start spreadin' the news...

Guess where we are?

I left Jay in charge of the store to take a mini vacation.

We got in early enough to have a pizza for lunch, take a walk through Central Park,

Do a little shopping,

Terry wanted these leather pants but they didn't have his size. Darn!

We visited 30 Rock( looked for Kenneth),

took lots of cheesy pictures,

danced on the sidewalk,

and the next thing we knew, Usher was taking our picture!

By the end of this day...

I am pooped! Tomorrow we are going to see The Lion King(in honor of my daughter leaving for Africa next week) and we are planning a throwdown with Bobby Flay at his Mesa Grill Restaurant.

Harvey and Stella again

Update on the world's cutest kittens-they are still the World's cutest kittens! Look how Harvey is cradling Stella's head. They have grown out of their basket and have moved up to a metal bread pan. Pure love.

Today we covered these old chairs in this great coffee burlap sack.

I love the way they look with my table from yesterday.

Hope you have a dreamy evening and I'll meet you at Hardee's in the morning for a biscuit!

inspiration-not sure

Old heart pine is a beautiful thing...especially when it has lots of layers of great old paint. This is our table that we made today. Not quite as cartoonish but a little quirky none the less. We used these boards that came from a pre-civil war victorian home that we salvaged a couple of years ago. These boards had been in the kitchen pantry.

the legs.... I must have a leg thing this week. I have had fun trying out all kinds of new ideas. Jay does not like them quite as much as me. Apparently it is lots easier to cut these curves out of cardboard(for my pattern, that is my job) than heart pine.

Another day, another Hardee's biscuit and another cool table! I wonder what we could make tomorrow?

inspiration-The Flintstones

I had a dream last night that I built a table. It looked a lot like a cartoon table. I haven't been sleeping too well so when I woke up(for the 49th time) I just couldn't stop thinking of the table. Guess what I did this morning(after my morning Hardee's biscuit and coffee, of course!)? I told Jay that we had to build a table. I found an old green door, the post from the headboard and footboard of a really ugly bed, and a few boards to make my cartoon come to life.

I think my table kind of looks like something Fred and Wilma Flintstone might own.

You can't really tell but the top of the table has this great green and blue distressed look. I think it would look fun at the beach or in a college apartment(or maybe just at my house). I don't have a lot of customers who come in looking for cartoon furniture but it sure was fun to make my dream come to life. Maybe I should lay off the bedtime medications!

aliceandjay.com

We couldn't be more excited! Our new website is up. We still have a few glitches(like the antique embroidery above that my daughter listed online as, "Not Now" instead of " No cross No crown." We have laughed till we cried! She said she was puzzled as to why I would tell her this was a religious piece of stitchery when it was obviously for the tired housewife to hang above her bed.) to work out and lots and lots of products to put on, but it is there! Please check it out at aliceandjay.com and let us know what you think! We hope you find it simply splendiferous.

Happy Saturday

We stayed up late...we didn't finish everything I wanted to...

but we are pretty happy with our work for the week.

It always makes me nervous to change things around in the store. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a magic wand that let you know all the things that people wanted! We will see how the new look goes today!

before and after

So...I love to read Miss Mustard Seed and look at all of her pretty projects. They inspire me. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the touch that she does. She had her grain sack drying on a beautiful clothes line in a green meadow. Look at mine. These darn things are heavy as lead and this was the only thing that would hold the wet ones up!

Next.... Is my before and after. The only problem is that I forgot to take a before picture. Miss Mustard never does that! So, here is the almost before when I painted the dark wood table with

this great paint! I used the graphite first then followed it with the Paris Grey.

After a coat of wax, sanding, and a little more wax...I kind of like it(never mind the GARBAGE bag underneath it!)

We also got a few things put in the nice clean end building.

Clean floors and walls are so gratifying tho they fade fast around these dusty parts.

All in all, I am pretty darn happy with our progress today.