Saturday Spotlight: Real Life Behind the Blogger

Spotlight: REAL LIFE BEHIND THE BLOGGER

  Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Hi everyone.   I would like to introduce you to a very special blogger I have come to know over the past year.  She is fun, witty and talented.  Her name is Suzan from Simply Vintageous by Suzan.  Suzan, I affectionately call the furniture whisper (you know like Caesar the dog whisper) Suzan can take a piece of furniture and with her vision and talent with paint make it into a beautiful piece every single time.  She can see the gorgeous potential in a piece and then works her magic to transform it.  Suzan also has a bit on her blog called John Says Suzan Says that will have you laughing everytime.  Please take a few minutes and read about this very talented blogger and then hop over and check out her blog.  If you have not already met Suzan you will be in for a treat.




Hi Everyone - my name is Suzan - and I blog over at Simply Vintageous by Suzan ( which sometimes I think should be renamed to Simply Ridiculous by Suzan ) GETTING TO KNOW ME - GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT ME ??? I can't think of a more boring thing to do with your morning LOL My name is Suzan Sweatman and I'm a blogaholic - if you'd like to know the history of a " handle " like Sweatman - you can read about it HERE - This is me - It's ok to publish a photo of myself as a little girl because I haven't aged at all - I'm just a little taller - honestly - I can still fit in that dress................at 54 years old - ( don't hate me for it )

Ok so here goes - Here's the story of a Crazy Lady Who was bringing up three very lovely kids All of them had crazy genes ( just like they're mother ) .................................... I'm a 54 year old manic-menopausal-in-denial-slightly-neurotic blogger from Montreal And it's a pleasure to meet you all.................. Though my blog is supposed to be about furniture makeovers and how when I see this

I can imagine this ( post HERE )

and once I see that, it's only a hop skip and a jump for me to imagine this Craig's List photo

being transformed into this ( post HERE )

I also do a series called I WANNA live there Wednesday................featuring mostly heritage homes in my city neighborhood

Usually you'll find John and I's conversations scattered throughout my posts ( I've made a page with some of the most bizarre John says - Suzan says HERE Or the lyrics to songs that are guaranteed to stick in your head all day, I was a single Mom for 10 years when I met John - and we decided that life would be infinitely impossible unless we continued on our journey together................... That journey has taken me to many places - for a long time we went to Paris yearly - sometimes twice a year on business - and my love affair with that city began................. And I do posts from time to time on Paris............. Like the time I had lunch with John Malkovitch  ( you can read about that HERE )

We come from totally different backgrounds ( John Wood and I - not John Malkovitch and I ) He's British - I'm from Montreal - There's also a 10 year gap And the conversations that ensue from this - can sometimes get surreal They go something like this John and I in the car - ( and this is a brand new conversation for you Kris - just happened a few days ago and I actually saved it for you ) 

 John says - I think there's something wrong with that guy 

Suzan says - Who? 

John says - it doesn't matter - we've passed him - but I see him a lot 

John says - his treads are just ridiculous 

Suzan says - How can you even see them?

 John says - Are you blind as a bat?  How can I not see them?

 Suzan says - I'd need a magnifying glass to see them

 John says-  Really?  You HAVE to get glasses then 

Suzan says - well you must have eyes like a hawk to be able to see them 

John says - they look filthy 

Suzan says - what does? 

John says - The guys TREADS 

Suzan says - what the hell?  I have never seen you go in with a toothbrush to clean yours !!! 

John says - I DON'T HAVE TREADS!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Suzan says -Of course you have treads - don't be ridiculous 

John says - And his bicycle looks like it's falling apart 

Suzan says - Ok you're blowing my mind away here - he's on a bike? 

John says - YES 

Suzan says - AND YOU CAN SEE THE TREADS ON HIS BIKE TIRES???????????

 John says - are you nuts? 

John yells - HIS TREADS - on his HEAD ( Did any of you figure it out before I did? ) 

Suzan says - DREADS JOHN - they're called DREADS !!! 

John mumbles - Dreads, Treads, same thing 

Suzan mumbles - not quite............... 

 I am the proud Mama to 3 children - who think I am crazy - but who love me anyway. I don't think they realize they have inherited ( by default ) some of my crazy genes - but I love them anyway. One of my daughter's recently married - she had a " themed " wedding - which had me a nervous wreck for the full 6 months prior..................but people are still calling us a month after the event to tell us they've never had more fun at a wedding in their lives - so I guess she did good - my little girl................you can read about some of her totally off the radar wedding plans HERE and HERE and if you don't go to the links and read them you'll have no idea why my Son changed from his suit into this outfit for the reception - DEAR GOD - but I did warn you we were all a little crazy.................don't judge ( it's not nice to judge - didn't your Mother teach you that??? )  and no I am not Billy Idol's Mom - no matter how much my Daughter wanted her Brother to " channel " him - although I'd say he " aced " it.....................this is the first time I'm posting this photo btw. This is him normally - I HAVE to show you this before you see the next one!

