Sand and Sea in the Desert

Happy Thursday everyone! This morning I spent another wonderful hour shooting photos for this month's Sweet Salvage sale! What was this month's theme you might ask?????

 Well, I bet you can guess!!! Summer was definitely in the air and  the Sand and the Sea were everywhere. (Yes, even here in the desert.)

 Imagine what your home would like if you were a vintage loving mermaid... And you can imagine the yummy vision that these girls created.

There were fabulous European baskets every where, all filled with beautiful pillows and goodies.

 Containers of all sorts were filled shells and trinkets. And are several awesome mannequins if that is what your heart desires.

How needs the beach when you've got Sweet Salvage?? LOL.

 I just loved the color theme... Water and Sand... hmmmmmm....nice.

 My very favorite mannequin. Alas, she was not to be mine.

I am blown away by the awesome furniture pieces they have. Now if only I had more than one home I could decorate!!!

 I loved this vignette.

 And I REALLY wanted this pretty slipcovered chair. The price was really reasonable too!! I just don't have another place for a piece of furniture unless I start getting rid of pieces that I own already!

 They always have great architectural salvage there.

 Lots of lovely vignettes under glass.

 

And I just loved this rope and pulley plant hanger!!  

I promise I will show you what I bought when I get it all fixed up in my house!!!!  But for now I've got to run!!! Getting ready for Bunco here at my house tonight!

A nest, a bird and a very happy girl!

I have to share with you one of the most lovely handmade gifts I have ever received!  It came from my friend Vicki from 2 Bags Full. Vicki is one of the sweetest women I know, and she is also a very talented fiber artist. She makes the most gorgeous nests from wonderful yarns and fibers. I have always coveted those beautiful nests she makes and wanted one in whites so it would match my house. Well, sweet Vicki sent me one! I squeeled with delight when the package arrived!!!

Thank you Vicki! I will treasure it always.

And while we are on the subjects of bird-y things.... I thought I would share this photo I took this weekend. In my neighborhood, we have a whole flock of peach faced love birds that live here.  I hear them all the time because they are very vocal, but rarely do they hang out long enough for me to enjoy their beauty. This one hung out in our backyard Sunday, for almost a half hour,  just wandering around and checking things out. He even paused for a photo op!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this as most of the birds around here are brown and not pretty and colorful at all.

Yes, I know... I'm easily amused!!!!

Have a wonderful week  my friends. I'll see you Thursday after I visit Sweet Salvage, AGAIN!! LOL!

Anyone need a new party dress???

With the Where Bloggers Create party just 1 month away, I thought I would offer a little blog special for everyone who is participating in the party, and would like to make their blog look fabulous in preparation for all the new visitors!!

 I am offering several specials and discounts...

20% off a custom design (regularly $135.00) This only happens once a year, and the offer will end once I'm too full to complete the work before the party, so now is the time to get a whole new look! If you want to see some of the previous work I've done, just head over to Valentine Design.

20% off my do-it-yourself E-Book, Building Beautiful Blogs

or

A $20.00 tune-up. This does not include any design work, but I will come over to your blog and do everything I can to spiffy it up! Is your header off center? I can fix it! Does your background look funny? I can give you the right template so it looks perfect! I will do what needs to be done to help you make a great first impression!

If you are interested, please email me at karenvalentinedesignstudio@gmail.com 

and we'll set up a time to talk about your needs.:)

I look forward to hearing from some of you!!!

My $3.00 chair project

A few weeks ago I was hitting some local garage sales (one of my favorite pastimes) and I found this old chair for $3.00. I knew instantly what I wanted to do with it.

 I took a sharp razor knife and cut off the rattan seat.

 I used some outdoor shade material that I had lying around and cut it into two strips that got stapled to the chair and then I added a coco nest liner used for  hanging baskets  I'm sure there are other materials that I could have used to hold the basket, but I wanted to use what I had here at the house. I think wire would look quite good as long as it's coated so it doesn't rust.

 Then I just filled it with some of my favorite plants and added craft store moss to help keep it moist and cover up the strapping on the top.

 And here it is in place! I think I will spend some more time out in the garden this weekend. Even though the highs have been hovering around 103 degrees here, the mornings have been lovely :)

Stay cool every one and have a wonderful weekend!!!

I'm linking to Linda's Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday!! Go check out her great blog and the other thrifty party-ers!

Anybody want to Party??????

To see my party post for 2012 click here!!!

To view the entire list for the 2012 party click here!

I can't believe I am kicking off year 4 of the Where Bloggers Create Party! I look forward to this event every year. You girls have some of the most inspiring and beautiful studios I've ever seen!! In the past years we've seen, beauty, ingenuity, amazing organization and  some really cool ideas! The studios have been enormous professional studios and little sweet corners of your homes. They are all fun to look at so I hope you will join in on the fun whether you've never participated or you've played along every year!

So, once again this is how it will work. If you want to participate leave me a comment on this post. If you have more than one blog, please specify which one you want me to link to. I will add your name to the list of participants on my sidebar. On the night before the party(July 13th), post your photos and stories about your studio, yourselves and your art. (This assures that the early risers or those bloggers in other parts of the world can see your post on time.) We all love lots of pictures so don’t be shy!!!! On the day of the party we will all meet here and you can spend the next few weeks blog hopping to visit everyone’s blogs and get a peak inside all the very wonderful and creative studios!!

 
Don't forget, it doesn’t matter if your space is big or small, it’s yours and that makes it special!!!

If you want to visit last years attendees, click here for the entire list. It will be available until this years party starts, and I begin linking the new posts.

I have quite a lot on my plate this year, so I will not be sending out confirmation emails. Please give me a few days to get your link placed on my blog. Then check back and make sure it's there. If it's missing please send me an email to let me know. Last year I had several folks who didn't leave me a way to get a hold of them, so please make sure your contact info is available.

Oh! And please take the party invitation located on the upper right sidebar and place it on your blog to help spread the word. If you want to do a post about it... that would be wonderful!!! After all, the more the merrier!!!

WooHoo!!! Party on!!

(If anyone wants to get a pretty new look from Valentine Design for their blog before the party....there's still time! Shoot me an email and I'll get you on the list!)