Thursday, June 26, 2008

Life Is Beautiful!

Have you ever had one of those days when things just seem to fall into place in a way that is both effortless and beautiful? I'm having a day like that. There are still things that need to be worked out, but I am just pleased with where things are right now for me personally. I guess this is that whole learning-to-be-content thing? Hope you're having a beautiful day!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Studio Tables

I have been lusting after this Pottery Barn project table for pretty much forever. I would love to have this in the studio that I will have some sweet day. However, at over $1000, I thought it was a bit steep. I know it would be super simple to recreate for much less, and look (below) what I discovered today at All Things Pink. A nearly identical copy for about $150! Holly gives great instructions on how to make one of your own. Thanks, Holly! Your studio is adorable!


I also discovered this over at Midwest Modern Girl. An Ikea kitchen island used as a studio table. Also great! I can't wait until the Ikea opens here in Charlotte. It is my favorite store!

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Art is Found



I just discovered this very awesome blog, The Art is Found. The prompts here are really creative and they have totally inspired me to take a second look at my recycling bin, which is my favorite type of crafting. How beautiful is this handmade book?

HT: Amber Ulmer

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Dreamin'.

(image from Design*Sponge)

(image from Apartment Therapy)


Lately, I often find myself wishing that I could live in a house, not an apartment. I'm about to renew my lease for another year, and purchasing a house is at least 3 years away, but a girl can dream, right? I want a little patio, like the one above, where I can host charming parties and serve guests on vintage, mismatched china.

So, while I'm dreaming, I thought I would share a few little bits of funky-home eye candy with you all. Happy dreaming!


(image from Design*Sponge)


(image from Apartment Therapy: San Francisco via sfgiflbybay)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Looking Up.

My sweet husband came home this morning with a couple of small goodies for me, including these Martha Stewart Craft paper tags. It was a really small gesture, and could be considered rather insignificant, but it made me feel great. I've been rather down lately, just a lot of things happening, and this morning was kind of bad. I was getting ready for church, and I just felt horrible, so I put my pajamas back on and got back into bed. And my husband was awesome. He let me sleep and washed his car and came home with these and some stickers. And they were just a small thing, but they made me feel very loved.

Head On Over . . .

. . . to Creature Comforts for a very cool blog birthday giveaway! There are some awesome prizes up for grabs!

Friday, June 13, 2008

You Can Stand Under My . . .

One last wedding post. This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. The paper parasols are from the very cool Pearl River which, if you haven't discovered, you must do soon! Pearl River is a brick-and-mortar store in NYC, but I have ordered from their website several times. They have a great selection of paper parasols, paper lanterns, bamboo blinds, bento boxes, restaurant supplies and thousands of other goodies. I got the lanterns for something like $4.50 each, and the color matched the dresses perfectly! My photographer (who was awesome!) had a lot of fun with these props. Parasols and paper lanterns would make great additions to a summer party! Pearl River carries them in a lot of different colors, too.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Centerpieces

Remember those centerpieces I promised? I am posting a picture from Rebecca Thuss' site. This is the image from the article in Martha Stewart Weddings where I saw this idea. They are branches (which I clipped from family and friend's yards!) with tiny crepe-paper blooms attached with brown floral tape. The little millinery birds (available at craft stores) are then glued to the branches. These were horribly labor-intensive, and my mom, husband and I made most of them in the days leading up to the wedding. I put the branches in clear glass vases ($3.00 each from A.C. Moore) and put white stones in the vases. The picture below doesn't show them well, but they looked exactly like the image above. They were so lovely, and so inexpensive, and I just fell in love with them. My aunts and relatives all ended up taking one home, and I now have one in our bedroom. These would be equally as lovely for a bridal shower or ladies' tea. Instructions are available here.

In case you were wondering, the table numbers are made from wooden fans (scored on Ebay!) which I hot-glued open. I then covered the glue strip with an orange ribbon bow and added the table number, which I had printed onto orange card stock. The reception venue had the little mounting things. These really accented the flowers well.

Monday, June 9, 2008

This Day In Crafty History . . .

Since this is an artsy-crafty blog, and since tomorrow is my second anniversary with my awesome husband, I thought I would post a few of the crafty things I made for our wedding. Easily the biggest (and some would say craziest) undertaking was doing the bouquets and such. About 11 pm the night before my wedding I started assembling them and wasn't finished until like 3 in the morning. I probably could've done them earlier, but I am a big procrastinator.

I ordered all of the flowers from Costco's website and had them delivered the Thursday before the big Saturday. I ordered about $300 worth of hydrangea, orange roses and daisies. I ended up only using about half of them.

