HomeStuff

Now a creator in Homestuff, the SL community which brings you the best of homes and decor.  They publish a detailed directory of creators, bloggers, news and reviews of the latest releases, as well as hunts, events and a pretty active in-world group.    I've put a group joiner in my store as you first come in.   You want your finger on the pulse of the world - so join join!!

NEW LOOK!

New Persnickity mainstore!   I've been on a creating spree for the last two months and I was tripping over things in the store so its bigger and better than ever now!   I added a second floor and there's a separate garden center with plants, flowers, gardening benches and pots.   I've also added two "Slap & Win's".    One is outside near the garden center and the other is inside near the stairs.    Slap both signs and be the lucky winner of free gifts!    Hope to see you there!

The Magic of Christmas

I'm always delighted when someone discovers Persnickity and includes my creations in their home.  The birth of A Persnickity Christmas represents what I love best - the departure from the traditional red and green, but instead keeping the shabby chic look with pastel Christmas decorations.  It really is possible to have a pink and green Christmas!  There's a large assortment of shabby style decorations on the first floor and for those who prefer sticking with the traditional red and green, the second floor is for you.

Santa can even be flexible!  The elves went to work with paint buckets and transformed his sleigh into a green and pink 'vehicle' and it still says "Christmas!"    There's room for two in the front and would make a great Christmas card this year.     Its available on Marketplace or at A Persnickity Christmas (click here).

Happy flying!!!

Home and Garden Mystery Sales

Home and Garden is having a fun event from December 1 through the 7th.   If you love surprises you don't want to miss this!    Many talented creators have placed Christmas boxes on crates with a low low sales price of 10L each but you won't know whats inside the box until you unpack it at home.    Isn't that just like Christmas morning (unless you're one of those who secretly peeks at your presents before Christmas!)    Each item will be Christmas themed.     Get into the Christmas spirit and start shopping!!!!   Click (here) to start your mystery shopping!  

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE ON MY BENCH

I'm sooooo late on this!!!    My apologies!!  Back in June I'd posted a blog entry entitled "Unwinding" in which I relayed the story of my acquisition of a VERY lonely distressed bench I'd found at a yard sale sitting at the end of someone's driveway.    It had called out my name and I gladly adopted it and brought it home for a make-over.   I had been refinishing it over the summer when I suddenly became sick and was laid up for two months and could no longer work on it.   After months of sanding and then sanding some more, a bottle of wood glue, primer, more sanding, and then paint I was thrilled to see it come back to life.   I bought a bench cushion for it and it now sits up in the loft of my house and my cat has 'moved in.'!     When I happen to walk past it, my kitty smiles at me and silently thanks me for THE new spot.

"Thank you for saving me" it whispers when I walk by.   It was bound for the landfill and only I could see the beauty in it.   "WELCOME HOME" I reply back.   Your history will remain a mystery to me but it deserved a fresh start.   Some day I'll pass it down to one of my kids and hopefully they will add memories to the bench too.   What DOES a piece of furniture hang onto?   Does it keep a list of the people or animals that have become one with it?   Does it relish the fact that it endured a much-needed facelift or does it long for the original skin?    

Dear Bench - You're a part of my family now and I hope you're comfortable, warm and grateful for the new look.   You're here to stay and grow old with us and I want to thank you for creeping out to the curb that day so I could bring you home.   

A Persnickity Christmas

I can get excited about Christmas whenever I want!   So there!    Some tell me I'm like a kid and can't wait until after Thanksgiving but I say Thanksgiving????   Are you kidding me????    My three Christmas trees have been up and decorated for weeks already!    I'm combing the newspapers for craft shows, visiting the winter wonderland that downtown has become already, and my Christmas shopping is well under way!    I don't ever want to grow up and Christmas is NOT just for kids.    Well maybe it is and I'm hanging onto my childhood with all my might.

I've been excited to take on a Christmas venture here - "A Persnickity Christmas" is my new store in addition to the mainstore Persnickity.    I've tucked winter on a beach and jump in the ocean when I get chilly.   :)  The first floor is dedicated to a shabby chic Christmas - pastels, golds and silver.     The second floor has more of a 'traditional' look to it - greens and reds.

