Books on my shelf these days....

Some books I've been reading lately...thought I would share.  Of course I do not get to read as much as I like.

I like the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, and this companion graphic novel was a fun read.

       














And the Dragonrider Series by Anne McCaffrey which has been continued by Todd McCaffrey.    















Still awaiting the last of the Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts - which looks to be out FINALLY on Nov. 2nd.

New website design is DONE!!!

Woohoo - came home from a show on Saturday to the new, and much improved Reyna Red website.

My older bro Matt, my web master and designer extraordinaire, has done some really cool things with the graphics and site tools.  Bigger, brighter pictures!

Check it out here!  Reyna Red - the NEW design

More new product to come this week as I add in all the new designs that I have been working on in the midst of Fall shows.

Favorite hot Fall colors:  navy, teal, emerald, smoke, warm burgundy, deep chocolate brown, garnet, and amethyst.  All aboard for those lovely jewel tones.

I should be...

I should be working.

I should be working.

I should be doing something.

Instead I am still in my pajamas, watching a movie,  and feeling generally like crap.  I think I am coming down with something.  So am drinking tea and Airborne, and waiting for Thor to come home with Theraflu and Ricola, zinc and anything else he can toss in to that kitchen sink of ick-fighting glory.

I have so many shows this month - I need to be working.  Tried to squeeze out a pair of earrings to match the kynite necklace from yesterday - but that didn't happen. 

Maybe I will feel better tomorrow so I can really buckle down and finish some of the new designs floating around in my head.

I should be working...but I am headed back to the couch instead.

NEW Diningroom - more tales from the home improvement phase.

As promised - here are pics of my completed diningroom.  This was the last room completed prior to my husband returning from deployment, and by far, the WORST project.

Started with absolutely horrifying vomit green walls...the kind of color that can only be conquered by gallons and gallons and gallons of heavy covering primer.  Walls and ceiling.  The geniuses that lived in this house before liked to live in a drab, dark cave it seems. 

So about 5 gallons of primer and two coats of paint later (nevermind the drama of clinging like a spider monkey to the ceiling and ladder to paint around the ceiling fan, since the previous owners puttied the fan cover to the ceiling.) and a lot of new accessories, I finally had a diningroom I wanted to eat in.

I updated my antique mahoghany sideboard with a little copper

foiling and some new hardware, it absolutely glows in the late

afternoon sun!

The stenciling on the pushouts came out great and it was super

easy to do.  I used the darkest color of the three on the stencils to give it some contrast.

And found these amazing enameled wrought iron wall hangings at Gordmans, which I used to accented the casing wall, as well as over the inspiration piece; the Felix Mas seriagraph.  We picked the picture up on our honeymoon and the framing is very Art Deco.  Looks amazing with the new linens and rug.                        

I was able to extend my dining table to its full length (can seat 10), and couldn't believe how large the room really is.  I guess that vomit color threw off my spacial recognition.

Such a brighter, happier room.  Even if Thor thinks it looks "pinkish".  hahaha.

And in my looooooong absence....

Hi there!  I know....I know....where have I been?  What have I been doing?!!  Why haven't I been posting about anything.

Well, as with most things...life kinda snuck up on me, got extremely crazed for awhile, and then if by miracle...suddenly cleared.

Top news tidbits -

1.  My house is done.  Finished the diningroom up a couple weeks ago.  Look for a separate post on that coming in the next couple of days.

2.  Fall shows have started in full swing.  Am booked up solid until beginning of December.  Check out here for a list of my shows until the end of the year.  Am adding a couple more soon...who needs to sleep?

3.  Hubby is HOME!!!  After many months deployed in Afghanistan, he is home safely.  *happy wife dance*

4.  Mini- vacay planned to KC next weekend.  Will be sure to post pics, etc. from that.  Possible Ren-faire action too.

5.  2 weeks until my next show which is incidentally my LAST outdoor show of the season.  Pray for me for good weather.  And rejoice with me that my special helper (hubby) is back to help with the heavy lifting.

6.  New web design is coming SOON!!  I will post some mock ups if I can (in my limited computer brillance) figure out how.  May need to send up a "I'm stupid, HELP!" SOS to big bro to help out with that, dear readers.

