Laughing Lilly line for When You Wish Co.

I've just finished the first Laughing Lilly jar.  This is going to be one of the "un-customized" jars from When You Wish Co.  I didn't necessarily love the color of the glitter or the paint on the lid, but it leaves room for improvement!  Check it out!

I tried for a really really long time to not have a glare, but that's what I get for using jars.  I'll have to find some photography tips on photographing glass stuff.  If you have tips let me know.  I digress.  The Laughing Lilly line is a little more girlie, but that's what girl's love.  This just gives you an idea of what I can and am willing to do with jar customization. 

The giveaway is still open!  Leave your comments under the 'Step 1: Acceptance' post, or on the bottom of this one.  Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Jagged Little Pill

Let's hop in my time machine and travel back to the fall of 1995.  I was in 5th grade and hanging out with one of my favorite friends, Ms. Nicole H.  We thought we were so cool because our parents let us buy "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morissette on cassette, none-the-less.  Nicole and I were planning on going to the high school football game (maybe it was basketball and I'm all messed up?) to support the "Purple, gray and white!"  We made it to the game, but all we did was sit in the cafeteria and listen to Alanis belt out "I've got one hand in my pocket and the other one is giving a peace sign". 

Since that day, I have been a long time Alanis lover.  She's so gorgeous, natural, real, powerful, outspoken, soft but hard when needed.  I can go on forever! Look at her!  Another girl crush (and she happens to be on Weeds-bonus!).

     

{Photo via Alanis' myspace}     

What's even cooler, is Ms. Alanis is keeping me singing and motivated.  I've actually been working on a new jar that I want to get posted up so you can see more of what I'm trying to do for the When You Wish Co.  But, I wanted to leave you a quote that was actually on the top of Alanis' website.

"Full awakening comes when you sincerely look at yourself, deeper than you've imagined, and question everything." --Adyashanti

That's deep and I'm going to have to sit and spend some time with myself on that thought.  I'm ready for a growing period in my life. 

Have a fabulous day!

for the love of music

Does anybody want free music?  Check out Pandora.com.  It's a website that does all the work for you and it's free.  What do I mean it does all the work for you?  I mean, you type in the name of an artist you like, or the title of the song you love.  From there, Pandora compiles a playlist based on your preferences.  You can listen to all the music you want!  My current favorite is the Dave Matthews Band station.  So fun, so random, so free!

Step 1: Acceptance (and MY first Giveaway!)

I had set myself up BIG TIME with a Month of Martha. I really worked hard for the month before trying to print recipes, do meal plans, grocery lists, coupon cutting, scheduling days and activities and trying to be something I'm not. To all of you mothers who actually carry through with the whole "Martha" image, I commend you. It is not an easy task. While I do appreciate some of the information I've learned and changes I've seen in myself, I know this isn't for me.

My days are jam packed with Dylan, the hubs, army, "projects"... (what else do I do??), I think it's important for all of us to step back from the "ideal image of mothering" and focus on what really matters to each of us. It is always different. Your image may be safe-sided, daring, or just plain interesting. Take time to embrace those things that make you and yours unique. Don't try to change because you think others want this from you. Do it for you!

Here's my "Do it for me" thingy.

I know you can't really see all the detail and what it is, or what's going on - that's the point. Sorry. But this here lil do-dad is my latest creation/project. This is the Wish Jar from my new company "When You Wish." Inside is tiny origami stars. Each one is tedious work in itself, but makes a stunning collection. This Wish Jar shown is just my little first experiment, so it's not complete, nor is it the final idea. I'm posting this fabulous treat to generate a little buzz. Also, I want feedback.

This jar isn't you-get-what-you-see kind of thing. I can randomize patterns/colors for stars. I'm making little signs to hang on the inside. The "uncustomized" Wish Jars will have a sign hanging on the inside that says "Wish" followed by the dangly stars. If you choose to customize your Wish Jar, I will make a banner for your wish. Your wish could be directed towards a child about your dreams for them, or can be as silly as "I wish you would quit picking your nose" for one of your friends. HA. It's all whatever your brain can "wish" for. (Sorry, I had to). The lid of the jar can be customized with colors, glitter, stickers, whatever co-ordinates with your theme, as well as being left plain. I'm also coming up with holiday themed jars, baby shower jars, graduation jars.. yes, the possibilities are endless.

