Good Night(stands), Sleep Tight

 I've been in the market for new nightstands for a couple of years.  We had purchased our bed, with the intentions of buying the nightstands and double dresser a piece at a time.  Well wouldn't know it? After carrying the bedroom suite for years (my parents have the same bed, so I know....lol), the furniture store discontinued the set.  So here I sat.  Beautiful new bed, that I had waited forever to get;  and nothing to go with it.

The bed had pretty clean lines.  It's a sleigh bed, but doesn't have a lot of decoration on it.  It does have two trimmed "panels" on the headboard; but it's done in a pretty minimalist fashion. Very un-ornate. KWIM?

I've been a fan of all things Mid Century Modern, since I purchased a Mengel chest of drawers about ten years ago for $10.  TEN BUCKS!!!  Some really well made furniture came out of this era.  The chest I bought, has little dividers built right into two of the five drawers.  (Someone out there knew the importance of things not touching. I bet they are out there right now, eating food off a tray  that has little tiny divisions to keep the peas away from the corn.)  

When I found this pair of nightstands at the "G", I got a little excited.  First of all, have you ever tried to find second hand nightstands?  It's hard. You either find people advertising endtables as night stands, so they tend to be a little shorter than today's beds.  Or you find a nightstand you really like, and it is a singleton. I've never understood why anyone would want just one.  Yeah, maybe if you were living by yourself, and there was just one of you.  But I see Craigslisters selling queen size beds all the time, with a single nightstand.  Can I tell you, that just messes with my OCD-ness? It has to be symmetrical.  It. Just. Has. To. Be.

Although I was kind of "meh" about the bamboo-y Hollywood Regency style, my thinking was; $24 bucks is stoopid cheap for a MATCHING set of nightstands.  STOOOOOPID, I tell ya!  And if I didn't like them, well it solved a problem for now, and I could just keep looking for something else.  You know it just kills me to stalk Craigslist and the "G" on a regular basis.  They did have the two elements that I wanted in a nightstand.....a shelf, and a drawer.

I'm not sure who made these nightstands, or when they were made; and believe me, I've tried to find them on line to no avail!  They have pretty clean lines, like MCM furniture, with bamboo accents like Hollywood Regency furniture.  Judging by the rattan accents, I'd say the seventies?  Who knows.  I'm NOT a furniture expert. But, can I just say.......

 I am in LUUUUURVE with them.  Although I was a little unsure at first, everyday I look at them and think about how much I love them.  I used a color called spiced cinnamon., basically it's a rust color.  I saw this picture on Pinterest, it had the blue that I had on the walls, with rusty colored accents.  I picked up a couple of new knobs from Hobby Lobby, and I was set.  Now all I need is a triple dresser or credenza of sorts to use as a TV stand.

So that's what's been keeping me busy lately.  Hope you enjoyed the view, ya'll!  

Kid Quote of the Week

Lil' Pnut (age 5) was counting the money in her wallet:

Pnut: I only have eleven cents, and that's boring.
Me:  Kid, you have NO idea how bored I am....lol.

Oooopsie!

This layout brings to mind all sorts of great memories for me.  It was the first MemoryMakers retreat, the first time I had met all my imaginary friends in real life, and a funny moment. 

After doing some scrappy shopping at an LSS, we popped in to Sonic for some refreshments.  Lisa sat her Route 44 on the table, and in fell over.....right into her flipflop....and all caught on film.  And if I recall correctly, the server was standing right there, and didn't even bother to ask her if she would like a replacement.  How's that for service?  lol

And while we're at it, there is another "oopsie" on this layout.  I must have been half asleep when I put it together, because I put two journaling cards on it, and only journaled on one of them. OOOPS!

Don'cha just luuuurve that yellow ruffle?  It's one of my favorite trims of all times.  It's like a tutu of sunshine!

I'm not even going to try to remember what products I used on this, as I put it together back in May.  If you have any questions about who made what, just ask, and I'll jog my memory.

Thanks for looking!  Later m'Peeps!

Big Bubble Evolution

Mine is not to ask why.
Mine is only to create.

This is what I tell myself when I find i have inadvertently printed off the goofy "junk" pictures the teenager has taken with the webcam.

Do i really need 10+ pictures of Pooh staring into the camera as she blows the world's biggest bubble.  Need this be documented?  No.......BUT - they were already printed off.  AND they are just going to take up space in my printed picture files.  Why not do a swanky-artsy character study of my oldest spawn?  I'm sure she'll look back on it and laugh....like maybe 15 years from now......in the meantime, I'll pull out this layout everytime she has company......BWAHAHAHAHA!

