A lovely birthday & a guessing game...

Well... my birthday is over. It was a splendid birthday! It started out with work... that part wasn't so exciting but I got through it. I think getting to check my facebook page every now and then helped a lot. It was so uplifting to see all of those many posts from my friends and family wishing me happy birthday! I loved it! Here was my day...

Once the work part was over, I showered and got all gussied up and the sweet hubby took me out to...

Where I had...

Which is kind of a funny story because when we got to Olive Garden, I decided I wanted to try something new, that I can't make at home. But when I got my meal, I realized this is the same meal that I make every now and then. HA! And the real kicker is that mine is actually better than theirs! Oops... I guess next time I should read the fine print....

But after Olive Garden, we decided to go to the mall to walk around (and burn some calories from our delicious meal) and while at the mall we went by the pet shop and I fell in love with one of these...

Of course, this isn't the exact one... but the ones at the mall were chocolately brown and so sweet looking. I think I'll have to save up for one in the future but right now, one dog is plenty! :)

Then, after the mall, we left to go home. But first we stopped at Fazoli's and bought some of this...

for me... and this....

for Joey.

When we got home, because it was my birthday, I made Joey watch this...

Which he ended up loving. I knew he would, he just needed to give it a chance. But he's been fighting me on watching this for as long as we've been together. Now he wants to buy a tux and have a Casablanca themed party... hmmm... I really like that idea! :D

And now for the presents. Well... after last year when he bought me a deep fryer (which I returned and bought clothes with the money instead) Joey figured he'd better make it up to me. He hasn't done so well at picking out presents. One Christmas I wanted this bath robe set from B&BW. I put up a flyer on our fridge AND our bathroom mirror. Two places that I KNOW he has to look. Nope... I got books that Christmas. And yes, I love books and I loved my present, but I really wanted tht bath robe set that year. But anyway, so he went ALL OUT this birthday and got me some AWESOME gifts. I had to pull the photos from the websites because I haven't gotten my ring back from being sized yet.... But here they are....

 Aren't they just lovely!?! I'm so excited! I've been wanting a right-hand, emerald ring for the LONGEST time and now I have one! YAY! And I haven't worn a watch in forever because I couldn't find the perfect one. I found this lovely white watch in the Fossil catalog that came out this past Christmas but we couldn't afford such a nice gift for me when we had everyone else to buy for first.

Thank you honey... it was a lovely day! :D

And thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday. You helped make my day special and for that, I'm very grateful!

.

.

.

Also yesterday, not because of my birthday, but because I've been looking everywhere and can't find what I'm looking for at a price I can live with, I finally turned to Etsy and bought some buttons. 700 buttons to be exact. Yes, 700. :)

I bought 200 of these...

And 500 of these...

Now... what do you think I'm going to do with ALL these buttons? :)

Feel free to leave a comment with your guess. Once I get some of the things (yes, I said thingS, so now you know I'm making more than one) made, I'll show you so you can see who guessed right, or at least the closest.

Happy Birthday to ME & the winner is....

May 24, 1985 - It was a warm summer morning. My Granny was cooking sauerkraut. My Mom and Dad lived with Granny and Papa most of the time because since they both worked, Granny could take care of my brother and soon, they could take care of me! Mom started having her labor pains early in the morning and since Dad was at work, Granny woke up my dear Uncle Tracy to drive my mom to the hospital. The car overheated twice on the way to the hospital and my uncle was nervous they might not make it. But they did, and at 10:48 A.M. I entered the world. :)

I share my birthday with some pretty cool people:

1819 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

.

.

.

15 BC – Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander

.

.

.

1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter

.

.

.

Just to name a few....

.

.

And now... the winner from last week's giveaway!

And the 1st comment was by SUE of MYSAVIOR!! Congrats Sue!

Please send a convo to Trish at PixieDustFineries and let her know which item you'd like.

Well... Happy Birthday to me! But that doesn't mean I don't have to work. So I'd better get busy. Talk to you all later! :D

The Blues

Sometimes, you have a bad day. Things aren't working out the way you wanted them to. You feel alone. Depressing thoughts invade your mind. You begin to wallow in self-pity and even loneliness.

