What do these items have in common?

Coins, drills, clamps, wood.....

 

Ideas?

My goal is to have the answer ready for viewing very soon; I don't post pictures of jewelry work until its been delivered to its owner, so pictures will have to wait.

 

But I'm so excited. 

 

 This piece of jewelry is going to be very special.

 

  It has a great story.

 

It's been a learning curve for me.

 

And it includes two of my favorite things: jewelry making and power tools.

 

 

I'm guessing I'm not trendy after all....

I've never been trendy though, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that knows me. 
I do enjoy Centsational Girl Kate's weekend reading roundup.  She pulls together great links and articles for a lazy cold Sunday afternoon's reading under the blankets. 

Today, I'm enjoying the 2014 Better Homes and Gardens 2014 Decorating Trends that she linked to for our reading pleasure. 

Hence me figuring out that I'm only 23% trendy.  Here are some highlights, and how I rank on the "trendy" scale:

 Warm Grays: I've just finished painting my entire downstairs Sherwin Williams Sensational Sand.  It's brown.  I do have gray in my tiny little powder room.  Score: 1%

 Gold and Brass: No, and No. It's been my mission for a long time to rid myself of all gold 1980's fixtures in my house.  Score: 0

 Pastels: I've just never been a fan, either in décor or clothing. Although people say I look good in pale pink.  I'll stick to my bold colors. Score: 0

 Ikat: Over done in the blog scene, along with chevron, I try to keep my distance. Score: 0

 Agates and Geodes: OK...here's a winner!  We were trailblazers here!  Years ago, in the early years of our marriage, we had very little money for Christmas presents.  We hit a sale somewhere, and picked up a bunch of geode bookeneds as gifts, and I've since had an oddly framed attraction to them.  And yes, I just picked up a new one at HomeGoods.  Trailblazer, I tell ya.  Décor Score: 5%

 Taxidermy: No. Never. There will be no dead animals adorning my walls.  Although we do have a moose skull in the garage.  That's a story for another day. Score: 0

Wide Stripes: Another win!  We bought this house loving everything we saw at the time.  And in 10 years, I think I've changed about as much as could be changed.  But I love the wide stripes that were painted in our bedroom, and have no desire to ever change them.   Décor store: 10%

 Flokati : I'm not even sure what this is..... Décor Score: -3%

 Geometry: I was a great geometry nerd, and do enjoy a good hexagon now and again.  Although I don't think I have a lot in my house right now.... Décor score: 3%

 Dhurries: It's a rug. Otherwise, see #10. Because I knew it was a rug, I'll call it even.

 Raw Wood: Yum. Décor Score: 5%

 Mint Green. No.  Sage is the green that is the right answer. Score: 0

 Wallpaper: NO NO NO!  I have stripped as much wallpaper as I ever want to.  I did have a minute of thought of adding some wallpaper to a small amount of space, but I've since recovered. Score: 0

Rope: I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay. Rope is for boats.  Score: 0

 Painted Furniture: As much as I love raw wood, I do appreciate covering up some wood that's seen better days but is still a solid piece.  Score: 2%

So my self imposed "Trendy Score" is a whopping 23%.

 How trendy are you?  I'm not much at all, but I'm sticking with what I love. 

Snow....literally

We have snow. Literal, actual,  snow.

We are fans of "The Big Bang Theory", and loved the episode that discusses the term "literally".  Penny's (not so smart) boyfriend Zach says things like "I haven't been there in like, literally, 1000 years". 

Today's snow is our first literal snow day.   Yes, I will explain.

We've missed at least 2 days this year for "snow".  Snow was forecast, but it either didn't happen, or it rained.  Yes Virginia, we miss days for forecasted snow that doesn't happen.  Happens with hurricanes too (dubbed the "lame-icane" by the kids at school).

But today we have a snow day...a literal snow day....complete with snow! 

And I'll admit it: feet are up, kitties and puppies are cuddled nearby.

Motivation is nowhere to be seen today. 

Motivation

My Pop-pop used to tell us a story about motivation.  It entailed a dark night, a trip through a cemetery, and an open grave site that he fell into.  He couldn't get out, no matter how hard he tried.  After he decided that he was settled in for the night with no way out, a voice next to him said "so happy to see you" and lickety split: he was up and out of the hole in a single leap!  We used to love to hear that story, and would listen to it over and over.