And that's all I can think of right now.  Hopefully that will tide you over for a bit whilst I get the pics in order for the separate post on my diningroom re-design...which I promise will be up by tomorrow.

Thanks for hanging in with me during my absence...and feel free to pimp me out to all the cool people you know.  haha...

Toodles,
Leah :-)

Nebraska Balloon & Wine Festival - part 1

So, it's been a coon's age since I posted anything new on here - sorry about that....have been busy prepping for my next 3 shows, which are all outdoor.

First up is the Nebraska Balloon & Wine Festival.

Well, so far I am pretty unimpressed with the promoter.  Packets were extremely late going out - just got my final contract today.  And set-up was supposed to start today at 8am for vendors.  And after dragging my ass out of bed at 6am and hauling my butt as well as 3 very kind helpers to the venue...I was told by said promoter that they were not ready for vendors and to come back tomorrow.

Nevermind that I called to confirm a week ago.

So, worked on some more new stuff in the meantime...and will try it again tomorrow.  A loooooong day to be sure...will be setting up for several hours and then at the show until 11pm.

Will have my camera with me - so will take a bunch of pictures of the new tent booth my husband got me.  Along with my new display set up and packaging.

Told you I wasn't being a slacker in my absence.

Bye for now - part 2 soon!

Home again...home again...jiggety jig - aka. My trip to Keystone

So, some of you may know that I was out of town for the last couple weeks.  And some of you may remember when I was a full time travel agent.  This trip had me pulling my travel agent cap outta storage to be dusted off for the week and change.

Headed to Keystone, CO to play travel agent for Specialized Bicycles annual Dealer Event.

Here are some snapshots I took around the resort...had a difficult time with the altitude so kept to the "lower levels". 

Lots of mountains and water...things I miss from home now that I live dead center in the country.

Enjoy!

I'm dreaming of a warm, sandy VACATION!

It's only a couple months now...until Thor comes home and life returns to blissful normalcy.  Well, until the Air Force decides to deploy him again...but we won't think about that now.

I am dreaming of a loooooong vacation with my husband, a second honeymoon if you will to celebrate him coming home.

Buuuuuuuut....as luck would have it, it looks as though he may be slightly delayed (fingers crossed that doesn't actually happen), and we will have to postpone our vacation for a couple months due to a training class already scheduled.

Photo by eggneckface33

Here's the itinerary I'm hoping the universe will line up to let us have.  I can almost feel the warm sand squishing between my toes.


Saturday,  NEW ORLEANS, LA 4:00pm

Sunday,  FUN DAY AT SEA

Monday,  FUN DAY AT SEA

Tuesday,  BELIZE 8:00am 5:00pm

Wednesday,  ISLA ROATAN 8:00am 6:00pm

Thursday,  COZUMEL, MEXICO 9:00am 5:00pm

Friday,  FUN DAY AT SEA

Saturday,  NEW ORLEANS, LA 8:00am

But hey, even if we have to postpone until November or December - it'll be fine.  We'll figure out something to do as a vacation closer to home.
 
But here's hoping....

I can feel FALL coming on....shop, shop, SHOP

Well...Fall shows anyway. 

Now, normally I do not start planning or designing for Fall shows until late July or early August...but the muse decided to descend early this year.  So for the past week or so I have been having designs in a jumble in my head, swirling around along with colors and textures.

So I had myself a little shopping spree - and decided to share with you some of the colors and textures I have planned for my Fall collections.

So take a peek and see if you can guess what the stones are from the pics.

And I have also been collecting tons of vintage tidbits over the Spring and Summer: stones, costume jewelry and chain that I am excited to add to these new beauties.

New Books - a Saturday stop at Barnes & Noble

This morning the fuzzy horde woke me up an hour before I wanted to open my eyes and so I resigned myself to running my errands bright and early.

The bank, then Petco to get the fuzz people a new cat castle so Pig would stop trying to sharpen his on my bookcases.  And so Munchkin would stop using the rug as a scratching post.  And then to Barnes & Noble to check out some new books.

Found something for both me and Thor - it was a great visit.