Pink is my color even at Christmas and I created the Persnickity Christmas Tree with pink bulbs, garland and a crystalized star on top.   There's also a gold shabby chic tree and the more traditional - a green tree with red and green ornaments.   Beautiful tree skirts which complicate each style are available, along with lots of fun decorations.  

Cake anyone?   Three layers of cake and I'm well on my way to a major sugar high.   Hmm....and just how many pounds do I gain every Christmas season???

I just HAD to.....don't slap my hands for this one!    There's a framed picture for your home or maybe even a gift for someone ...   "Dear Santa....I'm writing to let you know that I've been Naughty...and it was worth it....You Fat, Judgmental Bastard!"    

Please visit!   Both the mainstore and the Christmas store.    While you're there join the group for free gifts and updates on new items released weekly.

Persnickity Mainstore (click here) and Persnickity Christmas (click here)

Spooktacular Halloween

Orange and white twinkling lights catch my eye as I enter the store and at that moment I'm compelled to wander over to the Halloween displays.  I may as well have just stepped into a time machine though because its suddenly 20 years ago.

Its Halloween and my kids have hurriedly put on their costumes, waiting waiting for darkness.  They start whipping each other with their pillowcases (the vessel to collect their treasures), pent up excitement to get this show on the road!   I insist they eat SOMETHING before we head out but my request has been met with moans and groans instead.  No sense in fighting this battle - this day was meant for sugar overdoses.  Period.  Out we go as I glimpse at my watch.    One hour maximum!

They don't walk to the houses...they RUN.  The faster you go, the more houses you hit.  The more houses you hit, the more candy you get.  I have choreographed the route so at a half hour we turn around, cross the street, and work our way back.   Ahhhh.....back home.   Stand back!   The family room floor is about to be re-carpeted in Ring Pops, Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Pop Rocks and chocolate bars.    Are they interested in sorting, counting, eating?   Oh heck no.   Let's not forget ROUND #2 begins now!    AND my friends......Round #2 is the bonus round.    The closer it gets to the end of the evening, people want to rid themselves of any candy they have left so now instead of getting just ONE piece, the neighbors are handing out multiple pieces - even HANDFULS!!!   Another sweep of the neighborhood and its time to march home.

Pillowcases dumped out.   Candy sorted and the sugar high begins.  But the best  part about all of this?   Kids don't particularly love chocolate.     Awwwww.....what a shame.   Here....let mom alleviate the burden of hauling that worthless chocolate upstairs to your room.   :)     I guess I'll have to take one for the team.   Suffer through the days even weeks ahead of an abundance of Kit-Kats, Hershey Bars and my weakness - Almond Joys.     Tsk tsk....tis a shame.    My dentist is secretly planning a trip to Europe on me.

The memories of the costume search before Halloween, the parties at school, the excitement that permeates the house the hours before they go out to trick-or-treat.....if I could turn back the clock I would.   The innocence of childhood.....*sighs.   I wish something excited me that much now!    I still love Halloween though.   My kids are grown and will be taking their own children out trick-or-treating some day, but I still  stand outside on Halloween night and oooo and ahhhh at the costumes of the little goblins, watch the kids cut across the lawns to the next house, and laugh at the reaction of the little ones when they hear the cackling witch from somewhere in my garden.      My strategy now?   Buy way more chocolate bars than I'll need to hand out.  Darn!  I'll  have to eat the surplus myself.  

To celebrate the magical day of Halloween and the beautiful colors of autumn, I've made a few decorations which are in my Marketplace store and at the main store.     Happy Halloween!!

Its Arrived!!!

I'm so pleased to announce that Persnickity is open for business and I must say its been a joy to create!   I owe this all to the best person I know - my friend and creator extraordinaire Freya Olivieri, owner of Mon Cheri.    She picked me up, booted me in the behind and made me believe that I could do it.   On the days I was ready to give up, she kicked me a little harder and kept reminding me.....you CAN do it!   Don't give up!    Three months later (and some days more motivated than others!) I can say it was rewarding and educational, and I'm excited to have something I can keep working at and watch grow.

