Project Renovation | Dusty

One thing is for sure: Renovation is seriously dusty.

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Project Renovate | Whipped Cream

My house has the coolest barrel ceilings. Living and dining rooms! These ceilings make the place seem soooo huge, and really put the focus on my {even more awesome} windows. 

What's not awesome is the texture someone decided to plaster all over them. The walls, the ceiling, the fireplace, down the hallway. *groan* 

This is much worse than popcorn/cottage cheese ceiling. For lack of a better description and without a trace of affection, I have come to call this texture pattern, "whipped cream". {apparently texture nicknames go with food items}

I called in a couple of painters to see how they would get rid of the stuff. With eyes the size of saucers, they surveyed the rooms in silence. Solutions were suggested: 

Sanding. Skim coating. 

Sanding some more. Skim coating some more. 

Build it up slowly, away from the window frames. Sand some more. 

Paint. Sand some more. Paint again.

In essence, a heckuva lot of work.

After the painters had gone, my contractor took one look at it, and said: "No problem. We'll figure it out." Next time I went over to the house, there he was with a giant spatula on a broomstick carving away the whipped cream. shuck, shuck, shuck. The stuff was, thankfully, coming off in chunks.
It took one guy, two hand a half days to clean it all off. I was seriously impressed.

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Lorem Ipsum | Bombshell Pro, Jacques & Gilles

Recently acquired & totally crushing on: Jacques & Gilles {top} and Bombshell Pro {bottom}. A great handwritten quality to them. They look fairly similar, one is a bit more formal than the other, but I think they are super cute. Jacque & Gilles even comes with cute ornaments too. Can't wait to use them for print projects. Yay!

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This episode is brought to you by: Jacques & Gilles and Bombshell Pro!

Designer: Emily Conners, founder Emily Lime foundry

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Project Renovation | The Before

Getting started with a renovation is a little daunting. Exciting, but daunting. Provided you are prepared for the emotional and financial stress, it takes a little simmering time to get a good idea of what you'd like to do. I guess you could say I'm lucky because the minute I set foot inside the house {a spontaneous Open House visit with Mom}, before I even decided to put an offer on it, I knew what I'd do to fix it up. It's like there was a thin film of tracing paper over my vision with the project completed. I had the Big Idea down already, it's the details that still need discovering. 

Now, before you look at these photos and think; "Awww. What a cute kitchen!" Don't get too attached. This kitchen was cute, but pretty tired. Yes, I just used past tense. This kitchen was cute. Because, it's gone. Have no mercy, ripped out, gone. All in a day's work. Renovation is not for the faint of heart.

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New Home

So, I've been a total slacker in posting intervals. Things have been super crazy for me and my family recently. As I'm sure you all experienced at least a few times in your life, life has a way of getting in the way. I'm hoping that I'll be able to post with wanton abandon given recent developments: I am now a Homeowner. yes, with a capital "H". Home. Mine. All mine.

It is this great little Spanish-style place built in 1924 with amazingly awesome windows and a great little fireplace. Most especially, it has great bones. The previous owners have loved it gently, thank goodness, so it still has a lot of old charm but not so much that I would be afraid to add my own touches. And there is quite a bit to do with this old beauty as the kitchen is living in 1954 and one of the bathrooms, 1984. In fact, it's already started. I'm seeing lath & plaster as I type. So, I will hopefully be sharing it all with you: the progress, the setbacks {knock on wood} and the triumphs. 

Project Renovation.

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Monthly Obsession: Arrows

I'm calling it out {and since I'm obv already obsessed with them}. Arrows are taking over. Just as whales & owls took over mustaches & birds, arrows are all over the place. Bloggers  have been predicting it for years now, I guess I'm just slow on the uptake.

It may be a strange thing to want, but I've been lusting after an arrow from Fredericks & Mae for a while. Those things are like folk art.

I've put together some images and items with arrows to get your blood pumping. Enjoy!

