Under lock and key!

I have been on the prowl for lockers and I am SEW happy to report that I have had SUCCESS today in the locker department!  Have I mentioned before that I LOVE CRAIGS LIST?!!?  In just a lil' bit I'm hookin' up the trailer to my good ole duct tape mobile and settin' off to nab 'em before someone else does!!!

When I get home tonight with my much sought-after (in the affordable red.neck price range) set of lockers I have to decide where they are going to find their new home in MY home!

 

 In my living room?

In my sewing room dba my labooooooooooooratory?

In my kitchen?

Dining Room?

Or...in my bedroom? 

Where EVER they go they will be the greatest of greatest fabric holders!!!  What is your favorite organization tool?  Mine could very well be rusty old lockers...

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee
;-) Robelyn

photos courtesy of:
http://www.parispar-fait.typepad.com, http://www.flickr.com, http://www.re-nest.com, http://www.katie-d-i-d.blogspot.com

It was Love At First Sight...

I saw him across a crowded room...

My blue eyes met his a-luminous gaze for just a fleeting moment, but that briefest moment is all it took for me to fall for him - madly, deeply ...

He was crowded and packed in, a genuine hoard surrounding him, trapping him...

I knew he was everything I wanted and desired... everything that I had been searching for.  Strong, sturdy legs - His back arched and stout - able to bear all burdens (cat and a teenager...need I elaborate here?)...

I ran to him -  pushed and pulled, lifted and shoved the massive mountain of riffraff out of my way just to reach him...He was mine - I was laying claim to him.  His name is Walker...

Shaw Walker.  He now belongs to me - he will be the one to take up residence at the head of my table, the decision maker on the completion of my kitchen, dining and living area.  He is the one.

I am going to smother him with TLC, design a new suit for him to wear - polish him up and remove some of his battle scars... shower him with my love and affection...

He is mine.

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee
;-) Robelyn

P.S. Anyone have any suggestions for me on how to fix the aluminum skirt?  LOL  Brasso is working on everything else, but I am having a heck of a time trying to reverse the signs of age here...

Thank You for any and all suggestions - I'll keep you posted on how my "chair-mance" turns out!!!  ;-)

Just a phone call away...

I am so old-school at heart...TV doesn't get me too excited (unless it's HGTV of course!) - give me a newspaper and a hot cup of coffee over the news any day! I loose my cell phone more than I probably should (someday I'll confess to you how many times I've dropped it, run over it, lost it, lost it again, thrown it away, lost it again...). I learn more and more about the internet with each passing day - please don't ever quiz me on the inner workings of a computer (or how the net works for that matter!) - you would probably be the recipient of a very blank look from me. The microwave baffles me occasionally.  (Are all of those buttons necessary?  I think it's a conspiracy...). Given half a chance I would dress like June Cleaver or Audrey Hepburn every minute of every day (do you think my pettiskirt and frills would get in the way of my dumpster diving excursions? nah...). I would take a shiny black 1937 Buick over any car on the road today - and love every second of it! Big Band, Swing, Jazz and Blues?  YES! Am I in the wrong time at the right place? Perhaps.

 

I am SO old-school I refuse to buckle under techy pressure and buy a PDA - or even a computer program to keep all of my contact information in.  Yeah, okay, I won't buy it because I know I'll loose it (or forget to USE it) - but that's neither here nor there. LOL
So what do I do you ask?  Why - I use a rolodex!  But - because I be who I be - it's not your usual rolodex!  Surely you didn't expect NORMAL from me did you?  I combine my love of books (SERIOUS bookworm you are dealing with here!) with the needed storage space for all business cards and contact info. that comes zooming my way each day!
Such an easy project - do you have a few minutes?  Here's what you do...

Grab an old book (I like mine with notes scribbled in it and a little (lot!) on the worn side - I write mental stories about who I think had it before me) and start folding the pages back on them selves.  I fold 3 pages together, just so that I have feeling left in my fingers when I get done folding.  Fold the pages...

Fold some more pages...and then?  Fold some more.  Eventually you will make it to the end of the book!  What do you end up with?  Why, the perfect accordion file!

I THEN take some index cards, soak them in coffee or tea (whichever I have handy at the moment - WD-40 works too, but gets a lil' smelly), set them out to dry, then trim so they look like a tabbed index card.  Probably would be easier to BUY the tabbed cards - but hello. Look who you're talking to!

  This is where I get a little crafty...some rolodexes that I have made I attached the plastic marquee letters available at the scrap booking store, some I get brave and hand letter, a couple I have hand stamped...this one I just flat out cheated and used the vinyl lettering that I work with each day - but there are SO many choices out there for you! Use your imagination - and please let me know what you come up with...I'm always looking for new ideas and I know you have them!

