Feeling It...

Monet's Wheatstacks (End Of Summer)
Yup. Pretty much sums it up.  Go grab summer by it's tail and shake it up. Can't believe its almost over, but this image does get me excited for fall in New England.
Have a great weekend!

Hello My Pretties!

Let me introduce you to my little friends from Anthropolgie, Flicker and Flutter... 
They don't know it, but hey are the newest addition to my lighting lust list.
Hmmmmm..... One little problem. They are $2,200.

Wonder how long it would take to try to make one of these babies?  I have seen quite a few great DIY Capiz Chandlier How Tos out there.  And I think there are alot of other materials that could be used besides capiz shells to add some sparkle.  I'm thinking about my seaglass collection.  Gonna need to enlist MacGyver for this one.
Add it to my Winter Project List.

Vote for Julie from Shelter!

Unless you have been living under a Blogland rock you have all seen these pictures before...

I know how many of you love them, and now you can show your love by voting for them.
My good friend Julie from Shelter has entered her office the "CB2- Is Your Place A Selby Place?" contest. 
I met Julie when we were both pregnant with our now 3 year old boys.  She is such a kind, talented person and I can tell you first hand that her house is just as fabulous in real life as it appears in pictures.  Did I mention that she is really nice?  So please vote for her here.

What do you think? Opinions please!

Coastal Living
I'm officially obsessed with coral.
I just painted my office this color and now I'm thinking doing my front door it too.  (I have a gallon of coral left that I can use to test it out.)
I have had my head/ heart stuck on doing it turquoise for quite some time... 

 But I think Pantone's forecast of it has me over saturated sadly. No offense my aqua friend, I still love ya,  but maybe its time for me to move on to another area of the color wheel.


Here is the house and front door. Its kind of tucked away and dark, so what ever color goes up needs to have pop. (It actually needs a new light too.)

I'm open to suggestions, just not yellow.  I LOVE yellow doors, but this house was dark brown with bright yellow when we bought it a year ago. See...

do you kind of understand?  Maybe in time I will be open to the idea, just not now.
So what should I do? Coral, a blue/green or maybe a deep chartreuse? Help! Does anyone have a great kickass color? I'd love your suggestions! I want to paint this weekend.
P.S. Eventually we are changing the windows out to true divided lights to make it feel more coastal ranch than 60's ranch.

One of my favorite money saving resources...


I love to shop, but I love saving money or finding a bargain even more.  I have a bit of frugal yankee in me. 

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Ebates, the site "where it pays to shop online".  You pick a store you want to shop at, go to it via Ebates, purchase your stuff and BAM in a couple weeks there is a check in your mailbox for whatever percentage Ebates pays to shop there (ex. Overstock is 5% on Home & Garden, Ballard is 4%, and Magazines.com is 21%).  The latter is my favorite since I have a bad magazine addiction.  There are over 1200 stores to choose from too.  Its like free money.  The nice thing is they pay quarterly so you get a "big fat check".  I once used Overstock and a few other sites to buy some big items to stage a model home and got a check for over $200 back.  
So I am sharing this link to sign up and stimulate the economy. They also give you $5 for signing up:


Check it out.
Now go spend wildly and thank me later when your check comes!


AND THE GIVEAWAY WINNERS ARE...

OK, The winner of the blue chevron pillow is...

FRAN! From the wonderful blog Green Street.
Fran said... I can't believe I haven't found your blog earlier!! It's fantastic! I'm your new follower and am so psyched to follow! Congrats on your first giveaway! August 19, 2010 8:47 PM

And the DIY gray and white pillow giveawy winner is...


NATALIE!
 Natalie said... Did you paint that zebra print work table in the picture? I would LOVE to know how to do that. August 20, 2010 10:57 AM

Ladies, please email me so I can get your address! Thanks!

Thanks for all your entries and suggestions! It was alot of fun doing a giveaway and hope to have more soon. I did paint the zebra work table, and that will be the next "How to Happy Hour" feature this Friday. Laminate counter painting will follow.

Wash those clammy hands in one of these...


Oh, that was bad. I know.  
Came across these on Willow Decor.  It has to be my favorite use of a clamshell ever.
You can get one here
Today is the last day to enter my pillow giveaways.
Blue Chevron or the Drunken DIY (came out really good though!)

The most fantastic fireplace my eyes have spied.

I found this unbelievable fireplace on Martha's site.  It belongs to a Michigan lakehouse guest cottage. 
Drool.... Excuse me. I'm loving.
The exterior is not too shabby either...

See more here.






Matha Stewart

How to Make a Pillow with an Invisible Zipper while Drinking Mojitos & Giveaway

WARNING: This post contains crafting and drinking.  The owner of this blog does not promote mixing the two on a regular basis.  She just felt it would make shooting a video a lot easier. Instead it just made it take a really long time and added some extra embarassment.

So I had this idea... "How To Happy Hour". Basically its an excuse to drink and get projects off my list. I would give a DIY video demo of some basics, and/or whatever people wanted to see and serve cocktails while doing so. My friend Cheryle was kind enough to join me for this one since she is a great sewer and me not so much.


We decided to whip up a pillow with an invisible zipper because that's harder than it looks and most of us could use a refresher. Adding alcohol to the mix seemed like a good idea. We did have fun, but I had to edit most of the video away because we got a little too chatty and distracted. I think I glazed over a few times as Cheryle was explaining cutting on a bias. The end result is embarassing and I can't believe I am actually going to hit "Publish Post". Not to sure how easy these directions are to follow, but we had a good time. We just need to be more consise and stay focused. I promise to make any future videos much shorter and less inebriated.




