So, In college, I had this hipster art teacher…

I know. Hipster + Art teacher = stereotypical prerequisite. But she was hardcore, and taught one of my first drawing classes. We would stand around for hours, until we mastered a plant leaf. She would walk around the room and tell us to keep working, until those leaves were nothing less than perfection. And when we were finished, we would stand around and critique the plant leaves. And when we were done, we would start all over again. With more plant leaves. (On the flipside, this was while all my roomies were sweating it out over economics finals. BOOYA. {Then I hit my design classes, the art building swallowed me, and I was never seen again.})

I’m pretty sure the aforementioned hipster art teacher moonlit as an interpretive dancer. She would run behind us in her skinny jeans {Before skinny jeans were cool. See? Hipster.} and move her arms in wildly exaggerative, circular motions. This 5 foot tall, 85 pound woman just might take flight and implode, she was so passionate about the plant leaves. And I tried my best on a daily basis, not to snort charcoal and graphite out of my nose from suppressed laughter.

The most important concept I remember covering, after resisting the urge to claw out my eyeballs, aside from obsessing over plant leaves, {read: the powers of observation, for one} was that of happy accidents.

When something unexpected happens, how we react. How we embrace those changes in our work as artists. How we use them in our creations, and cultivate something good from the unexpected.

In my case, I found myself thinking about my teeny interpretive dance hipster art teacher, and realized the happy accidents applied to this. How to embrace an unwanted change.

While I literally stomped my feet like a two year old over my ridiculously silly, totally avoidable, idiotic loss in the slipcover sofa department of life, I had no idea what I was going to do. And when I half heartedly went for breakfast and sofa shopping one morning with a friend, and I literally stumbled across…

{drum roll please…} my dream sofa.

If you’ve been with me since the beginning of my own little drama, then you know I’ve wanted a Chesterfield for a very long time. Like, as in, shut-up-about-it-we-know-you-loved-domino-but-learn-to-deal-already-get-a-life, long time. But last year when making a call on the living room (with a then, very tight budget) I suddenly veered right and went the slipcovered route. It was what I felt was safe, at the time. It was lovely, until the sofa sector of the decor gods were bored with me, and decided to mix things up a bit.

So, this is my happy accident.

It was love at first sight.

Tufted linen fabulosity. And while I was at it, I decided to mix things up in the pillows department. We are loving those darker tones.

The most exciting part, is this gem of a store {that I am so excited about sharing with all of you next week-stay tuned!} Think eye candy galore…and something just for you while we’re at it. Squeeeee!

Chessy the Chesterfield is kiddo approved…by The Mills Bros. World Wrestling Federation. Be still my anxiety ridden cheeto fingers heart. {read: it hides the smudges amazingly well, compared to what I was dealing with.}

I’ve found my forever-dream-re-cover-it-twenty-years-from-now-move-it-around-and-hand-it-down-to-my-great-granchildren-who-will-love-it-like-I-do-because-I-shove-it-down-their-throats, all-is-well-in-sofa-land, piece. Duncan was even a little jealous.

Yes, I did push the timer and then run and jump on the sofa so I could be totally awkward, and scream at the dog because she walked in front, while the kids stood patiently on the sidelines and asked for snacks. They’ve grown accustomed to mommy’s weird projects. Who knew someone could be such a spaz about a sofa? 

Stay tuned for the great eye candy I’ll be bringing your way next week from this awesome store…you’re going to loooove it! TADA! My own personal happy ending. What are some of your own personal happy accidents? Lately, I’ve become a little more of a glass is half full kinda gal. So spill it!

Y’all will be drooling over this giveaway, today. Consider yourselves warned ;}

When The Sprig Framing Co. contacted us and offered to send us a frame, I took one glance at their eye candy and I was all about it.

And when we received their generous gift in the mail, we were enamored. ::Cue exaggerated buffing of fingernails on shirt:: I don’t mean to sound like a frame snob or anything, but Jamin and I have been creating frames for our home for years. We absolutely love it. So, we kind of know an awesome product when we see it. And I was completely impressed by the sheer craftsmanship and elegant simplicity of Bryan’s work.

