A Little Ditty....

Janice, Kathy, and I road-tripped up to Portland this last weekend. We met up with Christina Kuntz of Art Circus/Mack & Momma.  (she has an awesome studio, btw! Thanks, Christina for a fun night of flower making and treasure hunting!)

The weather was gorgeous. A bit brisk, but sunny. We walked around a little to a few of the boutiques in the area. Christina knows EVERY ONE!!!

Christina, Kathy, Janice

We ended up back at the cars at the McMennamin's Kennedy School (SO MUCH FUN!). She had "assigned" us each a seat with doll heads! (inside joke of Kathy not liking dolls - and Christina and I joking on Facebook, pre-trip, about finding and fighting over them! Parts is parts, right?)

Janice's mascot had red hair. Kathy's blonde. And mine brunette.

She drove us all around, introduced us to a ton of vendors and boutique owners, gifted us with AWESOME gift bags chock-full of bottled water, energy bars, candy, Mardi Gras masks, bead necklaces, stamps, and a bit of other sweet findings.

Christina introduced Kathy, Janice and I to the Goodwill Outlet Store "bins".

Can I just say? The "bins" have ruined the three of us for regular thrift store shopping!

It's like an ever-replenishing yard sale in one location!

There apparently are THREE in the Portland area. We went to TWO of them...I don't think we could have fit a THIRD visit into Janice's "toaster"... her Scion.

blurry photo of the 3/4 back seat...Kathy was squeezed into the other 1/4 side behind Janice driving

 

The "bins" are sold by the pound. Can you imagine? We all went a little crazy for the fabric.

 

I found an awesome rag rug.

 

21 pounds @ .89/lb. Yeah, do the math!

 

SCORE!

 

It will be perfect in the studio.

 

It was SO big and heavy, but folded up nicely under my feet on the floorboard.

I can't stop thinking about the "bins"... I think it's a good idea they are 5 hours away!!!

I would be ADDICTED!!! So much so, I've made up a little ditty in their honor....

I'm a little goofy that way...guess you had to be there! lol

CHEERS!

***
(to the tune of Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love)

You see the signs, and you re-read

It's by the pound, how can that be?

So many bins, you can't be saved

All those piles, of things you crave.

 

Now you're movin', at top speed

Get it quick, before it leaves.

Another pile, another heap.

There's no doubt, you're in deep.

 

Oh, there's a smell

But what the hell.

Your cart is full

You tip the scale.

 

Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah

It's such an awful truth to say you can't get enough

You're gonna have to face it your addicted to BINS!

You might as well face it, your addicted to BINS!

A little bit everyday.

If I were a wooden sculpture, this would be me...

Always in  think. plan. do. mode.

A few nights ago Phillip and I were driving down the road on our way home. We were rolling the big truck (15' Isuzu box truck) and as we passed a pile of rolled up barbed wire on the side of the road with a FREE sign on it...he looked over to me and asked, "Does the MONKEY need any rolls of barbed wire, cause I can turn the truck around?"

Can I just say, right here and now, to whomever is reading today's post ???

I LOVE THIS MAN!!! HE TOTALLY GETS ME!!!

So, of course, he did a u-turn and I hopped out to load up many rolls of rusty barbed wire - bare handed, I might add, BUT I didn't get a scratch! The woman-of-the-house came walking down her dirt driveway and thanked me and gave me a hug! I love living here...NOT only are folks happy to give their "junk" away, but they give hugs!!!

***
Fast-forward to last night...while the box truck was at home, we loaded up my future cash-wrap station into the truck...

Definition: cash wrap...the place where money will hopefully transfer hands from future customers and students to entrepreneur (me) in exchange for creative workshops, home goods, jewelry, garden decor, etc....where many stories will be shared and lifelong friendships will be created and nurtured...

NOTE to Self: keep eyes open for a replacement cabinet/shelving unit for the laundry room at home...

Today, we moved it into place.

The pink Formica counter-top will be replaced...cause pink is not my color....and has NOTHING to do with "RUSTY"!

I'm toying with the idea of painting the oak black too??? or maybe not...???

The back (now the front) of the cabinet is un-finished.

A few months back I scored a pile of old rusty corrugated panels from the Spaulding saw mill that closed down in Grants Pass....

 ...ignore the saw dust...that's just from when THE wall was being built...

Here's the plan...

