A Little Bit of Instagram Love

My much anticipated Christmas present this year was the Iphone 4s. I had toted my broken Samsung around for so long, I forgot what it was like to have a working phone. Since I have such an adoration for all things Apple, This was the top, and only, item on my Christmas Wish List. I have to say this phone is rad! I've become so accustomed to using it, that I forgot what life was like before I had it!! One of my favorite Apps is Instagram. Along with some of my other goals for 2012, I want to try to take a few pics every day, just to photo chronicle life. This app makes taking the photos SOOO easy! The 4s also has a 8mp camera, and quite a few available editing apps, so snap/fix/post just like that. Thought I would share with you some of the pics I've been taking. I've shot a few of my work-in-progress projects(which we will be getting to VERY SOON).

1. This is a starburst mirror I actually completed.  It's sitting on a shelf all ready

to be painted & hung. This will be blogged for sure

2.  This was the mess I had made over Christmas making my Kusudama Balls. They're beautiful! But very very time consuming.  I still love origami though.  Just in small doses.

3.  This is Taz, he is seriously the best kitty we've ever owned.  Having a kitty from (almost) birth is the way to go.  He thinks he's human, and he lets Aidie carry him all over the house like a feline rag doll.

4. Oh, don't you just love those morning faces?

5.  Aidie got a guitar for Christmas. Nuff' said.












6. Working on some paint chip art for my living room. To be blogged.  :)












7. I love that he loves art.










8.  I'm going to have a weekly segment dedicated to the dancewear I make my daughter.  Any dance moms out there? (NOT the Abby Lee kind ;) LOL)













9. Shot of the blue skinnies and new Christmas BearPaw boots (warmest things ever!)











10. Pretty girl in the new outfit Nana bought her!












11. Glasses kinda day. Don't you LOVE my cell case? Animal print and bling, it's kinda my thing :D









12.  Totally forgot I had this gem of a pattern.  The directions are a bit technical, but with Big Al's help I know I can whip up a bunch of them. Pattern comes in so many different sizes.  I want to make a few colorful ones for danceboots too.








13. I have my baby set up in my dressing room, on the floor, beside my serger.  Not very economical (at all), but I've been getting A LOT of sewing done with it sitting there.








14.  Made a TON of these crochet bun covers for Jalaya's ballet. I'll post a tutorial soon.










15.  One of the things on my ever growing wish list is a Blythe doll. Yes, I'm a shameless doll fanatic (future blog post?) So you can imagine my excitement when Littlest Pet Shop included her in their line over Christmas.  Bought one for 5 bucks at Wal-Mart, after Christmas.  Aidie shares in my excitement for dollys (much to Daddy's dismay)




16.  Again, my little artist 

17. This was taken yesterday.  Aidies been pretty sick the past few days. Had him to the Dr to find out the poor little guy has infections in both ears and a throat infection.  He doesn't ask for much, just love. So I give it to him. In large, frequent, doses. Cause that's what Mama does <3






18.  Trying to take more self portraits.












19. And more...











20. And more








So that's pretty much it for now. If there's anyone out there who shares in the love, message me! I would love to follow your photos as well! Hoping I can solve my computer issues here soon, wish me luck!

Easy Sweater Refashion

This sweater has been one of the things that's sat in my project pile forever.  The before pictures are from 2006 when I was pregnant with my son.  I adored this sweater. It's such a great color with the rich orange and hints of red.  I believe I bought it at Charlotte Russe, it was meant to be a dress, but I wore it as a tunic with leggings while prego.  About every winter after that I've pulled it out to work it into something I could wear again, since it was much too long without that big belly in front of me.  So I bit the bullet a few evenings ago and got to work on the refashion.



Try to ignore how fat my face was. I am definitely not one of those pretty pregnant people. I'm a get big in every area of your body prego person.
I cut a little hole in the sweater where I wanted the bottom ribbing to be attached. Then I ran a seam right above that just to be on the safe side and keep it from unraveling. I also ran a stitch above the bottom ribbing as well. Then I pinned and attached the 2 together. I then pressed it to get the little bump out of the bottom, and PRESTO!! I can now wear it as a regular ol' sweater that no longer has the awkward long space in the middle.




By the way, Allan HATES red lipstick on me. But I adore it. Thoughts? 

So that's it.  Very simple, took me about 45 minutes and I had a new sweater to add to my wardrobe!

