Etsy, part 2

Today was all about photos and music. I finished taking my photos this afternoon, did a little scrapbooking and found a new favorite song. I'd say that makes for a pretty spectacular day! Other than Etsy I'm working on the next Everyday Challenge for the Crate Paper blog. This month's challenge topic will be a first for me so it's kind of special. My challenge post will go up on Monday if you happen to feel like scrapbooking next week. ;)

here's a few more photos for Etsy. I really love Christmas colors, they're so pretty and girly. It's such a fun change from all the orange and black we had for Halloween just a couple of weeks ago!

{I made another little page for my December journal using one of the kits. I'm on a roll!}

and I found this song, that I think is so amazing! I must be late finding this song so it may not be new to you but I put it on repeat tonight and edited all of my photos to it! It's my new fav work song.

Time for some peppermint tea and a little menu planning for next Thursday! good night!

Etsy preview

it's late but I wanted to post some of the photos from today! I still have 2 full kits to photograph tomorrow but I am almost ready! I'm going to say that I will be re-opening the shop this Saturday morning. Like most of the kits I've put together I included a few vintage items I've been saving for the right project. I even pulled out this old box of vintage type writer paper to create little tags for each product. I do love my sewing machine and typewriter. :)

~ onto the photos!

This last photo is part of a kit that I'll be photographing tomorrow. I already dove into the kit and starting playing with some of the pages.... just getting a head start on my own December mini!

So, I'll come back tomorrow and add a few more photos. I also want to put together a giveaway for Saturday.... something perfect for the holiday!

just another Monday

I came home this afternoon in a great mood, I had after all, just found the most beautiful vintage red coat while at an antique store earlier this morning. (I've already asked Peter to take me on an afternoon date up North so that I can wear it!) I was all ready to get to work and start photographing when..... I got a phone call.

Our neighbors 15 yr. old son was having an eye-brow emergency and who's the first person you call in a situation like that? Well apparently, me. So, after making an eye-brow house call and trying to calm down a teenager, I had lost the best light of the day and my mojo was a little wiped out. (If you're wondering how I went from a red coat with a gorgeous fox fur trim to teenage eyebrows, I can only say that my life is completely random and you got to move fast to keep up!) Can I just say now, that no one could pay me enough to be a teenager again. Remember when something as simple as eyebrows could be the deal breaker to your popularity in high school?

No thank you.

I did take a few photos though. I'm in the process of packaging everything now. I'll be wrapping up the smaller kits tonight. Everything is pretty and layered and a tiny bit sparkly. I love the packaging process!

I'm hoping to start taking photos again tomorrow.... that is if I don't get another phone call. :)

8 things I love: Saturday

I'm taking a little break this afternoon to post my outfit of the week! The closer to winter we get, the more excited I am about jackets! My Grandmother gave me a few of her winter coats, the old wool ones with the fur collars. I am so determined to wear them this winter and even if doesn't get the cold here, I'm going to take the chance of being overly dressed and wear them anyway! :) So, this weeks '8 things' is Grandma inspired!

winter weekend by taraanderson featuring straight leg stretch jeans

1. comfy knitted sweater
2. wool coat
3. dark straight leg jeans
4. big knitted scarf
5. fuzzy ear muffs
6. leather tote bag (I love anything in an eggplant color!)
7. printed gloves
8. brown riding boots
+ 1. a pine scented candle from Bath and Body Works because cactus' don't smell very holiday-ish!


and...... I'm working on an update for my Etsy shop! I'm so excited about this too because it's just in time for Christmas. I've put together 3 different Holiday/Christmas kits; Peppermint, Sugar Plum and Sleigh Ride. Each kit has handmade paper stickers, vintage bits and bobs, garlands, snowflakes and layers of paper. I made an extra kit for me so I can play along this December too!

{I took these with my phone today. I'll be added some much better photos on Monday as I get each kit all packaged up!)




alright, I'm off to get some more sewing done! Enjoy your weekend!

a quick hello

just getting the Color Challenge post ready tonight for Crate Paper. It goes up tomorrow morning!!

8 things I love: Saturday

It's a chilly 50 degrees out this morning. If you live some place where 50 degrees is no big deal and your rolling your eyes while continuing to read this, I'll apologize now, because here in the desert it might as well be -10 degrees. We are freezing. :) But the cooler weather and rain make it seem a bit more Fallish which is always a welcomed event!