Here is one of mine with a business card in it, but I have also been known to empty it out and use it to display vintage greeting cards, flash cards, menu's, etc.

 It makes a great display on a shelf, table - a desk perhaps?  ;-)

Now - here is my business card confession...

When my rolodex gets too full I weed out the ones that I don't ever use and take them to my laboooooooooratory.  I then pull out the duct tape and run some across the face of the card - flip it over and stamp "recycled" on the back - flip it BACK over and stick that infamous "red.neck Chic" logo on...

(I'm sitting here with a purely angelic grin on my face - don't you wish you had grin-a-vision?)

And there you have it!  Old school rolodex - with a twist!  Christmas is on it's way - wouldn't this be a fun gift for the bookworm near and dear to you?  Or - just make it for you!  You know what I REALLY like about mine?  It's the only organized ANYTHING on my desk - that alone makes it the best thing ever...HA!

Have a great week-end, Happy Junkin', guard your business cards from your local red.neck and grab up that old book!  Folding is sooooooooooo therapeutic.....

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee

;-) Robelyn

Just Taking a Moment...

Today I want to wave my hat in appreciation of all the little things – all of the random acts of kindness that I have encountered through-out my Thursday – every little thing that sometimes goes unnoticed and unacknowledged!  I love LOVE the little things… I think they all just add up to make my little part of the world a much happier (and A LOT more fun) place!

Here’s my list of little things for today…

I had a GORGEOUS sunrise this morning.  It rose up out of the mist and slight fog and winked at me as I started out my day – all courtesy of the man upstairs that keeps me out of trouble. (Well…that wasn’t a little thing since it lit up the world, but – I’m going to count it anyway.)

I got cuddles from the fat black fuzz-ball that jumped in my lap to wish me a good morning!

I saw a little bird flitting around my butterfly bush (that is in FULL bloom thanks to all of the rain – talk about smelling good!) And was REALLY thankful that Fatty the cuddly kitty was contained in my lap!

My sons beautiful face - he just looks so PEACEFUL when he’s sleeping!

A happy phone call starting with “GOOD MORNING!” and ending with “Have a Good Day!” and the knowledge that at the end of the day I’m going to get a call that starts with “How was your day?”!

The little marshmallows in my Lucky Charms…I love lucky charms.  They are magically delicious!!! And I find it extremely entertaining to chase the marshmallows around in the milk after eating the “good for you” part of the cereal (yes, I am extremely low maintenance…) Tell me, do you save your marshmallows 'til the very end?  It's almost like a dessert for breakfast!!!

A smile from a complete stranger at the gas pump (makes paying that gas pump SO much easier on the red.neck psyche)

Having the door held for me (who said chivalry was dead?) and another smile from a complete stranger inside the convenience store!

The rattle of junk that I really need to take out of the duct tape mobile… I totally  appreciate the rattle of a few birdcages and some books and some candle holders and some plates and a chair and some dishes and a killer pair of black patent ruffly heels (for the upscale trash heaps I dive into)…. All treasures to play with!

A chat and some laughs with a stranger at the junk mobile’s oil changin’ spot (I love the sound of people laughing – no matter what’s going on in their world, just for that moment they have cast aside their woes).

Yet another stranger handing me a discount coupon for my oil change just because she had an extra one!  Thank You kind lady…my junkin’ budget REALLY thanks you for that…WHOO HOO I have some extra pennies for the next garage sale!

Coffee ready and waiting when I got to work (Just another reason I love my job!)!  Do you drink cream or sugar or both in your coffee?

The “I’m happy to see you” smile from my partner in crime in sign land (even though she probably wants to smack me most mornings for bouncing in with a sparkle in my eye and rarin' to go)!

The random ”please” and  “thank you” that I get from various people…customers, friends – strangers.  Good manners:  The noise you don't make when you're eating soup.  ~Bennett Cerf

There is the prettiest WEED with extremely frilly leaves growing through the asphalt!  I love it and watch its growth each day! (I personally have a black thumb; therefore the growth of a weed through asphalt is a miracle to me…)

A HUGE HUGE HUGE “I am so happy to see you” hug - accompanied by oatmeal raisins cookies…can’t beat that now can you? I won't admit to how many of those I have polished off today.

My Mother's emails…she sends great ideas and some silly stuff – all guaranteed to make me smile while the wheels are turning in my creative mind. THEN – after she pulls up behind me and scares the daylights out of me (I was jamming in the parking lot with my ear phones on… she has no appreciation for the fact I was dancin’ around to some good old Beatles re-mixes! Geesh…) and hands me a bag of cool aluminum dishes!  Hmmmm….what should I make with them?