Today... is one of those days for me. I'm feeling hurt by my "friends", hurt by my husband, frustrated with my husband, frustrated with life, mad at my dad, hurt by my dad... I'm feeling lonely, hurt, frustrated, depressed, disconnected... Blah.

But don't tell me to cheer up. Don't tell me to get over it. To let it go. No. I don't want to hear that. Not because I think you're wrong, but because tomorrow, I'll be totally over this. Maybe even later today I'll be totally over it. But right now... I want to feel hurt and lonely and to think about things. Because as Granny said, it's good for the soul to have a good cry every now and then. And today, right now, I just want to have a good cry.

Now, if this keeps going on for days, weeks, months, years... then I'm got something seriously wrong and do probably need your help... :) But that's not the case. This will all be over with soon... I just need to think about things and work them out in my mind. At one point, I had this friend that I could share my feelings with when I felt like this. We'd go out for great mexican food and margaritas and just talk it out. But she's not in my life anymore... so I'm doing it on my own. It's not that big of a deal... it just takes a little longer to work it out.



Sometimes... it's good to get the blues. It makes you put things back in perspective and makes you appreciate the rest of the time even more. It's good to cry, to cleanse your soul. And when those times come along... I don't try to fight them off or keep them hidden in my heart, I embrace them, then I get over them. And I feel so much better than if I would have tried to keep them hidden. So for days like today, when I just need some me time... These things would be nice:

Doesn't this bed just make you want to dive in?

.

.

.

I have an INSANE crush on Josh Groban. INSANE!

I've already informed Joey, if anything happens to him,

I'm going looking for Josh to proclaim my love for him

and win his heart! His music is SOOO wonderful! LOVE IT!

.

.

.

I've already read the first two. I bought the third

one last weekend but haven't had time to read it yet...

If you haven't read this series, I encourage you to do so!

It's WONDERFUL!

.

.

.

Yes. I love the Twilight series. So what! I'm not saying

it's equivalent to Dickson, Austen or Hemingway,

but it's still wonderful and I need to re-read Eclipse

to prepare myself for the movie coming out next month.

YIPPEE!!!

.

.

.

I found this little owl today on Etsy and I LOVE him!

He used to be in this shop, but not anymore.

Because I bought him. He makes me smile. :)

He's my first impulse buy on Etsy but how could

I resist? I couldn't... :) He'll go in my office and be very happy!

.

.

.

And finally, combine all of the above and add a glass of moscato

and you've got one happy lady! :D

.

.

.

See...? Just thinking about some of my favorite things and adding in a little retail therapy and I feel better already. :D

Birthday Giveaway!

Birthdays. For some people it's just a reminder that they're older. But for some, it's a reminder of a time to be thankful they lived another year. For me, I'm thankful I've lived another year, that I've spent another year with my husband, and that I have friends that love me enough to throw surprise luaus in my honor! Okay, so the surprise luaus don't happen every year but when it did, it was awesome! :)

My birthday is next Monday... exactly one week from today! YAY! Happy Birthday to me! My husband has already bought my birthday presents and I have to say... after three years of marriage, he FINALLY has picked out good gifts. [Although *many* things could top the deep fryer he got me last year.... yeah, I returned that one and bought some clothes instead.] lol. -- I've already gotten one gift (he's not very patient when he's excited and he was too excited to wait to give it to me) and the other one is bought but we had to send it off to be sized (yeah... there's a clue for you... hehe). Anyway, I'll post pics of the presents when I get both of them together :D! But in honor of my birthday, I'm doing a little birthday-themed giveaway!

Trish, is the lovely lady behind the Etsy shop Pixie Dust Fineries. She has an assortment of fantastic looking jewelry and even has a Bridal Collection if you, or someone you know, is getting married. I asked Trish "What would your dream birthday include?", and here's her answer:

"My dream birthday would be to invite all of my friends and family to a royalty style party. I'd fly them all to England or somewhere and hire out a big old castle in the country. I'd decorate with hundreds of balloons in golds and reds and i'd have four poster beds for everyone. We'd have gigantic feast of every type of food imaginable. We'd get manicures and go horse back riding, as well as watch movies on a huge movie size screen. We'd dance and eat and have a great time just like royalty!"

