The Family Jewels

Picture Update: The Guestroom and Vintage Frame Collage

Quick picture posting about my painting & crafting progress!

The Guestroom:
BEFORE:

View from my room to the guestroom (through the french doors) -
PS - Both rooms were formerly teenage rooms...

NOW:

The curtain can extend and hide the view when guests are over...

 

The futon's actually my bed right now until I have one--hence the sheet  :)

My favorite part of the room--I took the closet doors off, painted inside, and hung my great-grandmother's vanity inside:

So there's no dresser or anything in there yet, but there's the guest room!

I mentioned The Vintage Photo Project a few entries ago:

It's not up yet, but here's it laid out on the floor in what will probably end up being its arrangement:

Close ups...

The project all began because I found these two pictures of my grandmother:

I completely love all these photos...
I had to pick and choose from so many...

If you want to see larger images, just click on the pictures! 

The vintage frame collage will go up as soon as I have my bed and am 100% sure which wall it should be on.  Goodness knows that I don't want to have to spackle tons of holes & repaint if I decide it should go somewhere else after I have all my furniture.

Anyway, that's how my nights have been spent lately! 

My love affair with Kiwi Stone & New Addition to Blog-Only Sale!

Thanks to everyone who took an interest in The Plague.  I'm still sniffly, but definitely on the mend!  This is going to be a quick update, as I'm trying to get some late night crafting done and still get in bed at a decent time.  For once ;)

I sent out the email just now and featured pics and a 50% off special on four Jaspers--Rhyolite, Landscape, Black Line, and Kiwi Stone.  I have to admit that I didn't know that Rhyolite was a Jasper until...just now.  I always thought it was just "Rhyolite".  Learn new things everyday.

I personally think the Kiwi Stone is lovely lovely. I apparently have a thing for liking the donut pendants?  I'm noticing a pattern. 

I think it's sassy.

AH.  I just remembered, now that I've sent the email, that I told a customer I'd put Bone on sale.  Two days ago.  And I didn't.  Shoot.  Carol, if you're reading this, I am sorry.  Okay, here we go.  I'm going to add Bone to this week's Blog-Only sale, good until Saturday at midnight.   You can find Bone Beads and Pendants here!

Just type in "BLOG" in the promo code field during check out, and it will be 50% off!  Along with the Picture Jasper Donut pictured in this post!

Crafting and Toggaliciousness

I spent all night crafting, and boy, am I tired.  It's hard work trying to keep your creativity goin!

For my wall decor in my living area, I'm doing a collage of frames featuring vintage photographs from the 40s-60s that I found in boxes in storage.  Pictures of my grandmother in sassy poses in the 50s, photos from my grandfather's service in Japan, very period photos from the 60s... 

I will say, I'm really excited about this project.  I was looking at spending, if I was lucky, like $70-80 on a generic mass-produced wall decoration.  Instead, Hobby Lobby has half off their frames, so I (will have) spent probably $40 on frames, $7 on thick stock to make my own fake matting, and a few happy nights of sorting old black and whites.  And it'll be unique.  I like unique...

Speaking of, I'm trying a new sale idea.  I want to showcase more specific categories rather than the huge groups we usually do.  I embedded pictures in the email tonight of the Gemstone Toggle Clasps, and I'm hoping that entices folks!  Well, that, and the 50% off offer of course, let's be real  :)

Links added, Bamboo, & Yummy Chickpeas

I finally went back and added links to all the pictures I've posted in the month of August.  Yay!  So did you like the coral, gemstone clasps, picture jasper cleopatra, etc, that I've pictured on here this month?  Now you can find them easily!  Happy shopping!

I usually don't have a link to the product when I originally post the picture, as taking the product's picture is one of the first steps in the Getting the Item to You process.  But now!  If you scroll down the page and see the pretty bead pictures, you should also see an orange "EDIT: This New Arrival can be found here!" message with an embedded link...

