A Crazy Move

My husband and my 3 little ones who are 4, 3, and 1 are now in NC. My husband had been traveling SO much and it was really hard on our family. His employer said the travel could stop if we all moved to NC. SO, even though it was INSANE to think about packing and moving in one week, we did it! That is what I have been doing and why you haven't heard from me here in the blogger world :-) So, I am finally settled here :-) We moved March 30th, to a fully furnished home in Cary, NC.

I do not EVER recommend renting a fully furnished home. We are here with someone else's stuff, which would be fine I think, but I am really anal. The place was pretty nasty, but it is clean now and my kids have all there things, so that is happy :-) I took down pictures, removed curtains, and re-arranged furniture and it feels more like home now.

I am really missing not being able to truly make the place how I want it. I am SO glad I brought some accent pillows, family photos, and of course, lampshades. I put the lampshade in the picture in our living room. I made it about a week before we moved and I loved it so much I couldn't part with it :-) I also messed it up, so I couldn't sell it :-) It makes me smile and feel at home here. Really I believe you can make any place a home. Our family is together, praise God for that. So, I will save a lot of money since we won't be here very long, I won't be buying fun things to decorate. We really are not sure what will happen after Sept. 3oth. I am truly learning to trust God to provide and give us wisdom with the million decisions we have to make. Well, I am reading daily in the book of James, haven't yet learned it :-) We are needing to rent our townhouse in Jacksonville FL. It is a beautiful Fully Furnished home that I DO recommend renting ;-)

I am really excited that there is a couple renting it for their honeymoon next weekend, how fun is that? I love that our home can be a cozy, relaxing place for other families to share.

Remember, you can truly make your space like home no matter how big or small. Even if you are surrounded by all these things that are not "yours."

Try buying a lamp :-) Seriously, lighting can make a space feel instantly cozy.

Put a cozy blanket on a chair or couch in the living room.

Add a family photo to your kitchen counter

Use a lamp as a bookend for all those cookbooks that won't stay up :-)

Buy some fresh flowers and put them in your favorite china tea cup that you never use

Swap curtains from your bedroom and put them in your living room, they will feel brand new

Move your furniture around to a place it has never been

At the end of the day take a bath and light the candles, treat yourself to a handful of chocolate chips and a glass of wine.

A Gift For Mom

So these are the first Bell Shades I have made. My mom said she wanted some new lampshades for her bedroom for her Birthday, so this is what I made her. I thought they were going to be a lot harder to make than they were. It was good to practice on mom because soon after I made these I had a custom order request for small bell shades. You can see those in the left column, they are so cute. I made them for a little girls room that has a chandelier hanging in her room, so fun!

So. my mom chose this very pretty Laura Ashley fabric, which we got for only $5 a yard. I love when I can find deals like that.

S~P~R~I~N~G

Spring is here! Doesn't that make you SO happy. If you are anything like me, you are itching to re-do something in your home :-) Can't afford to re-do a room, that's okay because you can completely change the look and feel of any room with a lampshade, for a lot less money then new drapes or furniture :-) It is crazy how adding a new pattern or color to your existing decor will really make everything else feel new and fresh.

I wanted to remind all my followers that you can get 10% off your lampshades through the end of March. If you customize a shade you get 10% off plus a free gift, which is also handmade and customized for your kitchen :-) Remember to send me an email if you are interested in any lampshades in my etsy shop so I can change the price for you before you purchase it! There is some new stuff in my shop, go check it out at shadethatlamp

Here are some fun Spring ideas for your home:

Put fresh flowers on your grocery list, if you find some beautiful tulips, put a penny in the water and they will last a week longer :-)

Switch out your lamp bases. Take your bases from your living room and put them in your bedroom.

Switch out your throw pillows, taking something from one room to share with another makes it feel new. You can do this with pictures, curtains, throw rugs, etc..

Hang a picture with a ribbon on a mirror, it will add some unexpected fun

Line your drawers with some beautiful wrapping paper, it will make you smile every time you open it. It will also force you to clean a drawer out!

Make your bed in the morning before you leave your bedroom, you feel so much better about starting your day. You will have already accomplished a task :-)

And the WINNER IS .....

First, I have to say, you guys totally blew me away, THANK YOU to all my new followers and for every one's sweet and encouraging words.

I had to share some things you all said:

My new house would be So thrilled to have new lampshades.

My rooms could definitely benefit from one of those.

I'm in love with these types of decorating fixes!

New lampshades really do make a difference.

WOW! That is so great!

Want one for every room, I love them.

I want a custom shade!

Love them... it's making me rethink the shades I have now.

Absolutely Gorgeous, Amazing, Awesome, Classy, Fabulous, Fantastic, Fun, Incredible, Pretty, and Wonderful!

Okay so I think YOU are all WONDERFUL! I wanted to somehow give you that love back and let you know how incredibly blessed I felt because of your encouragement. SO, since you really think my lampshades are all those things you said and you would want one, I want to make it easier for those of you who didn't win, to get one :-)

Is anyone annoyed with me that I still haven't announced the winner? I know you already looked. Keep reading you'll love the next part.

