new goodies in the shop!

FINALLY! I am starting to feel alive again! I am still not 100%, but I needed to get up and do something today to force myself into getting better. I am not used to being down this long. It makes me c-r-a-z-y!

Anyway, I couldn't do too much...but I did get a few new things in listed in my Etsy shop, so thought I would give you a peek!

A beautiful Swedish cookbook...dated 1899. This one is a GEM! 

I have 2 of these metal baskets...perfect patina, great size! Storage should be cute and efficient!

These old opera glasses would be perfect perched on top of a pile of old books...

And you must know by now how I {loooooove} old metal toolboxes! I use them for storage all over my house! My studio has a line of them up on a shelf! I can just grab it and go when I have to create on the run! 

And I cannot believe someone has not taken home these gorgeous french vanity jars yet! I listed these a couple days ago...they are quite large...an unusual size, so would really make a statement if you have a shelf or long bathroom counter!

Oh, and here we go with my toolbox obsession again! It it was not the middle of winter int he Midwest, I would have styled this old beauty full of pink peonies! Spring is just around the corner..this would be a cutie for the middle of your dining room table! {wink...wink...}

Well, that is about all the energy I can muster for today. I guess it is back to the couch of me. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! I need to squeeze a little TLC out of the hubs tonight. (Hey, I have to milk it while I can, right!) 

I can't believe how many questions you girls came up with for me on my last post! We are over 100...I had no idea you girls would be THAT curious! Thanks for taking the time...each one was fun to read, I can't way to get the posts going with the answers!

{smile...}

I'll be back tomorrow! 

Q&A...and a giveaway!

Hey, that title rhymed!

Not too bad for a girl that is delirious with a head cold and bronchitis right now! I have one whopper of a virus right now, and I just can't seem to shake it. Ugh. 

I thought since I don't have enough brain cells to compose a post today we would do something a little fun...

I'm holding a little Q& A session for the Urban Farmgirl!

Ask away! 

Anything you would like to know about me personally...or my little biz...my home...you name it! Just leave me a comment on this post with your question. I always wonder about the girl behind the blog, so I know you probably do, too! 

And just to add a more little fun, I will hold a little GIVEAWAY to go along with it!  I will randomly choose one winner from the questions and send them a little surprise package of vintage goodies! (I have some awesome things set aside...but it's a secret...so shhhhh!)

I can't wait to see what you come up with! Its been a while since I have done this but it is always fun to read through your questions!

Happy Monday, girls! I am off to curl up on the sofa...

Oh, and on a side note...did you know that if you suffer from those crazy coughing fits  - rubbing Vics vapor rub on the bottom of your feet and putting socks on stops the coughing?? I know, sounds TOTALLY crazy...but a friend told me about it, apparently her Grandma swore by the method. After another sleepless night last night,  I was desperate enough to try it. My hubs insisted she was pulling some practical joke on me...and I did feel a little weird doing it, but I have to admit, it actually worked! I have not coughed once since I tried it. That is my helpful hint for the day! 

i {heart} pine...

I am hoping to get a little makeover to my home office completed this month. Notice I say 'this month'...I am always amazed when I visit a blog and see someone complete a room transformation in just a few days. How do they do that?? I have to sneak a few minutes in here and there between client orders, working on the house we are flipping and the never-ending laundry pile. Please tell me I'm not the only one that takes this long??

Anyway, I use the smallest bedroom in our home or my office. The room is only 10x12 and the interior wall that is only 10 feet, has 7 1/2 feet of closet on it. The two outside walls have huge windows on them. Each one is 4 ft wide x 5 feet tall. Those are big windows for such a little room, so it makes furniture placement a little tricky. 

I have an 'odd' corner between those windows, and nothing every really seemed to work right in that space. I walked in to the room last week, and I decided it was time, literally, to do something with this room. I have those moments...I ignore a space and then like flipping a switch I decide its time to change it up. As in RIGHT. NOW. My hubs probably thinks I am crazy. But, he goes along with my whims without saying a word, so we drove to my warehouse to see if I had anything on hand I could use. 