1. DIY feather arrow necklace; 2. Madewell archer necklace; 3. Coral & Tusk pillows; 4. Erica Weiner Archery Earring; 5. Nasty Gal Cuff; 6. Satelluxe's The Bristow; 7. Fredericks & Mae arrows.

{After seeing all the awesome pillows from Coral & Tusk, my future project is to learn embroidery}

1. via Apartment Therapy; 2. Vinyl arrow decals; 3. via Pinterest; 4. via Etsy; 5. via Making It Lovely.

Illustration at top: Julia Kostreva

Looking Up

Talk about your silver lining! I took this outside my office the other day. 

I love Fall weather... le sigh

I think I need to paint this... or commission someone... like my friend James Willis. Maybe he'd do it for me. *hint hint*

Project Adventure: Google's Field Trip

Today marks, officially, the first time I've been jealous of Android phones. I just learned of something called Field Trip. Developed by the folks at Google, it's exactly what I was trying to express in my first ever post in Project Adventure; go out and explore all the cool things around you. Field Trip is an app that runs in the background of your phone and pops up nifty insights about where you are at that moment.

All you Android people out there, install this and let me know how it is! They say they are working on an iOS version - lets hope it comes out sooner rather than later!

Check out the promo video below - makes me not want to go back to work, like, ever.

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Sliding Doors

In my alternate reality where I have endless time, and endless storage space to create an
Amazingly Crafty Wonderland

Here's some of what would be in my bottomless toolbox:

1. Lots and lots of washi tape {you know I love washi tape}

2. Xyron Wishblade custom die-cutter

3. Every color of baker's twine ever created

6. bonsai shears (they're great for trimming plants)

8. X-Acto knives that never go dull and a really great ruler

7. Glitter in every color imaginable 

4. Endless supply of Glue Dots & spray adhesive

5. Prismacolor markers & pastels in every color they make

9. Really, really pretty paper {that never costs any money}

And really pretty furoshiki cloth to wrap up all my crafty gifts.

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Mom's Garden | Monarch & Milkweed

This episode of Mom's Garden is brought to you by monarch butterflies and the milkweed plant! {hooray!}

When it comes to monarchs and milkweed, think: "If you plant it, they will come". 

{cue Kevin Costner, hee hee}

No, seriously tho. Plant some milkweed in your garden {if you're in the zone for it} and you'll have cool stripe-y caterpillars & orange butterflies in your yard almost instantly. Those little guys have a radar for milkweed like pregnant ladies to peanut butter & pickles. There's been a population explosion around Mom's Garden, so I thought I'd snap some pics and share with you the magical wonderland that is monarchs and milkweed... {cue sprinkley, fairy music}

The milkweed plant {genus: Asclepias} is aptly named because of the milky juice that comes out of stems when cut {which has many uses, one being a quick remedy for poison ivy! Learning new things here, people}. Monarch caterpillars eat milkweed which contain chemicals {cardiac glycosides} that, in turn, make the caterpillar super nasty-tasting and potentially poisonous to predators. One thing to note, because the caterpillars love this plant soooo much, they eat the heck out of them and leave them as leaf-less sticks. If they run out of leaves, they'll even eat the stems. So, don't get all angry if the plant isn't perfect and beautiful. Remember, it's there to make the monarchs big, fat and happy.

Look at this squee leeetle tiny guy! Inne cuteh?! {size comparison: check out the orange aphids next to him or the ant in the upper right}

{the photo at the start of this post is no trick of photoshop. Ain't it über cool? Sometimes the best stuff comes from lame accidents}

oh, and PS, while I was snapping away, I found lacewing eggs! Aren't they neat-o?! If you ever find a lacewing, don't kill it! They are probably one of the best bugs around your garden and eat lots of bad bugs, like aphid. We heart lacewings. {maybe I'll do a post on those soon too... cuz they're pretty}

UPDATE: Apparently, monarchs will hook themselves just about anywhere to make the transition from crawly critter to flutterby. From garden hoses to metal ladders. Keep your eyes peeled!

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