Paisley Ann Design

This is the kitchen in the 1939 house we are (fingers crossed) moving into.

This is the kitchen we want. So I need some help. How do we do it?
Any suggestions, or warnings you have for us as we tackle this project?
What parts would you replace, what parts would you repaint? What parts would you pay somebody to do? Did I mention that we are on a budget? This kitchen was taken from This Old House. It was the winner of some contest they were having. And somehow, the couple who demoed their kitchen only paid $10,000 + all of their own work to get sheer beauty. As you have probably noticed we like the black and red.

Creature Comforts is giving this away!

Go to Ez’s blog Creature Comforts and make a comment to enter. If you link back to your own site you get a bonus entry. I am bound to win one of these blog give-aways at some point. As if the dreamy pics and outfits that Ez creates aren’t reward enough…a girl can still dream, right?!?!?

Oh-my-f-ing-goodness. This is officially theee Valentine’s Day gift of the Century . I mean this century is totally the throw-back century. Can I get an “AMEN!!!”? This ring is by Digby & Iona. This is where design and conceptual/social/collective conscious “nod to Jung” meet and decide to collaborate. As if the ring isn’t clever enough, there happens to be a stop-motion video based around the ring that is on YouTube. Thanks Swiss-Miss for the lead. This is absolutely adorable, especially for the couple who actually carved their initials into a tree at some point in their relationship (or prior to their relationship). Don’t worry I won’t ask you exactly what year that was. I have my own paranoia of aging–why would I put that on you? By golly, there I go “projecting” again. This is the week of parties in the evening. So I will let you in on the ones you are invited to. I would love to see some friends…new and old.

Coming up this week:

Today: The Nevada Museum of Art’s long awaited site renewal went live. Go to website.
Please check it out and email me with any bugs/feedback you might have.
ashley@loopshot.com

Friday: Closing show at Sierra Arts Gallery on Sierra St. The “chief geek” and I collaborated on a piece for the show entitled, “Significant Others.” You will see our up-cycled vanity–adorned with hand-painted Russian Nesting dolls, hand-sewn doppleganger felt dolls, arduinos and old-fashioned light bulbs. Come and check it out.

This crafty tutorial is actually a collaboration between Lauren, age 8, and me. All of the supplies that you need can be found around the house. First things first. I don’t feel like I have ever properly introduced Lauren on this blog. She is sweet little hand model you see in the pictures and happens to be my step-daughter. You will also hear me refer to her as the fairest child in the house, since her hair is the most blond and her skin the most fair. She is a beauty inside and out and has taught us all how to be a little bit clearer in demanding that our needs be met. We are working on bringing the demanding part down to a declaration, but in any case, it can be a good thing to knoe what you want in life–and Lauren proves this axiom.

What do we do with these hearts? These hearts can be used for many different things. You can use them as a background for Valentine’s Day cards. Just cut a much smaller heart out of white or colored card stock and glue stick it (is that a verb?) to the coffee filter heart. Write “TO:” and “FROM:” and that’s that. Easy-Peasy. My favorite use for them came from Lauren- who decided instead- to punch two holes in the tops of the hearts and to run 99cent store twine through them. She ended up with a garland of 9 or 10 hearts that is hanging in our front window. I love..love…love seeing the garland when I am driving into our driveway.

Rachel from Vintage Songbird came up with this rad before-and-after.

I woke up this morning all excited to check out Design Sponge’s before-and-afters. We just put an offer on our first house, which is way out-dated and we spent a few hours sitting at Java Jungle drawing the layout and deciding what we would work on first. It was great fun seeing as Eric and I both love to brainstorm. So, I was looking for some inspiration. But instead, I found this great transformation from a nasty ol’ side table to a vintage play kitchen. Play kitchens are all over the web, but this one is especially unique due to its vintage accessories. The salt and pepper shakers are just precious. So precious, in fact, that I might not want to let the kiddos trash them. To each her own . If you want a commercial version that is pretty retro looking, and fairly inexpensive, Target now carries a brand of wooden toys, that are pretty darn cute. Check the one above out.

If you want to see what else Grace is covering over at Design Sponge: here is the link to : click here where you can find other sweet before-and-after’s.

Check out these Valentine’s Cards from Kate.net. They are in PDF format. All you need is some card stock, and Voila! If you follow the link you will also find two more designs that include the ubiquitous teddy bear and kitty designs.

Go to Cards.

This is a snapshot of Etsy seller Vantiani’s prints. Check her stuff out. Don’t you just love the paper cutting and collage work she has going on here? So vintage re-mix. It’s like when the Postal Service does a re-mix of a Feist song. Booyah! Love it!

She sounds sweet too..here is a peak into her bio on Etsy.

Dear you,

Vantiani.

Cute, isn’t she?!?

Etsy Seller GGiotta picked this set of lovely items out. Ever so often I am wowed by the curation skills of the sellers on Etsy, and I pretty much think this girl clicked on the “you are similar to this user” button on Netflix…so I had to share. The butterfly thingy is rediculously awesome and reminds me of the butterfly tattoos I want on the front of my shin and of the real butterflies we have framed in our kitchen. If only I could be guaranteed to love the butterflies when I am pushing around my walker with tennis balls, I would totally do it. I am still a bit gun-shy.

Anyways…I hope everyone is having a sunny Monday. My morning has been very sunny inspite of the impending doom of a 5 day storm watch. The Chief Geek and I shared a bunch of laughs this morning, which always makes me feel giddy inside. Laughter is my love language, I swear. Oh, and, I almost forgot, last night the fairest child in the house had a friend spend the night. Can I just tell you? That is the most ingenious invention ever. What invention? The “sleepover.” For three reasons: she was entertained, she slept through the night without waking me up four times, and best of all–this morning they were running around in the backyard looking like Soviet-era Russian moms with their babies wrapped in blankets. If you think that sounds depressing, try not to think too hard about that one. There is nothing more joy inducing than seeing a child playing with other kids her age. Their imaginations are so vibrant and it reminds me that Hannah Montana and High School Musical– in reality–is still a few years away. No matter how many times she mentions that it is her favorite movie.

Are you kidding me? Seriously. Have you ever heard a joke and because of it’s impeccable timing? That fact that it referenced something in pop culture that just happened to hit your proverbial funny bone— made you pee your pants? When I saw this cat floating around the web that is exactly what happened. Just a little–I think its dry now. How could the artist know? How could she see so clearly into my retrospective twenty-something nostalgia and know exactly what to make– to melt my heart. Well, ask google…because I have no clue. All I know, is that when I saw it I knew, that life was worth living. These are in fact the things that make life worth living. For any of you who are wondering what it was that did me in…I will tell you– it’s the cone. You know the ones you saw on dogs when you were a kid that made you want to–again, pee your pants. I would think to myself, “How evil that owner is to allow their dogs and cats to run around with a solar dish on their shoulders.” Or rather, “How petty to put an aristocratic collar on your cat- I mean honestly, it looks like a coffee filter.” Aww, man. It still cracks me up thinking about it. It’s like those parents that make their kids wear helmets at the Ice Skating Rink. Do they realize how embarrassing that is?

(Click on the photo to go to link)