...and I gotta get that old bed frame hung up on the wall so I can put up the letters...
R.U.S.T.Y... M.O.N.K.E.Y

 A little bit EVERYDAY!

Cheers!

April in Paris....an apron...

I'm not a seamstress by any means, but my darling husband bought me a new sewing machine for Christmas, and so, I needed to sew something!

I confess, however, that I cheated a little by buying a pre-packaged black apron. I needed an apron for ART CAMP back in April, and so when I found the April in Paris fabric, I was sold!!!

Black and Cream? How can you go wrong?

Firstly, I removed the front, angled (and not so deep) pocket and replaced it with a new one. One that was bigger and deeper. 

...and with a little side pocket for ... a pencil? a ruler? a paintbrush?

You can't really see it in the photo, but I cut and re-used the original pocket over on the left to hold my trusty iPhone. Perfect! As I'm lost without it...Phillip will attest to that!

As a gift to myself, I purchased a ruffler foot...WOW! How did we EVER make ruffles without a ruffler foot? I wanted to ruffle, ruffle, ruffle...Even though, I'm NOT a girly girl, I LOVE the ruffles!

...and here I am...being a girly-girl at art camp...in ruffles!

...and here I am...(blurry and all) being a silly girl, aka: HOP SING from the old T.V. show, Bonanza.

Suffice it to say...we were a little bit tired and punchy...but girls' retreats are always silly and fun!

I was crafting with my denim hat worn backwards to keep my hair outta my face. I found some chop sticks in the kitchen drawer...the rest is history.

We were all goofing around with a sheet of sticky-back felt, cutting a variety of shapes and sizes of mustaches, beards, eyebrows, moles, etc....I think we were all laughing SO hard, we about pee'd ourselves and had tears running down our faces...

It was even funnier, when a few of the other girls arrived in the house, and we goof-balls got all serious really fast. Their reaction, once they noticed our "facial hair", was priceless!

Fun times! 

Must do it again soon!!!

Cheers!

Future Home...

Imagine, if you will...

a new glass/metal door....

pressure washed sidewalk...

weeds gone!

some cute, rustic, rusty focal point - truth be told? I'd LOVE. LOVE. LOVE an old, vintage, rusty truck out front....cut in half lengthwise...with the bed of the truck staged with goodies, but I've been told those are very expensive...and I would be hunted by the antique auto restorers for doing such a treacherous deed!

a rust, brown, cream striped fabric awning....

new paint scheme....rust. brown. cream.

I need some input.

Dark blue = rust or chocolate brown?

Medium gray trim = rust or chocolate brown?

Light gray body = cream!

Or I could just leave it "as-is" so it looks like our main building and spend my budget inside...???

***

I got a quote to replace this 30' awning...to re-dress it would be about $2000. It was originally about a $3000-3500 adventure! I know!!! YIKES!!! Who knew? It was here when we bought the place.

But, the nice man at the awning business suggested I just PEEL off the vinyl lettering and graphics...WOW! I thought it was screen-printed. Guess I never looked at it that closely.

Hot weather lately? Yeppers! They just peeled right off...a $2000 savings in just under 10 minutes! I guess that means I'm $2000 ahead of the game....great way to rationalize it, right??? lol

Now, I just need to use some goo-be-gone, a bit of bleach and a scrub brush and all will should be good. No more muffler and brake shop!!! NO more walk-ins asking for service and repair!

****

It's a good day!!!

Stealing a Seat...

Ever just wanna steal something from your kid?

Be honest!!!

Ok. Maybe you don't...


Well, I DO!

From Ty.

He'll be 25 this year and I want to steal this from him....

I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a vintage, red and white bicycle to put in the yard...as decoration. The ones I find are in too good of shape or they are WAY too expensive!

I LOVE the seat...

THIS SEAT!

He better lock it up!!! Or it might go missing....BWAAAAHAAAAA!!!!!

Never a dull moment...at CHA with Friends!

Aside from coming home a bit under the weather, from what I can only guess was a plethora of international germs attaching themselves to me, I had a lot of fun spending time with friends, old and new.

l-r: Kristen Robinson, Kelly B, and me taking a little break in the booth

The booth looked fabulous!

Lots of eye candy. I think it was a bit French Vagabond.

Old bed springs. Metal and wood steamer trunks. An old egg rack.

Sparkly layered chandelier.

