Posts made in September, 2009

I’ve Been Nominated!

Posted by Lindsay on Sep 30, 2009 in Blog Award, Blogging, Me | 5 comments

Wow…just when I was trying to figure out what to write about today, I found out that Kristin from Discover: Interior Design has nominated me for a Blog Award!  My very first, how exciting!!  She has honored me with the “Honest Scrap” award, yay!

I really love this whole “blogging” thing.  Not many people that I know in the real world blog or have a blog.  Unless it’s a personal blog about their cute babies for families to read.    I’ve “met” a lot of great bloggers, and feel like I’ve made a lot of new friends, so thank you, Kristin!  So what am I supposed to do with this Blog Award?  There are rules that one must follow!

1. Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award (duh!).
2. Share “10 Honest Things” about myself.
3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4. Tell those 7 people they’ve been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

First of all I’d like to thank the Academy…I mean Kristin @ Discover: Interior Design!  Thanks, girl!!  And P.S. – go visit her over at her blog!  I’d re-nominate her if I could!!  She is sharing the wonderful profession of Interior Design with the world, one tip and piece of interior design jargon at a time!

Okay…10 Honest Things About Me.  Hmmm…

1. I always thought I’d do something science-related or “practical” as my profession.  It’s just what you do where I come from.  How can you get a job with an art major??  I was “undeclared in Biological Sciences” at one college, I have an Associate of Science Degree in General Education from another and I’ve finished every single pre-requisite you need for Dental Hygiene or Nursing School.  I planned on doing one or the other at one point.  And then I realized I’d hate it because I need more creativity and freedom than the basic 8-5.
2. When I watch movies or TV I have a bad habit of relating with the actor more than following along with the plot.  I think about how embarrassing that scene would have been to do, or how difficult or stressful it must have been, and it makes or breaks how much I like them. 
3. I love that I have a daughter.  Glenn wanted a boy so bad, but I was doing the happy dance (in my mind, of course) when we found out Harper was a girl.  And I think of that every day!  I do hope the next one is a boy, especially for Glenn’s sake, but I’ve always wanted a little girl.  And she is definitely mama’s girl.  Don’t get me wrong – Glenn is wrapped around her little finger and he loves her to death, but can you blame him for wanting a little mini-Glenn, too??
4. Like Kristin, I am so pale I’m translucent.  I know exactly what she means.  It’s weird.
5. My natural hair color is a dark ash-blonde (I call it ‘mousy’ because it almost looks gray), but I’ve dyed it every natural hair color imaginable and it works on me!!  I’ve been a bleach-blonde, sandy blonde, light-brunette, dark-brunette, redhead and I’ve even dyed my hair black.  I like a little drama with my hair color and cut.
6. A fair amount (more than normal, I think) of people in my extended family suffer from various forms of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder); i.e., obsessive hand-washing, bulimia, trichotillomania (eye lash and hair pulling), maybe paired with depression.  So I’m a little worried that I’ve passed it on to Harper.  Wow, that was super honest, wasn’t it?  But we’re all a little OCD in some way, aren’t we?
7. I use the ” ” wwaayy too much.  I realize it.  Don’t judge me.  Thank you!
8. I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  And it all has to be dunked in the milk before I start eating.
9. Jobs I’ve had or places I’ve worked in my life: Lifeguard, Ice cream/hamburger joint, hardware store cashier, wildland fire/fuels crew, college rec center (front desk and weight room), dental assistant, bookkeeper, coffee barista, bartender, receptionist, Public Health office specialist (aka receptionist), health specialist (I taught kids how to eat right and brush their teeth), administrative assistant at a nutrition education program, interior design intern, draftsman (woman?) and project leader for an after school program.  My most important job, though, is ‘mommy.’    And I am a blogger and an interior designer.
10. My oven is beeping and it won’t stop.  I think we broke it this morning.  I won’t tell you how because it is embarrassing, but I’m sad and a little ticked about it.

Is that honest enough for you?  I think as a blogger you can choose to keep your private life private, or you can put it all out there.  And I think I put a lot out there here on the blog – and I hope you enjoy reading about me.  I like to know who is behind the blog, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!  Just don’t ask me how we broke the oven. 

I’ve finished my 10, except now I’m thinking of more things that I could share – ha!  But now it’s time to pass the torch…drum roll please!!

1. Hannah @ B’s Wig Shoppe – I owe Hannah a 20 questions on my blog!
2. Brooke @ Oh Brooke! – New mama-to-be!! Yay!!
3. Steph @ Bondville – Hip Aussie mama!
4. Ana @ Rearranged Design – BYW friend who’s moving – AGAIN! She also makes great bags!
5. Vicki @ Simply Hue – Another BYW friend whose blog got a gorgeous new makeover!
6. Amanda @ Welcome Home – Go peek in some great windows here!
7. Cristin @ Simplified Bee – Gotta love someone who appreciates pretty organization as much as I do!  Thank you for your comments, Cristin!!

