A Difficult Decision

Dear Friends,

I have thought long and hard about this decision I've finally made, and it has not come easily.  I've decided to walk away from blogging, at least for now.  I began this blogging adventure in September of 2010 and have had lots of fun along the way.  Blogging in those first couple of years was joyful....there was kind of an innocence about it.  The friends I made (and still have a few) were so kind and eager to share just the simple everyday things of life.  Very few had sponsors, and most of us were just eager to share with each other.  

Sadly, many things have changed in this "Blog World."  There is such a competitive vibe now.  For many it seems, they have to be constantly changing something or buying something to make their homes more picture-perfect.  And there are so many "fashion bloggers" now....if you don't shop at Nordstroms, well...!  Please don't think this is "sour grapes" on my part...maybe it's my age, who knows.  I just find it very annoying to attempt to read someone's post and have ads popping up between every paragraph or photo.  I realize  those of you who have sponsors have no control over this, and God bless you if you need to go this route to have additional income for your family.  I truly wish you much success.  I just miss the days when it felt like good friends chatting over coffee or hearing the latest news over the back fence.  I guess it does sound like an "age thing!"

I don't regret any part of these last 10 years, and the very close bond I've made with some of you bring tears to my eyes.  You've warmed my heart more than you can imagine, and your kindness when I was battling cancer gave me so much strength.  I will forever be grateful.

All that being said, I cannot totally cut the apron strings.  I'm not shutting down my blog, but it will be inactive.  I've decided that sharing on IG might be the best thing for me, and if you want to follow me that way, you can find me HERE.  I'll be always grateful to hear from you.

Most truly yours,

Carol

Boxes and More Boxes

Hey everyone!  Yes, I'm back after being MIA for over a month...maybe "once-a-month blogging" is my new normal.  Who knows!  

You might be wondering from the title of this post, if we are moving.  NO, we are definitely not moving!  So what's going on?

                  

It was a sofa delivery!  Not exactly the normal way to receive a new sofa....well, not normal unless your sofa is coming from IKEA!  Box after box came through our front door....a total of 7 large and 3 small ones.  We are now the happy owners of the EKTORP Sectional in Lofallet Beige!

The instructions were quite good, and everything was well labeled.  It kind of goes together 

like a puzzle.

Even ironing the slipcover was not bad...this fabric is so nice and the wrinkles just melted away.

It only took about two hours, start to finish, to put this sofa together!

TA-DA!

The Man and I are both so happy with this color.  It took some effort on my part to convince The Man that this was not too light, but now he is as happy as I am.  Light is good, but white would have looked terrible in here.

We also really like that we can buy another slipcover in a different color, should we 

want to do so.  Oh, the slipcover is washable, too!

We also purchased two of these EKTORP ottomans.  I put glides under the feet of both, so they can be moved around very easily....great storage inside, too!

This room had been very awkward for furniture arranging until we decided on this sectional sofa.

We are so HAPPY!

Even though we are several hours from the Pacific Ocean, I still like to add some beach 

elements to my Summer decor.

This is pretty much all I am doing for July 4th this year.  

I'm actually quite pleased with this mantel arrangement and will probably leave it up for 

most of July!

Complete change of topic here, but I promised several months ago to let you know whether I like this foundation or not.  The answer is YES!  I wanted to give it a really good try before I said anything.  It has felt great on my face during cool-dry, hot-dry, and very hot-dry weather....we will have to wait and see how it holds up during our Monsoon season!  It's available at ULTA for $38 here in AZ, but I just recently bought a backup using a 20% coupon...YAY!

Now, just for the "cute factor."  Miss Abby had a urinary tract infection recently and was on an antibiotic for two weeks, and this is what we had to do to give her medicine.  Yes, a kitty burrito!  The Man would wrap her up and hold her while I squirted in the meds; and then he would just hold her like this for awhile....I think she actually liked this part, too!  Good news, she is all well now!

Thanks so much for stopping by and for not giving up on me.  No promises that I'll be posting often, but posting when I have something to share.  Hope everyone is having a great Summer.  Can you believe this year is half over?  Where does the time go?  Don't waste it!

Hugs,

Carol

I hope to be joining some of these lovely ladies this week:

Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesdays

Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Carol at The Red Painted Cottage for Share Your Style Party

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

No Idle Hands or Mind Around Here

Hey everyone!  I told you I’d be back soon with another post and let you know what I’ve been doing to keep busy and out of trouble...HAHA!   Well, I've spent quite a lot of time over the last couple of weeks, purging and reorganizing some closets....don't tell me you're surprised!  One of those closets is my craft room closet.  It wasn't really bad but did need some tidying up.  I would love to take off the doors, but there just isn't a good place to store them safely, and some day they would need to go back on the closet.  That being said, I tried to create my storage accordingly.

                         

Left side of closet is all things fabric-related....sewing/quilting, patterns, trims, etc.

Right side is paper-related...seasonal scrapbook/cardmaking supplies, plus the printer and

all of its related items.  Yes, of course everything is labeled!

 
   

I picked up some new cloth-covered boxes at IKEA to replace the old file boxes with lids (also from IKEA), because they were looking rather tattered and didn't completely fill the cubies like these do.  These come in several colors, but I liked the white and the polka dot the best.

       

I am thoroughly enjoying my little seasonal tree!  It's dressed in vintage-mode for now....birds,

fabric yoyos, garlands, etc.

Do you know about travelers' journals?  I'm guessing these journals were intended for just what the name implies, but I use them for daily journaling.  I've been having fun making my own since last Fall.  I prefer one per month, each with about forty pages to write or create on.  There are so many 

fun tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest, showing how to make these from scratch or even with recycled materials.  You can also find them all ready made up in a plain Kraft paper....these are super simple to cover with scrapbook paper you've been hoarding collecting.

                           

You can be just as creative as you want, or keep them simple and filled with your daily thoughts.

I like buying these faux leather binders that come with 2 or 3 of the plain Kraft paper journals inside. This way I can store 3 of my finished journals in each one....I still need to add some tags with the month and year.

 

I saw this cute printable and idea from Bev at Flamingo Toes and just had to make one!  I haven't embroidered in eons, but these stitches are easy.  This is going somewhere in my craft room, but I just haven't decided where....isn't it cute?

    

Finally decided to dedicate this Raskgog cart to my Project Life card sets, with the second basket down, holding my photos and any collected ephemera I want to put in a scrapbook.  The bottom

basket is up for grabs...right now it's holding a crocheted basket full of homemade pompoms, because why wouldn't you want a delicious little supply of those fuzzy cuties?  Just sayin'!

I adore decorating the top of my Kallax, but it seldom remains the same for very long!

I have a little crush going on with flamingos right now!

I just recently changed this little shelving unit to hold a few wood stamps, some jars of paper flowers, and some other cute little jars filled with "stuff!"  Anything that makes me smile is a good fit in my

"Crafty Happy Place!"

Catching up on my scrapbook albums can be time-consuming, but it's something I absolutely love doing.  These pages were from last Thanksgiving when our son and family were with us.  I'm almost

completely caught up!

I haven't changed too many things decor-wise since Spring, but I did put together a fun

vignette for the kitchen island.

So what are you all doing to keep busy right now?  I know many of you have finally started having Spring-Summer weather and are probably moving your activities outdoors.  Here in the AZ desert, we've already had some triple-digit temps and moving most activities (unless they are water-related) to the indoors.  Early morning and evening temps are still feeling good, but that won't last for long!  Well, it is what it is!  Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Carol

I hope to be joining some of these lovely ladies this week:

Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesdays

Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Carol at The Red Painted Cottage for Share Your Style Party

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home