Garage 34

While I was in Asheville, North Carolina last week I wandered into this great shop Garage 34. It's like Asheville's Etsy Shop...so much to look at and want of course. I did purchase a few things and put a bunch of my wish list. The shop itself focuses on handmade & repurposed items made by local artisans. Very similar to Make Good here in San Diego.

The displays were such eye candy...this one was an old fridge turned shelving unit. So stinking cute!!! Just makes me want to get an old fridge to display goodies in my home. My husband of course would look at me like I was off my rocker...which of course I am.

Sweet Carolina

After a quick two day jaunt to London my husband and I headed to Black Mountain, North Carolina. Which is basically the town before Asheville, North Carolina home to the Biltmore Estate. We were in North Carolina to attend the wedding of our dear friends Will & Nora. Asheville was a very fun town with so much to do. We also did a bit of shopping in Black Mountain...which is also a quaint little summer town. On Friday I dropped my husband off with the boys and took off on a shopping trip. My first stop was The Tobacco Barn Antique Shop. It was an old Tobacco Barn turned Antique store. HUGE!!! So much to see and oh my goodness if I didn't want to purchase everything. I am bringing home a few goodies which will be available for sale at the Vintage Marketplace this weekend. Here are a few pictures from the shop.

A few shots of us on this trip. We took full advantage of our time together and relaxation. I think I read 6 books on this quick 6 day trip. Even got in a quick free concert in the park on one evening.

London Calling

On Sunday my hubby and I returned from a whirlwind trip. First a quick stop in London (2 days) and then onto North Carolina for a wedding. Today's post I'll just focus on London and then onto North Carolina in the next post. London was fantastic...expensive but fun. The best part is how smoothly their public transportation runs. You can pretty much get everywhere using the Underground or the bus system. They even have bikes you can ride to get around...crazy cool. This wasn't my first trip to London but it was my husbands. He was slightly in awe of the age of everything. We had a great time although next time we will hopefully get a few more days to travel.

My husband and I went to a cute pub near our hotel. Something Cross. The bartender dropped some of my change into my husbands beer. And of course he still drank his Guiness...can't let it go to waste.

Oh yeah....we are tourists!!

Taking a much needed break on the lawn in one of the many parks in London.

Amen.

A View of Big Ben taken from the yard of Westminister Abbey.

My hubby the confused tourist.

Cheers! Jolly Good!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has come and gone and it was so glorious. My darling son made a sweet picture frame with his handprint in it....so cute. My husband bought me flowers and we had Margarita Mother's Day brunch at my Moms home. Lovely day! Lovely family! While at the Queen Bee at Snap I purchased this adorable kit from Poppyseed Projects. It's a magnet photo display...gorgeous.

Here is my finished frame...minus pictures. I actually gave this to my Mom for Mother's Day.

My pictures are not the greatest...too much glare...so I will hopefully have better pictures once my Mom fills the magnet board with photos of all her grandkids.

DIY Display Piece on a Budget

I'm always on the lookout for fun display pieces but the best ones are the items you create yourself. For this particular piece I stared with an open frame that I purchased at a local thrift store for $3. Then I coherced my husband into cutting some custom planks for the inside of the frame. We choose pieces with knots and imperfections that we actually had leftover from a recent fence build.

For the pennant banner I had some burlap left over from another project so I cut them into some very imperfect triangles. The letters I had purchased in a large panel from the Quilter's Cottage here in Fallbrook for $6.95. I carefully (haha) cut out the letters and glued them onto the burlap triangles. Then after drying I hung them onto lace with mini wooden clothespins. Then adhered the lace to the frame with mini nails. Bam! A perfect display piece for the next Vintage Marketplace.

And finally I had a few scraps leftover so I started creating these cute little decor pieces. Added a frame holder onto the back so that the owner can hang them onto the wall or a kids' room door, etc. These will also be available for purchase at the Queen Bee Market.

Studio Sale

Ever since my husband gifted me with my gorgeous "craft shack" I've been slowly cleaning, organizing and decorating. I hope to post pictures of my little studio soon. Give you a sneak peek into the chaos I call my sanctuary. Today I'm posting pictures of my little setup for my Studio Sale. With Stampin Up's new catalog coming out I like to get together with the gals and offer a set of cards and some items for sale. I'm prepping way in advance as my husband and I will be taking a little trip at the end of the month. The globe will be for sale at the Queen Bee Market, June 1st& 2nd.

Container Build Post 1

So after years of planning my husband and I are starting to build a container home. We are using two 40 foot shipping containers and an array of items that have been salvaged from other builds. Trying to be EcoFriendly and of course wallet friendly. I will be taking photos as the build progresses and posting them here on the blog. My husband and his friend poured the footings for the container over the weekend.

Of course I am filling my head with so many "ideas" for the decor. Found a little moodboard today with a few bathroom decor items I would love! Since we are designing in such a small space its going to take some planning in order to get everything into our small quarters.

Added a few new events to the event page including the upcoming Queen Bee Market in Carlsbad. Now I've got two shows in the same weekend. It's going to take some juggling and planning on my part but hopefully it will be fruitful.

Till Next Time