The Painted Chair

My once a year post!

2011-05-10T15:53:00.003-06:00

I admire all of those that post on their blogs often. I am thankful that they do because with out them, I would never be inspired or waste half of my day either! I love looking at blogs and seeing how creative everyone is.

I bet I would blog more, if I had pictures to add to my posts. I never think to have a camera around hence no pictures to write a blog post about.

But I am going to post today...about what I have been up to recently.

I am training to race my first triathlon. Actually my first race EVER! Since February, when my good friend talked me into it, I have been swimming, biking, and running 5-6 days a week. I try to get at least 2 of each exercise done a week. My biking is a bit lacking though. I don't LOVE it yet, but I am sure it will become easy one of these days.

The reason why I am doing this race, is NOT for my well-being. I am racing and raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have joined their Team in Training program and they are coaching me through this whole wonderful ordeal.

I encourage everyone to learn more about Team in Training and join. I also encourage you all to help me meet my goal of $3200.00!

Visit my fundraising page for more information and how my training is going.

Pre-New Year's Resolution

2010-11-30T12:23:00.006-07:00

I couldn't sleep the other night and when that happens I end up solving the world's problems or create CRAZY ideas that my husband rolls his eyes at! Well this night I decided that I would talk my husband into a contest. Last year I was in a weight loss contest with some girlfriends and I lost a lot of weight but did not win the contest. Since then I haven't lost anything but inches, don't get me wrong I am extremely happy with the inches but I want both weight and inches lost because I am greeeedddy.

My husband is going to compete with me and I am so excited. Our contest is to lose 15lbs by the time we leave for London in February. It starts December 1, which is tomorrow, and I am getting all of my candy eating in today;) He asked what the winner receives and I said a new outfit...he was not pleased. So needless to say I get a new outfit if I win and he gets...well he is very motivated to win and I will just leave it at that!

Searching for new outfits is hard. I want something unique, different than what I usually wear and I can't decide if I want a dress, or shirt, or socks.

I love this shirt from Anthropologie but my husband would wonder if the 15lbs lost is worth 128.00.
I love these dresses from Ruche. They also have some great tops as well. I think their prices are great.

Oh I have stumbled upon a wonderful site called Shabby Apple for dresses that fit my personality. I searched by body type and I was so happy with the results.

Another start...

2010-11-20T14:20:00.003-07:00

So way back in February I said that I would post when I felt like it. Today I feel like posting. I feel like putting some order to my chaotic mind. I feel like having a place to put all the ideas that I want to try someday. For instance, today I had a few hours without the kids and so I decided to check out some of my favorite stores. I felt that today I needed to remember what pretty was, what inspiration was, and I wanted to see it in real life not just blogs.

First stop, my FAVORITE store in the whole area, Good Goods. Cherie is the most fabulous person on the planet. She is funny, sweet, and super uber creative and talented. She makes a lot of her stuff and she has such an eye for collecting and buying. Her store is wonderful.

This picture is from her blog.

The next stop was The Shabby House. I had to see the room of Miss Gracie's, my old friend. I was actually hoping she would be there so that I could catch a glimpse of her too! I was not lucky today, I am being told that her daughter got married so wedding plans had kept her away. She is probably resting, I can only imagine what that wedding looked like, nothing less than spectacular I am sure!

My last two stops were in Hyde park, not the real one the knock off one! I will be heading to the real one in February!! Twigs and Twist with the talented Gretel is an awesome creative shop. She is all about handmade. She teaches classes, hosts open craft days, sales wonderful fabrics and notions, and puts all of this together into one great shop. I will I had some pictures of her store.

The other store in Hyde park is called Forget-Me-Not Antiques. It is HUGE and inspiring! Every wonderful thing you see in a magazine, they have a vignette of it. They remind me of Curious Sofa mixed with rustic equestrian mixed with...It was great fun.

I am starting to feel inspired. I wonder how long it will last and if I will do anything about it. I must because my husband just got back from Christmas tree hunting with a shabby looking tree and I am being frugal this year. I will not buy any ornaments. They will all be handmade my me and the kids. It is going to be a shabby holiday for our family!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Cha Cha Cha Changes...

2010-02-04T11:03:00.005-07:00

I am making some changes to the blog. Since life has changed so dramatically and my priorities are a lot different, I have decided to do the same to the blog.

Now I know I am not the best blog poster or photographer in the world and according to blog etiquette, I quite stink at it! But, I am forging ahead and will continue to post my once a month, sometimes more blog posts and continue to have crappy photos. So that part is not changing. (I will however practice taking better photos)

What is changing is the content. Before I became a SAHM, I HATED to cook. Now, I LOOOVE it! I love to find recipes and then tweak them to make them a bit more healthy without compromising the good taste. So I will blog about it.

I am also trying to schedule in at least one day a week to craft. It is my release, it is how I stay sane. I know it, so why don't I do it more often. Rather than getting frustrated at the kids and life and poor me, blah blah blah, I should have a sanity day and craft my little heart out.

I do have crafter's ADD and that means that I want to try something new ALL the time. So my blog will be about me trying new things. Compared to a lot of you out there, I am an amateur crafter. I WANT to do a lot of things but my skill level will not allow it. SO I am trying it anyway! And that is what I will blog about.

I will also blog about things I find out there in blogland, like this really funny post. I found this post today from Catherine at OliveBites and laughed because I totally agree with her. You MUST read the whole thing because she gets funnier as you read!!

Friends are WONDERFUL

2009-12-28T13:14:00.006-07:00

Better late than never on this post! This was to be a Christmas/New Year's post but the days just kept flying by.

This post is about me showing off and telling all of you that I truly have the bestest friends ever!

I came home one day (a couple days after Christmas) and this was waiting for me on my front porch. WOW! I was so giddy and excited that I immediately ran into the house to grab my camera. Kids? What kids? They are buckled into their carseats and are just fine right there, besides they will stay out of the way of my pictures! I spent a good five minutes out in the cold taking pictures, looking through the basket, reading the notes, all the while the kids are yelling at me to let them out.

I must say that I have the best friends in the world. This package came to me anonymously (but I was able to figure out who participated), yet I am so amazed that I have made friend(s) that know me this well. EVERYTHING about this gift SCREAMED me! I am learning to sew, I love fabrics, I love anything that will add to the decor in my home, and I love food, so this gift was perfect and made my heart so big.

I love you dear friends!

Amazing Giveaway!!

2009-12-18T15:00:00.002-07:00

I found an amazing giveaway. Even though I am going to win, I thought it would only be fair that I should let all of you see what will be in my home;) This is being given away by Sassafras Stuff. Check it out. By the way, wouldn't it be fun if I really did end up winning this? You all would think I had it rigged!

I found a super fun new shop...

2009-12-16T15:02:00.003-07:00

A friend of mine who has been painting furniture for eons finally opened a store of her own. Her wonderful hubby helps her run it so that she can keep it stocked with furniture. These are pictures of her store before opening day and now most of this stuff is gone because she had a wonderful opening day!

Brooke mad painting skills and loves to do BIG furniture pieces. Her and I are kindred spirits with the love of old frames, photos, and linens. She has a frame in there that I am going to have to get on my hands and knees and say pretty please just to get it and even then she said that wouldn't work, we'll see!

For all you local folks that read this blog, go visit her store.

Eva B's
112 Victory Rd. (corner of Victory and Meridian Rd)
Located at Victory Greens Nursery in the Barn

Christmas Spirit

2009-12-10T10:55:00.005-07:00

I am beginning to get into the Christmas Spirit.

Usually I don't, the last few years I have been telling my hubby that if he wants to have a tree then he has to get it and decorate it cause I am not doing it.

Here is why, the first couple of years, we get the tree, string the lights, get it decorated and there it stays until February.

Three years ago, we got a tree, strung the lights half way, stopped, there it sat till February.

Last year, I got a very small white Christmas tree setup in our entry, hardly any decorations and it sat until June.

So long story short, I lack energy to put stuff away!

This year seems to be different, I feel like a different person, more put together, less CRAZY, more grown-up. I think I can do it this year! So I am currently making my ornaments and slowly decorating the house (front room mainly, don't want to overwhelm on the first year!).

Here is one reason I got in the spirit of things. I read this cute story the other day and was dying to see this house. So this last Sunday we piled the kids into the car and headed to the foothills. We were WOWED!!! The driveway was brimming with people just milling about, taking family photos, laughing, and having a good time. The owners of this amazing light show house were snuggled in the warmth of their home watching TV or maybe peeking out the window at all the weird people walking around their property!

Whoever this family is, I thank them for giving me that burst of energy to finally get in the spirit of things!

If I lived next door to this guy, I would do the same thing. I thought this was hilarious and what a great sense of humor!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Trying new things

2009-10-10T15:29:00.004-06:00

I have been working on some new ventures and they have been giving me a once over for sure! My first venture, which I am proud to say I love and will continue learning and doing is Photoshop and Illustrator. Not so much Photoshop but tons of Illustrator. Super super hard for this girl who can't comprehend ANYTHING she reads unless I have read it a gazillion times, but I think I am catching on. Here is my first project and a big thank you to Graphics Fairy for the use of their images!

I had a few issues with my man in the moon, I actually wanted to create a forlorn face in the moon but I am not even close to that ability yet;)

My other venture and another one that I am going to continue doing, is sewing. Yep I have been talking about it for a while and I have finally started. My first project was pajama bottoms, then a skirt for my crafting table, and a then a cover for my crafting stool. Now none of these turned out the way I wanted them to and I am happy that I used fabric that I am not in love with, because I have a long way to go. My next crafting table skirt is going to be made a lot differently. It will be better! I want to use a light colored, non patterned, and hopefully lineny type fabric.

Some real cute stuff

2009-08-27T15:59:00.004-06:00

I have to show you pictures of some items I received at the beginning of August from Tammy at Other side of me. Such cute stuff and what awesome talent she has.

This sweet box is full of wonderful creations and finds. I love it!

There is even more stuff under this stuff!

Look at all these paper creations. Isn't it wonderful? Don't you wish you were me right now!!

Hee Hee...

2009-08-22T16:31:00.003-06:00

This is more of a nervous laugh cause I just checked the date of my last post and it was almost a month ago. I do this a lot you know...disapear...no where to be found in blog land...I haven't even looked at other blogs...no wonder I don't feel all the inspired and creative...I NEED YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!!

Today I was surfing blog land and stumbled upon some blogs I haven't ever seen and boy did they make me happy. Here's why...

I love waffles and how fun would it be to have waffles at an outdoor garden party. Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, not the stuff in the can, the REAL STUFF! I should be 800 lbs by the way I talk about food!
NieNie

I stumbled upon a wonderfully white blog that had everything I dream about, I especially loved this blog post from Min Lilla Veranda with the glass room, such delightfulness.

I found the above blog by visiting my good friend Cherie's blog and she has my most favorite store in the Boise area. Good Goods is fabulous and heavenly and you feel so wrapped up the minute you walk in. One thing I love about her store is she has the best quotes written on tags all throughout and they are so inspiring!

