RamSign Porcelain Sign Giveaway

Have you all heard of Ramsign?  Have you all SEEN a Ramsign (here)?  I'm hosting a giveaway so this is your chance.  These are high quality porcelain signs, with a vintage look and a vintage feel.  I have one on my wish list for the Old Barber Shop it would be a perfect nostalgic touch for the new front.  But I would have to buy mine, and one of my followers will get one for free!

 The winner can choose any house number sign (not name signs or address plaques) with 1-5 numbers of any size and design.  I will use a random number generator like Angie over at Knick of Time.  If you are not familiar with her process, soon you will be because I am so copying her idea (at least I hope that is where I saw it).  Anyone anywhere can participate, that means my friend Fiona across the pond too!

Details:  Enter till March 24th 2012, winner announced on the 25th.  To enter be a follower of Bliss Ranch and leave a comment on this post.  For an additional entry like RamSign on FB and come back and comment here that you did for your additional entry.

And just so you know.... I'm doing this giveaway because RamSign asked, and I really like these cute signs.  I did not get a kickback of any kind, nada, zero, zilch!  I wanted one of my wonderful readers to have the opportunity to win something by doing nada zero zilch.

St. Patricks Day Mantel

So what to do when you need a spring-ier looking mantel for a mantel link party and you have a dark old barn beam that your husband doesn't want you to permanently paint? 

Make a faux front, paint it, screw it on. 

Pre-blogging-after-Christmas-Empty

Pine Faux Mantel with ASCP

Pine Faux Mantel

Do you think this mantel makes my drop-cloth look small?

When you are done then have an "ah ha" moment where you hit your head and say, "Bliss, you do have another mantel you could makeover".  Why do I keep thinking I have to change this one?  In fact I have two more.  One in the kids game room that is really a lot like this stone one, and I have a white one in our bedroom.  Maybe tomorrow I will change up the white one.  But for today, this got Irish-eyesed.  Get it?  Irish-ized, Irish Eyes?

Card stock postcards printed out via computer, hung on torn fabric from the Christmas bin

The dog wood branches are budding, see that?

R is for Rrrranch

Hey, just saw the little postcard is the same as the tea tin picture.  

I just went around the house looking for anything that was green.  Only had a few things.  Wonder what I will put up after Saturday when St. Patrick's Day is over?  The window stays.

Magazine Copycat Challenge Cabinet

Magazine Copycat challenge.......

I'm a visual type gal.

Drunk Monkey

I'll never buy hooks again

 Yesterday I was possessed.  I had 3 projects going, 4 if you count the timely frame hanging tip above using a pop can ring from AdventuresOfOurFamily's new Trade School class.  The days agenda was my magazine copy cat challenge as well as a mantel change. I'm not really liking the mantel but I L O V E my magazine copy project. Brawn walked in to find me dipped in a new color for a picture I had just taken off the wall.

I painted the drunk monkey.  You know the song, Drunk Monkey, that Funky Monkey.  Oh say what?  That's not how it goes?  Well that's the way I sing it.  His frame got a coat of CeCe Caldwells Slate followed by my fav, the Hershey Brown.  Then waxed with Annie Sloans dark wax.  If the two of them got together they could rule the designer paint world.  I particularly like that the frames new coat matches his fur coat.

This is a large picture that belongs by the bar, but about 3 years ago I took down whatever was on that wall and temporarily hung the hairy fellow.  3 years is temporary isn't it?  I hung the chimp back in the same spot, but on a different nail that was there.  Before it was too low, now it's too high.  I'll get around to moving it to a better height.  Hope that doesn't take me another 3 years.

Hairy Before

That Funky Monkey After

A Seat for the Prince

**Angie at KnickofTime featured our old barber shop at her Vintage party.
 It doesn't get much more vintage than 1916!

GottaGettaProjectDone...(so I have something to link to parties!)

I got this little table stool last summer at a garage sale for $3.00.  I intended to use it outside for little ones when we have meals off the grill, but it ended up in the house.  So yesterday I painted it to match The Grands highchair that I did last month.

Victim

ASCP Old White 2 Coats

The highchair (bottom of post) was my first painting experience with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I like the paint. On the stool, it is hard to see but there is a smaller crown on the seat similar to the one on the highchair tray - both from The Graphics Fairy. I have not perfected a transfer method yet, so I just printed it off and pencil scribbled it on.  I used a regular old printer.  Notice my brand new drop cloth, no way I'm doing this in the cold messy garage.

 Distressed, then waxed with clear.

 The back says Prince & Princess, for all the future "Grands" that grace our table

Now I have a matching set of thrones for when The Grands dine with us.

