An early SNS #62 brings you ~ a Christmas video

Welcome to Saturday Nite Special #62!

 This one's coming to you a day early! Surprise!

If you're new here, join in! There are two categories to link to. Home Decor as well as Crafts, Sewing, Recipes. There is no 3rd themed linkup during this special holiday weekend.

Party starts Fri night and ends Sunday 11pm pacific, so you have all weekend to join!

I'll be busy with Christmas prep and family this round, so have a blast and see you soon!

This video shows you what Christmas means to me, with a mini tour of my home decor.

Merry Christmas, friends!

May the special time spent with your families be merry and bright!

YouTube direct link to video HERE
(it's working very glitchy on the blog)

If you like shopping, you'll love this gift card giveaway. Enter  HERE!

~ Upcoming December Themes ~

Dec 31 - Share this years' Christmas story (link open until Jan 7 2011)

Be sure to check the themed linkups master list to add your newest creations anytime.


List HERE.

 

~ SNS blah blah linkup rules ~

1. Please link up your intended post, NOT your blog homepage url. (post, then click the title of your post, then cut and paste that url) If your post has been deleted, please try again.

 2. Please put a link in your post (button or text) that leads back to the party so others can see what's up! (see BUTTONS label under main blog header)

 3. This party is geared for DIY type projects we can all attempt to make ourselves. Items for sale may be linked up IF your entry is posted on your blog and in tutorial style.

4. For Home Decor and Crafts, Sewing, Cooking, please link projects up that are new to SNS and/or within 1 month old.  This helps keep content fresh!

If you can't decide which category to enter yours in, please just pick ONE and go with it. It's all good!

JUNK giveaway winner! (s) PLURAL. :) with music video

Well... someone had to win the Junk Giveaway.

How about a little music video celebration made just for this occasion?!? 

Look! The video even made Kolein happy. :)

Congratulations to ALL the winners!

Yes, there's more than one. I couldn't help myself. :) Some things in this giveaway were one of a kind. But a few weren't. So... I went by your requests. Just doin' what I'm told is all...

Grand prize winner

3 rusty gears

a cool vintage hanger

a couple burlap sandbags

a big 'ol #4, 11" high

vintage bingo cards

picket coasters

metal bolts

metal grain scoop

a big honkin' but deadly cool meat grinder

Winners of additional picket coasters

Winners of additional burlap sand bags

Winners of additional bolts

Congrats to all the winners!

Please email me at 

signmakergirl@hotmail.com

with

Junk Giveaway Winners in the subject line,

along with your shipping address 

so I can get all these goodies to you!

Dear Melissa, please take good care of my Christie's Cheese Wafer tin. *sniff* :)

Please consider this giveaway my thank-you to you for following along this little 'ol Canadian blog. I'm just sorry I couldn't let everyone win.

Guess I'll keep belting out the best tutorials and uniqueness I can muster. How's that for a deal? :)

Thanks all! It's a blast tuning in here! I hope you feel the same. :)

Our friend Miss Mustard Seed has landed in the top ten for the True Value SOS bathroom makeover contest.

Let's go vote HERE! We want some new and beautiful MMS style tutorials. :)

A boardroom DIY like NO other (video!)

Well friends,

I am around doing LOTS of DIY of late! Just not in the typical sense.

I've been spending some time helping out my friend Dan with his business when he needs an extra set of hands.

Who is Dan anyway?

If you frequent FJI, you've heard Dan mentioned here several times by now. Dan and his wife Janis run their business, Imagination Corporation which specializes in themed environments and 3D signs (as the one above). Check out the website and you will be amazed.

 

 I've known Dan for many years through the sign industry. He's a signmaker/builder/welder/artist type, so it should come as no surprise that my world tends to entertwine with his on an ongoing basis. He's been a big part of my past on getting me up to snuff with all things tools, and most recently, encouraging me with my iMac purchase.

My own vehicle graphics biz

Being self employed allows me the flexibility to help out in between my own work.

I builD and paint for Imagination Corporation

And working with IC offers me a diverse choice of growth in all things building and painting. Cool. :)

Dan (and crew) has had a hand in some interior design in my own home as well. He created my metal kitchen island topper... (link HERE)

and my rock floor to ceiling styled fireplace. (link HERE)

So you can see, there are simply no limitations to what he can do or teach. :)

Since I have nothing new to share DIYing in the style we normally share on our blogs, I thought you may wish to take a peek at what we're currenty working on. Dan style. :)

Hold onto your hat!  You have never seen a room quite like this before. Ready?

(Dear Vimeo.. please let your users pick their own still shot.  Thank-you.)

Edited to add: you can now! Thanks Miss Mustard Seed!)

Let's rock!

 Just WAIT till you see the boardroom table. :)

 This room is being designed for a company that sells CNC routers. They desired a boardroom that reflected ALL the incredible things a router can perform. Dan tends to push things where no one has gone before (sounds ever so slightly familiar??) so he's making the router do some pretty wild things which are being reflected in this very room. World firsts you can bet.

The room is turning out INCREDIBLE. Every trick in the book is being used for specialty faux finishes (which daughter Bec does) on top of hand carved, sculpted AND routered work (done with high density HDU). Dan is all about bringing the seemingly impossible to life.

Dan writes two blogs for a client/corporate following, as well as a journal on his own site, so if you're interested in small updates on what he's currently building, you can check out:

Speaking from Experience

Enroute Adventures: Much More Fun than Working

Imagination Corporation Journal

I may fall abit more silent than usual on my blog over the next little while during this project.  But don't worry. I'll share what I think may intrigue you as we go along.

