blog — Page 31

Changing, Playing & Cleaning Up

October 24, 2011 at 10:42 am by Claudia

Doesn’t Fall seem to be a time for nesting? For changing things around, cleaning things up? My theory is that memories of “back-to-school-new-shoes-new-notebooks-and-pencils” are bred in our bones and once that cooler air hits, we want to renew and start fresh. That, and a need to nest in preparation for the coming Winter.

I’m definitely feeling it. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling it for the cottage. I’m feeling it for the dollhouse and this blog.

The blog has changed a bit lately, as you no doubt have noticed. A new header, a new background and now… a new font. Like an idiot, I stayed up until the wee hours last night because I suddenly got the urge to play with fonts. Lately, I’ve been wanting a cleaner, fresher looking blog and all these changes are being made with that in mind. Brenda will be happy – she had trouble reading the Papyrus font I’ve been using. We good-naturedly (spell check doesn’t like my word choice) argued about it. What do you think? Is this new font clear enough for you?

While Don was working late last night, I was watching the World Series and playing with the dollhouse. Two chairs have been painted and added to the kitchen.

This bookcase/armoire was a gift from Rizzi. I’m going to paint it a pale, pale aqua and put wallpaper backing behind the shelves.

Honestly, I was like a little girl last night. I pulled out my box of furniture and accessories and played house. I don’t have very much at the moment and I have a wish list a mile long, but it was such fun. (I love the way the sunlight pours into the room.)

I’d share the other things I did this weekend with you, but do you really want to see the enormous pile of tree limbs (courtesy of Hurricane Irene) that I dragged one by one into the woods?

Or the window air conditioners that were finally taken out of their summer homes and stored in the shed?

I thought not.

Unofficial Bed Maker vs Non-Bed Maker poll results:

Bed Makers: 29
Non-Bed Makers: 5
Hit-and-Miss: 6

Have a great Monday.

Okay, now I’ve changed the font again. This time to Century Gothic. I’m not sure which one I like better!

Now you will officially think I’m insane. I’ve changed it back to my original ‘new’ font.

Chloe & a Big Thank You

May 2, 2010 at 9:27 pm by Claudia

I’d like you to meet Chloe. Chloe accompanied me on my trip to San Diego last year and she has decided to come along for the visit this year. Knowing how much I would miss our dogs, my husband gave her to me last year right before I left MHC for a 6 month stay in San Diego. I miss them so much it hurts. I have a need to cuddle a furry creature and Miss Chloe fits the bill.

Thank you, my dear friends, for all the wonderful comments you left on my previous post. You inspire me and you lovingly push me to take a risk and go for it. How can I not? I have read your comments several times. Like Jodie, I believe that ‘we are the authors of the life we create.’ It is easy to forget that at times. Thankfully, I have all my wonderful friends to remind me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – blogging has introduced me to so many generous, compassionate, caring, talented people.

For those of you who wrote to say that the reason you are drawn to this blog is because it is authentic and real: thank you. When I was working with Amber on the blog redesign a couple of months ago, I emphasized that I didn’t want it to look ‘too slick.’ That was the only way I could think of to express my sincere desire to keep MHC what it has always been: about our cottage, our life, our dogs, my creative endeavors, decorating and gardening. So the fact that you think this blog I write is authentic makes me very happy.

Well, it is Sunday night and I have finished a long, long week of work. The first few weeks of Rep rehearsals are always exhausting. 3 Rep shows are in rehearsal and I am also coaching a 4th production that is moving onstage this week. There are not enough hours in the day. Eventually, I will have more free time…but for now…this girl is tired. I have one day off on Monday and I have several errands to run. On Monday evening many of us will meet to honor the life of my friend Raul who died a few weeks ago. He was a Stage Manager at the theater for many years and a very good friend to both me and my husband.

Have a wonderful Monday.

My Blog Re-Design & Square #10

March 10, 2010 at 8:13 am by Claudia

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my newly designed blog!

A while back, I started enlarging my photos. I sought the advice of a few people, among them Cindy of My Romantic Home. Because of the limitations of the Blogger template I was using, I could only enlarge photos vertically (portrait.) That was fine for a while but sometimes I wanted to shoot horizontally (landscape) and in the course of cropping and trying to adjust the size for the template I would lose part of the photo. Frustrated by the same thing, Cindy recently redesigned her blog so that the width of the posting area is greater, allowing space for either size photo. She inspired me.

I loved the look of my blog. That was what held me back. (Change is hard sometimes, isn’t it?) But to be perfectly honest, though I loved the free background, I didn’t like running into it elsewhere in blogland. I wanted my-very-own-mine-only look. I also loved the sidebar labels, signature and blog button Mandy created for me. I wanted to keep them. I finally bit the bullet and asked Amber of Sprinkles on Top if she could design a new template, background and banner. She did. I am over-the-moon about this new look! Amber captured exactly what I was looking for. She is so good at what she does and is a joy to work with.

If you’re thinking of a re-design, visit Amber’s website. She is reasonably priced and has several different packages available. Amber has designed Cindy’s blog, Elyse’s blog and many, many others. Thank you, thank you, Amber!

Square #10:

(a landscape size photo)

Pardon any white dog hairs you might see. They are part of living with a white dog that has hair as silky and fine as a cat’s. I must admit that I was stumped for a while yesterday. It took a while for a bit of ‘square inspiration’ to hit me on the head. And I have 29 to go.

Have a great day.

Changing, Playing & Cleaning Up

Chloe & a Big Thank You

My Blog Re-Design & Square #10

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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