Saturday Spotlight: 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.

Saturday October 4
Debbie: Debbiedoo's

Welcome to another Spotlight Saturday.  I am so excited to introduce you to this special blogger.  Her name is Debbie and she blogs over at Debbiedoo's.  I am sure a lot of you know her blog because it is fantastic and full of great crafting.  Debbie is so talented and fun.  Debbie has a special place in my heart because she helped me when I first got started in blogging in her newbie feature.  Debbie's newbie feature introduced me to a lot of you in blogland and for that I am so grateful.  After one conversation with her you will feel like she has been your friend for life.  She has a big heart and a great sense of humor.  So here is her feature enjoying learning more about her.

Hi there everyone!

My name is Debbie better known in these parts as Debbiedoo's.

When Kris asked me to be a part of her Saturday spotlight, I without hesitation said yes.  Not because I like talking about myself, because, really, it is kinda weird and uncomfortable for me. But because I really like Kris and Susan:)

I have been blogging for a over 3 years now, and still very much have a passion for it.  I started off sharing our home and all the ways I change things.  However, that quickly died off when I realized I don't have ever changing decor or  deep pockets.  I went in a different direction, and started crafting more.  Honestly, I stunk at crafting {in the beginning}and felt much more comfortable sharing our home and decor, but again, that was getting old for me, and although, a big hobby of my husband and I's is thrifting, there is only so many places, nooks and crannies and corners I can fill.

My favorite season is Fall, and you can come on over and see all the Fall decorating I have been up to.

LOTS! All on a budget too.

I have been married for 18 years to one handsome fellow and have two very handsome boys {who look like their Dad} ages 16 and 12.  The dynamics of our home is quickly changing and I am feeling a bit emotional about that.

Did I mention I am going thru menopause?

Well, yes indeed I am, and it stinks, as many of you know and have been there, so I feel quite comfortable sharing that with you.  My moods are shifting, my butt is spreading, and boobs, well, where are they? Oh yes, there they are I just had to pick them up off the floor, and they aren't even that big!

I have developed some strange fears and phobia's that many people don't even know about. Ya know, not something you want to share every day that you are turning into a whackadoo:)   I act cool,  calm, and collected  most of the time and appear to be very outgoing, all the while, would rather be at home with my little family taking over the kitchen crafting.

It just calms me:)

In  my past life, I actually worked in the Medical field.  My last job was for a female oncologist.  I worked there for 8 years and I actually enjoyed the field.  I would say I enjoyed the patients.  I became very close to many and even though that was over 16 years ago, I think of the many who touched my heart.  That job, certainly humbled me, and made me appreciate the gift of life and love that I have been given.  Did I mention, I get wishy washy too now, yeah, that darn menopause thing again.

I truly love blogging and have met so many of fine folks out here.  I would say I get to know you pretty quickly just after a visit or two. There was a time I was all about newbies, hosted parties and basically scouted out the net for newbies.  True, I did, I wanted everyone who started  a blog to feel warm, welcomed, and to feel a part of the the sphere. Because, honestly, when I started, I was scared, felt alone, and who would even read me anyway?  I did that for about two years, basically until I exhausted myself.  I realized, I had to start thinking about my blogging and the direction I wanted to take, and knew, these girls would be just fine without me.  Many are, and many I still see blogging away and I have continued my treasured friendships with them.

 So that's the deets on the DOO!

Hope to see you over at my place sometime.

I have a gallery filled with my own ideas, crafts and thrifted decor.

You can also follow me around if you want.

Thank you Debbie for your beautiful feature.  Thanks for sharing that you worked for a oncologist years ago.  We have that in common .  I worked as an oncology RN when I first started my career in nursing.  Doing that kind of work does keep life in perspective and it teaches us to enjoy the journey we are on and not to take it for granted.  Thanks for sharing with us today.

Love you girlie!!!!

Kris

:)

Now after learning about Debbie please jump over to Susan's blog and check out Linda from Costal Charm.

