Craft Mafia Show

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Craft Mafia show.

Earring Holder

I love the Rebuilding Center in Portland. It's a warehouse FULL of old windows, tiles, lighting fixtures, wood...the lists goes on. It's like a junk sale on steroids. I live in a 1920's house that my brother is remodeling and we've been lucky to find the missing parts of our house here. Today I even found the coolest screen to use as a earring holder for $.50.

Joyful Weekend Camping

This past weekend, the full family packed up and headed to Whalen Island near Pacific City. Now while I'm all for camping, I really miss the chance to shower on a regular basis. Well much to my surprise my sister learned there are coin showers nearby our spot. When we arrived at the shower spot the extra treat was a campground full of baby bunnies. Who can resist cute, cuddly bunnies; certainly not a carful of girls from 2 to 37.

Try to be like the turtle -- at ease in your own shell...and always remember the crown

Oregon Heat...I actually missed the rain

5 a day goal

The key with etsy seems to be how frequent you can post new items. I'll admit I've let my listings lag a little, so I'm starting a new goal this month, 5 posts a day between my two shops Joliso and JolisoVintage. It's not like I don't enjoy selling on etsy, it's more that I enjoy making the items. Here's today's five.

Junking Friday

We got an extra special treat this Friday...the day off! So with the day off, my sister and I headed out for a little junking...enjoy! Now i'm off to list more goodies.

Online must haves...

A clear indication that there's nothing on TV, I've been perusing online stores. Don't get me wrong I do like online shopping but as a thrifty person I like to inspect the goods before laying down the cash.

Clearance Russian Doll Hoodie from Alloy...ON SALE



Pier 1 Imports - Sari Patchwork Tote



Blue Bird Hutch...also...ON SALE @ Pier 1 Imports

Thursday Crafty Links...

Another round of fun links to satisfy your desire for crafty links and maybe just maybe add a little inspiration to your day.

• Wordle - create fun word art with this easy-to-use web site, simply enter the text and click away.
• Vintage Sheet Projects - raid your mom or grandma's linen closet to assembly one of these beautiful vintage-inspired workbaskets.
  

Reno: where indoor clean air doesn't exist

We are family...okay, okay I won't sing. Lured by the promise of a good family bonding experience, my siblings and I trekked down to Reno for a reunion of my grandma's family. As the oldest of five children my grandma is the only one alive, and might I say, she's just as feisty as ever. Although at 94 she wasn't able to make the trip down so we loaded up two cars with four children and six adults complete with one pregnant sister-in-law for a long car ride to Reno. Did I say long? Let me emphasize that one again.

This was my first trip to the "The Biggest Little City in the World" and true to Lardy family fashion never a dull moment to be had. Highlights of the weekend? Let's see...second day started off fabulous...I woke to a call from my dad asking if I noticed anything odd. "Umm...besides for you calling so early and expecting me to be awake?"

What I had failed to notice was the lack of power in our room, apparently a late night crash had knocked out the power to a two block radius. Well that decided our plans for the day, we loaded up the kids and set off for Virginia City. Virginia City was a brief stop for a train ride through the old mines of Nevada. Half way through the train ride passengers are "robbed" by a couple of reckless cowboys, all in fun and for a good cause we all tossed in dollar bills and change for a local charity. After the train robbery the sheriff and local deputy stop the train...can you guess where this is going? Yup, full re-enactment of a gun battle, it was quite amusing at least for us adults.

Forgetting the curious nature of my 4-year old niece, we were all subsequently interrogated as to why the people were shooting at each other. Hadn't their mommy and daddies told them it wasn't nice to shoot each other? This line of questioning was from the little smart and sassy niece who counts Christmas Comes to Willow Creek as one of her favorite movies. In a desperate attempt to end the questions and satisfy her never-ending curiosity I launched into an in-depth explanation of the ways of the Wild, Wild West. Oddly it worked, curiosity was satisfied and the conversation ended with her remarking, "huh, I'll have to tell my daddy, he probably didn't know that." Yes, Josi you go home and explain how the West was won. I have a feeling my sister may be in for more Western movies in the future than she is prepared to endure.

We Make A Difference Today

For one day all us savvy PR gals and guys step away from our laptops, put down our headsets, stop checking the latest Twitter posts or Valleywag dish, and set our smartphones to vibrate. Schools need painted, gardens planted, and bikes to fix for one day we're reminded of the big picture of life and just how lucky we are to have jobs and our health.


Crafting brings smiles? It does to my face, hopefully it will to lives of little kids around the country. Today we had our "WE Makes A Difference Day" where we're allowed to participate in company-wide volunteer activities organized by Hands On Greater Portland. This year I had the opportunity to make "smile" cards for kids living with a terminal illness. Far less messy for me than last year which ended when I accidentally spilled a can of paint on myself and the carpet of the school we were painting...yes I'm clumsy. But I'm distracted already from the matter at hand.

Before we start the projects the organizer gives us the profiles of the children complete with heartbreaking details. So inspired to bring a smile to their day, we busted out our scissors, paper, pens and glue sticks to craft our little hearts out.

Current Project: Grandmother's Flower Garden

Farm Chicks Show

Monday Musings

Here's a round up of your crafty links for Monday.

• Hula Seventy is having a postcard swap in celebration of summer.
• Present Past blog, just saw Heather Bullard's wonderful creations at the Farm Chick Show in Spokane, WA. Her blog is a wonderful source of inspiration.
  

Now on Etsy: Typewriter Key Necklaces

The Farm Chicks show was full of treasures, too many in fact to post all at once. I picked up these great little typewriter keys with pictures. I kept wandering back to the booth deciding whether or not to buy more to take home with me. These ones managed to come with me and the booth owner was so nice she gave me her contact number for more. The little keys are so dainty...I couldn't wait to make them into necklaces.