sneak peek

Here is a little hint at my new website in the works. I am hoping my hubby has it done this weekend. I took a snippet of visuals from my site and printed them on paper. I love little details that pop out later and tie everything together! I can't wait to be able to share my new website...

Jodi Miller of www.jodimillerphotography.com came over this evening to do a mini photo shoot with me. She normally comes once a week and we get together to sew and work on her wedding details and the boys drink fancy homemade beer and hang out in the living room(a library might be needed in the next house!). Anyway, after a discussion a week ago we decided that to keep ourselves extra sharp with the creativity we would try to fit in a little shoot every week on top of dinner and sewing!!! Yes, its a lot, but its soooo much fun!

Here is a little peek at what we did. These are my photos, Jodi's will be much better. I didn't want to give away too much, but here is a taste. I made the gray flower and curtain above(the navy one is a silk flower. And below is an "L" for me:-)...more to come!

dill

from my garden...mmm

photoshoot

So here is a little teaser from the photo shoot I helped with last Friday. I was going to post my own photos of my inspiration but Jodi's photos are just so much more appealing. They are definitely worth the wait.

Jodi (from Jodi Miller Photography) asked me to help style some shoots and this is sort of the inspiration for the whole theme. Bride Heather totally cooperated with us coming up with an idea and seeing it to completion. We had no idea what style she was going for or what kind of dress she had. It was just a lot of flexibility on her part and a whole lot of nervous excitement on our part. All in all it turned out better than I even thought. However, Jodi and Kurt have just the right touch and a great eye, and all their photos turn out magical! Enjoy for now. I'll post more when Jodi does! In the meantime, check out Jodi's work at www.jodimillerphotography.com!

graham & brown

Since we HAVE to move I am trying to make things exciting for myself. I have never tackled wallpaper before. I remember, when I was little, my Dad hanging it in the kitchen and there was a lot of huffing and puffing and mild expletives going on in there. Since then, according to other design sources, wallpaper seems like the greatest thing. Not only is it supposedly easier to hang its also much better looking!

All the above are from Graham & Brown out of the UK. Prices seem reasonable, I need only to convince Chris:-).

whoa

I am finally finished with my classes for this semester! Things are up in the air for the fall semester as I have agreed yet again to move. Every other week we are like "lets do it, no wait."

I am really not looking forward to packing up and moving, I love living in beautiful, historic Staunton, VA. Its just that I hate being apart from Chris, he can't stand it either. I'd like to have more babies so moving now as opposed to later would be ideal. Us living apart is a huge expense that could be sent towards the abyss of debt we are trying to pay down. So it makes sense. I just hate that I think I found the home I want and we are no where near listing ours. I better get busy! In the meantime, LOOK at this flippin' rug! I love it. There is more about it on Apartment Therapy's blog...check it out.

fancy

Hey, check out this $70 plate from www.dapperfrog.com, its sooooo cool! Although if I spent 70 bucks on a plate I'd probably only be able to afford to eat Cheetos off of it!

blossoms

Ok so here are a few blossoms from our yard...dandelions are not blossoms but they are pretty!

Garden

Our garden went from this overgrown nightmare to the picture below, being tilled by Chris. We later built in beds and a little fence to keep the wild dog out:-)....pictures will be posted soon of the final result!

We kept the roses and the little clump of tulips. I can't wait to plant my 200 hundred plants!

i love it

Forsythia in my yard...I love how vibrant the yellow is, I wish I had a shirt that color. Friday we'll go out and work on the garden, I can't wait!

too much to do

I have 2 weeks until Keira's first birthday party and too many projects to complete before then. There is the garden, the back porch, the side porch, the deck, my bedroom, her bedroom, the diningroom, the office and the upstairs bathroom. I feel sort of overwhelmed. I am not sure if I can accomplish all that. I desperately want to though, it would make this summer a lot easier to get those things done sooner rather than later. Keira is down to one nap as well, so there is less time for me to get that stuff done. I will get it done! That is my new attitude, and I'll just have to post my results! That'll keep me accountable!

In the meantime I wish I were here...near a stream in the sunshine...

garden dining

Spring is almost here, a little less than a week away! I am dying to get out in my back yard and make it usuable! Above is a photo from Martha Stewart's website. I love the pea gravel! I used to HATE gravel, but I am coming around...plus its cheaper than bricks and pavers!

These last three pictures are from http://gardenrooms.typepad.com and I am completely in love with all 3 looks. I have a variety of tables and chairs. If I still do a deck and patio on the back of the house the yard is big enough to do a separate space. Of course I'm still working on my garden rendering. My plants are out of control...I thinned some...I will post an update on those soon.

Anniversary

We spent the weekend in Shepardstown, WV. Above and below are pictures of Harper's Ferry, WV. We took a day trip over there in the pouring rain.

This is where we stayed, at the Bavarian Inn. It was gorgeous! And right on the Potomac River.

sunday stuff

Here are a few necklaces from etsy that caught my eye. The first 3 are from RachelleD and the last is from Blue Dove Studio. Makes me want to get out my beads and make something pretty. I think I should finish the kitchen curtains first!

my plants

Here is a pile of seeds I planted yesterday. That's right some of those were 20 cents a packet!

