Prettying up my blog...

If you were here earlier you might have noticed a different background every few seconds... I'm trying out a bunch of different backgrounds to see which I like the best... I've been at it for an hour now... background after background... and I have to get a header bar and I found some other pretty things to put on the blog as well... the hunt continues for a background...

ps. its my Friday today... whoot!

Bedspreads and Birds eggs...

Here are two photos of the yellow chenille bedspread... so buttery and good...  I also have a few snaps of the eggs in jars...

I think I'm going to throw these up on my flickr... I have to check My Sewing Room's website to see if they're open on Friday so that I can go and check for some toile fabrics... I'm going to get a couple fat quarters of a couple different ones, if they have a few different ones... that way I don't buy a whole pile of fabric that looks crap with the couch... I'm going to bring the quarters home to see how they look with the couch first... and some greys for the piping and roll pillows...

I'm not sure what I'll be able to accomplish when I get home this evening... maybe make some homemade cheesy burgers with green onion, rosemary and mushroom in them... Mmm...  I'll be sure to get some photos of those...  If you didn't see what I made for supper last night check out the post below this one... Shrimp Coconut Curry soup... Mmm...

Yum...

Here is a shot of the Shrimp Coconut Curry Soup that I just made for supper...  so delish... next time I'm going to double everything to make a larger pot... we ate just about all of it, just the two of us, with a tiny bit left over for Chris's lunch tomorrow...  

We got the paint all picked up for the front room on the way home today... I was going to get a primer and then a paint but the lady at Home Depot said that the Behr paint with built in primer was good... if its not I'm going to have a canary!  But I'll have lots and can do a few coats if need be... there really is just one large and one small wall... the other two walls have the big open archway through and the big front window... really it should go pretty quick!  And I have sand paper and sanding blocks to sand down my $5 find, and I should have enough wall paint to give that a couple coats as well!  So excited... I think I'm going to run outside and see how easily the table is going to sand...

Hey...

Just wanted to say if you're popping by and reading the blog, feel free to leave a comment... say hello even!  Where are you located?  How did you find this blog?

ps... fishy photo from up above... took this snap in Kensington about two years ago.

Oh Monday...

I have snaps on my slr... will download them this evening... there just isn't enough time in a two day weekend... especially if one of those nights is a house party in your house!  Well patio party would be a much better description... its so nice to finally have a complete back yard!

I'm starting to find the crap quality of some of my iphones photos rather charming... okay... focus... starting at the beginning of the weekend what did I get accomplished... not nearly as much as I wanted!  but this weekend coming may very will be a four day weekend for me... fingers cross that works out... I should know in about an hour...

Yesterday we headed down to Longview to check out Pam's sweet sweet shop called Wow And Then... Check out her blog...  Pam had saved the sweetest table for me, knowing that I was headed her way to check out her treasures - it goes PERFECT with my two wing chairs - the same legs (as the chair's front legs)... AND ITS CREAM!! so I can just save the blue table from a white wash and put it down in the basement in the shabby chic bedroom down there (once we build the basement that is!)  Oooo so many plans for the basement... anyway... too much typing and not enough pictures... here are two iphone snaps of the new table... and beautiful lavender from Wow And Then...

You even get a little sneeky peak of the wing chairs as they are now... Eeep!  They're not nice at all... yet!  Didn't get the paint for the front living room Saturday evening... we fell asleep late in the afternoon and then woke up in time to make supper and get to the movie theatre to see Get Him To The Greek... funny movie!  Picking up the paint tonight... taping off the room Wednesday night and getting at it Thursday...

This is starting to get irritatingly lengthy... so I'm leaving you with a snap of last nights $30 mac and cheese - soo much cheese - emmenthal, swiss, sharp cheddar and parmesan...

Mmm...

A very successful day indeed... went to a vintage garden sale this morning... and after only spending $18, yes $18 I came away with the above blue chenille bedspread, a little table and a nice chunky picture frame... Before and after pictures to come of the other two items once I get them all done up... I also got a pair of matching wing chairs from kijiji for $60! To be recovered as soon as I find the right toile...

