My SHero

Today is my mom Isabel's (and her twin sister Clara's) birthday!!!! Parabens, mae!!! My mom is truly the person I admire the most, she is a strong, smart, caring woman, and I miss her tremendously!! She has spent her entire life dedicated to her children (and her grandchildren), and would absolutely do anything for us!! She is my inspiration...

She studied to be a Kindergarden teacher, but gave up her career to become a mom of six. She always encouraged us to become strong, independent people, all the while instilling on us values of kindness, respect and integrity. My love for cooking comes from spending endless days helping my mom in the kitchen... I still remember with tenderness how she would lay in bed with me when I couldn't go to sleep because of "bad thoughts", and tell me to think of good things like going to the movies or playing in the park... She would always leave the light on in the hallway because she knew I was afraid of the dark, and she was always our best ally as we got older and started pestering my dad for money...!!

When I got married and moved away across the ocean, the hardest thing for me was to leave my mom! I may not have inherited my mom's organizational skills and cleanliness (you've seen her linen closet...!!), but I truly hope I have made my mom proud!! I love you, mae!!!

Finds, friendships and awards!

I wanted to share with you a couple of vintage finds I was excited to get!! Lately I have been attracted to vintage religious figurines, and when I saw this one with these gorgeous colors I just had to have it!!

I think this probably started off as a stool but I loved it on top of my dresser. I will fill it up with lovely things!

This gorgeous embroidery was almost given to me and will become a pillow with the addition of some vintage fabric.

Also, I feel very honored to have received this award from Timi ~ A Girl Named Timi!! I am especially thrilled that this award is written in my native portuguese language!!!

It's the "Proximidade" award. This award focuses not on the glory and fanfare of blogging, but in the PROXIMITY to one another through this on-line world (kind of a Six Degrees of Separation sort of thing)."Blogs who receive this award are 'exceedingly charming' say its authors. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thank you so much Timi!! I always agonize over who to give awards to, as I love and follow so many wonderful blogs... I have decided to award 8 (10) awesome men and women who started their blog last year, just like me, and always inspire me and brighten my day!!! In no particular order, they are:

Teri and Serena at The Farm Chicks

Monica at The White Bench

Linda at Willow Nest Farm

Zita at Mlle Magpie

Lisa at Antiques and More Blog

Carrell at Country Charisma

Joe and Jermonne at Barn House

Mindy at Primitiques 'n Poetry

Make sure to pay them a visit so you can see for yourselves how awesome they are!!

Last Monday Joy, Diane and I went over to Martha for a "scanning party". Actually we just make up any excuses to get together... I wanted to use Martha's scanner (mine is not hooked up properly...), so she told us to come over and made us some delicious lunch!!

As we sat at the table, this is what was awaiting us!

Isn't that the sweetest gift??!! On top of that, she has just bestowed on me this sweet Lemonade Stand Award for great attitude/gratitude!! Thank you so much, sweet friend!!

I thought I would share a few of the pieces I scanned, feel free to copy and use!!!

A tutorial - Vintage Rose Canvas

I really wanted to try something new, this week, so I grabbed a stretched canvas I had laying around and a pretty rose print I got a long time ago from this great ebay seller, and started working on a vintage rose canvas. The first thing I did was cut the white around the print and burn the edges (you could also just tear it), to give it a more aged look.





















I placed the print on the canvas and roughly traced it. This is so I could cover the outside area completely.





























I grabbed some of my vintage music paper and tore it into small pieces. This will be covering the part of the canvas not covered by the print.





















Using Mod podge, collage the pieces in a random fashion making sure to cover the traced lines. Cover the sides, too!





















Once you are done, you can the glue your print onto the canvas! But we are not done yet!!





























I wanted to give the canvas an aged look, so I purchased a crackle varnish kit from Michaels. It is a clear crackle that can be used on any surface, and the crackles are filled with an antiquing glaze! The crackle kit, called Fragile Crackle, consists of 2 steps. Apply two coats of varnish #1 (let dry between coats) and then one coat of varnish #2. Because the varnish is clear, I found it useful to work under the reflection of a light, so I could make sure not to miss any spot (especially important when you are adding varnish #2...)!!! Wait a few hours (I let it sit overnight) and you are ready for the last step!





