Truly ecclectic.

Sadly, I failed to get a photo of Susan's ballerina, but I hear-tell it's being featured in a familiar publication soon...

.....

A couple of my contributions fit in really, really well. I didn't know the booth theme, but things just kind of worked out...

 "Wanderlust" an altered book...travel journal

 "To Inspire" an up-cycled pocket mirror

 "Grace.. in the wind" a vintage rake wall hanging

"To Light" a brick candleholder

Lots of eye candy...LOTS!
.....

I met a good percentage of the ICE Resin family and celebrated Joanna Pierotti's birthday at Buca di Beppo.

Then the fun ensued....

Jen Cushman started it!!!

And we all hammed it up wearing the little fuzzy black mustaches. Man, that was a hoot!

back row l-r: me, Susan Lenart Kazmer, Kelly B.
front row l-r: Jen Cushman, Joanna Pierotti, Kristen Robinson
not pictured, photographer: Carol, ICE Resin Media Maven

Kelly improvised and drew a little 'stache of her own on her finger...

Those little mustaches migrated to all sorts of places...from eyebrows, to eyeglasses, to chins, to iPhones, to walls in the hotel....

Joanna made her three birthday wishes.

...and then the night was over. Back to the hotel and ready for the next day.

...

Friday, I was a bit hoarse, and then fell victim to a head/chest cold. But, my mind is full of inspiration and ideas. It's amazing how being surrounded by such an abundance of creativity can fuel such a WISH. DREAM. CREATE. energy...Just have to get back to 100% and then the fun begins....

"I QUIT!"

Yep. That's what my christmas tree said yesterday!

So, I removed its ONE string of white lights, all the celophane wrapped candy canes, the red glass ornaments, the sheer red ribbon garland, the little red bows, and the silver tinsel strands...there was NEVER a topper put on the poor thing. I NEVER even took a photo of the tree this year...so I guess QUITTING was warranted.

Plus, even though it was watered (a couple of times), a couple of times wasn't enough. The needles were DRY and DEAD!!! Even with the huge tree stand still attached, it only weighed about 2 lbs...MAX! I'm betting the tree stand weighed as much as it.

When I lugged it in, it weighed A LOT more than that...talk about a starvation diet!

I've been really busy the last few weeks...months, actually, so our tree this year was a bit neglected...If it wasn't for A.J. and Kyra decorating it, it would still be standing in the room naked as a jay bird!!


Moving on...

So, I put the tree, with the stand still attached out on the front porch (which still isn't finished!).

There were needles EVERYWHERE!!! I guess the tree was getting even with me.

Pulled out the Dyson and proceeded to vacuum the floor...

Thinking I got the last laugh, because the needles made the vacuum smell so good and fresh, I looked up to see the tree on the porch when I was done, and IT WASN'T THERE! Only needles.

Now, keep in mind, I don't live in a city. There's no recycling service going around removing trees into a big truck. There are no neighborhood kids to play pranks. SO? Where did the tree go?

I walked out the door. Looked to the left and then to the right, over the porch railings.

NO tree.

Walked down the stairs.

NO tree.

Walked down the walkway....

WHAT THE HECK?!!!

There was the tree. Tree stand still attached. Lying down and around the house - a complete U-Turn - in front of the garage that is below the house!!!

Dang tree.

I guess when it said, "I QUIT!" it wasn't kidding!!!

ETA: the wind was HOWLING yesterday!!!

"I, Tina Marie Schiefer, do solemnly swear, that Christmas 2012's tree will be fully decorated, watered, pampered, photographed and shared!"

Life's Little Surprises....

The day before yesterday I stayed home from work, in bed all-day, with a terrible head cold. I was exhausted and in between naps kept wondering who the heck got me sick!! Couldn't be just some random cold germ floating around out there, right? It had to be someone...

Used to be, with three little boys going off to school and coming home with a plethora of plague-like hitch hikers, I was used to fighting off some sort of bug...but, now? What gives?

Was it the guy in Wally World in front of me telling the checker how he was just getting over a bug?

Or was it the checker at the paint store that was hacking into a Kleenex saying how he was just getting over a bout with a bug?

Or was it one of my employees that was feeling a bit under-the-weather but still coming to work?

Whomever it was or wasn't, I was laid up at home on a beautiful, end-of-summer day while my sweet Phillip was at work. When he came home he told me I got a box of magazines from Stampington.