Off to take a look at the front garden to see how much bigger I am going to make it... later we're running out to get the paint for the front room... Canada day holiday is on Thursday of this coming week so that'll be a good day to paint the front room I think... Perhaps tomorrow morning I can get it all primed...

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

So much I want to work on right now...

I'm so unbelievably stoked that its Friday... oh yeah, the picture up above is from the Vintage Chicks sale too... every time I look through my photos I find another that I really like...  AAHHH... I'm picking up two matching wingback chairs tomorrow morning, and then I have to find the toile that I want to cover them, and I need to get the primer and paint for the front room, get that large picture for Jada printed this weekend to frame up, tighten up the cootie catcher, make the front garden larger... there is soo much that I want to work on this weekend, right now actually... but the work day begins... 

Testing the BlogPress app...

A shot of picture frames from the Vintage Chicks sale... I just got the BlogPress app for my phone and wanted to take it for a spin! Let's see how it goes!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Vintage Chicks Find...

I haven't posted any shots of this yet... I'll get a few good ones soon... and of the jars if eggs too!

Kickin it old school...

Again with the iPhone camera... I PROMISE TO BRING MY DSLR WITH ME WHEREVER I GO... I wasn't expecting to go to a 50's diner for some burgers, fries and home made soda when Dani (a friend/neighbor) went down south to Aladdin's Cave antique place in Black Diamond - I know I couldn't make up names this good!  We didn't find much at Aladdin's Cave, but I did come across an ornate oval frame... when I bellied up to buy the frame the lady told me to just have it for free!  The mirror had broken and was taken out... So that'll get a nice coat of cream paint this weekend, and some linen covered cork board - to be added to the sewing room wall... and on the same train of thought I'm planning on recovering two wingback chairs to go with the Swedish couch in the front room... I'm just searching online now for some nice gray patterned toile... and I'm thinking gray piping... and gray roll pillows... perhaps with the toile as the piping on the pillows... Oooo so excited!  I even found an awesome tutorial online for reupholstering wing back chairs specifically... if you're interested in seeing it just drop me a note and I'll post the link...

The photo up above is from the Diner in Black Diamond... the soda I had is called Dragon's Blood... strawberry coconut flavor!  and the little jukebox... sent our selections to the big juke box... we played a pile of super oldies... starting with a song from Grease... I just about jumped up out of the pink and black booth and started dancing in the shop!  It was so sweet!

My search for gray toile continues... I found two wingbacks on Kijiji for a great deal - they're a rather ugg green velvet at the moment - not the neat lime green from the 70's but the forrest green from the late 80's...  with dark wooden legs, that I plan on painting cream...  Ooo I wish it was the weekend now... there are so many projects that I want to work on... blog design included!

Ta for now!

Feeling rad today...

Gotta love H&M... I've been wanting a super baggy tank for awhile... and they had this one - with the tight longer tank underneath...  I have tonnes of energy this morning... I'm sure that has something to do with the 12 hours of sleep that I got last night, I was falling asleep in the car on the way home after work so I got in bed for a nap when I got home... woke up long enough to have some supper and then back to sleep... now if only it was Friday... gotta start the work day... pictures of the garden tonight, although it got a little battered yesterday afternoon from the HAIL!

Korean BBQ...

One word for Korean BBQ... YUM!

Ooo and I forgot to get a few snaps of the garden... well now its really supposed to rain for the next two days... its raining now... I'll see what I can do when I get home today... most of the plants are really small,  hopefully they start growing good and strong now that they're in the ground with some nice peat and soil around their roots.

OS 4 is out for iphone now...  I updated my phone last night... I have to say the folders makes everything so much neater!

I'm scatter brained here this morning, bouncing from topic to topic... I'm also thinking about shabby chic things and my front room and the swedish couch... I'm going to have to pull together a design board for that room - I can't wait to get started - I'm just looking for two wooden chairs now that I can recover to go into the room, then paint the room cream, and find some things for the walls, and tags and apothecary jars... I have a few jars back in NL... I have to look into getting them sent up...  time to go looking around online for some shabby chic things...

