Last Week We. . .

I was a serious blog slacker last week. I did put up two posts, but they were the LAST two post I had done. Usually I do batch posts when I work so I have a bunch on reserve, but last week (*cough cough* and the week before *cough cough*) I completely let it slide. Basically I moved into art land and have yet to move out. It would seem my muse has taken permanent residence on my shoulder because all I’ve wanted to do when I have free time is draw draw draw. Which I am totally loving. As previously stated in a post I can’t share any of the new art here since it is all Christmas gifts and commissions. . .but I am working on a just for fun piece that should be done by the end of the week so that will be up soon!

However, despite my want to do nothing but draw all day, I did manage to get some real life things done as well.

One very spackley wall.

I got my half of my living room walls spackled. I think I went a little overboard with my spackling but I wanted to make sure every. teeny. tiny. hole. was filled in. And by golly, I did. I’m beginning to prime them this week, but it’s going to have to be done in sections so I can try and work around when my daughter is at Mimi’s house. Paint fumes and toddlers probably shouldn’t mix. . .

Normal, normal, BY THE DEPTHS OF HELL WHAT IS THAT??

We got our last carrots this week and only had one mutant! My little miss was so confused when she pulled it up. She stared at it in silence and I could just see her thinking, ‘I know this was supposed to be a carrot. It’s colored like a carrot. But that is NOT a carrot.’ Needless to say, I chopped that one up for my salad and she ate the other two!

One teeny tiny ripened tomato!

This was the only tomato that actually ripened on the plant. The rest I have plucked off and are window ripening because my tomato plants are officially dead. It’s been a downhill battle for awhile now. Bottom line, they needed more room. Now I know for next year; sorry my poor tomato plants! However I have about fifteen viable tomatoes as long as they ripen up!

And then on Friday we had a sleepover with our besties and took the kiddos to the park. Then after our girls bedtime in classic sleepover tradition we lounged on the couch in pajamas and played video games, FINALLY beating Mario for the WiiU. Seriously you should have seen our victory dance. It’s unrivaled.

The weekend was pretty laid back. Our daughter had her open house for gymnastics on Saturday morning and that was tons of fun. We got to go in and play around on all the equipment (well, for her age group) – low beam, the low uneven bars, the ‘bouncy floor’ as my daughter has dubbed it (for tumbling) and even the trampoline. She is now beyond excited to start class. I’m really hoping I’ll be allowed to take some pictures. . .I still have to check with the parents and the coaches but maybe they’ll be some!

How did you spend your week?

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Yard Sales and Thrifted Things

Yard sailing. One of my favorite summer activities. Before I get into this post, I’d like to discuss the spelling of yard sailing. This word drives me banana sandwich. I’m a bit of a grammar stickler, and I realize that it probably should be spelled yard saling, but that looks incredibly broken to me. However as my mum pointed out, yard sailing would be riding around in your yard on a sailboat. Which actually sounds like quite a good time, so I will continue to use my wrong (but better looking) spelling. Moving on!

Some of my favorite memories with my grandparents are going yard sailing when I was little. Saturday morning would roll around, me and my mum would pack into my grandparents car with them at the crack of dawn, and we’d truck around different towns hitting up sales.
Now, my Grampa is not your average yard saler (Oh geez, now do I go with saler or sailor??? My grammar OCD is freaking out right now, BAH!) He is what I call a professional yard sailor (saler???). By which I mean on Friday, he gets every newspaper from the surrounding towns, and marks down every yard sale. Then, he organizes that list by what time the yard sales start, and where they are so we can maximize our time by going to them in driving order. Yeah, he’s pro.

As an adult, I still love to yard sale. I still get up to go with my grandparents on Saturday mornings. More often than not, I come home with nothing. But occasionally you’ll find that one perfect thing! Lately, my things have centered around my daughter. I love getting toys at yard sales. She outgrow toys and games so fast that I just find it wasteful to constantly buy her brand new toys all the time. And I’ve never met a little kid who cared whether or not a toy was ‘new’ or not, as long as it’s new to them. Here are some of the sweet finds I’ve found (this year and last) for my little miss.

Storage bin: $4

Second storage system: $2
This was originally marked at $4 but it was missing bins, and I asked her to halve the price, which she happily did! We utilized the missing bins space by taking out the dowels and storing things underneath. FYI, the fullsize version of this storage system retails for $60 on Toys R Us’ website.

Play kitchen (teapot not included, that’s ours): $4
I about died when I saw this fully clean, no pieces missing play kitchen for four bucks! Me and my Gramps had to completely rearrange the back of his SUV for it to fit, and it was totally worth it. My little miss loves it – she loves to make me ‘tea’ on the stove. . .and strangely cooks ALL food in the microwave. Which is odd, because we rarely use our microwave. But the point it she loves it, so it was $4 well spent!

