Thursday, July 8, 2010

19 months

Okay, lets be honest.... I haven't blogged much about the fam lately, and... i keep forgetting to take pictures.... this is aweful of me... i am missing out on sooooo much... so please excuse the extremely long post and ton of pictures.

We have been swimming at my parents quite a bit lately, and so have the pups. 

Buttons still doesn't get the open your eyes when i take your picture. haha
I am so thankful I have had the opportunity to stay home with AC over the past few weeks. 
WE have had an awesome time. 

At 19 months, our fave words are:
  • mine
  • no
  • dis
  • ouside
  • olors (crayons, aka colors)
  • ukie (lukie, our dog)
  • she has also said poppy, my dad
  • baby
  • dis is how (one phrase....)
we have lots of.... "hey pumpkin, look at mommy!!" and the response is usually a melt down...
Then i end up bribing with the paci...
(no she isnt missing any teeth, not sure why she looks like she is....)
Grammy had to steal some sugars.....
And my cousin Amy came for a quick visit..... 

So glad she got to come in town and we got to catch up.

Much love from us to you. Have a wonderful thursday....
I am linking up with my friend Gini's thankful on a thursday..

Monday, July 5, 2010

Calligraphy

I have always always loved calligraphy. Whenever i get a wedding invitation in the mail and find the handwritten art i stop and stare for  a few seconds. 
I decided this last week that learning how to write in this style must be added to my bucket list!! Here are a few of my fave images.... Enjoy.
 Isn't this an adorable idea of a wedding??

For one of my favorite invitation sites check out Bella Figura.com

Unbelievably beautiful fonts. 

Hope each of you had a wonderful Fourth of July!!

Ours was spent working on projects... surprise,  surprise...

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Vesta Home Show 2

This was the second home at the show..., this home won best in show and by far was my favorite....

This bathroom was to die for!!

 
This bedding was very formal but elegant, and the otherside of the room looked like this.

 
Don't you just love it?

t
This is the third house... 
I didn't love the outside of it but the inside.... oh dear heavens, I felt like I was literally walking the pages of a magazine. 
This home had exquisite furnishings. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. (sorry i wasnt able to get more upclose... baby was very busy that day.)





 
This is the room in the carriage house over the garage (detached from home)


 
This home reminded me so much of New Orleans


The baseboards of this kitchen had the coolest feature.
You did a gentle touch with the shoe and the baseboards were hidden drawers under the kitchen cabinets to hide cash, passports, and jewelry. Genius idea!!!

Hope all of you enjoyed looking at these beautiful homes as much as i did. Now i am full of ideas and bursting at the seems to implement them!!

This past week has been pretty hectic. 
  • I finished the nursery bedding i was working on, 
  • finished the other set of panels for ACs room. (yes the fabric did retire and it took me forever to find more... but hey its the risk you run...)
  • cleaned out the garage
  • organized more clothing
  • cleaned out/super detailed my car
  • cleaned off all the walls where little bit decided to use an expo marker and create her own art....
JOY!!  
Hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July!


Sunday, June 27, 2010

Vesta Designer Home Showcase 1

First off i owe you guys an apology... i didn't hold up my end of the deal with blogging twice a day... i am so sorry, but getting two shipments of fabric in the mail/ finishing my friend's nursery bedding got in the way. Anyway, I wanted to share with you what my hubby and i did saturday night....

The 2010 Vesta Home Show Tour

Yall are probably thinking, "What the heck is this thing??"
 Well, you see, the local Area Home Builders Association gathers and several builders decide to build homes to showcase in this yearly event.

awesome design + best interior decorators in the city= I am there!!

Okay alot to share so this is the first of several posts.....


This is the first home. Very different but had incredible bones!! Here is what i fell in love with in the home.

One of the master bath vanities.

Walk in closet off of master bath

simple bathroom yet still chic, 
ps i am totally making me some preserved boxwood arrangements soon. love them.

Dining room from the stairwell looking into living space and then courtyard. 
ADORE this fixture.

The designer for this home is Amy Howard. 

I am blown away with everything she placed in this beautiful home. 

More to come....

Friday, June 25, 2010

New Preppie Peonie Pieces

As you can see baby has been doing her fair share of helping out lately!
A little sun suit, for a little boy... (no one is not on the way but i just LOVE this pattern)

This little top will get baby's monogram added to it!!