Swedish couch...

Found this on Saturday:

Here it is in the front room:

Love this!  The room is going to be finished now around this swedish couch... the walls will be a rich cream colour and we need to find two chairs... to be back on to the window and a little table to sit between the two chairs...  iphone photos are all I have of this so far... AND of the garden that I put in today... So good photos to come in a couple days... I think its supposed to be raining tomorrow... 

Some projects to be finished up this week - the super large custom photo for a friend... photo to be printed and mat cut, and the cootie catcher for a coworker... the layout needs to be tightened up so that it folds perfectly...

Sunshiny day...

Its a beautiful sunny day today... its only early yet, and the Circa Vintage sale is about to start in Marda Loop... I can't wait to see what treasures they have!  Camera is in hand to check out the sale as well...  Here is a snap that I really like from last week, taken in Chinatown.

Hopefully they don't mind my taking some pictures at this sale this morning... Later this morning its gardening time!  Got the spot in the backyard all picked out - got some soil, got some peat, got some mulch and plants... still need a few more plants though...  maybe a trip a nearby garden center is in order for this afternoon...  

V2.0...

Okay, picture quality is total garbage... but I just got the second version of the cootie catcher together... The border detail was thought up by Tina when playing with a couple cootie catchers that I brought in for her to take a look at and to see what changes she would make to them, so they are exactly what she wants - and it makes them look so good and so finished...  The banding was easy to do - I cut 4 squares just a little larger than the main outside squares of the cootie catcher and glued them onto the backside of those squares... it also make the whole thing sturdier - and the outer pieces don't get bend up and creased easily now...  

Off to start the work day...

Vintage Chicks...

After collecting Serrene on Saturday morning we headed to the Millarville Market, and then to the Vintage Chicks sale in Priddis... well it was beyond amazing!  And the prices were also soo good and amazingly reasonable!  I ended up leaving the sale with a vintage chenille bedspread (pictures to come later), a lavender pillow, and two vintage jars - one with a nest inside and the other with eucalyptus and a blue egg inside (pictures to come later of these too)...  Check out my flickr photostream for photos from the sale... AND I won the draw for the "gift basket,"  and calling it a gift basket is the understatement of the century!  It was a huge basket brimming full of wonderful things, and a pile of gift certificates for various vendors at the show!  AND a beautiful vintage scale, AND a super beautiful table (that goes oh so lovely in my front room)... here's a snap of it... I couldn't believe it when they called and said "you've won,"  and when I got there an the lady said "this is all yours!"  I was like "WHAT THE!?..." so awesome!  

I'm feeling so lucky to have won all of these beautiful treasures!  Today S and I are going downtown to take photos...

Check out my flickr... My Flickr

Set up a Flickr account...

Dandelion
Originally uploaded by Lacey Haskell

Okay, I should have set up a Flickr account ages ago... now I'm just trying to adjust a few things to get it to post how I want it to post... more pictures to be uploaded soon. First it will be all the photos already on here, then after this weekend I should have a new batch to upload.

Bird feeder...

Okay, I didn't run into the house to get my dslr, but I was so excited to get my birdhouse up that I had to grab a snap with my iphone!  I do have a few shots of it to download from my dslr though - I was out chilling on the patio waiting for birds to come along so I could get some snaps!  I've only seen one at the bird feeder so far... I guess it'll be a few days before its discovered?

Hi there Monday...

I started this post on Friday...  and am just opening my laptop again now...  The picture above is BBQ'd corn - I have to say its soo tasty - AND easy to do!  You just peel back the corn husk but leave it attached to the base, then pull out all the little silky strings and then put the husk leaves back up over the corn and voila!  its ready to go on the BBQ!

Originally, the plan for the weekend was to tidy the house for our next week visitor (Serrene!!) and put up the blinds that we picked up for all our windows on the way home Friday... well Saturday we started with the blinds after a quick trip to Good Earth for Earl Gray Lattes... yum... then we got the blinds up, cleaned two of the upstairs room and got the laundry washed and dried and then we went out for the evening... so yesterday I majorly slept in for me and didn't get working away at the house again until the afternoon - so some cleaning has to happen when we get home this evening!

