This evening I was given a "Kreativ Blogger" award by Kelsee over at The Webb Family - what a sweet surprise! Thank you, Kelsee, I am humbled. I will be sharing this award with my hubby, since nothing created around my home is without his help. Oh, and I'm also sharing it with all of you because I get so much of my creative inspiration from my lovely friends!

Okay, so I've been asked to share 7 "interesting" things about myself.

1) Married to my best friend for over 20 years, who in the 80's was the lead singer in a punk rock band.

2) Gone bungee jumping. Okay, so it was at Magic Mountain, not off of a cliff in some exotic place but since I'm deathly afraid of heights and it was more than 10 feet off the ground...it was a big deal. To me.

3) I am a sci-fi geek. Could sit and watch Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminator and Blade Runner over and over again.

4) I have a black thumb. In the floral growing department. This is why you won't see any posts on my blog about gardening. But I very much admire gardeners and enjoy reading about how to make a portable garden on your patio.

5) I like snakes, rats, and mice. They do not make me shudder or climb on top of a table screaming. I am very squeamish though, and will go out of my way to avoid a spider - even if Emma's yelling from the bathroom "Mama, there's a spider in the bathtub!" Bring in the big brothers.

6) I can eat a whole bag of Oreos in one day. And I don't even have to be stressed out or sad about anything.

7) I love to collect seashells and pretty rocks at the beach. Who doesn't?

Now I want to pass along this award to a few of my blog friends who inspire me, whether it's because of the way they create beauty in their homes or because they are creative with words and stories or the photos they take.

1) Nester at Nesting Place for being so awesome - causing me to lose feeling from the knees down, forget my name, lose track of time, and a sore behind on many occasions while I sit perusing her blog. Sifting through great idea after idea how to decorate my home on a budget. Oh, and for being so candid,  admitting she has a long blond hair on her chin and thinking the Ped Egg is the grossest invention.

2) Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for her beautiful and whimsical tablescape inspiration.

3) Kimberly at Daisy Cottage for the joy she gives my heart after visiting her beautiful, colorful blog.

4) Michelle at From House to Home (The Yellow House) for the fabulous way she decorates her home. I want to duplicate her "Everything Room" when I grow up.

5) Ruth at Suzy Roo for making me laugh with her funny personality, zany pictures, and riding along with her via the internet as she experiences interesting places and goes on fun adventures. I live through the views from her "fisheye" camera.

6) Alyssa at Life of Lyssie well, because she's my little Sister who has a brand new blog that is fabulous. She inspires me with her taste for style both with clothing and decor. And, she can sew too - don't let her fool you.

7) Keri at Life in a Cape also a new blogger, and a faithful, loving friend to me for MANY years. And so creative she boggles my mind. She puts the "C" in creative. Or in this case the "K." She has a whole line of the CUTEST home made planners, journals, autograph books, little notebooks and other goodies that I plan on showcasing soon - along with July's Giveaway that she has made.

Now - go on over, visit these fabulous ladies and show them some love!

...a beautiful new car! Oh, wait - that's The Price is Right. What we have here is a fabulous little chalkboard frame. Not one, but TWO. That's right, Emma agreed with me that there should be two winners on this fine Monday morning!

Here's Vanna White, I mean Emma giving the names a shuffle...

And the first winner is...

Suzanne from Happy Chaos Home - check out her super cute blog and get to know her sweet family! Little Jaxon will steal your heart!

Our second winner is...

Tricia from The Boutelle Family Zoo - go on over and meet the Zoo Keepers & Monkeys! Also, check out Tricia's cool chalkboard wall!

That's it folks! Wish I could give everyone a parting (or is it partying? I don't know.) gift! This was my first giveaway, as you can tell by my high-tech random generator - although, I happen to think she's a lot cuter than those electronic ones don't you? Let's meet back here in July and have another one, okay?