Mom says - frantically as I'm getting out of the car - almost tripping on my dress to get to him. OMG GORDIE - put your suit back on Gordie says - Mom - Stop it - Lindsay wanted me to come as Billie Idol Mom says - PLEASE GORDIE - GO PUT YOUR SUIT BACK ON!!!!!!!!! Gordie says - Love ya Mom - but love Lindsay too - have a good time - RELAX Mom whispers - But you looked so handsome in your suit Mom says - OMG - do you have makeup on? Mom says - What's with the earring? Mom says - I can't bear to look at you like this Mom hisses - At least do that zipper up - OMG Gordie.................. Gordie says - Mom - take a pill, k?  You're completely overreacting And btw - she begged her brother to do this..................which is not the part I found so shocking - but rather that HE ACTUALLY DID IT !!!!!!!!!!!! His girlfriend helped him achieve this look

Here's my twin daughters - ( more wedding photos's HERE )

LINDSAY AND ASHLEY

John and I are also Lolly and Pop to his 6 amazing grand kids....................who I love as deeply as though they had my crazy genes running through them. I chose Lolly because they already had 2 grandmothers and it just seemed easiest - the name has become one of my favorite things to be called. Lindsay had chosen special songs for each of us to be introduced to at the reception - John and I proudly walked from the entrance way through the entire length of the hall - to the song " LOLLY POP " I love people - especially off the wall nutty types of people ( that's why I love you Kris - door obsession and all ) come by and visit sometime - the door is always open ( although I only have 1 front door - unlike Kris who changes hers seasonally ) and I'd love to meet you all!!! But now the clock is ticking - and I must say So long, Farewell, Auf Weidersehen, Goodnight ( I hate to go and leave this pretty site ) So long, Farewell, Auf Weidersehen, Adieu To you and you and you ( andyouandyou ) I leave and heave a sigh and say good-bye

AND that would be me - in a nutshell.................... Thank you so much Kris and Susan - for inviting me over today - I had a blast getting to know myself actually!!!  Hope you don't lose any followers LOL Huge hugs from Montreal to both of you and all your readers too!

So happy you took the time to learn a little more about Suzan.  Now hop over to Susan's blog and enjoy reading about Kelly at Essence of Home.
Kris
: )

Good Evening,
I have gotten several emails asking how I made the roses for the favor bags for the blogger get together today.  They are so easy so I did some pictures to show you how.  They take only minutes to make.

All you need is a pair of scissors, some ribbon or I used jute or a stapler and what ever color tissue paper you would like.

Here is the finished product.  I just took a brown paper gift bag and made the flower out of tissue paper and glued it to the bag

Here are the little brown paper favor bags I made for the blogger girls get together. Now I will show you how easy these flowers are to make.

Take a regular piece of wrapping paper tissue.  The one I have has rounded edges but most tissue is straight and the easiest to use.

Fold your tissue paper in half

Then fold it in half again

Then fold it one more time in half and begin the accordian fold.  Fold it back and forth

This will create an accordion pleat

Then you can cut a piece of twine I had on hand or you can use a stapler or ribbon.  Whatever you have on hand to tie the piece together

I tied this off in the middle with my twine

Then I cut the ends on both sides.  This will make your flower pattern

You can see better in this shot how cutting the ends makes this triangle end.  This is what will eventually become your flower.

Open up like the picture shows above

Now this is the hardest part to explain but the easiest part to do!!!! Start to pull up each row of the tissue towards the middle where you tied off the flower.  

This is how it looked after I had pulled up a couple of rows of tissue to the middle

This is a few more rows pulled up to make the flower

This is how it looks when all the sides are fluffed and pulled up to the middle.  Easy Easy Easy and they make the cutest flowers.  If you want bigger or smaller flowers you just fold your tissue more for smaller and less for bigger flowers.
Easy project and you can make these up in minutes.
Kris

The girls,  Anne from White Lace Cottage and Jane and her daughter from Blondies Journal brought me some hostess gifts that I just have to show you.  I felt so special to receive these beautiful gifts from them.  The flowers above are from Anne's garden and she took a mason jar and added some bling with buttons and burlap.  So adorable just loved this.  Thank you Anne.

Jane gave me this cute birdcage memo board.  Is this not the cutest?!!! I am hoping to hang it in my office on my old gate . 

Jane also made these homemade bottles of basil olive oil and a mixture of salt and herbs.  Yum!!! I cannot wait to use these when I cook.
Thank you Jane and Anne you made me feel so special today.  I was so happy to have them over for lunch and to take them to Tattered Tiques.

