Pretty, Pretty Things

I always get myself in trouble when I go to Hobby Lobby. I go there looking for inspiration... and then I end up finding TOO MUCH inspiration... and then I make questionable decisions, like going next door and buying a plaid hat with ear flaps.

No... I'm not kidding.

I went looking for a table, but I got supremely distracted by the art. As many of you know, I'm not a painter, but I would really like to learn. So when I see lovely art, I want to study it, touch it, and figure out how on earth do people DO that.

My northern roots are showing a little I think... because the first thing that I saw and loved was this painting of the horse. And then the buffalo. And then I walked around the store documenting every pretty thing that I saw, and then 15 photos later I peeled myself away to return to my functional life.

Why I'm Throwing in the Towel on Perfection

I'm sitting in my living room, staring at my white walls, attempting to decide on a color to paint them. I've put it off for nearly two years, because its a rather tall room, and I really liked the white just fine, but recently I started feeling as though the holes needed to be patched, and a fresh coat of paint might be in order. This is one of the many reasons that I hate spring. My spring cleaning/reorganizing/painting gene explodes after its winter hibernation, demanding that I organize EVERYTHING. Paint every available surface. And chastise myself for not doing so already. Oh, and the tornadoes. I don't love that about spring either.

When I'm in search of design ideas, I always turn to Pinterest. Because that is what Pinterest is for- to house your creative thoughts and provide tutorials on how to make salsa from scratch, and match your pillows to your bed in a subtle yet beautiful way. Pinterest is home to all of the answers to my questions, but it is also home to the most doubt inducing images that one can find on the internet.

Pinterest advertises perfection. This isn't Pinterest's fault, by the way, its just doing its job. I love it and use it for everything from recipes to recording party ideas for my alter ego, who actually throws parties. But when it comes to my house... looking at Pinterest leaves me with a sense that my taste isn't good enough. That my house isn't good enough. That the things that I like must be innately incorrect, because there are articles entitled things like "Uhoh. How to decorate with that brown couch" and "How to mix patterns the RIGHT way." You know what you don't find in decorating articles? Permission to combine the use of pillows that feature animal heads, plaid, paisley blankets, a turquoise antique telephone, and your family Pendleton rug that you adore in the same room.

I closed Pinterest maybe three minutes after opening it, which is a record for me. And I came to a conclusion that I probably should have arrived at a long time ago. Perfect isn't universal. Perfect for me is going to be 100% different than perfect for someone else, because I have different tastes and demands on my life. Because I am a unique little snowflake who likes animal head pillows. And because my husband is a techny little snowflake, and needs to have copious amounts of space for computers and gadgets and things that plug in and make weird sounds. I'm not going to find another couple like us that I can steal ideas from. But that doesn't mean that my idea of perfect is any less valid. It just means that perfect for me is perfect for me.

And when you see it, if you know me, chances are you won't look at it and think "Oh good grief. Didn't anyone tell you that its a major mistake to use those prints next to each other?" You'll probably think "This looks exactly like you." And you'll think that it looks just the way it should in my house, because I am a little cloud of chaos and you wouldn't expect anything else. And you'll make sure you never ask me for decorating advice... which is probably for the best. Because I believe that plaid does indeed belong in every room of the house. And on all of my favorite clothes...

Nesting Doll Conundrum

A few years ago (that's right- YEARS. I may or may not have pack-rat tendencies) I saw a set of blank wooden nesting dolls at Hobby Lobby. Having a bit of a nesting doll obsession at the time, I brought them home with me, in hopes of creating something fabulous.

And then, as with all good crafting projects, life sort of stepped on my toes. And my poor nesting dolls remained hidden away in a drawer (because as it turns out- blank nesting dolls are quite creepy and therefore not appropriate for display).

I am determined to rectify this pathetic situation. How, you may ask? Firstly by doing some research and making a plan, and secondly by embarrassing myself on the internet. Works every time.

Here are a couple that I have seen and loved. I honestly  hadn't thought about doing animals, but after seeing these little slices of awesomeness, I am very seriously considering animalling it up.

Links 1 2 and 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6

Excellent Etsy Inspiration

As a member of the Etsy community, I am constantly immersed in a fantastic world of amazing things and people. I am constantly surprised and impressed by the level of awesomeness provided by Etsy artisans- they do things that I couldn't accomplish in my wildest dreams. People. Are. Awesome.


