A Little of this and that..

Awhile back I bought this with the intentions of hanging one up in Cora's Gothic room.. I ended up with four of them..... So I did this to two of them: Whatcha think?! I think it's really neat- One will be going into The Painted Lady... the other will go up in Etsy.


Next is a picture of Rufus and Otis.... They can't stand each other when they're awake! But not today..... So cute! Don't tell anyone, but they're touching each other and don't even know it.


Next is a new Project:) I found a listing on Etsy for 13 doll heads, and knew I had to have them. And when they came last night, I totally got side-tracked and spent the next 5 hours sanding them down.

I started with an emery board- I use these to do almost all of my sanding jobs, but I soon realized I wasn't getting anywhere.... So I broke out the dremel! And you'd be proud- I didn't even hurt myself. LOL!! After I 'dremeled' all of them down, I went back and did the detail sanding....

This next pic shows you what I started with and what I got it to look like when I was done.....

Now they just need a coat of paint. Some will get crackled, some stoned- lol, and some I just want to paint white.

And then there's these......

Another find on Etsy. They are some kind of game pieces. I'm going to repaint them and a few will live in MarshMallow Manor. ((My Dad flies for a living, and I've been trying to find something that would be totally his in the house. In their real house, they have a few models of the planes he has flown on, and I plan on using those as my guide.))

So needless to say, I've got my plate full again, or should I say my bed, the coffee table, the end table.... LMAO- It's just everywhere, lol.

Until Next Time....

The sand trade update...

If I read it right, there are 8 of us(including me)
*Plushpussycat
*Lataina- See Lataina, You need a blog for me to link back to.
*Jollie
*Ana
*Susanne
*Margriet
*Sans (she doesn't know shes particpating yet, lol.... but she sent me sand when I first asked, so she's included!!)
*and little ole Me:)

that want to particpate... So.. this is how this will go. If you email me, I will give you my address.... All sand needs to be in the mail by August 1... And I will have them ready to be shipped back out by September 1st. If everyone can send me about a half a cup of sand, I will divide it up, and rebag it, and that way all of us will have some sand from all over the world. I don't know about you.... But I'm excited:)

(If I'm missing anything... just ask, please! I want to make sure this works for everyone:)

See.... I have the beach on my mind.. All of these are listed in my Etsy shop...


Drew and I went back down to the beach again last night, we LIVE about 10 minutes away from it. I wanted more shells, and my son wanted to try out his new skateboard on the boardwalk. Poor kid.... Came home all kinds of banged up. We really got to work on his balance issues, lol.

These are the shells I was looking for... There's not a lot of them, and you really have to walk the beach to find them... I still need a few more, but I'll worry about that next time. Some of these are soooo tiny.


I also brought home these shells. These are easier to find, and are really pretty! And there's a few that are so tiny, you can barely see them. I do plan on sending a few of these out with my sand samples, too:)

I hope I've included everything you need to know.... My brain is a little duh today, and I feel like I'm forgetting something! Thanks again to everyone who left a comment:)

So Until Next Time....

Now these are some Big Roses

My roses have opened up so I thought I'd show you how big they are. And OMG... do I wish my computer had smell-o-screen cause I don't think I've ever smelled anything like it!


I even took a ruler to it, so you could get a better idea of it's size... I have 3 blooming right now:) And do you see the small roses in the back- those are the bfs roses... See I told you mine were bigger, lol.

His roses are pretty though!

And they're so bright... Most pictures I have taken have just washed out... I took these late in the afternoon, when the sun wasn't really shining so you could see them.

And there's so many of them...

Hope you've enjoyed the roses... I know I am:)

No minis today, yet.... I did however find a nice collection of thimbles from the thrift store today that were only $1.35! I plan on using one in Marshmallow Manor, and it was cheaper to buy the bag then it would of been to buy one at the craft store.. Not to sure what I'll do with the rest of them yet...

So.... guess I gotta go find something to keep me busy for the rest of the night... Oh, what to do....what to do, lol.

Until Next Time

The International Sand Trade

Awhile back.... I had talked about doing a sand trade. I'm not really sure how to go about doing it, so if anyone has any suggestions, I will glady listen:) But I would also like to know if anyone is interested??

At the end of summer, my family is going to be staying at a beach house in North Carolina, and I plan on getting sand from there, too.... So there is No rush here... And don't stress if your not near a beach and want to be a part of this... I'm sure there's something around you that you can collect a 'sample' from.... lake, river, dirt... a playground...

After I brought it up the first time..... Sans sent me some sand from a playground in Singapore... and some sand from the beach in Sir Lanka... I put them in a couple of bottles, and put some labels on them.... and I still have 2 whole bags of sand left:) My labels are starting to come off... so I need to figure out a better way to do that... But I still love them:) Thanks again Sans!!!

And then this past weekend, my parents came down and stayed at the ocean front... so while the kids were dipping their toes in the water (Why is it when you tell your kids the water is too cold to go swimming, they never believe you.... Until they get in the water, lol... Mine lasted 5 minutes, before they were back out, shivering mind you, asking if they could go swimming in the hotel pool instead..Duh!) .... I was bent over, searching for the tiniest shells I could find:) And this is what I did with them.... Each jar has some sand... and some tiny, tiny shells...

