Blah,Blah,Blahg

I AM "IT"....

I have been de-virginized.  Yes, I am no longer amongst the tag-less, I have been officially crowned "It" by the lovely Miss Vanessa.  So 7 things about boring 'ol Miss B. here you go my pretties...

1. I am a first generation American.  Both my parents speak with thick accents and I have developed a weird one myself (it's kind of Fargo-ish).  I think it's technically called an impediment.
2. One of my very favorite songs ever is called the Pina Colada song.
3. My ex-boyfriend Josh Z. and I were the original 'hipsters'.  I am now the original 'Anti' hipster.
4. I am unusually lady-like.  I don't cuss/swear and no one since I was a wee bebe has witnessed me in the loo (because I of course don't need to use it, I have evolved to that point--Darwin would be proud.)
5. I prefer puppies to people.
6. I have severe dyslexia which impairs my directionality and my sense of time.  I have zero sense of time so I over compensate by being really early to every appointment (how annoying!).
7. I have a need to touch and smell everything in my wake.

I am going to tag the following lovelies:

• Miss Jules of Pancake and French Fries-If you haven't been reading this blog on a regular basis, you are missing out on some 'Depends' inducing moments...
• Miss Toi of Syotha would be proud-Just keep your 'Depends' on while reading this blog as well...
• Miss Ashley of Have a Lovely-I wish my family was as perfect as hers....

Dégringolade and then some...

    Ah technology, my love-hate relationship continues daily.  This my pretties is a LOVE!  A dictionary that can actually pronounce the words you may be looking up.  How erudite of you to have such a big, sexy--vocabulary...I do love my paper version and truth-be-told I am completely jonesing for one of these elegant leather versions (that can be personalized!!!)

But I love the idea of having my dictionary pronounce the words for me.  Who cares about the phonetic spelling?  Half the time I can't figure it out.  I'm getting up there in years, last time I studied phonetics I was in the 2nd grade.  This I believe is manna from heaven for people like myself that obsessively look up words from my nightly reading fix. My understanding is that it even has headphones, so I don't have to annoy my snoring Fancy (one of the reasons I read late into the night is because I can't sleep when the bed is levitating).  You can check it out here.

And if you prefer to spend your hard earned cash on other things (like shoes), Merriam-Webster offers their dictionary on-line complete with pronunciation and word of the day. *Dégringolade 

 

LOVELY BUNNY...

I wish I had kids or knew kids that I could make this gorgeous cashmere bunny for.  I don't know how I found this beautiful blog where this image came from, but I am so glad I did.  The author is lovely and creative and it just means more work won't get done around here...

If you want to try your hand at toy making (why not?) I did a little research and found some fun books

for you and Wee Wonderfuls, where the lovely Hillary Lang has a free pattern for you to download and she has put together a list of her favorite Japanese craft books.  If you haven't found out about this secret society of crafters, I am forewarning you, Japanese crafting is a slippery slope, once you go down this magic rabbit hole you may never come out again..

"MY NAME IS MISS. B AND I AM DISORGANIZED..."

 

They say the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem...It's nearly the middle of February and today I have had enough with my dysfunctional organization system.  If you have garnered anything from reading about me, you may have guessed that I am a wanna-be type A personality.  I want to be a perfectionist but I can never get anything perfect..Sigh...

I am not your typical disorganized person either, I look like I am organized.  Yes, I bought each and every one of of Mom/Martha's storage boxes to enhance this ruse:

I have things put away and everything seems very neat and orderly but I have a deep, dark secret--I don't know where the 'h' anything is.  If it's put away I get instant amnesia, it no longer exists, it becomes part of the black hole which is my office.

Today was my rock bottom, I can no longer pretend and go on with this charade.  I am making my resolution in the middle of February to become more organized.  So, I pulled up some resources for you in case you were suffering the same affliction. Here's what I found:

• This nice (and very organized lady) has a great idea organizing  the composition notebooks that I so covet. Plus she offered up the link for the self-adhesive chalkboard sheets which I feel are beyond brilliant (unless you hate chalk and chalkboards).  I feel a billion craft projects coming on with these beauties.

  

• People are singing the praises of this free cyber organizational tool I personally am going to start as non-techy as possible, but this might be more to your liking.

Good luck lovelies! I know I will need it.  Don't worry, I plan to make this a priority, so there will be many more ideas to follow.  If you have any great tips please let me know. If they work for someone as inept as myself I will write about them...

 

MORE LABELS!

Well, lookey here, someone has kept her promise to make Friday's even better than they already are!  Yes, another download! I am under the assumption that my download last Friday really worked and people around the globe could download my labels and stick them on everything as needed.  I am in an organizing frenzy which I will share throughout this weekend.

I figured if you were playing along with me and decided to get yourself in gear as well that this new set of labels will take you to organizing nirvana and back.  They are tiny, but perfect to discreetly mark boxes and binders, but not so discreet as to make you rip up the house trying to find that, 'thing' (that's how I always describe everything I lose-- "You know that thing!")

I made them in espresso brown, since I figured that would go with most decor.  I'll be adding more colors, pre-cut and professionally printed to the shop, but since you my pretty take the time to stop by our little part of the web, than you get first dibs--gratis.   Get creative , print them on cardstock, punch a hole, add ribbon and you have a gift tag.  Print them on coloured label paper in a light pink or pale blue, everyone knows how chic pink and brown and brown and blue are...Print on textured paper and use photo glue to stick in your books, viola, high-end book plates.  Do most anything, but don't sell them, k?  This is for you to enjoy, so get started...