*siiiigh* Now doesn't that sound just lovely!?! I think Trish has a wonderful dream birthday!

All of the wonderful photos in this post are items from Trish's lovely shop, Pixie Dust Fineries. And even more wonderful is the fact that Trish is giving away to ONE lucky winner the choice of one of the following three items:

Option 1

.

.

.

Option 2

.

.

.

Option 3

.

.

.

*************************************************

2 Ways to Enter:

1) Leave a comment here sharing your dream birthday.

2) Go to Pixie Dust Fineries, pick your favorite item, and come back

to post the link here! :)

REMEMBER: Each entry should be left in a seperate comment

(in order to be counted). AND the giveaway ends Sunday, May 23rd, at midnight CST.

***************************************************

Good luck to everyone who enters! :D

This is my confession...

.... I'm a Lady Gaga fan. I know... I know... but it's true. I can't help it. Much to the chagrin of my husband, I listen to Lady Gaga music. Now, let it be known that I don't follow her publicly, so I don't pay attention to her lifestlye, or anything... I *just* listen to her music. I don't watch her music videos or read her blog (if she has one) all that stuff I don't care about. I just like her music, which is especially great when working out or cleaning house... you know, when you need a little extra pep in your step and motivation.

.

.

.

But this isn't a blog about Lady Gaga. In fact, it's a blog about a kid I might've met or passed by in the mall or at Wal-mart before I moved here. I used to live in Edmond and so this YouTube video is making circles amongst my Edmond/OKC friends but I wanted to share this with you. Because even if you aren't a Lady Gaga fan, this kid has serious talent. He's from Edmond and this is his performance at Edmond's Sixth Grade festival. Enjoy.

Somethings are so powerful...

Somethings are so powerful that just thinking about them can invoke the same emotion you felt the first time. That's how I feel about this video. It doesn't matter how long it's been since I've seen it, or how many times in a row I watch it... it make me cry everytime. The song in the video is "Everything" by Lifehouse. Tonight, I realized how powerful this video is because I was listening to a cover of the Lifehouse song as performed by an acapella group called Hallal, and I teared up. If I hadn't been on my way to the mall and trying to not look like a freak when I got there, I could have had a bawl fest right there in the car. Yes, it's that powerful of a video, and after you've watched it, you'll understand how powerful the song is as well.

I hope you watch this, and when you do, you realize the extent, the MAGNITUDE, the depth of God's everlasting love for you. It's real. It's deep. And it's real deep.

Weekly Wishlist - Peachy Purses Galore!

Maybe I should change the name to "Random Wishlist" lol. Nah, I've been busy learning new responsibilities for my job and such but now that I've got it down more, I can spend some extra time blogging about things again. YAY! :) Which is great because since I haven't been able to blog much, 1) I've missed it dearly and 2) I've been scribbling down ideas for future blogs. Which is also good for YOU!

Anyway, so a while ago I was playing around on this awesome site (which I found through a wonderful Etsy friend, Anycards) and I was searching for "peach" and these wonderful purses kept popping up. It took me a little bit, but I realized they were all from the same shop, which just meant I HAD to go to the shop and check out everything. And holy cow was/am I ever in love!!!

Sticking with my original inspiration, "peach", I chose some fabulous purses from Morelle in a wonderfully delightful shade of peach. I've noticed that I'm pretty particular about my outfits. I don't wear brown with grey or black. If I'm wearing black shoes and my black glasses then I wouldn't carry a brown purse. If I'm wearing brown shoes then I wouldn't wear my black glasses or my black cardigan. I'm particular about these things. Each outfit either has a black base or a brown base and nary the two shall meet. Which is why I have fallen madly in love with these peach purses from Morelle! I could use my purse for a black or brown based outfit and I'd never have to change purses AGAIN!!!! Okay, I'm a woman. I'll change purses again. But seriously, I wouldn't have to change them so often and wouldn't that be just wonderful! Soooo... without further ado... here is/are my new love(s):

.