He best describes his work in his own words:

It’s always nice to start with raw products and materials and turn them into something amazing that hangs throughout our house, holding moments of our family and children, all wrapped up in a frame that I made.  I want people that purchase our frames to have that feeling as well.

Today, The Sprig Framing Co. is giving away this fabulous frame. 

Want to win?

1. Like them on facebook{and leave a comment here telling us you did}

2. Share this giveaway on facebook, pinterest, twitter or your blog {and leave a comment here, each time, telling us you did.}

Good luck, guys! Giveaway ends Thursday, 5.17.12 winner announced here, Friday! 

LOVE The Sprig Framing Co. and just can’t wait? They’re offering a special discount right now: buy any two frames, and get 1/2 off the third! Happy shopping, everyone!

Hello dear wonderful people! I hope you all had am amazing Mother’s Day weekend. I spent it, for the first time in a while, actually lazing about a little. I hope yours was just as enjoyable…It’s really kinda nice to be selfish sometimes. ;} In honor of having a little fun, today I thought I’d share a few of my latest faves.

1. It was the perfect rainy weekend for a few good movies. And I will only confess this, once: Cowboys and Aliens is a pretty good one. If you’re looking for a great, mindless summer flick, then C+A is your rental of choice. I laughed out loud in the theater when I saw the previews, but in my book, Harrison Ford can do no wrong. {Except for that time when he married Calista Flockhart. Because it kinda creeped me out and I was secretly jealous…conflicting emotions all at once.} But I decided to give it a chance, so there you have it. To my point: We also watched The Vow. Because everyone knows you have to balance out the testosterone and sweat with a good old fashioned lurve story.

Channing Tatum is cute and everything, but I found myself totally drooling over these wonderfully amazing set designs. To the point of distraction from the storyline. It’s a little busy for me, personally, but something about it draws me in. Whether it’s the juxtaposition of unexpected materials, or the bold use of color, I think I’m totally in love. Like living in a bohemian handmade anthropology. In a movie about real life. Yes, please.

Check out more photos here, and read about it in detail…{but only if you’ve already watched the movie! You can view the photos without reading the spoiler-even though I’m not sure these do it justice.} She totally owns my dream studio space, btw.

2. On my feet: Yes, I am making a big jump from movie set inspiration to shoes and toenail polish. Because that’s how I roll. See the not so professional foot model? That’s me. I’m sporting my new fave O.P.I. color Designer De Better and these kicks {I scored on sale}. Hurray for freakishly long finger toes! And sales! And fun polish! Just thought I’d give them both rave reviews if you’re in the market! Toe touches and unicorns and rainbows!

3. On our last Ikea trip, I scored these ginourmous pots for a whopping 5.99. And I decided I wanted more of a chunky, whitewashed feel for them. So I played with three different acrylic paints, and had a little fun with a no. 10 flat brush. I simply brushed and blended in different directions, adding a few subtle layers until I was happy with the look. I may still go back for my typical OCD touch ups, but it was a fun little afternoon kinda project. Hint: If you try it, always add dark to light, not light to dark. Your white paint thanks you in advance for saving it. 

4. I see key lime pies in my future. I found my lime trees, baby! These not-so-little guys will eventually be moved to barrels, and this is just the beginning of that outdoor space I’ve been officially rambling about for a year now {More on that later…think (hopefully!) awesomesauce fort + a back porch turned outdoor space kinda redo} Don’t worry…we’re not leaving them beside our front door. We have our work cut out for us…wish us luck!

via

5. Since we decided we’re staying, we’re taking the first steps to living a purposeful life in our home. This means you get to hear a lot about this process in the future. HURRAY for you! This includes a few overhauls, and project purge {phase one} begins this week. Here’s the question I have for all of you : I was kind of thinking of having a glorified garage non-estate, estate sale {read: I’m a dork} and selling it all. Jamin says no. He’s thinking its just not worth the headache. I know some people swear by them. I also know things need to be priced to move, so I get it. Here’s my q: Do any of you purge, and do this religiously? Is it worth your time? Or should we just donate + go the Craigslist route for the big things? Your thoughts, please. And any nightmare stories you care to share along the way. Because those are always fun. ;}

And that about covers my random list for today. Have an inspired day, everyone!

