inspiring words for the new year

Last year I posted several of my favorite quotes for the New Year.  

I always want those who visit here to feel encouraged, and it just seems like with a new year full of promise, it's a good thing to start out on some positive thoughts.

Here are some of my favorites from the past year, pinned to my Lovely Sayings board on Pinterest.

via

via

Wishing you a New Year full of creativity, promise, and dreams coming true!

Looking back on 2012, and looking ahead

Once again, I am stunned and amazed at how quickly the year has passed.
As I look back at all the projects I completed this year, some feel like they were two years ago, rather than just a few months ago!

One of the goals I had at one point or another this past year was to improve my photography skills. 

Quality posts over quantity.

I did have fewer posts this year than in 2011.
I told myself it was ok not to post every single day or XX amount of days just to have a post up.

I realized that what I want to focus on is my best work that I can do right now.

One of my most popular pins / posts was one that shocked my socks off.

how to restore scratched and worn wood

Crazy.  

I think this post took me all of 5 minutes to photograph, 10 minutes to write up.
(normally it takes me about an hour+ , start to finish)

To date, I've had 16,000+ hits on it since it posted.

I still shake my head.

Really?

This tells me people want simple, practical ideas they can use.  

I won't be over-thinking too many projects this next year, or thinking something is too basic to share.  

The post I was most proud of?

Fall table decor

I love the light, the composition, the photo turned out to my own approval, and it reflects how I want more of my posts to look in the future.

Our home is finally at a point where rooms are no longer empty or half done.

living room reveal

That doesn't mean tweaking won't always be done.

We moved here in May 2008.  

4+ years later....it's finally feeling done!

I'm a slow processer.  

I hope now I can focus on some really creative ideas.

One thing that really bothered me, and always has, is my lack of time to visit other blogs and comment.

I know it often seems that maybe I don't care, I'm aloof, or, as I've been called through most of my adolescent years, a "snob".
:(

Honestly, I want to.  

Really.  

But we all know how much time that eats up in our day!

Between mom and household duties, running an online shop, my local space at Aunt Bee's, needing to take care of my health by going to the gym regularly, and my face to face relationships,
well....it's tough.

I do what I can, and hope that I'm not offending.

I realized that what I love most is creating, painting, and doing the things that make my business blossom.

At this point, I'm ok with keeping things simple on my blog.
I haven't pursued a lot of the 'blog business' side of things.

Heritage Holiday Faire 2012

packaging and branding for your business

So what do I want for 2013?

 Some areas I want to tackle in our home:

1.) Hannah's teen bedroom
We are going to move her to a new room with a bigger closet and a little more space. We are all super excited about this, and it's been fun to hear her ideas on how she wants to use the room, the colors and feel she wants.  Can't wait to get started on it!

2.) the Laundry room

Fresh paint, better organization, and some fun decor.
I've been pinning away ideas under my Wash Day board.

3.) the upstairs hallway

It's one of the last areas with the yucky yellow-beige walls.  

More family photos displayed creatively, and a pretty transition area.

4.) Exterior cuteness

Fourth of July porch 2012

Some charm added to the curb appeal of our house.
I have a window box we're wanting to add under a focal window, and I'd still love to replace our doorbell with something more charming than the plastic non de-script one we have now.
A small pergola over the garage door would be my pie in the sky project.

5.)  Updates to the office.

Lighter paint tones, new curtains, more organization that works for us.

....In that order!

I think it's do-able!

Now that I have a year of business under my belt, I hope I can be better at planning ahead and put my focus on some baby steps forward.

First baby step / big gulp moment:

Junk Salvation.

February 1 (evening only) and February 2.

Super nervous, super excited. It is a huge event, an hour away.  I have been hoarding and squirreling away my best pieces for this event!

I want to make more "slightly scared out of my head / should I try this" moments this year.

Otherwise, I feel I will go stagnant.
Who wants that?

My phrase this year?

