Were having a baby!!!!!!!

Well not we as in me and hubbie,
but we as in our family,
My husbands cousin and his wife are having a baby.....And guess what its going to be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yes a little girl!
I am soooo excited I cant stand it!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally a little girl that I can fuss all over and take my pink obsession out on!
Having 2 boys didnt give me any oppurtunity.
and the PUG is not exactly the kind of dog you dress up in rhinestone collars and pink sweaters though I did try!!

This is the pug going ppppfffftttthhhhhh!!! Leave me alone!!

This is the expecting couple my cousin Fernando and his beautiful wife Carolina....Their love story is a real fairy tale come true!

The picture below is my partner Lydia, we have been doing event decorating together and she is unbelievably talented!
Check out my website for more photos of events we have done together. www.mylulabelles.com

Lydia can do just about anything she also trains horses, would you believe this pretty young thing knows how to castrate a horse!! I still cant get over that!

The shower was a surprise....Carolina got very emotional.............
We had lots of pink everywhere, we tried to disquise the orange and gold walls in my Argentinians cousin's Italian resturaunt(There is alot of Italian influence in Argentina)We put bouquets of balloons all around the room to detract the eye.

The Cake table looked like a pink cloud!!
Reconize this blue dish?? It was one of the purchases that I made on my last antiquing trip that hasnt quite made it to the website yet!
Its a irradescent fenton I collect Fenton so im not sure if I want to part with this one. :p

We hand sorted bags of candies for these containers......
This was the party favor table................I had ordered these beautiful baby rattles from http://www.pinkrosepastries.com/



The are simply scrumptous!!!! I just love them!!! check her site out for lots of other beautiful goodies.



I filled them with candy but ended up having more people than expected so so I filled in with organza bags filled with personalized M&M's and the flower pens that I make.


I will post some better pictures of the rattles later but for now these will have to do because ive lost my camera battery....

We played this really fun game if you ever have a baby shower you should try it.

get all your scrap ribbons, old flowers, wrapping paper, tissue paper, paper plates etcc....

scissors,tape stapler put everything on a big table,

then tell everyone they have to design and make their own baby bonnet using the materials provided.

then they have to wear the bonnets and line up for a contest to see who wins!!!!

There were so many good ones we chose 3 winners..........
It was a really wonderful day and im so happy for my cousin and his wife.....
I cant wait to get my hands on the little bundle of joy. she is due any day now.
I told both of them to expect only pink fru fruie things from me......
and they told me that as far as I was concerned nothing else had ever entered their minds.............

Smiles,
Sandy

The Pug and Meez

What was I thinking!!!

That's what I said after I saw my newly installed bathroom faucet!!
I absolutely hate it!!!

To me it looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex with the big body and stubby arms!!!!
The arms have an oldfashioned look but the spout has very modern lines. it looks like Carl Mauldens Nose!!(sorry Carl)
Not to mention I bought a nickle finish when my mirror is Gold!!!
What was I thinking!!!!!

I instantly told my husband after I saw it that it had to be changed!

He looked at me like I had 2 heads and that I had just lost my mind because we had a friend come over and change it for us and I couldnt possibly expect it to be changed now!

But he new the look I gave him back was 'yes it has to be changed I cannot live with this and I wont be happy untill we do'

So guess who won! :)

What prompted this bathroom spruce up was this picture......

One of my bathroom sconces had a short and almost caught fire! Can you imagine!

So I have to change the sconces, while im at it and have the wall exposed I will have to change the wallpaper,

and while im at that I might as well change the faucet because the finish was worn, then since im changing the wallpaper I will have to do new shower curtain and curtains..........

what was suppose to be a simple spruce up has now turned into a much bigger redo.