And every little girl's summer wardrobe needs a new applique!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Render, A paper-doll decor tutorial

As many of you may already know I was a fashion design major at The University of Alabama. (yes it is a real program and actually a few notable people graduated from it, i.e. Anthony Williams from this last season of Project Runway.)
Okay, get to the point jenny beth....sorry i do love to ramble.

One of the classes I hated,loved for reasons because it stretched me in ways i had never been stretched before was Fashion Illustration.
photo credit, ua hes website. (this is the Photoshop class)
Our instructor, Brian Taylor was not too much older than the students and we had a blast. We were always talking about the lastest fashions, what celebs were wearing, ya know the usual. 

Whenever we would veer too far from the path of learning, Brian would gain control of the classroom by yelling "Render!!!!"
{to render, artistically, means to create, shade, and texture an image.}
and back to work we would go, I began to actually love the pieces I created and I learned so much in one short semester, (to see some of my work here is a link to my very amateur portfolio.)

So..... when I discovered Erika of Urban Grace Interiors I fell in love with the beautiful plates over her baby's crib.

Absolutely stunning!! 

I began to think very lofty thoughts of rendering some of my most favorite outfits to hang over AC's big girl bed. Then.... I realized what I was committing myself to and went to mom for advice. 

Well being the hoarder, keeper of some very lovely treasures, She left the room for a while and emerged with 3 huge folders of all her paper dolls from the late 50's and early 60's!!!! SCORE!

The next day I went to buy my mod-podge and clear plates. $17.00 later I was set to create my one of a kind plates. 

If you remember my recent post on AC's big girl room you will remember my question as what to do with the main wall.


To Create mine I...
selected 9 of my moms paper dolls and photo copied them.
Purchased 9 clear dessert plates from Garden Ridge.
1 yard of burlap from Hancock's Fabrics
1 large bottle of mod podge
9 plate holders.

Step 1: 
Flip plate face down and trace the plate shape onto the burlap.
Cut 9 circles the size of the whole plate.
Step 2: 
Cut out the photo copies of the paper dolls (make sure its on card stock!)
Step 3: 
use a sponge brush to paint the UNDER side of the plate with mod podge
Then lay your paper-doll image in the middle of the plate

Step 4:
place the precut burlap circle on the back of the plate and ON TOP of the burlap paint on another layer of mod podge.
*allow the plate to dry face down for a few hours.

Flip over, trim excess burlap, attach plate hanger and enjoy!!
 
I think the plates really complete the room with a personal touch. I am so thankful I ran across Erika's blog and got inspired to create a set of the lovely items myself. 

Erika's plates are from an adoreable etsy shop called TreeHousePress.
These unique one of a kind pieces go for $72.00 a piece. 

I am very pleased with my $17.00 {for all 9} collection.  

Wordless Wednesday

Just enjoying some good ole times with the water hose!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

On outlet unbelievable deals

I was blown away with everything entailed in thePottery Barn Outlet sidewalk sale... 
Here is a sneak peek.



This twin bed set 20.97 yes twenty bucks!!

Some lucky shopper snagged a hanging shelf to house 3 rows of books for $13. Can we say jealous??



This full size bed was 500 now 199 with 40% off!!




This was not on super clearance but sure is a lovely summer bedding set!!

Happy Tuesday evening All!!

Homemade Pickles Please!!

Recently I was reading Flythroughourwindow.com and Darby put up a recipe for homemade pickles.

Well, cannin' has always been on my bucket list so off I went to gather the ingredients needed.

 Hubby and I actually made a night of working in the kitchen together, we had a blast!!

The house did reek of vinegar and dill weed for a few hours but hey, totally worth it for the pickles.

(set out a small ramekin of baking soda and the smell will be gone within an hour)
Step1: Cut onions.


Step 2:  cut all the cucumbers

Step 3: place in mason jars


Step 4: Add cider mixture. 
Go here for the cider mixture and full directions.

Refrigerate without lids for 24 hrs. and then add lids and they are ready in 1 week. yippee.... 

Check 1 off the bucket list!!

post update: after 2 years we still have the pickle starter and all we have to do is add either regular cucumbers or pickling cucumbers to the mix and let them sit for a while sooo good!!