Now off to work I go, I am taking a break from my crazy busy life to relax and blog. Tomorrow I will show you a wonderful gift I received from my new friend Tammy. Tammy I apologize for not showing these wonderful items earlier, I have been out of town and just recently opened this goody box. Love IT!

Fun Projects

2009-07-28T10:20:00.004-06:00

Here are some fun projects I have been working on. I am adding them to the website this week, so here is a sneak preview of what is to come.

Hair clips made with vintage pieces.

This is one of my favorites and the picture is of the girl that bought it. So sad I was going to keep it for myself. Oh well I have many more of these beauties made and to make.

Some fun little notebooks.

Canvas Art

Recycled signs

Fun jewelry

Blackberry's Yum

2009-07-22T20:29:00.004-06:00

I do not have a green thumb, my mother does but not me. I do have neighbors behind our house that love to garden and they do it well and do it all natural. I benefit greatly from them and here is one of the reasons why...

this blackberry bush was planted by them on their side of the fence

Look how I get to benefit from it. Lots of berry almost ready for picking.

This is all the berries that were ripe right now. So what should I do with these? I could do the right thing and add them to my protein shakes or I could do the wrong thing and...

Make Blackberry PIE!

My poor oven bottom has been spilled on a lot recently. This isn't the prettiest of pies and definitely no Farm Chicks but it is DELICIOUS!

p.s.
last week my neighbor came over with still warm from the sun raspberries and I did do the right thing and added them to my protein shakes. We can be bad sometimes as long as we are good most times, right?

Favorite Finds

2009-07-19T14:54:00.004-06:00

Here are two of my favorite finds so far this summer. I found both items at a yard sales and both were very cheap. I bought this dresser from a lady who was in her late 60's and said her dad made it for her when she was a baby.

This gold chair I got in Hailey at a yard sale with my mom and sister over the 4th of July. I love it! I was at a local store here called the Shabby House last week and they had this chair in Burgundy for sale for 329.00, I paid 30.00 for mine. How cool is that?

Family Time

2009-07-18T22:13:00.005-06:00

I have taken the last few weeks off for family time. I haven't spent hardly any amount of time on my website, blog, etc. But today I did spend time on some new jewelry that I will post Monday probably. But here is what I have been doing the last few weeks.

This is the ever famous stink face as we call it, we get this look a lot! He loves the warm sand so he will just roll around in it and then make a big fuss when we tell him he has to rinse off in the water before we get into the car.

We played REALLY hard this day. I was busy cooking dinner when I realized how quiet it was. I went in search for him and here he was wearing his cherished Spiderman costume, his skiing helmet, and that lid is positioned so the sun doesn't get in his eyes.

I can't believe dad let him lie down in the street, if I had seen this I would have flipped out, which is probably why they did it when I wasn't looking. The street however was by Lucky Peak Reservoir and was not that busy which was surprising.

He caught this small mouth bass all by himself and he is so proud. He was still too scared of it to touch it though. He asks everyday for us to take him fishing, he absolutely loves it, just like his dad.

This was so much fun to watch. Daddy and son playing catch. Ellis had a hard time throwing the ball for some reason, he usually has a really good aim when you don't want him to. But this night he would throw the ball straight up in the air and then have to run to keep from getting hit by it.

This is how I act when something is coming at me too. This is probably why I didn't do well in high school sports!

We have also been in swimming lessons for the last couple of weeks and he is doing so well I have decided to put him in for another session just a little more advanced. He is also so tired that he has been taking a nap during the day and I am able to get some me time in, I should probably start using it wisely and get some stuff added to the website and maybe blog a little more.

My little buddy

2009-07-09T16:31:00.003-06:00

Let me introduce you all to a little buddy of mine, his name is Andrew and in October of 2008 he and his family found out he had a brain tumor. I completely love this little guy and his family and want you all to get to know them as well. I met him a few years ago at a Halloween Trunk or Treat and he was Harry Potter with the scar and everything! He was so funny and smart that I instantly loved him, not to mention I adore his mother as well. These guys are a great family!

Please check out his website and get to know him, if you live in or around the Boise, Idaho area then please take some time out of your busy schedules and volunteer. They could use any and all help from yard work, house work, meals, and watching Andrew while his mom goes to work. If you are not from around here, then pray for them, leave comments on the blog they love to read them!

Thank you in advance for visiting his website.

Ember

Belated Birthday Wish

2009-07-05T22:20:00.002-06:00

to my wonderful mother.

We were all sitting around the table outside eating when the subject of my mother's birthday came up, it was the end of June and I TOTALLY FORGOT! I feel and felt so bad because NO ONE but my the oldest remembered to call her. So since her and I spent a wonderful weekend together shopping at the yard sales and antique markets looking for wonderful vintage bits and baubles I thought I would put together this little package for her and wish her a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY and to let her know how much I appreciate her and especially how much I ENJOYED this 4th of July weekend with her. She will have some good pictures posted of our weekend I am sure because mine didn't turn out so well.

We had lots of fun didn't we mom! So be expecting this in the mail. Love you lots.

Why I LOVE the 4th of July...

2009-07-05T21:32:00.005-06:00

Lemonade Stands especially with a vintage appeal. These young family members are selling lemonade from mason jars at the parade.

cute summer outfits

even cuter summer babies

pigtails and braids

biking around town

antique markets

beautiful family picnics (even though not all the family couldn't make it)

yummy food

Wish I had taken this picture before we all dished up, but it is still pretty!

The weather is almost always perfect this time of year. The flowers are in full bloom and my mom's garden is wonderful this time of year. Lots of people are milling about. And family is usually together for most of the weekend.

These are the reasons why I LOVE the 4th of July!

I love goodies!

2009-07-01T07:44:00.008-06:00

I joined a 4th of July swap and here are the goodies I received from Noelle. Such happiness when I opened the package and my son at first thought the box was for him and then realized it had a bunch of girly stuff in it so he became uninterested from the get go!

I love this card with the trim embellished at the top.

This was a great fan and I love the lace and buttons.

She spent some good quality time on these packages. The blue bow unwrapped these cool postcards.

The blue hanky became this adorable cup.

This flag scarf became these wonderful items.

This tissue tied with lace became Tootsie's. This brought my son back into the unwrapping mood cause he thought there would be more goodies, and he was right!

Cute flag placemats and the decorated firecracker filled with more tootsie rolls.

This was a wonderful package and I had so much fun opening it and Noelle thank you so much. I am actually going to use a lot of this stuff as decoration for my booth at the Artists' Market on July 2 since it is the kick-off to 4th of July. So thanks so much for the props, you did great and figured me out rather well!

The Booth

2009-06-28T15:38:00.006-06:00

Thought I would share one of the reasons why I have not been blogging recently. I did my first show of the season just over a week ago and I am gearing up for another one this coming week. The first show is always a little hectic because I have all these ideas of what I want the space to look like and the setup doesn't always look the way I have it planned out in my head, so with a few adjustments things tend to work out just fine. I usually like my spaces to look packed but it just wasn't meant to be this first go around and it's looking a bit the same for this weeks show. I have had a hard time finding the time to get anything done but I will still move forward and all will work out just fine.

Here are a few pics of the Artists' Market and then a few more from the Music Festival I did.

and here is the next day at the music festival

These are a few of my favorite things. I think I want to take this sweet little dress (my mother-in-law made this) and tea stain it with a little cream slip underneath. The reason I haven't done this yet is because I do not have the guts to ask her if I can. I am working on them today and hopefully by the time I go to dinner tonight at her house, my guts will be ready to ask her the question!

I LOVE these little dolls. I think they look like me or rather what I want my hair to look like!

The power of FREEDOM!

2009-06-13T13:11:00.006-06:00

My hubby and son went away on an overnight camping trip last night and left me alone, all alone, oh my gosh I ALONE!! FREEDOM. I was so busy yesterday and today and I am super giddy about it. It is amazing how much I can get done when I am alone and not being asked to get a snack or find something. Uninterrupted project creation, I need to send them away on camping trips more often. They love it and I love it so it is a win win situation.

Here is my project pile...yes I did dive into this last night. I know I should be ashamed of how it looks, but I know I am not the only one with a gigantic project pile.

This is what kept me going long in to the night. If I drink a coke too late in the afternoon then I am hopped up for a while. So at about 6pm I went and got a coke. And I always have my phone so I can snap pictures and send them to my mother for reassurance.

I took this picture at about midnight. This was after I had eaten my peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I can only have these when my son is gone cause he doesn't like them) and also after I had watched the movies He's just not that into you (cute) and New in Town (not so much and very predictable however I LOVE Harry Connick Jr.) I went upstairs for a midnight snack of microwave popcorn before I started the 3rd movie of Nicholas Nickelby (great show)

Oh and don't judge me by the decor in this room, it is kid proof and not foofy for my hubby!

And this my friends was taken at 2:30 in the morning when I decided to go to bed, especially if I was going to get up and go to yard sales in the a.m. Isn't this basket so cute. It is taking me forever but I am loving the outcome.

Here is a yard sale find from this morning. I found lots of good stuff but not really picture worthy other than this birdcage which I will paint of course!

Now I am done with my break and I have got to get back to work before they get home today.

It is like Christmas

2009-06-12T17:30:00.004-06:00

This month so far has been Christmas for me and I am getting everything I want. I have won 3 giveaways over the last month and from wonderfully talented women. When they show up on my doorstep I will be sure to show you a picture of them. But until then here are the links of what I won and the lovely ladies who are sending them to me.

Today I won and awesome crochet flower in the most perfect colors for me from the lovely and ever so talented LDH (you should check out here etsy shop after you check her blog, too cute). I want to try putting this flower on a headband and wearing it. My hair right now is slightly longer than I am used to and I HATE hair on my neck so I have been wearing it in teeny ponytails or pigtails and I am wanting to find ways to jazz up the do a bit with barrettes and headbands. This will be the perfect experiment. I can't wait to wear it and you have no idea how me this fun little item is.

Yesterday I won the absolutely charming salt shaker from A Vintage White. She is everything I strive to be and more with her blog, decorating, and talent. I was in awe when I saw the salt shaker and now I am truly in shock that it will be mine.

Then a few weeks ago I won a tub tea soak from CherieBlossoms. We met over twitter and she has some fabulous talent as well and my body is screaming for the soak, Tub Tea Take Me Away.

Thank you, Thank you lovely ladies for the beautiful work you do and for sharing it all with the world you are all truly inspiring!

