Mother's Day Sale

To celebrate our beautiful mothers, I am offering FREE U.S. shipping on all items in my Etsy shop from today April 26 - May 9, 2010! :)  www.maryjmaalouf.etsy.com
I am also offering a buy one get one half price sale for all of my blog followers on everything in my shop April 26 - May 9...Buy one item get the second item of equal or lesser value at half price...just write "MOTHER'S DAY SALE" in the message to seller box during check out and I will refund you through Paypal. You could also send me a message and I'll set up a special listing with the price already reduced! :)
Please share this with anyone you think might be interested!
Thank you so much!
Mary :)

 

New Iron!

My new iron finally arrived!  After a whole week of not being able to sew, I can finally get back to work! : )

I bought another industrial iron.  We used these at the place where I used to work and I honestly could never use a regular iron again!  I haven't tried this particular model before but it had pretty good reviews and I got a great deal on it.  My first industrial iron lasted four years and the one that just died only lasted a year and a half.  Hopefully this one will live longer than the last one! : )

Stephanie Levy

I just won a blog giveaway!  Yay!

I have be drooling over Stephanie Levy's artwork for a while now but I haven't been able to buy anything just yet. I love her use of colors and her compositions and all of her work is just amazing!  Check out her beautiful Etsy store and her wonderful blog! 

This is the piece I won.  It is titled Dublin.  :)

Here are some of my other favorites. My birthday is coming up soon...I think some of these will look perfect in my newly made over office!

DIY Done! :)

I took a whole week off from working on my Etsy stuff and re did my office space!  I was going a little crazy watching all of those home makeover programs and I just had to change something!  Since we are renting this house, I didn't want to paint the actual room so I re-painted my furniture. 

I was so excited to take pictures of the diaper bag I made for my friend, that I accidentally erased my "before" pictures.  I managed to find pictures of my cat, Sushi, that show what my desk area used to look like and there are two surviving in progress pictures.

I warn you...I love bright colors and it is really hard for me to simplify my stuff! :)

I built a little shelf (with the help of my step dad since I am afraid of miter saws) to go over my printer and I painted it with a stencil I made. 

I raised the shelf inside my desk so I could hide my obscenely large computer.  I also made a curtain and panels around it so I could hide the unsightly cords and so I could keep all of the litter dust away from the computer.  Unfortunately, this is the only space i can fit the litter box. :(

I got a cute little shelf at Micheal's for $15.00 to put near my bed and I painted it too.

I love this mouse!

So, there it is!  I love working in my bright new space!  I still would like to re-upholster my desk chair and find new art for my walls...but that will have to wait.  Time to get back to work! :)

Diaper Bag

I finally was able to make a diaper bag for my dearest friend Lauren!  I must admit I was afraid to tackle such a large project but it was fun and I learned lots of new things while making it.: )

I started out with a tutorial I found here Moda Bake Shop : Angela's Diaper Bag and then I altered it a little.

I added a zipper pocket to the middle section and made it detachable so more stuff will fit in the bag if necessary.

I also made a few wash cloths and a couple larger towels and a small matching zip bag.

If you are interested in this design or any other design in my shop, please let me know and I will be happy to work with you on a custom order! : )


UPDATED...
I took a few more pictures of the diaper bag next to a regular wine bottle to show the scale/actual size of the bag.

I also added laces to the inner detachable pocket since the snaps weren't quite secure enough.  I think it looks even cuter now! :)

D.I.Y. time!

I have been on inspiration overload lately and I am itching to redecorate my studio and my bedroom!

I'm going to blame it on spring time, my obsession with HGTV and the Design*Sponge blog I have been following. :) 

A few days ago I started collecting images of things that caught my eye and here they are... 

I am not exactly sure how far I am going to go with my redecorating since I am tight on time and budget but I do know that I want to paint my furniture.

I went to Home Depot today and found these wonderful Martha Stewart 8oz test paint bottles (the brush is built in to the lid) for $2.94 each.  I fell in love with most of the colors they had available so I bought all my favorites to play with!   I'll take before and after pictures of all my projects and update them on the blog when I am done!  I am so excited to begin! : )

Pinecrest Gardens

I went on an unexpected field trip this weekend to Pinecrest Gardens.  I had no idea it was open to the public since it used to be Parrot Jungle and had been closed down for a while.  My sister and I were out and about with my cousin who came to visit from out of town and had to stop when we drove by the magnificent grove of banyan trees in the entrance of the park.  It had been raining all day and it stopped just in time for us to walk around and take pictures.   I had forgotten my camera at home so I took some pictures with my phone.  I can't wait to go back with my real camera and take better pictures!