This lovely little rocking chair was $5. My little girl loves to sit in it to read!
However, it did NOT come with all the colored pencil stains you now see – that was my little miss getting a little over zealous in her coloring! But for five bucks, WHO CARES?? 🙂 To me that is also the beauty of yard sales – if it gets wrecked (which often kid things do) you didn’t spend/waste a ton of money. If I were really ambitious I’d sand, stain, and seal it. . .but for now, I’m not. And lastly,

A talking number puzzle: $1

The main things I look for myself are usually craft related. Antique books to use in projects, picture frames to repaint, oh and canvases! That sounds like a weird one, but you can get paintings on canvas at yard sales for anywhere from 25 cents to 2 – 3 dollars. I bring them home, sand them down some, and re-coat them with opaque white gesso – instant new canvas ready to go! Since new canvases cost anywhere from $10 (for small size) and up as you get bigger, I’m happy to save some money that way. I’m sure the quality isn’t as good as a brand spankin’ new canvas, but it works perfectly for my personal use.

Two upcycled canvases, decent size. Left is 14.5″x21″, the right is 16″x20″.
These canvases were FREE. As in sitting in a FREE PILE. I may have done a happy dance in the sellers yard. . .they were half finished paintings which I’m assuming that the owners thought no one would ever want, hence the free pile. Clearly they weren’t thinking of the thrifty/artist/up-cycling crowd.

Antique books (from the 1920s, 40s, and one from the 50s): 50 cents for all four!

The two books on top did originally have covers – I tore them off to use in a photo book project I made for my mom and grandmother this year. I’ve also used some pages from the two larger one to make paper roses for my mom – keep an eye out for a post on that in the future!

SWEET retro camp set: $2
My mum is the one who found this set and snagged it for me. She knew I wanted my own camp set instead of just putting bits and bobs together to use for cooking. Isn’t it marvelous?! There is a set of four plates there, since you can’t really see the full stack. And that teapot – I just love it.

Retro camp cups
My mum also got these for me – I forgot to ask her the price, but I know my mum and she would not have paid more than a quarter for each. They are perfect for me and my husband – he likes a giant cup of cocoa, and I like a nice little cup of tea!

This yard sailing year has been pretty slow for me in terms of going to sales. I broke my ankle (I broke it leaving to go yard sailing actually – oh irony) at the end of May, so there went five weeks of yard sailing out the window! But I’m excited to start going again for the rest of the summer – I’m sure I’ll post more fun finds!

Do any of you yard sale or thrift? What kind of stuff do you look for?

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Fun Fact Friday #1

It’s my first Fun Fact Friday! From here on out, every Friday (with a few possible exceptions) I’ll be posting a fact about. . .anything. Whatever strikes my fancy. Why? Well, I seem to have a knack for remembering extremely irrelevant information, so why not add to that cache?

This week’s fun facts are inspired by the gorgeous front yard full of lilies I currently have. They are in full bloom, and just lovely. So here are a few facts about lilies for you! Happy Weekend everyone!

• The bulbs and roots of the tiger lily were eaten by Native Americans. This is still done today in many oriental countries. Apparently, they taste like potatoes!
• Although humans may find the bulbs tasty, ALL parts of a lily are extremely poisonous to cats. Keep away from the feline friends!

• In ancient Greece, white lilies were so revered they were believed to spout the milk of Hera.
• The lily is often considered a death flower, which is a misconception. White lilies symbolize purity and innocence. Common at funerals, they represent the souls’ restored innocence after death.

Love having these in my kitchen every day.

Launch Day!

I’ve finally made my first foray into the blogging world! And I’m pretty darn excited about it. Seeing’s how this is my first post on my brand spankin’ new blog I figured I’d give you a little taste of things to come. To get to know me personally a bit better, feel free to venture to the About Me section and take a look around!

I love art. Expect to see lots of artwork posted. Some will be my own – currently I’ve been hard at work on some commissioned pencil portraits. But in my free time I also enjoy oil painting. I love to browse other artist’s work too – I’m constantly printing out little images to tack onto the wall above my art desk. That’s why I’ve made my Pure Inspiration page. It’s nothing but art that I find inspiring in some way. Take a look, and get inspired!

     

Two of my drawings. One of my friend and her son, and Drogo from Game of Thrones. Both graphite pencil.

Definitely don’t miss the Shop ‘Til You Drop page. It’s filled with amazing indie shops. One of my personal goals this year is to buy as many gifts (including gifts for myself!) as I can from indie vendors. There are SO many things to choose from, and who doesn’t love a unique, often customizable gift? As someone who is just venturing into an indie business I can really appreciate the importance of helping out other small businesses.

As for my post content, that’s going to cover a lot. Stories from my life, crafts I make, projects with my little miss, art I make, products I’ve bought and love. . .the list goes on! After I get the wheels greased and things are running smoothly for me, I will eventually be including a Monthly Feature page. This could be an artist, a shop, a blog, a product and have a page up and promoting it for a month. A great way to get the word out about things I find spectacular. Oh, and get used to this little face.

You’ll be seeing lots of her around here. I tend to be a photoholic when it comes to my daughter. What can I say, she just inspires me!

So thanks for stopping by my blog – stay tuned for some features of things that I love, some serious art inspiration, and I may just need to start up a Fun Fact Friday. Because who doesn’t love useless trivia? I’d be happy to hear any feedback on my blog, or any advice – I’m still learning about the blogging world! Thanks for reading!

-Kayly

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