Fabulously Creative Friday.....!

Welcome to the Fabulously Creative Friday linky party!

Link up all of your creative projects, make-overs,  re-do's, artwork, anything that is creative!

This party requires a back-link so if you are having problems, paste and copy the address. Make sure you link directly to this post and you link directly to your post.

For my creative project, I want to share with you these bottles and books I did for Denise's Adornment's.

Link up for a  Fabulously Creative Friday!
Jen

Kitchen inspiration....

Now that my mom's kitchen is moving along, here are some inspiration pictures that have been catching my eye for her space. My Mom is not a "white" person at all, so I am taking bits and pieces from each picture that I like.
I think I am going to call the style old world-distressed-collected-traditional with a little Brooke Giannetti thrown in there for good measure :)
I can see lanterns, wood, brick,natural elements, in tones with greys, blues and aquas.

Source: la-belle-vie.tumblr.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: verdigrisvie.blogspot.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: sarahklassen.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: firedearth.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: designsponge.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: liljorochtulpaner.blogspot.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: potterybarn.com via Jen on Pinterest

t

Source: brookegiannetti.typepad.com via Jen on Pinterest

What do you think?
Jen

Mom's kitchen progress...

I bet you think I forgot to show you the end result, didn't you?

Well, there was a bit of a stall, it seems her American-harvested wood floor is sent on a slooooooooow boat to China to be hand-scraped and then sent on a much slooooower boat home. I am actually not kidding. That's why it was on back-order. So, my patient Mom waited 2 months for her floor to come in. We really didn't want to compromise since that is what we picked the cabinets off of. The good news is the counter tops go in next week and then we can start the fun part... accessorizing!!

Of course being the bad blogger I am I forgot my good camera, so here are some awesome pictures from my crappy phone for you.

 I think it's so funny how different our tastes are. It's been kind of fun helping her and doing a completely different style than what I am used to. I have a bunch of inspiration pictures for her space to show you tomorrow.

The new floor looks gorgeous and goes so well with the cabinets. I am glad we didn't compromise and pick something else just to get it done.. .Not that you can tell by these high quality images. :)

Jen

Through the garden gate....

Love love seeing how my yard has changed as the season has gone on.

We put in our yearly tadpole habitat this ear and added a couple of Koi to eat the mosquitoes. I just add some fresh water every few days and they do fine. This year we have Ted, Bob, and Cannoli.

The others are yet to be named, but the kids love going out there and watching the little guys swim around and to look and see if anyone has legs yet.

and feed them cheerios.

 They are pretty cute. We also threw a couple of bigger bullfrog tadpoles in there that are 5 times the size. It's gonna get  a bit crowded this year.

 I'll be curious to see how many stick around for next year.

 I love this part if my yard in almost full bloom. 

Between the Monarda, Day Lilies and Lavender, the bees are buzzing doing their busy thing.

 I had put this orange double ruffle cone flower in last year, and he came back. I was so happy.

 I have some tomatoes waiting to ripen, or maybe for some fried green tomatoes.

 And I had to show you this little section next to my neighbors fence.

I edged it with Mammoth Sunflowers. Hopefully next time I show you a picture, I'll have some huge sunflowers towering in the sky.

 The Wisteria has been sprouting like crazy and reminds me of snakes.  It has a cool creepy thing going on.

 And this year I tried growing Amaranth. Even though I hate the dry weather we've been having, it has been flourishing, I can't wait to see what it looks like when it hits it's full 4 feet.

I also wanted to share these two paintings I did recently, I took them over to Affordable Antiques for my mini-space.

 I'll have some prints of these in my shop soon.

They were fun to do. I don't sit down enough with my acrylic paints and just paint away.

Thank you all for your kind words about our financial situation. I am trying to be as positive as possible. Sometimes when life give you a bit of  a bumpy road, it's best to just ride it out. I'm finding out that many times the hardest times have the biggest purpose , so I am taking a wait-and-see kind of an approach.

I also wanted to let you know that I really am enjoying the Friday linky parties. I've thought about all of your awesome creativity and instead of doing a themed party every week, I want to make it  a general theme of "Wonderfully creative" starting this Friday.

Happy Monday!

