Peek at My Week: Nov. 4-10

At the conclusion of each week, I like to share a glimpse into my real world followed by the inspiring links I found during the week. Here's your peek!

Sunday was slam-packed full of activity. I decided to tackle this mess of a craft cart.

As always, it got messier before it got better.

Since it was a beautiful day, I did take a break to head outside for a walk along the Bay.

Once home, I did finish organizing the cart.

And, I put it to good use with some play in my art journal.

While working on a project on Monday, I realized that my tin pieces resembled tacos. 

It totally cracked me up!

Tuesday was Election Day, and I did my part.

Waiting for the results made me a little restless, so brownies were made (and consumed).

Wednesday was even less fun.

On Thursday I treated myself by checking out a new local boutique. The stencils above the hooks in the dressing room tickled me. This is exactly how I sort clothes when I shop.

I made another trip out later in the day to work at a local coffee shop.

Since I had done a bit of brainstorming along with my coffee consumption, Friday was a day of creating.

I even pulled out some of my buttons!

I can't say that Saturday was very productive as the majority of the day was consumed with football-watching. However, I was finally able to catch Zoe sunning on her back!

Doesn't this pose just make you giggle?

Anyway, here's some of the other inspiration I found throughout the week:

• This Yellow Submarine Cross Stitch Pattern is too cute!
• Here's an article on How to Declutter Your Studio for Maximum Productivity.  Maybe that's what had me itching to get that cart organized.
• Art Professionals share What Not to Do at an Art Fair. Some of the tips are helpful, some are kinda funny. 
• This inexpensive DIY Fall Wreath is made from embroidery hoops, fabric, and felt. And, it's so neat!
• Nunn Design featured the felt art of Samantha Stott. Her designs are fantastic. 
• At Beading Gem, there's a feature on the Copper Metal Work of Aviceya. It's sublime!!

Now to figure out what this new week holds and how to make it exceptional. Here's hoping you find loads of inspiration in it!!

Friday Finds #4 | Thrift, Craft, and Antique Stores

I know, I know. These finds were from November, but I'm still trying to catch up. I do hope y'all will forgive me and just enjoy the finds!

Here's my video reveal of all of these scores. It actually includes all of them because it was recorded just after I discovered the goodies.

If you're just not feeling like watching me ramble for five and a half minutes, here's a peek at most of what I unearthed.

From a thrift store in Mobile, AL

From Blue Girl Beading Co in Gulf Shores, AL

From Hobby Lobby

My favorite find in this post! From The Rabbit Hole Marketplace in Summerdale, AL

The jewelry was brought home in a bag and sorted before being placed in a jar. This may not be the right jar. You'll have to watch the video to see what I got. Oh, and I figured out that the tiny jars are food coloring jars. I was excited about that. Anyway, these were from an antique store in  Robertsdale, AL.

So, that's the bulk of my finds lately (even if that was back in November). I've been so busy since then, there hasn't been a whole lot of treasure hunting. Hopefully that will change. However, I've got so many treasures right now that I really just need to spend some time working with them instead of hunting for more! Who can resist the thrill of the hunt though?

Have you found anything good lately?

Reveal of My Shipwreck Dandy Destash Box (picture heavy)

Richelle of the Shipwreck Dandy blog has two etsy shops. In one she sells her beautiful handmade rustic assemblage jewelry and in the other she sells handmade, vintage, and select jewelry supplies. She's currently going through a 'studio excavation' and making up destash boxes for what she unearths. I totally jumped on this deal because I just love her style.

She'll even take into consideration your preferences if possible. So, I told her that I would like a little bit of everything including some of the metal bits she had shared in one of her pictures, but that I also love of buttons, findings, beads, etc. After she received this notification, she asked if I had any more requests. I basically said that anything that feels rustic and old or romantic would be awesome. Here's what I received.