Why Just Exist, When You Can Risk?

This is a phrase I am borrowing from my freshman year of college.
Our dorm had a bunch of sweatshirts with these printed up, and I love it more now than I did back then.
Risk is what makes life more fun and challenging!

My personal goals for the year 2013:

Organization

Creativity

Mostly, I want to cherish every moment I have with my kiddo.

Life moves so fast, and I never want to look back and feel that I should have done more.

The same goes for Jon.

20th anniversary in Maui

As you can see from the photos, I've had 3 hair color changes this year.  Currently it is chocolate brown with blonde highlights; but I was briefly auburn (as seen in my sidebar profile pic), and then blonde for most of the year!
****

Finally, to wrap up~
My personal favorite posts of the year were these- you can click on each caption and it will take you to the original post:

my first upholstery project
a big project that I am still glad I tackled

the James coffee table
one of my favorite pieces I've ever done.  It is my understanding that it has since received a new makeover from the new owners, but I would do it all over again with the right piece.

French replica sign and powder room makeover
I'd like to do more signs like this to sell this next year.  There's not many signs I paint that I keep just for me- this one still makes me smile when I see it.  It was a replica of an authentic French street sign.
The powder room feels rich and romantic.  Even if it is a potty room.

the cottage bed
I had been wanting to do a vintage bed makeover for a long time.  I loved how it turned out.

oversize sheet music art
This was a Pinterest idea I had pinned.  It was my anniversary gift to Jon for our 20th.  The lyrics are from the Smith's,  There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.
Very sentimental, and I love how it turned out.  A very special gift.

the Bella Rustica dresser
I was so proud of this piece.  It was a labor of love.  I chiseled away the bad top, stained it, and painted it in a sunny yellow milk paint.  It had great distressing.
It also got a makeover from the new owner.

farmhouse front porch makeover
This is my happy place in the summer.  We use it all the time.  Reading the mail or a book, enjoying sunsets with a glass of wine.  Bella loves to jump up on the swing and take naps while we are out here.
It's a cozy spot! 

vintage dresser in MMS milk paint
I know it sounds weird, but I truly got excited painting this piece.
The distressing was amazing, and I loved every little bit of it.
It sold in 2 days!

romantic beach bedroom makeover
this has been such a long process- almost as long as the living room!
This picture shows the newest addition of the French wicker trunk.
It is a restful and peaceful room.

I feel like I've grown a ton and done a lot!

I want to thank every one of you who have vistited, commented, encouraged, and signed up to follow me here in this little corner of the web-o-sphere.

I am about to hit an important milestone on my blog, and I am very excited.
I think I need to have a big giveaway soon!

I look forward to sharing more with you over the next year.

Thanks so much for being a part of my journey here at Pink Postcard.

What are your goals for 2013?

French Linen night stand

This is going to be a short and sweet post!
This past August, I posted about this side table that I painted in Annie Sloan's French Linen.

I loved the color so much, and had the whole piece painted in just a sample pot's worth of paint.

At the Heritage Holiday Faire, there was a vendor selling ASCP, so I picked up a quart of it while I was there.

It's such a stately gray.  

I love the undertones of beige in it.

I knew it would be a great color for this night stand I picked up.

It started out in a very rough state.

 Lots of high gloss, auburn paint that had either started to be stripped, or was a bad distressing job.

The hardware was great, and I loved the simple lines and turned feet. 

It was also in really great shape.

Once it was painted, I aged it slightly with some clear and dark wax, and added a couple nail heads to the front.

It felt a little flat with just the French Linen, so I highlighted some of the lines with Old White.
I love the makeover!

I have been on a buying frenzy recently, and so I snapped both of these pics pretty quickly with my phone.  My apologies for not having some better shots to share.