When is a Door(s) a Wall?

Yeah!!! Hump Day.  How is your week going?

Mine did not start out so good.  We had a tragic accident with my brand new I Mac computer that I have only had for 5 weeks and made only one payment on!!!!! While doing a project in my office using vintage doors my hubby dropped one of the doors onto the computer and shattered the screen.

Yep!!! brand new screen ruined.  My husband felt so bad but it is what it is and we took her to Apple and they put her in the Apple hospital for a face lift.  Since all the components of the computer are behind the screen there was the threat the computer was trashed.  I thought oh not a 5 week old computer that we have only made one payment on!!!! Apple ran a diagnostic check on her and her internals were all good so she just needed a new screen.  So I have been without my computer for a few days.  Hoping to hear from them today or tomorrow that she is ready to come home.  I miss her!!!!

Anyway on to the post!!!! I know a lot of you thought I was going to make an arbor out of the old vintage doors I got while junkin and you would have been right that was the original plan but then I got the idea to do something different with them.  That happens a lot with me!!!:)

I wanted to partition off my office some how from the dining room.  This back area where I made my office was a closet when we moved in and was completely closed off. Just a total waste of space.  So I made it into my office.   I wanted to still have an open feeling and let that light from that window come in but still want some division from my dining room.

These old vintage doors and porch posts did the trick.  I have some separation but still have light coming through to keep it from feeling closed up in there.

Loved that the doors still had their lovely old knobs and locks still on them.

Now I have the division of having my office feel like a separate room but still with an open feel.  Door hoarder here loves that I could have the hubby make me a wall out of old vintage doors.

Here it the back side to the new wall of doors.  I love these old chippy porch posts as the anchors.

I love that the light still streams in from that window to keep it bright.

Love my little stair rail and post to add some chippy bling.

Well there you have it!!!! Doors made into a wall.
Hopefully today I will be getting my computer back!!!
Make sure you check back on Saturday for another Spotlight blogger.  Susan and I have a couple of really special bloggers for you to get to know better.
Have a great rest of the week
Kris
:)

Sharing with Sweet and Simple Fridays
Sharing with Party Junk
Sharing at Show and Tell Friday
Sharing with Fabulously Creative Friday
Sharing at Shabbilicious Friday
Sharing with Share your Cup Thursday
Sharing with Open House Thursday
Sharing at What's it Wednesday
Sharing with Blissful Whites Wednesday
Sharing with Treasure Hunt Thursday

Fall Junkin Week End Part Two

Part Two Post of my Week end Junkin Trip.

We went to Indiana on Friday and Saturday and then headed North to Wisconsin via a stop over at home in Illinois to drop off the loaded car!!!!

So here is the Wisconsin part from today.  Elkhorn Flea Market is three times a year.  It in my opinion is one of the best in the midwest.  It never disappoints and I always find treasures.

The first of these pictures I took with my cell phone because I forgot to grab my camera so the quality is probably not the best.

This w0men at the flea had some of the cutest french chic items.  She mixed in her halloween with all her french couture.

Lots of fun Halloween stuff.

Yikes she had one of her french mannequin's dressed for halloween!!!!!

Poor little prim she did not look happy.

Cute dress mannequin made out of chicken wire.

Ok this sweet bird cage grabbed a hold of me.  I thought hmmm some white paint and she might look cute on my entertainment cabinet.  I was pretty excited until I got her home and she was 10 inches too big so the hubby is working on that adjustment.  Hopefully will have that up and looking cute soon.

One of my fav vendors is Jeanine from Chippy Shabby.  Jeanine had her gorgeous treasures for sale at the flea.  Love her stuff.  Jeanine's things can be found throughout my house. 

It is hard to see in this picture but I got the cutest chippy chair and little tote from Jeanine.  I will show you at the end of this post what I did with those two chippy loves.  The fire signs are for the hubby and his garage re do.

