Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Pin all the things!!

Are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am?

I got an invite early on and told anyone who would listen about how amazing and inspiring it was.  Everyone that got an invite from me has cursed me for introducing it into their lives. ;)


Like most Pinners, I have dozens of projects I would like to try.

Here are a few I'm hoping to get to soon:

Over on Mom 4 Real she created some open shelving and painted the back of the cabinets.  I don't think I would have the discipline to keep it this neat and tidy but I like the idea of painting the insides, even if it means I only see it when I open the doors.


I'm dying to get out to do some thrifting and one thing I'm on the lookout for is an old globe.  I want to paint it with chalkboard paint like the one on UCreate.


And the second I saw the picture for this pleated tote on The Long Thread, I knew I wanted to find some fabulous fabric and give it a try.


I could go on and on with all the things I want to make but these three are at the forefront at the moment.

Have you made anything off of Pinterest lately?

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The Best Medicine

One of my favorite boards to pin to on Pinterest is my LOL board.  Its my "go-to" when the only thing you can do, is laugh.


The "Hey Girl" meme with Ryan Gosling is a favorite.  
Especially when its craft related.




If you have a cat, you know this look well.




I love everything about this.

I hope your day has been filled with laughter!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Mondays

As much as I want to hop right out of bed during the week, excited about starting my day, I have yet to have a job where that was the case.

So I often felt as so many do...
But having worked contract and temp work over the last two years with spurts of no working at all, I long for the days when I dreaded Monday and really looked forward to Friday and weekend adventures.

Here's hoping I start to dread Mondays again with all of you. ;)

Sunday, January 20, 2013

"I'm possible!!"

I love to make things.  I always have.  I always will.  And about 99.9% of the time people have wonderful things to say about the things I have created.  So why can the odd negative comment bother me so much?  One in particular recently resurfaced in my memory.  This happened years ago.  It was one sentence.

"There's only one Martha Stewart."

At the time I laughed it off  like "don't be silly, I don't aspire to be Martha Stewart" but it really upset me and more recently angered me. How dare anyone put their own self doubt and insecurity on someone else.

The reality is, I don't aspire to be Martha Stewart. There are so many things she does extremely well that I'm not interested in. However, I do hope to carve out my own niche in the creative industry. I aspire to open my own Etsy shop to sell some of my creations and I love creating personal touches for my home.  I think these things are very Martha-esque.

So I need to keep in mind that there will be people along the way who try to squash my dreams in one way or another. (Note to self: these are the people I need to learn to ignore.) It's the people who believe in your abilities and support your dreams that you need to surround yourself with.  These are the people that push you back on track when some negative thought re-enters your mind.

But just in case your cheer-leading section is unavailable at a crucial moment...

This is one of my favorite posts from Marc & Angel Hack Life.


And a favorite quote from one of my all-time favorite actresses:


"Nothing is impossible, 
the word itself says I'm possible!"
 - Audrey Hepburn

How do you deal with the negative?

PS  To the person who gave me the unsolicited advice years ago: You're right, there is only one Martha Stewart but....there's only one me!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

The key to success


Though I love to read blog posts about crafts, DIY, home improvements etc., one of my favorite kind of blog posts are quick run-downs of cool & interesting things bloggers have come across.  Yesterday, Nicole from Making It Lovely linked to a piece about Tina Fey.

It's quite simple really.  Tina says the key her success is to just say yes (I love when things rhyme)...and figure the rest out later.  Given how her career has gone, I'd say saying "yes!" has really worked for her.

As someone who tends to over think things to death, this is really great advice.

What have you just said "YES!" to?

Friday, January 18, 2013

Color Change

I moved into my apartment 5-ish years ago and immediately painted the living room walls and kitchen cabinets.  The cabinets got a coat of creamy white, while the living room and hallway were painted a blue called "Lake Crest".

I liked the color once it was up, but I didn't love it.  In bright light it almost seemed too blue (if that makes sense).  But I lived with it and made it work.

I've been wanting to make a change for a while but wasn't sure what color palette I wanted to go with.  So I headed to Designer Fabrics to see what colors I was drawn to.  

It didn't take long before I picked out these fabrics.


And it wasn't long before I made these throw pillows.


So narrowing down my paint color became so much easier.  Painting hasn't happened yet but I'm going to go with a grey purple called "Magical Twilight".


There are SO many things I'd like to do to my apartment but for now I have to settle for planning things out...which is almost just as fun!

What projects are you working on? Dreaming about?

Thursday, January 17, 2013

City Explorer

One of my favorite things to do in my hometown of Toronto is to explore.  I've lived here all of my life and I still come across things I've never seen before.  I pick a subway stop not familiar to me, get off armed with my camera, and just walk.

To make things a little more fun, some good friends of mine got me this for Christmas.



There are lots of fun suggestions on what to do on your walk.  Everything from taking note of the colors you see along the way to the suggestion that you try the strangest thing on the menu at a new restaurant.


I can't wait to go on my next city walk!  But I may wait until temperature doesn't have a minus before it.