The mainstore is open at Verlorenes Paradise (CLICK HERE) and Freya graciously gave me a spot to open a store on her sim Mon Cheri  (CLICK HERE).   Come visit and let me know what you think.   Any suggestions?  ideas?  ways to better serve you or create something you want?   I'm open to anything!

Persnickity is all about my love for shabby chic, the pastels, the sinking into overstuffed chairs, and just being comfortable.   I've got home decor, furniture, gardening supplies, flowers, shrubs, house and store builds, and coming soon - the holidays!   And OOOOO I get out of control during the holidays!   There's no such thing as 'too much'!

Persnickity is also on Marketplace so if you feel like staying in your robe and slippers you can catch me there instead.    Hope to see you soon!

Persnickity Marketplace

Opening Soon!

One world filled with shabby just isn't enough for me.   No matter where I am the need to surround myself with beautiful things is just a fact of life.   Soon Soon!  Look for the opening of "Persnickity" - my own store filled with creations made with a touch of whimsy and a lot of love.   Put together a color-themed room or mix and match the different patterns and use your imagination.   Its fun, easy to coordinate together, and of course NECESSARY for the discriminating shopper.   Furniture, home accessories, lighting, gardening tools, flowers - its all here to make your house a real home.    Make shopping an event and look for "Persnickity" opening VERY SOON!!!  

Seasons

Survival.   No, not the tv show.   The determination of the young buds on my overgrown Rose of Sharon.   Mother Nature has been shaking her finger at it for the last month threatening to halt the brilliant showcase of flowers but Sharon is one tough cookie.    For those of you who are not familiar with this showstopper its a perennial flowering shrub.  In my case its become a large tree due to my avoidance of cutting it back every year.  Come around the beginning of July it bursts forth with hundreds of hot pink colored flowers.  

But what a year its tolerated!   The winter brought ice storms like we've never seen before and trees were dropping like flies.   Sharon's branches were so heavy with snow and ice they were laying on the ground.  I was sure the entire tree would permanently sit at an angle or worse yet, limbs would snap off and I'd lose her forever.   She stayed bent to one side until the warmth of May suddenly revitalized her.   She stood back up only to defiantly yell  -TAKE THAT! 


Summer rolled in with a vengeance.   Its typical for me to turn off the heat in the house and switch to air conditioning the next day.   There's no middle ground.   The days immediately became unbearable with the heat and humidity, so with watering can in tow I'm serving up ice cold drinks to the thirsty flowers.   I have good intentions to work in the garden but 15 minutes later I'm dashing for cool relief in the house.   And there sits Sharon looking at me from the corner of the yard.  The watering can won't do - she wants me to empty the local water tower and serve it up with a straw.   I'll never understand how she plugs along day after day, month after month surviving the elements -the cold, rain, heat, and the dreaded pests that decide to move their extended family in to set up house on her smooth leaves. 

Here we are in July and Sharon once again is in all her glory.   She's an attention seeker, drawing the eye away from all else and yelling LOOK AT ME!   I'm the fairest of them all!  I have to visit up close every day, feel the petals of her flowers and wonder how this vibrant color explodes out of the brown rocky dirt every year.    Its nothing short of a miracle to me how strong and determined she is.    Her performance is scheduled for July of every summer and she's never missed a show.   You're the queen Sharon -go to the head of the garden. 


  

Unwinding..

I have NO patience.    None.  Zero.  Zilch.  Put me in a traffic jam and my fingers are tapping the wheel.   When I'm forced to FINALLY make a grocery run I'm counting the people in line times the number of items in their cart and calculating which is the fastest.   But give me an old beat-up piece of furniture and a sudden calmless sweeps over me.   I see hours, days, even weeks of taking the ugly duckling and turning it into a swan.   Ahhhhh....THAT is the art and love of 'shabbying.'