Nessy Print 

Polar Bear

Cuff Links

Hiking Couple

Arctic Fox

Cuckoo

Adorable Inspiring Tidbits

I found things that I adore today. Accidentally. While doing research for various projects that have really nothing to do with what I found. But I love them anyway.

Firstly- I found this font. That's right. Its a font. SO CUTE. The font came from here, and the gal operates from this site. 

And a bit after that... I came across these bad boys:

From here. So adorable. I definitely want to learn more about vintage style- these are so fun!

3 Things

1). In an attempt to embrace the odd waviness of my hair, I scrunched and sprayed it last night while it was drying. It responded by drying the straightest it has ever been in my entire life. Well played, hair, well played.

2). I had the absolute BEST idea for the shop yesterday. It is going to totally blow your mind. If it works, I mean.

3). Did I tell you how much I DIDN'T kill my roses? I very much didn't kill them. Yay.

Ps- Who else is dying to see if this actually works:

Designer's Block

Yesterday morning, I woke up looking forward to a bit of design time. Most days I spend fulfilling orders (um, YAY, thank you awesome clients) but when I have lulls, I try to make pretty things to add to the shop. Yesterday I had a smidge of time that fell into the "lull" category, and rather than organizing my paperwork the way a responsible business owner would- I decided to stretch my design muscles a bit.

Apparently I forgot to mention it to my muscles in advance... and they did NOT return from vacation the way they were supposed to. I worked and pondered and brainstormed... and this is the only thing I have to show for my labors:

I took a break for lunch, took the puppy for a walk, filled a few orders, and came back to the designing. I was determined to create something outside my normal realm of design work- to better serve a wider variety of brides. After a few hours of wrestling, I ended up with this:

The colors are definitely a departure from my regular style. And my design muscles are officially sore.

5 most excellent things

Today's inspiration brought to you by: my utter inability to stay focused without my morning coffee.

Princess Comforter 

Signature Necklaces 

Gorgeous Accordion Invitation 

Easy Summer Craft 

"Pie" Cupcakes 

What? A Saturday Post? What is this Madness?

I have been so bad to you guys lately that when I got my little design juices flowing today, I decided I would break my non-weekend posting rule and give you a little preview of what happens when the smartest studies all weekend long. This smartest going back to school business is going to be good for the shop... I can tell.

Organizing my Heart Out

The other day, I was on the hunt for a lily illustration that I KNEW I had done. I hunted. And hunted. And hunted. And gave up. After spending a full 45 minutes sorting through a bajillion (that's right. a bajillion) files- I finally decided it was time to condense and organize my illustrated life. Here are a couple of the fun things I came across as I sorted my little heart out:

Typography Posters

I am a words person. Words catch my attention, linger in my head, and tend to sand down the rough edges of my personality in ways that speech can't always. As a words person, I have a bit of a penchant for art like this:

From YHL

From A Beautiful Mess

From Go Jump in a  Lake on Etsy

From Words of Williams

Ever in a constant struggle between the many places that hold pieces of my heart, I have been working on a couple of typography/photo posters of my own (another art project involving places I love here). Here are a couple that made the cut:

The Great Wall Art Project of 2013

Its finally happening. I am going to tackle the walls. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

Firstly- let's take a gander at some of the non-wall art updates that have happened in the last couple of weeks:

I blood blistered my finger setting up these bad boys (from Amazon.com) in the laundry room:

And moved the black cubes that used to be in the laundry room to the puppy corner to house blankets and the rapidly getting ridiculous amount of puppy stuff that we own. Because I am a perpetual sucker for adorable puppy related things. So shoot me.

I also moved this lovely little guy into the kitchen to house some of our extraneous kitchen-y items. We are thinking we might flex our building muscles and make a shelf at some point, but in the meantime our lovely left-over-from-college shelves are serving us pretty well.

Here are the walls as they stand currently:

 

We love them. We love all of our photos. They make us happy. But I am thinking I might be ready for a little bit more flavor and variety amongst our photos, so a little rearranging might be in order. I am hoping to introduce some texture and variety like sketches, watercolors, and maybe even some golden animal heads. You know me- I love a challenge. I am hoping to do some of the art myself, which might prove to be ridiculously challenging, since I have no fine art capabilities. Whatsoever. At all. I have been practicing my watercoloring a little bit to see if that might even be possible. I made a bunny on Sunday- and I might even like him enough to put him on the wall. Don't judge- I love the fluffy and adorable. I mean... have you met my dog?