~working for a living~

Good morning friends!!

it's Saturday......not a normal day

for me to post....but since I missed

alllllllll  weeeeeeeeeeek......

I've had good reason....our family

has just been blasted with the worst cold....

"pass the kleenex, nyquil, ibuprofen,

airborne, breathe right nasal strips,

& cold medicine"

kind of cold....

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!!!

we don't usually get sick around

here so it's been e.s.p.e.c.i.a.l.l.y.

annoying....cuz our secret weapon

didn't get called in soon enough.....

secret weapon?  you ask??

yes.....secret weapon...

***airborne***

usually without fail

airborne will kill an oncoming cold

pronto.

but you have to take it immediately....and

this is where we failed....this time....

ugh.

anyway....we are on the mend now!

before we got sick

I actually managed to get my workroom/

studio all cleaned up!

oh you wanna see????

nope. not yet.  heeheehee...

it's all spiffy but not blog worthy.....

but it's close....;)

so maybe soon...

but here's some other very inspiring

workrooms.....

this one is light & bright...

fantastic....

and with my favorite flower...

delphinium...who can resist?

I love the little pop of color in

the teal lamp....

love the vintage baskets in this room.....

and the amazing organization skills at hand....

course my workroom is way huger {k pretty sure that's not a word...."huger" but you know what I'm talking about!}

 than these cute little desk spaces....

with all my bolts of fabric & big ol' cutting tables...

it's pretty hard to keep things cute & sweet....

pretty sure I need this big ol' room....

cool huh??

would love this space to work in....but definitely

wouldn't love driving into a big city to work...

nooooooo.....I do love working from home.....

this room's nice....a little modern vibe here....

I like the yummy sheepskin rugs~

they really cozy up the space

seems ridiculous to even type the words....

but having a clean & organized workroom

really makes life better....duh! ;)

and decorating it is just more bonus...

(deserves another...duh!)

so I'm working on it....here & there when I have

time.....

this room by Brooke Gianatti

is just beautiful...

more of an office than workroom...

but love it ~ don't you?

love the white floors & walls in this space....

I hope you all have a wonderful &

inspiring weekend!!

xoxo,

Shellagh

{all images with credits here}



~whatcha eatin'??~

Happy Friday!!!!!

I love love love Fridays......

yes, you know this cuz I probably

say it only every time I post

on a Friday....:)

ok....the last time we chatted...I was

going on & on about our fabulous

weather.....sunshine....things budding...

etc...

welp, it's all gone...

yup....the rain is seriously back...

and you would think we could

just   g  r  a  d  u  a  l  l  y   ease into the

massive rain

but nah....

nope...

we gotta just go from 0 -60....

one day happy sunny flowers about to bloom spring ~ the next grey gloomy

depressing nonstop rain....

now I am most definitely not

complaining....cuz I just don't do that

sort of thing....

{yes, I know I am lying here....hahahaha}

you can't NOT complain about the

rain!!!

well yes, I suppose it is humanly possible...

I do have a friend who says...

*insert sarcasm here*

"I love the rain...it doesn't bother me..."

*insert very bad attitude here*

uh huh....sure it doesn't....

ya right~ hehehe :)

so what does the rain have to do with eating???

well.......nothing.

just had to update ya...cuz I know you

are just dying to know what the

weather is like & how I feel about it right??

so what in the world is this post about?

f.o.o.d.

watcha eatin????

strawberry protein pancake roll ups

Mr. T & T and I have gotten serious...

serious about leaning up....

serious about working out...

all that stuff...

ginger and cilantro baked tilapia

and unless of course you've been living

under a rock

{no offense of course if you are living under a rock or just haven't heard this!! ;)}

.....it's a pretty well known fact

that diet accounts for at least 80% of

your results.....

"you can't exercise away a bad diet.."

so we've been eating a lot of what we call

"green & white"

sweet baby ray's slow cooker chicken

that would be

green veggies & white meat....:)

but we are not so over the top that we

don't add any condiments & stuff...

but primarily smaller meals, protein & veggies

and moderate complex carbs....

and lifting weights mixed with cardio...

{and in case anyone is curious~ I am still running about 2-3x week!:)}

spinach salad with pecans, feta, and strawberries....tossed with poppyseed dressing

now granted....we are only really a week into

this "for real this time" situation....

but we've been having fun!

we've been meeting at the gym in the late

afternoons & working out together

 ~ ahhhhh so nice ;)

{boy am I so sarcastic today??!!}

wow~ check out those abs!!!!

well those will "never" be mine

not with the gigantic babies

I was blessed with....but one can dream huh??

Rich chocolate cake w/ chocolate protein frosting

so these recipes here are actually healthy...

even the cake!!

yep!! chocolate protein powder & other good

stuff is used in it ~

so if you try them let me know!

I'll be trying at least a couple of these

recipes in the next week or so ~

I'll let you know!

have an awesome weekend!!

xoxo,

Shellagh

{all images w/ their credits found here}

~in the garden~

Hello my friends!

well have we been majorly spoiled here

in the nw....

we've had, maybe, five whole days

of beautiful sunshine......

what a treat!