Happy Friday, y’all!

Anyone else out there relieved that it’s Friday? Confession: I am. I’ve been all kinds of discombobulated, and I’m trying to get my act together after a crazy couple of weeks. {Read: me recovering=mountainous piles of laundry a-la Mt. Vesuvius. Yes, I did spell that correctly on the first try…discombobulated, not so much. Spelling is hard.}

Remember this post from last fall?  Despite the fact that Jamin appears to be picking his nose with the tripod, our totally rad {can I say that?} friends, Kevin and Layla of The Lettered Cottage were shooting a room in our home for a magazine. And now the issue is out!

Kevin and Layla are some super talented, sweet, lovely people, and it was quite the learning experience for us to assist and observe. We had some fun that day, to say the least. Be sure to pick up a copy and check out their wonderful work. I still don’t have a copy of it in my hands (yes, the suspense is killing me) but it should be on newsstands in just a few weeks…For any of you mag subscribers out there, flip through it and find us! I think you’ll know it when you see it… ;}

Be sure to pick one up so you can take it to your friends’ houses like you’re still in high school, and you can be all ‘Dude, I’m friends with these people. We’re besties. On the internets…’ Then you can sign your copy and leave it at their home. Whispering ‘you’re welcome’ patting them on their heads as you saunter out of the door. We should have a competition to see who can create the most awkward scenarios. Let’s buy fifty copies and roll around in them, then glue them to our bodies and make up a dance routine. What?

What is it about that glossy magazine? There’s something humbling and surreal about seeing one of our spaces in print. We’re beyond completely honored they wanted to show us some love. Go check it out!

Have a happy, inspired day, everyone. I’m off to tackle Mt. Vesuvius. In what may or may not be a Cottages and Bungalows body suit.

Hello all you wonderful people! Remember Martin of Britsnap Photography? He dazzled us in his last post, with 7 Simple Tips for Better Shots of Your Children. He’s back today, to give us 7 tips for better photos of your home. Take it away, Martin!

So some of these techniques are a little bit trickier than my last post but should be easy to grasp.

Use of a Digital SLR camera or one of the funky new 4/3rds cameras (Or my Fav Point and shoot the Canon G12) will allow you to have a few more technical options. But don’t be discouraged! These are all simple tips and even if you don’t have the equipment I mentioned, the principle behind the technique stays the same. It is all about understanding the lighting conditions and the relation it has to your pictures created by your camera. I use all these techniques EVERYDAY!

1) Natural light. USE it. Want to take a pic of a lamp or a chair or something else wonderful that you have created after being inspired? Pull up the blinds or open the windows and let the light shine in. Turn the indoor lights off to take your picture. Be careful not to place your object of photographic desire right in the window.  You want the light to be nice and ‘soft’. Don’t forget about opening your front or back door and stand and watch as the perfect light oozes into your home.

for the original post on this little hizzy, click here.

2) Use a Tripod. Sounds simple enough, but doing so allows for two things. First, as you would assume, it stops wobbly, shaky, blurry pictures (see tip #3). Secondly it allows for longer exposures. That is to say, the shutter is open longer, more light comes in and more of your picture is in focus. This is ideal if you are photographing non-moving subjects, like a table or a room. The other benefit is it helps give you a level photograph.

3) Use a remote (sometimes known as shutter release cables). These come in two forms: wireless (like your TV remote) and wired (like your old telephone cord). What this does, even though in tip number 2 the tripod has the benefit of reducing shake and blur, is to further reduce camera shake.  Simply the process of pressing the shutter (the picture taking button) can induce camera shake. Additionally, it allows you to shoot from different angles or even to include yourself in the picture. $15-$30 is all it should cost.  Some cameras have a BULB function. This is a brilliant button in combo with the r shutter release/remote cable. Press the button, hold it down, and in doing so you are keeping the shutter open.  Let go of the button and you close it again. This is a pretty good skill to learn, but don’t worry if you don’t get it right away. This takes some practice.

