What Inspired My Spring Market Report in Gatherings Magazine?

 

Hello + Hello!

I am so excited to announce the release of

Gatherings Magazine Spring Issue!

This is by far the best issue yet!

 

 

The other contributors and I were all given creative license to be inspired by

whomever/whatever we wanted!

What great fun!

( Heather Spriggs Thompson is the best editor ever!)

 

Immediately I knew who I would be

inspired by...

my fellow contributor & friend

Annetta Bosokova of Inspired by Annetta Blog

 

 

I think it's easy to see how talented she is

from this sweet watercolor print that she blessed me with

upon completing a lovely photo shoot at my home.

(You can get your own copy too, just find it on her blog side bar.)

 

>>>>>--------------->

 

I'm guessing you'll be able to see the correlation

between Annetta's piece nestled in my story board

&

my final market report

(arranged by none other than the uber talented

Tracy Locke Castro of Fair Morning Blue )

 

So, if you are a big fan of beauty...

love flowers, enjoy creating an inspirational home

&

well...anything in between?

You

simply

MUST

head over to

Gatherings Magazine

now

and get your copy!

 

 P.S.

As a fun little perk for you my blog friends....

Simply enter code

BLOGFRIEND

at checkout

HERE

&

receive 10% off your issue!

YAY!

Happy Reading!

 

T.

xx

 



Gatherings... A Winter White Issue Available NOW!

Hello + Hello!

Well it's been a bit of time since I've been able to sit down and really enjoy creating a blog post!

With a busy holiday home life, a retail shop & our home on tour this past week

(more on that later)

it's been a little more than hectic around here.

BUT,

I'm not complaining.....it's been a fun ride!

A bit like a scary rollercoaster;

thrilling and frightening all at one time!

 

>>>>>--------------->

 

How fitting that my first relaxed blog post

would be about such a peaceful entry.

Winter Whites.....

who doesn't love a peaceful wintery white scene from time to time?

Even my color craving life can benefit from a monochromatic snowy

outlook from time to time.

So without further ado;

here is the link you've been waiting for.... you are invited to

peruse the prettiest issue yet of

Gatherings Magazine: The Winter White Issue!

It's time to steep some tea or whip up some cocoa....

you've got some dreaming to do,

&

it all starts with

Gatherings.

Enjoy!

T.

xx

Love Jolt: Neon Washi

 Hello + Hello!
I wanted to share a little love jolt with you today....
neon pink washi tape.
>>>>>---------------->

I admit to a little bit of
Valentine's Day

wishi-washi-ness

goin' on right here in our little living room.

 So,

I've been waivering with painting my walls white for some time now...

frankly I've been feeling a bit too exhausted to do it lately ...

but maybe sometime soon?
Until then, I keep trying out new and wild ideas.

As many of you know, I've had this fun clustering of

embroidery hoops with different fabrics off and on for more than a few years now.
It's called a swatch wall.

I've changed out colors & added some doo-dahs,

but recently I got my hands on some

neon pink washi tape!!

It was more than a little fun going hog wild with it!!

 I'll be the first person to admit that many of my friends and aquaintances online

have inspired me...and my wishi-washi swatch wall.

Selina Lake, Jane Schouten of ATLITW & Tif Fussel of Dottie Angel

to name a few.

I am always so thankful that these lovely ladies are willing to share their

gifts and talents to inspire the rest of us!

 I thought it would be fun to inject a little love into the picture

for this

Valentine's Day Season!

 Armed with more ideas than time,

I started having all sorts of fun with tape, paper, yarn & scissors.

It was jolly good fun!
(sorry been watching a bit too much Downton Abby lately I guess)
Hopefully this will inspire you to
get your hands busy and crafty with simple little things like
tape, paper, yarn & scissors.
It doesn't take much really.
About an hour and you'll have your windows full of red hearts...
or your kitchen cabinets posted with love quotes.
C'mon....
it's fun to decorate for holidays isn't it?
I think this neon washi tape is what's gotten me through some of these
dreary rainy days of winter lately.
Give it a go...I DARE you!
Ha ha ha!
Let me know what you turn up with ok?
I look forward to your comments sooooo much!
Have a lovely week my friends,
T.
xx

Welcome to my Studio Tour; a Before & After Affair

 Hello + Hello!

How are you all doing today?

I hope you are well?

I was wondering if you'd like to go on a little tour of my colorful studio?

Some of you know that I took this room over from my husband after our kiddos were born and we needed the space throughout the rest of the house for bedrooms.

( My craft space was once on the second floor and was first inhabited by Tristan and

then was taken over by Elliot.)

Chad used this room like a den for the computer and his guitars among other guy stuff.

