619 miles

Hello September 2013 | desktop wallpapers

I can't believe that we are already a week into September, holy cow time seems to be flying by lately. I wonder if that is because I feel like I have so much to do around the house.

I'm getting ready for A Week in the Life to start tomorrow and as I was perusing the web I came across this collection of September desktop wallpapers rounded up by Creature Comforts. I love switching things up every couple months and these calendar desktop wallpapers are well designed and fun.

Here are two of the four featured:

Paris on the brain (again)

So I keep running across cute little videos about Paris. I wonder what the best time of year is to go.... Hmmmm. Kerry I think we need to start planning :)

 

This is just one of the many cute videos made by Design Mom and her kids. They have a bunch you can watch at Olive Us Tv.

 

InstaLife | August 2013

I think Reese wanted some attention

Heading over to visit our friends at The Highland Dog

On a hike in WV near the New River

Cathedral Waterfall on the Midland Trail in WV

Having lunch with some awesome friends during our work weekend (not instagram, but a great one Amy took of us at The North End Cafe)

A sweet gesture from The Holiday Inn Express in Sierra Vista AZ

My life via Instagram for the months of August.

I cannot believe that this month is over and Fall is just around the corner. I'm not gonna lie.... I'm kinda ready for some fall weather. I have big plans for the front yard and deck, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to sit out and enjoy some cooler evenings ahead. I'm already thinking about maybe a fire pit (like this yard)!!!

the view from up here : 300' & up to FL210

Last week I went out to AZ for a work trip. On the way to AZ I love seeing how the topography changes the farther west we travel. The southeast is so much different than the west, but I love seeing both landscapes.

FL200

300'AGL

On our way home we saw lots of serious thunderstorm clouds off in the distance. Thankfully they all stayed clear of out flight path.

Let's go!

Kerry:

I saw this video on the blog Elements of Style. I'm ready to buy my ticket to PARIS!!! Let's go!

  

 

The view from up here: 500'

Last night was a great night to fly. Winds were calm, skies were blue and I had a fun crew. Last night was one of those nighs where I can't believe I am so lucky to have this job and great people to work with.

fabric love: Julia Rothman

I've always really liked the illustrations by Julia Rothman. And I'm totally in love with this wallpaper. I purchased two different color samples and I would LOVE to purchase it, but everytime I think about spending the money I think about how awful it was to remove the wallpaper when I moved into my place. Anyway... back to the subject at hand: awesome fabric!

I'm pretty sure I first saw Julia's illustrations on Design Sponge's City Guide series. She did a lot of the city illustrations. Her work is really all over the place and I can't believe I just now learned that she has a line of fabrics. As you may know I love fabrics and I know you do too Kerry, but you've probably already seen these.... maybe?!?!

This line, called Type, is my favorite.

This image, also from her website, shows a variety of projects using the fabrics. I really really want to get my sewing machine out ASAP!

After browsing her site I learned that her work is on all kinds of products, from paper to temporary tatoos to tote bags to tea pots and tea towels.

Those camera tattoos are super cute!

She even has a book that I would love to give to my niece. The book is a look inside different artists sketch books. I think Corinne would LOVE it.

I'm off to browse her site some more and see what other fun things I can add to my ever growing wish list!

 

Congrats Kerry!

The voting for the Shorts One The Line sewing competition is over and the people have spoken...errr voted.. and they picked Kerry's shorts as the viewers' favorite!

Yesterday I was in the car riding to kid's museum when I decided to check and see if the winners for the shorts competition had been announced. As we posted here on the blog, Kerry entered this ridiculously cute pair of summer shorts. She had already sewn the shorts prior to learning about the competition, but the timing was perfect when she saw the call for entries on the blog Imagine Gnats. Her and Andy were visiting here in NC, so I took a few photos of her by the pond in the neighborhood and she entered the shorts on the last day for entries. Her shorts were among 250+ entries and obviously the viewers think they are as great as I do. If you voted Kerry sends a big "Thank You!".

Kerry is quite the seamstress. We've featured tons of her sewing projects here on the blog, everything from quilts to bags to re-covering cushions for her Shasta camper.

Congrats again Kerry, you ROCK!

gallery wall installation

I do many of my home projects by myself. Sometimes I run ideas by others and sometimes I just go for it. There are, however, some projects where it really helps to have some help. Whether it's just that extra set of hands or someone to bounce ideas off of, there are definitely times that I wish I had someone else around at midnight (or later) to run ideas by. This week with Kerry visiting I knew there were some projects that I wanted her help. She has great style and ideas and she can visualize like me. I loved having her around to hear her ideas or how she would tweak and idea that I had been thinking about.

I took advantage of a cloudy day when she was here and we set to work on putting together a gallery wall. I had the perfect space in my living room and I knew I had a stash of prints and picture frames. We spent one evening picking out the prints and framing the ones we chose to use. This was a bit of a crazy process there were frames and prints covering my entire floor! With so many prints to choose from we quickly realized that it was going to work best to cut out templates of each frame. This was a time consuming process, but I have to say that it was completely worth it! We used blue painters tape to tape the templates on the wall starting out with the largest frame somewhat centered. We worked out from that adding more. The templates and tape made it easy to change our minds and move things around.

The original plan was to take the prints all the way to the bottom, but I didn't quite have enough prints in frames to make that work. We left the templates up over night and decided to reassess in the morning. With fresh eyes the next morning we measured out where the hangers were on each frame and nailed hangers or nails on top of the templates and then simply pulled the template our from under the hangers. Working together we had all the prints on the wall in no time and I LOVE IT!

This is the only place in the house that I have art on the wall and I cannot stop staring at the wall. I'm thinking a narrow bench below and maybe some plants to add a little more oomph to the wall. Now I just need to find some indestructible house plants... any recommendations?

master bath progress: I have a floor

...and I have a toilet! Well it took having Kerry and her husband coming for a visit to get the floor down in my master batheroom. With just me living here it didn't really matter that I only had one functioning toilet, however, having two guests changes things a bit.

Kerry and I spent a few hours putting in the floor and her husband was a sweetheart and put the toilet back in for me. I love how the floor looks and I can't wait to get the rest of it down in the sink and closet areas. If you remember from this post my bathroom has a strange layout with two room areas.

The floor (Mannington Adura Locksolid Dockside in seashell) was super easy to install. Once we made sure the first piece was straight the rest went down very easily. I love the rustic look and you can't beat the price of a DIY install! I hope to share pics of the rest of the floor soon. My floor laying partner is headed back to FL today, but I think I can knock out the rest myslef this weekend. Thanks again Kerry & Andy for helping out!