My baby is growing up

2009-06-11T22:21:00.004-06:00

Da-na na-na na-na na-na BATMAN! Yes my son turned 4 and this was his birthday theme. He LOVES Batman and Spiderman and I can't stand superheroe's, but I just smile and pray that he grows out of this stage and doesn't play with superhero toys when he is 30! But a few weeks ago I enlisted my good friends over at The Frosted Cherry to make his birthday cake and I couldn't imagine how they could make a Batman cake look decent so I left it all up to them, the only thing I asked for was carrot cake with cream cheese filling and I forgot to mention frosted with cream cheese but who needs that much fat!
When Holly delivered the cake I was completely floored. It is adorable!
I love the comic strip all along the side of the cake which Holly drew. She is amazing by the way and her lovely partner is amazing as well because this cake was delish.
The crazy goons that came to Ellis's party (we had a couple of late-comers who were twins making a total of 10). It was an all age party as you can see from 18 months to 6 years and so much fun to watch these little ones play. Even though it rained ALL day the minute it broke and clear skies came (which was amazing that it was during his party) the kids were asking to run through the sprinklers so of course I let them. I told everyone no presents because my hubby is very particular about toys as he throws them away if he ends up stepping on them, which of course is all the time, so no presents because they would be thrown away anyway. I think Ellis is starting to learn to pick up his toys now that he has lost some cherished ones, but the bright side is he has the best imagination and can be entertained by just about anything. Who needs all that commercial stuff anyway;)

This little picture was drawn by the 6 year old who couldn't believe he wouldn't have presents at his party so she drew him a picture as a present and I thought it was so sweet. He actually got 3 pictures as presents.

I am so excited that he is growing up but also extremely sad because I am getting older as well and he is our spoiled only child so what kind of mess am I going to get into when he starts school. Will I end up junking more because I have more time? Hmmmm something to think about, maybe if I tell my hubby that then he will give in on having another...dun dun dun;)

My Shopping weekend

2009-06-08T13:03:00.004-06:00

My husband doesn't mind my shopping sprees, mainly because they are all done at yard sales. So when my mom decided to come and visit it was a given that we would spend Saturday morning yard sale shopping. You can see her wares here. I think I did great and this picture at top isn't even all the stuff I bought!

Here is my favorite find.

I also love this plate, pins, and brooch.

Here is another find. I have been wanting to learn to sew but didn't want to spend money on a machine if I didn't like it. Well here was a simple solution. This cost $25.00 and was practically new. I know it is an old machine age wise, but it will be perfect for me to learn on. My mother-in-law was even kind enough to come over and show me how to get it threaded and taught me a few things. I am supposed to practice today and she will be back to oil the machine tomorrow and see how I am doing on my own. I am SO excited about this machine!

Here is my new hobby! Collecting cool vintage fabrics and I hit the jackpot at one estate sale. Not pictured here is many many yards of muslin and cotton perfect for me to use in my printing projects.
My sister went with mom and I too for a little while and then left us to do some on her own. She found an awesome jogger which she gave to me so I can continue to run every morning and take my 4 year old along with me. I was so spoiled this weekend.

The tagging game

2009-06-07T21:00:00.004-06:00

I have been tagged by sweet Michelle from The Sweet Gardenia to reveal 7 things about myself.

I am diggin' deep here people so here goes...

1. I LOVE to run. I may not look like I do, but I just started back up again about a month ago after a long 3 year absence from it. I crave running!

2. I love to watch the TV show The Unit. I don't know why I like it, but I watched one episode this season and got hooked so now I am netflixing all of the seasons so I can catch up.

3. I love coupon shopping. I just started and the learning curve is almost overwhelming but the reward is so cool. I must love it because I am getting a bargain and I know all you yard sale junkies know what I am talking about!

4. I love to throw parties. I will come up with any excuse to entertain!

5. I am a fireball. I used to be worse than I am now on speaking my mind but I embarrassed my husband too much so I had to tone it down a bit. I used to not let rude/mean people getting away with being rude/mean in front of me whether it was to me or to someone else, now I mostly let it slide.

6. My mind never quits. I am always working on new and fun ideas to do with my time, whether it is a play date with my sons friends, or a new project I want to learn or create. I love to be busy.

and last of all

7. I hate talking on the phone. Text or email is the way to get a hold of me. Sometimes I won't even listen to my phone messages until it is in the double digits. My philosophy is that if it is important they will call me back. Mostly my friends have learned that test or email is my preferred option.

All right so there isa little tidbit about me. Now I want to get to know...

Miss Janna at http://artsyfartsyfinds.blogspot.com/

Miss Holly and Charise at http://thefrostedcherry.blogspot.com/

Miss Julie at http://www.farmerjulie.blogspot.com/

Update

2009-05-23T15:59:00.003-06:00

I honestly have had nothing to say this last week. Actually that is a lie, I have had lots to say but no pictures to say it with and I hate to post without pictures. But for those of you that follow me or stop by every once in a while I promise I will publish something really cool with pics soon.

As for what I have been up this last week...I went to visit my mother at laughingwithangels and she put me to work painting the outside of her house. I don't think I have worked so hard in my life! I don't even think it was the work, it was getting beat up by the wind that constantly blows there is small eastern Idaho town, plus I was the ladder queen with short arms so I was up and down all the time. Plus my mother has a pergola (which is beautiful) and I was sitting on the slats of wood painting the crowned portion of her house (I am not sure that is what it is called) and my butt is so bruised from that. It may sound like I am complaining, but I actually had a great time doing this (other than the wind), it is nice being productive and her house looks awesome!! So a pat on the back and a job well done. Now I just have to catch up on all the business work I slacked on while being out of town and I need to add some new inventory to my website so check it out.

Hey I am gearing up to do a few summer sales here in a few weeks, the weekend of June 19th to be exact and I am getting really excited. I will be at the Artist's Market in Hailey on Thursday, the 18th and then Bigwood Folk Festival both that Friday and Saturday. I LOVE outdoor shows especially when there is great music to listen to, it makes the days go by so easily AND everyone is in such a great mood. Here are a few pictures from a show I did a couple years ago, last year I was so busy I didn't even think about taking pictures, but you get the gist of what I look like at shows. So much fun!

Oh Ya! I want to do a BIG shout out for Farmer Julie. She was invited to join as a vendor at the Farm Chicks Show the beginning of June. I am super jealous and I long to go, so Julie it is up to you to take some awesome pictures so that I feel like I was there. Good luck I know you are going to do great!

New Additions

2009-05-16T21:23:00.004-06:00

I just added some new items to the website that I am really excited about. Here are a few pictures to wet your appetite.

I love this black floral...
And this rose pattern and I love love love the stripe, however I can't find that fabric anywhere anymore and I am almost out of it!

Then here is a floral garter made from vintage fabrics and trimmings.

I love tea staining!

2009-05-14T14:27:00.004-06:00

I bought some fabric yesterday on clearance, usually I don't like the stuff that is on clearance, but when I saw this red polka-dot I thought to myself...tea staining. I love to tea stain and I love the uneven color texture you get from it.

The picture doesn't really do it justice, so think extreme bright white with red polka-dots. I had to tone that white down a bit.

Believe it or not, but our water really does look like this about 4 times a year. It scares my son when I go to give him a bath, and my husband just shrugs it off saying "we all could use a little more iron". Iron or not when our water is this brown, I ain't drinkin' it!

I will show you the finished process when I have it all done. I just wanted to give a sneak peak.

The Day After...

2009-05-11T12:00:00.003-06:00

Well I hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I for one woke up to beautiful lilies sitting on the table with sparkling cider and yummy cheeses. I was already wishing it was lunch time! My day however took a turn for the worse and I received the worst mother of the year award. While at church my little guy who will be 4 in June decided he wanted to be a turd during class which I was substitute teaching. He was pouting and whining and throwing a fit because I was paying more attention to his classmates than to him so I put him in the corner to cool off. Nope he decided to start screaming so I grabbed his arm and tugged him out the door so that he could participate in another class (he always acts better when I am not around). Well on the way out the door he smacked his head on the corner of the chalkboard railing and started howling. So I stopped and put him on my lap to get him to calm down when I noticed the blood. YES blood! I hurt my baby really bad and I felt and feel awful. Not to mention it freaked out those other little kids in class. My little guy refused to go to the doctor and get stitches even though he really needs them. I cried all day yesterday every time I looked at him or thought about him and it didn't help that he was hugging me and saying "don't worry mom it's not your fault". How precious is he.

This is picture taken last week. He helped his Aunt Kiki pick out a sandbox for Grandma and now he gets to go over there play with it. (I actually HATE sandbox's but hopefully they keep this one covered)

I'm a winner!

2009-05-10T17:23:00.003-06:00

Holy Shmoley I won a giveaway and it is a fattening one too! How excited am I especially since I just started running again. These cupcakes look scrumptious and I know they will be good because I have tasted one of their birthday cakes. It was chocolate with gnoche and peanut butter filling and completely sinful. Thanks my good friends at The Frosted Cherry I really appreciate the extra exercise I am going to have to do!

New Inventory

2009-05-08T16:39:00.004-06:00

So, has anyone been to my website recently? I have added some new stuff and I am gearing up to add some more. I also finished a pillow and tablecloth with a French Country feel to it and they are scrumptious. However that was just a teaser because I don't have the pictures taken yet! But visit the The Painted Chair and checkout all the goods. Here are a few pictures of things you might find.

Two-sided magnet board created my moi!

Two different flavors for when you moods swing.

I LOVE paperweights and I can't seem to stop making them. Lots to add in the weeks to come and I can also customize.

Wonderful vintage find for me. I love this jewelry box, it's pretty ratty but still very charming!

What a fantastic sale!

2009-05-02T10:46:00.006-06:00

I spent the last 2 days in Fruitland helping my good friend Rene' get ready for her Spring Vintage Barn Sale. When I first showed up on Thursday I was wondering if things were going to be ready in time! There was ALOT of stuff and I wish I had a picture of that day. Rene got me started on the cutesy area of the whites, pinks, and blues and I had a great time with this area and by Friday early afternoon I was done.

I have no idea what I did next except ask Rene' too many questions that pulled her away from her tasks, Sorry Rene'! But by Friday at about 4pm we all realized this was going to be perfect and we would be ready. Manpower started showing up and we all started hauling away the items and work tables out from the middle of the yard. by 5:30 (while I was taking these pictures) there was the beginning of a HUGE line of shoppers and by 6pm CRAZINESS! We all agree that this was her biggest turnout of the 3 spring sales and it was incredibly fun.

I hope Rene' doesn't mind but I am going to post some of my favorite pictures of her vignettes. I am also impressed with the pictures I took, usually I don't do so well.

It is raining this morning so I hope it didn't hinder the sale goers today. Good Luck Rene'.

Another Networking Party is being planned.

2009-04-20T16:09:00.002-06:00

Networking Party
because we should support each other...LOCALLY!

When: Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 7pm
Where: Email me for location
What: Come prepared to talk.

We want to hear 1 of 2 things.
What type of services you have to offer?
and/or
What type of services you are looking for?

Referrals are the best sort of advertising and there are so many talented people here locally that we should be supporting each other.

Please RSVP and please invite friends, spread the word.

**Please note that this event is open to anyone over the age of 16, so yes MEN you are welcome to join on this one!

Everything has a place!

2009-04-02T14:08:00.005-06:00

Ever just want to kick yourself for starting a project without taking a before picture? Well I was kicking myself the other day when I finally finished the never ending project of craft room cleanup. My family moved June of 08 to a bigger house which allowed me having a craft room/office. This room however became the catch all and I hate unpacking so it stayed in horrible chaos for 9 months with only a small trail to the computer. I finally got it cleaned up and I am so excited about all the things I found that I had forgotten about.