4) Avoiding the yellow. “So why do my pictures inside always turn out yellow?”  I hear that question often. What a pain. The cause of this, normally, and especially if you are indoors, is the indoor lighting. Something known as tungsten, interior lights have a yellow glow and your camera captures it. Most DSLRs have a ‘white balance’ setting that gives you options to change the ‘light temperature’. For these indoor shots, you want to mainly switch from a tungsten or auto setting to a ‘setting’ which is colder. The blue tint neutralizes the yellow and creates better pictures.

5) Shoot in Manual or Aperture mode. If you are not sure what these are, or the benefits, click here first. Shooting in Aperture allows you to select how much of your image will be in focus. When shooting a living room or kitchen, you really want as much in focus as possible. An aperture of F16-F22 will allow you to get nice, sharp, in-focus images. (Make sure you have removed the dust from the windows first.) The downside of this is normally to achieve these apertures you need your shutter to stay open longer…5-30 seconds depending on the amount of light (hence the need for #2 and #3).

6) Take outdoor shots of your house at dusk. Yes, just after the sun has set, when you typically see all the blues and pinks in the sky. Set your tripod, aperture to F16- F-22, use your cable release and set shutter for 30 seconds or more.  The house will look great, the sky too, and those outdoor lights you left on will create these cool starburst effects like the picture below. Want to sell your house quick? Take a picture like this and stand out from all the other listings on the MLS.

7) If you are taking pictures of objects or rooms in your house, turn your ‘bloody pop-up flash’ off.  Yes, you heard me correctly. Put duct tape over the top of it if you have to. Hopefully you have followed step #5 here, and the flash wont pop up automatically. If you really need light, place a table lamp next to the object you are photographing and use it as a spot light. If you need to make the light brighter either remove the lampshade or move the lamp closer.

______________________

My post a-la yours truly is a little late today. I felt so bad yesterday writhing on the sofa, that I didn’t really care about today. It was four days after the explosions heard round the world, and for some reason I was getting worse. My house is in shambles from being out of town for a week, and the laundry is piled to my eyeballs. It’s a lego land mine around here. But you know you officially feel rotten when you don’t even have the energy to play with your BRAND NEW FABULOUS SOFA. {Don’t worry guys, more on that oh so happy ending, coming soon. But that was after I hid from the delivery guys like a spazoid ninja crawling around on the floor because I didn’t know who they were, and couldn’t see the truck…then felt like a fool for thinking they were stalkers here to take my kidneys and sell them on the internet when I opened the door in my PJ’s. Fun times for all.}

Enough is enough, so I finally called the doctor. Apparently, on top of a stomach bug Saturday I also have a UTI. That’s probably TMI. {See what I did there?} I’ve never had one before, and so I didn’t know the warning signs and by the time I went to the doc, it was at a severe level. {Read: feel sorry for me.} Two doses of antibiotics later, and I’m already a different person. What did they do in the olden days when they got those puppies? Take penicillin and bite on a stick and hope for the best? Yes, I am still stuck on the whole historical idea of medicine and survival. Not really sure why…biting on sticks truly fascinate me. I think I’ll keep a stick nearby every time my kids skin their knees, and make them hold it in their mouths. But alas, this is the biggest ramble in the history of blogs, so without further ado…

Spring really has felt like a fling this year. It arrived a bit early here in the tropical southern hemisphere, and the dog days of summer are unfortunately, right around the corner. As in, I can hear them barking. Yep. I just wrote that.

Pinwheel Pinwheel spin me around…. Anyone? Whether it’s a small happy to a friend, a shot of color for your little ones’ spaces, or just something simple for the fridge…here they are! One sweet lady even used them as party favors at a birthday! Creative much?

Click here to visit our downloads page, and grab up these little freebies. {kites, pinwheel 1, pinwheel 2 + pinwheel 3.} Click here to see the rest of our freebies…they’re just for you, and all meant to work together in a complete series… or individually.

Tada!

Have an inspired day everyone! I’m off to catch up on a bazillion things, and play with my kiddos. Or sit in my pajamas and throw cheerios on the ground so I can rest. They’re good at that game.

Have an inspired day everyone!