My Very First Blog Award!

I am very excited to say that lovely Rose @ Victoria Rose Paper Craft awarded me with my very first blog award!

I am so happy I can’t express it in mere words, because I feel like I have accomplished something. I only started this blog in February and I am extremely glad that there are people out there in the world who find my random blurbs useful and interesting. I can only hope I continue to keep you all interested *wink wink*!

Now, as per the rules of nomination, there are several things that need to be done:

1). Add logo to your blog – done.

2). Link to the person you received the award from – done.

3). Nominate 7 or more of the lovely ladies whose blogs you love:

Here they come!

Kasey @ Lola B's

Karen @ Musings of a (mostly) self-taught knitter

Seleta @ Simply Seleta

Melanie @ The Old White Cottage

Kennesha @ Me & My House

Design It Chic

Centsational Girl

Kim @ Heart In The Country

4). Finally, leave comments on those blogs to let them know you have given them an award – done!

Now I go off to relax and maybe get some studying done today. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Ah that tin…

I guess I am looking for some inspiration with all the photos I’ve posted lately. Yet, that being said, I have so many projects shaping in my mind that I find myself wanting to start a crafter’s journal just to keep them all organized. My real problem right now is that because of finals I took 3 weeks off of work and that really limits our income. Plus we’re having our AC fixed, so I really have to watch my spending and this puts all my crafty projects on hold.

In the meantime, however, I really have found some great inspirations and have added a ton of little things to my projects. I’m just waiting to go back to work so I can afford all the little things I so desperately want to get.

I haven’t decided what will be the first thing I make, but I have some vague idea – either a tin can planter/lantern or a jar lantern. Maybe. I hope. Who knows what will spike my interest next? Hah, I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

To keep the inspiration flowing our way, here’s some photos I found to support future projects. Enjoy!

So much color! Imagine the cans wrapped in deco paper, adorned using the serviette technique or decoupage, with added felt or buttons, or simple paint. I have so many ideas that I don’t know where to start!

For now, thought, I think I will go for a set of three different-looking cans to hang on the empty wall of my balcony. What do you think?

[Click on images to go to their sources]

Light

Well, now that it’s been two eventless nights (other than paranoid), I want to share with you my love for lanterns. All kinds of lanterns!

Don’t you just love them? I really wish I could place some lanterns in my house, but I really can’t think of where to put them! Maybe on the balcony? What do you think?

Hope you have enjoyed the photos!

[Click on image to go to source]

My Knees Are Shakin’

Three earthquakes in less than 4 hours in more than enough for me, thank you very much.

I was quietly sitting at my desk today at around 7:20 p.m. when all of a sudden everything started shaking around me. I looked at Tim, with my eyes (and his) as big as saucers, and felt my knees shake. Panic was written on both our faces, but because it lasted only about 5 seconds, we continued doing what we were doing. But 5 minutes later I about peed myself again. Another one, at which point I put my shoes on, grabbed my cell, and out the door we went… 6 stories down… in my nightie.

Now, it wouldn’t be so bad if we lived in a house. But when you live 6 stories off the ground, things change a little – none of that stand-under-the-door-frame mumbo-jumbo would work, because if the building decides to come down, you go with it. Damn scary, I tell ya! I couldn’t even walk down the stairs properly because my legs felt like they were not mine.

But, everybody seemed calm and we went back upstairs. I checked the news, the earthquake epicenter was about 100 miles south-west from Sofia at the Macedonian-Greek-Bulgarian border, with magnitude of about 5.0 on the Richter scale , so reason to panic (I send my prayers to those people who live near that area).

At 10:37 p.m., however, we go again! That one was short and not so strong, but oh my, my nerves had already flared up. Out the door we went again.

We haven’t felt anything since that last one (other than the fact I keep thinking everything is shaking). News reported it’s been over 100 micro-earthquakes since the first one we felt, and that there’s been seismic activity in the area since yesterday. Oh, and that we can expect this to continue for the next couple of weeks. Hello? Are you serious? I have a feeling I will die of heart-attack any time soon.

It’s time for me to go to bed, but oh my, how I am so afraid to do so. It’s all dark and creepy. But oh well, we have to sleep, don’t we? I seriously think it’s nothing to be afraid of, but my heart skips a beat when I even think about it, and leaps from my chest when the ‘quakes actually happens.

But to make this post a wee bit more cheerful, here’s a few photos to make me (and hopefully, you) feel better!

Here’s hoping for a tremorless night.

[Click on images for sources.]

Kitty Time

Meet the Guard Cat, Hope.

She’s a 6 year-old mix that Tim bought for me for 10 buck from the pet store. I have to say, that was the best 10 bucks ever spent! She’s warmed my heart for almost 6 years now, and I hope she keeps doing that for many more to come.

She’s very easily frightened. If the doorbell rings, she’s off to hide in my closet for the next hour, looking all petrified. My grandma tells me funny stories (when we go on vacation, my Granny comes over to feed Hope), namely, she comes in, there is no cat to be seen, but there’s no food either! My grandma calls Hope the Ghost kitty.

She must have some black-furred ancestors, because she has black freckles on her nose, gums, butt (yes, that’s right), a couple of black whiskers, and maybe 10 black hairs total on her tummy.

She’s also a very playful kitty! She loves to hide under the couch and wait for someone (especially Tim) to go to the bathroom so she can attack your feet. Then she waits for you to make a funny face and goes to hide, waiting to attack again. She pats your legs gently, and runs off again. She also loves pens, coins, and one particular stuffed toy I received a few weeks ago.