My ribbon collection that keeps getting bigger and bigger. I think I have a sickness.

I love this old seed bin. I found it at an antique sale and instantly had to have it. I have finally put it to good use and all those drawers are housing my wonderful stamps, tools, and other useful items for creating.

I am sure I will be able to put this peg board to good use as some point, but right now it will just have to stay empty.

All craft room/offices have to have an ugly place right? Well here is mine. Boxes full of bookkeeping that needs to be done so they can be put away in storage. I am almost done with them!

This was a fun find. I found bags and bags of old lace, ribbon, and vintage pieces and so my next project is to sort through all of these and see what can be put to good use.

And again here is ribbon, however this is vintage ribbon that I need to figure out what I will do with as well. Right now it is just a shot of really great color.

My Favorite Shop

2009-03-30T17:32:00.004-06:00

Last week I traveled to my mother's house for some inspiration. If you haven't been to her blog yet then I would highly recommend it. She is the epitome of inspiration. Just walking through her house and seeing how she decorates makes me want to head home that very minute and start on my own!

While I was there, her and I went and saw a good friend who has a wonderful little shop called Chic Antiques. She is my favorite shop! Such cute creations and finds both new and old. Her displays are awesome as well and I just wish I could take better pictures because these do not do the justice she deserves.

So if you ever find yourself heading up Hailey/Sun Valley way then you need to make a little stop in Bellevue and check her out. In the meantime I will work on getting her to blogland so that everyone can enjoy her!

Something to look forward to

2009-03-30T17:26:00.002-06:00

In my last blog post I was complaining about the weather and how it should be spring. I am still kind of complaining...
Anyway I did go shopping and found some great fabric that I believe will make some great pillows and tablecloths for the website and I am super excited about having something to look forward to!

Check out the goods.

What is to come...

2009-03-23T21:03:00.005-06:00

So spring has sprung and I am getting anxious for good weather. This weekend was so beautiful that last night I decided I would wake up and start on a few projects. I woke up to WIND, not just wind but COLD wind. I wouldn't have been so bummed but my projects needed to be painted and I don't like painting inside especially with a 3 year old running on the loose. So instead of starting my projects I ventured out and ran some errands to pick up things (I will have pictures of my finds tomorrow) that I would need for my projects. So Spring I am kinda patiently waiting!

I love spring! Spring and Fall are my most favorite times of the year temperature wise not too hot and not too cold, I love it. Fall is my favorite because of the beauty and the weather.

Here is my city in the Winter/Spring.

And here is Fall. HUGE difference!So what is to come...SPRING! and me getting my hands dirty with the wonderful creations that are springing to my head every few hours.

A Cherished Piece

2009-03-11T12:10:00.003-06:00

About a month before I decided to close the store I brought in a furniture line called Best Slipcover Company. For myself I bought a loveseat and many months later I have it to show off. The many months part is mostly my fault, I had the hardest time deciding on fabric for my slipcover but I think I made a great choice. My favorite parts of this loveseat is the welting and the down cushions, this thing is so comfortable! I need to get pictures of the other pieces of furniture that was done by this company. Overall I think I ordered 7 pieces before I closed the store, and I am still selling them so let me know if anyone is interested.

Women are WONDERFUL!

2009-02-27T09:50:00.015-07:00

Last night was the much talked about networking party at my house. It was awesome. I had some great and talented women at the party and my expectations were definitely exceeded. I took a few pictures and only one turned out so I am really bummed at that, because I only have half of the room in the picture. Next time I will do better.These women came together and became friends at once. We decided to go around the room and give a little description of what each of us did for a living. The other ladies in the room asked so many questions and had marketing ideas for each other. It was wonderful! Great ideas came from this party and I hope that we all left feeling like it was a success.

There will be more parties coming up soon. I will have another and a few of the other ladies said they would love to host one as well. I urge everyone to come. It only gets better the more practice (parties) we have.

Here is a list of the women that were here...Please note that these comments are mine and that if you contact them they will do a much better job and describing what they do!

Jenicee and her sister Jade are partners in this wonderful company called Flaire Furniture. These are old card of theirs, because they have gotten away from consignment furniture and actually room decorators. They specialize in working with EVERY budget and trying to stay green. In other words, they repurpose items that you already have and give them a new life. They also specialize in painted furniture that they sell and will even painted pieces you already have. Their claim to fame is the Boise Guesthouse. Go take a look at the rooms, they are decorated so great.

Paige was so much fun. This lady would be a hoot to hang out with. She came from San Diego where she worked with a pediatric hospital and she also studied in China. This wonderful lady knows her stuff and she was bombarded with questions so I know everyone was excited to meet her. She has an office downtown.

Marnie at Gestures has great talent. Checkout her website and her etsy shop. I love her photos and she is the one that took pictures of my son when he was 2. She is amazing with kids and makes them feel very comfortable. I love her.

She also has another business! Busy girl.

Marnie & Brian Gordon – Partners
Acclerate Yourself, LLC
Independent Agents - United First Financial
http://www.payitoffpro.com/
http://www.joinu1st.com/
info@PayItOffPro.com
1-866-719-7101

United First Financial offers the Money Merge Account - a financial software that serves as a coach and "financial GPS" to determine the quickest way to pay down consumer debt by making all your accounts work together in the most efficient and quickest way possible, while also providing immediate feedback on progress and adjusting with changing circumstances. The Money Merge Account program is not a refinance, not a "financial diet", and requires no change in existing payments or budget. The video at http://www.joinu1st.com/ is about 10 minutes long and provides an excellent overview of the program.

Margi, this was the first time I had met her and she is great. Very wonderful personable person to be around. She loves to garden. Above is a list of items that she will have available this year. I asked her about corn because I son lives on corn on the cob and she says that she does have it, somehow it was left off of the list. I am excited for her! When asked if she would be at the Capitol City Public Market, she smiled and said "nope but I would love to sell to someone who wants to sell it there" She is just happy gardening. Please get a hold of her and get your orders in for this wonderful produce. I know she will become my sons best friend! She wants to host a party at her house in her garden this summer so those of you who want to join better let me know so I can make sure you are on the invite list.

Holly has amazing talent and an eye for creativity! She will learn to do anything artistic and that is a great quality about her. She too has an etsy shop or two and you should check her out. I love her t-shirts and her paintings are awesome as well. Her blog also says that she is working on another little venture AND I have her busy with a venture of my own that I am hoping she will stay partnered with me! I need her talent. She works with special orders as well so if there is a design you have in mind then get a hold of her.

Heath was not at the party, but his wife Jessica was. She came to talk about her and her husband. Heath is a photographer and wonderful to work with. He also took the after pictures of most of Flaire Furniture's room makeovers. Great guy, your a lucky women Jessica!

Jessica has amazing talent as well. She does all sorts of scrapbook design. She specializes in cards and does a wonderful job. So if you are in need of a card for a specific person, want, or occasion, give her a call or email. She will whip something out in no time and it will be way better than any of those commercialized cards. Also if you ever want to learn the art of card making then get a hold of her I am sure she would love to teach.

Victoria sells tea. She brought a flavored iced tea to the party and everyone loved it. I forgot to ask her the flavor though, but I think it was peach. She sells her tea in a few restaurants around Boise, online, and she said that she eventually wanted to open a tea house. That will be awesome! Victoria also has a very savvy business mind and she had lots of marketing ideas for everyone. I hope she continues to come because she was a great asset to this party.

Harmony Hopkins
Primerica Financial Services
1640 Cherry Ln. Meridian, ID
Cell: 208-908-3626
Bus.: 208-288-1645
h.hopkins@yahoo.com

Harmony found my ad on Craigslist the day of the party and I am so glad she did. What a remarkable girl. She came in and with her sweet personality had us all eating out of her hands. I loved meeting her! She is very knowledgeable and seems like she would be a great person everyone would like to work with to create steps toward financial freedom.

Jamie Hilton came with her business Arbonne. She is one of my very best friends and I just love being around her. Such beauty inside and out. If you would like to contact her and discuss product or business opportunity please email her at njhiltongroup@hotmail.com.

Ann Ludington came with her business Monavie. She was great to meet as well and had lots of good questions and marketing ideas too. She gave everyone a taste test of Monavie and taught us all how to say Acai berry. I think some of us still need to practice a bit!
amludin@clearwire.net
208-412-8878
http://mymonavie.com/boi
Monavie - Made from the Acai berry and 18 other juices.

Then we had two lovely ladies that came to just be apart of the crowd and meet the many talented. They too had some great questions and ideas and I was thoroughly impressed with them. Thank you Sylvia and Fanua! You two had better come to the next one and bring friends!

Sarah Gorringe
sgorringe@gmail.com
208-412-0586
photo birth announcements & invitations+ custom children's paint & design + other crafty things

Alan Gorringe
agorringe@gmail.com
208-412-0486
innovative graphic solutions for web or print

Sarah came to talk about her business and her husbands. Both of them are extremely talented and creative so it will be interesting to find out how creative their children turn out! I am attaching photo's of a custom children's paint design that her and her hubby teamed up on. He drew it and she painted it. Great team! I let her leave without grabbing business cards so contact them it you would like to see their design portfolio's.

Women Unite!

2009-02-25T13:58:00.003-07:00

I am so excited the Networking Party is coming together so well. I just hope my house is clean! There are some great women coming to join us. I also wanted to let everyone know that the website is coming along great and is on time. By mid-March I will be up and running.

And I am just going to give a little tease here. I am working on an awesome new project that I think all will love. I will keep you posted as I get closer to making it a reality.

Boise's Networking Pary Update

2009-02-13T17:51:00.002-07:00

I am getting soooo excited for this party! I want everyone to know (women) that you are invited even if you don't own a business of your own. You are still able to refer businesses and that is what we want. REFERRALS are a great source of advertising and I want people to be able to use local avenues and outlets to keep their lives and households running.
So far I have coming.
Artist
Photographer
Acupuncture
A few home based businesses
Some etsy talents
Some merchandise store owners

Can you see how I am trying to keep this vague;) I want you all to be surprised when you get here. So please invite everyone and anyone.

Ember

Bellevue Music Festival and Market

2009-02-11T14:22:00.003-07:00

I am once again in charge of the vendor portion of the Labor Day celebration in Bellevue, Idaho. This celebration is awesome and a lot of fun for all ages. Lots of great live music, great shopping, and other events going on all weekend in both Bellevue and the surrounding cities. The celebration in Bellevue is always held on the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend. It is kicked off on Sunday with a great parade going through the center of town and ends Monday evening. Lots of attendees both days. I am searching for vendors in food, crafts, flea market and antiques, non-profit, jewelry, and kids activities. If you are interested and would like more information please email me and I will tell you more specifics.

New Website

2009-02-04T17:04:00.004-07:00

Hey all I have a website for my Arbonne business and I would love it if you would all check it out. It has all the information there for you to read about the product and then I also get deep and personal on the About Me page so check it out. Also while you are there sign my guest book and let me know what you think!

ember.myarbonne.com

If you would like to have a girls night and host a party, I would love to come and do some pampering. We can do it at my house or yours I am happy either way.