Jen

Thrift-store make-over linky party.....

 Do you have something  from Goodwill or the thrift store that you gave an entirely new life to? 

 At last week's linky party Town and Country Living made over these paper mache boxes into something gorgeous!

It all started with paint did this super cute painted porch rug!

And the Ironstone Nest made these amazing chairs! I love the lettering!

Link up and let's see your makeover!

*Just make sure you link directly to your post and then directly to this post, not general blogs. My parties do require a back link to here so if you can't get it to work, try directly pasting and copying.*

Jen

My new "shoppette" at Affordable Antiques and more and Denise's Adornments...

I wanted to share my new little "shop" with you.

My friend, Betty, has  a huge space at Affordable Antiques and more in Naperville, IL. It's a higher end home decor and antique shop and she generously agreed to let me try out the little space behind her booth and try it out a bit. It's a great place to sell my artwork and I've already sold a few pieces. If it works out well then I can sublet the space from her full time.

 I also have some new things at Denise's Adornments in Geneva.

 I love her shop. She has such great stuff.

This week is Swedish days festival and a blast. Stop by if you get a chance.

Jen

To ad or not to ad.. that is the question....

Some of you may notice that I've had a few more ads than normal floating around here.I know a lot of bloggers are proudly ad free and it can be a touchy subject.

We have recently found ourselves in the midst of taking a bit of a financial blow this summer.

Without going into too many details or trying to sound like I am planning a pity party; I have decided that  I need to make my blog work for me a little bit more to give us a little financial lift.

  It won't affect content or posting at all, but I might be doing a few more reviews here and there, and have more slots open on my sidebar for sponsors.In fact, I'd like to post more projects like I used to in the days before I worked a regular job as well. I love that part of blogging.

I know the Lord provides for us and this is an opportunity He has given me with my shop and also with my blog.The nice thing about Blogher is that it's mostly traffic driven, not necessarily click-on driven revenue.

Someday maybe I will make ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!MUWHAHAHAHAHA! but until then I'll take it where I can get it a bit at a time; all of those pennies ad up! :)

I originally started with Blogherads on my sidebar to help off-set the cost of projects. It brings a nice steady bit of pocket money and I would recommend it to any one looking for a few extra bucks. I pick my ad subjects they run, and when they do post reviews there are many I choose not to participate in due to content, same for book club reviews. I think when I hit about 500 hits a day I was making about $30 a month. Not bad for  doing what I love to do, It has steady increased bit by bit since then. I also make a little bit from independent sidebar advertising as well. I would love to run an ad-free blog, but it's just not an option for us right now.

I know with the economy the way it is, if you are finding out that you need a bit of  a financial boost and are okay with advertising there are many great places to start such as: Blogherads, Social Spark, Rivit, Clever girls network,  plus private advertising as well. I know it's  a tough time for many people. We have many neighbors and friends who are struggling to keep their jobs and homes. I feel very, very blessed that I have the opportunity to work, and work it I shall!  I have just started selling my things at a new venue I am excited to tell you more about later. In fact, I am so driven, I would shake that money maker if the kids hadn't already ruined it.... :)...  just kidding.
So hang in there with me. If you have any question about advertising on your own blog, feel free to ask away!

Jen

A homemade swing set tent and afternoon tea...

Even though the "B" word wasn't allowed to say around here:  I still hear it out of my chicke's mouths quite a bit. "I am sooo BOOOORED!"

We have one of those play sets with two swings in the center and a slide at the other end.

 We did manage to alleviate some of that summer "nuthin' to do"  this weekend with a tent made from vintage sheets I had hanging around :)

It was as simple as two straight stitches on my machine where the ends meet. It took 3 full size sheets end to end.

 

We tossed it over the top and weighted the bottom with rocks. It wasn't too windy, so the rocks held well.

We brought over an outdoor carpet from the deck and their little play table and bench inside and they had  a little tea party out of the sun in their "girl's hang out".

They had  a blast and I could hear them having conversations across the yard. My oldest asked if we could sleep out there tonight. Uhhh, is it a Hilton?then......no.

I think I would like to get them some bead bag chairs for some summer reading.

 I might have to put a lounge chair in there for myself  :)

Jen