm lonely and self-employed i've adopted mr.handsome and his work family as my very own too :) i definitely appreciate people who make their job fun, positive and even silly :) And in honor of that i wanted to say thank you by showering them with one thing i absolutely undeniably love... carbs. holy rolly pollie i love carbs :P



so this thanksgiving i'm quite thankful for my new friends. who let me sit in for some really important "meetings" over lunch. Whom appreciate the little details ( like the pretty paper cups + cute decorative cake toppers ). and who take care of my mister handsome as he "works" madly in their corner of the world a few hours a day. or hardly works. whatevs. ;)

i printed out the words "blessings and joy" onto regular paper and then pinked the edges.
next i added a little tape runner glue on the paper then wrapped it around a toothpick.
I glued 2 different leaf paper punches from 2 different coordinating papers.
As a little extra twinkle treat i added a cute mini bling over the leaves.

I loved the smell of pumpkin bread in the morning.
add some creamy white frosting... sprinkle some toasted pecans + sugar beads = some pretty loaded sweet calories. what the heck. i'm not really counting :)



this week I'm working on a few projects for family & friends. I rolled up 3 skeins of yarn into one HUGE fluff of a ball. i guess i better get back to it huh ? tomorrow in between naps, you can bet a slice of pumpkin pie that i'll be crocheting and dragging this ball of fluff around. lunch at my parents. dinner at his :) oh.dear.

also, I have a cute update coming up this friday for the shop. Some new items. A cute little giveaway i designed. and even some free shipping. and you don't even have to stand in a heck of a long line :)

have a sweet & blessed thanksgiving loves,
xo
-d

winner and q&a

i first need to apologize for not coming back monday when i promised. From the bottom of my fuzzy crochet heart i am so sorry. I was feeling a bit under the weather these past few days after i decided to get the flu shot. :( i don't mind needles. i just always seem to get sick after i get the shot. They say it doesn't happen but i got something so here i am today with just a minor throat ache and thankfully mr.handsome took a day off to help me recover :) I should've let him try to answer the following questions for me, that would've been funny lol!

okay... onto some good happy news!
drum roll please....
(insert awesome drum roll...I'm rockin' the drums here for you- hehee)

our lovely doily ring winner is Valerie
congrats Valerie! please e-mail me at belladrummer @gmail.com with your post address so I can send out your ring to you soon!

Valerie said...
I would love to learn how to crochet :) How did you learn? Is there a book that you can recommend?
All of your crochet creations are so lovely! I love your little ring :)

At first I started off paying for classes at my local community center. I was kind of learning at the same pace as a 4th grader and although they are smart little kids I was kind of wanting a little more from the class and ended up learning at my own pace by going on YouTube and searching for crochet how-to video's. Every week i'd show up to class with more advanced stitches etc and blew through the kiddie corner in no time :) It was then I took it upon myself after the class ended and never signed up for another one since. I just like to crochet. And the internet has a whole lot of good & free resources for that. I love free :) And honestly YouTube video's helped so much since I'm a visual learner anyway ( that's also how I learned to rock the drums) and the rewind feature on the videos is pretty awesome. I always felt like i annoyed my teacher at the community center asking her to repeat stitches for me again and again. I have no shame ;P And as for books Mr.handsome bought me my first book: beyond the square crochet motifs, i had seen several crafty blogs mention this wonderful book and I LOVE it. I think I will try to make a few each week and share them here in 2011 :)

and a couple more Q&A's from lovelies:

Knoopjes said...
Oh yes, sewing, I have a machine, but I really need to learn some basic skills on it.
And I need to learn to finish something before starting something new... *sigh* ;)

Great ring, if I don't win I hope you will post a pattern!
Happy weekend!

sure indeed :) I found this Ring Around The Rosy crochet pattern on Crochet Today! but to tell you the truth the actual ring I made is from a motif from a vintage table runner I simply took apart. So the intricate doily was already done and I only added the ring part for the finishing touch :) But hopefully i too can try to make one from scratch and I will let you know how that goes :)

Vanessa said...
there is so much I want to learn in 2011! First thing is learning how to read crochet and knitting patterns better. They are really intimidating to me, I can make things if someone teaches me, but I would like to be able to read and translate myself.

I do have a question, doesn't thrifted yarn creep you out? Do you wash it? I have found tons of yarn at thrift stores but I have never bought any cos I am afraid it will be gross or smell.

HAHAAAHAA! ahhhh... yes, thrifted yarn. I mean WHAT is that smell right?! holy moly i have met some that have stains on them it's just disgusting. but there are a few i have found at a local church thrift shop that look loved. Those are the ones i really only buy. They have to still have the label on them, no stains no icky anything on them and they also have to be a pretty awesome color. As most are. I love the mustard yellows and mossy greens. Honestly sometimes you can't find that kind of color anywhere so I go for it. Once i take the yarn home i air it out, undo the entire roll, then create a ball of it. it seems to do the trick. And a heck of a lot of febreeze. I wont wash it until i've added it to a project and after the first washing there is never a problem :)

Serena said...
I want to learn not to get discouraged and sad about the trials and stresses of our current situation of where we live - the heat, the flies, the isolation, the lack of regular fresh fruit and vegies as well as all the other things I am used to having on a regular basis. To be positive around my kids about this experience and opportunity, and of course to try and be a better mum, wife etc - we will have 3 kids by early January so trying to juggle them and count my blessings.


i love this. yes indeed. happy blessings to you and your sweet family *xoxo*

cindy said...
I want to learn to crochet granny squares. ALso I want to start an art journal. Fingers crossed that both of these come to be in 2011!

you know that once you start one granny square you will never stop. you will memorize the pattern without even thinking about it and it's just SO addicting :) good times ** on a side note, i have another class in the works and it has more of an art journal flare to it. I want to teach it mid january and am hoping it really starts off 2011 on a high note :) I will share more info about that later * smiles*

update on life around here:
so mona is away having an awesome spa treatment( full body camera cleaning, poor thing, she's been with me for over 4 years now and has never been cleaned) until next week. when she comes back i want to get her new glasses too ( hunting for a new lens :) just to surprise her... so pictures are going to be from my iphone in the mean time. oh joy. i was kind of hoping to put it off until next year but now i get to start the year with a clean happy mona. and that is priceless.

I've got another shop update coming up and without pictures i'm kind of clueless... but we will make it work!

i made a crochet garland over the weekend i'm dying to show you. i think it's pretty fun and quirky looking. i made it using the left overs from the extraordinary dottie angel blanket and it's just so pretty to look at. hopefully it will fit in with the holiday decor around here and my studio corner for the rest of the year. i love stuff you can keep around forever :)

i picked up some vintage ornaments while thrifting and i'm super excited to share our december edition of our R wall.
- new paint color for the wall( had to pinky promise mr.handsome i would not change the color ever again. good grief why did i do that for?! pressure. big time)
- new frames from ikea
- red + glitter = joy all around

so much to do... so little time :)

hope you are having a sweet week so far.
happy hugs to you,
xo
-d