Coloring Book Pages March 14, 2010

Last year, I was lucky enough to get to spend the actual Valentine’s Day in Charleston, SC with Erik. Our schedules matched up finally, so i was able to fly out there and we had a great weekend full of French Food and cupcakes from Baked.

This year, we didn’t get a chance to spend the actual day together, but i was able to go a couple weeks later. Lucky for me, this gave me a couple extra weeks to put together an alternative gift for my sailor man, since its always best to give gifts in person.

Last fall, I came across this post on Merriment Design for how to turn photos into a personalized coloring book. Erik is a fan of coloring books (he even has crayon favorites – Prang soy crayons so i thought it would be a perfect gift to remind him of all our fun times together. Coloring is really a fun stress relieving activity, so why not make it a little more personal than a factory produced coloring book.

If you have photoshop, this tutorial really is SO easy. I collected about 10 photos and added fun labels to each one then bound them using my new sewing machine and some fun green paper.

Picnic from my first trip to Charleston, where we rented a sailboat for the weekend

Erik and his brother Trevor at his boot camp graduation

Try it out!

Could we get away with this? January 7, 2010

I LOVE the period details of our house (a Seattle bungalow built in 1922), but we are stumped for how to update a few of the spaces, namely the fireplace mantle and kitchen storage. Seeing these built-ins on nyt today made we wish a teensy bit that we had a space that could lend itself to some clean, mid-century lines like these. I would love to wrap our fireplace in thin wood slats and have a floating mantle just like that, but i think the curved ceilings and picture rail don’t quite jive. *pout*

Wouldn't you love to blog from this desk?

Ooh, la la

Although i think the wife in the article got the better end of the deal (she was pulling for “modern” while her husband wanted “traditional”), this is a good example of how you can combine traditional textures/aesthetic (in this case wood) with a modern sensibility. To create something that is classically modern without being too harshly “contemporary” (i find that folks get these terms confused a lot – true modernism featured many natural materials and was actually quite warm and inviting, not the steel and concrete lofts that many people imagine).

the beginning of the christmas season December 3, 2009

…it starts really with the trek to the forest to discover our tree.  I will tell you about that later, though. 

Really, the beginning of the Christmas season for me inside is at the Christmas Dessert.

It’s where volunteers decorate tables for the season, invite some women friends to come, and enjoy a evening program – filled with songs and stories and the meaning of Christmas –  to go with your dessert.

B and I… well, it’s not a secret that we are decorating nerds.  We have so much Christmas decor it doesn’t all get used in one year.  Which really is why the dessert is perfect for us.  We each order a table.   That’s right, I said each.  I mean, when you have that much great material to work with….

We still love to make a few new things for our tables… Nothing like a few new things for the holidays!

So without further ado…

B’s table is what I am going to call “The Rustic, Glittery Woodland.”

Thats right, someone loves the new Martha glitter line AND the beauty of wood.

B created a river RIGHT down her table.  On sides of the banks were found rocks from Washington beaches, pieces of our past Christmas trees as stumps/logs, and beautiful creatures.  The animals were from a variety of locations, all ornaments, and made from natural materials.  Some of the small owls had little cut wood parts making feathers. 

Her forest was complete with the addition of her trees.  They were a Martha craft project last year.   Using different sized circles, you fold the paper to look like darling evergreen.  A little glitter on the edges and a champagne cork as a trunk complete the crafty trees. 

B also lit her table with bronze and white tapers.  The tapers stood in candlestick holders she bought at a thrift store this summer.  She didn’t just leave them brown though… She painted them green and then… POOF! Glitter-ified them in peridot.

I love them.  They are going to look so good on our mantle!

 

My, D’s, table was “Snowy Village in the Mountain with Sparkle.”  You must have sparkle,after all. 

The base of my mountain had large presents with handmade bows (a litle diy in the future for you!)

The central, eye level area was the village part.  I got all these crazy houses for a buck or two at various Goodwills.  then i spray painted like crazy and white glitterd the snowy roofs.  I love my new village more then anyone I have seen in a store so far… and for QUITE a lower price point as well!  (the houses only cost me 20 bucks and a little time..)

(in fact — here is a BEFORE pic!)

The tippy tippy top was a combo of my new advent wreath i just bought myself from Rare Device (SWOOOON!), the Baby Jesus/Mary/Joseph from my Nativity set that my parenst got me for my last birthday,  and this little glass ornament I have.  The ornament was the inspiration for the whole table.  It is a church, covered in glittery wonder.

But really, although our tables were great and I got to use my 12 days of Christmas plates again AND we got to have four {small} desserts…

It is really about the great company of friends and the celebration of a birth that truly is the greatest gift that any of us will ever receive.

{and that night, as i slept, visions of my Chrismas Dessert table 2010 danced in my head}

{ps, thanks to Jo, who took more pictures then me – gasp – and nicely allowed me to borrow a few so you could see all the details.  her blog has even more pictures.}

a few gifts for baby… September 11, 2009

Two weeks ago now,  our friend Heather had a baby shower.

It was quite lively & fun – a non-traditional shower at a local italian restaurant - a chance to eat out and chat with the new mom-to-be. 

Oh, and watch her open presents.  Gifts for a baby girl that will make an appearance in mid-October.  Let me just say one thing about the present-opening extravaganza…. CUTENESS.  Baby girl cuteness exploded and was oh-so-fun to see.

What did we give the new family? 

Want to see a few things?