(yes now we're back to rain....hmmmph!)

but all the sunshine has got me thinkin'

of the garden....

I've actually got things starting to bud.....

a.l.r.e.a.d.y.....!

and since it's been dry enough

to walk across my front lawn

(yes, we deal with this all winter...

soaking wet grass you just don't

wanna walk on!!)

I even spied my peonies peeking out

of the soil!!

yay!!

mine look just like these ones from French

Country Cottage.....

I love them!

but I am really wanting white peonies

now.....like now....

are these just amazing????

oh, do I ever need them....:)

....other things budding....

my lilacs....

mmmm..yummy lilacs....

n  o  t  h  i  n  g

like a bouquet of lilacs...

well unless it's a bouquet of peonies...hee hee

or a bouquet of these gorgeous

old fashioned roses....

love love my david austin

roses....they smell like pure heaven...

oh and let's not forget the paperwhites....

yes, I love them too....

pure deliciousness for the home......

.......in metal containers ~ even better!

that reminds me....

has anyone transplanted

clematis before??

we'll be taking down our pool

pretty soon & right now it's fenced

in with 4 varieties of clematis growing

on the fence....

so we'll be redoing that space ~

I'm thinking of creating a really cute

veggie garden....surrounded by

a darling little white picket fence....

can you imagine the possibilites???

but then there's the pesky

business of the trampoline....

kiddos want one....

to replace the pool...

(which has seen better days & now needs replaced or

thrown out!)

they make me nervous...

you?

we've had them before & no one has

gotten hurt.....but they still make me nervous!

my vote is for a vegetable garden, but

I know the kids are only with us so long....

~ there is always time for my perfect

little garden spot.....

here they are at Christmas...

when we were getting our tree...

little cuties they are...

Madisen is 15, Allie is almost 12,

and Mackenzie is 14...

so I'm sure the trampoline will win out!!

who can say no to them anyway?? :)

well it's bedtime in the Ticking and Toile

home.....

Have a wonderful day tomorrow!!

xoxo,

Shellagh

(all images can be found, with credits, here)



~ruffles & stuff~

Happy Friday friends!!

What an amazing, beautiful day

here in the NW......

it is clear & sunny

and pretty mild ~ maybe 45 degrees heading

up to the 50's....

so lovely!! :)

I've been feeling like ruffles lately....

maybe it's the hope of spring...{oh love me some spring...}

and the lighter look of springtime & ruffles....

but, I've been sewing them....lots of them....

I guess I've been a little obsessed with ruffles ....

maybe it is the nice sunny weather

but maybe it's the huge stack of

yummy white fabric sitting here....

begging to be played with.....

so I said "ok"  let me see what I can do

with you ~ yummy white softness....

so I sat down & began to play around...

you know ~

 the most wonderful part of this

yummy, delicious fabric is....

it can be torn in a straight line....perfectly....

right along the grain...

ahhhhhh....a seamstress's heaven...;)

and don't you just love the torn look?

I sure do....torn everything...

torn ribbons, torn paper, torn books,

and of course....torn fabric...

and because of that ~ I left the ruffled edges

raw ~ and frayed....and I'm loving it!

so new to the Ticking and Toile Linen Shoppe

is the The French Prairie Collection "Layered Ruffles" Pillowcase

made of the softest, highest quality

premium muslin....

and ready to add some springtime

shabby chic, romantic charm to your

"boudoir"

{love that word....boudoir....so fancy & romantic! :)}

if you'd like to take a look click

here

so of course ~ I couldn't stop there....

{nooooo....sun's still out ya know! ;)}

 I thought maybe we needed another

shabby ruffly chair slipcover...ya?

 I named her "Cecilia"

another swedish name to honor my swedish

heritage....

love that name!

so I did hem her edges....although I'm still thinkin

I might make another one with torn edges...

but here we have Cecilia

 light & ruffly for spring ~

romantic shabby chic yumminess for your home...

I'm also working on some designs for

chair backs....

the challenge is making them "one size fits all"

so I'm playing with it & coming up

with some ideas...

if you'd like a closer look at Cecilia

you can see her here

well do you have wonderful plans for

the weekend???

I'll leave you with

 a little something to dream about...

a little hollyhock love...

a little path to stroll down...

a little nature to admire...

a little porch to relax on...

have a wonderful weekend!!!

hope the sun is shining wherever

you are! :)

xoxoxo,

Shellagh

{garden images from here}

~new in the Linen Shoppe~

hello friends!!

Happy Wednesday night to you :)

I thought I'd do a quick little post

to show you all my latest

slipcover design.....

"shabby No. 7"

I've been loving the look of frayed -raw

edges.....so I incorporated them in this

cute little slip....

it's made of a natural...distressed...creamy

cotton....lots of nubby texture that you will

l.o.v.e........

it's very durable ~ can be washed ~

the raw edge has been reinforced to

minimize string clippage....

{is that a word???? hehehe}

I played around and made a little

slip for the top of the chair as well...

but it's looking a little plain to me

so you're not gonna see too much

of that yet....got some refining to do!

so if you are interested ~ you can

hop over to my little Etsy shoppe...

right here

let me know what you think!

have a wonderful evening!!

xoxo,

Shellagh