What Inspires You?

I took up running in February of 2011, and decided I wanted a pretty way to display my race bibs. I keep them in my bedroom on a wall I frequently face, and they serve as inspiration to me. I have completed two half marathons, which is what the 13.1 sticker stands for (the number of miles) and I plan to run a full marathon (26.2) sometime in 2012. I put that on there to push myself and to visualize myself doing the full marathon.



Finsihed Inspirational Memo Board

Here's how I made this on a budget. The ornate frame was originally gold and had a picture of my grandfather in it. It was collecting dust in my basement. I took it apart, cleaned it up, and primed it and hand painted it my own mixed shade of a creamy white. Next I took a thick foam core poster board and cut it to size the back of the open frame. I used spray adhesive and applied cork from a roll I bought online (these are available at office supply stores). Then I ironed a piece of fabric I liked, and used spray adhesive to attach that to the top of the cork. It was that simple! Then I flipped the frame over, used a heavy duty staple gun and attached the backing to the frame. I also added a saw tooth hanger so I can hang it on the wall.



Jeweled Pushpins

The last step was to take thumb tacks and a glue gun and attach old earrings, buttons and cabochons onto the thumb tacks. Then I put all of my bibs, stickers of the mileage and an inspirational saying on the board using my jeweled tacks. This was super easy and I love the outcome!

Shabby Cottage Shops: Our Christmas Shoppe is Open!!!

Shabby Cottage Shops: Our Christmas Shoppe is Open!!!: It's official our Christmas Shoppe is now open at at Shabby Cottage Shops! We hope you stop by and enter our Christmas Tree Hunt Contest, it started today when The Pinkalicious Christmas Shoppe Opened. Meet today's featured boutique below:

Today's Featured Boutique is...

 
 

Mary's Cottage Treasures!

Visit Mary's Cottage Treasures Christmas Shoppe!

This lovely shop features Vintage Linens, Antique Collectible Textiles, vintage hand embroidered linens, aprons, antique tablecloths and more! Take a peek below, it's just a sampling of what you'll find here!

Please stop by everyday, we'll be featuring another wonderful tomorrow evening in The Christmas Shoppe at Shabby Cottage Shops, it honestly is...where the finest boutiques gather! We have 30 shops who are participating in this year's events and a huge giveaway, The Pink Present starting on November 6. Come see what's inside "The Pink Box" on November 6 at Shabby Cottage Shops! Don't forget to enter our Christmas Tree Hunt Contest, it's started!! You could win one of six $25 Gift Certificates to be given away! The contest ends December 1 and the winners will be announced on December 2.



Jeweled Halloween & Pink Christmas Collages

I am loving summer here in beautiful Newport Beach, CA, and yet I am also getting really excited for the approaching holidays. I have been working on some fun new collages. Please take a peek and let me know what you think. They are available for sale on my website.

One of a Kind Jeweled Patriotic Collage

This is a one of a kind altered art collage on a red 8" x 8" square canvas. Victorian Ephemera altered art is carefully placed throughout the artist canvas that is embellished with red sequins, vintage jewelry, red and blue star buttons and white buttons with silver stars atop. This is an original by Bella Lucille artist & owner, Jennifer Balalis. $45 with FREE SHIPPING! Available at http://www.bellalucille.com/

French Charmed

Blog Contest/Pink Wine Stop Give Away

Recently, my friend Anna sent me this post on Facebook:  Hey Jennifer- I have a question I think you could probably answer... Ava's beloved "blankie" is (more than) ready to be "retired"... it is a knit blanket a friend made her 6 years ago and I need some way to "memorialize" it so that we don't just throw it out... do you know of any way to frame it? Keep it? Display it? Something that does NOT include "using" it :) It is frayed and has been "refurbished" too many times... time to say Good Night to blankie... but what do I do with it!?!?!!

Here are pictures of Ava's blanket.  Anna may be interested in having the winner turn Ava's blanket into their winning idea!

I decided it would be great fun to have a contest. Please comment with your ideas on what Anna should do with Ava's blanket. Please be sure to leave your email address too along with your comment. Anna will pick the idea she likes best, and the person who submitted the winning idea will win one of my pink antique wine stops like the one pictured below! I will contact the winner by email and collect your information to send you the wine stop.  Contest ends April 2, 2011.