Lots more to share soon- a new buffet, a cabinet / mini wardrobe, a small hutch and an upholstery job are all waiting in the wings for me right now!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a happy and peaceful day!

favorite things christmas party

For most of the day on Wednesday, I was prepping for our annual Christmas party.
Our dear friends, the Robertson's, are home from Hawaii for a short break.

So excited to have them here!
Eight of us all together for the holidays.

I sent out evite invitations outlining our party.

This was a combination of a few things- our annual wine tasting party,
which we normally do in the fall; our Christmas party;
and a Pinterest party idea I've been wanting to try for a while.

The "Favorite Things" party.

The instructions were to bring your favorite bottle of wine, your favorite appetizer, and a favorite item costing under $6, wrapped, for a gift exchange.

Our wine tasting party is one of our favorite parties that we do every year too!

I set our table in white, silver, and natural colors.  

Very Woodsy Elegant.

I kept our vintage white runner on the table, and bought some fresh mini wreaths from Trader Joes.

I slipped them onto the wood candle pillars that we have in here right now.

They smell fabulous.

While I was working at Aunt Bee's the other day, I spotted this pretty glass glitter garland in another vendor's space.  

Loved the silver tarnished beads!

I added in a few mercury glass votives, and some small vases filled with white mums.

The linen wine bags went in the middle on top of a vintage butcher block.

I cut some strips of burlap, to act as runners under each person's place setting.

Once again, I borrowed my mom's silver chargers for the place settings.

(Let's see, two years in a row borrowing.....I might need to get some for myself!)

Simple white plates, and some white napkins.

I cut small lengths of Christmas ribbon,
and added a pinecone on top with each person's name tucked in.

If you know our group, this was kind of funny, because nobody follows the rules.  

Everyone just sat where they wanted to, and that is fine with me!

Since we were hosting and have a lot going on this time of year,
I kept things ultra simple with the food.

Everyone here loves the Trader Joe's caramelized onion and feta puffs...so I made those, and some gingerbread cakes, also a mix from TJ's.

Baked in mini bundt molds, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
I whipped some cream, and added dollops just before serving.

After all the wine tasting and yummy food, we settled into the living room for our gift exchange.
We drew numbers to see who would go first and then selected a gift from the basket.

Our friends also brought us special gifts from Oahu.
For our coffee shop friends, they brought these:

Wowwies.
So yummy.
We got the sour cream and onion version- our favorite~ and so appropriate since Jon's family had onion farms!

Me, selecting my gift.

Anything that comes in a chocolate bar/ brick shape is fine with me!
...and with sea salt sprinkles?
Well, it's no wonder these are our BFF's, that's all I can say.

We had a wonderful evening, and the nicest complement I heard was,
"this is the fanciest table I've ever eaten at."

He got an extra helping of dessert and a refill on the wine.
;)

Merry Christmas!

If you'd like to see previous Christmas table settings, you can click
here
here

Sharing with:
Feathered Nest Friday
Frugal Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Saturday Nite Special
Show and Tell Friday
Fabulously Creative Friday

Instagram, you make me sad

Last night as I was settling in for the evening, my husband showed me an article about some new privacy policies coming in January to Instagram.

Instagram is a photo sharing site, similar to Twitter, but in picture form.  You can take photos with the app, add filters to the photo to make them fun and artsy, add a caption and share with your followers.

I love it- it's like micro blogging, and it's an easy way for me to be social with other bloggers and followers.  (more so than being tethered to the computer!)

But, last night as I read the article on the policy changes, and new privacy terms, I felt like someone kicked me in the gut.

Beginning January 16, Instagram, which is associated with Facebook, will have the rights to all of your photos-  can sell your photos to companies to use in advertising, royalty free.
They can also use your photos on Facebook to use in their ads.

Your pictures, sold to companies, with no compensation, and no say in whether or not they can use those photos.

Let's say some of my personal photos are used in an ad campaign for something I totally abhor, or have personal moral issue with?  Photos of my daughter, who even though I have a few of her on IG, am still careful with how much exposure she has here on the blog, and on my IG account?