Using a faux finish glaze base, add a little burnt umber acrylic paint. Then, using a cloth (or an old sock, like I did), gather some tinted glaze and spread it onto the canvas. Try to get the glaze in all the little cracks, then quickly remove the excess glaze using a clean part of the sock. You're done!! Instead of a rose print, you could use old photos or postcards, magazine illustrations, etc.! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I would love to see what you do...

Giveaway winner!!

Today is the day!! I am absolutely overwhelmed by the response I received to my first giveaway ever, thank you so much to all who participated!! I wish I had something for every single one of you...

I spent early morning cutting out all the comments... I made sure all the sweet bloggers who mentioned me on their blog had two entries...




















... put all the entries in the tote bag, and asked my handsome husband to put his hand in and grab one blindly.....

... AND THE WINNER IS.... (drumroll...)

Congratulations, Jane!!! You are the winner of my giveaway!! Please email me your address so I can send your prize!!

If you are crushed because you didn't win, the good news is I am going to be making more tote bags using these and other fabulous vintage fabrics and will be listing them on my (soon to be open) ETSY store!! I will also be listing some of my pincushions and bucket bags. I will keep you posted... Thank you all again and have a great weekend!!

My room (oh, and my husband sleeps there too...)

Kids went back to school yesterday and I am still trying to pick up the "debris" from the tornado kids having been home for over 3 weeks!!! I haven't tackled any projects yet (plus it has been raining non-stop and I can't do any spray painting outside!), but I am really anxious to do so! In the meantime, in addition to loading up the washing machine a gazillion times, I have been playing around in my room (yes, my husband always makes fun of me because I always call it MY room....). There is something really ugly there that I am trying to get rid of, so stay tuned to see the before and after soon! In the meantime, I leave you with some pictures...

I want to thank everyone for visiting and being a part of my first giveaway, I am simply blown away!!! There's still time to participate, as I will be picking a name Friday morning! For more information, just click here. See you then!

Time to play!

Yesterday I took my youngest daughter to an indoor soccer game at 7:40 am (yikes!), and after that I went to play!! I have been cooped up in the house with the kids for so long, that I decided to go thrifting, something I haven't done in a while! The thrift stores I went to had very slim pickings, but I was still able to find a few things...



















I will give this darling bamboo stool the shabby treatment and a cute barkcloth pillow, and I will use the embroidery for a pillow.





















I am always on the lookout for vintage aprons, and the crocheted jacket is simply stunning (and in perfect condition)!!








The lamp was a steal and the little crochet covered shade is so cute!!!

Because pickings were so slim, I decided to go to one of my favorite antique malls (Stars in Sellwood). On the way there, I saw a sign for an estate sale, so I decided to go in. Oh, my goodness, I have never seen so much stuff in one house (and this was their third sale at the same house...)!!! This person was a serious packrat!! The kind that makes me look like a minimalist..... I found some good stuff there!

I loooove the darling little vintage pink doll chair!!

This great vintage tray already has the glass, so all I have to do is put something under (but I will paint it first).

These old tole painted hampers are beautiful, I have a similar one that I use by the front door to store my umbrellas...

I have been collecting vintage landscape oils for a while and will be putting them on the wall soon.

This darling wicker sewing table will go in my bedroom to store the cross stitch I haven't touched in years (but I haven't lost hope!)

Some more things I found at the same estate sale....

I also was thrilled to find a bag full of these darling cherub hangers, I already have a plan for them (I will make sure to share it with you)!!

I also found a couple of things in Selwood, including this cute sewing box and some vintage buttons...

But my favorite find of the day was this adorable little vintage cabinet!! Isn't it so cute? I will be back soon with some of the transformations, and also a project I have been working on!! Also, there is still time to participate in my giveaway, posted below!! Just leave a comment on that post and you are automatically entered!! Drawing is on Friday. Have a great week!