For Thor -


 













And for me -

 

The final painting project - The DREADED pea puke green diningroom

So, it's about 2.5 more months until Thor comes home and as you all know - I have been painting my way through our house.

We bought the place almost a year ago - it will be a year in September.  And I have been lamenting the drab color choices of the previous owners.  You have seen me turn mustard yellow into slate blue and also dark green, caca brown into warm peachy tan, and mud brown into a Frank Lloyd Wright-esque mural in a dark military blue.

And I saved the worst for last.  Puke pea green.  Walls and ceiling the color of vomit.  Our dining room is a green cave of despair.  It is so dark and awful in that room that I never ever go in there. 

And so I have armed myself with gallons of heavy hiding primer as well as gallons of 3 paint colors because multiple coats will be needed to cover up this travesty.  I picked a warm peachy beige for the ceiling and 3 of the 4 walls.  The accent wall will be a warm peach and I have picked out a gorgeous stencil to add a bit of Art Deco to the room in the darkest accent color which is a warm copper color.

And then the contemplation of my red oak diningroom table, which is gorgeous and was my first "grown-up" furniture purchase about 5 years ago, led me to ask my husband if he might want to get new chairs. 

A resounding YES met my question and he proceeded to describe in great detail how much he despised my "country-fied" dining chairs.  I don't like them much either...I got 2 from a friend when I first moved out on my own and then by the time I got the new table, I had 4 of those chairs already.  It seemed more practical to get 2 more chairs to match the ones I already had rather than spending the money to buy 6 new chairs.  So I have been scoping out new chairs and found some on Overstock.com that I like the look of.  I will have to change the fabric on the seats definitely...but that is no big deal. 

I am on the lookout for a brocade fabric that will coordinate with the stencil as well as the rug I have found - also on Overstock.com...I love that website.  Especially, their rugs.  The rug is currently out of stock - but should be back in shortly.  It's perfect and suits the color palette for the room. 

Of course, the rug I want is a regular rectangle, about 7.5x10ft.  The whole room is being designed around this painting which Thor and I got on our honeymoon. 

The painting is Lady in the Carmine Dress by Felix Mas.  We both love this picture and so went extravagant with the framing - black lacquer with copper foiling in a scroll pattern on the frame.

I have a gig coming up for the first couple weeks of July and so will not start this until I get back on the 16th.

Just not feeling much like blogging these days...

I keep trying to put "pen" to paper - so to speak - and end up just staring at the screen for a long time. 

Blank screen. 

Not inspired to write....nothing much to report.

Hubby homecoming heading into the 2 month-ish mark.

Plans to start working on the dining room in the next couple of weeks.  Have already found a new rug and stencil for the accent wall - and am contemplating new chairs...as Thor hates the country-fied ones I have with a fiery passion.

My mind keeps racing with Fall/Winter designs - and my wish list of gemstones is piling up.

And that is all...

Thor's new office - DONE!!

So I have been working on my husband's office while he's been gone.  It's been done for a couple days but was waiting on a rug to arrive to take pics to share.
But FINALLY - the rug arrived this afternoon and so here are the pics.

Thor wanted a dark green for the room but picked out a color that was a bit drab and closer to the puke pea green than I could live with so I made a slight change to a more deep grey green.  And as irony would have it - a color called Billiard Green.  Ironic because my husband is a bit of a pool shark when the mood descends.

Didn't have to buy any new furniture pieces - Thor has a beautiful cherry secretary desk and matching bookcases which look amazing with the wall color. 

The white trim in the room keeps the color from being too dark. 

Was able to repurpose an occasional chair which matched his furniture perfectly.  And just bought some accessories to accent the furniture and to bring the colors across the room.  The rug topped everything all off.   

Excuse me while I fall apart for a minute.

It's 92 days left, give or take - and some days I deal better with Thor being gone than others.  I really don't like whiners and so get especially mad at myself when I get maudlin like this...because I am a grown woman and I knew what I was signing on for when we got married.

But let me be the first to tell you - being a military wife sucks.  SUCKS.  Sucks bigtime.  For months at a stretch you have no idea if you will ever see your husband again.  You wait, trying not to hold your breath and hyperventilate between phone calls and emails.  You get bad feelings in the middle of the night and then wait to hear anything...hoping that it's just an email from your husband telling you not to worry.