There is an option, but it makes me sad and sick to my stomach.

 I can download all of my photos (all 500 of them at this point) and delete my account.

I tried to look at it logically and see if there was some hidden benefit to this, but I'm not seeing it.  No compensation, they don't have to ask to use your photos, so how would I ever  know it's being used?  There's no way people would find their way back to my blog, so it's not like I'd be gaining any exposure to my site?

What do you think?  

I'd love to know your thoughts on this subject, and if you see any benefit to keeping Instagram as a blogger.

This seems like such a gross and blatant way to steal others work.

Legally.

 Right now, I'm thinking my account will be deleted in the next month.

Here's the privacy policy from Instagram's site,
click here.

You can share this info with other bloggers / Instagrammers, but it's also available at the top of your Instagram feed when you log on.

****
UPDATE:
*As of this afternoon, Instagram has heard the grumblings of it's users and has issued a clarification / NEW changes in its terminology of it's users content*
YAY!

christmas around the house

Welcome!

I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into our home this Christmas.
I had some fun with the editing tools at PicMonkey.
:)

I made our Christmas wreath a couple years ago out of a bicycle basket, and I still love it.  It's unique, and I can clip extra greens from our tree to fill the basket.  

A bit of ribbon and some pinecones finish it off.

In our entry, I filled the silver bowl with ornaments and tucked some holly under the arm of the statue.

Our stair case hasn't changed much over the last couple years.
I added in some rolls of sheet music,  and tied them up with baker's twine.
They are tucked into the greenery.

I already showed you the photos of our living room and our 13 foot tree!

Our secretary now has some wintry greens and pinecones in the silver bowl:

I also added a wintry nest to the terrarium:

Some vintage letters, ornaments and monogrammed julep cup are also on the table by the Beautiful Beast~

A snowy apothecary jar with pinecones and a silver ornament...

Our dining room has a few fresh touches for the holidays:

The piano also has some fun decorations that we like to put out every year.  

Our snow village is one of my husband's favorite things- he looks forward to it!
Our oversize framed sheet music now has a wreath on it.
I think I want to have one here year round.

In our family room, you already saw our mantel:

I also added a few things to our bookshelf.

Jon bought this glittery ice skate couple for me several years ago.
It makes me smile whenever I see it.

In our kitchen and nook area, we put out our fun decorations that have been collected over the years.
Some giant candy canes in the nook.

All of our little guests ask if they are real.
Yes they are real, and very stale!
I got several of these at the grocery store last year, and just wrapped them up in wax paper until I was ready to use them again this year.
They cost under 50 cents a piece, so it is a fun, inexpensive, festive touch.


The Santa is one I got at Target several years ago at their post Christmas sale.

The vintage Montgomery Ward scale is something I have for sale in my Etsy shop- why not use it while it is waiting for it's new home?

The little metal sleigh was my grandma's.
I remember it sitting on top of her TV with the same little foil wrapped presents.  I was so hopeful they were real, and holding some special, little, tiny gift.
Now, when our little guests visit, they wonder the same thing.
Maybe I should wrap some little candies in them, so they aren't disappointed!

Ever since I saw Michelle's tiny trucks towing trees last year, I have been in love.

I came across this vintage metal Jeep Tonka truck last March, and had to have it.
It's not tiny- more like 12" in length, but I love that it's red and fits a big bottle brush tree.

The red bowl is also one I got at Target a few years ago, and it always gets used this time of year.
 I filled it with Granny Smith apples.

Our chalkboard also shares the best part of Christmas~

Thanks for letting me host this little tour.

The filter I used for most of the photos is "chill" in the Winter Wonderland section of PicMonkey.
There's lots of other fun ones to try out, if you haven't already.

Have a great weekend!
I'm looking forward to date night tonight!
:)

sharing with:
Frugal Friday
Holiday Housewalk
Saturday Nite Special
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Faded Charm