Thursday, March 31, 2011

home work


Ahh the masterpiece that is my bedroom wall. Ha! I was super excited to work on this because I haven't painted my bedroom in, oh, my entire life. Yeah, I think that's actually true although I hadn't realized it fully until just now. I am pretty sure I never painted any of my bedrooms growing up, which was fine because I was perfectly happy to litter them with magazine clippings instead. And I've lived in apartments ever since, usually moving once a year making painting not quite worthwhile and mostly not allowed. No wait, I did have one apartment in Richmond which I was allowed to paint. I went really bold with white walls and grey trim. Exciting, I know. So I had this idea to paint diamond shapes on my wall and to leave random diamonds open to see the background color. It didn't dawn on me until well after I had finished the project that it resembled argyle. Which, incidentally, I am also ok with.

So here's the inside scoop, in a nutshell.

First you buy at least two rolls of frog tape. Frog tape is like painters tape, but better because you are far less likely to get paint bleed underneath the tape. The guy working at Home Depot will try to convince you that all you need to do is buy the cheap blue tape and edge it with a brush instead of rolling over it with a roller. You will try for approximately 30 seconds to explain to him what you intended to do with the tape and that you were most certainly going to just roller over it, but realize that it was no use. Smile and nod and when he finally leaves you alone (why is it that the one time you don't want help at Home Depot the only time they bug you?) get the frog tape.

Now choose a place on your wall to start. Any place will do. Choose an angle, whatever you want. This is a very scientific process. I had a general idea of how I wanted my diamonds to be shaped and I went with an angle I thought would work for me. Once you have taped all the way down the wall in a straight line, measure 12 inches from one side and mark at several places down the wall. This is where your second line of tape will go. Continue. You will end up with one big stripey wall. Admire your work. Then start all over again in the other direction. Unless you have a protractor, which I did not, you'll have to do your best to replicate the angle you made going the other direction. It'll probably work out pretty well after a few tries. Repeat the measuring, marking, and taping process.

This is what you get:


Woohoo! That looks amazing!

Now paint. I pretty much just started going at it, but I left more unpainted than I wanted (intentionally) so that I could go back in and make more educated decisions about which ones to paint and which ones not to paint. I'm telling you, scientific process here. In general I just made sure not to leave more than one open on each row and each column, and two open diamonds were not too close to each other.

It looks a little bit like this now:


Eventually, you will be all finished. If you're like me, this process took about a week or so and you're a little bit concerned about peeling all the tape off and how much of the paint will come off with it. A little bit did come up, but it was no big deal. All that work was totally worth it, and I'm pretty proud of my wall.

What do you think? 


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

live what you love

The By & By from Dana Tanamachi on Vimeo.

Wise (and beautiful, inspiring) words from Dana Tanamachi via Poppytalk.
Side note: I've started knitting a little bit again, it's been a while, but it's all I can think about right now so I'm off. 
Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

backyard movie night


This is a terrific idea and I hope to replicate it in the warm months ahead.
Image found on Pinterest.

Monday, March 28, 2011

amazing weekend part 2

On Friday night, the mister and I headed out to see one of his current favorite bands (I think this is an accurate statement, though it changes frequently) The Joy Formidable. We had seen them once before last year and had a great time so we figured why not. They're getting more popular by the second so we might as well get the most of it before they start selling out 9:30 Club (last time we saw them they played the small downstairs stage at Black Cat, this time they were on the main stage. It's only a matter of time..) 
Don't know who they are? Let me give you a little taste.

 
They put on a great show. Lots of energy, lots of rocking out, a sprinkling if bashful grins and sweet remarks, and more crazy eye than I quite knew what to do with. She must practice in the mirror, because she's got the crazy eye DOWN.

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It was also just nice to be out and about with the mister and enjoy each others company (and people watching, that's one of the best parts about leaving the house). I hope to be doing a lot more of it in the near future.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

cherry blossoms


This weekend we went up to DC to see the cherry blossoms, even though they weren't quite in full bloom (they will peak Mon-Wed this week, so we had to choose between not quite fully bloomed this weekend and wilting next weekend) and it was unseasonably chilly (not terrible really, except for the wind and my freezing ears). But I am glad we went. I obviously went all Hipstamatic on the cherry blossoms, making an effort to keep switching up the lenses and film to get a variety of photos. I've started to try imagining what a shot would look like in different settings, to get the look I want. I start seeing distorted colors everywhere I look. And it makes me tire of the Hipstamatic a bit and want to take real photos. Nice photos. Not that I didn't get some gorgeous shots (if I do say so myself), but with some of them I like the composition so much and I just wish they had more detail. So I may give it a rest. We shall see.

Oh, and you can see more of my photos over here. I managed to narrow it down to 48 of my favorite, and that wasn't easy! ;)

Friday, March 25, 2011

lovefest


I just swooned a little bit over these cute little pillows at Honey Pie Design. Simple, sweet, perfect.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

play time


Super fun engagement session in a home-made fort. Looks like a pretty good way to spend one of these ridiculously cold Spring (?!) days. Seriously. If people don't stop talking about this snow that we're supposed to get this weekend, I think I might just lose it. 
See more over at Green Wedding Shoes.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

National Puppy Day

In honor of National Puppy Day I'm sharing with you some adorable little puppies that need a home. My home.