Saturday mornings were made for scouring yard sales and consignment shops.   Roll out of bed, pull my hair up in a ponytail and forget the make-up.   I jump into my SUV (thank-you to the car industry who knew what I needed), pick up my girlfriend, drive-thru for coffee, and out we go.   Stop after stop until THERE!   THERE IT IS!  I saw it half-way down the block, sitting at the bottom of their drive-way.  An old bench.  Yellow flaking paint, arm-rests broken, and slightly warped seat.   But thats not what I really saw.   I saw a one-of-a-kind piece of art.   The arm-rests could be easily filled with wood putty and secured again.   The seat could be nailed down from underneath.  And the paint?   THAT'S where I see...no not see...thats where I FEEL the impending serenity and tranquility envelope me.    I can't explain it but the monotonous task of sanding off paint, hour after hour, day by day, until a piece of furniture is ready for paint, brings me great comfort and peace.  I know....for someone who possesses no patience its ironic.   The sound of the sandpaper wiping away the old with the hint of whats to come is like Christmas morning.   It doesn't get any better than this.   Sooo....I've started.   Five days of sanding with more to come.   Stay tuned and watch my ugly duck turn into that beautiful swan.

Welcome Mat

I've always had a porch - in fact I wouldn't even consider owning a home without one.   Its where I'm drawn from the still of the morning to the end of the day.   I crave the outdoors - the sounds, the smells, the burst of a new blossom in the garden or the silent observer of the rabbit family scurrying around the lawn.  Whatever the reason..its the porch I run to.  I settle into my swing, my foot starts the rhythm of the movement and it never stops.   Calming and soothing, theres never a care in the world.   The icy pitcher of lemonade rests in its normal place on the table next to me along with a stack of unread magazines or that new book that I refuse to read in its entirety because I don't want it to end.   But this retreat of mine offers much more.  The parade of friends begins after dinner on warm evenings.  Sometimes just a wave, sometimes a canine friend who needs to say hello, but most stop to fill me in on their day or the newest and greatest happenings since yesterday.    Many a night I've spent out on the porch, candles lit, an empty wine bottle (or two!) solving the problems of the world with my bestie.   Nothing replaces the porch.   Its the pulse of my humble abode but really?  Its the friends and family who enter my world and the porch just calls to them - come in!

Shabby Style Photo Contest

                                 

                                                "Beauty of Imperfections" Photo Contest


1st Place - 3000L
2nd Place - 1500L
3rd Place - 750L


New Life was born through the love of the shabby chic style.   It says comfortable like your favorite pair of jeans, worn yet a touch of elegance, stylish but mismatched works too, romantic, vintage but easy.   


Now we're looking to YOU to display your shabby chic style.   It can be a room in your house, or the soft pastel cottage garden outside or it can be that 'go to'  vintage dress and hat thats always calling you to wear when you're going out for a day of shopping or dancing.   


We'll leave that up to you.   Just show us in one photograph that screams 'shabby chic.'      The content of the photograph will be judged - NOT the lay-out or presentation.   You can 'fancy' up the photograph using Photoshop or Gimp, but that is not what it will be judged on.   We are judging ONLY on your style inworld.  


Contest Rules


1)  The photograph MUST have at least ONE object in it that was PURCHASED from one of the stores on New Life.   *Object:  prim or apparel*    There are lots of unique stores to choose from.


***IF there is a photography studio/business on New Life you may use them to take your photograph and that can take the place of the one object/apparel.   




2)  The photograph will be posted on the "Beauty of Imperfections" Contest Board at the following location.   Instructions for placing photograph on the board will be given at the board location.   



3)  After dropping the photo on the board a notecard MUST be sent to Petunia908 Pinklady.   


*Title the notecard "Photo Contest"
*MUST include your name, name of the store where you purchased the object (or the photo studio you used) AND the name of the object.   (I will confirm with the store owner myself that its their creation OR with the photo studio owner to confirm photo was taken there.)   


4)   3 business owners from New Life will judge the entrants and winners will be announced on July 16th.  


1st Place - 3000L
2nd Place - 1500L
3rd Place -    750L


5)  Business owners on New Life are not eligible to enter the contest and PLEASE do not use your alts either!