A bit more personal progress today, with the beadboard in the guestroom having its first coat of paint and the closet walls in the guest room almost done.  so...close.   I also bought a bamboo rug online.  I got it from Natural Area Rugs, and it's the 6x9 "Mandalay" Bamboo Rug.  Only $71, with free shipping!  I have been pricing rugs for awhile now, and everything was coming up...way, way expensive.  I like the bamboo look, I like that it's a very renewable vegan resource, and I really like the prices over at Natural Area Rugs.

I will admit I really liked their Seagrass and Mountain Grass rugs too, but alas, more expensive.

On a different note, for dinner tonight I made a really simple, really yummy dish.  The basics are 1 can of chickpeas, one large unevenly chopped onion, a head of garlic chopped, and a chopped roma tomato.  I heated up a smidgen of olive oil on med-high heat, threw in the garlic for about 1 minute, then added the onion.  I then threw in, to taste, curry powder, tamari (Japanese soy sauce), cumin, chili powder, and cayenne.  Soon thereafter, I stirred in the can of chickpeas.  I let everything cook altogether for...a little bit... long enough so that there was still some crunch to the onions.  I then threw in the chopped roma tomato, stirred it around for maybe 1 minute on heat, then voila, dinner!  I served it over brown rice.

It's very quick, easy, and healthy.  You can add and subtract pretty much anything to the recipe, and I often do.  Love me some chickpeas, I have to admit.

And, I bring you the painting pictures!

This will be a big post, and there will be more to come in the next weeks.  I'm not done painting entirely, as the guestroom is still under construction and there's still a lot of Trim Issues (as evidenced by the painter's tape around the windows).  But!  I have more than a few Work in Progress pictures...

To give you some background.  We live above the store & warehouse, in historic Clarksville.  This means that this is what I see outside my window:

The room itself is HUGE.  Huge.  I have two rooms, actually, but one will double as the family's guestroom.  Which is why the big room has to be arranged loft-style to contain a) my living space b) my dining space and c) my bedroom.  I'm big about the idea of privacy between the living and bedroom space, so we'll see how that all works out.

BEFORE:
This is clearly a teenage boy room...complete with new spackling due to all the dart marks and mayhem in the walls.

What you saw when you walked in the door, left to right:




and the wall with the front door and the double doors to the guestroom:


PROGRESS:

The "Cassie Buys 10 Million Paint Samples" Portion of our program:

The winners:
Sherwin-Williams Sierra Redwood, Rustic Adobe, and Cavern Clay. 
Can you tell I have a love affair with the desert?




(The Beadboard?  Horrible, horrible to paint. 
Plus, how funny is it that it's called Beadboard?)

SO CLOSE:

The view from left to right as you walk in, now:

and the wall with the front door and the view to the (still being painted) guestroom:

More later, of the new couches and last night's Hijinks of Assembly.  But there's an idea of what I've been talking about with the whole painting business!

Try not to judge too harshly  :)  There will be more lighting, and obviously, furniture soon!  Of course, I also keep threatening to change my mind about this or that wall.  But I'm so tired of painting that I probably won't, hah...

At Work at an Obscene Time & Bed Advice

I am at work.  It's way, way too late/early for that, but it's true.   My wireless is down, so I couldn't send the email out from my laptop this evening.  So here I am!

I feel way accomplished as far as my living space is concerned.  It's...almost... done being painted.  And I moved in the sofa and loveseat I had already bought and started arranging furniture.  I had planned to show some pictures, but alas, this computer is refusing to recognize my camera, so I can't upload the pics.  Sad news.  Tomorrow (or rather, later today), though, when the wireless is fixed, I'll get some up!

Granted, I'll probably change the layout like, oh 500 times by the time it's all said and done. 

I don't exactly have the much needed "bed" part of the deal, but hopefully I'll get that this week.  I'm thinking I'll get this one from Ikea.  It's the Queen-sized Malm in Brown-Black.  Anybody had good or bad experiences with it?

First Blog-Exclusive Sale!

For the first Exclusive Blog Reader Sale (gonna come up with a better name, give me a minute), I'm taking 50% Off one of our new arrivals that I really like:

Premium American Picture Jasper 50mm Donut Gemstone Pendants!