Love
Ember

Networking Party

2009-01-29T11:33:00.005-07:00

I came up with a fun idea for a party. All women are invited. So I hope many of you can join me, cause I would love to meet many of you!

Networking Party

because women should support each other...

When: Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 7pm

Where: Contact me for directions to my house

What: Come prepared to talk.

I want to hear 1 of 2 things.

What type of services you have to offer

What type of services you are looking for.

Lets help each other out.

Referrals are the best and we are so talented we should be using each other.

Please RSVP and please invite friends, spread the word.

Busy Lives

2009-01-28T13:12:00.005-07:00

Why do women feel like we have to live such busy lives and to conquer all? I have been pondering this question for a while and just can't seem to figure it out. But me, I am always so busy. It is that whole adult ADD thing. I should go and see if I really do have it.
So what has been up with me you say? I have been busy at home trying to make it homey for the first time in well ever. This is the first house I have actually moved into and I am still not quite put together yet. My house is adorable however and I am so pleased with it that I try to think of all kinds of ways to have party's. I had a graduation party for my husband who finally graduated from college. (he was one of the lucky few to actually have a job after graduating and it is in his degree too!) I had a party for my sister Season (she is in the yellow) who moved to Maryland with her family for 3 months. Her hubby got an intern with some company in the airplane business and with him interning here it will open up many doors for them so I am really excited. And a cheaper vacation for me cause I am planning on going over to visit them before they head home. Free place to stay, and she cooks really good meals too.
Then on February 14th, a relative of mine is having her bridal shower at my house. I love to entertain and I love to show off my house it really is cool.
Anyway my other reasons for being busy is now I am typing as a medical transcriptionist. My very good friend Janna introduced me to her mother Linda and Linda felt sorry for me in being laid off from my job so hired me as her helper. WOW! I am super slammed with that, but I like it and I get to stay home and do it.
I do need out of the house occasionally so I also teamed up with my good friend Jamie and now I am selling Arbonne the best skincare in the industry. It's is all natural and you should see me, I look amazing. For those of you who do know me, prepare to be amazed when you see me next. No more chalky white acne face. I actually have a GLOW. I am soooo sold on the product!
Next I am trying to get my sister Kim to move here and bring her musical talent to Boise and let me back into the band. I was in the band from 1997 to 2005 when my son was born I just couldn't leave him behind. Now I am so ready for a new creative outlet and this will be just perfect. My sis has amazing talent and fortunately for me, she needs a change of scenery so I am hoping that this will be just the place, because I miss her so much and want her close to me too and because I think this area would love her just as much as her area.

Reminiscing...

2009-01-10T18:30:00.009-07:00

I decided to do some cleaning out of my pictures and purge. As I was going through them, I found some of my favorite store displays and I decided I would take you down memory lane.

My store used to be so cool, what happened to that happy place...

In my opinion I did some of the best diplays. These pictures do not do them justice. I wonder why I let that go and stopped doing the decorating...

I miss it all so much...

But then again, I don't miss it at all. What a love hate relationship I have.

I have to tell you, even though I sound whiny, I really am glad that I am no longer doing a store. I let it take over everything. Now I am a stay at home mom, my house is almost decorated the way I want it to be, and I think I am starting to enjoy cooking. Being a mom is awesome and is the best job anyone could ask for. I even have time to be creative again.

Anyway, I am going to keep this as a business/hobby blog and I am working on a more personal blog that is at meejensen.blogspot.com

Talk to ya later

Ember

Special Gifts

2008-12-02T20:05:00.005-07:00

I received a great gift package from a women I greatly admire. She is one of the nicest people I know, she is uber talented, and she has the best decorated house of all time. When I was selling furniture in my store from The Best Slipcover Company she bought a few pieces from me and they just came in last week. I will take some pictures this week and get them posted because she has one of the cutest chairs ever! Anyway, as a thank you she made me the prettiest gift basket I have ever seen and now I just have to show off a bit.

To start off, here is a picture of the tag. I didn't have my camera with me so this is with my cell phone.

I love this flower

Here is the whole picture. Lovely isn't it?

First time being tagged

2008-11-28T21:53:00.003-07:00

I was chilling out watching TV with my hubby and son when I decided to check out some favorite blogs. In my amazement, I have been tagged by Cassandra and this is my first time ever. I am excited!

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here goes...

1. I wear flip flops all the time. With dresses, jeans, pajamas, etc. It doesn't matter the weather either, and believe me it gets cold here.

2. This goes along with why I wear flip flops. I have to sit cross legged all the time. My feet are folded up underneath me in restaurants, at my desk (when I had a job), and any other place that I feel I can get away with it. Speaking of that, funny story...When I was pregnant 3 years ago, I had a craving for scones (the fried ones!!) and talked my husband into driving me across town to this horribly divy place called Merrits Home of the Scones. They have the best scones ever!! But, while I was there, I was sitting with my flip flops off and my feet folded up underneath me when to my surprise some guy comes over to me and says he will kick me out if I don't put my feet down and my shoes back on. I was a little stunned, my first thought...ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! Here in this place, this whole in the wall that has been around for years and just barely banned smoking in the dining area! Then humor, I could stop giggling. This event however has not stopped me from sitting in restaurants.

3. My favorite shows right now on TV are Chuck, Bones, House, and currently any sappy, badly acted holiday flick that airs on TV. I even record these so that I can watch them when I can't find anything else on.

4. My car is a pit whole. I don't understand why I can't keep it clean. I think (actually I know) it is because I am lazy. The funny thing is, that is isn't garbage, its yard sale finds, my luggage if I have been out of town, work stuff, etc.

5. I daydream constantly. I think I should start writing my daydreams down, I have some great novels that are being knocked around in my head.

6. I am a procrastinator and it gets me in trouble sometimes, or most times.

7. And last of all, I no longer know what I want to be when I grow up. I am kicking around a few ideas of medical billing (because I have slight experience in it), going to school to be an interpreter for the deaf and hard of hearing, or just being a lush and not work for once in my life. I am more interested in the latter, because I think my son really needs a mom, and because I am afraid of going back to school ( I don't think I have the brains for it).

So here I am in all my glory, and now I think we should all get to know Christy, Catiahades, Ang, Bebe, Jean, and Holly.

HUGS!

Em

MY FAB FAVS

2008-11-14T22:30:00.006-07:00

So here is a list of some wonderful places to shop. Some are online and some are local shops here in Boise, all are GREAT! If you are looking or need more information let me know and I will help you with anything you need. Also make sure you go to the links that I have attached because each one will have information of other great places to shop. Me, I am going to shop local and shop handmade as much as possible this holiday season, I may even break out some of my own creativeness and make some gifts.

HollyDoodle She is an amazing artist and is creative to the core. There have been many times when I have an idea and she says that can be done, I can do it and the next time I talk to her Wa La, she did!
http://www.hollyhjohnson.blogspot.com/
http://www.hollydoodle.com/
http://www.hollydoodad.etsy.com/

5115 I love this store! Great consignment shop off of Orchard between Emerald and Fairview. Check them out! http://www.fiftyonefifteen.com/

Donya Maries I would go to the Farmer's Market just to taste her delicious goodness. She has an extremely creative mind when it comes to food. Great stocking stuffers.

Catia Hades She was at the Flea Market in Bellevue and I couldn't get over her jewelry. I made the best purchase from her, the coolest necklace ever. It looked similar to this one.

Miss Gracie's Treasures Visit Rene from Miss Gracie's Treasures. She always does a great Christmas display so I am excited to see what she has up her sleeve this year. You can find her at Downtown Treasures 723 N Main St. Meridian or at The Shabby House 4906 W. State St. Boise

Good Goods This is my all time favorite store ever! She has the best Christmas party's and I know you will find the perfect gift for that perfect someone.

Refreshed Hearts This is the lovely Gayle. I think these dishes are so elegant, and great quality too!

Bella Rose

This store is fantastic. She too is one of my all time favorites ever. Bridgette (I hope I spelled her name right) is so creative and handy. She makes most of her furniture, paints all of the furniture, and she finds time to make candles, diffusers, and body scents. Oh ya and she even sews. She can do it all, her store is shared with Zella Marie who is another very talented lady. With the two of them they have it all so I highly recommend shopping with them this season, especially the candles they smell luscious.
1407 2nd St. Nampa, ID

Update on me

2008-11-14T21:42:00.002-07:00

Hey all! Question of the day, Have you ever felt that no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to get it together? I just got laid off from my job of 1 1/2 years. AHHHHHH! All will be fine though, I am keeping positive. In the meantime, here are the things I have to look forward to...staying home and being a mom, it's an adjustment for sure and I have been working on ways to keep him and me busy with out spending money or making too big of a mess. So far the library has been a life saver, any other recommendations. I am also hoping to get my girlfriends back. Exercising more is also on my agenda and so far so good. One other thing I need help with and that is cooking, I hate to do it mainly because I don't have an imagination for it so send me recipes that are easy I NEED help!
Hope all is well with everyone and keep your chin up!

Ember

Ember's Fab Favs - COMING SOON!

2008-10-30T15:04:00.000-06:00

People who inspire me to be better

2008-10-30T14:48:00.003-06:00

So, I am reading the blogs of the wonderful ladies who follow my blog and I have been blown away and inspired today. First of all, isn't it humbling knowing that people care enough about what you have to say to follow your blog, so cool! Anyway so I am reading the blog of Dandelion Bones and her post today was a tribute to her husband who's birthday is today. It got me thinking about the last time I told my husband I appreciate him. I wonder if he knows how important he is to me? So I urge everyone to read her blog entry today about her husband and then create one of your own for your husband, partner, mom, loved one. Let them know how important they are in your life. Hats off to Cassandra at Dandelion Bones and thank you for inspiring me to be a better wife to my awesome husband!

Awesome Event!

2008-10-30T14:23:00.004-06:00

This is an awesome event that I encourage anyone in the vicinity to attend. I have attended 3 times and I learn something new each time I attend. This event teaches you to make sincere and lasting change in all arenas of your life, whether it is family, work, social, business, etc the tools he gives you will work in all scenarios. Go to www.jerrysilenceinternational.com to register it will be the best 2 hours you can invest. Plus there is a free drawing at each session! Use event code 110108-S10005B when registering.

My Summer

2008-10-15T21:19:00.009-06:00

So I know its a little late, but I was going through my camera memory card and found some fun pictures.

This was taken in Bellevue over 4th of July and the best antique shop ever Rebecca's. She is only open over 4th of July and Labor Day weekend. She has the cutest house, yummy snacks, and the best finds. Here are a few pictures, she did things a bit different this year, she had a lot more textiles and salvage.

Then on to the 4th of July parade in Hailey. It was a ton of fun, but I missed getting pictures of my favorite float. It was an entry from Mountain School (I hope that is the correct name), but it was the students all dressed in wonderful, magical costumes and they were either walking, biking, or on stilts. Think Midsummer Nights Dream, it was amazing.