And I can guarantee you, it'll be VERY funky indeed. Dan style. :)

This week - Kidless Vacation. Next week? Kid Vacation! (plus video)

Wow. It's over. On Friday, it's over.

The 10 day Kidless Vacation proved to be an amazing time to simply unwind and appreciate.

I did NOTHING in the DIY realm. Nothing. Honestly, I took every morning to sleep in, and let the wind direct me on where to take the rest of the day. If I didn't wanna do something, I just didn't. And if I did, I did.

So what did this gal do all alone for 10 days?

 Remember 'the list?'

rent girlie movies - yes, 5 for 5 days for $5. FUN! I watched one a night.

go for my morning dike walks with my dog and just listen to the gravel crunching - yes, in the leisure sense.

go beachin' - yup!

 go junkin' - one stop. And picked me up one fine purse too!
decorate and build a little - nope, not even close. blogged instead. :)
work for a living - NO!
make a delicious stir fry - surely you jest!! hotdogs and salad, baby!
pray - oh yes.
sing and dance alongside blaring music - sang

pack the travel trailer in case we scurry off for a weekend when kidlet gets back - maybe. :)

snooze on a floaty lounger in my backyard pool - big time yes!

take in live music at a local beach with an iced coffee in hand - was there.. missed the band. :P

read - no, I thought instead
get some cookies (with icing!) to eat while lounging in the sunshine - yes! lemon. :) and cupcakes too!
light up the propane fire pit in the evenings and close my eyes and just rest in the quiet - nah. Waiting for my son with this one.
sleep in - daily!
get up early and get to bed late to make a special day super duper LONG - one day before 9. :)
take naps - yep!

get my hair done-yes yes sassy yes!

get my first pedicure maybe? - eh... forgot. Who can see toes buried in sand anyway?
take deep bubble baths - ohhhh right. I forgot.

miss and reflect - lots.

go to my fav log cabin pub (I said the P word!!) at a resort for a big fat burger and fries and THIS time own my table, not letting any guy chatters scare me away.  :) - take out. :)

stay in pj's all day while in my creative mode - till 1pm some days.
write deep - only the quiet post
browse retail stores and scoff, "I can make that for FREE!"- only retail I saw was the lounger store. Can't make that. :)

While it was an amazing week, I knew what I was preparing for. I wanted the house and my mind in order for the return of my son whom I missed very much. I just didn't allow myself to go there too often. What would be the point?

 I'm not sure if I've ever shared this, however my alltime favorite destination to take off to is Hawaii. I've been there 5x and would go 5x more in a heartbeat.

Now, let's combine my restful downtime, missing my son, pining for Hawaii and a whole buncha leisure type photos. What would you get?

A new slideshow to the tune of  Ku'uLei, Ku'u ipo by Hapa of course. :) I have no idea what it means, but I think it's about missing a Hawaiian girl. Let's just substitute the girl for my boy and... here you go.

My Kidless Vacation, modern Hawaiian style. :)

Did you notice the end message? My son and I are downplaying our computer time starting Friday, after I pick him up, for about a week. I'll pop in from time to time, however it will be very sporadic. So I hope you'll understand my short absence away for the next little bit, while we prance around doing things we just love to do together. I'll tell you all about it when we tune back in on a more regular basis. :)

SNS is still scheduled for Friday, 7pm pacific. Theme is curb appeal, so bring along all your pretty curb shots!

We're off to make some new memories! Happy summer my friends! We'll be back at'ter before you know it. :)

A tablescape of memories for So You Think - wk 9

Well,  I didn't make it to the final two. :(

But it's ok. The two gals still in the running deserve to be where they are so kudos to them! I'm pretty proud to have had the opportunity to hang in there as long as I did!

I'm going to do a post about my experience about So You Think soon, however for now, here's the last submission for this contest, even though I'm no longer in. This one is special to me as you'll soon see why. Enjoy. :)

When you think of a tablescape, in most cases it's about what's used on top of your table. It's my feeling a tablescape can equally be about your chosen environment and perhaps even the tabletop itself.

This farm sign is very familiar to me. I grew up with this planted in my front yard for many years, and to me, it speaks of all things comfort and home. It's also beautiful. And I was excited to find a special way to honor it coming home to live with me recently, thanks to So You Think - Tablescape Edition!

Gathering inspiration from the amazing sign tones, my casual outdoor tablescape all came together.  Lavish porcelain and rich silverware need not apply here. :)

This tablescape is all about memories from living on the farm. The dishes are a casual mix and match of whites collected over time.

The authentic cow tags that label each place setting are adorned with a touch of nature, little cowbell and hay like raffia.

The silverware is the exact eclectic mix you'd find in the farmhouse kitchen.

The placemats are simply cut plywood blanks.

And the napkins are charming, old style hand stitched tea towels found in my Mom's linen closet.

The centerpiece speaks of nature, galvanized farm goodness and twinkling flames, placed on a wooden shutter. Not to mention, finding encased candle lanterns are a total bonus for the drafty outdoors!

Add a little fireside ambiance, farm style...

... and a pretty view...

... and you have a farm inspired whimsical tablescape that will no doubt bring about many smiles and memories as days go by. The only thing that's left to do is pass the pizza! :)

Below is a slideshow, paying true homage to the entire meaning behind this cozy little farmscape. I hope you enjoy it. :)  

(Edited to add: My mom had just passed away in March so that's why this video touched alot of viewers)

Thank-you Stephanie, for this amazing experience, to the girls that I teamed up with for your support, as well as all of you, for your kudos and thumbs up along the way. I really had a wonderful time. :)

Click the button above at 6pm Pacific and vote for your fav entry! I can't wait to see what they came up with. :)

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