{LABEL SHEET}

HAPPY V.D.

If you were a loser, uhm, busy and didn't get your Bella Bella co. valentine's day cards then perhaps you should hustle your little digits over to the Official Bureau of Correspondence .  You may want to bookmark their site as they have plenty of  theses Madlib-esque forms that you  can fill out and send to all your loved  ones.  Can you imagine answering your mother-in-law's  email with one of these?  What a hoot!  Unless she's your future mother in-law--try  to refrain.  I  actually sent the above form to my Fancy for Valentine's day because  there's only so many manatee cards one can get in their lifetime...

MEET MY NEW NEMESIS...

    The above offensive chicken was dropped off at the Atelier for Bella by my so-called Best Friend.  It makes a squeak noise like you never heard, like loud, grating  fingernails against the chalkboard.  I had to let Bella play with it while my "friend" was around, to show how much we both appreciate her kind gesture.  My plan as I walked this "friend" to the door was to confiscate the chicken and be done with it.  Bella was in HEAVEN, making sqoink noises in addition to her regular snorting.  When the door closed I quickly ran to get the chicken, Bella thought this was a GREAT game and let me chase her all over the house.  "Give me that chicken!" I screamed which made her 'SQOINK, SQOINK,SQOINK" some more.  Then silence.  I rounded the corner and she was panting and no chicken in sight.  "Bella, where's the chicken?"  She ran away from me.  I ripped up the bedroom, office, living room, kitchen and the chicken was gone.  With most things that disappear into thin air you have to assume that Bella swallowed them.  She's swallowed much worse, so I just reveled in my solitude. Until...

Last night when I got up to go to the bathroom about 3 a..m., not wanting to wake anyone I kept all the lights off, stepped into the loo and SQOINNNNNNNNK!!!!!! She hid her chicken under the bath mat!  I screamed bloody murder (My Fancy didn't wake up, good to know next time someone decides to kidnap me...)

I put the dumb chicken on the vanity in the bathroom, making note to throw it away in the morning.  I went back to bed with the thought of the demise of the chicken. I woke up 4 hours later to "SQOINKKKKKKKK!!!!!!"  My Fancy thought he'd give it back to her this morning, now it's hidden again just waiting to scare the piss out of me and give me a heart attack and that my pretties is my new nemesis...

MARTHA, MARTHA, MARTHA...

My complete and utter adoration of Martha Stewart is legendary.  I get teased incessantly with unabashed abandon, but being the die hard fan I am, I stand by Martha now and always.  My Fancy once asked me when Martha had her daughter Alex on her  show if I wished Martha was my mom, duh...(sorry mom, I love you--like a friend) (just kidding)  Anyway, I made this recipe the other day and it was easy as it comes and boy did My Fancy think I took some sort of creative pills (he's currently sick of my cooking repetoire. I keep telling him Italians eat Italian food, no really go to any first generation Italian home at dinner time they 'aint eating burgers and fries)

 

So the image above is not corresponding to the recipe, I did that on purpose because I thought the image that corresponded wasn't as pretty, but follow this link and you'll not only get the recipe but the video.  You will be amazed how easy this is and even though I didn't really sway too far from the Italian tree, it was a little jazzier than pasta.  At least I didn't tell him to make his own dinner which is about to happen if he doesn't stop complaining...

MAKING YOUR PHOTO'S CLASSY...

I didn't name this post, I mean I did, but I took it from the video tutorial I am hoping shows up in this post (fingers crossed).  Then you too can take bad photo's of your annoyed pets (or kids, spouse, etc.) and make them look kinda cool.  BTW, I'm not responsible for the tutorial quality, I just swiped it for you, so make the best of it.  Happy Monday!

SEW-SEW

    For almost as long as I can remember people have been saying it's so hard to buy me gifts since I make EVERYTHING.  It's almost true, I have accomplished the title of parfumeur and make my own scents, chemist, contractor, chef, publicist, designer, stationer, etc.  I've made nearly every piece of furniture in our flat and if I didn't make it I altered it with my own two hands. I like to make things. 
    So when my birthday rolled around last year I asked for a tool to make more things--a sewing machine.  I didn't realize I would like it so much, I went as far as to tell my mom that I could see myself working in a factory, there's something so zen and meditative about it (something my hyperactive brain is not).  I even like ripping seams when I make mistakes.  I promptly went about collecting books to add to my how-to library.  The one above is a favourite.  The instructions are simple (thus the title) and the photography is gorgeous.








The book has many projects for both home and your wardrobe and if you enjoy sewing as much as I do this will be a book to add to your library. 

I don't know if you have noticed but on the top right sidebar I have added a Blah, Blah, Blahg book store for you (Under Bella Bella Books, etc.).  I have highlighted some of my favorite 'How-to' books that I have collected and some I want desperately.  This is going to be an ongoing project as I own an awful lot and I want an awful lot.  I will try to make comments as much as I can under the ones I have so you can hear first hand from someone who can't follow directions what they are like.  Feel free to offer me up suggestions as I am always on the hunt for great how-to books.

Photo's courtesy of Dacia Ray