Gain&Loss

Today was a long day. But productive none the less.

I started out my day driving to south ATX to purchase some chairs i found on craigslist. $40 for 2 wonderful chairs. I knew i could more than double my money with the right touch of whimsey that i do in fact possess. So off i went and bought these beautiful gals.

i forgot to take a picture of both of them before i started working. you will have to forgive me guys.

Then i was off to Frost tower. (YES the one that resembles an OWL!! Love that building) And i ended up selling that chevron table to a very nice gal named Molly. Whom was actually from Bullard, ETX. Small world right. She ended up being a crafter herself and gave me her blog adress. i will put it at the end so you do not click off my blog on to hers : )

Then off to ikea i went to return some furniture i had picked up for jb. & why did i wonder into the “sold as is” area? i am a glutton for punishment i suppose. i bought a table that was far too expensive. but i figured hey if i can even make 10 bucks off of this it will be worth it. whoops. here it is. i changed the hardware already to these glass “antique” style knobs from hobby lobby. they were 50% off so i thought it was ok to spruce her up. any added delight brings more cash to my pockets. 

 

but any who. already put her up on craigslist.

 

 

 

then bye bye round rock back to atx i go. my next stop was at a starbucks off 35 to deliver the fire engine red hair. a very nice girl and her boyfriend were very thrilled to get that guy. watching that tall amazon girl jump up & down for joy because of that chair made my day. i really probably only made $8 on that chair. but i learned a lesson i suppose.

on to the next. well i wolfed down some grub my brother made and got to work. i unassembled the two black chairs and reupholstered them. they turned out quite nice i must say (sorry i am obsessed with this floral fabric.) much better than the faux white leather that was nestled on the cushion beforehand.

annnyyyy way. you may be wondering. what is that tag looking thingy?? well they are my new Owlivia VanHootson tags i finally went and printed out. i will tell you guys that story tomorrow maybe.

 

 

 

I figured i needed to get some clutter out (my apartment is filled with furniture. can you say hoarder?) so i also painted a small book shelf thing for a quick sale. its kind of cheesy but maybe it will catch someones eye.

yeah yeah the top may make you dizzy but its kind of cool. ok what ever. i am so tired but i felt like i had to do this all now or i would forget important details. i thinks thats all i did today. yep. tell you about the cards later. stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

molly moody’s blog. she is a photographer too….SPIFFY
http://mollymoody-nesting.blogspot.com/

www.mollymoody.com

aaaannnnd that’s all folks : )

Banner Banner & well Banner!!

good evening.

So i received an email from the lovely amanda jill bragdon this evening. and guess what it contained….

Ok you give up?? My Etsy Banner she hand crafted!!! Totes amazing!!

check it out!! business cards to come : )

also check out my icon….what what. the best? yes it is!!

Fire Engine Red

Well good rainy afternoon all!!

GOOD NEWS Miss Amanda Jill Bragdon emailed me my samples for my etsy shop and my baby of a business i am kind of getting started. be on the lookout for Owlivia VanHootson!! it is going to be HUGE!! She made some lovely Icons, Banners, & tags!! i am in LOVE!!!  She is very talented. i suggest that if you need help with any kind of marketing or branding get in touch with this lady!! i am putting her website below. she has a really keene eye and is very talented!! (did i mention beautiful & friendly as well??)

www.theamandajill.com

on to different news:

Today has been kind of a weird day. I was looking for a project to do in between homework assignments and ended up driving to a garagesale&resale shop 10 miles away in Maxwell, TX. I did not really find much and it was kind of a waste of a trip. I did find an owl cookie jar for $5 and an owl coffee mug for $1. I did not want to waste my time or the trip (the place looked huge and chalk full of stuff on line but really wasnt anything special) so i ended up purchasing a $12 chair. it was not amazing but all the stuff was really overpriced.

anyway i went to lowes (hobby lobby is closed on sunday) and found that Valspar paint it cheaper and MUCH better that Krylon. so i am now switching to their paint. i also bought some grey paint for a personal project i will post about later. i also was thinking “hey this back is really boring. i need to spice it up. so i found in the wood section some little wood decor pieces. they were kind of expensive. ($6.99) but i figured if it adds that extra oomph (and extra $$$$) then its worth it.