I made these littleshades years ago.... Sadly they will be retired and I will do something else

This will be the new wallpaper,
its a very pretty soft bluie aquaie paper with a soft scrolly damask pattern, Its from Blonder wall paper Cottage Prints book.
I like it for several reasons, its airy and fresh and the color will allow me to put alot of my Catherine Risi art work and furniture in the room, it will be the perfect back drop and accent to her things.
I need to put wallpaper in that room because its the one room we didnt completely gut and put new sheet rock in, the walls have several layers of wallpaper from previous home owners (and me) which I AM NOT GOING TO STRIP!!!!
Iwill just add to the multiple layers and keep with tradition whats one more!!!! :)
besides they say wallpaper is coming back...

Now because I dont have enough to do between home life, bathroom redo, kitchen redo, dogs, store, website, baby shower for cousin, camping next week, summer, kids home, vacations planned, mystery illness still lurking,
I have also undertaken another project and that was pulling up the carpet in our living room(my sanctuary) and redoing our hardwood floors!
This is my husband saying....."Who pulled up the carpet and is redoing the floors???????????
Actually he is doing the hard part of it but I did clear the room of my millions of Chatchkies
and will hand wash everything before putting everything back(if I remember where it goes) and do some touch up painting....
but at least it will really get a true spring cleaning!!

The floors are really coming out great! My husband worked for 2 full days hand stripping all the paint that was on them from previous owners and he did a beautiful job,

they are almost done!

Ill keep posting pictures of my bathroom project and kitchen project which are also in the works!

then I can say the house is done!! well almost.....

I just have to finish my bedroom,

spruce up my office,

tweak the family room.....then ill be done....oh wait......

smiles,

Sandy

Pugs, Pink Roses, Steak and Antiquing?

I am often asked how my husband feels about all the Pink Girly home decorations that adorn our home......
And I have to say to my to my husbands credit he is a really good sport and my biggest fan!

He is proud of everything I do and has only played the decorating card twice in our marriage..

Once when it came to decorating our littlest guys bedroom, I wanted blue silk check drapes and they wanted something to the tune of Star Wars or Sponge Bob! Ahhhh!

We all compromised and while there are plenty of star war figurines and space ships in his room we went with a very whimsical and cute monkey themed room in soft blues and greens.....

The only other time he overruled my decorating was when it came to building our outdoor barbeque grill and Island.

You see my husband is from Argentina and the Argentianian men are known for their barbeques.....Wood barbeques no propane here!!!!!

My husband wanted a really big island so that people could sit, eat and talk while he was grilling..... I felt it was getting too large and needed to be scaled down.....My husband very kindly said...."Honey I let you do whatever you want in the house, this is my thing, let me do what I want!"

I took the hint and backed off.... This is the only other time he has interjected in my decorating attempts....
Im glad he did because He is happy and so am I He has the grill of his dreams and I have the pink home of mine!
even the pug is happy because he soooo loves the steak scraps!!!!!!

Here he is taking a nap after a hearty meal! He gets in these positions all by himself!

Of course I plant lots of pink flowers all around the Mans barbeque station :)

Ill post pictures once I finish planting this summer.....

On a final note I recently went antiquing and found some great treasures some of which will be listed on the website and also used on future projects to come soon! some pretty jewels for more frames........

this im keeping wouldnt it be cute to put toothpicks in.... what an elegant way to pick ones teeth :P

great vintage millinery....... Love the colors on this portrait plate, cant decide if I should keep it or list it, if Cindy see's it she is going to want it im sure!

That's all for now, have a great day!!

hugs,

Sandy

Thats the story im going with!!!

Real Life makes you look 30 pounds heavier than you look on computer!!!!

Thats the story I told Tami before I finally met her in person at my brick and mortar.

Im not sure how our paths first crossed but im so happy we did because without knowing it Ive been a fan of Tami Kennars art work for a long time!

A few years ago I purchased the prettiest pink tray with hand painted roses on it.

It was signed by a local artist who made things for one of my favorite shops Gingerbreads in Ocean Grove NJ

Now fast forward a couple years........