Feels Like Home

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Did you ever just have your hands into a million things, and the one thing that bugged you most was the one you kept saying; 'I'll do that tomorrow'.  Then tomorrow comes, and the next day, and the next, and before you know it, it's darn near 7 months later and you STILL didn't complete the task? Yes, that's me.. Bad girl!!

But here I am.  I hope you missed me, and I hope you still actually care what I have to show you.  I have taken the time to photograph all the projects that I've started and completed.  So I have a ton of things to catch you up on.  I also have a few more projects, and another blog waiting in the wings to be published. Big stuff coming up and I'm really very excited about it.

Suffice it to say that my house hasn't been the neatest place in the past few months.  Every corner has my art supplies and finished/unfinished projects waiting to find a home. And the adjoining room to my bedroom has been taken over by my sewing.  But there's just so much stuff! I've been working non-stop and the creative flow has been so AH-MAZZZEE-ING!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!?!??

I will have some photos up soon from the time gap.  Even though I'm sure you're all sick to death of Christmas posts, I will show you some of my projects from that as well.  This is going to be a bit tough for me to do since my computer is on the fritz a bit and takes forever and quite a few crashes in order to get everything edited and uploaded. But I'll do it for you! <3

 Wanted you guys to know also that, I've kept up with all of you the whole way so I'm anxious to share what I've been doing as well.  I love you guys to pieces! It's good to be back!


xoxoxoxoxo,

Jamie Lee

Quick and Easy Refashion

I wanted to share with you a small project that took me about 10 minutes to complete. It was right before I was leaving for a grocery shopping trip, and (imagine this) couldn't find anything to wear.

I got this top on one of my thrifting adventures. It had been laying (at the top) of the refashion pile, so I pulled it out and got to work.



I'm really not fond of frilly sleeves. I just don't think they look nice on my arms. I wasn't born with skinny little arms that can be adorned with much. (other than tons and tons of bracelets, but that's further down) I just grabbed my trusty fabric scissors, and carefully cut along the seam, where the frill met the elastic.
I then tried the top on, and felt as if it was too long, so I just trimmed a few inches off the bottom and was ready to go! Simple I know, but just shows how you can easily add something you like to your wardrobe even if you don't like a few things on the original garment!



I had my fav little photographer take this pic, but it was so late at night, we had to sacrifice some light quality...

(also, I finally re-learned how to do a fishtail braid. Soooo easy, and looks so cute!)


xoxo,

Jamie Lee

Decopauge Dresser Debut

I'm so excited to share this with you. I had so much fun working on this dresser. I had started it quite awhile ago, and didn't put any kind of stress on myself to get it done by a deadline. Decoupage is just such a relaxing thing to do. Other than some thought put into the design I was going for with the paper strips, the whole process was sort of meditative.

This is what the dresser had looked like in a former life. Sorry for the quality of this photo, I had to crop it in a lot b/c it was just a photo of Jalaya's room after we had painted it the obnoxious pink color that it is now. This was right when we had moved into our house. I had just taken this dresser that we bought from Value City Furniture. It was just a particle board job, (dresser had lived the first part of it's life with cartoon zoo animals I had painted onto the front of the drawers which matched Jalaya's nursery bedding) so I wasn't much concerned of how much I would deface it. :D This former dresser was just some fabric I had purchased on clearance when our Wal-Mart still carried bolts of fabric, some carpet padding for the foam, and staples. The knobs were just plain wooden ones I had bought at Lowe's and painted with acrylic paint.






I wanted to paint the parts of the knobs you would see with a coordinating blue color, like the dresser. I had tried to spray paint these little buggers, but the paint just wouldn't adhere over the acrylic paint that was already covering the knobs. Even after I sanded them, sp still didn't want to work. So, I gave in and just painted by hand with my overly huge bottle of blue acrylic paint.





The plate is a little correlle ware piece that I use for my paints all the time. Corelle wear is great. I don't have to worry about myself or one of the kids smashing it to pieces.

Yeah, sorry about the hair here, I was workin' hard :)

I wasn't so overly concerned of the texture of the knobs since they would mostly be covered with the buttons anyway, I just wanted them to be even and covered.












You know that fluttery feeling when a plan just comes together? I fell in love with these knobs. The buttons turned out even better than I thought they would.



All I did was fire up the glue gun, place some glue on the top of the wooden/painted knob, and press the button down over top until it stayed. Easy Peezy.