When I first started on this, I had grand ideas of misting the background, and then painting pink swirlies on top of that.  But it just didn't convey the feeling I was going for.....

Dear Hands,
Please confer with brain before proceeding in such a wonky fashion.  Thanks so much.
Sincerely Yours,
Suze

After sleeping on it for the night, I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down with a renewed perspective the next morning.  I really liked the misting that I had done using the drywall tape as a mask, and I didn't want to start over.  Nancy Drew to the rescue!

I grabbed my old Nancy Drew book that I use from time to time and ripped out and misted a few sheets. (Why Nancy? You ask?.....well, I'm a little OCD.  And I would seriously loose sleep if I used some other book that may not have kid friendly content.  And since I'm not really up to pre-reading a book that I only want to tear up anyway, Nancy seems safe to me.)  Now it seemed it was all coming together......Add a ginormous paper clip and some Fancy Pants coffee filters as a journaling block (although I still need to do the journaling. I mean, what do I even say about this? haha); and WOOT WOOT, I was finished!

Please Don't Kthanks

Was he trying to sit on her?

Was he trying to toot on her?

We may never know.

What I do know, for sure; is Pooh seems to be less than amused.  She looks as though she's trying to act like it's not really happening. "If I ignore him, he'll get bored and go away."

For months I had been looking for a punch I had seen online.  I had described it to friends....."It has lots of random holes in it.".....blink.....blink blink.   I couldn't find it anywhere. I was starting to think I had imagined it all. Then while visiting a friend recently, I came across it while rummaging through her punches.  There it was., sitting aloof amongst all the other punches. Come to find out, that wholly punch was called the "Swiss Cheese" punch.....aka "the confetti punch".  Mystery solved. Now I can keep calm and carry on.....well after I get me one of my own, anyways.

And how excited I was to be able to finally put some of my tiny ball fringe to use. And just look at my misting job on my letters.  I started off with Mr Huey Pinstripe, then added a splash of Orchard on top of that; giving me a nice muddled look.  And finally, has there ever been a more perfect journaling tag? I think not. "Come Sit a Spell" indeed!

'Sup Dawg?

Boy, do we miss lil' Bitsy Dog.  She was such a sweet dog. She'd just sit calmly with the kids, despite the fact that they were probably bouncing around her, or petting her a little harder than they realized.  I can't tell you how many times one of them referred to her as their "best friend".  And she always, ALWAYS loved them back.

 Here's Pnut, when she was just a tiny toddler, getting her some Bitsy love. I can't remember what she was saying, but I feel certain, that she is having a very animated conversation with the dog......If only the dog could have answered her back.  I'm sure she would have given her all sorts of sage advice on sippie cups, tricycles, potty training and other tot related fodder.

And can I just say, out of all the woodgrain papers out there, his has to be my most favorite!  Just love the way they worked those little hearts into the mix, fabulous!

Favorite Frogs

As a kid, I always luuuuurved frogs.  Catching frogs in the pond, and toads in the garden; was a favorite pastime of mine.  Adventures of Frog and Toad was one of my favorite story books. What other animal can look cute and pissed off at the same time. And maybe I kissed a few of them when I was a kid.  And what's better than a teensy little baby frog? And what about frog legs?  Yes I went there. Better than chicken, but only iffin' you gigged them from a farmer's pond. The one's you get a restaurant are kind of grodey....

Anyways.....I really really really like African Bullfrogs.  I just think they are amazing. They are so big!  Like Frisbee sized big.......like hold them with two hands big........like lunch platter big.  Not that I would want to put them on a platter, they are just too dang cute for that!

Now click on this picture to get a close up.  Don'cha just want to pick them up and just squeeeeeeeze them?  Don'tcha just want to rub their soft rubbery underbellies? Don'tcha just want to give 'em a little sugah? (I don't think they are poisonous. yikes!)

I took these pictures at the NewPort Aquarium while on fall break last year. The aquarium had a whole section dedicated to frogs, along with a lot of interactive activities for the kids. 

And no layout is complete without a cluster of buttons and other junk.  Actually, I think that little black thingy is a tiny rubber tire from a toy car.  IDK, I just found it in the button box and went for it!

Want a few gems of African Bullfrog knowledge?  Click here! and here too!   the second link has actual pictures of people holding these sweeties!