Actively trying not to worry while you are slowly losing your mind with WORRY.  Personally, I try to cram every waking hour with projects and running around senselessly.  Since I've already spent 6 months working on projects in our new house...I am fast running out of them.  So, to fill the gaps, I've started working out 5 days a week instead of 3.  But, the oddest times I will just start crying.  Painting a wall in Thor's office - tears.  Carrying laundry downstairs - tears.  Sitting watching a silly movie on TV - tears.  Driving to work - tears.

Geez, when did I turn into such a pussy?! 

It's the little things that get to you at the oddest times.  When a big empty house seems to echo and there's no smile and kiss on the cheek when dinnertime rolls around.  No rushing to take a basket of clothes from me because he's sure I am going to pitch down the stairs because of my clumsiness.  No talking to the TV while that silly movie is playing.  No foraging for snack food in the middle of the night.

Ok. Now, I'm even more depressed.  And since I don't want depress my lovely readers, I am going to go back to my corner to stew.

It's June...Summer has officially arrived with a THUNDERSTORM!

It was a rough night...insomnia strikes again and a VERY early morning.  An appointment to take my care in for a recall servicing had me up and moving, albeit slowly, at 6:30am.

Ugh......

The maintenance was done by 830am - while I was waiting I poked around in the lot looking at a potential second car for me and Thor since sharing is a nightmare and a half.  I'm liking the look of the Versa personally, but I know Thor has his eye on a motorcycle instead.  But a motorcycle in the winter in Nebraska is not practical.

But look....it's June 1st.  Officially summer.  The kids are already out, the graduation parties have been partied and I have 100 days left of his deployment to get through.

You'd think June would arrive with a nice sunny day...but nope.  It's rapidly darkening out there and looking drearier by the minute.  Tornado warnings have been issued...I really miss California sometimes.

Tornados freak me out.  I will take earthquakes any day and twice on Sundays over a tornado.

I need a nap.

New Acquisitions - Look at my BOOTY - Part 2

Here are some of my latest acquisitions - purchased this past weekend at one of my favorite vintage shops in Omaha. 

A gorgeous Art Deco necklace of jade colored carved opaque glass beads and discs.

2 lovely rhinestone pieces - necklace and bracelet.

A fun pair of earrings from the 1950's which I plan to use for parts.

And a brushed gold textured collar with AB crimson rhinstones.

A pair of lovely clip earrings with 2 tones of purple.

Memorial Day - Remember the TRUE meaning

Today is Memorial Day.  And while most will be thankful for an extra day off work, an extra day to sleep in...that is not the true meaning of the day.

This is a day of remembrance. 

Remember those who fell in battle in days past to bring us the freedoms we take for granted every day.  To those who didn't come home to their loved ones, those who went out to meet danger and war because it was asked of them.

Remember and thank the members of our military services: Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard and National Guard and Reserves.  They have an impossible job, yet they meet the challenge with dignity and honor.

I am thinking about Thor today - my own hero.  So far away at the moment, doing his duty.  Here is a picture that was taken as part of an ABC News special about his squadron.

Tales from the Fuzzdom - The BIRDIE show!

It's been a fairly uneventful few days, the world keeps turning and the sun rising and setting.  I've reached the halfway point in my husband's deployment, and instead of the days flying by like they seemed to for the first 6 months...these days are dragging and dragging...

And just when I was feeling particularily mopey and maudlin...I happened to catch my two cats participating in their favorite past-time...well, besides eating and sleeping - the BIRDIE show!! 

The Birdie show is a 24 hr show that takes place from the sunroom windows, the neighborhood wildlife comes to taunt and flirt with my eagerly awaiting fuzz people.

Munchkin just stares intently at the squirrels, birds, bugs and wee green garter snakes that pass the window by - no sound, no false starts, no tabby clucking....he leaves all that to Pig.

Pig does all those things...and adds running into the window, jumping up at the window, batting at the bugs and animals OUTSIDE the window, and running back and forth between the front door and the sunroom trying to GET the wildlife.

He's not the brightest thing - that's for sure...but he makes me laugh even when I am having a good mope.