All of the wonderful comments that you leave for me on my blog – I read them all with a grin and thank you for taking the time to leave them for me!!!  All of you just help to make my little things BIG things!

I watched a couple of squirrels playing on the power lines behind the shop – I had more fun watching them play then I think they did playing!  I like it when they yell at each other – very entertaining!

The black birds sitting oh-so-quietly on the power lines stretching across the busiest road in Central Texas…amazing isn’t it?  And how do they manage to sit up there?  I can’t even sit in a chair without falling out of it!

Now there is the most amazing sky filling my line of vision…a front is blowing in and there is the perfect line between light/bright blue and dark grey…a beautiful silver lining separating the two.

It sounds like I’ve had a great day, right?  No…not at all - I just find my happy place in the little things!


AND!  THANK GOODNESS TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!!!  WHOO HOO!!!

Have you taken pleasure in the little things today?

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee
;-) Robelyn

WHEW! Give the girl some air!!!

I am so sad to have to report a fatality in the land of red.neck Chic...

My ugly, outdated, brown and I don't know what, ugly, missing a chain, tried to save it with pretty glass domes, ugly, outda...oh, now I'm repeating myself...ceiling fan died a nasty, noisy, gruesome - slightly off kilter - death...

If I could please have a moment...

*sniff/sniff*

Now, where was I?  Oh yeah...

WHOO HOO I GOT A NEW CEILING FAN!!!  I'm so excited! (It's not the one shown above, but how cool is THAT?!!!)  You know how it goes - if it works, don't fix it - that's pretty much my motto when it comes to small appliances, but I can't tell you how excited I am that the bain of my decorating existence is now laying face down on my front porch!  I know, I know, I'm supposed to re.cycle, re.define and all of that...but good golly that thing was UGLY!!!  And you KNOW I mean it when I say I couldn't even save it with spray paint!  WHEW!  No way was I going to take a picture of it...

a.) it would scare the livin' daylights out of you (yes, that ugly...)
b.) I refuse to record it in the pictorial history of all things red.neck.  No way.

(This isn't my new one either, but again...how cool is that?!!?)

 I had NO CLUE I was so picky in the ceiling fan department!  And, have you had to pick one out recently?  Oh my gosh - I'm obviously in the wrong business and should be designing ceiling fans...do you think the home store has any with duct tape?  If not, they have no idea what they are missing...

 

Not mine...if it were mine those antlers would be hot pink or turquoise or mandarin orange...something...

First I had to decide what finish I wanted to go with...that was easy enough (I have a secret love affair with aluminum...sssshhhhhhh....don't tell my fabrics or rusty metals) so I chose brushed nickle.  Well...that narrowed my search down to oh...I don't know... a thousand million options?  AUGH!

 

Nope, not this one either... but I'm liking it!  A lot!

THEN!  I had to pick a room size...small room? no.  large room? by some standards, maybe...but not a junkers...HA! Then there were some for great rooms - in my future barn with few walls, a couple of fireplaces and too many windows to count, perhaps one of those big giants will fit in...

 

(nope, not one of these either - but could you imagine one of these in your home?  I'd be tripping over everything in my path because I'd be forever looking up...)

Well, then the fun began...I started looking at the actual designs.  Now, I'm a girl that can look at something and act immediately - either, "yes, I have to have that" or "no way is that coming home with me."  But, alas, I do believe I have hit my speed-bump...in the ceiling fan department of all places!  Talk about some SERIOUS indecision!  It makes me cringe just remembering the choices that were available to me!

I didn't choose this one either, but isn't it SO pretty?!!? Who knew a ceiling fan could look so delicate and feminine?  I am re-doing my bedroom....hmmmm...

Anyway...I started humming "The Clash" song...and started singing to myself when I got to "the indecision's killing me" part (I spared all Home Depot employees my air guitar performance - the Lowe's employees are still scratching their heads...)  Do I pick a style that matches my crystal chandelier hanging over my dining table?  Do I get something simple that goes with anything and everything?  Modern?  Rustic?  Cottage? Vintage Inspired? Urban?  Contemporary?  Girly? Black?  White? Cream?  Brown?  Faux wood grain?  Real wood?  Matte?  Gloss? See my dilemna?

Well...I decided to embrace the sheer funkiness that is my house.  I have a Victorian (oh so deliciously girly) crystal chandelier hanging over my 50's dinette set that resides in front of my urban-y chrome open shelving - side by side with my mid century modern cabinet - filled to the brim with the absolute definition of shabby chic china and rusty metal tool boxes... sheer funkiness, but it works - I promise!  I'll have to take you on a tour some time!

And TA DA!!!

