Tweet, Tweet - New Obsession alert

Joom: Red Bird on Cherry Blossom Pillow

Mountainbrook: Pair of Sparrows

In Love and War: Aren't They Lovely

Friday Five 09.Feb.27

Happy end of February! It's almost March, which brings another round of birthdays in our family.

And, today is Friday. How was your week? Here is mine, summed up in 5 words:

* Laundry
* Cooking
* Muppets
* Figureskates
* Staplegun

Lots of laundry left from our 5 day vacation in the mountains with lots of snow, cooked at least 3 times this week (!), watched our Muppets dvds (again), laced up the princess' figureskates for Wed. lessons, and finally, tonight I plan on getting out the staplegun to re-cover the dining room chairs!

Winner Announcement

The winner of the Thank You Card set is...........

Ceridwen!

Congratulations!

Now, for an apology for my lateness in announcing the winner. I realized after my family and I had left on vacation that I had not posted the name or contacted the winner. So, Ceridwen, I will be e-mailing you soon!

Unfortunately, while we were away, we received messages that my MIL had gone into the hospital and the doctors found that she had pneumonia and other health issues. Luckily, she will recover, but it will be a long road back to health. We are very fortunate to have her in our lives, and we wish her to be back to her active self.

My DH took some wonderful photos from the top of one of the runs at Sunpeaks, which I hope to share later this week, perhaps on Wordless Wednesday.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Tuesday Inspiration 09.02.17

For today's inspiration, I want to present the wonderful work that I just discovered over at Aria Images. Melody, the photographer and owner of this shop has an assortment color, black and white, and sepia images available in various sizes. Here is just a small sampling of what you will find....

Ascend

Sakura

Yesterday's Flowers

My heart just sings when I see such beautiful photographs. Today, they inspire me to no end. I most definitely will have to add this shop to my list of Favourites!

Help with my Creativity

I have been reading a great series on creativity over on Holly Becker's decor8 blog ( LINK ). Holly Becker is a regular contributor to the Real Simple magazine (my absolute favourite magazine, btw) and she has the best daily newsletter. I suggest you head on over and take a look around.

I came across her while looking for decorating ideas for the main floor of my home. There is so much to think about, it's almost overwhelming at times. We are on a super tight budget, as we will also be replacing the carpet with bamboo flooring this summer, and hoping to squeeze in a total renovation of the upstairs bathroom. One of the very minor plus' about the economic downturn is that now, we will be able to get choose quality contractors as they now have less work on the large new developments.

Click on over, you will not be disappointed.

Another Beauty

I totally forgot to share a picture of what arrived in the mail this week! It's a beauty! I ordered from the fabulous jewellery designer, Carol at her Etsy shop String Me Along

String Me Along

If you love pretty accessories, you will have to check out her shop. Lots of eye candy to be found there.

Friday Five 09.Feb.13

Ooooooh, it's Friday the 13th! Fortunately for me, I grew up with the belief that 13 is actually a good/lucky number.

What have you been up to this week? Please leave me your 5 words for Friday and let me know how you are doing. I love reading your comments/thoughts!

Here's mine:

Arenas - spent my fair share of time at the ice arenas this week between the prince having hockey practices and the princess at skating lessons.

Tea - drank a lot of chai tea trying to stay warm at the arenas

Rendition - finally rented this movie that starred Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhall, to name just a few. I couldn't finish it as it was too disturbing in some of the interrogation scenes (hope I didn't spoil it for you).

Potholders - I'm going to start crocheting some new potholders in this cool blue yarn that I just bought this week.

Hearts - helped the princess get ready for today's big day of handing out Valentine's to her classmates and contributing "red" grapes to their class party. Too cute!

Anyways, I will be away from the computer most of this weekend, so have a good one!

TTFN!

Quick Reminder about my Giveaway

Don't forget peeps - My giveway closes on Tuesday Feb. 17th/09, so be sure to enter by leaving a comment and an email address that I can contact you at, if you're the winner.

Click below:
29-day Giving Challenge Giveaway

Inspiration Tuesdays

This Tuesday, I thought I'd post a few pictures featuring the colours that inspires me the most....

Reds and Pinks

Vintage Love 09.Feb.09

Ahhh, I'm doing more window shopping for vintage lovelies. I came across more than I could possibly post about in one day, but here are my favourite finds from today:


Susantique: Unique Metal Stand



Modish Vintage: Moire Glaze Kyes Vanity or Serving Tray


The Hat Box: Vintage TRIFARI Brooch and Earrings Set

And there are a few other vintage lovelies that I am hoping to buy, so I will have to keep them a secret for now. ssssssh, don't tell.

Giveaways

This is exciting, I just logged in to see an entry to my 29-Day Giving Challenge Giveaway from the Phillipines! I think it's so great how the internet can put us in contact with someone from oversees so easily. And entrecard is making it possible for this to happen as well as many other kind bloggers who offer to post giveaways on their own site.

