etsy, I have arrived

So, I did it.  I started an Etsy store.  Edith Kelly Kate.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/edithkellykate

There are only 4 items for sale right now... partly because I can't seem to have time to take pictures of the others that I have done over the past couple of weeks, but they are coming!  

Lots more wedding items, baby items, and christmas items.  

The 3 images from our wedding, the menu, the welcome sign and the cocktails sign were all taken by our fabulous photographer Heather Banks with Eclectic Images Photography.  I've got to get her to give me some tips on taking pictures of these things because apparently that is the #1 thing that helps you sell your stuff.  Good pictures.

all about decks

Over the past several months we have been pretty lazy not doing anything at all which is fine because months of planning a wedding really does take a lot out of you.  Its really great to get home and have a beer and just not do anything.

Before the wedding, David's project while I was ignoring him to fine tune the decorative marital details was this little project.  Our middle deck.  Its situated in between our garage and our house/master bedroom.  Before it had a gross deck with a hot tub in the covered area.  David cut the hot tub up into about 10 pieces and hauled it off, ripped up all the deck boards, replaced some rotted joists and re-laid all new deck boards and created this little gem of a space.    

The antler wall art was all David.  The pillows are from the wedding.  And the rug is a table cloth that I'll be sealing with polyurethane this weekend.

Again, wall art, all David.  I love it.  And the wet bar is an old baby changing table I got at the Home Consignment store for $100 and antiqued it.  We also bought custom shaped cushions for the bench which makes it so comfy!  I can't wait for the fall/winter when we can enjoy it without being soaked in our own sweat.

David also tore down and replaced the fence that leads to the front door/yard.  It matches our other little slice of fence at the front of the house.  I am obsessed with the horizontal fence boards and the color.  And our Home Depot furniture we got for next to nothing is also a great find!  They also rock slightly which is nice.

And onto the next project... the back deck.  Our existing deck is shown here as David tears it down to its bones.  Its a pretty weird configuration with how it is shaped and with the connection to the house its just weird.

Before

Before

 David ;)

Push out this cut-out corner to be flush.

Push out this side to the corner of the house.  

We'll have to think of something fun to do with this little area.  Or just take that shelf down... 

Our enemy at the moment.  This ground cover is the devil and we want it gone.  Its horrible.

So there you go, our project at the moment.  It doesn't help that its a consistent 108 degrees here in Austin but we want to be able to enjoy it all this fall and winter with all our friends with good food and good drinks!

Blogging from my iPhone...

So, I downloaded this app tonight that helps me blog while I'm on the go. Not that my random thoughts or pictures are of that much importance for people to see immediately and more often, but it makes the day go by faster when im sitting at an art install for 3 hours for work.

And here is a little treat. Our front deck (we have a back one too) that David just re finished.









- Katie Walker
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I did it... couponing.

Okay, so I did it.  I went yesterday, coupons and list in hand and grocery shopped.  The couponmom.com system helped... but its very time consuming, and I'm still a little confused.

I waited about 4 weeks to collect coupons from the Sunday's paper.  There are 2-3 coupon booklets that come out in the Sunday paper, Red Plum, Smart Source, and P&G.  Couponmom.com suggests that you simply collect these booklets, write the date that they are published on the front of each and simply store until you are ready to shop.

When you are ready to shop, you have to go to their "Grocery Deals by State" menu and select your state and your grocery store.  I chose HEB and Randalls and looked at both lists.  When you look at the list it is set up into multiple columns.  I put a screen shot below.  Basically it tells you the description of the coupon, the % you save and the final price with the coupon, as well as (if applicable) the coupon booklet that the coupon is in. 

I've ammended the way in which couponmom.com suggests you store these coupons.  I basically spent about 30 minutes cutting out the coupons that I KNOW that I would be using.  i.e. I won't be using Huggies diapers anytime soon.

Then I put each date's coupons in a different envelope labeled with the date, and just go back to that and the individual coupons when I need them, not the enitre booklet (very cumbersome and annoying).  A little more time on the front end, but easier in the long run when you need to go shopping.

So then you go to the database, shown below.  You scroll down and check the box next to the deals that you want to use at this grocery trip and then click the button at the bottom to only show those selected deals.  This basically becomes your "coupon grocery list".  I had several other items that I needed so that was added too.

On the list of deals, the first set, as seen in the screen shot have a N/A under the column for the coupon code and date.  This means that there isn't a coupon, its just a special that the grocery store is having.  At first I thought this was pointless, but then when I was at the grocery, I realized  I would never have known about these "deals" without this database, and bought these items because they were on special and less than they would be before.  Obviously I didn't buy all of them b/c many were not applicable to our needs.  But some were!

So after some prep time, I was off!  It took a little more time to shop than normal because I was constantly looking at my compilation list of "deals" that I had selected and going back and forth.  But the grocery store was emty because the city was freaked out about ice/snow. 

SIDE NOTE:  We hadn't been to the grocery in about 4 weeks so we needed a lot of stuff, more than a usual 1-2 week visit.

When it was time to check out, I was very excited.  I gave the cashier the coupons and was looking at the toal... before coupons ~$315, after coupons and Randalls card ~$240.

After this total, I wasn't too excited anymore... I looked at the receipt and the coupons only saved me $13... the Randalls rewards card saved me $65.  I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the Randalls card HELPS the coupon... and that is what was showing.  As well as the fact that I did a lot of coupon N/A deals that were only the Randalls rewards card working.

All in all, I think that next time will be better.  I'll have done it before, learning curve started.  And, now I can use the coupons to stock up on things if needed...  I think if the coupon thing doesn't go well after the mere $13 saved, then I'll at least have the grocery "deals" to use to save on grocery specials.

Happy Saturday!

couponing?

So, call me crazy, but I've decided to try the couponing thing... not the crazy extreme couponing that you see on that tlc tv show, but the kind where you can apparently cut your grocery bills by 30-50%. That makes a huge difference when your grocery bill (granted it was after not going to the grocery for a big "everything trip" for about 5-6 weeks) is $300 for two people.

So, we are subscribing to the Austin American Statesman only on Sundays. Besides getting the 3 big coupon catalogs, I'll also get the funnies, so its a win win. David is excited about the concept of waking up early (loves this on the weekends, why??) and walking out to get the paper and sit and read it all day. As my mom says, "Youre marrying your father".

So, I will report back and we will see how I do. All I know is that it would be a good habit to get into and beneficial for the future when we have little rugrats running around, instead of just kittens.