then i got home. put on a kettle of tea and warmed up my awesome glue gun my boyfriend got me (that thing has come in handy)

i thought i would try a different color besides black or off white. so i chose a really BRIGHT red with a satin finish. i am not really sure how i feel about it. but my mum always told me “EVERYONE needs a red chair!!” (we have one in our kitchen in tyler ) I also reupholstered the seat with some new fabric i just purchased today. it is very similar to the other black chair. but this floral pattern has red, turquoise, and brown detailing. very much lovely. but i am a fan of florals : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHEVRON

So tonight i was planning to redo a personal project of mine. But after going to Goodwill and finding the perfect (&heavy) side table i had to switch gears. i stumbled upon this lil guy. 

Well he was only $9.99 so i could not resist. no hardware and tons of glossy white paint. how could i resist.

LUCKILY… hobby lobby is right next door to GW!! so i wandered on over in search of spray paint, hardware, & some ideas. (i did take some pics of already done furniture but i decided to wing it)

Now keep in mind this thing is solid wood. very heavy. i barely got this chunky thing up my stairs. Where is my brother when i need him?? (oh yeah camping duh)

The paint was pretty uneven and was awful to my eyes so glossy. (GROSS) so i got a pretty large piece of sandpaper and ran it over every  surface trying to even out the paint and take some of the gloss out. side note: sanding furniture is not for the faint of heart. i need to save up some money and get an electric sander. (mom&dad i hope your reading this)

after all that i painted (spray paint that is) the whole piece and drawer with Krylon Gloss Dover White. let that settle a bit and made myself a taco. or two. ok three.

my next mission was…what do i do with this drawer. CHEVRON!! i had printed out some chevron templates from a quirky little website www.billiemonster.com

good thing i printed out 3 (a month ago) because that was the PERFECT amount!!  it was pretty tricky getting all the corners and edges lined up to where it looked at least someone decent. i used masking tape which i will probably never use again. but i got it all together and taped to the drawer and went to painting.

after i let that set for a bit i had to do something so i would not yank off the paper too soon. so i made myself some tea. my new favorite is chai. and watched never been kisses. (what i like drew) then i was able to uncover the drawer.

looks pretty decent. of course the spray paint got onto the white paint because there was not a very good seal but hey thats life. luckily i remembered i had some off white craft paint. so i got my tiny paint brush and went over the lines with the paint. its not perfect but its quirky.

i also got these really cool glass knob pulls from hobby lobby. they were 50% off so for both it was only about $6 which is not too bad in my opinion.

so then i screwed those bad boys in and popped the drawer in. and i now have a finished product. quick, easy, & inexpensive. thats the way i like it. let me know what you think.

i wonder how much i should put this for on craigslist… hmm. i will figure it out. thank you & have a good night!!

Money Money Money

Hello and good afternoon.

I thought i would tell everyone that i made a successful sale today. A few months ago i cam across a trunk at goodwill for $6.99. Well with a little tough love and 3 yards of burlap i refinished a trunk very successfully. He had been sitting in a corner holding a few Christmas decorations and a blanket or two. After several complaints from my brother i was hoarding i decided to put a few things of craigslist. Well today i made my first sell. Thank you hippie lady from ATX

I also sold that chair that i posted about in my previous blog. what a quick turnaround. found. fixed. & sold in little over 2 days. i am not even going to tell you how much i sold it for. ok ok $40. oh goodness and they drove from ATX to get it. those bananas in Austin sure do love my work. stay tuned for my next post

One Mans Garbage is another Girls Treasure.