Now, the paper I used is all from Hobby Lobby. I bought most of it all at once, for both this project, and another one that's cooking as we speak. I cut the paper into strips and other shapes that I felt were visually appealing. I used my beloved Mod Podge to spread a layer on the wood, and sometimes if it was a more stubborn piece of paper, on to the paper itself. After I gently flattened the paper with my finger I spread a thin layer of MP over top of the paper, repeating this a few times in between drying. After all the paper was adhered I painted over the drawers and the top of the dresser with about 20 very thin coats of polyurethane. That was the final step in sealing the paper, and making sure that one of the kids don't find a way to peel it all off.

I had painted the body of the dresser before hand, I used a little Valspar paint sample I bought at Lowes, and I still have some left over. That took about 2 coats.





Here are some extra shots of the paper and knobs (attached). Don't you just LOVE these designs. They scream funky tween. They're exactly what my Jalaya and every other 8 year old girl love at the moment.

























I really cannot wait until I have Jalaya's room finished and able to be photographed. Until then, at least I've knocked some stuff of the list! Stay tuned for sure this week, I have a few refashions and finished projects, and possibly a video or two ;)


xoxo,

Jamie Lee

The Case of The Contact Caper and Fair Fun!

Hi Dolls!!

I know, it's been awhile. But let me tell you the deal. About a month ago I came down with a bit of pink eye in my left eye. It then, of course, spread to my right as well. I went to the ER and they gave me drops, which were heavenly but I could not get rid of the dang infection. So I battled back and forth with that...sensitivity to light..computers etc. FINALLY I got rid of it. Until I cuddled up with my Chunka watching Wizards of Waverly Place and fell asleep in my contacts. Woke up I would say, about 4am with the feeling of gravel and glass in my eye. I took the contact out thinking that would make it all better, but the sensation and pain was still there. I did manage to fall back asleep, only to wake up that morning unable to open my eye. That went on for a few hours, then I could finally squint a little, but the pain was agonizing! Not to mention I couldn't open my eye long enough for it to mean anything, or for me to get anything done, and the sensitivity to light was off the charts! The next day I called my beyond awesome love her to death eye doctor (Candace Macri) and she set me an appointment for a few hours from the call. She put numbing drops in the eye,( which was the most fabulous 15-20 minutes that I had in the past few days), so that she would be able to check it out. She confirmed that I had scratched my cornea several times over, and prescribed me antibiotic drops, which she instructed to hit hard and use every few hours. A few days after that it cleared up. But man! That was excruciating! I spent the time after that trying to find my house and my children after being stuck on the couch for days with a wet rag on my face.

So here I am now. I promise beyond all promises that I will  have a week packed with awesome things for you guys.

For now I would like to share our weekend with you. We decided that before the kids went back to school, we would bite the bullet and do some fun things, even though we couldn't afford it, and potentially leaving important things behind to do so. But hey, we never get to go on vacation or really any big trips at all. So we felt as if we had to get out and have some fun before we lost our minds.

Our first big adventure was the Lawrence County Fair. We had a ball!!I I wanted to share a few (a ton) of pictures with you!

Jalaya and Kyli have been begging me to order some feathers on ebay so I could do a bunch in their hair. There was a booth at the fair from the owner of Glotique Sun Spa   so I decided to just let her do it and cut out the middle man! I've been looking for a new place to get some color on the off season and they're awesome!  If you're in the New Castle Pa area definitely give them a look. They offer some really great/different things. I think I may go get my nose pierced. I've been wanting to do that for years. Also, and even more importantly, they have a service called Lumiere Red Light Therapy this is probably the one thing that I would love to do more than anything. You can read about it here.

Jalaya and Kyli stood at the smoking booth forever. Mesmerized. They're both little divas so I think the brown teeth will deter them from nicotine just for beauty purpose.

This ride is from the devil.

Aww, don't I look so happy and unassuming? Like as if I was going to enjoy the devil ride.

Jalaya was ready to make me regret life

Somewhere between the nausea and the shaky hands, this photo was born.
I also took a video, which I'll upload to my youtube account and update once I do.

The kids were in line for this crazy maze thing. Aiden was entertaining everyone with his Michael Jackson dance moves and songs. Right as he was going into his next act his pants fell down. His eyes got huge, he looked down, looked up, pulled them up, and went right back to his performance. I haven't laughed that hard in a loooong time. Priceless, just priceless.

My Baby Boy is growing up. He did all kinds of scare your Mama things, including racing as fast as his legs would carry him over this bridge.


