Shadows & Shopping

The sun has been coming up later and later and going down earlier and earlier……

This is a picture of a full moon that I got at dusk when we were walking the dogs a few nights ago…..

I miss more daylight, but I love that there are more and better shadows in the fall .  I love the feel of the air….that crispness that carries right into the crunch of the leaves under your feet….the smells…..smoke starting to come from chimneys, the pungency of the leaves being raked….mmmmmm…..I love autumn!

When I got up yesterday, the sun was just coming up and as I went into the entryway I noticed this beautiful design on the wall….

We have a piece of stained glass in our front door and it  cast the most wonderful design……almost as if I were underwater.

I worked on de-cluttering my rug hooking room for a while and decided to pull this rug out and work on it’s repairs.  It normally resides in our entryway and over the year it’s had pet accidents (pee, dogs scratching at it before they lie down on it, etc),  people wiping their feet when they come in.  It really gets a lot of abuse…..more so than any of my other rugs and of course the background color is light.  The GOOD thing is, it’s taught me that the rugs I make are really durable…..this one has even been through the washing machine.

I’ve pulled out the “bad loops” and have found some wools that are a close match and I’ve started on the repairs, so I can get it back to it’s normal spot in our home.  I need it there now that the grass is more damp outside and no, it really doesn’t wig me out when people wipe their feet on it.  I live in a LIVEABLE home.

Of course I had to put it down for a bit to go and buy some special mortar for the tile that starts going in this morning and our Lowe’s is right next to Target, so I went in and tried on “the dress”……it SO DID NOT WORK on my body type (I like to blame the dress…..not my body), but then I just HAD to try on other things which led to an alternate outfit to go with the new boots.

Target was having some great sales and I ended up getting the skinny jeans and (3) of the Western shirts in 3 different prints for $56 and that was including the sales tax! I was stoked!

I’ve become a bit addicted to Polyvore ……that is the site where you can make up all of these clothing ensembles…..hey, a girl can dream!  I think you can also do the same with home design….I’m off to check that out next!  By the way, I don’t think I’d ever be able to shell out over $2,000 for a bag! However, the necklace is only $11….that’s my kind of price!

Vintage Afternoon by skiptomyewe 

Perfect-fit slim scoopneck tee - neon peach
$25 - jcrew.com
Scoop neck tee »

Shiri Suede Over the Knee Boot
$168 - anntaylorloft.com
Suede boots »

BALENCIAGA PomPon RH
$2,295 - cultstatus.com.au
Vintage shoulder bag »

Melissa Vintage Rose Ring
$95 - swarovski.com
Vintage jewelry »

Bird Stud Earrings
$70 - charmandchain.com
Stud earrings »

Vintage Charm Necklace
$11 - canada.forever21.com
Necklaces »

Adea cotton scarf army
399 DKK - musthaves.dk
Cotton scarves »

Mossimo Supply Co. Juniors Western Shirt - Brown Print : Target
$18 - target.com

Mossimo Supply Co. Juniors Skinny Jean - Rinse Wash : Target
$15 - target.com

******NEWSFLASH******

Samantha has been adopted!  I hope this is her forever home!

One thing leads to another

I found boots like similar to the ones I posted about last Saturday and they came Thursday……not quite as high on the legs as the other ones, but they will definitely work….can’t wait for it to get cooler so I can wear them…..now I’m on the hunt for the perfect outfit to wear them with.

Funny how losing a few pounds makes you, okay maybe not you. me want to SHOP!

I’m also loving this velvet jacket, I love how it’s cut like a jean jacket, but it’s VELVET…..YUM!

 

Ann Taylor Loft

The other thing I can’t get out of my mind is a faux fur vest…..I just think they look like FUN! Here are a few I’m looking at….on this next one…it’s the VEST people, not the OUTFIT!

Express

Did you notice the sparkle at the neckline? Soooo ME!

Maybe it’s the STYLING that has me all WANTING so many things…..I love how some people have a knack for being able to put things together and look so effortless…..I knew it took a lot of thought, but it just looks like they pulled clothes they love out of their closet and just threw them on!

This is the other vest I’m waffling on…..

Piperlime

Below is my ultimate outfit!  The dress is from Target, so I might stop by and try that on today!

Boot Envy

I have to say I LOVE Alexis Stewart’s outfit, the dress, the over the knee boots……love, Love, LOVE!  I just wish she would have stood up at least once during the show…..I’m thinking those boots are a MUST HAVE for my fall/winter wardrobe!

A good night for hooking

 

Kelly and Renee working on hooked projects for the upcoming Ozark Crafts show, the first weekend in October.Good food, good wine, good friends.

 

Smooth move

My new furniture arrived yesterday and I’ve moved it this way and that several times…..still not sure exactly WHERE it will all end up, but it is fun playing around with new possibilities.

These little things make moving stuff SO MUCH EASIER!

I looked ALL OVER the net to find a source for these and the only place that I can find them at is at Home Depot, that is where I got mine.  If you have hardwoods, those little fuzzy sock thingies that go on over the plastic are sheer genius! If you have a Home Depot, these are worth the $8 for a set of 4….now you can rearrange your heavy furniture whenever you feel like it without having to have someone help you! Click on the picture to go to the Home Depot page where these are at if you don’t have one near you.

Okay, so enough for my personal recommendations on the AMAZING furniture sliders…..

