1st Blogaversary!!

Holy cow I can't believe I have been blogging for a year! (Actually it was a year on April 22nd but I had the 29th in my head, oops) It has flown by and I can't believe how much I enjoy doing it. I normally shy away from trying new things especially when it comes to technical stuff, but with blogging I have been so excited to figure it all out on my own, with the help of google of course. I am amazed at all the help available out there.

A little over a year ago when I was agonizing over whether to take on this adventure I had two quotes that stuck in my head and motivated me to give it a try.

"Life will be richer when you're willing to risk more"

"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not"

So for my 1st blogaversary I decided to share a little more about myself you might not already know. Here we go...

1. I swam and did high jump in high school. Someday I would love to get back into swimming again.

2. I have my Bachelors in Athletic Training and my Masters in Healthcare Administration. It seems crazy that my passions are so different now.

3. I have been married for almost 13 years. Wow that sounds like a long time, it seems much shorter. I guess that is good.

4. I have an older brother and younger sister. Yep, I am the neglected middle child.

5. I am 5'10".

6. I very rarely wear heels, I walk to fast to wear them. Plus they are uncomfortable.

7. I grew up in Michigan.

8. I love downhill skiing and water skiing! Wish I did both more often.

9. I love wine and dark chocolate.

10. I have never had a dog or a cat as a pet, nor do I want one. Although my daughter wants one so bad a dog maybe somewhere in our future.

Ok, there you have it, a few random things about me.

I am loving this journey and so glad you are along for the ride!

Inspiration Friday

Well I don't know about you but we have had lots of April showers so I hope it really does bring May flowers and warm weather. We are getting ready for our neighborhood garage sale next weekend and I still have LOTS to do. I am determined to get rid of the things we are not using.  I have a tendency to hang onto things just in case I need it or want it later. Not this time, it all goes. I have lots of work ahead of me.

I have put together some fun inspiration for to enjoy. First up is the awesome office remodel. I love the colors and all the space, so jealous. You have to check out the rest of the space.

Via

Look at these ribbon chandeliers! What a fun idea for entertaining, especially a wedding.

Unknown

This pictures makes me wish I had a covered porch, what a great cozy space.

BHG

Jessica's whole house is so fun to tour. I love her mantle!

Living the swell Life

And finally this bedroom really caught my eye. I love the colors! Greens, blues and a little red, that is right up my alley.

I hope you enjoyed and were inspired!

Have a wonderful weekend! I have a feeling I will be spending mine in the basement pricing bins and bins of clothes. But it will feel so good to get rid of all the stuff.

Announcement!

I am super excited to tell you I have opened an Etsy Shop!!

Every year I make a birthday banner for my kids and this year I started making some for friends and neighbors. When a friend suggested I sell them on Etsy I decided to go for it. I love making banners and other paper signs, now I could do more than just a few a year. And since I got a Silhouette for Christmas I am always looking for ways to use it.

So I wanted to share some of my creations with you in case you are looking for birthday banners or photography props.

I made a SISTERS banner that would work great in a shared girls bedroom or for a prop for a photo. I also have it in purple and could do any color you wanted.

Here is a heart birthday banner I made for my daughters birthday. I could easily add any name.

My latest banners are this elephant and owl birthday banners. They turned out so cute and could be customized with your child's name.

One of my favorites is this rainbow happy birthday banner. It is smaller so your child could hold it up for a picture. My 7 year old can easily hold it on her own.

Here is a Thank You banner great for a wedding or shower picture to send off to guests. It could also be customized to your color theme.

Stop by and check out the shop to see even more choices!

I would love to make a banner for you.

Thanks and have an awesome day!

Master Gallery Wall

I can't get enough of gallery walls, big and small. Gallery walls and stripes, love them! This particular wall in my bedroom is constantly changing. I hang something but don't love it so it only stays a short time, then the wall is empty again. Or I make something and I like too much so I put it somewhere else in my house where I can see it more often. Like the abstract art I did a little while ago. That was moved to the office. So this wall has been blank for a few months now. My husband began asking what happen to the picture that was here? Not a good sign when he starts asking why walls are blank.

So, I decided it need to be finished with something that would stay. So I came up with this. The only thing I didn't already have was a canvas, so this wall cost me $2, perfect!

I knew I wanted some "love" art and I liked the idea of adding some gold. I decided to use my Silhouette and the "weld" feature. The weld feature allows you to take a script font (or any shape) and connect them to be one continuous word.

The day I wanted to work on this I didn't have any gold paper and had no plans in the next few days to make it to the store, so I made some. When I decide to work on something I want to do it now. Patience is not my strong suit. I grabbed some heavy duty white card stock and some craft paint and made my own gold paper.

I used Martha Stewart Metallic paint in Gold and light gold. (The white pile of paint is mother of pearl, but I didn't end up using any of that). I mixed the two together using just a small amount of light gold.

I wanted the brush marks to be seen so it wasn't a solid color.

I LOVE the way it turned out!! So simple. Exactly what I was looking for. I glued it onto a large piece of white paper and put it in a frame I already had.

Next up was some monogram art. Again I used my Silhouette, but you could easily print out letters on your computer in any size and font and cut them out.

I traced the letters and painted them with black craft paint.

I am so pleased with the results. It works perfect for our master bedroom and I have no plans of moving anything. It was kind of fun going through old wedding pictures too. Wow we both look so much younger, how time flies!

I am still toying with the idea of painting the big black frame gold. I tried white but didn't like that. My white spray paint did not match the mat and it looked funny. Maybe I need a different white. What are your thoughts? Keep the black or try gold? Or a different white spray paint?

