New look for my baby

Back in May I bought a 50 year old Singer sewing machine, the kind built into a table. The machine works perfectly and is worth WAY more then the $5 I paid for it. The downside was the top of the table had gotten wet at some point and was beginning to show it's age. So after finding some inspiration in Pottery Barn I decided to give my "baby" a coat of paint. Click here to see before photos.

A couple of weekends ago I took the power sander after the table and took off the entire top layer of the table...it was that bad.

Then last weekend mom and I headed to Wal-Mart and bought some deep turquoise paint and I spent most of the day Sunday priming and painting my sewing machine table. (I totally painted the top shut and had to force it open...opps) Anyway, maybe this weekend I'll have the time to re-sand parts of the table because I don't want it to be Too pretty. I want it to look a little worn out.

Like I mentioned before, the color was inspired by Pottery Barn and this lovely little machine I spotted at the thrift store. Too bad it's $100 or I would buy it just because it's pretty and makes me think of the old cars with fins :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you!

Technology Hates Me!

This week has been one thing after another. First my pretty red lappy has to go into the shop because the screen shorts out all the time. So I take old lappy with broken hinges back to school with me...with the messed up power cord. So I go to a friend's to charge my computer and it takes forever and the cord he gives me to use later doesn't work. So I finally get my cable in the mail and the school internet goes down! I'm posting this from a friend's house because I just can't seem to get a head. I think technology hates me for the last journal entry I wrote for contemporary issues class...I said that I don't really like technology and basically bashed modern technology for about half of the jounral entry.

So...hopefully my luck with technology will improve soon and I can get back to liking the computer and posting more often :)

...and now the spell check won't work...so you'll have to deal with any typos...

Hanson Concert!

Last Wednesday I found out that Hanson was going to be in town for a free concert to celebrate Quiktrip's 50th Anniversary. My dad was cool enough to pick me up some tickets. So tonight (ok...last night now that it's after midnight) was the concert. I had plans to go with some friends, but things happen and my parents ended up taking me and dropping me off. I got there about an hour and a half early and walked around some and watched a little bit of Leon Russell. Then low and behold I see someone I know. It was a guy I've known since like 7th grade and because of him I was allowed inside the fenced off area and got to stand RIGHT NEXT to the stage! No joke...at one point I leaned against it. So the concert went from being cool to totally stinkin' awesome! Since I was so close I was able to get some really great pictures. I was able to met, take a picture with, and get an autograph from all of them except Issac...my favorite :( Oh well...it was still like the coolest thing ever. After the concert was a bunch of fireworks and my parents came to pick me up. I pretty much have the coolest parents ever!

I'm trying to get some videos uploaded to YouTube right now, but it could take awhile.

Finally!

Ok, if you scroll down and look to the right what do you see?? Yep...that's for my etsy store--Generation Gap! Please take some time to look around the shop. I know there's not much there yet, but I'm still working on it. Please read the store profile, announcement, etc. and give feedback on what you think. When I first got it set up mom and I had a squealing session and I about hyperventilated :) All better now. If you want to know the inspiration behind the name...go read the profile.





The direct link is generationgap.etsy.com

News!

Coming this weekend...



...my etsy shop!

Thrifty Shopping

Yesterday I hit the thrift stores in town again! I found some pretty good finds. At the Salvation Army I got three hardback books for $.50 each...one to read and two for cutting up :) I picked up a cute shirt that is junior size, but since it was in the kids section I only had to pay the kids price of $.50. I also found a really cute pair of shoes for $.40.

Then I headed over to Wise Old Crazy Owl Thrift Store (I really don't know the name of it, but I know if includes Wise and Owl). There I picked up 13 yards of 3/8" pink lace for $.25, score! I got 4.5 yards of white lace for $.25 and some some flowered ribbon for $.25. I also got a small spool of thread and a box of 1/2" length thumbtacks for free! I'm going to use the thumbtacks for some message boards I'm going to make by covering foam board with fabric and putting it into interesting picture frames.