Tyson  (I just want to squeeze his little cheeks)

Mazy (this one's story stole my heart, and I hope she finds a wonderful home)

Wally (holy moly the cuteness is unbearable)

Have you had enough? Because I could go on...
I cannot wait until I can finally bring another puppy home. I've learned to love our cats and everything (I even sometimes call them "ours") but there's nothing like the love of a dog. The cuddles, the licks, the wrestling. I want it in my life.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

sewing in a straight line

Ok look, I know how I am about wanting to take on a new craft and, with all the best intentions, doing nothing with it. I have had a sewing machine for a good six or seven years and have barely made an ipod case or two. Look, I have excuses, ok? Really good ones I promise.


But this book really looks like something I could get into (based solely on the cover, but I firmly believe that you can indeed judge a book by its cover. I have discovered many favorite books that way.) and anyway if I'm going to be a halfway respectable housewife I'm going to have to be able to sew things. Not that, you know, that housewife thing is something we've agreed upon.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

side by side


Spring is here and I'm wishing for warm days and swing sets and bike rides just like this. Seriously, how fun would that be?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Thursday, March 17, 2011

hot/cold



hot water bottle cover, don't know where you can get the ice pack
I don't know why but I've suddenly got a thing for them.

Oh and a reminder of why I won't be posting tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I always wanted to be short

And now I have new reason. These shoes.

Yes, oh yes, those are some lovely shoes. They are also 5" tall and I'm not too keen on the idea of looming over the mister on our wedding day. It's just.... not quite what I'm going for. But they are cuuuuuute! And so are these.






Clearly I've got bows on the brain. And those red ones? Wow. I'm not sure that's exactly what I'm going for either but they would look pretty amazing with my dress. So the question is how do I forgo the height without sacrificing the style?

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

For Japan With Love


My heart aches for the people of Japan and anyone affected by this unthinkable disaster. Please show your support in any way that you can, even if just by participating in the Bloggers Day of Silence on Friday, March 18. Get the details over here.

Monday, March 14, 2011

petitcollage


Loving these colorful, whimsical wood veneer prints from petitcollage via Paper Crave.
I'm not entirely sure why but I feel like they are a good fit for my home. Because I have impeccable taste. Obvs.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

hold it right there


I have to admit I am having a bit of a hard time getting inspired right now. Things are pretty stressful and I'm not getting enough relaxation in while at the same time not getting enough done. I am ashamed to say that in more than two months that we have lived in the house, I swept the kitchen floor for the first time today. And I only really realized that it had not been done because neither of us knew where the dust pan was. As someone whose mental well being is directly linked to the state of my surroundings, this is a highly disturbing thing.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Miriam Brugmann


You know I have kind of a soft spot in my heart for quirky ceramics, right? No? Well now you know the secret to buying me gifts I will love. That and tins. Anything in a tin. But I digress. Cute ceramics. These darling little things from Miriam Brugmann really hit the spot.

I also keep reminding myself that I promised to actually list things in my etsy shop this year. And I'm torn between thinking "well it's only March" and "hot dang it's already March." Usually the latter. It is something that would mean a lot to me and I need to get on it. But important things are often the hardest things to do.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

now that feels better

It's been dreary and raining for over 24 hours straight so I decided to scour the internets (really, the whole entire thing) for some color to brighten up my day and yours, just in case you need it.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

craft room inspiration


My little craft room is almost ready to be moved into (it's been storage for random boxes ever since we moved in) and something like this would be kind of amazing.

Monday, March 7, 2011

talking about books again! hope you don't mind!

I just spent at least an hour and a half moving books around my bookcase, contemplating organization/aesthetics. It's a work in progress, but I must say I've enjoyed going through them to see what we have. Our duplicates are amusing (Catcher in the Rye, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime), but what's even better are our collections which are made more complete by being combined. We each owned several Chuck Palahniuk books, and together we have 9 (not quite the full library I believe) and only one duplicate (Survivor, his best one IMO). Serendipitous.


Here's what I've got going on so far: Crafting books (knitting, papercraft, a couple of years worth of ReadyMade mags) along with home decor. We transition, via Amy Sedaris, into comedy which mainly consists of Marx brothers books. Memoir and Nonfiction. Classics and other Novels. Fantasy/Horror (Anne Rice, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk). Girl books, Kids books, Reference books (some textbooks I saved from college including art history, fashion, and writing, graphic design and computer related things). And records. Until the day (which I hope is not too far off) when we get a record player and a cute little stand which can hold records, here they are on the bookcase.



You see that light? That is the magic and majesty of a well stocked and well organized bookcase. Or just the sunset. It makes the living room glow this time of day like nobody's business.


I couldn't figure out how to fit in some of the coffee table books, so they ended up stacked on top.
Oh yeah, and every bookcase needs some kind of collection, doesn't it? Our cameras.