Not Pinterest Wednesday Today!

Posted by Leanne on July 18, 2012 No comment

So Wednesday’s are usually my Pinterest day, but I read a post the other day, and I wanted to pin every picture!  So I thought instead I would just let you read the post for yourselves!

I am a HUGE fan of Stacey from Not Just A Housewife.  She was one of the first blogs I stumbled upon when I entered this blogging world, and I can’t get enough of her.  In fact, I am pretty sure we were separated at birth or something, for we are alike in so many ways… and in so many ways she creates my dreams that brew in my mind, and today’s post is one of those in such a huge way…

I grew up on a dairy farm, and we had so many places to discover and grow our imaginations.  We had this huge corner garden in the front lawn, and it was perfect for hiding behind and creating a secret imaginary world.  Then I watched the movie “The Secret Garden.”  Well.  So in our own yard a few years back, we created a secret garden for our kids (and the dog too, it turns out).  It’s just a corner plot in the far back, with large bushes.  The kids love it, and it turns out there is a hole in the wood fence behind it, so they can sneak behind our wood fence, to be between it and the city’s wire fence.  They love it, of course.

But, our secret garden has nothing on this… Dad, can you make this for me??  Read about Stacey’s Secret Garden Here, and enjoy!

xo, Leanne

It’s Time To Clean My House.

Posted by Leanne on July 17, 2012 12 comments
custom table makeover deliverin'

seriously.  this house is a mess!!  Today I spent all day on the kitchen, dining room and part of the living room.  that’s only 1/4 of our house!

In 3 days it will be exactly a month since I went in for my lumbar puncture.  It feels like yesterday.  Although I feel 99% like my pre-lumbar puncture self, I was traumatized enough to fear doing something to bring that level of pain back.  I never want to feel that again.  And again, thank you all for your thoughts, love and prayers.  One of my readers asked why I don’t blog about my personal life more often, and my response, after thinking about it, was that I feel bad when my loved ones find out what’s going on in my life from my blog instead of straight from me.  But when I told this to one of my best friends, she thanked me for blogging about it…. we are all so busy in our little lives with our little kids and our crazy homes, we rarely have the chance to talk.  Which is too bad, I know, but this is our friendship and we are okay with it.  So, from now on, I will try to get a little more personal!  :)

My whole lumbar puncture episode took about a week and a half out of my normal life.  I knew I had a market looming that I needed products ready to sell.  Praying I’d feel well enough to work it, I convinced myself I had enough product to pull it off (which I would have).  But once I felt well enough, I couldn’t see things that way anymore!  Wanna know what we did the last couple weeks???

Ready for it??

antique-pickin’

pickin’-cleanin’

 

gross upholstry-tearin’

 

bathtub renovatin’ – ewwww before pic

custom table makeover deliverin’

3 nights of family campin’ and fire makin’

bird-watchin’ (this little bird house was above our cabin, and this little baby had its head out day and night, chirping away… we saw momma coming often to feed the baby, so cute!)

dirt-diggin’

football-playin’

frisbee-throwin’

tongue-stickin’-out (a family trait passed down to our children from my hubby’s side!)

running running running

s’mores-eatin’

sturgeon-fishin’ (okay, I wasn’t invited, but hubby and the men in my family went on my bro’s boat – the one in red – who is a fishing tour guide, went sturgeon fishing to celebrate my dad’s – the other guy – 65th birthday. the day before the market, I might add ;) )

market set-up preppin’ in the carport

well, wouldn’t you know it, I can’t access my pictures right now.  waitin’, waitin’….  I’ve been having serious issues with blogging since I’ve switched to this self-hosted blog.  It’s very disappointing, and very, very frustrating, and extremely time-consuming.  I love blogging, but it is getting easy to get discouraged, especially when I want to make a detailed post, like this one.  Still brainstorming ideas… let’s try again…

yay, here we go! Market day!! the market was supposed to be outdoors, but the weather decided to turn bad on us. So we were nice and cozy indoors instead.

 

unfortunately the people weren’t there to buy. The vendor idea was new this year, and people didn’t bring cash. I sold 4 items, and I was one of the highest in sales. A little disappointing for everyone.

fortunately I was surrounded by fabulous vendors, many of whom I’ve been stalking for a while, admiring their work! And also met many great new people.

I created MANY new products for the show

 

it will take me forever to blog about all the new items I made, so if you see anything that interests you, Please Ask! Pictured here are some of the new magnetic boards I made.

…growth chart boards…

…a few masterpieces of my own :)

a gorgeous window frame with panes still in it (now on my mantle until someone snatches it away from me!) and some new “Keep Calm and Carry On” ‘s behind it

I’ll have a hard time when a buyer comes along for this antique chair planter (the same chair as the first picture!) it’s now sitting on my front “porch”.