Door Wreath

I purchased this wreath in the clearance aisle of Target in September.  It is made of carved wood and it was just a light wood color. I don't think it had any stain to it.  I hung it as it was, and soon Halloween was approaching.  At the time, our front door was white.  I decided to paint the wreath a glossy black for Halloween and I just loved it!  As Christmas approached, I painted it a glossy red.  For New Years, I painted it a rich, dark gold.  Now that Valentine's Day is here, and my favorite color is pink, I painted the wreath a glossy pink and for more contrast I painted our front door a glossy black.  I used pink sheer fabric that I had and sewed some new curtains for the door.  The door required 2 coats of paint and was completed in a few hours.  This wreath can be repurposed over and over again, depending on the occassion, although I plan to keep it pink for a long time!  I love furniture and decor repurposing, which I always saw in a darling store which closed its doors recently called Paris to the Moon.  They had these hanging cherubs that dangled from the ceiling on ribbon and they were always different colors.  I pleaded numerous times with Paul to sell them to me, but even when the store was closing, he said the cherubs were going with him.  I certainly cannot blame him, they were to die for! A helpful tip if you do paint a piece numerous times like my wreath and Paul's cherubs is to use a good primer before adding the new color.  I used a thick white spray primer from Home Depot that covered really well with one coat, and then used 2 coats of glossy pink paint over it. I chose to spray the paint because of the intricate detail work in the wooden flowers.  I do prefer to hand paint with a paint brush for less involved projects.  Whether you hand paint or use a sprayer, primer is always a good idea. I didn't use a sealer because I used exterior paint, but sealer is a good idea too.  Just remember that if you use a matte paint to pick a matte sealer or glossy sealer if you use a glossy paint. I would love to see pictures of items you have repurposed. Please send them to me at bellalucilleprettyinpink@gmail.com and I will post them!

One of a Kind Vintage Jeweled Floral Bridal Bouquet

One of a kind custom vintage jewelry, made by the wonderfully talented artist, Kelly Eckles. This amazing piece is going to make for one stunning bridal arrangement! This is dripping with flower jewels, and customized with an initial. Want to use a family heirloom? These can be customized with your special piece of jewelry! This bouquet covers something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Real flower arrangements cost $300 and up, then they brown and dry out. Use this one of a kind jeweled bouquet at your wedding and treasure your gorgeous bouquet forever!

Junk Mail & Other Clutter

Some of you that know me will likely laugh at me for posting about a clean house. I have four children (3 are boys) and as an artist, I create at home, and have my office at home as well. Translation: my home is sometimes organized chaos. Recently however, I have been tackling a room at a time. I have lost weight and went through my closet and donated 20 bags of clothes, shoes, purses, belts and hangers to the Goodwill. All my thinner clothes were out of style and I decided to treat myself to some new items. My closet is very bare but since I am still losing weight I am waiting to buy more new pieces. I have since moved on to other rooms in our house and am working really hard at clearing out the clutter. I had my children donate old toys, games and stuffed animals that they no longer use.



When I went to my mailbox today, I had a ton of junk mail. I wanted to share this little tip with you because this is a habit worth thinking about adopting. Up until a few years ago I would always bring everything inside from the mailbox and the junk mail would either sit on my table, my counter top or I’d throw it away in my kitchen trash can eventually. Well one day I decided why not sort my mail outside, next to my outdoor garbage can, before bringing it inside. Today I threw away probably 15 newspaper ads, junk mailers and free catalogues. I ended up with only one financial document, and I walked it right up to my office shredder and got rid of it after reviewing it. I know you don’t all have the luxury of living in California where the weather is good, but even if you grabbed your mail, sat in your car for a minute to sort it, and tossed the junk mail right away, I think you’ll find this is a small but helpful way to reduce your household clutter.


Another tip is to plan a party. I volunteered to host a baby shower in February and I am very motivated to get my house party ready. I donated an old stereo, the speakers and 5 disk player to the Goodwill because I never use it anymore. I also went through all my books and donated the ones I no longer read to our local library. My kids have outgrown a lot of their old DVD’s so I donated those to our local children’s hospital. I still have more areas in our home that I am working on, and it feels great. My shabby chic cabinet has so much more room for family pictures and cottage pretties with the stereo and books cleared out.


I’d love to hear what you are doing to clear your spaces!