                             {click on the links to see more}

Let’s start with B:

1.  This adorable Birdie Teething Ring from LittleSaplingToys. Perfect sized for infants, sanded velvety smooth, with no coating (toxins) to worry about, and bird-themed to go with. . . well, you’ll see. [Bonus: Little Sapling Toys plants a tree for every piece you buys for them. I scored on a free-shipping weekend and also picked up a hippo for another expectant mom] 

2.  This darling dress from Target’s Dwell Baby Studio line.  Look at the apples!

 

3.  The focal point was a changing-table mobile created from felt, ribbon, and lavender. Not too much lavender, but enough to keep the area near the changing table smelling fresh (and girly!). Inspired by hair clips from ModernBean, B decided to tackle a larger piece to match the bubble gum bedding set so lovingly chosen by mom. Each little bit took awhile to choose color combos and hand stitch, but the overall effect is fun, bouncy, and hopefully will entertain the little gal while she’s having her diaper changed.

Inspiration: These adorable felt toddler hair clips from ModernBean

b tried to match the color scheme and whimsy from bananafish's bubble gum bedding. photo credit: www.toysrus.com

 

 

And now from D:

1.  A cute shirt, socks and adorable baby hat from Happy Green Bee Organics.  All organic and oh-so-soft.

 

2.  This cute plush Bunny from World of Whimm.  Baby’s first happy bunny!  We met this etsy seller at a Team Etsy Rain event and I picked up the bunny with hopes of a baby girly Madeleine…

3.  After all that, the gift D was most excited to give was a handmade birdie mobile for the baby nursery. D saw this mobile here a while ago and saved it to my ever-growing projects-to-do list.  Then a few months ago we took a needlefelting class where we learned to make lil birdies!  Perfect right? {so great I might deem this not just a baby gift  and might make one for me!}

The birdies are all hand felted with wool roving in light pink  — with bits of white, magenta, yellow and green accents.  Their eyes are small beads that are sewed on.  After felting seven birdies, D attached each birdie to pieces of driftwood from the Washington coast.  Then she drilled some holes through the wood and used monofilament to string it together.

The piece is perfect to add a great punch to the nursery, maybe in the corner with the rocker?

 

 

 

Now… all that is missing is the baby….

Crafty: Wreaths August 12, 2009

B made me a wreath back in the day.  At the time she lived in Seattle and I lived in New Orleans.  She made herself an orange wreath, and I received a green wreath in the mail one day.  I love em (both, although the green one slightly more because it is, well, green!)  They are usually a mixture of different types and sizes of silk flowers witha shiny ribbon to hang it from your door.

Time has passed, wreaths have been given out to friends and family and been sold over on etsy.  B even let me in on her wreathing secrets.   Thank goodness, because this past month, along with moving and painting and floor refinishing, we have been wreathing up a storm!

Both orders have been for brides who are getting married this summer. 

The first was an orange and white scheme with navy ribbons. These three are all 12″ in diameter and are to be hung on the doors of the church.

Wanna see?

 

(yes this is the mystery wreath featured here.)

 

The next set of wreaths offered us a new challenge.  (mostly b, actually, she did the hard part.)  These are two 12″ wreaths and one 20″ wreath.  20″ is, by the way, huge.  These ones are green hydrangeas only with small white floors forming letters in the center.  The small wreaths are the first inital of both the bride and groom and the third, larger one is their last initial. 

We loved  making these and were sad to see them go!  But, who knows…. you just might see them over at our etsy shop soon……

mint museum of craft June 22, 2009

I wanted to get around to finally sharing a couple of pieces I loved when visiting the Mint Museum of Craft Design on my February trip to Charlotte, NC. They have a portion of their permanent collection dedicated to jewelry design and I LOVE LOVE both these pieces.

Especially the cut steel by Vera Siemund. *drool*

 

There was also a BEAUTIFUL exhibit on contemporary Ceramics in Israel going on. Amazing sculptures and utilitarian objects in simple, earthy materials. Gorgeous!

Untitled by Noa Holzshtein

one night crafting extravaganza June 12, 2009

Sorry for being so mia this week!  It was quite busy for both of us.  We have some exciting news, but we are going to wait a few days to share…. just so we have some pictures and such to share.   I promise though its coming soon…

Meanwhile, life is busy on the etsy/crafting  front.   Two weeks ago we ordered a ten pound box of soy wax.  We had done this before and slowly had made candles in upcycled mugs.   It was a terrific way to bring new life to old things and have neat candles to enjoy.  Soy wax is really easy to clean – just with some warm soapy water and a sponge.   They also burn very cleanly.

But, it took us months to use all our wax.  After it was all used up, we kept finding mugs that were just to good to pass up.  They screamed “make me into a candle, please!”  So we had quite the collection in waiting. 

Fast forward to the new ten pound box arriving.  It was Friday night.  We saw it on the back stoop and said, uh, that would be fun tonight and our etsy shop is in need of a few new candles…

Several hours later, we were out of wax.   Yes, you read that right.  Our candle  total was over thirty and we still found two mugs in the craft room that somehow escaped the madness.

soy wax flakes melting into liquid yellow wax

we often use a few used crayons to add some color

waiting to be poured

after pouring all the yellow candles, the leftover wax gets frozen for next time

setting overnight

the next morning

an etsy photoshoot

 

check out the finished products here.  We have definitely not listed them all, but don’t worry, we will. 

i want… May 19, 2009

…this new book out there. I saw it today over at CRAFT where they are hosting a giveaway…

my recent love of felt has come from a needlefelting class that we took with a friend/fellow blogger extraordinaire.  There will be a step by step to follow this week, promise!