Small X on the Living Room To-Do

Remember this seemingly endless list? Well, I finally got around to the five minute task of trimming my decorative flowers! I'm not sure I'm in love with their height, but I know I like the new height better than the before.

Here's a glimpse of the height before (they came to just above the height of the cabinet!).

And here's a look at them now.

Another Look.

Overall, I'm pleased with it. My gripe is that this bucket holds umbrellas. I don't want to take away the easy access and functionality by filling it up with pretty flowers, but I don't love the hole in the bucket in front of the flowers. *sigh* Something to ponder.

I really want to add some navy stripes on the top of the bucket and repaint the white because it's got scuffs and marks. That could very well be the next small project I take on in the living room. We shall see.

Living Room Still To Do:

- Hem the bottom of the curtains so they're at floor, but not piled up -- eww.
- Finish tie-back for the blinds
- Repair the water damage on the wall under the AC unit (go bad landlord!)
- Move the boxes to the left of the media cabinet to storage
- Put new slipcovers on the sofas (when they get here -- agh!)
- Stain the furniture a nearly black color
- Add pillowcases to the throw pillows
- Acquire four more throw pillows
- Organize the media bookcase (buy some of these and store all of our dvd cases in storage -- cutting down on so much shelf space!) Update: We've bought two  four of them and want three more to finish compiling our storage.
- Make cloth "curtain" for the media bookcase
- Acquire some sort of decorative element for the lamp shelving
- Build onto entertainment center (as seen here)
- Build entry storage case (as seen here) We bought some ClosetMaid storage at Target
- Use extra paper from clock project to categorize the DVD storage cases.
- Finish pillowcases for new throw pillows
- Cut down dogwood branches in umbrella tin
- Get another basket for the shoe shelves
- Finish "word art" to hang above the shoe shelves
- Paint TV trays fun color like "Navy"
- Paint umbrella bucket with stripes (Navy?)
- Finish "H" art to fill in hole of shoe cabinet

Family Photos - Summer 2011 (Image Heavy)

 We got our photos back from Trizza. I cannot preach enough about how awesome she is to work with. She's got an eye for a pretty picture. She's very patient and candid, but open and friendly to posed shots as well. We got the opportunity to meet her husband, new baby, and three girls. They're such a beautiful and sweet family.

The best part about Trizza (aside from her brilliant work and great temperament) is her pricing. It is so reasonable and affordable by professional photographers. I've seen sessions with less offered for so much more from area photographers. She gives us at least 25-30 proofs on a disc, along with copyright release. It's fantastic.

You can find her blog here and her facebook page here.

Without further talking, here's a lot of picture 'porn' from our beach session. We shot at China Beach in San Francisco.

First Adventure with Quilling

Through pinterest, I found this.

Since B and I aren't married, it's interesting to try and do named family decorative touches. I don't want to offend my family by doing his name, although I'm fairly certain his name will be the family name. Cole and him share the name already. Both of our last names begin with "H" though. That makes this a lot easier.

Remember this hole in my shoe cabinet?

I'm spraying this frame white. And working on my own version of this art for that hole.

Here's how it looks so far! I've began recycling the paper I used both in my clock and also my DVD storage.

I love how far I've stretched this paper. I'll be posting about my DVD storage soon enough. I still need to buy 4 more of the cases to finish the filing in entirety.

Birthday Present

For my birthday, I got the lens commonly known as the "nifty fifty." You can find it here on amazon. I also got a glass hoya lens cover to protect my little investment. You can find the one I received here.

I'm in love with this little jewel. I don't do flash photography anymore. I'm using natural light and no photo editing as it stands now. I adore the pictures this baby produces. They're beautiful! Here's some samples with my pets, who just don't get enough love on this blog.


Sophie. She's got an e-collar on because she was just spayed and isn't being good and leaving that itchy stitching alone. But I love the picture. Sophie's eyes are yellow.

Booger (Booghera). She's pretty anti-social with the camera. But she's a big lover to me. She was really put-off that I wasn't petting her while I took this picture.

Booger has brown in her right eye. Her eyes are green.

Jessie, the border collie. She's so pretty! And so hard to photograph well. She has an abusive past so by habit, she hardly makes eye contact, almost never has her tail out, and doesn't put her ears up often. I love that I managed to snag some happy pictures of her. She's a good girl.

Her nick-name from me is Pretty.

I love this lens. Now I just need to find a good telephoto lens that's great quality for an even better price. I know what I'm begging for from Santa.

Fast Living Room Update

We bought two baskets at Target last Friday. To say they fit perfectly might just not be accurate enough. They're amazing. I believe they cost us $5.99 a piece.

Currently, the basket on the left holds jackets. The basket on the right holds our dog leash, GPS, extra jackets, and fabric I might use to make a skirt for this or the media cabinet. We only keep our in-season jackets out here in an effort to keep clutter at a minimum. Right now, you'll only find light jackets in those baskets.

I'm not a fan of the gap between the baskets. It was driving me batty! So I found a picture frame to kill the gap between and also hide the cord of our light. It is a wood tone so I'm in the process of spray-painting it white to pop against the navy/dark cabinet. I have a project for inside of it, but that's for another post and in-progress.

I also really need to trim those flowers next to the cabinet. Perhaps that will be a near-future update.

Monster Bookmarks

Through pinterest, I found these. The pattern is free on the creator's page.


I took the pattern, bought some sheets of card stock paper in the scrap booking area of Michael's and went to town. B came home from the races with Cole and saw my monster progress and wanted to have a whirl.

After asking my opinion about his color choices, he went to work. I love how risky he was with his and his is my favorite -- more so than my own. I love the colors and the crazy eyes, plus the tongue he added by hand-drawing it, as well as the blood-shot eyes he penned on.


I'm probably going to make more monsters today, and give them wacky eyes too. I want to make a red monster with aqua blue eyes. I'm also itching to make some black monsters!

PS: I would totally recommend the Inkheart Trilogy if you haven't read it yet. Maybe a book page of stories I adore is in order on my blog.

About Me: Day 21

Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy

I'll apologize for the long time that I've gone without updating this. I suppose a 30 day in a row challenge wasn't for me. But I'm planning to finish what I've started. Better late than not at all.

I had a hard time trying to think of what makes me happy. It's hard to pin down something without a huge cheese factor answer like "My family."

At the end of the day, my family, my pets, beautiful things, crafts, and my camera make me a happy, happy person. So here's a few pictures.

My sister, Katie. I can't say enough about this gorgeous girl. She's a big piece of my life puzzle.

Sophie. My kitten kisser.

Jessie, the flirty canine.

Booger, the tease.

My family -- they fill me up inside and make me feel whole. They make me laugh and smile. Sometimes they make me cry. But overall, they make me feel full of happiness. (Photo credit: Trizza Grantham Photography)

The awesome birthday lens that allows me to take beautiful pictures of the things that make me happy.

I love crafting. Nothing makes me happier. But to picture crafts would be a difficult thing since I love a whole big variety. The same goes with pretty things. You can find both that I love in my mood boards and past crafts.