Here is the new furniture…..sofa and chair.  The sofa is a “party sofa”….peeps can sit on the side and on the back as well as on the sofa.  The chair has a nice little granite piece where you can sit your drink…..loving that!

Needless to say, this will be a work in progress for a while, but I’m loving playing around with how I want things to look when it’s complete.

 

 

 

 

Can’t wait for the tile to go in!

OCD

This is one of those mornings when I’m feeling a little OCD…..obsessive-compulsive!

Why can’t I just do a little bit of everything?  Why do I have to become so obsessed with just ONE thing?

Right now I’m obsessed with healthy eating and finding new great tasting healthy recipes as evidenced by these books I got at the library yesterday after work and working out.

I also got a book to read, just for reading sake…… “The Gin Closet”….will let you know how that is.

Also picked up “The Perfect Scoop”…..lots of unusual ice cream and gelato recipes…..mainly got this for Kenny, who is supportive of my healthy eating, but I told him he could pick out ANYTHING from this book and I would make it for him.

Not sure how healthy Nigella Lawson’s cookbook will be “Forever Summer”, but I love how passionate she is about food and I’m sure the recipes and pictures will be inspiring!  If you have a chance to watch her cooking shows, you will know what I’m talking about…..she’s TOTALLY inspirational!

I’ve just spent the past hour listening to one of Jillian Michaels podcasts that I found…..she has MANY podcasts, so I’m going to have to download them and listen to them when I’m on the treadmill or something, because I just can’t sit here at the computer and waste so much time like that.

By the weigh  way,

I hit my goal weight this morning!

I credit a lot of it to my self-discipline and a majority of it to Jillian Michaels….her approach to HEALTHY LIVING and EATING spoke to me!

You can find her podcasts at MediaFly. 

Here is the one that I listened to this morning. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN. (it’s an hour long, but you could listen to just a little bit to see if it’s something your interested in).

Bear with me while I obsess about healthy eating, getting super-fit, and clearing clutter.

I haven’t added more items to eBay yet…..the shakers are not going for all that much on eBay, so I may put them in my Etsy store later this week, but hope to put some Rug Hooking “Celebrations” magazines in my eBay store soon.  I’ll let you know when that happens.

I am still rug hooking…..just not very frequently at the moment….I’m sure as the weather continues to get cooler, I will be hooking more and sharing more of that aspect with you here.

Have a great weekend,

Tammy

Vintage Shakers

No, not these kind of shakers….

……these kind of shakers……

I’m starting to sell off my collection of vintage salt and pepper shakers on eBay.  I also hope to list several “Celebrations” of Rug Hooking Magazine and perhaps a few patterns as well……

stay tuned.

Click below to go to my auctions.

Mixing it up

My new sofa and a chair will arrive on Saturday, so I’m now planning a little bit more for my dining room “in my mind”.

Here is what I’m currently thinking about…..mixing my rustic dining table with more modern chairs.  What do you think?

Here are a few examples of what I’m looking at.  Do you have a favorite or do you just hate it all and think this is a crazy idea?

Shelterific

The Design File

From Brown to Blew

Sketch42

Lucepedia

The Show

Last night was the opening of our show at The Creamery Arts Center on First Fridays Art Walk….below is the press release.

The Creamery Arts Center,  411 N. Sherman Parkway, home of the Springfield Regional Arts Council, presents two shows: The Art of Neanie Squires and hooked rug art by  The Center City Hookers. Neanie began private art lessons at age 8 and pursued that interest to a Fine Arts degree from Drury College. Her work was chosen for Watercolor USA 1976 and 1977, and has also received Special Mention during the School of the Ozarks’ Regional Show. As a Junior League member, Squires took on special projects for the arts, collaborating with the Springfield Art Museum on the Muse Art Rental Gallery. She operated one of the first downtown art galleries, Park Central Gallery on South Street, with five other local artists. The Center City Hookers  features the hooked-rug art of Sheri DeMate, Dulcy Stewart and Tammy Burks. Their works are beautiful, engaging the viewer through color, texture and tactility. (417) 862-ARTS (2787) www.SpringfieldArts.org Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F; closed major holidays.

We got to meet Neanie Squires and admire her beautiful works of art which were selling quite well on opening night.  Below is a picture of one of my favorite paintings that she was showing.  I just love the profusion of flowers on her head!

After the show, Sheri and I headed out of downtown to eat.  (Dulcy already had plans with her husband to have fried chicken) I love eating downtown, but finding a place to park and getting into a restaurant on First Fridays is a bitch next to impossible.  Instead, we headed over to the MSU campus to Bambino’s .  It’s a great little Italian restaurant tucked into one of the campus neighborhoods. We sat outside on the patio, now I’m not sure exactly why, but food ALWAYS tastes better when you eat it outside….is it just me?  We  lingered over bread and wine and pasta for quite a while.   Yes, this was a REAL SPLURGE for me….I savored every luscious bite of buttered bread, each sip of wine and every scrumptious mouthful of pasta! We had a great waiter, Gary, who sat down with us and we talked about life and literature.  He gave me a few book recommendations, “Lace”

 

and “Breakfast with Buddha”,

so I’ll have to put those on my reading list.

I love to hear what other people like to read, and I think when you read their recommendations, whether you end up liking the book or not, it gives you a little insight into the person who recommended it to you.

As for photos of the show…..Dulcy and/or Sheri will most likely have them on their blogs in the near future, so make sure to give them a visit.