This is what I chose!  I turned the blades so that matte black shows in the room (to tie in a few other decorative elements and furniture), but the cherry red and chrome seem to bring my dinette set a little more "in line" (is that possible?) with my living room (it's all an open floor plan) and I couldn't be happier! Well, let me choose a new ceiling color, THEN I couldn't be happier!  Oh come on...you knew a new fan was going to lead to a change in the color of my ceiling...you HAVE to have me figured out by now... 

What is your most surprising decorating road-block?  Did you ever have to pick something out that you thought, "oh - so easy!" but catch yourself singing about indecision in the middle of the aisle?  Did they try to send you on a mini-vacation with the white suited men like they did me?  yeeeeeeee haw! 

'Til the next time!  Happy junkin'... or fan hunting...what-ever the case may be!

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee

:-) robelyn

Photos courtesy of: usadisplay, cdnantler, serien, decorpad, lampsplus, brandlighting, dedodododedadada.etsy

my Duct Tape does Dallas!

Sounds like a bad "b" movie title doesn't it? Can you not hear the eerie synthetic music accompanying the rip and tear of my duct tape roll? ha! But... it's true!!! I rolled my shiny duct tape right into Artisan Style in "Uptown Dallas"!

First - can I say this house is to die for?!!? I am going to have to do a whole 'nother post on the house that Brandon and Steve chose to open their gallery in!!! Whew - I just want to pile it on top of a tractor and haul it back South! Think duct tape will hold it on? Leaded glass windows, hardwood floors, crown and base molding, fireplace and built-ins, big bay window...the list goes on!!!

And the artists I'm in with...so talented - everything so colorful and fun!!! Unfortunately I didn't get to meet them all, but my day is coming!!! Opening night was SO crowded (Kathy Kromer's room was ABSOLUTELY packed and unattainable!) that my appointed photographer couldn't get in some of the rooms, so I am going to go back with camera in hand so that I can get you tons of photos to look at! In the meantime, here are some shots of the featured artists!!!

This is Courtney C. Lee's corner - "momento D'Oro" - and the guitar standing in the corner has shotgun shell caps running up the neck! Can you say red.neck girl's dream? ha! I'm chomping at the bit to meet her...she's a dumpster diver after my own heart!!!

And this is in the upstairs bathroom (again, I want this house...) and I'm not sure who the artist is, but OH MY GOSH - SPARKLY THINGS I MUST OWN!!!

Like I said, I didn't get to meet the artists that are featured but a few of them are: Darrah Gooden, Jelene Morris, Cindy Pacileo, Oscar Picazo, Linda Jones, Charlie Garrett (luckily Charlie doesn't mind sharing space with a red.neck - and his paintings are SO fun!!!), Dust Furniture and Hocus Focus Photography. I'm going to share some of the opening night photos with you - but you have to go see them in person!!!

And this one is Charlie (look, I do know something for sure! ha!)...

some of his photos have a clear resin/thick shellac poured over the front - they look SO cool with the light shining on them!!!

And here is lil' ol' me...

I kept singing to myself "think gallery, think gallery, think gallery" while planning my set-up/display because I'm so used to setting up a "general store" type area at shows and in the antique mall I'm at - filled with TONS of eye-candy to keep you entertained for hours! I wanted to take a few things that summed up red.neck Chic (really...is that possible? A summation in one small space? I think not...) as well as my handbags, so I ended up with 3 chandeliers and my infamous "coffee table"...the perfect drink holder for the bowling mechanic. HAHAHA!

I grabbed up about 15 handbags (most made exclusively for Artisan Style) and scattered them very selectively on some old chairs I spray painted metallic aluminum silver (good GRIEF I love spray paint!), snagged an old wooden ladder off of a front porch in a location I cannot pinpoint (can you get arrested for grabbing and running? hmmm...) and, of course, you can't be a true red.neck without the required wheels...so they are the bases for my chandelier stands. YEEEEE HAW!

I'm on my way back up next week with some more handbags and other fun things (I have to take another coffee table...I believe this one is gone already!) - but I have to tell ya... I kind of like the simplicity of my display!!! Of course, the day will arrive when I'm going to wheel my turquoise refrigerator and cinder blocks right into that corner - but, 'til that day comes I'm going to keep it as spacious and simple as possible, changing it out often so that each time a repeat customer comes in the local red.neck has provided new fun things - all with a side of duct tape of course!!!

When you are in Dallas next time be sure and go hang your hat at Artisan Style, 2417 Mahon St. in uptown Dallas (also known as the art district!)! It is SO much fun and SO colorful - and, you might even catch a glimpse of an orange-headed girl on cinder blocks rolling out her silver tape...

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee

:-) robelyn