Post a comment below of any other DIYs you'd like to see and you are entered to win this weeks pillow creation...

What I look at while I blog...


I have been re-doing my office the past couple weeks.  It, like my family room, was a dark wood paneled hole and was super depressing to hang out in.  While working on it I realized (well actually just confirmed) a few things about myself in the process.  My office is MY space and I found that the objects I placed in there were much more personal than those I'd place in my living room.  The space is a bit brighter and "crazy" than the rest of the house, but it  is a reflection of me and what I find inspiring.
Here are some things I realized...


 No matter how badly I want an all white space I am a color obsessed person and need to be surrounded by it.  I will change my paint color with my mood or season.  It makes me happy.  Wildly patterned objects do too. I painted my office coral.  I love it, and I'm OK with the fact that it will be a different color by this time next year. 

(My yellow pineapple lamp w/ some added "flair", and some other things that make me happy)

 I am a retro girl at heart and I need something vintage around me.  I'm quirky and I like quirky things. 
I also love sentimental things that remind me of my childhood or loved ones.

(My Grandfather's sign from his business and my Grandma's color wheel/ chart remind me that hard work and creativity is key.  They were a big part of my life and I also have a few of my Grandma's painting hanging too.)

 I love shiny, sparkly objects... hence the name of my blog.  I must have been a crow in a past life.  I am always picking up vintage baubles in my travels and I
keep a plate of them out for inspiration on my work table. 

 I have issues.  Who doesn't?  Mine is that I REALLY want to be one of the organized people, but my A.D.D. brain will not allow it.  I do my best work when I have 5 projects to complete by tomorrow. I love when my office is neat and clean, but I thrive in chaos even though it drives me nuts.   My office is already a mess and that is why I'm only offering snippets at the moment.  Regardless it still looks better than it's before shot...


So, what do you like to surround yourself with to feel creative?

P.S. Don't forget to enter my chevron pillow giveaway here.

GIVEAWAY! Chevron Kidney Pillow

AS promised I have a giveaway, my first giveaway actually... this great aqua and cream chevron kidney pillow with a pleated grosgrain edge.  It was made by my talented friend Cheryle Rhuda.  She has a fantastic workroom in Beverly, MA called Window Treatments and the Whole 9 Yards,
and does quite a bit of sewing for me. 
You will get to meet Cheryle soon, we are working on a short "how to" video for you guys.  Hopefully that will be up tomorrow.

All you need to do to enter is say hello in the comments and follow my blog. Winner will be announced Monday morning!

Another reason paint is good...



This is my big old fireplace and Family Room after I cleansed it (and the brass fireplace surround & wood paneling) with paint. Below is before.  Paint is good.  Amen.
(P.S.- For those asking ...I used two coats of latex Bin primer on the fireplace. So easy! Eventually I will do a finish coat of white, but I'm content for now.)

A New Kind of Crack

I've got it bad when it comes to paint. I "renovate with paint".  If its a paintable surface I WILL paint it. 
Recently I came across RustOleum's Countertop Paint while I was at Home Depot.  I've painted laminate before, buts its a loooong process... sand, clean, prime with XIM (which smells horrendous), paint and finally seal.   No more my friends.  See all the colors it can be tinted here.  It looks simple, no primer, just roll it on.  Done.
 I have two guinea pigs  bathrooms with fake 1960's "marble" laminate cabinets screaming to be painted white...

I know, I should probably do the tile while I'm at it.  I will hopefully have an after for you soon.  My husband will have some objections to this one because he knows how impatient I am and will be fearing I'll screw it up and he'll need to buy new cabinets.

AND for those of you with a real bad paint fetish don't forget about this...
Fabric and Upholstery Spray Paint. Yes, that is correct. Go get off your couch and paint it.  Even this one is pushing it for me, but Jenny from Little Green Notebook did some benches and she gives it the thumbs up.

I am thinking lampshades, low nap area rugs... hmmmm.  I'll have to get back to you on this one.
In the mean time I'd love to hear from anyone that has tried either of these products.

"It's the cherry on top"

Basically what I said about these pillows when I saw them finally on my clients couch. 
(Sorry for the picture quality, I was using my phone.) 
The pop of burnt red livens up the primarily navy and aqua room and helps to connect to the Entrance and Dining Room.  I should have finished photos in a few weeks.
My good friend Cheryle Rhuda made these up using High Voltage in Berry & Spice and some cinnamon velvet.  She does amazing work and I will be doing a give away of one of her pillows later this week so stay tuned.
(one of my fave patterns)

Sneeky Peaky

Just wanted to share something from a project I've been working on. This bench just came back from the upholsterer and I'm LOVING...
  Wish it was going in my house! The room is almost done and I'll post pictures soon, just waiting for the pillows... speaking of which I have some great ones to show you my friend and seamstress extraordinaire Cheryle Rhuda just made for the living room. I'll upload them next. 
I used China Seas Sigourney in Lilac.  I really love the scale and punch this gave the bench.  I found this bench on a  previous trip to NY. (I am actually down here now and going scouting tomorrow, can't wait.) I loved the curved seat and I knew it just needed a makeover.  Here is a before of it...

Once again sorry for the lack of posts. I've been super busy this summer. I have so much respect for all you bloggers that post everyday. How do you do it???? I'm thinking once the kids go back to school I'll have a little more quiet time and I can get back to some sort of routine for myself that balances work and home.  Also my office is almost done, been working on some projects at home too and I can't wait to share them with you.

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