.

.

Lovely isn't it? Yes, I know... I feel the same way.

The Tulip in Peach.

.

.

.

Simply adorable.

The Truffle in Peach.

.

.

.

This was my first favorite. I could imagine myself carrying

this wonderful purse with my journal, bible and weekly read

nestled inside so perfectly. Siiiighhhh.... I dream in peach now.

The Patchwork in Peach.

.

.

.

Like I said, the Patchwork was my first favorite.

This is my new favorite. But maybe the patchwork is

still my favorite. Oh goodness, it's too hard to decide!

I can imagine all my books inside and my phone ever

so accessible in the pockets. Yes, I'm in love....

The Barrel in Peach.

.

.

.

.

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to afford a bag like that. But it's always nice to dream...

Are you in love too?

[Could it be? Did I actually get to make some jewelry last night? I guess we'll see.... ]

And the winner is.....

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's giveaway. And many thanks to Chrissy for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway. I hope all of you were happy to be introduced to such a wonderful art form. And now for the winner....

And the 7th comment was:

***********************************************

Dionne said...

Oooh how pretty! Love it!

Hmmmm... since I am not a mum, I can just tell you the best MD gift I have given....

My mum really liked a boardgame that I made for her when I was about 14. I made the game board, and the little tokens were all little chipboard cutouts of our family members, and in the game we were all on a race to the finish line (which was mum's kitchen). She loved it.

May 3, 2010 11:22 AM

***********************************************

 

CONGRATULATIONS DIONNE!!!

 

Dionne, please contact Chrissy via convo to her Etsy shop.

 

 

Alrighty, well that wraps up the Mother's Day giveaway! Come back next Monday for the next giveaway! It'll be exciting! :D And I've got a few more posts lined up for this week! YAY!

 

 

 

Custom Wedding Decorations

I have a love/hate relationship with weddings. I love planning, organizing, decorating and working weddings. I hate attending weddings as a guest where I go and greet people I don't know, sit and wait, stand and wait, then sit and wait some more. I would love to be a wedding consultant and plan the details of a wedding and do the custom decorations for a wedding. And it would be perfect because I wouldn't have to be a regular guest! I could go to a wedding to work it and not have to be a part of the sitting, standing or waiting. It's a win-win. Haha!

Anyway, I've been doing some Wedding Consulting for my very soon-to-be sister-in-law. Her and my brother are getting married this month and I've been helping her with the many details of wedding planning. Ya know, since I've been in SOOO many. LOL. Okay, so I've only been IN I think 5 weddings, including my own, but she knows how very super organized I am AND that I'm crafty enough to save her money by making things instead of buying them. Yeah... she's totally loving me right now. haha! Anyway, I thought I would share some pics of the centerpieces that I'm making for their wedding. It's a day wedding in May so she picked light purple, light green and white as her colors. Her and my brother wanted it light and airy with the arrangements looking like we just walked out and picked some wildflowers and stuck them in pails. I think they turned out beautifully! :)

Each centerpiece is unique and a mixture of purples and white

with the greenery giving the hints of green.

She also wanted just a hint of bling.

Upclose shot of the bling.

The centerpiece jewels will be available for sale in my shop soon.

At least I hope so. I've got a lot of projects going on right now

and the Etsy shop is taking a back burner. BUT,

eventually I'll have some jewels available in my shop so

you can customize your own bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, centerpieces,

or WHATEVER you can think of! :D

.

.

.

In the next week or two, I'll have her bouquets and boutonnieres completed as well. I'll post pictures as soon as they're done! :D

.

.

.

I'm also the consultant for a friend's wedding that will be in November. I'm doing custom centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages as well as the decorations for the church where the ceremony is and the country club where the church is. I'm making lots of exciting custom pieces for her and of course, I promise to share pictures when I have them. I met with her Saturday and just from our initial meeting, it sounds like she's leaving a lot of it in my hands and the wedding is going to be SOOO gorgeous. The colors are black, white with hints of fuschia orchids. :) Lovely.

