Have a 'lil Faith

I tend to be a 'blog lurker' at night when everything settles down. I love being able to see a little into other people's lives and see what they have created (since I typically don't have time to lately). I love it just a little more when other 'neighbor bloggers' out there have little tutorials or freebies that truly relate to my life.

When we first bought our home, my goal was to have the bedroom be the first room to be completely done, decorated, and serene before the wedding....4 months later, it's still plain jane! It has a little too much grey and white so I would like to add some blue and mustard yellow. I've been searching for some art that was faith related to hang next to our bed and tonight it popped up! Keep Calm and Pray On is perfect, to get this free download, head HERE. I'll be sending mine off to get printed and framed ASAP.

My hubby and I think our David Ramsey envelopes are super boring. Diane over at from blank pages came up with the perfect solution to the ugly envelopes. Click HERE to get the tutorial. It's saved in my "to make" folder. :)

Sometimes when my creativity is dead when I get home from work (since I already work as an Interior Designer) I love reading some of your blogs and being inspired from you ideas. Keep up the good work!

Lights...Camera...& High-end Fashion!

As an Interior Designer, I typically stick to my colors, lines, function, and floor plans. This past weekend I added a little more! I work for someone who is both an interior designer and a fashion designer. She was asked to show at Portland Fashion Week's sustainable show this year. And lucky ME was in charge of accessories and random details. I've never been to something so crazy!

It was in the shipyards and super industrial so the inside was awesome and kinda harshly pretty.

Saturday night we went to the "Project Runway" show and saw Seth Aaron, Gordana, Jay, and Jonathan's shows. It was AMAZING! I've never been to a real runway show and it was super intense.

Sunday night was our show, and I was backstage for the intensity of a runway show. I have nothing other to say than "wow!" There are people running around in nothing and everything. I was actually super surprised that the models were so friendly. Each night we got to party with them at an after party and got to know a couple of them really well.

For SURE a once in a lifetime adventure! (But I wouldn't mind doing it again) We even have more pictures of what I helped with and the accessories but I don't have them yet. It was pretty awesome to see something that I did walking down a runway.

Artsy Fartsy

So I've had a huge blank wall in our living room that seems to be screaming at me that it's ugly. SO....I designed and made my first quilt. Tonight, it was picked up to be quilted by this amazing quilter (http://www.lizardcreekquilting.com/LizardCreekQuilting/AboutUs.htm) a.k.a my mom. She said she has some fun ideas and is excited to try a more contemporary quilt than she's used to. I thought I'd try take some pictures through this process in case any of you are interested in creating a similar one for your blank wall that is screaming at you. :) I've never made a tutorial or even documented a process (cuz I usually make it up) so bear with me!

First I found my "base color" and 6 coordinates. I plan to change this quilt out seasonally so this one is all fall colors.

I cut all my fabrics into 2" strips. My final quilt is going to be in a vintage 24" x 30" frame so I cut 16 strips of my base color to start. I'm using 1/2" seam allowances.

I also cut 2 2" strips of each of my coordinates. I sewed them all together with 1/2" seam allowances and pressed them open.

When all of my base pieces were sewn to a color, I laid them out "inside the frame" and moved them around to what I liked. I found that it was a little too narrow to figure inside the frame. I trimmed the long edges that were too long and used them to make more rows. I used a 1/2" seam allowance and sewed them together. It was super simple and only took an afternoon. Now I'm super anxious to see the quilting and it all hung when it's done! I'd LOVE to see if you try this out.

Click HERE to see it finished and on the wall!

For the love of 2nd hand

So after a crazy day I came home to unwind with a glass of red wine and check blogs, to find that Sew a Straight Line (Thanks, Sabra!) had featured one of my previous donations! I totally agree with her that the world of blogging is a small community with the best neighbors you could ask for. In my small town, most people think I'm a crazy creative 22 year old, until I enter the world of blogging, and then I become normal again :)

After a long crazy day today, I thought I'd unwind by hitting a few thrift stores and garage sales on my way home. When I got home I found that a few of my favorite pieces in our home are thrifted antiques and garage sale finds. I found this globe for only $2 and just placed it on our desk until it finds it's real home. The picture frame still has the pictures it came with. Feel free to comment with and creative ideas rather than the standard picture.

Both of these pieces are thrifted for a steal of a deal. Now if only I can un-lonely them in our office corner and find a few friends for them!

Sooo, I've sort of been collecting and antiquing since I was about an 8th grader...ya i was even weird as a young student. I found this for practically free and it's amazing how I recently found it in my stash and it perfectly matches our home. I have to show you the before because next week I plan to show you the after of my idea for it!

This is my favorite vignette to decorate (even though it seems to look WAY better in person than in pictures) The vintage bowl was another find in my stash that I recently came across and I've probably had this since high school as well :) The authentic lamp is one my favorites, which is why this is the first thing you see when you walk into our living room. Am I crazy, or do you also have thrifted finds that end up being your favorites in your home? I'd love to see a few of yours!