The inside of the box

The loose bits on the top of the package

My favorites of the loose bits: bone beads, buttons, and chain

Then, there were all these packages

and still more under the wrapped packages

I started with the smallest of the packages and discovered some of Richelle's handmade pieces. YAY!

The rest of the packages are below, first how they look piled up in the protective wrapping she used, and then all laid out for a better view.

Bundle 1

Bundle 1 on display

Bundle 2

Bundle 2 on display

Bundle 3

Bundle 3 on display

Bundle 4

Bundle 4 on display

Bundle 5

Bundle 5 on display

Bundle 6

Bundle 6 on display

Here's those little bits I found at the bottom

I couldn't wait to go through each and every piece in the box, so I sat down with an empty organizer and filled it right up!

Thank you Richelle for your generosity. I really think this was a steal for $20 plus shipping. Make sure to get your own totally stuffed destash box before her excavation ends!

Weekend Re-cap and a Meal Plan

The manic of a Monday got away from me after a really wonderful weekend spent with my hubby. We got to see Zappa Plays Zappa (for the second time) on Friday night with a friend, go for a leisurely (eleven mile) bike ride on Saturday, and play some disc golf on Sunday. It was great to be outside enjoying the milder temps.

Dweezil, Ben, and Scheila of Zappa Plays Zappa

But Monday had me wanting to do something just for myself. After some chores this morning, I took off for my favorite local bead store, Blue Girl Beading Co. and treated myself to some beads. Actually, I went down there to shop for my Bead Soup Blog Party beads but got a little carried away as she also had two trunk shows going on. Oooops! After sorting through my new goodies (meaning I dumped them on the bead table and admired them), I realized that I hadn't shared my menu for this week. It's pretty basic but needs to be shared. It is Monday after all.

Breakfasts: Juice, Cereal, Yogurt w/homemade granola, Scrambled egg whites w/toast

Lunches: Tuna noodles, Juice, Black bean & corn quesidillas, Soup & salad, PB&J

Dinners:

7 Layer tortilla pie

Vegetarian Chili w/rice

BBQ tofu pizza w/salad

Shrimp Vodka pasta w/spinach salad

There's more Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Another thing I accomplished today, marking down a few items in the shop.

Now 15% off!

Was your Monday a little manic too?

Beady Bullet Points

I'm just popping in to make a few announcements and share a few things, so I'll try to do it in bullets.

•  I got a bunch of happy mail yesterday (see above)!!
• For one, Mellisa at Chinook Jewelry picked me to be on her Chinook Blog Partner Design Team this month. Here's what I found in the mail from her. The reveal will Feb. 27th. I'm so excited to have been chosen for this and even more excited to be designing around a BLUE BUTTON!!
• Also in the mail was this awesome Rainbow Heart from Tree Wings Studio. 
• Lastly, I ordered a grab bag of Pottery Pendants and Beads from Captured Moments and was pleasantly surprised to find it bursting at the seams! 
• I'll be sending out some mail soon too as I signed up for the 7000 Bracelets of Hope Blog Hop.   It's being hosted by Erin of Elysian Studios and Christine of One Kiss Creations. You can sign up to participate in this wonderful cause on either of their blogs. The Hop will be on Feb 25th.
• I'm still steadily trying to get pictures edited of new jewelry so that I can write descriptions and get some new jewelry int he shop. Until then, I've placed quite a few items on sale from 10-30% OFF! One of the sale items is this necklace which has proven to be quite popular (going by the number of people who have favorited it!)

  

  Like the Wind Necklace

• Even though I've been working on pictures and descriptions, I'm also trying to be creatively productive. I've been focused on making some Shabby Beads to include in the shop. Here's a peek.
• GIVEAWAY ALERT!!  Lastly, I happened to notice that over at Copper Diem, there's THREE POUNDS OF BEADS being given away. Head on over there to find out more!

So that's it for now. I tried to be concise and to the point with all this info. Did I forget anything?