And so life continues...will be starting another room project tomorrow and working on it through the next couple of weeks.  So look for those pictures coming up.

An old fashioned case of the CRUDS...

So this week has pretty much been a sucking hole...and boy does that sound fabulous.  I seem to be afflicted with a classic case of the 'ol cruds.

I am exhausted no matter how much I sleep, not feeling inspired to make anything new, am plugging along with website changes and additions, but feel like I am not accomplishing anything, my appetite seems to just include sweets and starches...which are the worst things for me.

I just don't feel compelled to do anything.  I miss my husband.

But life goes on, plugging away...no matter how much I have the cruds.

And so I go back to it...trying to feel productive in some way.

Crud. crud. CRUD.

Home renovations - Newly completed Sunroom

I have been working on my home while my husband is deployed.  The current project was the upstairs sunroom off his office.  The plan was to make a library/reading room with cushy chairs, but somewhat more masculine space. 

Here's what I did.  There is a dark military blue on the walls, which was balanced by a white ceiling, window casings and baseboards.  The window treatments I kept from the previous owners - they are  gorgeous golden natural reeds, which I liked the texture of.  And the color was a good contrast to the blue on the walls.

The chairs proved the most difficult items to find.  Several weeks of searching found a pair of black leather club chairs with a subtle Art Deco flavor....plus on clearance...so much the better. 

Painted an old oak bookcase solid white with a gloss finish and added an old white printer stand as an end table. 

Accents were found all over:  matte black lantern, pillows, lovely outdoor rug (also on clearance, yay!), and routed signs  (family and relax) kept my favorite picture of the both of us from our honeymoon.

All in all - I am very happy with how it came out.

Letters to Juliet - aka: Verona, love and romance on a rainy day

If you have a question about love, would you ask a trusted friend or maybe your mother, your grandmother for advice?

If you are heartbroken, would you cry into your pillow and keep your grief locked up inside?

If you have lost someone you love and grieve for that loss, who answers your question about the whys?

In the city of Verona, the city of love...there is an alley in the middle of the city, across from trendy shops and outdoor cafes.  It's the home of Juliet.  Yes, that Juliet...Shakespeare's Juliet.  A small balcony overlooks the courtyard and a bronze statue of the famed heroine, waits for her Romeo under the balcony.  Visitors flock here to write letters asking for advice about love, loss and life ever year.  These letters are taped, or put in cracks and on ledges.

I made my own visit to this alley on a trip with my mum in 2003 to Italy.  I stood and looked up at the balcony and took pictures of people rubbing the statue of Juliet for luck.  I tucked my own letter into a crack on the wall.  I went to Italy with a broken heart...healing from a relationship that had ended.  And though I did not receive an answer from Juliet about my questions (because I didn't leave an address), I felt better.

I went to see the movie, Letters to Juliet, today.  And the photography of those familiar places in Italy that I visited made me a bit homesick...although Italy is not the country of my birth.  And Juliet's home, the cobbled alleyway I stood and wished for an end to heartache remains the same.

The movie was a sweet reminder of what we will do in the name of love:  both lost and found.

The fuzzy horde - ruining the Sunday sleep-in one week at a time...

I was perfectly warm and comfy this morning - the black out curtains taking care of any sunlight so it could have been 7am or 6pm...how would I know?

Sunday mornings...code for sleep till noon and then spend all day in pajamas while you watch re-runs of Weeds...or whatever happens to be on HGTV.

But alas no...the phone beeped signally text message and any signs of life brings on the FUZZY HORDE.  The fuzzy horde runs full tilt up the stairs, hits the door at full speed and both then run across me - oh my spleen...oh god, my spleen...

And then the fuzzy horde demands food...because clearly they are starving with their fat little bodies of porkiness.  And they will not take no for an answer. 

***yawn.......***

Back to the Weeds marathon....fuzzy horde is asleep.

Mini-cards and coupon....aka: Psst! I'm a bad influence for those who shop...

Got my mini-cards today - MOO you are fabulous...I just have to say.  They are sooooo pretty!! 

But, my mini-cards are not just pretty...they hold the secret to a 15% discount on purchases from Reyna Red.