Well, that’s it for today!!  Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

and thanks for reading!!

xo, Leanne

Linking to:

Homespun Happenings

Fame On Friday #15

Posted by Leanne on July 13, 2012 No comment

Whew! Well, we are back from vacation! I don’t know what made em think any part of that would be relaxing but we did manage to have fun! Unfortunately Anna was out of sorts the whole time and needed a lot of negotiation and deep breathing on our part, but through it all we got lots of sun, swimming, bug catching, and even lots of shopping! the perfect little getaway! But being back home means jumping right back into the craziness of our lives – hubby is grouting our new tile in our bathroom, and I am doing laundry of course, and painting like a mad man, trying to get ready for Sunday!! I’ll post the market again of Facebook soon, so watch out for that! I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you there!

I thank you for all sticking it out with me, while I’ve been sick and now away!

I am thankful Melanna is here today for our Fame On Friday!! I hope to post again on Monday or Tuesday, to let you know how the weekend went!! Take it away Melanna!!
My name is Melanna and I blog over at Rhapsody of Cacophony.

[Melanna+arabesque+profile.JPG]

It’s my little piece of the internet world where I share all about the crazy that is my life. I “met” Leanne through a Facebook group for bloggers and very quickly became a fan of her blog. And since I live “next door” to her in Alberta, Canada I feel we have lots in common. Thanks for having me here today, Leanne!

I started blogging when my list of potential crafty and party projects got too long and I needed something to spur me on to get things done. (click on the pictures if you want to see that post)

I even took on scary things like trying out a sewing machine.

Turns out it’s not so scary. It even got obsessive for a while there (it probably ranks in my top two mediums for crafting and creating). I think I spent a solid 2 months this past spring only sewing! I even managed to make a tutorial for this dress:

My sweet husband got me a Silhouette for Christmas one year and a whole new obsession of crafting began! And I haven’t even moved past using it for paper.

When I was 6 my mom got a friend to put together a music themed birthday party for me. I have never forgotten it (or the 3D grand piano cake!). Since having kids I’ve gotten a little party obsessed and plan their birthdays all year long. So throughout my blog you’ll find the growing collection of parties I’ve put on for them (another one will be posted about next week since it’s happening tomorrow!).  These are just a few:

Fancy Nancy

 

Sunday Comics

 

Teddy Bear’s Picnic

My favourite part of parties? Making the cake!

 

 

Sometimes I’ll throw in a recipe (when I remember to take pictures!), but mostly it’s all just the every day happenings of our life.

And of course since I’m a mom these two find their way into many of my posts.

I’d love to meet you, so I hope you’ll stop by and say hello!

Isn’t she a.m.a.z.i.n.g.?!?!  Thanks Melanna!!  xoxo!

And thanks everyoine for reading!!

xo, Leanne

Are you wondering what this “Fame On Friday” is??  Read on!

Fame On Fridays! … because I heart my readers!!

I love my followers, and I am so grateful to all of you for following my blog…and as a thank you, I want to show you off!  I know there are A LOT of talent reading my blog, and I want to know more about You!

If you have a blog, let us know whatever you want us to know about it!  …But you don’t need to be a blogger to be featured.  Love to bake?  Send me your pictures and recipes!  Love to knit?  Send me a scarf!  Haha, joking :)   Maybe you accomplished something you didn’t know you could do, just because there was no one around to help you.  Brag about it here!  Maybe you changed something in your life in a positive way.  Tell us about it!  Maybe you are amazing at organizing.  Share your tips with us!

If you would like to be featured, send me any info you would like us to know about you & pictures of what you have created.  I’ll schedule you in for a Friday, and will email you to let you know when you are scheduled, so you can brag to all your friends!  :)

The Only Rules:

1.)  You must be a follower of Because (I think) I Can through email, Linky Followers, RSS Feed, or Facebook.

2.)  Spread the Love!  Let people know you are being featured, and where to find it!  Do you have a friend you think people should know about?  Get your friend to contact me!

That’s it!  You can email me at leanne @ becauseithinkican . com, or contact me through my contact form on my sidebar.  I look forward to getting to know you better!

Leanne

Fame On Friday #14

Posted by Leanne on July 6, 2012 5 comments
You’ve seen this girl mentioned a few times on my blog lately… there’s a big reason for that.  I love her blog, she is incredibly talented, and she’s  been such a great virtual friend over the past couple weeks while I’ve been sick.  I hope you take a minute to visit her blog and give her some love!
Hi Everyone, my name is Natalie and I blog at NorthShore
Days.
I’m so excited to be here today. I just love Leanne and her lovely blog.
I “met” Leanne on a Facebook Group for bloggers and I’ve been happily
following her since. And more importantly we both have 4 year old
redheads in common….
I am the lucky mum of 3 fantastic, adorable, mischievous and sometimes
downright naughty kiddos. I’ve been married to my Sean for nearly 15
years and we live on the beautiful NorthShore in Auckland, New
Zealand.
 

 

 I started blogging in November 2011 shortly after discovering the
creative blogging world. I am loving it, I think the most important part
of blogging, for me, is that it needs to be fun, I am a very visual
person, so you will find big, bright photos on my pages….
A little bit of what I like to blog about….
My inspiration and passion is the beach and ocean – It is reflected in
all my creations and makeovers, and I share many photos of our beautiful
beaches.