I want to offer all my followers a 10% off discount on any lampshade in my etsy shop for the entire month of March. Wait, there is more :-) If you decide you don't see anything that works for your home, let me customize one for you and you get 10% off, plus a free gift. It's a secret though. You tell me your kitchen colors and I will send another handmade surprise with your lampshade or shades. Some of you asked if I make a set or pairs of lampshades, YES. When I say I have never made 2 of the same it is true, but I have made pairs to go along side each bed table or couch. That is the beauty of fabric. Unless we go with a solid, your lampshades will be in the same fabric, but can look a little different depending on the pattern. Turn your shade a few inches and you have a brand new shade :-)

SO, now we find out who we can celebrate with....amybyrd Yeah, Congrats! Can't wait to customize a shade for your home Amy. Please email me at shadethatlamp@gmail.com and we will get started today!

If anyone decides you like one in my etsy store. Go to my etsy shop and look in the right hand column where it says contact shadethatlamp. Send me a message, I will take 10% off and put your order in my custom reserve section in my shop. You can pay through pay-pal and have your lampshade mailed in 1 day :-) Look forward to hearing from you!

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Anna for your sweet post about me and my lampshades :-)

Drum Shade Giveaway!

Thank you SO MUCH for visiting my blog! As you clearly know, my sister-in-law posted about my dream becoming reality and I'm so thankful to be able to share it with you!!
The pictures above are a sample size of a 6" top x 6" bottom x 7" height drum shade. Once you win :-) You get to choose the fabric that will be best in your space, or I can help you do that. You can choose a clip-on attachment, which will clip to any size light bulb or a washer attachment, which will be able to hang as a pendant or connect to any lamp. The possibilities are endless. Can't wait to see who wins so we can work together to make your space unique to your style, one lampshade at a time!

She's already laid out the instructions for the giveaway... PLEASE

• Leave me a comment for one entry,
  
• Comment and Follow, two entries


• Comment, follow and post about my lampshades, three entries!

I'd be so grateful to each of you... Thanks again, for letting me share this incredibly exciting time in my life with you.

You can check out my Etsy store or if you'd like, order a custom made shade right here... I look forward to "meeting" each of you!

Victoria

Works Of Art

So you never know what will happen when you talk to a total stranger. I was having a conversation with the cashier at Michael's a few weeks ago about my lampshades. Through our conversation she told me about a new store in town that sells all things handmade by local artisans. Well, I never did check it out that week or even the next.

Last Thursday I had a rare and beautiful moment of being by myself, without my 3 lovely little ones :-) I decided to go check out the store. I was amazed at all the beautiful art, jewelry, furniture, clothing and other works of art.

Of course this wasn't a planned stop, so I didn't have a lampshade in the car to show the owner :-) I did however, have a new business card. So I told her what I made and asked her to check out my blog, since almost every lampshade I have ever made is on here.

I walked around the 1700 sq foot space of handmade items, while she was looking at my blog and etsy store. After a few minutes she came to me and said she thought my lampshades were beautiful and would love to have me on board.

WHAT!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was so excited. So, I got the details and told her I wanted to go home and talk to my husband about it.

Of course I ran in the front door throwing up all my excitement onto my husband and children. My sweet husband was so thrilled for me and said, let's pack up the kids and go check it out. We agreed to have a little shop and Friday night we spent our date night at Works of Art setting up my little shop. By Saturday afternoon everything was done.

So crazy to think I am selling my lampshades in a local store now. If you are not a local you can still buy my lampshades at http://shadethatlamp@etsy.com Of course I would love to hear from you through email too. I welcome custom requests and now you can purchase through pay-pal. I feel very computer smart :-) I am SO not.

So, the above pictures are of my 50x50 square foot Shade That Lamp shop. My shop is #5-A at Works of Art 7999 Philips Hwy, Suite 100, Jacksonville Fl

Since my space was so small I had to figure out a way to get all my shades displayed. I thought the ceiling would be perfect. Then my husband came up with a very clever way for people to be able to take them off easy. It is like a bracelet hook. A stick goes through the washer hole on the shade. Not sure how else to describe it.

Thanks for being excited with me about this. The GRAND OPENING of "Works of Art" is this Saturday, February 28th from 10am-10pm.

Remember you never know what might come into your life by starting a conversation with a total stranger :-)

Shade That Lamp Jessica

These two shades were custom made for a sweet friend from college. It has been years since I have seen Jessica. Her and her family stopped by our home at Christmas. It was SO great to see her and since then to continue to be in touch.

While Jessica was visiting, she was very sweet and encouraging about all the lamp shades in our home :-) Soon after she got home she was wanting to have some fun, one of a kind lampshades of her own. She was a great customer and it was really fun finding just the right fabrics for her. One day we were shopping together online :-) I would find a fabric, email her and she would respond with a yes or no :-) Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I am so happy Jessica loves her lamp shades. She is using the square shade in her foyer and the drum shade she is not sure about yet. Thank you so much for your order!