I liked this entry, it was pretty cute. Lily and Fern is a landscape company.

My mom bought a great piece of iron at the antique market(its not old, a reproduction) this summer and I had to take a picture of her being a scardy cat. She doesn't like heights yet she still climbs the ladder to the top of the pergola to have us prove to her that the piece of iron was too big for the space she wanted it in.

Ellis took swimming lessons for the first time this summer.

Here is his 1st day....

and here is the last day....

This is Marlei, one of Ellis's best friends and old neighbor
Now I can't keep him out of the water...This was taken in August during the Kokanee spawning season at Mores Creek.Here is Mores Creek. Isn't it pretty?My goofball son.Now on to my husbands company picnic at Lucky Peak Reservoir...see I can't keep him away from the water!
That is not me on the jet ski, I wish!

2008-10-10T11:59:00.000-06:00

Press Release
Mad Hatters Hat & Wig Donation Project

Project: A community collection/donation of hats and wigs to support women & children in treatment of cancer during the last 2 weeks of October.

Mission Statement: The Mad Hatter's Hat & Wig Donation Project gives cancer patients renewed confidence through the free access to hats, wigs and scarves.

Kick off Event: Saturday, October 18
Where: Framed! 1722 E Fairview Ave. Meridian, (next to Fred Meyer)
Time: Noon to 3
Contact: Paula Miller 898-9176

Donation Dates: October 18-31, last 2 weeks of October

Hat Donation Sites: Framed!, American Cancer Society, Komen Foundation, Mountain States Tumor Institute, St. Al's Cancer Care Center, all Key Bank locations, Angels in Your Corner, Buns In The Oven, all D. L. Evans Bank locations, McU's Sports. Addresses are on the website.

Hat Recipients: American Cancer Society, Mountain States Tumor Institute, St. Al's CancerCareCenter.

Why: In recognition of the women & children undergoing treatment for cancer and other diseases that ravage the head and hair. Hair loss is paramount to self esteem during cancer treatment. These hats will add class, color and beauty to those who can use a lift in body & spirit. This donation project is timed to coordinate with Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Underlying Reason: Peggi Roskens, my sister, passed away 10 years ago from breast cancer. She was a beauty in her many hats. This is a way to bring some life and happiness to others during a stressfull time in their lives. I have many friends, both here and gone, who have met the challenge of cancer.

Project Coordinator: Paula Miller 208 898-9176 wk, 208 863-7912 cell
Email: paula@framedidaho.com
Website: www.IdahoMadHatter.com

Christmas Shopping and I have ideas!!

2008-10-10T11:41:00.003-06:00

So I am working on an Ember's favorite places to shop list, it will consist of addresses, emails, websites, all sorts of ways to contact my favorite places to shop. We all need help in the what to do I get my family and friends for Christmas thing so hopefully my list will help, and I would love to hear from you on your list of favorites, lets expand my horizon!

Stay tuned I should have it all put together soon, and of course Downtown Treasures will be the top of the list!

Talk to ya soon

Ember

Party Day

2008-10-10T11:36:00.002-06:00

Well I have had to scale down the party a bit do to a couple of issues, weather (it seems a bit cooler today), my sister (the Kim Stocking Band) has strep throat so her coming to play is still up in the air. Rene and I were able to spruce up the area a bit more, we still have much more to do so hopefully in the next couple of weeks the WOW factor we are looking for will appear.

New Location with a PARTY

2008-09-30T14:56:00.009-06:00

So I have finally made a decision of what I want to do when I grow up. Just kidding, I have had alot of people ask me what is happening with The Painted Chair and when I will be open again. Good news, I have just opened up at Downtown Treasures in Meridian. The Painted Chair and Miss Gracie's Treasures are renting the front room on this sweet little shop. I am super excited because it has the best brick wall. Rene and I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday painting the whole front room. I sent home Rene at about 9pm (she had a longer drive than me) and I stayed until around 11pm making sure that the area was at least shopable. We will have the place beautiful and romantic in no time.

But in true Painted Chair style, there is always a HUGE party. So I will not disappoint on this. The fabulous Kim Stocking Band with be playing an acoustic set before they head over to Pengilly's in downtown Boise, we will have some yummy food, the best magazine in Boise, Boise Metropolitan, will be there doing a story, and of course there will be awesome sales.

So mark your calendar's for OCTOBER 10th from 5-8pm at Downtown Treasures located 723 N Main St. in downtown Meridian in CELEBRATION of The Painted Chair and Miss Gracie's Treasures finding a new and wonderful home.

I have missed this whole blog thing.

2008-09-30T14:22:00.003-06:00

Well months have gone by and I have felt the strongest urge to write. I have been so busy doing nothing important that I feel bad for not being here more. I do however have my sights set and I am plunging forward into the depths of blogging. Can you believe how many wonderful and talented people are out there? Wow I am in awe of the talent.

One fun thing I noticed when I logged into my blog today was a thing called followers, I am way out of the loop because I haven't heard of this before, but I love it. I am very humbled and thankful that I am being followed (that kinda sounds funny, doesn't it!?) because the they have fabulous blogs and sites themselves. So thank you so much to NJTomboy for your sweet comments today. Also you have to checkout her site and also the site of this lovely lady Peaches and Dreams. I was in love with her the second her blog came up, she was talking about Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy who I think all women should be inlove with! I also liked the fact that we can post Kind Thoughts rather than comments. Such cleverness I say!

Well I will keep you posted.

My once a month post!

2008-07-27T13:30:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone, it's me. I just noticed that I do a post about 1 every month so here is this months post. I closed my store. Sorry to all of my lovely friends and customers, I did a lot of sole searching after I made the decision and it felt right. My decision came quite sudden as do most of my decisions! (my husband hates how unpredictable I am, then again so does my mom.) I can't help it though, if I sat and thought about every idea and decision, I would never do it cause another idea would come along and takes its place. Does anyone else live life like this?
Anyway, I haven't done much with The Painted Chair since I closed the shop, but I plan on it soon. When I first opened my store, I had a good friend Kathy from a wonderful store in Bellevue, Idaho called Chic Antiques tell me that I should get out if it becomes a chore and not fun anymore, owning a store like ours should be fun and rewarding. I unfortunately let mine get out of control and not rewarding in the least little bit, I let others take control of it and I soon found myself asking permission to create my ideas or bring in different items, I couldn't believe I had let that happen! I knew for quite a few months that I needed to get back into it and bring the store back up to my expectations or I was going to go crazy. Then I read the blog post on Curious Sofa about how to own a boutique store and what were customers wants. That opened a whole new world to me and I made the decision it would be mine again and I would spend a lot more time in the store. A lotta kick back from some of my friends on my decision and I lost it and went crazy! 100% crazy and I closed the store in two weeks without any notice to anyone, if fact I didn't really have any notice myself, one day I wanted to make it work and the next I had called the landlord and it was done.
I am sad, truly sad that I no longer have a place to go and to talk to all the many people that came into the store. However, like the trooper that I am, you can't keep a good dog down and I am already working on new and creative ideas to get me back into the customer base again. I miss talking the most so I need another job that will allow that to happen.
What I am up to now and hopefully will be in the near future.

The Painted Chair is still up and running, you can find me at a wonderful little shop called Downtown Treasures in Meridian. 723 S Main st. to be exact! I am still working on the room but for now I think it looks pretty cute, my plan is to get over there today to spruce it up a bit.

For the last year and a half I have been working for a mortgage company called Axia Financial, yes we hit a slow time with all the lender/housing scare, but things are looking up and I would love to help all of you out on finding that perfect loan for your dream home or business.

Next I have been working on a putting together a flea market in Bellevue, ID. I have been working with the Chamber there and I have been having much success. There are still a few spots available and I would love to have you join us. I will have a few booths there and I have been working like mad creating new things to put in it. I am really excited!

Now for the twinkle in my eye, I want to plan events! Weddings, parties, markets, you name it I want to plan it. I love sales and marketing, like I said before I love to talk to people. I am already working on a flea market for Boise that will take place next summer. Also a friend of mine and I are looking into becoming wedding planners, all we need is a wedding to practice on!
And then for the most crazy! I am working on a health food restaurant! I know it's crazy especially since I don't even eat healthy, but I want to and I have a great idea for it too.

So we will see how things go. I am very optimistic!

Talk to you soon.

Ember

I am back, I think?!

2008-06-24T16:25:00.008-06:00

I found this on another ladies blog, and I thought I would copy it so you could get to know me a little bit better. You should check out the silhouette she made, very cool!

i am: a little ADD
i think: everything in life will work out fine
i know: that the previous statement can't happen, but it doesn't hurt to be positive
i want: to be in a magazine someday
i have: many goals that drive my husband crazy
i wish: I could snap my fingers and my house would be clean
i despise: cleaning and cooking
i miss: my mom even though she is only 2 hours away
i feel: tired from the past few weeks of moving to a new house
i hear: that there is going to be a trucking strike in a couple of weeks
i smell: my lunch from two hours ago. I had a sandwich from Wheat Montana and they wrapped my sandwich up with a pickle
i crave: the burn of the first gulp of coke
i search: for people who will join me in the flea market I am creating for Labor day
i wonder: how many people will actually contact me regarding the flea market on Labor Day
i regret: not telling my family how much I love them more
i love: being busy and chatting with random people
i ache: to be in bed by 9pm every night
i care: a lot about shopping local
i usually: sleep in till 8 or 9 am everyday
i am not: crazy! Contrary to popular belief
i believe: I will be successful in my dreams and dealings as long as I stay close to my Heavenly Father
i dance: when I want to make my 3 year old mad at me, although I really love to dance and wish I could do it more
i sing: whenever I feel like it, usually when Dean Martin and his comrades are on the radio
i cry: when I get frustrated, when others cry, and when I watch sappy love stories
i don't always: do my hair, brush my teeth when I first wake up, or feed my son a healthy breakfast
i write: horribly! As you can see in my blog entries!
i win: never! Not in arguments with my husband, son, colleagues, drawings, nothing. I would love to someday.
i never: say never, most of the time! Anything is possible so don't finalize it with never and always, cause it sucks to eat crow!
i listen: most of the time, but I also find myself going into La La Land and daydreaming
i can usually be found: working, working, working either at the shop, the mortgage company, or at home on the computer
i am scared: that I will be crazy someday
i am happy about: a lot of things, but mainly the successes of my friends and colleagues.
i strive: to help make others successful
my dream job: would be creating, starting, and selling my business ideas
my long term goal: is to have enough money to travel all over the world to visit my favorite shops, and flea markets that I have only read about

I added the last 3 and I can't seem to think of anymore!

Talk to you soon

Ember

Catching up on some editing

2008-05-24T22:28:00.006-06:00

I was going through some pictures that I have taken over the last week or so and doing some editing and I came across some fun ones.Ellis wants to be an astronaut, and he is practicing with my cloche.My first sidewalk sale of the summer. I like this sign that Joe brought.
My mom stole this from me! This piece is going to be so pretty painted, I am mad that I let her take it.Mom came to help with the sidewalk sale and ended up making a love seat order from me with the new line I am carrying. The Best Slipcover Company makes great sofas, love seat, chairs, all sorts of stuff, so come see and sit in it in 8-9 weeks.

