Sunday Morning, November 29

Saturdays in a travel agency can be interesting.  Yesterday we found out a cruise scheduled to depart today was cancelled. Customers called in, some yelling, some sad. There was one lady I spoke with, however, that had a very positive attitude. She realised that there was no sense yelling or being upset. Maybe its because she knew: sometimes what we think is incredibly inconveniencing is actually God saving us from something much worse. She had taken time off from work, arranged flights and hotels- it was a huge disappointment. But she chose to be thankful and joyful irregardless. Had the cruise sailed, would the engine have failed out on the ocean? Would they have had to make an emergency stop in an unsafe area? We'll never know. But sometimes it can give us peace to realise that when something doesn't go our way, it's our heavenly Father looking out for us. We must be thankful no matter what, and if we can be cheerful like she was, even better . :)

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~ Romans 8:28

Decor DIY ~ Candle holders

These were a couple dollars each at a thrift stoe - every one I went to has so many brass candle holders!

I spray painted them from top to bottom and bottom to top to make sure all the little curves and crevices are filled in.

All done! Distressed just a little - don't think I'd distress them at all if I did it again though -they looked nice and crisp before. Not a big deal though :)

Moleskine Hack

I purchased a soft-cover agenda Moleskine in July. Now that I've begun my Moleskine obsession, I wanted to buy another notebook that was ruled to put more ideas and journal entries etc in. I was going to just keep them side by side but finally figured it'd be much more handy to combine them! So here we go...

I started off with my (slightly worn) soft-cover agenda and one volant ruled notebook.

Some people call the next step a 'hack' - I call it adding tabs to a notebook - these ones are used like post-its, with one sticky part and the part that sticks out to write on. The volant notebooks have 96 pages, so I put a tab on page 33 and 64.

Now comes the real hack (which by the way, I haven't seen done in my researching yet...) You'll need a pair of scissors. Open the volant notebook to the last page and cut about a half inch off the end. Then diagonally cut the top and bottom edges.  The agenda has a back pocket, which will become the 'sleeve' for the cut-volant-back-cover.

You may need to trim more off the volant - but stick the back cover inside the back pocket of the agenda.

Voila!

Here you can see with the soft cover binding it stretches to make room for the volant notebook. I wouldnt try this with a hard-cover Moleskine ;)

Decor DIY - Mirror

I found this mirror at value village for $8. It is actually plastic! Completely fake, but who would know once it's up on the wall?! (Except you of course....shoot...)

The Before Shot - same brand of spray paint I used on the stool - again -wasn't pleased with it.

Masking Tape to cover the mirror - took a few coats to cover the gaudy dark gold.

All dry!! (One good thing about this brand of spraypaint is that if it gets on your floor it comes off with soap and water...not that I would have any experience with that ;) ....hehe)

A close-up of the distressing afterwards.

Moleskine Madness

So if you've never heard of Moleskine before, they're a brand of notebook.  http://www.moleskine.com/

But they are no ordinary brand - oh no. They are simple, durable, elegant and timeless. The little black dress of notebooks. They come  ruled, plain, with grids, bars for music or plain, durable paper for sketching or even painting. A lot of people add or change them (adding tabs, pockets, etc) these are called 'hacks'.

Here are some links for some great hacks:

http://www.organizeit.co.uk/2009/04/25/definitive-collection-of-moleskine-hacks-tips-and-resources/

http://freelanceswitch.com/productivity/the-monster-collection-of-moleskine-tips-tricks-and-hacks/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-great-moleskine-hacks.html

This is another great resource for Moleskines - simply add your text to the MSK template and you can print out a page that will fit perfectly into your notebook.

http://www.moleskine.com/msk.php?display=wizard

I'll be posting some of my own hacks tomorrow just for fun. If you're not as notebook nutty as I am there are some more before and after pics in the works too ;)

The Stool - After Shot

Kitty sittin pretty.

Kitty hiding.

Kitty attacking stool. I guess she thought it needed more distressing ;)

Stool - Before and After Pics!!

So here is the lovely little stool before.

Disassembled - kitty always wants to help.

Tools of the trade

Yes - I sanded all the paint off on my living room floor while watching a movie - does that make me strange?

hehe it cleaned up in a cinch with the vacuum.

Fabric was $2 I believe from the thrift store. Wrapped it snugly.

And then staple staple staple! I didn't do the neatest job - but who ever looks underneath?! Then the edges were trimmed off. The corner's were trickier -folding it to make it the least lumpy. I had short staples, I would recommend the long ones as there is so much fabric on the corners.

(I had to use lots of staples so it would hold.)

The spray paint I used. First one I've ever tried - not sure I would recommend it as it didnt coat entirely evenly, the lid was impossible to get off, and it gave a tacky texture once dry. However, that could have simply been my lack of experience ;)

Painted and dried, I sanded off paint where it would normally have wear...the edges.

I did end up coating the stool with a varnish. It made the finish look a lot smoother and less tacky. I'll post that and the final results soon!!