**UPDATE** I've been receiving such nice comments from you all day today about my adventures in chalkboard paint! So many of you said you like the little black oval chalkboards, so I thought I'd give away the cute one below with the green polka dot ribbon! All you have to do is comment on this post (sweet words of course!). No blogging or tweeting about the giveaway, or standing on your head required! Oh, and if you already left a nice comment you have automatically been entered - no need to do it twice! The giveaway will end Monday morning when I'll choose a winner by random.

It's a chalkboard party over at The Shabby Chic Cottage - so get on over there and see how others are using theirs!

As some of you remember, I "rescued" a bunch of old windows from my friend Kim's house recently. Several of you shared some fabulous ideas of what to do with them. One suggestion was to make a chalkboard out of a multi-paned window. Love how it turned out! I have it hanging next to my desk in the school room. Sitting below it is one of the larger windows that will soon be a bulletin board.

This is the process that was used by my ever-so-talented hubby on all three chalkboards - 1) Black chalkboard spray paint (got mine for $4 at Home Depot). 2) Taped off the areas not being painted. 3) Applied 3 coats of paint right on to the glass (allowing for drying time in between). I've seen some other more professional "chalkboarders" who discard the glass and replace with plexi-glass which they have had cut to fit the frame. Reason being you ask? Problems with chipping. However, since this was my first chalkboard project I opted for lazy and easy. 4) Final step - removed tape and that's it! So easy.

I found this frame at TJ Maxx (love that store!) for $6.

This last little cutie I made for my Mom. The frame is from the Dollar Store. Drilled holes in the back panel and strung the ribbon through.

And of course I had to have one for our house too!

Sweet little Giveaway chalkboard! You can change out the ribbon to fit your decor - it also comes with an easel on the back so you can stand it up if you desire.

Here are a few images I've found on the net of chalkboards created by the PROS. They've been circulating the blogsphere for a while, but I thought they were worth seeing again and appropriate for today's post.

My dear friend Keri in Oregon sent me a photo of a table & benches her hubby built and then she painted an apple green and distressed it. But wait! Then look what she did! She and all her fabulous creativity painted the top with chalkboard paint! She uses it in her school room. Too cute, isn't it? If you live in the OR area and would like one, they make and sell them! Just send me an email and I'll give you further info.

You can go wild and use the chalkboard paint on just about anything! I also painted a bunch of clothes pins, and will use them in my school room to pin up Emma's art work. I have seen chalkboard paint used on plates, gift tags, place mats, and children's school desks. You are only limited by your creativity!  A little bit of paint goes a long way. One can was enough for all of my projects above including 10 clothes pins.

I stumbled across a fabulous interiors stylist, Atlanta Bartlett recently. I love her relaxed, accessible style. I enjoy searching the net for inspiration. Some of the high-end designers feature rooms that are unattainable and pure eye candy to drool over. But with Atlanta Bartlett's style, I feel like the design elements are looks I can achieve myself. She started her career at Homes & Gardens and then became a freelance stylist for magazines like Elle Decoration, House & Garden, Harpers, and Marie Claire. Her client list includes Habitat and Laura Ashley. She is an author of the internationally best-selling books The Relaxed Home, At Home with White, and Easy Elegance which was published in April.  She has an online boutique store that is due to open later this year.

Here are some of my favorite photos to feast your eyes on...

For more beautiful inspiration, check out her site here.

I'm participating in The CSI Project and entering my Framed Starfish wall art.

I bought a  vintage oval frame at my favorite antique shop.

The frame was gold. I gave it a coat of primer, then satin black. Much better. I didn't want to use it as a regular picture frame, so I thought it would be fun to hang a starfish in it. I love living by the beach and having bits of reminders displayed round my home.

Here it is. Hung him by a little black decorative knob. Cute, but it needed something more.

Added some fun dotted scrapbook paper. Roughed him up a bit around the edges to bring out the cool design. I love the gold peaking through!

Viola! Look how mister starfish stands out now!