So here's some pictures...and no the shoes aren't too small, I just had a hard time getting in front of the camera before the timer went off. (I lost my camera remote at the fair or picture taking would be much easier.)

Oh, and I learned how to square dance today in skills class!

Photography and Prayers

This summer I posted about Buddy the little pup who belongs to Jon the sounds guy at work. Well...Buddy has a new owner for three months while Jon is in Iraq. Jon left last Thursday to serve for our country. Now I don't care what your views are on the war, the president, camo, the Middle East, camels, or sand. All I care about is that all of our service men and women come home safely when the time comes. So I'm asking that everyone who reads says a little prayer for all of our troops. I've been praying for as long as I can remember, but now that Jon is in Iraq every time I think about him I say a little pray. So basically I've prayed more lately then I have in a long time :) I've also been praying for a friend of mine who I went to high school with. I found out on Wednesday that he is in Iraq right now. So please pray for my friend James as well.

So since I've been praying and thinking about Jon I decided to make him the subject of my latest photo editing practice.

On this set of photos I wanted to practice emphasising. I used the edge finding tool to "cut out" Jon and then copy and pasted it directly on top of the original. Then with the top layer clicked I chose the emphasis function and tried some different options. The first is the original, second is with a blurred background, third is B&W background, and the last one is sepia.




















This second set is playing with coloring. I make the entire photo B&W or sepia then use the transparency tool (or in photoshop make two layers and erase the top one) to show through what I want in color. The first picture is the original and the second is highlighting his blue eyes and his precious OU camo hat.

Swaps!

I mentioned months ago that I want to do some swaps...and I just signed up for my first two!

The first one I found is a button swap (I actually found it a day late, but the host Mandy is cool enough to let me in anyway). The swap is to send at least 20 buttons to your assigned swap partner and then you will get at least 20 in return. They can be old or new, big or blue...ok, I made that up...but really, it's for any type of buttons.

The second swap is one off of swap-bot. The swap is to send 5 handmade envelopes to your swap partner. I made mine tonight from pages out of a 1974 Sports Encyclopedia that I got at the thrift store last month for $.50. I plan on including a few extra envelopes because it's fun to make them :)

I'm really excited to get my assigned partners so I can start a-swappin' :)



(Anyone else notice that my writing skills are getting worse?? That's pretty sad, but I'm going to assume it's because I'm using them so much on my schoolwork...like I said, assume it.)

Blogs

There are a number of blogs I frequent on a daily basis. Today I realized that I'm enjoying these blogs everyday, but haven't shared them with others so more people can enjoy them. So that's what I want to do today.

My absolute favorite blog is Mary Ann's. She is an English teacher in Ohio who is too stinkin' crafty for her own good :)

Another favorite is Mary Catherine's blog. She is a Navy wife and mother to an adorable little girl. Mary Catherine is my age...and it's a big deal to find a blogger my age with similar interests :)

Next is Resurrection Fern (I do not know the writer's name). I believe she lives on Prince Edward Island, or near it (PEI is where Anne of Green Gables takes place!) She always has very beautiful and neat pictures to look at and lots of knitting/crocheting how-tos.

There is Shane and Kelly on Trans-craft-inental. These two ladies live on opposite ends of the U.S. and share a blog with each other and for us to read about their lives and crafting endeavors.

Whip up is a blog I really enjoy! It is full of how-to's and tutorials from many different blogs and websites. If you are ever low on inspiration for a project, just check this site out.

A blog I found yesterday seems to have a lot of promise. It is a relatively new blog called East Coast, West Coast. It is four mutual friends; two live on the East Coast and two on the West Coast. One of the East Coast girls is a Independent designer I found on a livejournal community a few years ago. She has amazing sewing skills and amazing style.

I visit MANY other blogs, just not every day...I do have to do homework at some point, you know?? Anyway, I hope you find a new blog to enjoy and if anyone reading this has a blog you think I would like then please let me know :) I hope to share more of my favorite sites in the future.