I used indoor planting trays with clear lids on them this time around. I have 144 little pods planted. I am hoping they will all take, some of them have several seeds in each and they are now sitting in the window.

I planted tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers, basil, green beans, dill, parsley, marigolds, oriental poppies, bachelor buttons, sunflowers varieties, and some zinnias. I have more flowers to plant including bulbs, I have a giant elephant ear in a pot in the sunshine too. I want to be ahead of things when its warm enough to plant. Last year I was pregnant at this time and then had Keira in April and the garden never happened. I won't let that happen this year!

garden design

I googled 'garden design' to see if I could find any renderings of gardens to base mine off of. This is what I found and its at http://www.creativeearth.co.uk/.

I've been dying to get out in the garden and start digging everything up but we still have about 6 inches of snow back there. Granted its nice and warm out today and I probably won't be able to get out there any time soon, so in the meantime it would be a good idea to get planning.

I got some bulbs from Costco last Saturday. I will not be able to even plant them until April. I got ranunculus, peonies, hostas and anemone. Some are shady plants some are full sun and I think after the little planning I've done I have some good ideas about how to get started. I would like to do some raised beds for vegetables and herbs and then the bulk of the flowers to run along the borders of our yard. I am also figuring in the deck/patio we would like to put in this spring. Keira will be walking soon and I'd like a nice place to sit and watch her as well as use for entertaing, etc.

I will get busy on my drawing and I will post photo of Keira's room, its come a long way!

dreaming of spring

Lovely bouquet from www.saipua.com

I want these on my dining room table!

a busy week

I made an attempt to blog yesterday and I had some technical difficulties. Wednesday we went up to Northern Virginia and I was hoping to do my annual Ikea shopping. That did not happen, maybe we will get there in the next few weeks. At least I'll have time to take more measurements!

I finally got my egg vase from West Elm, I love it, but it was not at all what I expected. Its really big! I got the crackled pale blue one and I will post a pic probably this weekend. Below are some items I have seen around. The vases are Urban Outfitters and boy do they make me want it to be spring already!

...these both look like a pain in the butt to clean though...

This is from www.howaboutorange.com's blog. These pom poms are similar to the tissue paper flowers I made for my wedding decorations. I was thinking about garlands for Keira's first birthday party coming up in April. I will tuck this away as inspiration.


Below is a photo from www.southernliving.com. I actually have the issue that ran this article. Its about slipcovering. The fabric isn't exactly my taste, the drape is a bit "shabby chic" for me as well, but I love the execution! I think I may attempt something similar for our bedroom. In the meantime I should assemble an inspiration board.



I am so swamped that I really need to just start knocking off little projects at a time. I finally washed the fabric for my kitchen curtains. I am still undecided about the style, so I think I might just make up my own style. Maybe I'll start those tomorrow!

a new week

So a new week is here. So far I am working on my bedroom ideas, more to come on that soon and making a calendar. After Chris worked last night setting up the digital calendar in phtoshop I think I may do something a little more handmade. I still would like to use the template he is working on, but for the fridge I may do it all by hand! It's so exciting...except, let's see if it happens, I have a lot on my plate right now.

To add to my ever-growing list is a tree branch mobil with handmade birds. This particular one came from a nursery tour from Ohdeedoh. It was made for the daughter of an Urban Outfitters designer by his friends at Anthropologie, go figure, ofcourse I would like this! My first thought was to make this for Keira's room but her room is becoming quite crowded, I may put this in our bedroom. So I will lump this into my bedroom project. With not much pun intended, this is one way to feed two birds with one crumb, as opposed to killing two birds with one stone.

homemade calendar inspiration

I bought the Butterflies & Insects Calendar from Cavallini & Co. a few months ago. I absolutely love it. It is great quality printing on great quality paper. Each month's sheet is on canvas-like paper and I even cut some of the art out and decoupaged it onto some cheap cnavases as art for my bedroom. I will post more on that another day.

Anyway, the side of my fridge next to the sink area in my kitchen is awfully bare. Many times while I am washing dishes I make plans and never know what days might work. If I hung a calendar there it would be super handy. Now, the only problem with it is a traditional calendar would be hard to hang and it could be splashed on when I put the wet dishes in the dish drain.

My plan is to make a (14x20") one sheet laminated calendar. I will post more on this as I begin to work on this project. Right now I have my hubby on the task of laying it all out in photoshop. I love having a handy hubby, who is willing to help me work on my crazy projects.

Fridays- I love you!

Its Friday! I don't have a Monday through Friday, 9-5 job in the traditional sense, but when the end of the week comes and my accounting classes are completed and my husband is home for the weekend, the adventures can begin!

I am just dying for some spring weather, with a foot of snow on the ground still, I fear its a long time coming. A formerly local artist, named Dolan Geiman, has created beautifully springtime art. Visit www.dolangeiman.com to learn more about him and enjoy the art below, its all by him!

These look like a project I'd like to attempt, no doubt with less amazing results, I need to look through my pile of "cool" junk...