And there, buried waaaay in the back I found this old girl...

I picked her up at an auction last winter, hoping I would find a place for her - someday. 

I cannot tell you how much I love this cupboard! The perfect piece to go with my crisp white walls. Thank goodness I never sold this piece. I can't wait to fill her with pretty things...

Since we are on the subject of my home office....I'll show you a few inspiration pics from my Pinterest files that I am using for this space. 

I also found this exact.same.desk while I was dragging things out at my warehouse. It is solid oak...an old teacher's desk from our school district. It is being painted white as we speak, I hope to have it finished up and in place this weekend. 

Above the desk, I am thinking I need a bulletin board. I rather love the 'unstructured' style of this one...

Maybe that would help tame the 6,247 pieces of paper that somehow accumulate on the top of my desk. 

Well girls, Happy Wednesday to you! 

I am off to pack Etsy orders. I loaded the shop with some new things last night and they went so fast! I am going through the treasures from my grandmother's home right now...so if you see a lot of roses this week, that is why. She loved her pink roses!

well hello, 2012...I have plans for you!

It has been a fantastic couple of weeks around here! I hope all of you had wonderful Holidays! I have some blog reading to catch up on so I can get up to speed on what you have been up to! 

First of all, I have to start by sayingTHANK YOU for making 2011 so incredible for me! Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to stop by my little corner of the blog world and for all your support of my Etsy shop and my booth at the flea market. You are what make it possible for me to do what I love and be able to make a living doing it. To hunt, to gather, to create. It truly fills my soul to be able to spend my life exploring nooks and crannys...all in the hope of bringing a little piece of happiness into your home.

 {HUGS to all of you!}

I don't usually get into all the "New Year" hubbub, but for some reason this year I am feeling refreshed and renewed! 2012 already has some AMAZING things on the horizon for me, both professionally and personally. I don't really do 'resolutions' but there are a few things that I am so stinkin' excited to change around here! There is something about turing that first page on a new calendar makes all things seem possible!

One BIG thing for me that is going to change...my business. I am sooooo excited to revamp things a little  so I can improve on aspects of it I have let take a backseat for too long! Yes, that means blogging. I really need to be better about posting more often. I just have an insane amount of furniture to paint for clients, everything else just seems to fall to the wayside when I have deadlines. But, I am going to change that this year.  I am not saying I am going to do a daily post, because quite frankly, that is just unrealistic for me. But there are going to be more project posts, more business information posts (I get so many emails about that, I think a post once in a while is the best way to answer everyones questions) and I swear I will actually take time out of the craziness to show you inside my home. I know, I know...I have been so bad about that, because I have been all work and no play for so many years now. It is time to bust out of my old ways...and do things a little differently! Do what I want to do...not what I feel obligated to do. 

And for my Chicagoland friends that shop my space at the flea market in St. Charles...my 2012 schedule is now on my sidebar. I have will still have my regular space with the sea of white furniture you love so much...but this spring I will be rolling out a new line of custom made pieces. Everything will be made from salvaged bits from old barns and farmhouses. Just think old chippy paint and naturally weathered wood. Farm tables, locker-inspired cabinets...I am soooo excited about it! I have had this in the works for so long, I am over-the-moon I could finally make it happen!

I am considering offering some of my furniture for sale on my blog, too. A special piece here and there, just for fun.

(all photos are via my Pinterest board 'words to live by')

And while we are on the subject of new things...before Christmas, I had a fabulous Saturday spent with 3 new blog friends and it was such a great time! Stacey, from A Sort of Fairytale and I went to the Tattered Tiques sale in Lake Barrington, IL (their next sale is Jan. 13-15th...if you live around Chicagoland, you MUST go!). Two sisters, Anne & Julie, have an incredible space and they are HILARIOUS! Just my kind of girls! Isn't it AMAZING when you meet someone you have only known through their writing and there is an instant 'click'? So rare and so awesome when it happens!

{sigh...}


Happy New Year, friends!

I am off to eat a little dinner and cozy up by the fire with my hubs. It was a nippy 20 degrees here and really windy today. Brrrrr!