Thanks for reading a little about me, and please try to visit the other’s blogs – you won’t be sorry!!  Have a great rest of the week – and check back soon on our new window update!  It’s getting chilly around here and I can’t wait to get new windows!!

xo, L.

‘Little Monsters’ Cupcake Toppers and Print-At-Home Party Set Up in the Shop!

Posted by Lindsay on Sep 29, 2009 in Decorations, Etsy Finds, Featured Articles, halloween, handmade, Holidays | 2 comments

Well…the title of this blog post pretty much explains it all.    I loved my ‘grown-up’ “Ghoulish Glam” party set so much I decided to make a separate kids’ version!  Aren’t they cute?  I call them my “Little Monsters.” I love the little witches, monsters, aliens, jack-o-lanterns, mummies, spiders, skeletons and spiderwebs!  Check it out!!

Plus making the brownies so that I could photograph them was even better!  Yum!!

And don’t forget the striped pattern that’s included in the print-at-home version to use however you want!

They’re up in the shop as a pre-made set of 25 cupcake toppers, or a print-at-home PDF file that you can print and use over and over! Enjoy!

Here’s What I Did This Weekend!

Posted by Lindsay on Sep 28, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, handmade | 3 comments

Happy Monday, everyone!  Well, I guess that is sort of an oxymoron…can Monday be happy?  I kid, I kid.    What did you do this weekend?  Did you have a big to-do list or did you take it off to relax?  I like to do a bit of both, but we’re usually pretty home-bound on the weekends with just the three of us hanging out, working on projects here and there and then cuddling on the couch to relax.  Well, this past weekend was a little different as we actually had plans with friends – I was craving a little girl time, no offense, honey!!  So I hosted a “Stampin’ Up” party at my house.  Being crafty and hanging out with my best girls – what else could you ask for?!?!  We all really enjoyed ourselves, and we made a few really cute cards that I wanted to share with you all!  I can’t wait to get my order and make some cards!!  Enjoy!!

Do you like making cards?  Need a little inspiration?  If you check out my “blog roll” on the homepage, you’ll see a link to K. Werner Design Blog.  She is so creative and crafty with making cards – I highly recommend checking out her blog!!  And if you have a chance to host or attend a Stampin’ Up party, I highly recommend it. My friends who think that they aren’t crafty and who weren’t sure that they’d have fun were pleasantly surprised!! This also gave me some great ideas for new items my Etsy shop!!

Backyard Update: Gravel and Grass!

Posted by Lindsay on Sep 25, 2009 in backyard, Featured Articles | 0 comments

You might remember that this summer has been about landscaping for us.  Be sure to visit update #1 and update #2 to see how far we’ve come, but this post recaps it all nicely too.  The first year in the house was about the inside, and this summer we’ve been working on the backyard.  What a job.  To reiterate, we started with a backyard full of dirt.  Then out of the dirt grew a jungle of weeds!!  We also had a half-dead pine tree that we cut down.  I wrote about it here. Well, we finally have a backyard that has been basically landscaped.  And by basically I mean that it is usable.  By no means “done” (is anything ever done as a homeowner??) but at least we have all of the ground covered with SOMETHING.  Well, the grass is a little patchy since we just grew it ourselves and having 2 big dogs doesn’t help, but this winter we should be able to re-seed the patchy parts and have a beautiful lawn next spring!!  Now if that didn’t attract killer mosquitoes around here…

Move-in, July 2008:

March 2009:

June 2009:

July 2009:

August 2009:

September 2009:

And I think we are going to fully rip the overhang off of the house.  We were debating on keeping it and fixing it up, or just ripping it off and we’ve decided to rip it out.  We want to build a new patio and the overhang won’t be the same size.  We’d also like to paint the huge metal eyesore…I mean shop/woodshed.  We also need to get rid of the weeds in the grass and re-plant.  Next summer will be about accessorizing the backyard – I love outdoor rooms!  Oh, and fix the fences…

Now we need a nice deep freeze to make the mosquitoes to go away…and the news is saying it might be next week! The end of September is my new favorite time of year I think!

Adventures in Saving the Planet

Posted by Lindsay on Sep 24, 2009 in eco-friendly, Environmental | 1 comment

As you might know, I try very hard to do my part in saving the planet.  I know I could be better at certain things…i.e. I rely on my car waaayy too much, purchase more organic food options, compost, buy more organic clothing, etc., but I think I do pretty well in other areas.  For instance, I use eco-friendly and chemical-free cleaning options (99% of the time – sometimes you need the chemical power, but not too often), I cloth-diaper my daughter, the disposable diapers and wipes that I do use are eco-friendly versions, we recycle as much as we can here, I buy organic food when the price is comparable or when it’s something that I feel I should purchase the organic version (with some foods it’s more important to buy the organic version and some you can relax with), but I really do a lot of research on eco-friendly product options how to live greener.