They were delivered in perfect condition. Seriously. All but one single daisy was in mint condition.

I had a binder of magazine clippings for inspiration. Then, when I ordered the flowers, I just sketched out what I wanted the bouquets to look like. When arranging flowers, remember that odd numbers of blooms always look best. Each of the bridemaids' bouques had 3 hydrangea, 5 orange roses and about 5 (I think!) daises.

I got these butterfly pins from Macy's and I attached them to a long, stiff wire and incorporated them into the bouquets. I love the way these ended up. The photographer really caught the beauty of the jewelry. I also added orange dupioni silk around the stems.

My bouquet was pretty special. I used the pink daisies from Costco, but those lovely pink peonies (my all-time favorite flowers) were cut from a bush in my parents' yard. This made my bouquet extra sentimental. They were the exact color of the bridesmaids' dresses and in full bloom the day before the wedding, when I cut them. I added a dragonfly pin to my bouquet, and also a really long, beautiful silk ribbon tied around the base of the flowers. The ribbon hung down a few feet and looked awesome in the pictures.

For about $350 in flowers, pins, ribbons and silk, I was able to create 5 bouquets, several nosegays for the moms and grandmothers, 10 or more boutonnieres, aisle decorations, a flower girl's basket and still had half the flowers left! I would totally do this again, and I highly recommend it. It would've been a lot less stressful if I had done them earlier!

Later on this week I'll show the EXTREMELY labor-intensive centerpieces and a few other special touches. For now, I'll link to the the lovely Rebecca Thuss, who was style director for Martha Stewart Weddings, and provided loads of inspiration for my wedding two years ago through that awesome publication. I think I may have linked to her before, but she's worth a second look.

As for me, I have a whole day of picnic-ing, movie going and museum visits planned for tomorrow!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Farewell, Friend.

Last summer, I found myself in a new city, with no friends and no real prospects for a job. I was terribly lonely. We went to visit my uncle, who gave me a brand-new sewing machine. I hadn't sewed for a really long time, but that machine was just the catalyst I needed to get off my bum and start crafting! Instead of wallowing in my loneliness, I starting sewing and painting and creating like never before. And I discovered the best fabric store nearby. Sewing Arts Studio, along with all of my favorite crafty blogs (see the sidebar!) gave me plenty of inspiration. Sadly, the sweet folks who run this adorable store are shutting their doors. So, sadly, I will go there today for one of the last times. Everything is on sale, and I hope I get the opportunity to tell them what a great catalyst their sweet little store was to me. So, if you get the opportunity today, be sure to tell your favorite inspirations what they mean to you!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Etsy Love

I just discovered Joannarutter's shop on Etsy. I just love the graphic style of her jewelry and the adorable bird designs. I want just about everything she has! How beautiful are these bird and branch earrings?

(via Creature Comforts)

Monday, June 2, 2008

Easy Clothing Embellishments

I was shopping with my friend Morgan yesterday when I started to notice a trend in a lot of the clothing I found myself attracted to. They all seemed to be covered with the type of embellishments I could easy make myself! This sweater (at left) from J. Crew is adorable, but I could easy replicate a similar look with fabric scraps and a sweater I already have. I also loved this sweatshirt from Anthropologie, but at $88, I could easily replicate the look by adding fabric-covered buttons and appliquéd fabric scraps to a cheaper button-up sweater or sweatshirt. I also remember seeing (but I can't remember at which store) a sleeveless blue shirt with a neckline covered in yo-yos. How simple would that be to recreate?

Sunday, June 1, 2008

I'm Kendall, Nice to Meet You.

This blog is devoid of personal information about me, have you noticed? I won't post a picture right now, because I hate all of my pictures, but I thought I would post a few random thoughts about me.

1. I have a horrible sweet tooth.
2. I live 500 miles from my family and sometimes this hurts me. Well, a lot of the time this hurts me. Okay, most of the time this hurts me.
3. When I first moved to the South, I didn't know a single person for three months. I didn't have a job, and I did nothing but workout and read and watch television. Oh, and my husband and I would go to the movies at like 2 in the afternoon. But I didn't lose weight because in addition to all that working out, I also had copious amounts of candy and Chic-fil-a, which is heaven in a paper bag.
4. I am a full-time graduate student studying Christian Thought, which isn't as lofty as it sounds.
5. I am a big goof. A huge big goof.

If you are one of the few (but growing!) people who happens to read this blog from time to time, feel free to introduce yourself. Let's be friends!