Always creating big tasks...

2008-05-23T16:03:00.004-06:00

So I think I have a bit of Adult ADD. I can't seem to stay on one project for very long, or I get bigger and better ideas for the project at hand. Right now, I am working on a shopping guide brochure for the area boutiques like me. I love creative people and love mom and pop shops. Recycling is awesome and so is handmade! Anyway, I have requested the help of my favorite graphic designer Jennifer with Pear Street Studios. She created my logo, I wish I had known her when I built my website, and she does all of my bidding. I have talked about her in earlier posts, but I can't stress enough on how important it is to surround yourself with creative people. It makes life so much easier. But I am sure she is saying she wants to surround herself with non-procrastinators (spelling, I have no idea) and that is would make her life much easier. Love you Jennifer!

So I snuck out of work for a few hours today and visited my friends at The Shabby House. I got a good picture of Lori one of the Junk Yard Queens so I am excited to get that posted. She was busy today so I didn't get a chance to talk to her much. We did agree that today must have been crazy boots day cause I am wearing my favorite find from the Salt Lake trip (Aqua boots with brown bird silhouette design) and she was wearing bright floral rain boots from Victoria Trading Company. We are stylish!
Lori yelling at me for taking pictures:)
One of my favorites dealers, My Pink Door. They have great stuff!Here is Gretel's area at the Shabby House. She also puts stuff in my store as well, as you can see she does a great job at display.

I am still in over my head with the Labor Day Celebration in Bellevue. The flea market is going to be awesome especially since there will be great live music all day. The only problem is I hope I haven't forgotten something important. I haven't done a big event like this so its a little daunting.

Talk to ya soon

Ember

The best photography

2008-05-21T18:39:00.006-06:00

So the other day, my little sister Haylee called and told me to look at her daughter's new pictures. Haylee works at a daycare in Sun Valley and has the best connections, and she is connected with Hillary Maybery. I think Hillary is the best photographer I have ever seen. The pictures she captures are amazing. Anyway, Haylee's daughter Madison and her little friend (whose mother owns a cute children's boutique in Hailey called Tater Tots) had a photo shoot together. They got to play dress up in the boutique clothes like they were little models. You could tell they had a blast and the pictures turned out so cute, I can see many more of these little photo shoots in these girls' future.

Check out the pictures on Hillary's website under kids. In one of the pictures, Maddie and her friend are sitting on a bench with cowgirl hats on and little horses in there hands, sooooo cute. The next one is of Maddie with her extremely curly hair and the sun shining through.

I am going to work on getting Ellis his pictures taken, the only problem is finding cute clothes for him. Does anyone else have a hard time finding cute boy clothes?

Talk to you soon

Ember

Current Goals

2008-05-13T20:29:00.004-06:00

So I have some current goals, one may be a little harder to keep current but I am still going to keep it on the list.

1. Create the best Flea Market in Idaho. I am in charge of finding vendors for the Bellevue, Id Labor Day Celebration which is presented by the Chamber of Commerce. I have participated in this celebration for the last three years and I have had a blast, but I know the potential for it is so much greater. The celebration is always in conjunction with a music festival and I have to tell ya, last year was by far the best ever. The music was awesome and the crowd was even better.

For those of you that are not familiar with this area, Bellevue is the gateway to the famous Sun Valley area. Labor Day in Bellevue is only one of many events that are happening that weekend. The Wagon Days parade in Sun Valley draws many tourist from all over, and there is also a nice antique market as well. In Hailey, which is only 3 miles north of Bellevue, there are two antique markets on each end of town. So there is a lot going on and Bellevue is the only place with live music all day. The park is covered by trees and surrounded by mountains with the smell of the cottonwoods and the river. I love this area!

So if any of you are wanting to be a part of this awesome event, then just drop me a note and I will get back to you.

2. My store will be featured in a magazine someday. I will be in Romantic Homes, Country Living, Cottage Living, Romantic Country, Victoria, and Mary Engelbreight. I will, I will, I will!!

The Shabby Sale

2008-05-04T22:59:00.008-06:00

Rene's sale started out with a bang. Lots of people standing in line waiting for 6pm to start, we were still setting up. This is a picture in Rene's new barn that her family all worked together on.This display my little sister Haylee worked on.

I love chairs, especially when they are all lined up.

This is pretty Gayle. She has a business called Refreshed Hearts where she sales tea and dishes. Her display was awesome.I love her apron.

Her beautiful display.
This is Grace, she worked so hard on the Sweet Shoppe and as always it was a huge hit with lots of calories.
She even has beautiful displays for her yummies. Can you see the empty plates, she had a hard time keeping up with the crowds.Some big fans.

Curt and his brother just kickin' back and relaxing and people watching. Little did they know they were going to start working hard again by loading up peoples trucks with their goods.

Rene and I taking a breather discussing how things are going. She worked so hard.Here are some pictures of the shoppers.This also became a social gathering.

One happy shopper!

These ladies didn't get a break for a few hours, they were buuuuuusy.
So much fun. I can't wait for her next one!

My Momma's House

2008-05-04T22:39:00.005-06:00

Here are some great vignettes at my mom's house. She has a new camera so she is always taking pictures of displays that she makes from stuff out of my shop. She has beautiful taste don't you think?This is a hutch that my mom bought while we were in Salt Lake City at Wasatch Furniture. This is in her laundry room.

I love this picture, so beautiful.

Jar of old door knobs.

Dried hydrangeas that came from my mom's garden.It's too early for these I think, at least in Carey where she lives so she must have bought them somewhere. It's spring!She just recently bought these from Fred Meyer, I think I am going to head over there and get some for me and my store.

Continually Rearranging

2008-05-03T16:34:00.006-06:00

I have a lot of catching up to do!

2008-05-03T13:26:00.025-06:00

So, it has been a crazy couple of months and I am going to tell you all about them. Aren't you sooo excited?!

First off my birthday was March 11th, very uneventful which is the way I like it.

Then my mother, and sisters Season and Haylee left our children and went away for a girls shopping weekend in the closest, biggest city, Salt Lake City, Utah.

We stayed in the a quaint Bed and Breakfast called Wildflowers in Sugarhouse.

View from our balcony.
My mom on the first day of shopping.

My little sister Haylee, we all envy her and her cute little body, and beauty!
My older sister Season, or as my son calls her Aunt Seasie. He loves her so much, and she is one of the best mothers I have ever been around.

Our first stop was this cute little eclectic shop/junque store that we all fell in love with. It was just around the corner from where we stayed and just happened upon it.

Then we hit a store that was recommended to us by one of our good friends Michelle Alberdi, she has the absolute best taste and talent. Details has two stores and she told us which order to go into them and she said Details 2 was like walking into Heaven and boy did she hit the mark on that one. We were all in awe.

My camera had ran out of batteries so these are all pictures from my cell phone. I am really bummed I didn't have a camera at this store because there are so many more pictures I wanted to take. She had the best vignettes.

I thought this was a very creative idea. They are old slips sewn together and pinned to the ceiling over the lights to diffuse the harshness. Sooo pretty and creative.
I also thought that this was a cool display idea as well. It says organic. Which I love.
This was a cute little children's boutique.

Sylvia was so fun to work with and she made the best Magic Cookie Bars, they were sinful.

We also hit the two stores that were next to Tiara, one was a clothing store that had independent designers, and the next was a quilt store. All three of these stores were cute, quaint, and I highly recommend visiting them.

Home Again was a consignment shop that gave a whole new meaning to layering diplays. They layered and layered and layered their furniture. It was very interesting and I came home with a lot of great ideas. I also came home with the cutest aqua coffee table that I am going to use and a children's table.

Artichokes & Co. was a fun store with really unique diplays. We had a lot of fun at Hip and Humble. If you can see in the picture behind the girls, they were featured in Country Living Magazine January 2006. I can't wait til I am featured in that magazine, and in Romantic Homes, Victoria, Cottage Living, Romantic Country, Mary Engelbreight, and all the other great magazines I admire. I will be in them someday I promise, that is one of my lifes goals.

Here is Season and I goofing off in Hip and Humble while mom and Haylee tried on every piece of clothing the store had. Behind us is the cutest children section. Don' t we look pretty? Even though our noses stick out like a soar thumb, that is the the curse of my Great Grandma Lucy, love her to death but she gave me the nose.

Can anyone tell me where I can get these canvases. I want to sell them in my store. There were so many different ones and I saw them all over Salt Lake but could never figure out the manufacturer. I asked one of the girls at Hip and Humble she said she wasn't sure, or was it a trade secret? Hmmmmm! Anyway, please help me find these I love love love them.

A few other stores we went to and had a lot of fun at were Black Chandelier, Paisley Pomegranite, and a furniture store going out of business called Wasatch Furniture. He had awesome prices and tons of stuff.

Anyway Salt Lake was a blast, we met the best people at the Bed and Breakfast and made tons of memories. So this is the first of many trips, we are thinking of doing this yearly. Maybe we will take friends and make a huge weekend of it.

A few places on my list for the future are...Roundtop because of Heather Bullard's Blog, it looked like they had so much fun. Another place is to go to Farm Chicks, and my all-time wish is Kansas City, Missouri, there are so many great stores there that I admire and adore and would love to see in person and touch the store owner!

2008-03-27T16:59:00.001-06:00

I am sooooo busy or is it lazy I don't know for sure, but I do have a lot to write about so check back soon.

Ember

Ramblings

2008-02-21T12:19:00.009-07:00

Since it has been so long since I have been on here, I am going to ramble about nothing. I just received the new Victoria magazine and I am aching for spring, the cover is beautiful.

All of you who are ready for spring raise your hands! I know my mom is poor girl she is buried in snow right now with the wind only making it worse. I have some really cool pictures that she sent me so I will work on getting those posted tonight. But speaking of my mom I have a really cool picture of a little display she did in her house using stuff she bought from me. I loved it so much that I made it into an ad for the Home & Garden Resource Guide its not published yet, but it will be for March.

And since I am rambling, I have the cutest picture of my neice Madison or Miss Maddie as I call her. She is only 3 months older than Ellis but a whole head taller. I wonder where she got her height, her parents aren't tall? Look at those curls, can you say Gap or LL Bean model!

Now yesterday when I was taking pictures, I decided to take a picture of my craft room, or should I say crap room as my husband calls it. This just shows that no matter how hard I try I will always have a messy craft room, especially if I am using it as storage too.

But theres HOPE! Okay that is a bad joke, but she really is hanging in my craft room giving me hope that I will be organized someday, sigh!

Well I think I have done enough rambling for now, but before I go I just had a thought about why and how I have made it this far. IT IS BECAUSE I SURROUND MYSELF WITH SUCH TALENTED PEOPLE WHO EXCITE THE CREATIVE PERSON IN ME. Always, always network with people who are like minded as you, because I know I couldn't have done it without you all.

