PICTURE OF THE DAY

Just saw this on Pinterest a moment ago and absolutely love it! It would be so cool to have the chalk portion in different colors too.

Found on Pinterest via Hammers and High Heels

MY OBSESSION

I have found some amazing graphic design/typography pieces (thanks to pinterest) that I just had to share with you! These designs make me so excited and want to learn how to do it all, not to mention they are my newest obsession!


via bloom

via Green Wedding Shoes

via Hello Tenfold

And this is my absolute favorite...Its so little and simple. I love it! I want something like this if I ever get married.

via This and That Photography

What is your obsession?

TO DESIGN OR NOT TO DESIGN?

To design or not to design has been the big question on my mind the past few weeks. I am trying to decide on if I should go back to school for graphic design or if I should pursue an interior design job full steam ahead. My boyfriend thinks I should try to get an interior design job, but I just can't stop the desire to learn more about graphic design.

Lately I have been doing a lot of research on typography, letterpressing, and graphic design. It is such an interesting world and I am fascinated that people can create such beautiful and meaningful work. Here are some examples that I am in LOVE with:

via Oh So Beautiful Paper



via YellowHeartArt

via Oh So Beautiful Paper

via pistaciopress

via Packaging of the World

Let me know what you think I should do!

PANTONE COLOR 2012

Pantone Color Institute has predicted what the color trend is going to be for the year 2012 ...and ....it is ....TANGERINE TANGO. This color, according to the Pantone Color Institute is an electric red. It is 'warm, uplifting, and energizing'.

Tangerine Tango has already made its way into fashion, accessories, and decor. Here are some examples:


via style by Derek Lam

via HGTV by Jayme Richardson

via H&M

I can't wait to see where else this great color will pop up next and what it might be paired with!

ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE

Today I went to the Two Women Vintage Goods' Antique and Crafts Show.  They had all sorts of anitque items, I couldn't focus on any one item. This served as great inspiration for today's 'Picture of Day'. This picture is perfect because the coffee table is a repurposed wood pallet and this was the sort of thing I saw at the fair.

I didn't go too crazy at the show, but ended up coming home with an antique sled, which I got for my mom because she has a whole collection of vintage and antique items, and an old metal suitcase, which is for me! I'll post pictures of what I bought in a few days, but for now have a great rest of your weekend!

via pinterest

 

NEW LIGHTING

My boyfriend's house is over a hundred years old and it came with some questionable lighting. To put it nicely there is a different light fixture in each room and they are pretty ugly. Like this one:

and this one:

and this one:

We decided it was time to change some of these fixtures especially in the most used rooms. We happened to go to the Habitat For Humanity Store one weekend and ended up walking away with a pair of matching lights for the dining and living room.

The glass had a finish on it that made it look rustic...well when the boyfriend tried to clean them up this is what the first one ended up looking like:

Whatever the finish had been on the glass was washed away and we were left with white frosted glass with little pieces of the old finish left in certain areas.  We will have to figure out what we want to do to remedy the situation, but for now this is what we got!  Let me know if there are any good suggestions or ideas out there!

COLOR ME HAPPY BOUTIQUE PACKAGING

I haven't sold anything yet in my etsy shop unfortunately, but in the anticipation of doing so I started developing the packaging and the thank you tag for my products. For the tag, I just used some store bought tags that I printed my thank you note on and decorated it with some circular stamps, then finished off with some twine. For the packaging I plan to use colorful leftovers from various projects as accents wrapped around reused brown paper.

I plan to develop the packaging and branding some more, but for now this will just have to do!

RECLAIMED WOOD TABLE

For the past couple of months my boyfriend and I have been working on a table for my mom.  The idea to build this table come from one of our trips to our favorite store, Habitat For Humanity.  My boyfriend was digging through bins filled with random stuff, when I came across old pieces of wood and trim.  I started pulling out the most interesting pieces and lining them up next to each other when the inspiration for the table came over me.

I loved how different each piece of wood was and I was determined to have a table made from reclaimed wood.  So the boyfriend and I got to work rounding up the supplies and tools that we were going to need.  It took awhile for us to gain enough motivation to begin our project, but when we did it was all worth it.

We knew how we wanted the table to look, but didn't necessarily know how to achieve it. So through trial and error we found the right proportions and look we wanted.  The boards I had picked for the table top are different thicknesses, so we cut a piece of plywood the size of the table we wanted and then used nail glue to adhere them together.  Then using some pieces of wood bought from Home Depot we cut the legs and the mid-section piece, bolted them together, added the trim around the table top and we were finished.

I then sanded the entire table and stained the legs and mid-section a dark mahony color.  The table top was then given sevel coats of polyurethane to provide protection from spills and fading.  I still need to sand the top again and apply probably about 5 more coats, but then it will be complete and delivered to my mother (who is in love with the table!).

I am in love with this table and kind of sad that it wasn't made for me, but I hope you enjoyed it as much I do! Leave a comment with any questions about building the table!

Treasure Trove

After dating my boyfriend for nearly two and a half years, we recently discovered that we had a common interest of digging for gold in thrift stores. One of our new favorite places to go is our local Habitat for Humanity store. My boyfriend in particular loves digging through the many bins of little random do-dads and thing-a-mabobs and while he was off digging, I was looking at the cast offs of furniture.  I wandered around for awhile and then came across a rickety chair that had definitely seen better days. The edges were worn and the fabric on the cushion was definitely old, but it had some classic lines and with a little bit of work could be a gorgeous chair.  I quickly grabbed my boyfriend to show him my find and we decided it would be a great project for me.  We purchased the chair for a bank-breaking $2 (now you know why we love this store) and brought it home. 

The next day I was so excited to get started and made the trip to Jo-Ann's to get some fabric.  I found three different patterns that could change the chair in numerous ways, but had a hard time decided which direction to go in. I could make the chair traditional or go super funky and fun.  In the end I purchased all three fabrics since they will all be used eventually anyways!

I already have a few ideas of what I want to do to the chair, but I would welcome any suggestions about which fabric to use and what color the frame should be, it could be funky or traditional, there are no wrong combinations.  Once I have decided which direction I'm gonna go I will post again the results!