Stay tuned for more pics and if you're interested in me doing anything from

 planning to decorating to making customized lovelies for you, please email me at vivatreginacrafts@yahoo.com.

Mother's Day Giveaway

Hello everyone! Happy Monday! Well... as happy as any Monday could be that I have to work, run errands, take one of our cats to the Vet. But at least with this Monday, you can enter this giveaway and win a really awesome Mother's Day/Birthday/Anniversary/etc. gift. :D YAY for that right?

This week's giveaway is sponsored by this wonderful lady that has mastered a craft that I had never even heard of before -- Egg Etching. Evidently it's a Lithuanian speciality that Chrissy and her mom share. Here's her interview:

************************************************

Tell us about egg etching and how you came to learn this craft?

I would love to say that I have been etching eggs my whole life, that as a toddler I saved unwanted eggs from our family farm and dyed them every color of the rainbow. But alas, I didn’t have an interest or knowledge about egg etching back then.

I have, however, been crafting for as long as I can remember. From finger weaving to making friendship bracelets; drawing to helping my mom with her own crafts in our basement – I have done it all! Working with my hands has always been an important part of my life.



Even though I have an interest in many different crafting hobbies – knitting, crocheting, counted cross stitch, and scherenschnitte, egg art is my true passion! After being introduced to this Lithuanian egg etching technique and helping my mother with many Lithuanian themed events, I fell in love with the art. Now many years later, I have given talks, demonstrations, and even designed eggs for wedding favors. My work has become recognizable for its unique qualities and detailed hand drawn designs.



Egg etching is separate from pysanky and the other colorful egg crafts most people are used to seeing around Easter. This craft is all about the blades! Originally, Lithuanian eggs were hard boiled with onion skins and took on a amber color. Then the egg were etched with a blade. Today for ease and customer peace of mind, I empty the eggs so they are hollow, dy them from a wide variety of colors then etch the egg. Most people would think a hollow eggshell would smash under the tip if a blade, but the shape and makeup on the eggshell makes in resilient.

What is your most cherished handmade item?

I don't really have a most cherished handmade craft. I do several crafts and every one of them has something I'm proud of. With egg etching, I have cherished designs. I love florals, a rose, a grouping of daisies, and the like. I also have an attachment to tree designs. I find the more I create the more cherished every egg I produce becomes.

Where else can we find you? (Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Blog, etc.)
I am honored to be featured in this blog and hope that my art will find a place in your heart and home!

Please be sure to visit my blog: http://lithuanianeggart.blogspot.com/

my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pittsburgh-PA/European-Girls-Crafts-and-Egg-Art-Shop/108766632478998?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/teener1416

Also Check out my articles I published about having an online shop as well as about egg art:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2917212/getting_the_word_out_as_a_small_business.html?cat=3

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2893568/free_local_advertising_in_pittsburgh.html?cat=3

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2892866/european_egg_art_pysanky_vs_lithuanian.html?cat=24

 
 

Wow, Right?!? I know... I didn't know anything about Lithuanian Egg Etching either! Thanks Chrissy for such a fun AND informative interview! :D And if you've even noticed the photographs throughout this blog, you'll see some of her awesome works of art! Now... wouldn't you like to win one of these completely amazing hand-etched eggs? That would be one awesome Mother's Day present for your Mom this year, wouldn't it? Or maybe her birthday is coming up? Who knows what you might use it for, maybe you'll just keep it for yourself, that's fine too! Chrissy is going to give one lucky winner a free hand-etched egg! Read below to see how to enter!

*****************************************

Two Ways to Enter:

1 - Go to Chrissy's Etsy Shop, select your FAVORITE egg,

 come back here and post which egg is your favorite!

2 - Post here what has been the best Mother's Day gift

you've given or received?

Remember to post your entries in seperate comments

to receive credit for TWO entries. :)

The giveaway ends Sunday, May 9th at MIDNIGHT CST.

******************************************

GOOD LUCK to those who enter and Happy Mother's Day

to all the mother's and will-be mother's out there! :D

Gorgeous huh? Yeah. Now go enter! Quick!

All photos have been taken directly from http://www.etsy.com/shop/teener1416.