Look What We Have...

picked up at the bank Saturday morning...

to be redeemed for one Victorian Farmhouse...

late Tuesday afternoon.

FINALLY!

Can we all let out a collective squeal together now?

Can we???

Ready?

Ready ?

Yiiiiipppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


 ~ click { here } if you haven't taken the tour yet ~

Vintage Inspiration Friday...Sweet T

Happy {Almost} Friday!

I am so pleased to be joining my very best blogger buddy
Debra at Common Ground
for her first blog party this evening!

She's calling it

Vintage Inspiration Friday

and here, in her own words, is what this little soiree is all about:

"I thought it might be fun to have one day of the week
that lets us share our inspiration...a way to not only share our creative ideas,
but also give credit to the source. 

Is it a magazine article or photo, designer, place, shop, book,
word, color, another blog or blogger? 

The possibilities are endless. 

We have so many sources of "inspiration"
 let's celebrate ideas and inspired creativity. 

And if it's your own idea, that's still wonderful, f
eel free to share. We'd love to see it!"

For my contribution to the party, I am re-posting
my homage to my wonderfully talented friend

Theresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage.
She, more than anyone else, has inspired me to think
outside the box when it comes to design and decor.
Her ability to create a memorable, one-of-a-kind vignette
is nothing short of genius, in my opinion.

So enjoy, and please head over to Common Ground
to share your own vintage inspiration!

***

Behold, the genius... 

 {all photos by me}

....that is Theresa Cano 

of  

Garden Antqs Vintage...

With all due respect to all my uber talented friends s
howing at Warrenton and Round Top each Spring and Fall,
I think we can all agree that there are few out there
as talented and as genuinely kind as the wonderful Theresa.

(just before the magic happens!)

She is a tireless workhorse during the week,
playing vendor, party planner, hostess, design and display genius, a
nd just all-around good friend to anyone who is fortunate enough
to step inside her tent at Zapp Hall and make her acquaintance.
It matters not how busy she might be, Ms. Cano always makes you feel
like you're the only one there at the moment.
And it's 100% genuine, there's not a lick of artifice about this gracious lady.

I told her last week that I was going to title this post "St. Theresa of Zapp",
and although it sounds a bit tongue-in-cheek,
I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I express just how dear this woman is to me.
She has served as a cheerleader, a motivator, an inspiration, and my fairy blogmother. 

And I know many of you feel the same.

{me and Theresa}

Behold the genius, of my friend Sweet T....

Bravo, and well done, my friend!

***

I hope you were inspired!

Vintage Inspiration Friday

at

Common Ground

See you there!

House Closing Update

Firstly, I want to thank every one of you so much,

for your 

kind comments, 

your prayers,

the supportive e-mails many of you have sent me...

they have touched my heart and shown me 

once again

just how special this blogging community truly is.

:-)

We have been jerked around horribly
by the bank the last few days

{I'll spare you the gory details}

but we now have a definite tentative closing date
of Tuesday, September 7th.

Did you catch the "tentative" there?

I don't trust those crooks as far as I can throw them.

But yeah, there's the update for ya.

I'll be back later this evening to participate in my friend  

Debra's

new blog party,

Vintage Inspiration Friday

See you then!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Getting Real

The real truth?

I'm tired.

I'm cranky.

I'm worried.

We are now at almost three weeks past our original house closing date

and I am more than a little perturbed 

at the slowness with which our bank

is handling this.

Mind you,
ALL paperwork is in and
everything
has been approved.

It's just the paperwork shuffle goin' on right now.

The bank reassures our Realtor that this is just the way it is

in this economy these days.

That nobody is closing on time,

that everybody is having their closing dates pushed back

and back

and back.

The seller is getting antsy and irritated, too.

And it crosses my mind

that

what if....

this all goes South at the 11th hour?

the deal falls through.

we lose the house.

Nope.

not gonna go there.

It's a new week now.

Gonna stay positive.

