* Delaney Gates *

Another Quick Post...

Is it already that time again?  Tomorrow a new Inspired post goes live!  Here's a peek at my layout.  :)

Kindergarten is going well.

For both of us.  :)

Now, for one of my favorite Fall trends:  The T-Strap.

The trend is so flexible regardless of you're style.  I have the last pair (A steal at under $70!) and I can't wait to wear them with long, dark rinse jeans.  A little peep toe and t-strap peeking out from the bottom...  Yep, can't wait.

Have a happy and creative day everyone!

XO,

Delaney

Empty

So, I have an entire day to myself.

The entire week actually.

(Minus the half an hour I'm volunteering in the kindergarten lunchroom today.  You know, helping kiddos open milk cartons...  That type of thing...  So thrilled I'll get to see my little guy halfway through the day.)

It's just Violet and I.

Honestly, she doesn't do much more than eat, sleep, and roll over for me to scratch her tummy every now and then.

So it's quiet.

And a little lonely.

The last five years have flown by quicker than I ever thought possible.

Connor did really well this morning though. (So did J and I.)  :)

His teacher seems super nice.

And J went into work late so he could go with me to drop Connor off.

Did I mention it's lonely here today?

Violet is laying in a sunbeam twitching and making funny noises while she dreams, blissfully unaware that her little buddy is even missing from her day. 

Random post, I know.

I'm out of sorts I guess.

XO,

Delaney

Randomness...

Super easy layout.

Wanted to document the sentiment quickly.

Random photo alert:

My husband's old toy bus.

Now claimed by the little man.

The little man who starts kindergarten on Monday.

Wow.

How time flies.

I bought these new shoes the other day:

And then I saw this in a magazine:

I love those. And they're only thirty bucks.  Total bargain.  Should have gotten that pair instead.

I must run.

Lots to do.

Did I mention how time flies?

XO,

Delaney

And she's halfway to 50...

Indeed I am.

Officially halfway to fifty now. 

For my 25th birthday, my husband had the idea (all on his very own, mind you!) to take me HERE to go shopping.  (Plenty of bang for your buck!) It's about an hour and a half drive from where we live, but let me tell you, it was worth it!  I was bragging on him to everyone I know.  Seriously, I feel really lucky to have a husband who will offer to take me clothes shopping at outlet stores for my birthday.  Yesterday I came home with a pile of loot from Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Gap, Nautica and more.  :)  All at really, really fabulous prices, of course.  We had so much fun.  He's such a great guy.

(That particular photo is from a few years ago, but it's still one of my favorites.)  :)

You know, J and I are in a really good place right now.  A really good place.  With our relationship.  With our life.  Everything seems like it's falling into place, and for that my friends, I am very, very thankful. 

A few days ago when I opened my birthday card from my grandma, a check fell out with quite a bit more written on it than she usually sends for birthdays.  There was a note on the left hand side of the card that said, "Here's a little extra for your first day of school.  I know you'll do great."  I got all teary-eyed.  Grandma Elaine is one of my favorite people in the world.  She's so thoughtful.  I mean, here I am, twenty five years old, and she's sending me money to buy a new outfit for my first day back at college.  I am so appreciative not only for the means, but for the sentiment behind the means.  Here's another example of her thoughtfulness.  When I was growing up, my mother was a stay at home mom and she made sacrifice after sacrifice so she could continue to stay at home with my brother and I.  At Christmas time, Grandma Elaine would send my mother a little extra in the mail only to be spent on ingredients to bake extra Christmas goodies with, because she knew my mom loved to bake cookies and candies during the holiday season.  I still remember rolling out coconut bon-bons at the kitchen table with her!  Thank you Grandma Elaine, for that memory.  :) 

I remember Grandma would take me to a lake near her house for picnics in the Michigan summertime...  She would blow up a polka dot raft (I still remember the way the plastic smelled.) and cart it along in the car just so I could "surf" on it in the lake.  She played the organ at her church, started learning the violin and dulcimer in her 60's and began traveling all over the world once she retired.  The winters she spends in Vegas.  How cool is that?  She was the director of her handbell choir and taught me to play handbells well enough to where I could play two bells in each hand.  (How's that for a fun fact about me?!)  She went back to college to finish her degree when she was in her 60's.  She's also a kick-booty eBay seller too.  :)  Hopefully soon, we'll be able to make the trip up to Michigan to visit her again.  I hope so!  (The photo is fuzzy, but you get the idea...)