Here we are getting the first load into the car!  That purple chair is getting a transformation too.  She will not be purple and she has the cutest chicken wire belly that I am going to have to do something cute in.  That big white post is being made into something cute too.  Lot's of projects for me after this trip.  So stay tuned for updates on my vintage porch post and birdcage project.

Here is the chippy chair.  I placed the sweater pumpkins I got in Indiana on her.

Love at first site with her chippy loveliness. 

This chair looks cute all dressed with white fall decor.

Dressed up the new drop leaf table with some fall decor. Remember the little chippy tote  from Jeanine at the flea market today here she is dressed for fall.  Isn't this tote just the cutest.

There you have it some more of the great treasures I found this week end.  I hope to get some of my bigger projects done this week to show you.
I am so loving this fall weather.  Cooler nights and warmer days.  It is perfect weather to paint outside and I have a lot of that to do this week.
Have a great week.
Kris
:)

First Part of My Junkin Week End.

Good Sunday to Everyone.

I have the first part of my week end away trip done and we are on our way to my favorite flea market in Elkorn Wisconsin.

We spent Friday and Saturday down in Tipton Indiana.  Such a sweet little old fashion town.  It is like Mayberry.  This is where the Vintage Market was out side of Horton's Hardware Store in Tipton.  Girls this is the best Hardware store ever!!!!! It has a "man" side with tools, paint, nails and the other side,  Oh My,  it is partioned off with old vintage doors and windows made into small rooms where vendors sell their chippy, shabby wonderful treasures.  This is the best hardware store I have ever been in!!!!!

Here are some pictures of the first half of my week end away.

Here is the front of Horton's Hardware store.  I love her saying Things to feather your Nest!!!!  See through the window those old doors to make up each room.  This hardware store had something for the hubby and something for me!!!!  Well actually several things for me!!

The pictures are not the greatest the sun was just coming up on the windows of the hardware store.  See that cute drop leaf table.  It was too cute and it not only has the drop leaf's it extends out too.  That little treasure came home with us.  I will show you her in the end.

One of the booth's inside the hardware store.  Look at those fabulous pumpkins.  Too many fun Halloween things.

Look at this fun table and umbrella.  This was the sign up table for a demonstration they were having later in the day.  Ohhhh I forgot to mention this hardware store sells the best homemade fudge.  Yep my kind of hardware store!
Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the old fashion candy counter and fudge shop.

One of the rooms in the hardware store.  The wall was the exposed brick.  So many sweet treasures inside this room.

Look at the cute slipcovered sofa and all the fun pillows.  This chest was old and beautiful for the coffee table.  See how they used old windows and doors to partition off the rooms.  So many great salvage pieces in one place.

There she is sitting in my dining room right now.  Not sure she will stay there but for now she is parked there. I may put her in my office and then use her when I have the holidays for an extra table.   We made a quick pit stop home to drop off the load of treasures from Indiana and now it is on to Wisconsin for the Flea Market tomorrow.  

I snatched up a couple more of these fabric pumpkins.  These are actually from Nicki at Vintage Farmhouse.  I will show you her booth on this post too.  She was outside. If you do not know Nicki or her blog you must take a run over to check it out.  I am excited for her that she is opening her own shop in her garage at home.  She converted it to a shop.  This girls is so talented.

Got a cute witches hat for my scale in the kitchen.  I do not do a lot of Halloween decor but you have to have a few cute things right?!

Start of the outside booths and vendors.  Lots of vintage crates.

All the booths and vendors were so wonderful.  It is a small amount of vendors I think only 20 but they all had great treasures.

This was Nicki's booth from the Vintage Farmhouse.   She had so many cute things I was on over load.

Just too many cute things in everyone's booths.  Lot's of fabric pumpkins.  One just cutier than the next.

These girls had some great buckets and cute signs and some sweet ticking pillows.