I came across this artist only knowing her by her 1st name and boutique on Etsy called
Pinkbuttercreme

I asked her if she would make some signs for my brick and mortar and she said yes that she makes them for a store in Ocean Grove as well.

My radar started going off and I said "Whats your last name?" She told me and I ran and got the tray I love and wouldnt you know it had her signature on it!

What a small world!

Anyway she made some signs for me now the time came for us to meet in person!

Of course it came with some anxiety because of several reasons........

1. what if she is really some crazed lunatic posing as a shabby chic rose artist!!!!! ...lol...(Boy do I have an imagination)

and .........2. Ive gained some weight this year due to a thyroid problem and of course we dont always put our fat pictures on computer for all to see so thats why I told Tami.....

"Remember that real life adds 30 pounds on you than the computer does, Im not really this size im really the size I look on the computer"....lol....
I decided that was the story I was going with!
She seemed to fall for it! :)))))

And im also happy to report she is not a crazed lunatic posing as a shabby chic rose artist :P

Tami turned out to be as sweet in person as she was in our emails.................

And she brought a great stash of signs for me to sell in my store...........
I bought this one on her Etsy shop I just love it!!!!!!!!!

I added it to my favorite wreath, isn't it adoreable!!!!

Check out her site you will be glad you did. http://www.pinkbuttercreme.etsy.com/

On a final note my home is being featured on

http://www.terrysenchantedcottage.com/cottage-of-the-month/?month=5&year=2008

as the cottage of the month

Terry emailed me and asked if she could feature me, I felt so flattered, I remember seeing her on the Oprah Winfrey show and wished she lived near me so she could help me. She has other homes featured so check her out.

these are shots of my living room.....

I painted this pedestal and added a vintage plate......

This is another one of my dress forms that ive been making using vintage millinery and fabrics! I love them!! My signature mark is to use vintage dresses to make their skirts.
have a great day!
smiles,
Sandy

My Toes were crossed!!!!!!!!!

Its finally here!!!! My Catherine Risi Masterpiece!
When I saw this coffee table on Catherines site I new instantly I had to have it!! It was one of the most beautiful things I ever saw!
The problem was convincing my hubbie that I needed it since it is one of Catherines higher price point items and was going to cost a pretty penny.

I promised him that if I could buy it I would be really really good for a long time.......

He didnt know I had my toes crossed! :P

He still hesitated..... untill I came up with the deal closer!!!!!!

I told him that I had to have it because " the two children look just like him and I"!!

Him the little latin boy and me with the strawberry blonde hair and roses adorning her how much more perfect could it be!!

(Now your not alone in your laughing at this moment all my girlfriends did the same when I told them that one!)

but it worked and he said I could buy it!

I just love it!!! The problem now though is decorating it, since It has all the beautiful painting on top you dont want to cover it with lots of stuff.

And since I have a small cottage I need every display space possible because as you know I like my stuff!

I came up with a few ideas im still playing with to get it just right. but Ill show you what ive come up with for now,

No the Pug is not part of the display but as im trying to work he is trying to take a nap on me so I took this quick picture to show you what I have to go through to get anything done :)

I forgot to add the picture I wanted here but if you look in the first photo or the photo to the right of this post it shows antique cake plate on a pedestal that I placed on the far right hand corner of the table.

Since it was raised it didnt cover the artwork but it gave me a little more display space to put some of my favorties chachtkies (how do you spell that word?)

There is some open space around the main painting so I thought I could put things in those areas.


This picture of the little poodles remind me of my husband and me as well,

Im imaging that he is saying "San.....youv'e got some splaining to do!"

I love those poodles! Im so drawned to them at the antique stores! I cant seem to get enough. I noticed Cathy from Treasured heirlooms bought some and may be listing them on her site soon so ill have to keep checking her site!

Well thats it for now.

Im working on some more frames, ive been getting requests for the pink jeweled ones so Im working on it girls! just still battling this mysterious illness so im not always feeling so great.

but remember good things come to those who wait!

hugs,

Sandy