My friend and I decided we needed some motivation to actually get projects done, instead of talking about them or doing a little hear and a little there with nothing to really show for your time. 

So we both made lists, and are holding each other to them. 

Here is my list, to be completed by the end of January:

Family Room: paint patch spots; paint column, take down curtain hardware.  This is the "not fun" part of any project: finishing.  Patching spots, priming and painting holes.  Taking down the curtain hardware since I'm crying "uncle" on picking out any window covering that really works for us and just going with naked windows.  

Dining Room: Paint table base (paint bought today!), spray chairs (bought today!), buy fabric for seats (bought!).   Starting a project is great if you have the materials on hand, so this feels like a win!  And I hit a great sale at UFab on two pieces of outdoor material to recover the chairs.  I'm thinking this will be more durable for the kids/pets/using chairs as stepstools kind of house we live in

Having the dining room table in a space that is more used and also more easily seen made me realized that it needed a complete update.

 

 

Laundry: Install second shelf; add trim.  Storage storage storage: Working to get closets organized and using the space better.  I've found a simple system of wood supports and shelving is much easier to work with than the wire shelving we were using.  In with wood; out with wire shelves.

Wish list: Buy and at least START my quilt top.  Yes, I'm actually considering making another quilt.  It's shocking I know, most of all  to me.  I have a picture I took a year ago of a quilt in a magazine that just caught my eye; when I find it IRL (in real life) and can credit the source, I will share it.  It's a modern stripe patter with just shades of blues and greens.   

That's my list between now and the end of January.  Add in there snow days off from school, plumber issues (DIY fail), electrician issue (fixed easily), having 50 over for dinner Saturday night and other non-expected things, it's going to be a challenge.

But that's the point.

Full

Full.  That's the label I will give the last month and a half. Full. In a good/happy/busy family time sort of way full. 
Pre-holidays I decided to add quite a few projects to my to-do list: two quilts, things on the secret list (ie Santa in our house) projects for Christmas Day, a sick child three out of five weeks, then the holidays and all that had in store. 

Quilt update: I don't quilt, and I won't attempt to help someone else quilt.  But I will say "Yay for YouTube!".  I watched video after video, practiced, failed, and practiced again until I got it.  I will never make professional looking quilts, but I was pleased with the outcome of the two I made for gifts. 

The first one went to my mom:

I think you can see that it was very loved and appreciated. She can now see each of her grandkids, great grand-daughter and all their names and faces in one spot each day.  I made her with her favorite colors, blue and yellow. 

Quilt #2 went to my mother-in-law. Christmas morning she received the quilt top and an iou to have a finished quilt.  We spent a few days there over New Year's, and I was quilting until literally when Brad said "we should be packing up" and I said "I'M STILL QUILTING!".  But it was done before we left, and I was so pleased that she was pleased.  This one was done with her colors in mind, more of golds and browns.  I ended up doing a lot more quilting to this one, and by this time, I realized I was actually enjoying the process. 

 

This Christmas, my excitement really centered on a few gifts I was giving: it made the whole holiday so special as I snuck around doing secret things, knowing I was making things by hand that would be special to the recipient.  I'm so glad I am able to do those things. 

 

I did a few upgrades to our basement "fan cave", but that will come soon.

 

Full.

 

After the holidays, birthday celebration with my mom, then Maryland time with family over New Years, we headed home for a day and then to North Carolina for the wedding of my nephew (#6  in a series of 11 nieces/nephews to be wed).  We had a lovely time in North Carolina with special people, a beautiful service and fun reception. 

 

Now that we're back to a normal schedule (except the 2 hour school delays, 1/2 days, 4 day weekend), my friend and I are challenging each other to put in writing our projects that need to get done by the end of January. We have a copy of each other's list, and we're going to keep up with each other and make sure we stay on point. 

 

I've tried to make a full list of things that need done, prioritize it, and then make a doable but still challenging list that I want to tackle first.  Monday I'll share the to-do list and share progress reports as I go.  I'm trying a mix of things that need to get done (not like my accounting work or laundry, I mean those are assumed!), things that would make life easier and something of a fun project too. 

I will also share on Monday my "word of the year" as I have the past two years.  It's going to be a tough year in some ways, but I'm putting a positive spin on it!

Have a great weekend!