Cyber-Site Tuesday

Do you like reading? Today’s feature will provide you links to book sites for fun reading.

I just finished EAT, PRAY, LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert. Can I tell you that it was the hardest read I’ve had to endure. I heard it was such a great book by many friends and it was on the NY Bestsellers list for a while. Oprah even gave it a good rating and it is being made into a movie this summer. I just had to read it of course! I think it took me 3 months to get through it. My carpool buddies even made fun of me and said “if you hate it why are you reading it?” Well, I’m not sure really. Maybe I just wanted to see what everyone else saw in the book. You probably do not care Ms. Gilbert, but I definitely will not pick up your new book Committed.

The next book on my list is THE NEXT THING ON MY LIST by Jill Smolinski. One of my carpool buddies suggested it. She said “this will be a much easier and fun book to read.” She was right I really am enjoying it! Short synopsis: It’s about a girl fulfilling a bucket list of someone else that died and was not able to start the list. I think we should all have bucket list in our lives because it always gives us something to strive for and cross off once completed. Yes, I do have one. Unfortuantely I have only one thing crossed off.

I found three sites this week that you can bookmark in your favorites on suggested book reading.

If you like girly books, not necessarily romance novels but fun silly chick books then you will like Chick Lit Reviews . I’ve already found a couple I would like to read.

Books On The Nightstand is a great site for all kinds of books. It provides podcast on synopsis of books and interviews with the authors. The blog writers of this site are in the publishing industry and in the know of new and upcoming books in the publishing world.

Books On The Brain is another blog site I found. The author is a book club coordinator and has an area with book reviews on books she has read. She also has a great blogroll if you’re interested in surfing through other book sites.

Happy reading and if you grab one of these books from one of the sites listed, be sure to come back and leave a review on the comments.

Fabulous Finds Friday

The last couple of weekends my friend Holli and I have been hitting some awesome garage sales in our area. She has gotten some great deals on Little Tykes equipment for her children. She could open her own daycare with all the stuff she has gotten!

I’ve been looking for specific items: stuff to use in my garden, hardback books, outdoor serving cart, odd end chairs, and anything else that may catch my eye. Last weekend Grand Lakes, a sub-division near me, had their bi-annual sale. I hit the jackpot and only spent $40. I was even able to pick up some freebies. Check them out below.

Giraffe tier platter - new: $15. Great addition to my scraproom! It's sitting on my desk holding my brushes.

Elephant platter - new: $10. Another great addition to my scraproom. It will sit on my shelf unit and hold embellishments.

Foot/Sitting stool - $3. One of the legs will not screw into the back. Nothing gorilla glue will not fix. It's sitting at the end of my desk. I need to find a great chair to go with it. In the mean time it's a sitting stool.

Flamingo plant stand - $1. It is made out of wood and has a space in the center to put a pot. I just put this plant on it until I find a smaller planter to put into the center.

Hardback books - .30. I will be using them on a project to be displayed later.

Perfection Game - $2. Only two pieces missing. Samantha is starting to babysit. I thought it would be neat to find some simple board games for her and the kids to play.

Okay now for the freebies:
I found some of these items in a neighbor’s trash. Someone was moving out and throwing these perfectly good items away. I probably would have continued looking, but it was late and I really couldn’t see that well and then and adjacent neighbor comes out and starts eyeing me. It’s trash and open game, but I felt guilty!

I found the tin piece in the someone's garbage towards the end of the day while we were out garage saling. They had free items. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet, but I couldn't pass it up. The shelf iron piece was from the neighbor's trash.

I found this perfect glass topper also in the neighbor's trash. I have a project in store. Picture to come later.

Another trash item from the neighbor's pile. It still had the price tag on it. As you can see some of the buttons are missing, but I plan to sand them down change the color of the frame and maybe use the mirror in my office at work.

Isn't this basket cute?! Yep it was in the nieghbor's trash too!

Another freebie from the garage sale. In the same trash bin as the tin piece. I should have taken a before picture. It was raw wood on one side and black on the other. I'm going to use it as a post for one of my birdhouses. I painted it brown.

I did not find this print in the trash. It’s currently a painting I’m working on. Since I have my creative mojo flowing I decide to pull out some canvases to paint. The canvas has a plaster medium that will give the print a 3-d effect. I will post pictures when I complete the print and the other projects I am working on.

Cyber-Site Tuesday

My weight loss program is going great so far; however I still have 10 more pounds to go. What discourages my spirit is that those last 10-15 pounds are always the hardest! Since I hit my 40’s it has been challenging keeping the weight off, even with eating in moderation.