It was a quite a ManCave in olive green, persimmon orange and black!

(Think cozy Starbucks colors from 2000)

As you can see it was dark, dark, dark!

(Pardon the pre-digital snapshot.)

Wish I could show you the rest of the room....but alas...we must move on.

>>>>>--------------->

As our needs have changed over the past 10-12 years here in our

cozy cottage bungalow....

I realized I wanted a space where I could still be on the main floor of the house,

&

yet be out of the mainstream walkways.

(ie: NOT WORKING AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE.)

I needed a room to create in and do business in.

Voila!

(After 4 years of hard work and rearranging....)

My new studio does all those things and more!

I need to say this:

I am very thankful to my hubby for all the help, support and generosity of giving up this space for me. He realized how important it was for me to have a work space of my own.

(Fortunately we have a larger basement, and he's happy to have much of that space for his things.)

 

Light filled and cheerful is what I was going for here.

I was also craving a feminine touch.

Living with one man and 2 boys doesn't allow for much in the feminine colorways.

The poor boys endured many of these items in our living space

 as they waited patiently for this room to be done.

But,

as soon as it was....the pink all came to live in here!

I love it!

(I think they might too!)

 I can store my hoards of vintage hangers here... 

 ...store my funky collections too!

 I had been collecting bins and containers for years!

It was wonderful to finally begin to find organization in all my chaotic cardboard boxes.

I tried very hard to purge as best I could as I was filling every bin.

Admitting that I still have all my vintage stock in plastic tubs in the basement would be the right thing to do here.

Anyone who has Etsy shops filled with vintage goodness knows that you still need a storage area for all the goodies whether they are listed....or are awaiting their debut online!

Mine are exquisitly shelved and stored in new storage containers awaiting their happy homes.

 Here's a happy little white feather tree with some Christmas spirit!

The funky old pj's were found thrifting....

I couldn't pass up the adult full sized hot pink footie pajamas!!!

Someday they will be a photo prop...just you wait and see!

Here's a shot of the swanky hot pink neglige'

See!

You just never know what you might use old junk for...this is a perfect

Bachelorette Party card!

So you see....collecting junk can actually be useful!

C'mon....work with me here people!

LOL!!!

The
"work table"

was once one of the two doors to this room.

I just plopped it on top of the two rolling rack storage bins from the craft store and made do.

I don't need the door to the hallway anyway...so why not?

It was a way to save some cash and get funky creative all at once!

The scene on this worktable changes with the seasons, or the work I'm doing at that moment.

I also had fun with my wall space!

This photo (above) was taken to show how you could use

washi tape to enliven a boring cork board.

I'm so happy to have two windows and two doorways to let lots of light into the studio!

I also have a fair amount of wall space to work with for artwork and shelving.



 The artwork and what-nots change frequently as I find new goodies thrifting etc...

the jadite green rocker above was used with both my little boys

(now 6 & 9)

as they were babies being nursed or rocked to sleep.

It holds a special place in my heart.

>S I G H<

This fun deer head was silver and sat around at our shop poking shoppers with it's antlers.

I guess folks just weren't interested....or not "getting it"...

SO,

I took him home and doctored him up with a

vintage fabric mod poded makeover!

He now lords proudly over the studio

making sure nothing but good times and whimsy would be had by all who enter the space!

Thank -you

so much again for visiting with me here on the blog.

I always appreciate your visits, comments & questions.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my

creative space....

May it inspire you to make a space of your own, whether it be big or small...

all creative space is worth working for.

Believe me, after 4 years of picking away in my free time on this...

I'm happy to say:

"It was totally worth it!"

Cheers!

T.

xx

Awwww YEAH! Now That's What I'm Talkin' About!

Hello + Hello!

So...

Electric Blue & Neon Pink

smacked up against

WHITE.

This equals a whole pile of happiness for me!!

I know it's not your typical Christmas color scheme...

but hey...

who really cares?

Maybe you like rusty red and olive green....who am I to judge?

LOL!!

I simply must have a little spot in my home where perky colors reign

supreme at Christmas.

SO,

here's a sneaky peaky of what's to come.....

a studio tour!

 It's gonna be a fun blog post.....so stay tuned my friends!

Now I'm off to do a little tree decorating.....

...be back soon!

Christmas Cheers!

T.

xx



My Newly Remade Swatch Wall Reveal!

 

 Hello + Hello!

Hey all my friends!

Guess what I FINALLY got a chance to take a photo of?!?!?!

YEP...

....my newly reworked Swatch Wall!

I'm not sure if you were counting the weeks since I promised that I would rework the wall and get back to you???

But,

it's officially been TOO MANY!