Well…there is one area of my life that made me feel so guilty in how I do things, so I decided to do something about it.  Ready to hear what it is?  It’s gonna blow your mind.  Here we go.  PRINTER INK. Yeah.  If you’re like me, you go through a lot of printer ink with your projects.  In design school, it was horrible.  I would always have to make sure to have a few cartridges on hand, because when you’re printing all of the photos of products and reports/schedules for a project, I’d always go through a lot of ink.  I go through a lot now with photocopying and printing projects for clients.  And it can get expensive.  But you have to have a printout with perfect colors because otherwise it really looks unprofessional.

I have a simple Hewlett Packard printer/scanner/copier that holds 2 cartridges; a black one and a tri-color.  It has served its purpose well for me, but each cartridge is about $15.  And they really don’t last that long.  Plus keeping a big stash to recycle is a pain.  So what did I do about?  I finally decided to dive into the world of refilling my own printer cartridges.  With anything you search for on Google, there are videos and how-to instructions about accomplishing this task.  Looked easy enough.  Then you can shop and compare prices.  Like most of my office supplies, I bought a set of refills off of eBay; I do this because the prices are almost always lower than anywhere else, and they seriously arrive within a day or two.  No Staples or Office Depot for me to pop in to around here – I use eBay.  I’ve bought clipboards, file folders, hanging folders, pens, scissors, and now printer ink refills on eBay. If you click on the pictures you’ll see who I bought them from.

A black-ink refill kit and a tri-color refill kit, specific to my printer cost $10 with shipping and everything.  I saved $20 and some plastic right there.  Yes, I know that having things shipped to your house isn’t so eco-friendly (shipping truck emissions, etc.), but I try to buy in bulk whenever I can to help with this.  I didn’t this time – I wanted to make sure it worked first – and I am very happy with how it all turned out, so I will be purchasing more kits in bulk next time – at least 3 or 4 of each.  But I did buy both cartridges from the same eBay seller so that they’d be shipped in the same box.

Anyway on to my “Adventures in Saving the Planet.”  The videos make refilling your own ink cartridges look easy peasy.  It is, but as with most of my projects, my rookie attempt goes awry.  My cartridges come in the mail, and I finally have a chance to sit down and get it done.  I cut the packaging open, and cut right through the directions.  Not good.  I piece them back together, and realize there is a perforated tab on the back to prevent this.  Oops.  I finally figure out what I’m supposed to be doing and start with blue (or cyan) on the color cartridge.  I pull the stopper off the top of the syringe and blue ink squirts all over my desk and all over my hands.  I look down at my clothes…I’m clean – woo-hoo!  Do not squeeze the bottle while taking the top off.  I run and get some paper towels and clean up my desk, but my hands are now covered in blue spots.  Oh well.  I put the syringe into the correct hole and squeeze.  Nothing happens.  I pull it out a little and no ink will go into the cartridge.  After trying for a few minutes I decide to let my handyman try it with his magic touch instead.  I take the baby from him, put her to bed and when I come back I have a fully-inked cartridge – all 3 colors (cyan, magenta and yellow are done!) woo-hoo!  Thanks, honey.  He thinks that I was pushing it too far in.  Who knows!  I replace the sticker on the top with the new one that they provide (you gotta cover the holes) and the other plus is that there is still ink leftover in the refills.  So technically I saved at least $50, not $20.

I try my hand out with the black one and I get it done – ALL BY MYSELF!  I run the printer diagnostics on the computer to clean the cartridges, line them up, etc….I hadn’t done this for awhile (if ever) anyway – just to make sure they’re running smoothly.  I print a test page with something I had to print anyway.  Black prints great, but the colors don’t look right – mostly the greens.  Hmm…I run another test page and it still isn’t right.  Here is where I’m cursing that I wasted money with this and now I can’t print what I need to, and give up and go to bed.  The next night, I run a couple a couple color copies of some things I needed, but I stay away from the ones with green in them.  They look great.  After trying the non-green ones, I get the courage to see how the green looks.  Crossing my fingers and… it worked perfectly!!  I’m assuming it just needed a little time to saturate itself or something, but my first attempt at refilling my own ink cartridges was definitely successful!!  Except for the blue fingers.

Am I late on this one, or do any of you refill your own printer cartridges?  I love that I saved so much money and plastic…plus I love a little DIY project – even if it does take a couple attempts to get it right.  What else do you do to help reduce waste???

(images via eBay seller, linked to sources)