To receive this lovely token to shopping bliss and bargains, simply make a purchase of your favorite item or items either on the Reyna Red website...or on Etsy for gorgeous trunk show items.

With every purchase you will receive a coupon for a discount off your next purchase.  It's a win win.

Channeling my inner (and outer) PRINCESS...New products!!

What little girl didn't dream about being a princess?  I, though a tomboy, still harbored secret wishes that I would meet Prince Charming and live happily ever after...skinned knees and all.

When Lady Diana married Prince Charles, I had a solid example that it could really happen.  Well, it could...couldn't it?!

So here's my nod to that little girl inside all of us, the one that longs for tiaras, jewels and happily ever after.  Just in time for late Spring and Summer brides....

Introducing Reyna Red Bridal Tiaras and Headbands. (*fanfare*)  Here are the first several in this series.

                                      Demeter Headband

                                  Stargazer Headband

                               Climbing Ivy Headband

                                      Tatania Headband

                                    Wildflowers Headband

Running out of projects...but gaining a lot of light

So to try and pull myself out of my dull-drums I worked on painting the hallway the same color as the living room...a lovely warm peachy tan.

Still have some trim work to do - but instant improvement.  OMG...the people who owned this house before had the absolute worst taste in color.  But, thankfully, they didn't paint over the majority of the original woodwork.

Small favors....and all that.

My lovely staircasing is pictured to the left here with some Photoshop liberties taken with it to make it look like an old hand-colored photograph.

Thanks to the lovely ladies in my Etsy Homefront group for listening to my whining and moping and sending me some great words of encouragement.  I know that I am allowed to have a meltdown every once in awhile...but the stubborn redhead in me wants to scream and throw a tantrum about having a meltdown.

Ok, that makes no sense whatsoever.

Anyway...I'm still here and post-mope if you will.  My neighbors have been pounding and pounding on the exterior of their house all day and I am trying to work around it.  However, trying to be inspired about jewelry so I can compel people to buy with my descriptions...takes a serious hit what with the constant pounding.

But I will soldier on.

I'm so tired...but I can't sleep...

Was up half the night and tossing and turning the other half.  No word from Thor for a few days and was having a very bad feeling.  Very bad.  Like my skin was too tight, and all the rooms in my house were closing in on me.

Wait.  Wait. Wait.  Waiting....

No email again.  Staring at the walls this morning at 3am.  4am.  5am.  6am

Couldn't sleep.  Finally gave up and got up this morning at 6:30am.  Went to take a shower and when I was getting dressed for the day, got an email from him.

And started crying like a little sissy.  Jeez, Leah...get a grip.  I just want to yell at myself sometimes.

                                                  From happier times - goofier times.

I still marvel at the realization that the solitary person I was has given way to someone whose whole world is wrapped up in my bald-headed husband.

So, I've turned into a sap.

Well, this sap is going to take a nap since I think I've earned it.

The rainy day blues...aka. I miss my husband so much it hurts

So this isn't going to be a dose of my usual random redheadness, sarcastic shenanigans, etc...so if that is what you are looking for, you might want to save this entry for another day.

It's a rainy day here in Omaha...a rainy, stormy and dreary day spent under a quilt with the fuzz people.  A day spent missing my husband...an ache which seems to spread from under my ribs out to my fingertips.  It hits and for a moment I think I might be having a stroke.

But no...it's just my body manifesting the loneliness that I can usually keep at bay with one of my many, many projects.  But some days, like today, the weather seems to make my usual frenetic energy slow down until all I want to do is sleep. And mope.  And cry. And feel sorry for myself.



On our first date in SF.


And miss him.  And worry that every time the phone rings...it's bad news.  Horrible news.  And then yelling at myself for worrying when I get his latest email.  During the wait in between contact...chanting to myself: he's ok, he's ok, he's ok....over and over again.

Normally, I like storms - the days when you curl up with your loved ones, warm and safe at home.  But while he's gone...they seem to taunt me with loneliness, make me realize what I am missing.

Oh, don't listen to me.  I'm just feeling sorry for myself.  And now that I have depressed everyone...I'll call it done.

                                                                                            A couple months before our wedding.