I still can't believe how freaking small some of the shells we found were, my youngest even found some:)

And.... I still have a whole bag of sand... and more shells:) I even found some odd pieces... a tiny green bear, the top to one of those safety pins that you use for cloth diapers... And my Dad found a Barbie:) The kids brought it back to me for parts:) LOL

oh... and Cora found a big rock.... Which I put in my purse.... Later in the day, I had asked my bf to hand me my purse, and he said... 'My god, what do you have in here, Bricks?' .....took me a minute to realize I still had the rock in there....lol

Do you see how tiny these shells are?! Perfect for miniatures!

So.... anyone interested in trading sand?? If a couple of people are... I will find a way for everyone to get sand from everyone that participates.

And while I'm talking about Virginia Beach.... I got an interesting email this morning:)

Do you remember the post about the murals.. the kind of mural I want on the side of the skateshop... Well, I got an email from one of the artists today. He just wanted to thank me for the post and sent me a link to his website where there are better pictures. I was so shocked that he emailed me:) His work is just amazing! If you get a chance, you should check it out:)

Well, I think I've included everything..... Except for plugging my Etsy store:) You will see some beachy themed things going up due to the fact that summer is almost here..... Hopefully this year, I can actually go the the beach and enjoy it!!

So..... Until Next Time.....

Picture Heavy this time:)

I was finally able to pull myself away from the tv and got some 'work' done. But first let me start with this:

I found it at AC Moore's the other day in the clearance section for $0.50!! I bought 2... One for me and one for one of you. If you'd like to have the other one, I will send it to who ever asks first... However, If you take it... You gotta complete it and get on me about completing mine. I plan on painting mine white, and doing a little scene inside of it.... It's tiny and the roof part comes off. It's about 3 1/4 inches tall. I found it in the cake decorating section! So what would you do with it if it were yours?

Next we have the angel. I love how she looks in person, but I can't seem to capture that in pictures today...

Remember, First she was painted with Gesso...then sprayed with probably too many coats of stone spray. Then I went back and added brown and green paint to age her... And last night she got mossed.

Now I just need to take a good picture of her?!

I went ahead and mossed one of the trophies, too. I really like how it came out.

I was going to fill this one, but I kinda like it as it is... I can fill the others later. They'd be pretty with flowers, too. It stands 3 3/4 inches tall. I know it seems a bit tall... but I think it would make a good focal point in a garden...

As usual the inspector came by....I don''t think JD was impressed with the smell of the moss, because after he smelled it he snuffed his nose and walked away.

While I was outside... I went ahead and took a few pic of the roses..... This is our tea-roses.... Smells so wonderful!

And these are the bf 'Orange Crush' roses... I swear he has a hundred blooms on that thing!

My rose bush is doing well, too. But it only has a few blooms on it. LOL.... and my blooms are bigger. Last year one of the blooms was the size of my hand!

And here's the daylilies that got planted yesterday! I still can't believe she brought me that many! I'm hoping this will fill in over the next few years and that the whole fence line will be covered:) Hope my neighbor doesn't mind?!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend... My parents will be here late tonight and tomorrow I hope to walk the beach with them.... Which will take me into my next idea... The International Sand trade. More on that later:)

Until Next Time....

Ugg!

OK... So, I was a little annoyed when I woke up this morning as saw that I missed the wedding! I soooo wanted to watch Kate walk into the church! My family and I were in Scotland when Dianna got married, and we were living in Wales when Prince William was born.... So it's all rather exciting to me, as I am sure it is to you..... I'm hoping they will show it again sometime:) I woke up as they were walking out of the church... and they just got to the balcony and had their 'first' kiss.... sigh....... What I wouldn't give to be there with London right now... Everyone looks so happy!

...But my real problem is I can't seem to pull myself away from the TV, lol. I have work to get done, and a house to clean, clean! My mother just informed me that they will be here tonight, and not tomorrow.. and that makes me panic a little. I have too much to do, lol. And all I want to do is watch tv!! Terrible!!

OH, and I need to turn this computer off! I didn't tell you yet, but I got a Laptop! My sister sent me hers..... Isn't that awesome! I can Not tell you enough how awesome it is to lie in bed and surf the net!! Very very convenient!

Ok.... I guess I got to go.... I gotta go wave my magic wand and get this house clean. fun. fun.

Until Next Time...

Due to the cloudy day...

I'm revisiting the garden again....

Haven't really done anything productive today.... well, I guess I can't say that cause I did get some bills paid, and I did manage to swing by the thrift store and pick up 2 pairs of comfy pants because I can't seem to get my a** in the ones I have here.... and when I got home there were two trash bags of daylily bulbs, irises and one elephant ear plant from the Flower Fairy ((Thank-you Flower Fairy!!!)) .... so the bf dug holes, and I got them all planted:) One day.. our yard going to be sooo full of flowers :) -when it's not raining I will take pics:)

As far as minis go... I've just been trying to finish things up. I have way too many projects going on! And I've been getting side-tracked so easily here lately! I wrote a list to help me out, so we will see if I can stay focused!

....shhh! This bunny is sleeping!.....

And Check out the strawberry in the next pic... It's almost all seed! And I just love this little laughing pig:)

So... Maybe tomorrow I will have something complete? LOL..... Or I'll have more garden pics:)

Until Next Time....