I've been crazy busy over at my shop

Grandiflora

helping to put out Christmas Decor

(among many other various details)

SO...

here it is!

My new Swatch Wall:

 I was so excited to try taking down the pink in my living and dining areas for the fall.

I have to admit, it's pretty nice to see it gone for a bit.

I kept the turquoise and blues but added a big punch of more mustard!!

 Making my hoops was very theraputic too!

I collect vintage fabrics and doilies....so I didn't have to go far for inspiration!

I would like to put some more detail into the hoops...but for now this little

smidge of embroidered

"hi!"

will have to do.

 It's been great adding the boys'

hand prints from Kindergarten to the mix as well!

 I never know what a hoop will turn out like until it's done.

I've also hung my hoops on top of eachother in layers for added texture.

I'm sure there are those more

"serious"

folks who think I'm a total dingbat for decorating this way...

....and to them I say:

"Yep! I am just a bit crazy...and I'm all the happier for it!"

They can be as serious as they want to....but me???

I CHOOSE JOY!

 Adding some cozy candles has been essential for those really cold/wet nights.

 I love to burn candles in this enormous hurricane.

The boys pressed these leaves for me to use from our own maples.

 I also love to keep cozy blankets on hand for chilly nights...

 ...these woolens stay on top of the game cabinet for spur of the moment blanket forts or living room campouts.

My boys and hubby and I all have fun playing board games together here in our living room.

We also like to watch movies together....but.....

 It's been fun to have the Swatch Wall surrounding the flat screen T.V.

I mean seriously...what else do you hang on a T.V. wall???

.....

Just thought I'd also show you our

His & Hers

chairs too which face the T.V. Swatch Wall.

 

Well....

hope you have enjoyed your time here on this little living room tour?

What do you think?

Do you like a swatch wall in your home?

What do you hang on your T.V. wall?

Just curious...

Thanks for stopping by and being patient with me on my journey to

reimagine my

Swatch Wall.

Want to see what it looked like before?

You can...just head right over

HERE

I'd love to hear your feedback!

Cheers!

T.

xx

Making Hoopla Reworking the Swatch Wall!

 Hello + Hello!

So,

I've done it...

It's been over a few years since I created my swatchwall of embroidery hoops.

Last time I revamped them, I removed all the red from the hoops.

That was nice...but now I've removed the pink!

However....

I've not had the chance to go back and refill the empties.

Eeeeek!

I needed some inspiration!!

So off to Etsy I went.

That's where I created the treasury above.

See something you like?

You can find the link right over

HERE

Now that I have my inspiration...I'd better get to it!

So here it goes....the last you'll see of this swatch wall....

 

 ....hopefully I'll have the gumption to get the new wall done within a short time..

so you can see it soon!

Stay tuned!

T.

xx



Mustard: A Fresh New Look In My Dining Room!

 Hello + Hello!
As promised, I said I'd drop in and show you what I did with the lovely
(albeit tattered) end piece of
wallpaper roll I recently found and listed in my Etsy shop
Wesley Asher

 Gosh it's so lovely right?
Amazing mustard color!
Frankly,
it inspired me to do a little revamping in my dining room....which,
consequently is tied to my living room....but that is another blogpost!
I decided to use the end piece of paper for myself, and re-papered the fun
star that I found earlier this year while thrifting.
You might remember this past spring when I had a bunch of pinks in my dining room?

I decided to forgo the pink for fall...we'll see how long I can live without it?!

Instead....

I've inserted quite a bit more mustard

&

of course,

I added orange

in

Pumpkins!



 I mean, c'mon....what is Fall without Pumpkins???
My sister (Carrie) was nice enough to give me a ton of sweet little pumpkins and gourds
(which I'll show you more of in a later post)
so I had lots of fun throwing them out all over the place!

 I guess if I want to actually serve something from my buffet....
I'll have to do a bit of rearranging!

 For now however, it's little home made meals for just my hubby, our two boys & I.
So, I can still use the dining table in it's small size.

 Sometimes I even use the table as a work bench...but I am trying my best to clear it off every night for dinner time together!
Above you see my day to night transition.
Soon it will be getting dark earlier, and we'll be eating soups and stews to stay warm at night.
I'll be happy to have the pinks gone & the cozy mustard yellows in place.

 Well,
like I said...
....I'll have to come back and revisit the living room soon.
Don't you just love tweaking things in your home for a new season?
As much as I love fall....I have to say that the season I always look forward to the most
is
Christmas!!!
But....
no rushing ahead right?!
Cheers my friends,
T.
xx
P.S.
If you feel the need to have a little bit of this gorgeous mustard yellow
wallpaper to inspire your fall decor, just pop on over here!