I was so excited and caught up in being a hostess I forgot to take pictures!!Ughhh!! Anne and Jane took some pictures so I hope they will post them on their blog.  We had a great day together. Lot's of fun to come out of blogland and into real world!!!!!
Have a great Friday
Kris
:)

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Blogger's Meet Up and Tattered Tiques

Hope your week is going great.  I am meeting up with Anne from White Lace Cottage and Jane from Blondie's Journal on Thursday.  They are meeting here at my house and then I am taking them to my favorite shop Tattered Tiques and then back to my house for lunch.  I have meet Anne before but this will be the first time I meet Jane in person. Jane is also having her daughter that is an interior design consultant come along too.   I am excited to meet up and have a great shopping time and then lunch to get to know each other better.

Here is my table and little favors I did for our luncheon.

I love to have pretty flowers all over the house to welcome in my guests.

These Hydrangeas were left here from the photographers that were here in the week to shoot some pictures of my house for an upcoming magazine feature.  (More about that at a later date) I love that they left these beauties with me.   They are so pretty.

I made up some cute favor bags for each girl.  Just little brown paper gift bags that I embellished with some tissue flowers I made.  I remember making these for decorating the cars when there was a wedding in the family. Easy to make and gives the bags a little bling.

Inside each bag is a pretty handmade pen with a rose flower top and some really cute note cards I found at HomeGoods with chandeliers on the cards and envelopes. Too cute.  I am also tucking in a sweet and salty snack.

I also made an extra bag for putting pretty flowers in for my centerpiece.

I have my favor bags all ready to give each of the girls.  I also hung a little chalk board sign for each bag.  They can use these at home to decorate just about anything with a cute saying.

Pulled out my linen napkins and my cute little chippy bird cage napkin rings to help start the table setting.

My deck off the dining room is ready if anyone wants to sit outside.  It is suppose to be getting humid and a lot warmer here by Thursday so not sure the deck will be as inviting!!! It is ready in any case.

This is where I  like to sit and relax on a nice summer afternoon with my magazines or my ipad and catch up on pinterest.

Well off to the grocery store to get my ingredients to make the lunch.  I am going to try a quiche recipe that I found on Pinterest and maybe a fruit salad to go with.  I am making homemade blueberry muffins and I have a great summer desert for the girls.  I am excited to meet up with Jane and her daughter and Anne.
Hope your week is going great.
Kris
:)

Color for the Lake Guest Room

Hi Everyone

I have been feeling so DIY of late.  As I have mentioned before I do not sew and am always in awe of those of you that can.  

I wanted to add some color (yep, the white chippy girl is adding color) to my lake themed guest room.  As some of you know we live in a lake town that years ago was just that a Lake town.  The only thing in this town was the big lake and lake cottage homes  around it.  Now it is built up and suburbia but I still love that I live in a lake town.  So I wanted my guest room to reflect a lake theme.  I always think of red, blues and checks and stripes when I think of a lake cottage.  

I actually am pretty proud of myself I took some table clothes and napkins I bought and made them into curtains and a couple of pillows!!!!!  I pulled out my Sears Kenmore Sewing Machine I have had since I got married 32 years ago and measured and began sewing some straight lines!!! No frills just some straight lines but I was able to accomplish some drapes and a couple of pillows.

Don't be threatened my dear sewing bloggers I've got nothing on any of you that can sew.  I was just proud I could accomplish what I did.

Got these red and white check table clothes and napkins for less than I would have spent on fabric.  Most of the seams already sewn for me!! Yeah!!! Nothing screams summer lake house like red and white checks

I apologize for these grainy pictures but the way the light streams in this room it is hard to get a good shot with my camera without a special lens.  Anyway you can see the drapes and the pillows I sewed!!!!!

I love my new cute checked pillows.

Got this at the flea market last week end and had some extra red and white check fabric left.  Soooooo the hubby painted the legs and then we covered that salmon colored top with the red check fabric left overs.

Much cuter in the red and white check.  That salmon color had to go!!!!

This was my dresser painted with the milk paint that chipped and I hemmed and hawed about painting it red to tie the room together with red.

I am not sure I love it better red but it does tie the room together.  I did like the chippy blue but I think the red pops more in the room.  I can always re paint it.  I am going to live with it for awhile and see how I feel.

While at the flea market I also picked up this vintage Bingo Game everything still inside and in the plastic.  It was never opened.   I added this vintage bingo game with the other vintage lake toys.

This was my most prized find at the flea market.  This little lady was selling this 1960's bikini.  I loved this so much so I purchased it for $5 and hung it in the lake guest room.  It has the cutest white vintage buttons to hook the top.

Another great find was this aqua blue vintage telephone.  I loved the color and it works.  Loved the old princess phones.

Looks like someone else wants to feel like she is on vacation in the lake guest room.

There you have it color added to the Lake Guest Room.  I wish I could get better pictures in this room it really does look nice with the red added.
So now I can say I sewed some drapes and pillows!!!!! This room is a work in progress and I am sure many more changes to come.  For now I am going to live with the red and see if it grows on me.
Have a great week.
Kris
:)

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