So that's our fair fun. The next one we'll attend will be the Canfield Fair which is even bigger (and more expensive) those pics should be tons-o-fun.

xoxo,

Jamie Lee

Thrifty Goodness and a Little Makeup Haul

You know, I love reading blogs. As a matter of fact, sometime this week I would love to introduce you all to a few of my bloggy friends that I enjoy (stay tuned for that..)! Another thing I adore are posts about the goodies found in our beloved thrift stores. So I want to share all of the things that I love that are frequently shared with me!

My latest Thrifty Trip was not only fun, but I really acquired some cute stuff. Here's a photo of the bulk of it;


The button down on the left is a TJ Maxx goodie, with the tags still attached. I snatched it up so fast I almost made myself dizzy. It wasn't even all that busy in the store, so I don't know who I thought I had to swipe it from :) It's really an awesome top. It's in a large so I know I'll be able to adjust wherever needed, but it still has the roomy comfortable quality that I love. It's just so versatile. My mind's already reeling of all the ways I can wear it. I'll definitely do an OOTD post on this very soon.

Chunka was the one who actually spotted the books. There were 4 in a plastic packet for 99 cents. I never ever ever say no to a request for a book. I had no idea what they actually were. From first glance they looked so awesome, I was excited to google away when we got home.



They're called Doraemon. Wikipedia says it was a Japanese series about a robotic cat (goes perfect with our recent cat theme huh?) named Doraemon.



You read the books from the back to the front, which is so cool! They're in both Japanese and English. I can't wait to display them in Chunka's room. Awesome conversation pieces.



Jalaya and her friend Bri couldn't put them down. (BTW our house has become the haven for sleepovers. I love it! Kids are so inspiring, don't you think?)



I usually wouldn't buy these in the store, because I love to make them myself, but for 50 cents, you can't beat it. Especially since the Cheer Girls are very much into wacky headbands and barrettes for Jalaya's practice. There was also a 3rd one we bought, a blue Hello Kitty, FANTABULOUS!



UGH!! I took the photos after the sun had gone down, and also on a red blanket. Huuuuuge mistake. This dress is such a great print, but it doesn't really show through with the red underneath it. The dress is meant to look dip dyed, it has rich oranges, purples and blacks melting together. The dress is also a super soft cotton, and lined as well. It's another one I'll have to photo on. I also have to refashion it a bit. I'm not fond of the straps, so I'll surely remove them. I'll figure out how I want to tweak the rest very soon. The colors are fall-friendly I think, so I can see myself wearing it with tights, boots, and my rugged leather.



These jeans are another fashion item I can cross off of my list (colored jeans). They're light blue skinnies. I'm not going to rock them in the current color however, I'm going to dye them a darker hue. I haven't decided whether or not I want to cut them into shorts, or leave them to welcome me into cooler temperatures. The latter sounds like a better idea, even though I'm sure you cannot have too many pairs of cut off jeans :D


This crop top isn't for me. It's dancewear for my little chick. For those of you with girls in any sort of dance, you know the apparel gets a little steep. I'm planning on making the bulk of it, since the new addition of my serger to the family, but this top was too good to pass up. The top is Balera brand, raglan sleeve, and off the shoulder. It's much too large for Jalaya, but I'll tweak it so she can get use out of it for the next few years. Our favorite part are the holes at the end of the sleeves for her little thumbs to poke through. Like mother like daughter, she has to have her sleeves readily available to her hands at all times.


These adorable hats are also another find for Jalaya, Aidie got a bunch of bucket hats too, but he ran off with them as soon as we walked in the front door. You can see how cute they are in the photos above.

True to form, I had to make a Wal-Mart run before coming home. While I was there, I made my usual run through the makeup aisle. I wanted to try a lipstick/gloss that was extended wear. I'm thinking that the formulas have to be a little better now then they were before, always drying my lips out. So I got 2. I also grabbed a Hard Candy Skin Perfecting Primer as well.

I decided that to give the lips a try I would buy the 2 brands in more neutral colors for consistent wear. One is Revlon ColorStay Overtime Lipcolor in Bare Maximum. The other is Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color in So Pearly Pink. Maybelline has 2 ends just like the Revlon, one is apparently the primer if you will, the other is the color. Right off the bat I didn't like that the Middle part where the 2 ends connect makes up the bulk of the product. There really isn't much there. The way I go through gloss...wow...this wasn't exactly a thrifty purchase for me. We'll see how it works however. I'll do a full review once I have a few days of use. A video perhaps?

Now it's your turn, any recent thrifty finds? Or, makeup that you just can't live without?

xoxo,

Jamie Lee

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