Whoa!  I don't know where all of that rambling came from.  Maybe I do.  Remember that self improvement post from many weeks ago?  I'm taking Phentermine as part of my process.  It's legal speed, basically.  It curbs the appetite and gives energy.  Lots of energy.  I ramble and talk quickly when I take it.  'Nuff said.  :) 

Moving right along...

Here's some of what I bought myself for my birthday:

Yes, I'm girly.  I like bows and ruffles.  I always will...

Now for some paperish schtuff:

I LOVE the Bazzill Basics stitching templates.  It makes it so much easier when I don't have to come up with a design and sketch it out in pencil!

Here's the layout.  A two-pager that I just received back from my LSS.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.  I still haven't figured out how to scan and stitch a 12x12 effectively.

You get the idea though...  :)

I just received the following American Crafts goodies from my LSS to design with this month.  I'll post what I create in a few days.  Do you know if this is just-released stuff?  Not that it matters, I'm just curious.  I don't keep up with new releases as much as I used to.  That's all...  :)

C and I are spending lots of quality time together, as this is his last free week before kindergarten begins.  Some days I don't even turn on the computer, if you can believe that!  Seriously.  I'm trying to wean myself away.  :)  It works wonders for improving my time-management skills!  Lol.  I'm also in the process of creating 600 wedding invitations for a super-elegant affair taking place in October.  What a job!  I love it though.  If you know anyone who needs wedding invitations, save the date post cards, birth announcements, or party invitations, let me know!  I don't create them to get rich, trust me.  I love what I do and I know what it's like to be on a budget.  I only charge the cost of supplies plus $1.00 per invitation.  (Minimum of twenty.) Pretty good deal, huh.  :)

This evening we have a play date at the park and Thursday we have an open house at C's school.  I can't wait to meet his teacher!

I truly hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

XO,

Delaney

Quickie

Just a quickie update.

I know I have some emails to return.

Please bear with me.

Lots going on right now.

The little guy starts kindergarten in two weeks.

A return to college for me in three weeks.

Under the weather lately.

Feeling better now.

Will post more later.  :)

Here's my project for IIM this week:

It was inspired by the note card below:

Take care, y'all.

Delaney

...And he's 30!

Such a wonderful weekend we had celebrating my husband's 30th birthday! The atmosphere in our hotel room made me feel like we were on the set of Somewhere in Time!

J thought I was crazy when I went in the bathroom and squealed with glee over the vintage silver soap dish! 

 Hey, how did that handsome guy get into the photo?!  Poor guy, he was patiently waiting for me to take photos of our room before we unpacked our bags and messed it up. 

Oh, please forgive my chair fetish, as shown below.  I love unique chairs!  I think this one fit the style of our room perfectly.

This was taken downtown.  Just to the left of the photo was a band, jammin' up a storm.  We could hear them a block away.  I loved it.  Also,  notice the park bench...  Each park bench was painted by a different local artist- such a wonderful idea!

~And this was on the side of a building, painted long ago...

Lastly, we went to the most quaint little cafe the first evening of our stay.  (And noshed on some of the best prime rib I've had in quite some time!) As we were on our way outside to our table, I noticed the ceiling in a secluded little cove, framing a romantic table for two...

Scrapbooking papers!  Isn't that cool? I know, I know- one doesn't usually think of prime rib mixing well with a ceiling of collaged scrapbook papers.  But they made it work.  Quite well in fact.  :)

Lastly, here's a photo of their county court house, right on Main Street.  Beautiful at sunset.

Tomorrow, remember to check out the I Inspire Me Blog for a reveal of week four!  Here's a peek of my project:

Have a wonderful rest of the week!  I have a visit with the dentist tomorrow...  Not so good times.  Although I've received a few emails from Scrapbook Trends and Cards Magazine lately, which has totally brightened my day!  Completely out of the blue.  And on days when I really needed happy emails such as those.  :)

XO,

Delaney

Life As Usual...