I’ve been doing all kinds of research on what is the best way to lose my mid-section. Apparently the best way of getting rid of that is eating more grains and extensive core exercise. Yes, I am working out, but apparently not hard enough and age does have a lot to do with it. The site WebMD has a great article on trimming belly fat and other health and diet issues. I love this site for searching all kinds of medical issues and health information.

Another issue I have is that I am not a big water drinker. As a matter of fact I hate water. My drink of choice is iced tea or Diet Coke. I know that water is a better source for me, but it makes me gag when I drink it (strange I know).

A friend who is extremely health conscious told me of a new alternative sweetner – Stevia. She said if I like iced tea I should consider using one of these products instead of Equal or Splenda. Stevia is a little more expensive, but I’m liking it!

Another reason for laying off the alternative sweetners – my family. They drive me crazy about drinking Diet Coke, but then I should them this article in Time Magazine and they pretty much have given up swaying me away from DC.

Cyber-Site Tuesday

If you link wearing fun and funky jewelry, you will like today’s feature.

The latest jewelry crazy is memory glass charms. I saw them all over Round Top on my visit a couple of weeks ago. The booths were crazy with people buying them. I recently just purchased one off of Etsy. After studying my new purchase, I knew I could make them myself. I searched YouTube for tutorials, below are the links I found. I have also attached a picture of the charm I purchased.

This first video provides a tutorial for soldering the two memory glasses together. I just happen to have all the soldering tools from a stained glass class I took.

This second video provides a tutorial for non-soldering. The memory glasses can be purchased at Michaels or any craft store. I’m going to attempt one day soon to create my own piece. When it’s completed I’ll share!



Here is the piece I purchased off Etsy. Imagine the cool memory charms you can create for Mother’s Day, Christmas, or birthdays. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtUnderGlass

JUNK GYPSY

I love Junk Gypsy and their ecelectic decorating style. I'm posting a link to their blog today- JUNK GYPSY.

If you are familiar with country star Miranda Lambert, Junk GYPSY recently "gypsified" an airstream trailer for her. The pictures are posted on their blog. I got a chance to see it last Friday when we were in Round Top. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery power and I did not get a chance to take a picture of their booth. Always fun and gypsy styled!

Below are some of my pictures I was able to capture in Round Top before my camera ran out of juice.



My Friend Lisa in the Bluebonnets.


I was able to find some fun stuff! Come back in a couple of weeks to see what I found to refurbish.

Cyber-Site Tuesday

Even if you’re not an artist, scrapbooker, gardener, baker, or cook – do you have a creative space?

Artist – have studios, scrappers have scrapping rooms, gardeners have outdoor gardens, and bakers/cooks have the kitchen. Even writers, readers, knitters, and mom’s need creative spaces. Sometimes these creative spaces are places where we just need to think and relax for the moment.

When we moved into our current house five years ago my main concern was that we have an extra room or study for me to work in. In our old home I did not have a space for myself and I had craft stuff stored in miscellaneous rooms. That was truly a hassle! It’s taken me five years to get the room where I want it. There is still a lot more to be done in there, but a little at a time will do.

Cyber-Site Tuesday focuses on links from creative spaces of artist around the US. I like to visit many of these sites for ideas. If you ever have a chance pick up a Studios magazine, you will be amazed at the designs of these art studios. Some are neat, others eclectic and colorful.

I have also provided links to some individual scrapping rooms. I love Amanda’s site where you can click on the drawers of her desk and you can actually see what is in that drawer. I love the color of Krystal’s room. The lime green and blue go great together.

Finally I am posting pictures of my own scraproom. I came up with the color scheme, because most of the colors in my house are warm tones (browns, red, yellow, and rust). Then the idea of a safari theme came to mind. I have always loved animal prints, so why not make my creative space WILD!

The organizer is an IKEA expedite system. I have filled it with miscellaneous baskets and glass containers. Some of the animal pieces on the top shelf come from Hobby Lobby and Home Goods, with the exception of the lion tile - I painted it! The wall pieces come from the San Antonio Zoo. I bought them at a gift shop there for 50% off! Finally an art piece that I have been working on for a while, it’s a quadrangle animal print consisting of 5x7 canvases. I’m pretty happy of how it came out. I hope to create some more art pieces for the room, put a futon or chaise lounge on the long wall, and buy a flat screen for the wall facing my desk.

Another picture collage by Smilebox

I could spend the whole day in there sometime!