Gonna need some help, though.

That's where you come in.

Bear with me, that is all I ask.

Oh, and toss up a prayer or send a good thought, 

whatever works for you, works for me.

That's all.

Just a little cathartic sharing before bedtime.

Sending  

you  

prayers and good thoughts for your  week....

P.S.

An addendum:

***

Dear Bank,

Your time is not more valuable than mine.

No way, no shape, no how.

To find out today that I might have to take time off from work this week, leave the hospital and my patients to accommodate YOUR slowness in getting this done?

Not acceptable.

I know for a fact that your job is not more important than mine. 

My job actually involves saving lives for a living, whose life did YOU save today?

Yeah, I thought so.

Wishing you a day full of unicorns and candy canes,

~Anne~ 
 ***

Happy Weekend!

I'll be busy, busy, busy all this weekend,
so rather than neglect my blog and all of you,

I'm sharing the guest post I did for my sweet friend 

Melanie of Pretties and Posies

a couple of weeks back.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

p.s.
{when we finally do close on the house, I'll shout it from the blogtops}

*****

Hello Pretties and Posies readers!

I am so pleased and honored that sweet Melanie
has asked me to do a guest post here on her beautiful blog.
This is my first guest post ever, so hang in there with me as I learn the ropes. :-)

In getting to know Melanie, I've discovered
that we both share a passionate love for photography,
and some of the best you'll find out there can be seen right here on
Melanie's gorgeous blog.

For those who don't know me, I only just began blogging a year ago this month.

I work full-time as a respiratory therapist,
have a small booth in a local antique mall,
and an Etsy shop which is due to re-open soon.

My blog was initially meant to chronicle
my journey towards being a vintage shop owner,
but in recent months, it has taken a decidedly unexpected turn towards my new,
all consuming passion...photography!

As I began blogging, I quickly realized that as important as the words are,
the images are really key.

This time last year, I had never taken a photograph
with anything other than a disposable camera!

Soon after starting my blog I upgraded to a Canon point and shoot,
and just this past May I met the new love of my life...my Nikon D5000 DSLR.

{my first ever photo with my amazing new camera...my baby boy!}

But I'm here to reassure you that as nice as it is
to have such a wonderful camera, it's not essential
to producing eye-catching images....there are so many wonderful photo editing resources out there,
many of which are FREE!

Let me show you a bit of the magic I've been able to create
using a variety of photo editing programs.

This image is straight of the camera (SOOC, hereafter)...

And here it is after taking it for a couple of spins
through Photoshop Elements and Picnik...

#1

#2

SOOC...

And with PS Elements and Picnik

Now, if you were to ask me for step by step instructions
as to how I achieved these dramatic changes....well, I'd be at a loss,
because I'm still very much a novice and learning as I go.
I just play and tinker and tweak.
Which is what I encourage all of you to do, too!

One tip I can share actually came from one of the comments I received on this post:
It's all about the crop.
Cropping your image properly gives it that extra pop
and can turn an ordinary pic
into something extraordinary.

Want to see more?
No problem!

My SOOC barn image...

And since I was going for a sun-washed, vintage look,
here it is after using Florabella Actions in PS Elements...



SOOC...

And through the magic of photo editing:

SOOC...

and after...

SOOC...



and after...

Nice image below, but nothing special, no "wow" factor.



Compare that to the after...

Wow!

And what about my trademark Fiona and Twig header?
Yep, made more lovely through the beauty of photo editing!

Before (SOOC)...



Dark, under-exposed, and I wasn't even holding the camera straight.

And voila!



I could share my passion for photography with you all day long,
but I'll conclude now with a list of photo editing resources
for those whose interest has been piqued:

picnik.com

Photoshop Elements

Florabella Actions

The Pioneer Woman

CoffeeShop

FlauntR

Picasa

I hope you have as much fun as I've had!

Melanie, thank you so much for the opportunity
to share my passion with all of your lovely readers!

Have a beautiful week!