Etsy Update

Finally...

At long last, I have updated my etsy shop. I made some adorable lamps using my favorite vintage wallpapers, and lots of ribbons and flowers. They are pretty darn cute, if I say so myself. I also listed a couple of Tussie Mussies....one is in honor of the much talked about Marie Antoinette. The other is pink, of coarse!! Well, it's waay past my bedtime, so I must retire for the night.

xxoo - Valarie

My First Blog Award

I am so excited to have received my first award. The Renee Award is relatively new and was created by Bella and Ces in honour of their friend Renee, an incredibly lady who in the face of a frightening life battle is tackling each new day with great spirit and courage. Please check out the blogs of these three creative women.I have to thank Tristan of Enchanted Revelry for passing this award on to me - thanks, Tristan!Here is what Bella says of the award:"This is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds its way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acords..."I am so honored to have received this wonderful award, and hope that the blogs that I have nominated know how much beauty and joy they bring to a strangers life!! So, without further adou: Here are only 8 of my most favorite blogs:

Rosemary: Roses petite maison
Lulu : Coastal Sisters News
Nancy: Fete et fleur
Natasha : Artistic Creations by Natasha Burns
Viv: Viv Out on a Whim
Anita : Castles Crowns and Cottages
Jenn: Sweet Eye Candy Creations
Jessica: Such Pretty Things

So, if all of you who are listed would please take the (lovely!) button above and add it to your blog and pass it on to eight of your favorite bloggers who 'give back'!! I am new to blogging, and am discovering new and beautiful blogs everyday. I hope that everyone knows what a smile they bring to my face each day. Again, Thank you Tristan, I feel like you are a true friend already!!! Maybe someday we will actually meet!!
xxoo - Valarie

I NEED HELP!!!

I need HELP!! Well, I need lots of help, with lots of things, but I really really need help trying to add links to my blog. I haven't the faintest idea how to do it. For example: I'd like to write: Enchanted Revelry, and have you be able to click on it to take you to Tristans amazing website. I haven't the foggiest idea how it's done. Can someone please help me?? I will happily send the first person that helps me a wonderful thank you gift!!
xxoo - Valarie

My Beautiful Niece

If I do say so myself, my niece is the most beautiful girl I've ever known. Not only is she beautiful, but she is sweet, sarcastic (it runs in the family)....and one of the funniest people I know. She tells me she loves me whenever I talk to her!! I babysat for her when she was a baby, and she is the daughter I never had!! Bailee, you make me proud!!! xxoo

American Gladiator??

I need some creative help from all you talented people.... my youngest son, my baby, is graduating from College. He is getting his degree in Health and Exercise Science. I need to plan his party. I know that I will decorate the dining room in his school colors, green and gold,( go Colorado State University), it will be fancy, lots of pictures, a nice cake, etc....however, I want the outdoor party to be "American Gladiator"!! Wouldn't that be appropriate?? I thought that we could have some games, showing our feats of strength..teehee. We will have the pool opened by then, so I will have some water games, and also we have the sport court, so the kids can play basketball, or tennis. What I need help with are the decorations!! Any suggestions?? I was thinking of painting a giant board with a picture of an American Gladiator on it, and then leaving a hole for the face, that way we could take pictures in it. So, if anyone has any other suggestions, please I am begging you to let me know!! I am stumped.
xxoo - Valarie
p.s. I rec'd a wonderful blog award from Tristan of Enchanted Revelry, so I will be blogging about that tomorrow!!

Windows, Windows, and more Windows

Here are the pictures of my Windows and Window Treatments.....I made them all myself, so do not judge them too harshly!!! Unfortunately I had trouble loading them in the order that I wanted, so they jump around a bit. This is one of the spare bedrooms, I know this isn't a window, but I thought it was pretty, and I did use drapery fabrice to make it!!

This is the cornice in the same bedroom. The same room with the ribbons on the ceiling. I love it....

This picture is of one of the spare bedrooms. This room is the one that I want to tent the ceiling in. We'll see..This picture should be with my living room shots, but no such luck. Oh well....this is the small bay wall in my dining room, I didn't want to block the view of the backyard, so I went with a minimal look.

This is my bathroom.....We had these stained and beveled glass windows installed so I could enjoy the light!! I love the chandelier...my husband added it for me, because I spend a lot of time reading in the bathtub. This simple treatment is over the door in the master bedroom, nothing too fancy, but it serves its purpose.

I don't know why I only opened one shade, but this is also in the Master Bedroom.

I thought I had a better picture of the bed, but this turned out the best. I wanted a canopy over the bed, and thought this turned out quite nicely!!

This is the in the entry way!! I thought a drape would look nice dividing the spaces.....notice the ceiling?? That was not at all fun to do!

I love the way the Austrian shades look in the living room, although they were the hardest drapes I've made to date!! Glad that job is done with!!

This is our family room, it opens to an open space trail, and the beautiful foothills of Colorado. We didn't want to cover too much of them, so I just did one long panel, added some fringe, and tassels, and voila....I really like it!! The sign says "Fairy tales do come true"! This is the back door, I just put up grape vine, and added the fruit. At Christmas I take it down, and put a garland of candy and treats!!