Mmm...Bop

Ok, everyone remembers Hanson, right?? I wasn't really a fan of Hanson back in the 90s because I didn't like listening to music back then...but things change. Now I can't live without music and I "discovered" Hanson back in May.

About now you are probably wondering what the heck is my point. Well hang on... I grew up in the Tulsa area in a town near where the Hanson brothers lived and their first television appearance was on KOTV (the station where I interned this summer). So when Quiktrip, a Tulsa based company, wants to celebrate their 50 year anniversary who do they have as the big name stars of an all day concert?? HANSON! And...Quiktrip is cool enough to make the concert free! I just found out about the concert and emailed my parents begging asking them to go to a Quiktrip and get me some tickets. I'm super excited and really hope they get me the tickets. So mom and dad if you are reading this...please!

For real people Hanson has moved beyond MmmBop and has come out with some really cool stuff.

Thrifty thrifty

Over the past couple of days I've been doing some thrift store shopping! Yesterday I went to a store a friend told me about called Wise Owl 2 or Wise Old Owl 2 or something like that. I found a pair of funky pale pink Justin roper boots for .99 and a oldish copy of Anne of Green Gables (it's my 4th or 5th copy) for .50. The boots are going to be used in a project I'm working on...then who knows, I might decoupage part of them.

Then I went to the Salvation Army and got a giant old picture from for .25 and a sewing step-by-step book for .50. (Picture frame not pictured because I left it in the car...I didn't want any more weird looks while carrying my purchases across campus.)




















Today I went to the Salvation Army...mainly to find some old junk that can be taken apart for a Steampunk Halloween costume. I asked one of the workers what they did with old clocks and junk they get that doesn't work, the answer was "we throw it away." So I told her about my idea and she said she would tell this other lady to try to save me some stuff! While there I bought an old army jacket that was marked $3 but I got it 25% off and a bag of ribbon and fabric pens for .25. I also got 2 1.5 Liter bottles of peach iced tea for free.

Then I headed off to Wise Old Owl or whatever, but this is a different store. This is store 1 instead of 2. It was the coolest place ever. I got 4 sewing patterns from the 60s (which happen to be my size...) for .10 each, a roll of plaid wallpaper and a roll of pirate map wrapping paper at .25 for both (will be used for wrapping packages), an old picture frame for .25, and a needlecraft thing that has a picture printed on fabric for embroidering for .25. However there is some discoloring on the fabric...I'm not sure if it's ok to hand wash it or what's best to take the spots out. Anyone have any advice on that??















I'm so proud of my finds!

House Update

I haven't posted any new house pics in a while, because I hadn't seen it in a while...but here it is. As of Saturday night the outside is painted, rocked, and bricked. The inside has the trim/cabinets painted, the walls textured- I think they got painted yesterday. The front door got painted Monday, it's a beautiful shade of red. Hmm...that's about all I can remember now. Sorry that the pics were taken at night, we waited until after the workers left to go up there. They are hard workers, working 7 days a week.

A Job Offer!

Today I was working in the costume shop when my phone began to ring. It's strange enough when a phone works down in the dungeon...but I didn't even recognize the number. So I answer the phone and it's Garrett from KOTV, where I interned this summer. I run outside so I have better reception. He tells me that there is going to be an opening soon for a producer for the morning show and that (some guy at the station...I couldn't hear the name) asked him to call a couple of the interns who did good to see if any of them are interested in the job! Heck yeah I'm interested! That's what I've been thinking about entering the market as...but I'm still in school. I told Garrett I'm still in school. After asking when I graduate he said he would pass my information along anyway, just in case something worked out! I'm super jazzed, even though I can't take the job, it's still so awesome that I made a good impression on the higher up people at the station!

This is one time I wish the mass communication department at my university was larger...I could be graduating this December if more classes were offered each semester. But due to the lack of professors some classes are only offered once every two years...and one of the classes I need is next semester :/