 

 My first love is
creating simple, wearable jewelry and sharing the tutorials with
everyone.

 

I include a number of
crafts on my blog too, my latest craze is painted jars, vases and
glassware (we may be running out of space at home)
And I like to make over a few items of furniture here and there – mostly
in white of course!
 

 

My kids also do some
pretty funny things that I like to write about (mostly just
photograph)

 

 

And I have also joined forces with 5 other bloggers to form Inspiration
Cafe, which runs on a Monday. Please pop over and pay us a visit, we
would love to meet new readers.

 

 


Thank you for having me
Leanne, its such a privilege to be here today.
And thank you to everyone for reading, don’t forget to pop over and
visit my little blog and say hi. I would love to meet you.
Take care
xxx
Photobucket
Thank YOU Natalie, it’s great to have you here!
xo, Leanne

Fame On Fridays! … because I heart my readers!!

I love my followers, and I am so grateful to all of you for following my blog…and as a thank you, I want to show you off!  I know there are A LOT of talent reading my blog, and I want to know more about You!

If you have a blog, let us know whatever you want us to know about it!  …But you don’t need to be a blogger to be featured.  Love to bake?  Send me your pictures and recipes!  Love to knit?  Send me a scarf!  Haha, joking :)   Maybe you accomplished something you didn’t know you could do, just because there was no one around to help you.  Brag about it here!  Maybe you changed something in your life in a positive way.  Tell us about it!  Maybe you are amazing at organizing.  Share your tips with us!

If you would like to be featured, send me any info you would like us to know about you & pictures of what you have created.  I’ll schedule you in for a Friday, and will email you to let you know when you are scheduled, so you can brag to all your friends!  :)

The Only Rules:

1.)  You must be a follower of Because (I think) I Can through email, Linky Followers, RSS Feed, or Facebook.

2.)  Spread the Love!  Let people know you are being featured, and where to find it!  Do you have a friend you think people should know about?  Get your friend to contact me!

That’s it!  You can email me at leanne @ becauseithinkican . com, or contact me through my contact form on my sidebar.  I look forward to getting to know you better!

Leanne Read more »

The Sunshine Award!!

Posted by Leanne on July 5, 2012 11 comments

I know a fabulous woman, who has been so wonderful to me, and now has awarded me with the Sunshine Award!!

Claudine from Condensed Love Home has passed it on to me, and I am honored!  Claudine is such a giving and encouraging person, and is such a joy to know both through her blog, and personally.

The Sunshine Award promotes bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the Blogsphere! To be worthy, one must answer ten questions so others can know a little more about you and pass along the award to ten other bloggers.
I have received this award before, and have answered all of these questions before, but for the fun of it {for me anyways!!} I’m going to answer them again, without looking at my last answers, to see if they match!  Weird, I know, but I just spent a week in bed… it’s the little things that amuse me now!!  LOL!
Ready for this?!
1.  Favorite color? I’m pretty sure this answer will be the same, because I am crazy about this combination – I LOVE apple green, and I love it paired with turquoise.  I also love the Dutch delft blue.  But apple green definitely rates #1
2.  Favorite animal?  marmosets.  Look them up.  Adorable!!  I have realized that I also have a crazy fascination with lemurs, raccoons and porcupines.  I could stare at them all day at the zoo!
3.  Favorite number? I really don’t think I have one, but if I have to pick one, I think it might be 3.  3 kids sounds pretty perfect to me anyways!!
4.  Favorite drink?   Pina Colada.  Our any drink my father-in-law mixes up for me.  That Pastor is a pretty good bartender at home!!
5.  Facebook or Twitter? Facebook!  I can’t be bothered to even look into Twitter.
6.  Good book or good movie? Books all the way.  I have a very active imagination, and I love where books can take me.
7.  My passion?  Making anything look better!  Painting something ratty and making it lovely!
8.  Giving or getting presents?  Giving.  It always feels so good, doesn’t it??  especially when you get the reaction you were hoping for!
9.  Favorite day?  Boy.  I don’t really know.  A day when things go smoothly, and enjoy my children so completely, and I don’t have to get mad about anything!
10. Favorite flower?  cala lilies for the magic of how the leaves turn into flowers, then back again.  So pretty.  Hydrangea for their gorgeousness, and Heliotrope for their smell.
I would like to pass this award to 10 amazing bloggers who have been so supportive of me!
The past couple weeks in particular, there were a few bloggers who reached out and really made me feel supportive and loved, and the rest have been wonderful in different ways…. plus I love their blogs too!
Here is how this award works:
  • Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them
  • Answer the above 10 questions about yourself
  • Select 10 more bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they’ve been awarded the Sunshine Award!
  • Don’t forget to copy and paste the award on your blog!

thanks so much for reading!!!  And if you are as curious as I am, here is the link to my last Sunshine Award Post, to see if my answers were the same!!  :)    And then Thank You again Claudine!

xo, Leanne

Follow on Facebook, Pinterest, Email and RSS Feed!