Here's the deal - From now (August 26 2009) until September 4 (2009) at 8p.m. (Mountain Time), I want your comments, suggestions, hopes and dreams (for Wish Jar critiques) to come spilling in. I said I was going to do a giveaway, so here's your chance for a one-of-a-kind freebie! If you are randomly selected as a winner of the Wish Jar, I will design a piece just for you. These bad boys are not going to go on sale until October (maybe even later). I will be sure to let you know all the details of the When You Wish shop opening. I can't wait to hear what you all think about it.

*BONUS* If you become a follower of the blog (which is posted on the left side), you get an additional entry in the drawing. If you subscribe to my blog (also posted on the left side), please send me an e-mail (click the contact me letter on the left side) and let me know you subscribe and you will also receive another entry. That's a total of THREE entries per person. Take advantage of it!

I CAN'T get enough of this...

To get the full effect, go to the bottom of my page. Let the music player load up and start listening to "Little Boxes" which is song 47 or something close to that. (It's the theme song to my favorite show. Can you guess it?) All the songs after that are from the show too.

How hot is Mary-Louise Parker!? Come on now. I want to be Nancy Botwin. Well not necessarily selling weed and getting mixed up with Mexican drug lords, but she's just amazing. I love her wit, her style, ummm everything. Can someone hook me up? ha. Ok, I have a girl crush. Don't tell the hubs, it might make him get the wrong idea. Seriously, who else is with me?

So, with my birthday money, I want to get all the seasons. This is one show that I can watch over and over and never get tired. Major props to Jenji Kohan, the creator. Love it!

Oh yeah, last Thursday was my birthday. The big 24, a quarter of my life is over (apparently I'm going to live to be 100 or something close to that). I have pictures, but they all look ridiculous. I was having a good time and yeah. I'll tell more stories later. Just wanted everyone to know that I'm alive!

Month of Martha Mondays

{Photo via DarthLen's flickr}

This is going to be the first week I'm really into blogging. I woke up this morning refreshed, motivated, and excited for the first time in a long time. I have a new perspective on Month of Martha and I'm ready to bring it to ya!

Mondays are my laundry days. It seems easier to do it all in one day rather than drag it out to every day and just whenever I feel like it. Plus, who wants to do much of anything on Mondays. I just want to share some of my laundry tips with you all. If you guys have anything that works for you, feel free to leave a comment!

First thing, everyone knows to sort stuff. Lights, darks, heavy/light fabric, yadda yadda. Enough said on that topic.


Did you know that when pulling your clothes out of the washer, you're supposed to kind of shake out each piece so that it won't wrinkle in the dryer? It also shakes (flicks? whips it? can't find the right word for it) out some of the water that's sitting on the clothes. By doing this, it will save your drying time and also your energy bill. Also, consider starting your laundry early in the morning or later at night when it's not so hot. The machines running will heat up your house. Good for the winter time, but not so fabulous in the summer.

Now for the stains, I have found that the OxiClean Spray works wonders on the stains my little guy leaves. My big guy also leaves sweat stains. How the heck do you get those out? Enter Men's Flair with the answer. Click on this to check out their suggestions on treating, washing and even drying. AMAZING!


Another amazing wonder is borax. You thought it was just for your grandmother's laundry? No way! I think it works better than the OxiClean powder and an extra bonus is borax is much cheaper. Plus borax has a ton of other uses. You can find the uses on the box or click here. My favorite use for borax (other than laundry purposes) is to make slime!! Check out this recipe from Joey Green's Mad Scientist.

{Photo via Niekbokker's flickr}

Oooh and if you're lucky enough to have a space to hang your clothes outside, do it! The fresh smell is amazing and save a bundle on drying expenses. If you're worried about hanging your clothes outside, just do your bedding. Nothing embarrassing about that.. maybe.


I'm sure I have a ton of other ideas, but I'm at a loss for them right now. Next week, I'll bring in some other tips or anything exciting that comes up! Happy laundry day!