Hope you are having a great week end.  I am loving mine so far. We have been through Illinois (home) to Indiana then back through Illinois with a pit stop home and now  we are on our way to Wisconsin and I will share more in the next post.
Wooooo Hooooo love these junkin week ends.
Kris
:)

Saturday Spotlight: 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.

Saturday September 28th
Sandy: For the Love of White

Happy Saturday everyone.   I have the great pleasure this week to introduce you to a blogger that shares my love of white in her decor style.  Her name is Sandy and she has the blog For the Love of White.  Sandy's blog was one of the first blogs I started to follow.  I love her talent and her sweet love of life and her family.  It shines through in her blog.    She is creative and inspiring and a big lover of pets.  Her family is beautiful and her furry family is adorable.  So please get your coffee and sit back and be wowed at meeting this beautiful and talented blogger.

First of all, I want to say that I am honored to be asked by Kris to be part of this Saturday Spotlight on a blogger! I think it is such a great idea, and I so enjoy learning more about the personal life of other bloggers.

I am a 49 year old Wife, Mother, and Homemaker. I am a stay at home Mom due to the fact that one of my 4 children is very disabled and he needs constant care. He had a stroke while I was pregnant with him and his identical twin brother. I adore all my children and wouldn't trade being a Mother for anything in the world!

I married my husband 17 years ago. He is 10 years younger than me, which used to seem like a big deal but now I sometimes feel younger than he does. He is a very hard working man and great with being supportive of all my creative endeavors and helping out with the kids

Being creative has always been something that brings me much satisfaction. When Janae (my oldest) was a baby I was really into designing and making mohair teddy bears.

When Jerry and I were first married and only had Janae (born a product of my first marriage) we had so much fun showing cats. Jerry and I are both huge animal lovers.

Cat showing was fun because we traveled a bit, and we did well with our beautiful silver persian kitties. But after the kids started coming along we stopped showing cats because we were so busy with the kids.

As you can see we really had our hands full...literally!

For 20 years I owned a Dairy Queen which was an exhausting 20 years!

 

Unless you own something like a Dairy Queen it is hard to understand how much work it is. We sold the Dairy Queen in 2007...and though I loved many of my Dairy Queen years, it is the best decision I ever made. I got my life back! I will always be a fan of DQ though :)

When the kids were small I knew I had to get away from them a little bit and so I started scrapbooking.  I went to crops as a way of getting a little time away from the house. Scrapbooking ended up being a big thing for me--I became a contributor to a couple different magazines, I was on design teams, and I taught scrapbooking classes.

I so love all the many scrapbooks I have of the kids now.

As I mentioned before my husband and I are both big animal lovers..and so are our kids.

We have 3 dogs...Daisy, Dafney, and Duke.

Last year we rescued a litter of kittens that lost their Mother at 2 weeks old to a coyote. We kept 2 of the kittens, Phoebe and Fez.

We recently adopted Sophia from the shelter. I couldn't bear for a shaded silver persian to be homeless!

The kids also have a love of hamsters. We love all creatures, great and small.

My best friend is my oldest daughter. How wonderful is that? Her and I enjoy all the same things and I thank God everyday for the relationship I have with her.

At 24 years old she owns her own beautifully decorated home and our family's love of animals has not been wasted on her! She is also the best pet photographer I have ever seen.

 She also has a wonderful blog you can visit here...http://notsoshabby-shabbychic.blogspot.com/

All my kids are growing up on me!

Chantel

Gage

Wyatt

My kids are my greatest creations!

I love my blog..it has been such a great way for me to document my life, share my love for decorating and crafting, and keep in contact with the rest of the world! I hope you will visit me...http://www.loveofwhite.blogspot.com/

My little house brings me much joy.

Thanks for taking the time to read about me!

Thank you so much Sandy for being in the Spotlight this week.  It was so much fun learning about you and your beautiful family.

Now that you have gotten to know Sandy please hop over to Susan's blog and meet her Spotlight Blogger Dawn from Creative Cabin.

Have a great week end

Kris

:)