I also want to say thanks to Jennifer Froh from Pear Street Studios. She is the amazingly talented lady who designed my logo and who I continue to ask her for design ideas for postcards, and some brochures I am working on. Thank you Jennifer! I get so many compliments on my business cards. I LOVE YOU!!! I 100% recommend her so if you need anything in graphic design and printing go to her.

Okay enough is enough.

Bye for now!

Easter is early this year

2008-02-21T12:02:00.006-07:00

So for those of you who are like me and totally oblivious to when the holidays are, Easter is right around the corner. It is early this year on March 23rd. But, for some reason the store is ready for it. Our easter items have arrived and they are soooo cute.

These eggs and rabbits look yummy enough to eat, and I have had a couple of customers actually think they were real chocolate.

My new love at the shop

2008-02-21T11:47:00.005-07:00

So, I was without a camera for a few weeks and that was extremely hard to deal with. I hate to post a blog without pictures, it seems so boring. But alas, I stayed late at the shop last night and photographed everything. We have a lot of new and fun stuff coming in over the next few weeks and I am super excited.

One of my most favorite items that has just come in is made by the wonderful and talented Kriss Church her business name is Raven. Kriss is fantastic, she makes everything and can sew anything as well. Anyway what she is doing right now is hand painting, decopaugeing drawer hardware.

My favorite is this pale pink with vintage doily.

I love them all so make sure you check out Raven on my website to see all of them.

A New Addition

2008-02-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

So I am pleased to annouce that there is a new addition to the shop. Her name is Heather Hedland with Tada Designs. She is the custom sewing specialist and so far I am loving her energy and talent. I first met Heather in December and she came into the store trying to drum up some business, I like her that very instant. Then finally in mid January she came again and we discussed having her put a bed together. I have this beautiful twin bed from Shabby Attic Furniture setup in the shop but couldn't find the right bedding for it, so that is what I put Heather in charge of. She definately outdid herself. She shows up with a bedskirt, duvet, throw, and 4 pillows all in off white colors, sooo pretty! I am going to get individual pictures of each item done so you can see the detail and workmanship. I will soon have them posted on my website at www.mypaintedchair.com.

Here is a picture of the whole bed.

A picture of the throw.

And my favorite part, the pillows. I love the standard sham with ties and the black/cream in the back.

Friends can be bad influences

2008-01-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago my friend Jenicee who owns Flaire Furniture told me about a book series that I just had to read. Now me and books, well we don't get along very well or should I say we get along too well cause when I start to read I can't seem to stop until I have finished the book. So when Jenicee told me I had to read the Twilight series a set of books about Vampires and Werewolves I was a little skeptical I have only read and reread the wonderful classics of Jane Austen and other writers like her so I wasn't all that interested in something modern. Anyway I became intriqued by how much she loved the books so I went on Amazon and bought all three. They showed up Monday, I started reading Monday night finished that book Tuesday evening, started the second one and finished it last night at around 2am and now I am sitting here at the shop reading the third. My husband thinks I am insane cause of the late hours I have been keeping and he doesn't really enjoy being ignored while we are home together. I keep telling him that the sooner I finish the books the sooner our life will get back to normal.
Anyway Jenicee, I thought you might like to know that Mark isn't very happy with you at all and that he may be restricting the small amount of time that we get to hang out! Just kidding! But yes the books are awesome.

I was able to pull myself away from the books yesterday long enough to get some questions answered by the tax man at the IRS building and I thought while I was downtown I would go and visit the newly opened Anthropology. WOW! That is all I can say, I have only seen the catalogs and this was amazing. The displays were so cool and I had so many ideas and creations that I want to try. I love being inspired! But my goals have changed a little bit. I not only want to lose my double chin and start running everyday but I want also to fit beautifully in clothing from Anthropology.

Oh ya, my friend Holly read my blog a couple of weeks ago where I said I wanted to start running again and she has talked me into running the Idaho Potato Run 1/2 marathon (thats 13 miles) yikes can you say SCARY. But I can do it especially with friends to run with because "misery loves company" right? Anyway if any of you would like to join just add a comment and I will let you know when the group training days are.

Bye for now, I will let you know when I finish the third book and give a small book report.

Ember

Updates on the store

2008-01-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a few pictures with you on how the store looks right now. It will be changing somewhat for Valentines and then for spring and Easter. Aren't the holidays fun in retail?

Lovely isn't it?

The weather is being wishy washy

2008-01-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Today has been a weird day, as far as weather is concered, it can't decide if it wants to snow or not. Either way it is still very pretty here, I love it when everything is dusted with snow. I like the snow but I don't like the cold, the older I get the more I hate being cold. But speaking of snow Mark and Ellis went to Arrowrock and Luck Peak Dams and they took some great pictures with my new camera.

Isn't Ellis so cute?

Why is it that all kids eat snow, it's not like we showed them how to do it. (I don't think, who knows what Mark is teaching him)

Beautiful isn't it. I couldn't believe the picture when I first saw it. Amazing!
I love Idaho! So many great places to go, see, and do.

Has it been a week already?

2008-01-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, the last time I wrote I promised I would tell you about shopping with my mother, but a week! I must say I am a flake. I am however going to stay true to my promise and tell you about the wonderful places we went. I forgot my camera so the pictures that you will see are from my camera phone.

First off we went to see Darlene's.

She is going to hate me for this picture, I think I caught her talking. For those of you who don't know her, she is a sweet southern lady with the best decorating style. She moved to a new location behind the recycling center off of Chinden in a cute log cabin. We had a good time there and discussed possibly going to The Rose Bowl together in March to go shopping, sounds fun huh? Of course I found many items I would love to have and so did mom, but we left with only purchasing a cool birdhouse for me and and iron piece for mom. (No the picture isn't the birdhouse I bought, it is what my mom wanted to buy.)

Then off to see Cherie at Good Goods. This store is my all-time favorite here in Boise. She has a unique style to her that no one can duplicate. I always find awesome items in there that I can't live without.

Then we went to visit the ladies at The Shabby House, it is under new ownership and Leslie and Lori are great at what they do. I did forget to take pictures here though, I think I got caught up in all the stuff to look at. The Shabby House is very true to its name, it is an old house set behind some scrappy looking trees but the inside is beautiful and each room is rented by somebody different so it is fun to see the ecclectic style that is in there.

I am happy to say that My Pink Door (who has space in The Shabby House) has also rented space from me and the furniture they have brought in is really cool. I will have to get a picture as soon as she is totally moved in which is supposed to be this Saturday.

Anyway, back to my weekend with mom. We went to the Flea Market on Saturday, I have never been to this one so I wasn't sure what to expect. The market wasn't very big but I didn't seem to have any trouble finding things to buy. My favorite dealers (Darby and I can't remember the other lady's name) were there selling and I could have bought everything in there booths. Last March, I went on a shopping trip to the Portland flea market with Darby and a bunch of other ladies, that was a hoot!

Nothing is really going to be going on for a while that is of worth a mention, except the Antique World Mall is having there 3rd Friday tonight so the store will be open until 9 pm tonight, somehow I need to get over to the Antique World Mall tonight cause I here that they have great sales on the 3rd Friday, hmmmmm. I will let you know if I was able to sneak over there or not.

Ember

My mother came to town

2008-01-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

So today I received a phone call from my mother saying she was on her way to see me. She lives in a small town here in Idaho called Carey and it is a 2 1/2 hour drive. Anyway, she was able to see the store in person and I was really pleased with her comments about it. She also spent a lot of money so that always helps business as well.
After her shopping at my store we then went to Barnes and Noble to see if the new magazines were out, specifically the British Country Living which was not yet on the stands. We then went to look at the decorating books and found Romantic Homes Vavoom, that book is awesome I highly recommend buying it. There were quite a few more that I loved but the titles are escaping my memory right now.
I am excited for tomarrow because we are going to shop. We are hoping that Anthropologie is open since we have only heard how wonderful they are and we only get the catalogs. I here that they have awesome displays so I am looking forward to some inspiration. We are then heading out to visit some good friends of mine at The Shabby House and check out there new look, then on to Good Goods to see Cherie, she always has great displays, then on to Darlene's Shabby Chic. I used to have a store next to Darlene's for a few months but the owner of the building decided to build a strip mall in our spaces so we got booted, I was only open for 5 months. Anyway I have not seen Darlene's new store yet but I have heard great things, she also has great decorating skills.

Well I am off to get some rest for tomorrow's big shopping day, I will take some pictures and tell you how it went.

Ember

Today I decided to make some goals. AHHHHHH!

2008-01-09T14:25:00.001-07:00

Okay so I am going to make some goals for this year, and I know everyone says to keep them realistic otherwise that ugly overwhelming feeling will take over. But I think I am going to push myself this year.

Goal #1 Become a better mother. My son last night kept asking for McDonald's and when we ask him what he wants for breakfast he says "I want fries". So I am obviously lacking in the mom department. I hate to cook so I think that is why McDonald's is so well known in our household. But, I did go grocery shopping the other day (yuk) and created nice healthy snacks for the 3 of us and actual items to create glorious but easy meals. So far so good.

Goal #2 Time management. I am going to have time to create, get paperwork done, redecorate the store and keep it looking fresh, and keep working on my blog and website so that they are as beautiful as alot that I have seen out there.

Goal#3 This goes along with being a better mother, if I start eating better then maybe I can look like this. I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but this is Sara from sadieolive.com, (she is so creative and she has no idea who I am). But anyway I want this face, (mainly I want the fact that she doesn't have a double going on triple chin like I do). So my goal is to eat better, exercise (meaning run) everyday like I was doing a year ago. Also I am going to motivate myself by signing up for a half marathon or two next summer. Cross your fingers!

So I will keep you all posted on my progress and see if this year will be a little less stressful but the same amount of fun as last year. Heck, I wouldn't complain if this year is ALOT more fun than last year.

Talk to you all soon

Ember

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

2008-01-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

I love this armoire. I am usually not big on unpainted furniture, but this antique is in such awesome condition it would be a shame and besides it fits perfectly into the new look of the store.Here is the entry of my store. The picture doesn't really do it justice cause it is so beautiful and calming and I am not sure you get that from this picture.

Another little vignette that I love. Look at the picture on the coffee table at the bottom center of this photo. There is intrique in her face.

I love empty frames!

Christmas, what a wonderful time

2007-12-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful christmas, I hope you did too. I had such a great time watching my son and the excitement he had for his presents and everyone elses too. I gave pictures of him to the grandparents as a gift and I am such a proud mother. He is soo cute! My mister GQ.

My first try!

2007-10-29T20:13:00.000-06:00

I am sitting here at my kitchen table working on setting up this blog, my son is next to me with no pants on cause we are trying to potty train him and have run out of ideas, he is sticking his hands in his glass of milk saying "bad dog, Elty's a bad dog". This is his favorite saying right now, mainly because he has heard it a lot from his dad. By the way Elty is actually Elton John and yes I did name him after that famous guy! I won't bore you with all the details of my night, but I thought I would start in a very casual way. Also hopefully my mom will read this occasionally so she can stay updated.