Didn't do much in the way of creating this weekend, didn't get downtown for a day of photos, but the cootie catcher has developed and once I have the pink paper to print them on I'll take a few snaps of version 2.0.  Its really sweet!  And this coming weekend we're checking out Millarville market AND what looks like its going to be an amazing sale - its called the Vintage Chicks Sale, in Priddis - here is a link: The Vintage Chicks...

Then on Sunday we're heading out and about to explore surrounding Alberta with Serrene.  I'm thinking that Monday we'll be heading downtown to photograph the city.

Should find some times during the evenings this week to work on a few projects... and I found a few things around the house I feel the need to photograph!  Shots will follow!... and I've got to check out flickr... 

Cootie Catcher...

Here is version 1.0 of the cootie catcher I was talking about putting together for a coworker.  I replicated the petal design from her invitations on the corners of the cootie catcher.  It still needs some work to tighten up the main square, like how large it will be printed to make cutting down the square most efficient, and perhaps font size tweaking.  Also, I have to find a couple more sayings or fortunes to put inside.  I could only find a few online that I really liked - I'm thinking "do the funky chicken," although it could be great fun to see friends and relatives dancing around like feathered farm animals, perhaps it would be more appropriate if it held more sweet sentiments!  If you have any ideas let me know!  Oh, and cardstock is really too heavy, but regular paper is just too flimsy... I need to find something with an in between weight for these little gems...

One more snap of this little favor...  I broke out the big guns for these photos - I promise to not depend on my iphone for pictures when my dslr is handy!

Composter...

I meant to post on these photos earlier but just didn't get a chance.  Top picture - my new to me composter (thanks kijiji!)  Its all set up and ready to go!  I'm not the most green person around but I'm pretty excited about the fact that we'll be producing less garbage AND we'll get some awesome compost for our gardens in the process!  And Calgary started that recycling program awhile back, it feels good to not be producing so much garbage!  The picture below that is of our four little strawberry plants.  They're just in a planter for now... we still have to dig out the back gardens then I'd say we'll move them into the ground.  Haven't worked on any creative things for me yet - by the time we get home in the evening, get supper cooked and eaten, the kitchen tidied its just about time for bed!  But the days are getting longer and I find it much easier to stay awake when its not dark out! so I should be able to start getting some projects worked on during the evenings.  

This weekend I'm hoping to get a large custom photo that I took printed and then framed for a friend - its going to be LARGE!  The largest that I've printed and matted... come to think of it I might need a larger mat cutting ruler... time to dig out my Michael's coupon!  Once I have it all framed up I'll get some snaps of it to show!

ps... if I disappear for a few days its because my Mac Book has kicked the bucket...  

pps... apologies for the shit quality photos above - took them with my iphone - really being a photographer I should be taking them with my good camera to showcase my photography abilities...

You have to see this...

Check out this beauty!  LOVE IT! Its in the mail and on its way to me today!!  Hopefully It'll get here before the end of the week, fingers crossed!  This beauty was created by Cynthia of Green Couch Designs.  Check out her awesome and playful work!  I miss the ocean so much, and when I saw this I HAD to have it!  THANKS Cynthia!  You're amazing!

If you are a fan of The Strokes, I think you should check out Julian Casablancas album Phazes for the Young... its pretty sweet.  

I have a few things in the mixer... and after last nights 9 hours of much needed sleep (much needed from the lack of sleep this past weekend!) I'm going to start working on these projects... The first that I think I'm going to tackle is a cootie catcher for a co workers wedding - table favors - I'm going to make them match her invites - I think they're going to turn out pretty sweet!  I'll post the template once I get it done!  I've tried to find some online and there aren't really any at all out there... another thing which I'm not going to go into too much as to not jinx it, but I will say that I'll be downtown this Saturday or Sunday shooting some downtown Calgary landmarks to build an up to date photo portfolio... 

Hmm... its only Tuesday...  C'mon weekend!  I got some creating to do!