Thrown Off My High Horse

Finally, I had a chance to sit down and write for A Month of Martha. I was sitting here at my computer about to type up what I had, and then skipped my blog and went looking on other blogs because I get distracted easily. Go figure. I came across SimpleMom.Net, which started doing Back to Basics.... same as my Month of Martha. But, they have a whole staff contributing to publish stuff every day. {Make me feel like poo...and I'm not getting paid for this} Anyways, I was reading it all, and it was the SAME things that I was just about to post. Did they hijack my brain? Grr.. Ok, so I do give them props, because I think we are all feeling the pinch from the economy/growing families/growing expenses/LIFE. I think the point is we do just need to get back to the basics of how we live life. We are all feeling something.

After I took a two minute angry/feel-sorry-for-me/what do I do now slump, I came to the realization, that I need to just invest more in what I want to do. I know I'm not the ultimate housewife, after trying my Month of Martha hardcore schedules, and cooking, and cleaning... blah. It's not for me. BUT, what is for me is being crafty, artsy-fartsy. I love making things. So, I'm going to share my projects that I've been doing for the last... well for quite awhile. Tonight, I'm going to round up my pictures from this rocking chair I revamped. It's happy.

Just had to update you on this Month of Martha fiasco. If you want, I'll post some stuff from what I've learned... which I think I should do anyways. Thanks for sticking with me through my move and craziness!! I'm here and I'm trying so hard!

It was a glorious Tuesday..

and we went to the library! (A day late on the posting, but that's my life right now!)

Tuesdays are our new library day. An added bonus is the Farmer's Market is right next door if we go in the afternoon! YAYs all around!

This was Dylan's first visit to the library, and it was so funny to watch him run to the books! I didn't get a picture of that, but the toys were a mere minute behind the haphazard snatching up of 3 books.

I felt bad I had to make him stop exploring to set up our library cards. But, Dylan ran right back to the puzzles. He was having such a blast.

What's even better than puzzles are the walls of windows. There has to be 3 full walls of full length windows. It doesn't even feel like you're traped inside on a rainy or cold day. Our library is so glorious! There are also cute paintings of characters on the glass. The wonderful library staff even has bird feeders outside the windows. Perfect for my little bird chaser!

Once Dylan helped me with the self check-out, he got to put his books in his library bag and carry them home. Isn't the library bag awesome? I got it at Target in the dollar bins, which I actually think it was $2.50, but what the heck! You can't really see a good view of the front, but it's Dr. Suess's One Fish Two Fish. Not bad for that price!

As you can imagine, I was fighting back tears watching him be such a big boy. My baby loves the library, I'm so proud! I remember going to the library my whole life. It was always exciting to explore and discover new adventures in books and storytimes. This was a really special adventure of our own and I'm so glad I got to share it with you, Pickle.

A serious burning question!

It has be ultra important for me to get the house put together, for my sanity and to get my family back in their routine. But, since we're a family of 3 and I have FOUR bedrooms, I totally get a studio. YAY!!! This is the ONE thing that I have been waiting for since I was a little kiddo. In my earlier years, my mom, being the creative one she is, turned an empty space in our laundry room into a craft room. I loved going in there, just to sit and watch wood turn into dolls or watch my blankie being mended for the hundredth time. It was always such a happy place. Now that I have the room to do it, nothing else has been as exciting as getting this space, my studio, pulled together. It's still not quite done, but here's an update.

Before

Everything thrown on the floor, trying to envision it in my head.

The computer area, which I don't mind sharing space with. It gives me a chance to do "blog research." What a rough job that is! But it pretty much looked the same before and after.

After

My main work wall. I have shelves all over and happy light blue jars. I have a thing for those babies. They kind of clash against the powder blue wall, but we rent here.. some things I'll live with. I have my inspiration board waiting to be filled. And I still have to find a table. Not bad for one day of work!

And now my burning question...

As I was starting to organize my tools and get everything in easy accessibility, my scissors and glues always end up getting paired together. What's the dilema, you may ask? I have always thought as scissors and glue to be rivals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the scissors (although they may aid in creating a beautiful masterpiece) are the destructive, maybe evil of the two. Poor glue is always trying to put things back together, hold the bond tight. Now tell me, what is a girl to do?