With the arrival of cooler temps ~ I wanted to make today post match with a pretty Fall/Winter outfit!

almost winter by taraanderson featuring post earrings

1. frilly neutral tones tops
2. Dark Indigo jeans
3. Peacoats (especially in jewel tones)
4. Black Ankle boots (these boots paired with a dark boot cut jean will make your legs look a mile long. If you don't have a pair of boots put these on your wishlist!)
5. Diaper bag that no one would ever guess was an actual diaper bag.
6. Vintage inspired rhinestone earrings
7. Floral Wallets
8. Merry Merry Pink perfume

The kids and I are getting bundled up to head out this morning. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Friday photos ~ Disneyland

Hello folks. I'm afraid I have been flying a bit under the weather this week. It was such a busy week/weekend that I think I may have out done myself and so, here I sit wrapped up in blankets on the couch. It's a peppermint tea - chicken soup - cough drops kind of day! While I haven't felt up to making anything, I have done lots of photo editing ~ at least something other than cleaning up from Halloween was accomplished! As promised I thought I would share some of my favorite photos from our Disneyland trip!

I think 2 days at Disneyland with 2 small kids would have been enough, but since my parents, little niece and our friends were with us, we decided to add an extra day. (I think for everyday you spend at Disney you'll need at least 2 to recuperate!) If you're on the fence about visiting during the Halloween season, I'd lend my vote to "it's absolutely worth it!" The park was beautiful!

Our friends Danielle and Lee met us for 2 days at the park and my kids could not get enough of them. :) Peter and I are so grateful for wonderful friends and we get to see them again for Christmas! lucky us!!

I'll be doing an "8 things I love" post tomorrow and I'm really hoping that by next week I'll be back to normal and get on a regular posting schedule again. Happy Friday!

it's Halloween time!

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you probably have a good idea that Halloween is my favorite and my best! I don't know why I find it so appealing, maybe the colors? I do like bright colors mixed with black and white! There's also the candy, the dressing up part, the overall excitement that goes hand in hand with the holiday.

and I also love how anxious my kids are about going trick-or-treating. Alaina's been practicing each evening at our own house. She always starts the same way too "Mom, let's pretend I'm a tricker-or-treater!" and then she goes on to ring our doorbell. :) While my kids are young, I think the holiday is just as exciting for me as it is for them.

Our front yard is already for the 31st! I'll take you on a walk through out it. First, while wandering the aisles of Target I found this amazing black foil chandelier (for only $5. score!) and while it wasn't meant for outside, it ended up being perfect for the front entry. It's shimmering in the sunlight and then reflects the twinkly orange/pink lights at night.

I turned our fountain off for the moment and filled it with strands of little twinkly lights. The glow at night is perfectly spooky, and then just for fun, I perched the crow atop of the fountain. For about the first week, I kept doing a double take every time I walked past the front window and glanced out. :) That crow looks surprisingly real!

and because it's my house, skeletons have to wear pink flowers in their..... hair? on their heads. :)

Chase and I were out thrifting 2 weeks ago in an older part of town and came across someones collection of Empire Plastic lawn ornaments. I picked up 2 small pumpkin figurines, but left behind some larger ones... that I ended up kicking myself over once I got home! Since the wiring for the pumpkins looked like it was still from the 60's I replaced the lights with new lighting kits from Home Depot. I never thought I would be one to own any of those vintage plastic lights, until now! They are really pretty at night!

a couple more photos of decor details

I have 5 pumpkins waiting to be carved on Sunday!

I had this candy garland in mind last year as something I wanted to make for Halloween. It's made from toilet paper rolls (I feel silly for even saying it), plastic cups and pom-pom or poof-balls as they are often referred to as in our house. For the longer candies, I rolled fabric around and used pinking shears to cut the end fabric off. The small round candies were made by cutting the end off of a plastic cup and gluing a paper circle into it, and finally I wrapped each one in black tulle and used sewing thread to tie off the ends.

I couldn't decide on a good place to hang the garland and decided to just be content with draping the entire 9ft. of candy on the courtyard gate. It's cute but I still think the gate needs a "Happy Halloween" sign to hang right in the center.

lastly I haven't added anything new to the inside decor except for a couple of new ornaments for one of the Halloween trees. :) I'll fill each of the little pumpkins with candy-corn this weekend. We have some extra kids coming to visit us this weekend!

thanks for touring my front courtyard!! It's now time to turn on all of the outside lights. :)