So, I have decided that I will be posting another giveway for my 29th day of the challenge. Most details to follow.

Friday Five 09.Feb.06

Welcome to the Friday Five!


Each Friday, I aim to post 5 words that describe my week. And I would love to see yours too. So, please, don't be shy and leave a comment with your Friday Five.


So, my 5 words this week are:

1. Nurse
2. Resistance
3. Date
4. Success
5. Cake

Nurse - That's what I played this week to my princess who had a very bad case of the sniffles that made her eyes red and her nose run like a tap. Poor thing was having trouble sleeping in the first half of the week.

Resistance - I was so proud of myself when I resisted the urge to buy some more home decor magazines, not once but 3 times this week. Resistance is not futile (any trekkies out there?)

Date - I was able to have a quick dinner date with my DH this week while the princess was at gymnastics and the prince at hockey practice. This doesn't happen nearly enough, but I'll take what I can get.

Success! - The princess is grudgingly learning to fall asleep without one of us in the room with her.

Cake - Birthday cake to be more specific. We are celebrating my nephew's special day tonight at his favourite burger joint Red Robin's. I am so looking forward to breaking my diet and enjoying a mushroom burger with fries. Totally chlolestoral laden, but I've been so good lately, I think I've earned this one.

Have you had a good or interesting week?

Tag! You're it....6 random things

I guess I have to consider myself tagged after reading this post at Scrap Out Loud .

6 Random things about myself -

• I once owned 40-50 handbags, purses, totes, etc. In order to store them, I used 6 large rubbermaid containers. I am now down to only about 12 that fit in 1 container.
• Rarely can I cook vegetables without OVER-cooking them. Don't know why, but I always lose track of time when I'm in the kitchen.
• I've never travelled overseas, but one day I hope to see Paris and London.
• I recently had to start covering the grey on my head. It was a very sad day at the salon for me :(.
• Sneakers are my new best friend. Since leaving my corporate life, I have had the pleasure of dressing down every day for work. No more high heels! Yay!
• And lastly - I am technologically challenged. I have had my blackberry for over 6 months, and my son had to teach me how to lock the keypad last week.

Now, for the fun part!

I tag everyone who is reading this post. Post 6 random facts about yourself if you have a blog or maybe leave it here as a comment. Leave me a link to your site if you get a chance!

TTFN!

29-day Giving Challenge - Giveaway

I recently joined the 29-Day Giving Challenge (button on the left sidebar). I can't wait to get started with this! I have always believed in giving to those less fortunate than myself, but this is different. It's about giving to anyone, and hopefully spread that in a Pay-it-forward manner.



So, I have decided that I will give away a set of 6 Thank You cards that I just finished making about an hour ago. Here it is:

To enter the giveaway draw, leave a comment here on this post and be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you`re the winner. Comments will be closed at midnight on Tues. February 17th and I will announce the winner the next day. Good luck!

Comments and Draw Entries have been closed. Thanks for coming by!

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Inspiration

While this is not necessarily a picture that would inspire me creatively in my papercrafts, I think it would certainly help keep me in the kitchen for more than my usual 30 minutes. Most of my friends and family know that I'm not the most keen cook. I cook because I have to. I don't really enjoy the experience. But, if I had this kitchen with that view, well, I could be persuaded to spend more quality time in there ;).

Photo from:

New York Times: Great Homes and Destinations

The Postman was Here!

Looky, looky at what I received in my mail today! I'm so excited to get this book:

Celebrate Green by Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell

It's written by a Mom and Daughter team who have great Earth-friendly ideas for celebrating Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc. I hope to use some of what they have to share at my DS's birthday in the spring. I will have to give it a read and hopefully be able to take pictures of anything I do use.

More Vintage lovelies

I can't help myself. I keep scouring Etsy shops for cute vintage housewares. The other day, I came across this lovely teapot that I think would be a fantastic addition to my home. While I am attracted to modern furnishings, I do love the old when it comes to other things.

The Soft Palate: Shakedown

And this would be different from anything you could buy in a shop these days:

20somethingvintage: Cute Vintage Pleated Apron

And this last item is something from my childhood in the 70's. Almost every family had something resembling this in their kitchen:

Ginchygear: Vintage Pyrex Crazy Daisy Casserole

Friday Five

Once again, this post is late. I spent 2 days off work fighting a cold and could not summon the energy to think of my 5 words for Friday. So, although I'm tardy, here they are:

1. Ox - Monday was Chinese New Year's Day - the Year of the Ox
2. Hockey - My DS had a late hockey game on Tuesday and early basketball practic the next morning. This creates one tired mom.
3. Red - I have had the colour red on my mind lately. Since we are redecorating, we will be using black as our anchor colour and red for accent. So, I've been looking for budget conscious ways to incorporate it into our home.
4. Tissues - no explanation needed
5. Takeout - lots of takeout and delivery this week as I have not been able to deal with cooking.

Do you have 5 words to describe your week?