I know you have seen this before, it is one of the drapes in my craft room!

This is one of our spare bathrooms. After having 2 sons, I decided to pink it up when they moved out. I am still working on the adjoining bedroom. I wallpapered it in a pink/black toile, and am padding the walls with a pink and white checked silk. I will post a picture when I am done.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my windows!! I hope you have a wonderful day,,,,,now I am off to wallpaper a bookcase in the basement,,,,,of coarse I will post pictures!!

xxoo - Valarie

Happy Wednesday.....tax day!! Yuck! My husband stood in line at the post office for an hour just to get ours mailed, along with a big fat check!! Hopefully this will help to stimulate the economy. NOT!! So, I decided to post some pretty pictures. I love clutter, uhm I mean, our house is filled to the brim with beautiful things that make me smile. I have run out of room on the walls, so I have moved on to the ceiling!! Enjoy the pictures.
This is our ceiling in the entry way. It is vaulted, so we needed something substantial to put there. We hung this beautiful mirror and Chandelier. I love it.

This is the ceiling in one of our spare bedrooms. My nephew refers to it as the Marie Antoinette room, because it is so pretty. I saw this treatment at the Mackenzie Childs store in New York. I had to copy. I crisscrossed the ribbon on the ceiling, and then where each one met, I put a pretty hand made rose that I made out of the same ribbon. I love it. This is looking up at the chandelier, you can see how nice it looks.

This is the nook in our kitchen. My husband and father hung the copper themselves. It was fun holding it up with broomsticks until the glue dried. Our arms were TIRED!!

This is definately my favorite. It is the ceiling in my dining room. We had it painted when we first bought the house. I think the angels are just too darn adorable. The two ladies who painted it were in their late sixties, and they stood on ladders all day, looking up and painting. I have no artistic abilities when it comes to painting, so the process was amazing to me.

I am working on a couple of other rooms in the house. I have a red and gold toile bedroom, and I am going to attempt to tent the whole ceiling in sheer gold fabric. I will post a picture when I finish it. My living room ceiling is also done, but I could not get a picture to turn out for the life of me. I wallpapered it in a vintage inspired textured paper, and then painted and antiqued it!!

Check back tomorrow, I am going to post pictures of all of the draperies that I have made in our home. Some are quite grand, while others are whimsical!! Have a wonderful day, I hope this took your mind off of Uncle Sam for a bit!!

xxoo - Valarie

Easter Photos

Easter was so much fun this year. We had 12 people for a yummy dinner, and everyone had fun! This is my table, I LOVE pink, so it is everywhere. This is my son....he loves white cake, so we ordered one from the most incredible bakery by our house.

These are the crackers that were at peoples place setting.... I ordered them from Whim and Fancy Designs. I added the pink crepe paper, and the Dresden chicks....once again, you can never have too much pink!!

I made these cute candy cups....each one was different...they turned out really cute. The back has sheet music on it. I should have taken more pictures. I had some to put in my etsy, but just never got them listed.....maybe next year.

Well, have a wonderful day, and I will post some pictures of the Country Music Awards later in the week.

xoxo Valarie

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!! I hope that everyone has a wonderful day, spending it with friends and family. I am hosting Easter this year, and will post some pictures as soon as everyone leaves for the evening. I had planned to do so many wonderful things for my family this year. I figured since I am no longer working, I may as well party it up. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. My husband and I were in Las Vegas last weekend for the Country Music Awards....no I was not asked to sing...hardly a surprise to anyone who knows me, but it was soo much fun. On Monday night we went to the filming of the George Strait concert that will be on TV in May. We had fabulous seats, and there were lots of wonderful stars performing. I will post some pictures this week. Well, I must have had toooo much fun, because I got home on Tuesday with a horrible cold, and yesterday was the first day I could even get out of bed! So, my family stepped up to help me, and we are having a scaled back Easter. I try to remember why we are celebrating, not how fancy I can make it. Have a blessed day.

xxoo - Valarie

UNEMPLOYED?? YIKES!!

I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Things in my life have been crazy, and I needed to get a few things in order. I am employed at my husband's office, and we love working together. However, he has a partner, and his wife is also employed here. To say that they are difficult would be an understatement. So, with great sadness I have decided to quit my job. This will be tough, as I do make a good income with them. I have given a lot of thought to this decision, and it saddens me to have to leave, but I have decided that my marriage and my mental state are far more important. So, in these bad economic times, add me to the unemployed!! Yikes, why do I feel so much better? I guess my decision is the right one. I do have a question to pose: why do some people enjoy being mean to everyone around them?? The partners wife is not happy unless she is being vicious and ugly to someone. I am usually not a passive person, but I leave work crying at least once a week. My poor husband doesn't know what to do. Talking to them doesn't seem to help, they are oblivious to everyone but themselves. Just wondered if I was the only one who was sick of mean people? Well, have a wonderful day, and maybe now I can be happy once again!!
xxoo Valarie