 

Hooking up with House of Hepworths

Linking up to DebbieDoo's Newbie party

Three Mango Seeds Do it ya self Monday  

AtHomeWithK Terrific under $10 

Wednesday's Bunny Hop at Bunny Jeans 

White Wednesday @Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday @ Ivy & Elephants 

Sunday Stop @ Joy2Journey

Sales & Junkmarket are Chipping with Charm

Junk Market via camera phone

Friday was a big day for me for a couple reasons.  

First - I blabbed about my blog.  It's true, I'm a blog blabber.  But I didn't blab to just anyone, it was to my two daughters.  Only my husband knew of my blog, if you have followed for a bit you know this of me (also know keeping secrets is not my strong point).  I had always wanted to tell my girls but first they had to pinky swear to secrecy so the whole flipping town wasn't voyuering my house my home my thoughts.  So on our way between Junkmarket and monthly occasional sales, I revealed my secret blog.  And what did they say when I told them.... both said similar things like I thought you might, and I know.  Gee that was easy.  Guess I wasn't as secretive as I thought.  

I've also created junking fiends out of them, they want to turn our old barber shop  building into a vintage shop.  Hmmmm.  Sounds fun, and like a lot of work.

 Second big deal for me.....  

At Junk Market I stopped in to say hello and meet one of my favorite rusty chippy bloggers, 

Lauren @ChippingWithCharm.  (Hope she likes that photo I photo-napped from her blog). Since Hershey was nice enough to name chocolate after me I was going to casually leave her a packet of Hershey's hot Chocolate "Bliss" so she would know I had been there.  But I couldn't not say hello.  She has those kind of big eyes that you just can't lie too, and she looked right at me so I had to admit who I was.  I got all tongue tied talking to Lauren and she's just the sweetest thing.   I even stuttered.  I don't stutter, what the heck?  Lauren, I can't believe what a geek I am!  I wanted to come back and just yak and yak with her but she was busy selling her goods so I didn't interrupt.  I felt like I met a celebrity. Lauren had some really cute stuff too, but of course I'm there to knock off ideas and left with a jar of salsa from another booth.

So what did I buy?  Well I discovered that not only am I buying stuff for myself, I'm telling my daughter things would look good in her house and if she doesn't have my vision I buy them and inform her if I can't find a place for it she has to buy it from me.  Hence the candle holder and ammo box below.  The yard sticks are mine for sure!

I did find a place to hang the candle thing, but the box is still sitting here. As much as I like it, especially the bathroom appropriate lettering, I am not sure I have a spot for it.  And other than hanging it on the wall as a cabinet I'm not sure what else to do with it.


I also got this very heavy ladder.  I think it's from like a silo or some barn thing.  For now it's in the guest bathroom just to get it out of the way.  Don't know what I'm doing with that either and daughter didn't see the vision.  She obviously has not seen the link party for ladders over at Funky Junk Interiors.

Because Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

My day job.  

Some of my blogging buddies are curious, who wouldn't be, I'm curious about what makes all of you tick too.  I'm a semi retired photographer.  That means I pick and chose what I do and how much I do of it.  And while I consider all the people I photograph to be "the beautiful people",
part of what I get to do comes with perks.

For example.....

Dull.  

I got to follow around a telephone crew and photograph their progress for their corporate office in Wisconsin.  Nice shot of them staring in that hole huh?  The only perk was that one of my BFF's works for that particular company and I got to put faces with some of the names she has mentioned.  Photos of guys and their equipment.  Sounds better than it was.

Love.  

I'm honored to shoot weddings and be a part of young love as they embark on writing their story.  This couple was a mere 20 years young not even old enough to drink at their reception. And the temperature was like 105 and very humid that day.  Their photographer was a pudgy middle aged woman, with frizzy hair from the humidity - hot, sweaty and thirsty. Between these photos and driving to their reception, I called home and told Brawn that
I was sure helll could not be any hotter than my internal temperature.

Youth.  

I photograph seniors graduating from high school.  Big families and small.  And of course the smallest of them all, the teeny tinys.

My photos have been on the cover of one magazine two different times.   Now before you gasp and think wow, let me tell you it's nothing to get excited about.  It wasn't a decorating mag, and nothing creative.  In fact they told me what they wanted.
It was more dull than the  photos of the telephone men.

Eye in the sky.

I also do aerial photos.

Flying around in one of these.....

 

Taking pictures of people doing this....

From way up there....

Oak Ridge Men... They don't look like "boys" anymore!

To backstage here....

Now THESE are boys.... Lost Trailers

Of people like this....

 and this.....

John Rich, from Big & Rich

 and this duo....

Eddie Montgomery

Troy Gentry

And a cowboy or two.... or 20....

Jason Aldean

I am a paparazzi.

I'm not just a frumpy house wife who spray paints soda cans to hold fake flowers.  

I told you there were some perks!