Well, since our shop is about 30 or so miles from home, I would have to wait to see what was in the box.

The next morning, yesterday, I saw the box sitting on the conference room table. "Oh, it's my wholesale order of Life" and then went about my day --- see yesterday's post....

Fast-forward to about 3 p.m.

Ginger and I took a break from over at the Rusty Monkey so we could eat lunch and I could get an E.B. (see day job) freight shipment out. While I was in my office completing a BOL (bill of lading) for the shipment, Ginger was sitting out at the conference table and apparently found the magazines.

She yells to me, "Hey! You didn't tell me you were in Life!"

"Um," I reply, "me neither. What's in there?"

Truly, I had NO idea what could possibly be in there. I am waiting to receive the Premier issue of Mingle - our 25th Anniversary Party is being featured - and I have NOT seen a sneak preview yet!!! Only the little teaser House Ads...and to make my antsy self even more antsier (that's a word, right?)
I've received some emails about how great the article looks....It's driving me crazy, but I SO love surprises!!!

So, back to Ginger...

She, in a most excited voice, yells..."and it's the first article! You're getting closer to the COVER!"

"What? What is?", says me.

"...and Kristen!", says she.

So, I go out there...

"OHHHH! It's the article and photoshoot Kristen and I did at Anahata's place, Papaya Living, over in Ashland!", I finally say.

So, friends, just goes to show, even when you do something and completely put it on the back burner, it can totally be a surprise!!!

***Thanks to Kristen Robinson for trusting me to do the photoshoot for your article.

***Thanks to Anahata for your generosity...you know what I mean!!!

***Thanks to Stampington for another great publication.

***Thanks to Ginger for surprising me...I needed that!

***Thanks to my sweet Phillip for telling me about my magazines coming in...and SO much more!

***Thanks to whomever gave me my head cold....NOT!!!

Happy-ness....

Happy-ness is being surrounded by those you love 

and care about most on your special day....

...and having the support of all your friends 

and family when good things happen.

Phillip and I celebrated 25 years of marriage on 7/31 

at the Historic Wolf Creek Inn.

The weather was perfect for sundresses 

and open toe sandals (which promptly became bare feet.)

Grass-stained bare feet, I might add.  

I have to thank three of my closest friends and my youngest son, for 

all their help setting up my "dream" party.

I tried to have everything as ready and as planned out ahead of time as I could, but even the best laid plans can go awry and have a turn for the worst.

My girlfriends and my boy, however, pulled everything off without a hitch. 

Every detail was EXACTLY as I had in my mind's eye.

Perfectly Country Living meets Martha Stewart meets Flea Market Style.

Perfectly PERFECT!!!

T H A N K  Y O U

A.J., Janice, Ginger, Kristin

I owe you all, big....

All of our men showed up about 3:45.

At about 4:00, I was reminded that I needed to get ready for the party too.

Oh Yeah. That's right....

So off I went...

...to get ready and to show Phillip our Clark Gable Suite!!!

(and to all those who asked, the rocking chair did not rock at 2 a.m.)

Yeah, I'm a little bummed the "ghost" did not visit us, 

but the inn did lock its doors on a few of our guests!!!

...doo-doo doo-doo, doo-doo doo-doo.....

Our party started at 5 pm.

Our guests were greeted with this sign.

It set the tone for the whole party.

Simple.

Casual.

Sweet.

It's an old picture frame outfitted with upholstery burlap my mom 

left in our greenhouse when she moved out a few years back. 

The cream paper flowers were stamped with brown Staz-On using a 

Script stamp (this matched our invites) with muted paper flower centers. 

The '85 is painted onto muslin, trimmed

with brown zig-zagged stitching, and bradded onto the 

burlap covered foam core.

The rustic easel of Janice's was a wonderful addition. 

Thanks, Janice!!!

Just past the sign, on your right, a table was set up 

in a grove of shade trees to hold the over-sized checkers board. 

I had the plastic checkers I found at a thrift store years ago. 

It came with a ratty old yarn-like woven board.

I've always wanted a big 'ol checkers board for our square coffee table

at home. Phillip bought the wood. Darrin cut it on our router at work.

I painted it. Distressed it. Clear coated it.

AND 

lots of guests played Checkers!

...and a bunch of other stuff.....

stay tuned.....

The party's just begun.....