At checkout, type the word BLOG in the promotional code field, and the system will discount the item 50%!  This offer will be good for ONE WEEK, beginning now and ending Saturday, September 1st at midnight EST.

First of many blog-only sales, so check back often!

Sick update, Cleopatras, and Yummy Soup

Thanks to everybody who has offered advice on getting/feeling better!  I've got several emails & a few comments, and I really appreciate the thoughts and ideas.  I don't have a health store around me, so some of the remedies are too hard to come by without travelin' down to Nashville. 

Right now I'm gargling warm salt water and trying to rest a lot.  Hopefully that will work!  I do feel a little better already.  My nose and sneezing are still out of control, but the sinus pressure in my head seems to have gone down, so yay.

Enough with the sick talk.  Even I'm bored with it! :)

I've still been working the past few days, and I wanted to post a few fruits of my labor.  In case anybody's wondering, those Cleopatra fan sets & (especially those) 41-piece fan sets?  Pretty much my least favorite thing to picture.  Here's proof that I'm doing my best:

EDIT: Can be found here now!

Oh, and this coral looks good enough to eat, to me. 
Er, Not that I would eat coral...

EDIT: Can be found here now!

On a totally different note, I made really yummy soup last night.  I combined the following:  2 chopped big tomatoes, veggie broth, zucchini, 2 small potatoes, 1 large onion, fresh parsley, italian seasonings, chickpeas, black beans, 2 stalks of celery, 1/2 can of tomato sauce I had leftover in the fridge, a bit of brown rice cooked in veggie broth, sea salt, fresh garlic, 2 scallions, & probably some other random "in the fridge" items in a large pot. 

I added things as we chopped them and simmered the pot for about 50 minutes.  I added the beans late in the game, as I didn't want them to fall apart after simmering for too long.  (They're home-soaked and rehydrated, and sometimes that can happened with those guys.)

About 40 minutes in, I did what I believe to be The Key to good soup.  I took out about 2-3 cups of the soup's veggies and pureed the mixture.  I then re-added the puree back to the soup.  I swear by this, as I really think it helps mingle the flavors.  You can't tell there's puree in there at all, and it makes the soup a bit smoother and more cohesive.  At least, I think!

It tasted pretty good when I taste tested it, but I'm...a creature of habit.  I really like spicy food.  So what did I do?  At the last minute, I added in a smidgen of chili powder and two smidgens of cayenne.  It then had a wee bite to it, and thus, I was happy.  Plus, I need to clear out my sinuses, right?  Right.   

This is a huge post, so I'm going to cut myself off right now. 
I've got to send out the weekend email!

Okay okay, so I know I said I was going to take it easy, but I'm actually going to start painting again today.  I've still got that guest room to take care of... But!  I promise pictures soon?

Late Email and Plague Ramblings

Still Plague-ridden.  I never get sick without knowing at least -one- sick person.  Where did this thing come from?

I worked from Upstairs yesterday afternoon and ended up falling asleep before I sent out the email for today's sale.  When I got to work this morning, it was one thing after another (meetings then just...daily stuff that kept needing attention), which means that today's email just went out a few minutes ago.  Oops.  I extended the sale, though, so hopefully that makes it up to people.  As Marketworks only lets us do sale by the day rather than half-day or by the hour increments, I have to remember to manually turn it off tomorrow.  Maybe now that I typed it I won't forget :)

My inbox is currently being flooded with people's Out of the Office AutoReplies.  I weirdly love this part, as I like imagining that people are on fabulous vacations.  Wow, am I living vicariously through Customer AutoReplies?   I didn't realize how strange that sounds until I typed it out.

And now, picture taking!  Oh, fan sets, how you are a pain (excuse me, "challenge") to picture...

The Plague

In the past 24 hours, I seem to have caught The Plague.  It started yesterday with a surprise runny nose, and today, I am congested & runny & my ears are sore & my throat itches.  This time yesterday, I felt fine? 

I hate hate being sick.  Sigh.  Sniff.