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I love seeing how excited the kids get for Easter morning, such fun memories.




Sharing over at: Skip to my Lou, Mad in Crafts, Yesterday on Tuesday, Love Grows Wild, Home Stories A to Z, Blackberry Vine, Coastal Charm, Tiny Sidekick, Winthrop Chronicles, Lil Mrs. Tori, DIY by Design, The Turquoise Home, Someday Crafts, Fearlessly Creative, 733 Blog, The life of Jennifer Dawn, Cherished bliss, Lamberts Lately, Living well spending less, imparting Grace, Jennifer Rizzo, Life in Velvet, liz Marie Blog, craftberry bush, The 36th Avenue, Remodelaholic, Nancherrow, Tatertots adn Jello, Be different act normal, Thrifty Decor Chick

Inspiration Friday

I hope you have all had a great week. I have had lots of projects floating around in my head but have had a hard time getting focussed and actually doing them. I have been feeling scattered. Do you ever feel that way? I need to just pick one and finish it. Seems easy but I seem to start something and then move onto the next, so I have lots of started projects.
My poor laundry room has been covered in paint swatches since the fall, yikes! But I did finally pick a color! Maybe I will paint it soon. I hope your week has been more productive.

Well onto some inspiration!

I am loving all the plank walls I see out there. Not sure I have a place in my home but they sure are fun to look at.

Contemporary Bedroom by Calgary Interior Designers & Decorators Bruce Johnson & Associates Interior Design

Carrie from Lovely etc made the most beautiful colored plank wall. It turned out amazing, I love her color choices. 

Lovely etc.

I love this artwork! It is actually made with fabric, what a fun project.

Via

This room looks so cozy, I love the blues and greens.

Traditional Living Room by Minneapolis Photographers Spacecrafting / Architectural Photography

This bedroom looks so fun. I think I need some pink in my bedroom, not sure how that will go over with the hubs. Maybe if I start small he won't notice..yeah right.

BHG

Have a wonderful Easter Weekend! We are looking forward to some family time and maybe a project or two. It is supposed to be warm enough to enjoy outside, I hope they are right.

No. 5 Pillow

Yesterday I woke up to a blizzard and several inches of snow so I am hoping today brings lots of sunshine and warmer temps to melt all that snow. I shoveled the sidewalk but I refuse to shovel the driveway in April. The sun has some work to do. It was a great day to stay inside and get a few projects done though.

I have been wanting a number pillow for a while now. I knew I could make my own but for some reason it has taken a while to get it done. I made the pillow from left over fabric, I actually cut it out months ago. It is so easy to sew a pillow but the thought of pulling the sewing machine out of the closet and setting it up on the kitchen table seems like such a HUGE task.

Well it is finally done and I love it!

I cut a number 5 out with my Silhouette but you could easily do it with your computer and just use an x-acto knife to cut it out. The font I used was Century.

I placed it on my pillow and made sure it was centered. I used a pencil to outline the stencil. Then paint away! I used a fabric paint in black but you could add a fabric medium to any paint you have. Make sure you put plastic between the layers of the pillow because the paint will bleed through. I used gallon size zip lock bags.

I think this fabric paint is from Joanns, I have had it for a while.

I love how the pillow turned out, just like I imagined. I finished this chevron pillow a month or so ago and my no. 5 is the perfect addition.

Do you like to sew? Do you have a dedicated space to do it? Someday I hope too. I like sewing, I just don't like setting it up and breaking it down all the time. I am very grateful to have a sewing machine though, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I hope you have a bright sunny day!



Featured at: Cherished Bliss

Sharing over at: Tiny Sidekick, Winthrop Chronicles, Lil Mrs. Tori, Not Just a Housewife, A few miner adjustments, The Turquoise home, 733 Blog, Someday Crafts, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Cherished Bliss, Lamberts Lately, Living Well Spending Less, Imparting Grace, Liz Marie Blog, Jennifer Rizzo, Addicted 2 DIY, 36th Avenue, Be Different Act Normal, Skip to my Lou, Mad in Crafts, Yesterday on Tuesday, Love Grows Wild, Home Stories A to Z, Blackberry Vine, Coastal Charm, Fearlessly Creative, Nancherrow, Thrifty Decor Chick

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday! I had fully planned on having a new project to show you today but after a project fail and the weather being uncooperative to take any pictures that just didn't happen. So instead I will show you some projects from a few other awesome bloggers.

Tracy over at Right up my Alley made this sunburst mirror and bar cart. They are both amazing! I love this green, I need to find someway to get some green in my house. She did such a nice job.

Right up my Alley

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick revealed her closet makeover and it looks amazing! She is so talented.

Thrifty Decor Chick

Jen at Tatertots and Jello has a great free printable that is a great reminder when things always seem so busy.

Tatertots and Jello

Young House Love finished their nursery and it looks amazing. They are so talented! And again with the green I love it!

Young House Love

Amy at The Idea Room revealed her office makeover and it is beautiful. You seriously have to check it out. It is attractive and functional which is not alway easy to pull off.

The Idea Room

Emily at Jones Design Company painted the coolest wall in her kids bathroom. It turned out awesome, I wish I could paint like that!

Jones Design Company

There is so much inspiration floating around blogland. I could spend hours reading blogs and stare in awe what talented bloggers do in their homes. It makes me feel like maybe someday I too can create amazing spaces...maybe. I hope you enjoyed and maybe found a new blog to follow, it is always fun to find a new blog.

Have a Fantastic day!!