So hey there I decided to take a different spin on this here blog of mine since i have been lacking in posts… since well i made it. Yes i am at Texas State. Yes i moved away from home. Yes i made it through my first semester. (barely) Yes i am addicted to pinterest and have been crafting up a storm. That bring me to my most current escapade of… well not really dumpster diving but more like “finding” things in dumpstery type places and bringing them back to the present planet with a little whimsy and i like to say grace. any way any way i guess i will get to the point. I am not going to put all of my past projects on here (unless you guys really want to see them) But i am going to put my current passions and finds up. This little project started last night. i was just a drivin home in Betsey and i look to my right on Burleson st. What do i see but a perfectly good chair. Sitting by a dumpster. wet with dew like it had been crying from being abandoned on a curb. well i stopped dead in my tracks. put on my hazard lights and ran to check the little guy out. I popped Betsey big ol trunk. threw him back there then took off. All day today i  thought…. how could i make him really special. I printed off a hobby lobby coupon after my organic chem class (that quiz was tough today) and chunked on over. I bought a new cushion pad and a can of gloss krylon spray paint. The pad was $2.99 with 30% off and the spray paint was $4.99 with 40% off. So all in all under a $6.00 purchase. (luckily i am a hoarder and have tons of fabric laying about) So when i got to my lovely apt i turned on my tea kettle and got to work breaking this little guy down. (after i sanitized it of course) I wiped everything down. took the seat off. and stripped off that goodness awful fabric. Cut my fabric and foam pad to size. spray painted the chair. and went to stapling with my handy dandy upholstery staple gun (all while watching american pickers and eating a tomato grilled cheese of course)  Well thats the beginning and the end. i hope you enjoyed and there is far more to come.

Well i hope you enjoyed this as much as i did.

if not. i do not know what to tell ya.

dive for dreams

Dive for Dreams

dive for dreams
or a slogan may topple you
(trees are their roots
and wind is wind) 
trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward) 
honour the past
but welcome the future
(and dance your death
away at the wedding) 
never mind a world
with its villains or heroes
(for good likes girls
and tomorrow and the earth) 
in spite of everything
which breathes and moves, since Doom
(with white longest hands
neating each crease)
will smooth entirely our minds 
-before leaving my room
i turn, and (stooping
through the morning) kiss
this pillow, dear
where our heads lived and were. 

silently if, out of not knowable 

silently if, out of not knowable 
night's utmost nothing,wanders a little guess 
(only which is this world)more my life does 
not leap than with the mystery your smile 
sings or if(spiralling as luminous 
they climb oblivion)voices who are dreams, 
less into heaven certainly earth swims 
than each my deeper death becomes your kiss 
losing through you what seemed myself,i find 
selves unimaginably mine;beyond 
sorrow's own joys and hoping's very fears 
yours is the light by which my spirit's born: 
yours is the darkness of my soul's return 
-you are my sun,my moon,and all my stars 

E.E. Cummings

Accepted

My BEAUTIFUL acceptance letter

 I was accepted to Texas State University!

I am so very excited to start this adventure called life! I have only a 2 regular school days left then finals week is next week. Things are getting to the end…and i am so scared yet so excited.

I just need to figure out exactly how i am going to get down there and work and afford school.

As far as my check list goes i have:

• Gotten accepted
• Completed my FASFA

Things are shaping up!

Wasted & Ready

 I am so very ready. Ready for my life to start. To find amazing things and interesting  people. To get out of the norm & hate. To escape the confusion and the waste. I  am ready to start. I am game for the challenge. I am up for the strife. I am ready for a  new zip code. I have had the same license picture for too long.

  I really don’t know if these ties will pull me apart though.

• & everything is going to the beat
• & everything is going to the beat 
• & everything is going to the beat

That was a little aside the point.  I can do this. I can work it out. I can be in debt. I can accomplish my goals. I can live my dream. I can work it out. I can fulfill the lives of others. I can HELP others. I can love be in love. I can be a beacon for a region. I can prove myself. I am worthy. I can be happy. I can make dreams come true. I can NOT be stressed 25/8. I can kick ass and take names. I CAN DO THIS 

Rangers & Old main. Oh MY

JB and I attended a Rangers game on Friday April 22, 2011. It was an interesting evening,

Next stop lets look at some College junk…

a few more pics first

Texas State here i come. Thinking about changing to nursing but we shall see….

This is the old main building. The most attractive building on the campus 🙂