Caesar salad. Baked chicken. Corn on the cob. 

Nothing fancy-schmancy, but yummy just the same.

When I was peeling the husks off the corn last night, the scent took me back to when I was a young girl, living out in the country in northern Michigan.  The sweet corn grown in that neck of the woods is like no other.  (And the cherries.  And the McIntosh apples...  But I digress...)  I remember sitting outside many times, husking corn.  My mother planted a huge garden most years.  We had squash, green beans, green peppers, tomatoes, a few small rows of corn, and carrots.  (Although one year, our cocker spaniel dug up all the carrots and ate them.  What kind of a dog eats carrots anyway?!)  Funny how scent can stir up old memories, isn't it?

This weekend we're celebrating my husband's 30th birthday with a getaway to Eureka Springs.  It's the most amazingly quaint little village with such an infusion of art and culture.  I'll post photos when we get home.  We'll be staying here- I can't wait!

Have a wonderful weekend!

XO,

Delaney

Preppy Pink and Green...

Oh how I love pink and green!

Together.

With polka dots.  That combo makes me smile every time.

I hadn't made a ribbon flower on a project in forever and today seemed like a good day to add one to my 2-pager for my  LSS.  It's a layout about my mom and I.  About how we're the only people in our extended family who will purchase things we don't need because they may be aqua.  Or pink.  Or turquoise.  Amazing what traits are passed down genetically...  :)

I found that the Kaiser Craft Self-Adhesive Pearls fit perfectly in the center of the designs on the Doodlebug flocked cardstock!

Honestly, I was a little intimidated to use the flocked cardstock- I don't know why.  But I'm over it.  And I'm addicted.  And I will be purchasing more...

Also, I'm sure others have done this before, but I haven't:

I adhered my photos with pop dots, rather than using them with my usual cut-out flowers or flourishes.  I like the look.  Dimension is my friend.

I know I haven't posted many photos lately, so here's one of what was sitting beside me as I worked on my layout earlier. 

Her ears used to be long and flowing, but now she's sporting her summer cut.  :)

Sorry I woke you up, Violet.  Go back to sleep....

Have a happy day!

XO,

Delaney

 

Art + Fashion = Sara Singh

I happened upon Sara's work in Glamour, on the horoscopes page near the back of the magazine.  It was love at first sight.  She's one of my top five favorite artists living today and I'm sure you can see why.  The strong lines juxtaposed with flowing color, not to mention her flair for fashion and chic design, is really what draws me in.  Her list of clients is now the length of my arm!  House Beautiful, Vogue, Tiffany, Ann Taylor, Visa, and Givenchy to name a few... Check out her homepage here!

Who inspires you?

Random Self Improvement...

  

 I am so psyched that for our LSS assignments this month we were able to choose our own product!  To some it may be daunting, but I adore combining color, texture and pattern so I'm able to create something that is totally me. 

Of course, you can see I chose pink, aqua, chartreuse, and black and white.  Totally predictable.  Really looking forward to putting the Doodlebug flocked cardstock to good use!

I'm still on my self-improvement journey.  I'm feeling better.  I've lost about ten pounds in the last couple of weeks.  (99% due to the fact that I found a new doctor who will prescribe Phentermine, so that's been a God-send!)

Also, I've been drinking more of this:

I prefer it to Perrier because it seems less fizzy.  Goes down easier that way when one is trying to force water down in an attempt to be healthy...

Starting to do the South Beach thing too.  I can have 70 calories of sugar-free candy/treats a day.  That equals two sugar-free fudgecicles (which are yummy), or a couple of these:

Holy. Freakin. Cow.

I thought I was going to have to gag them down to get my chocolate fix but believe it or not, they taste exactly like an Almond Joy! The brand is Russell Stover, I believe.

Also, these are not a part of the South Beach routine, as they're Atkins brand, but as a public service announcement for anyone who is dieting and wanting low sugar, low carb stuff, the following two bars actually taste GOOD.  The first tastes like Oreos and the second tastes like a big ol' Almond Joy: (Not fake chocolate like so many of the so-called chocolate bars out there.)

I'm thinking about getting these too...

Not so great for jogging, but they'll sure look good!  Lol.

Have a fabulous day!

XO,

Delaney