When she’s cuddly she likes to get in your lap, drape herself over your arm and purr. Oh, and her nose drips! Yes, her nose gets all wet and starts dripping on your arm. She also likes to bury her head in your elbow.

Custom is when I snuggle in bed at night to read, Hope comes over and plops herself on my chest, purring. She doesn’t move until I go to turn the light off, at which point she re-positions herself on my feet.

She also has a fat tummy, as is evident by the above picture (that’s her back paw hidden under all that).

I love my kitty.

One Final Down The Road…

 

… and I feel content! Accounting is over with, and I can’t be happier! See, it could be fun, if you get it, but I can’t say it’s my favorite subject. Now, next week is going to be the tough one, so much information to know that my head starts spinning just thinking about it.

Dessy and I decided to go to the University where we’re planning on taking our Landscape Architecture degrees. I called in advance, they told me they were open until 4:30 p.m. so after my final we hopped in her car and drove all the way out there. Except, we didn’t know there are 3 different universities all in one stretch, so we walked in the 2 wrong ones (thank you, old communist regime, for not putting any signs, anywhere) before we made it to ours… at 4:33 p.m. Well, suffice to say the Dean himself looked at us in such surprise and told us to come back the next day, because the secretaries had left a minute ago. What a waste of gas.

By now you’re probably wondering why we don’t just call instead of going in. Well, there’s an unwritten rule in Bulgaria that states that you get half-a**ed information over the phone, and only quarter-so when you go in person. I’ll take my chances.

On the plus side, we now know exactly where the University is, so next time we can walk straight in, with no side-trips.

And since I’m in such a scholarly mood, here’s some inspirational pictures. Enjoy!

   

[Images by book/daddy, Liam Quin, FreshHome, Renovation Design Group, oliveaux, Design Wonderland]

Back to blogland

It’s been more than a week since I last posted, but I’ve had a hard time finding my blog mojo lately. I’ve had so many things to do this past week, and with finals knocking on my door it’s been a little too difficult to concentrate.

However, I worked on several projects this past week and have some other ones in my mind, so I decided it was high time I came back to blogland to share!

Sadly, I forgot to take “before” pictures of the box I got to hold all my craft materials, but here is is “after” the fact:

The box is made of wood and came ‘as-is’, meaning that it was what I call ‘raw’ – just the woodsy color, and that’s it. I decided to experiment, plus I wanted something different, so I got tubes of white and cream acrylic paint, some crackle and went to work. Originally I was going to paint the whole box in cream and only the face white, and that’s what we did (Timmy helped), but then I changed my mind. One coat of paint, then one coat of step 1 of the crackle medium, then a coat of contrasting paint and coat of step 2 of the crackle medium, and here’s the result:

I had no idea what it would look like, but it turned out alright! Now all I need to do is distress it and put a light coat of lacquer.

In the mean time, I also worked on some hand-made mother-of-pearl earrings. I even wore them once, and I have to say I am very happy with them. Since then I’ve had a ton of jewelry ideas!

On the plus side, my plants are finally getting full sun and have started to develop really well. My petunias are still tiny, but have a number of leaves, and I worry they won’t bloom any time soon, considering I see full-grown and blooming petunias at the flower stands all over town. I am actually planning on going to the farmer’s market some time this week to buy a few more planters and a few petunias and forget-me-not’s, because mine are not enough to do what I want. Something like that, maybe:

Speaking of which, I haven’t told you the most important news! I am planning on enrolling to another university next semester to get a bachelor in Landscaping! That will give me two bachelor degrees, and Landscaping combined with Business Administration will give me the opportunity to open my own company after I graduate. How nice would that be?! My friend Dessy wants to join me, so we’ll both be enrolling. That would give me a chance to work with my favorite plants. I am so excited, even just talking about it. I will make sure to keep you updated on our progress.

My Etsy shop is also in the works, but I can’t give a concrete date yet. But I will keep you posted.

I hope you all had a great week – I know I did!

[Image by AllPosters.com]

May Giveaway Winner!

My friend, random.org had the final say!

The winner of the little hand-crafted wall decor is Heart in the country!

Dear, please e-mail me with your address!

Thank you ladies for participating!

Just a Few Hours Left!

Posting a quick snippet to remind you that there’s only a few hours left ‘till the end of the giveaway! If you want to have a chance to win, head on over and leave a comment here!

Good luck!

New Garden Addition

Walking through Farmer’s market the other day I came across a small treasure in a pot.

Source

Wonder what it is?

Echinacea. I had actually never thought of getting one before, but when I saw it the idea struck me and I wondered how I had never even though of having one. I had heard amazing stories about its healing and anti-cold properties, had taken it in the form of pills or syrup, but never plain. I did some googling and discovered that the leaves can be dried and used to make tea for when you’re feeling a bit under the weather or about to be hit by a cold or a flu.

And to think the thing was $1.7! Totally amazes me! Of course, poor plant was barely home and the guard cat decided to attack it, either thinking it’s so big and scary, or that it just smells so heavenly and inviting (the latter is more likely) and so, as a result, my plant’s leaves are chewed up and have teeth marks all over. Hence, no pictures of the actual plant I got. Thankfully, I managed to save it in time.

On a side note, I have some ideas swimming in my mind. One of them includes some blog sprucing, but I haven’t thought of anything specific yet. The other two need some more brewing still.

Don’t forget about the giveaway! Just leave a comment under the giveaway post (not this one)!