Getting crafty.

I recently spent a long weekend with some scrap book buddies of mine. We rented a condo in park city, hung out in pj's and glued to our hearts content.

It's very productive. 

Here's some things I made. 

Paper tree. 

Mini album

Lots of memory filled pages, like this one of me with dark hair and cheekbones. 

These cute storage jars 

And this resin necklace. 

Plus I got home, all creative and made this for Asha's room. 

She has this extremely delicate collection of fairies from my mum that needed a home,  with room to grow and to be out of reach. I think this works. 

So have you gotten your glue on lately? 

How do you create? 

What kind of day are you having?

Some days I want to wear heels.
Some days I want to stay in bed.
Some days I want to do both.

What kind of day are you having? 

Banner

I made this banner for Thanksgiving to match my decor. Simple. I used Heidi swapps shimmer spray on patterned paper and added some bling.

Not so naked any more.

Naked

Every year I rebel a little when I start seeing orange leaves and scarecrows in the store. I proclaim loudly, that just because kids are back in school, does not mean it is autumn, it's still 90 degree's outside and I believe it is still summer.
Then all of a sudden I wake up energetically, with the urge to pull out my Halloween stuff and it is officially holiday season.

I put away the turquoise and bring out the orange. 

We dress up and have fun. 

Then I put everything away and think how naked my house looks. 

I never know what to do since there's only 3 weeks until thanksgiving, then it all changes again. I have a hard time spending time and money on such a quick change. 

Any suggestions? 

Looks so naked. 

It starts young.

So this is no Shocker but I'm in need of loosing a few pounds or 20. I wish I could blame a knee injury for the gain but alas, it's pretty much nachos and macdonalds fries which  accompanied with a knee injury, add up to the peak of my weight gain /loss cycle. I joked with someone that I need to loose 20lb quickly so I can get on with gaining it again.

No joke, I have photos to prove that this has been my life for 10 plus years and I wonder when it will actually stick. Probably not as long as French fries are still legal.
Anyway the motivation for my latest effort is that I have no clothes that fit and everything I try on in my current size, which incidentally is not even into the plus size section, is just not cute or flattering.

This is my gripe. Regardless of size 2 or 20,  why do we need perfectly smooth skin under our pants in order for the bumps not to show through? Why must all shirts and blouses cling right on the soft part under our arms to create a fold? Why are jeans even made with enormous back pockets?I know someone created spanks just for this reason but it feels like you are suffocating in them.

The fact is, I'm pretty healthy and active and my bmi is in the healthy range but my 2 buckets full of clothes that don't fit tell me I need to get serious.

It's not just me. I took my little girl shopping for some colorful skinny jeans. She could not fit in a single pair in the girls department. We tried the boys and had to go to a size 18. Size freakin 18 year old boys!  They were a foot too long but fit in the waist.

Seriously friends, is this a good message to send this 12 year old girl? Does she look unhealthy to you? She is not, she is active and eats really well plus a normal amount of snacks or treats yet she is oversized for anything age appropriate. 

It's a sad fact. We are going to be unable to, easily find fun clothes that flatter us, unless we are prepared to make diet and exercise our priority or are a tiny size unhealthy. 

That is my rant. Now I will choke down my egg whites. 

Wordless Wednesday

Mobile

I just figured out I could blog from my phone! Since half my time is spent away from my desk and all my candid shots are taken with my phone, this seems the perfect place to blog from. In case you were wondering about the inconvenience of typing off a 2 inch typewriter, well I am pretty much a one finger typer anyway so no biggie.
Hmm... Can't figure out how to post pictures. That's boring...

BOYD ????

Oooooo I worked it out by myself, I AM a nerd! Yes!

I'm still here

Just busy doing stuff like this..

and this..

with these guys..

Oh and some of this..

But this is only the stuff I had my camera for. The really fun stuff is hidden away in my phone, maybe I'll share that too.

Mood Boards

One of my favorite design blogs to follow is "Teal & Lime Interiors" http://interiors.tealandlime.com

The fabulous designer, Jackie Hernandez, caught my attention from a different blog, with her use of color in home decorating. She seemed to saturate a room with color without making the room appear trendy or child like. I love that. I am always drawn to the "back to college" sections in the big box cheapy stores but realize decorating entirely with plastic and  disposable items is not really an option. On the other hand, I get bored and like to change things around so I don't want to commit large chunks of change to my  favorite color of the moment. Jackie seems to make her spaces look like high end design, mixing classic shapes and quility fabrics with fun patterns and accessories.

Jackie's services are outlined on her blog but basically I filled out a bunch of questions about my needs and style preference, favorite colors to wear and budget then  she came back with a mood board,  all the sources to purchase the items within my budget, both local and online stores and then  ideas for some DIY projects to make the space really personal.

I am so pleased with the results. You all know I switch things up and have my own unique style but Jackie gave me a fresh set of eyes, some stores I have never considered before and a simple road map that made this make over very painless. ( Driving from store to store around here might be considered a road trip)
So here are some shots of my space.

These are the before pictures, after I had removed the previous lime green accessories.

I sent this image of a bunch of roses because it is my very favorite color of right now and my desire for the room was to add some spring and lighten it up. It seemed quite dark.

This is what I got back along with instructions on the where's and why's of placement etc.

I absolutely LOVE it.

I set to, picking most items in one day and ordering on line. 

I flipped the chair color around, using the coral for the great room and the peacock for the dinning room just because I thought the darker fabric was more practical in the dining room. My kids seem to still use furniture as a napkin.

The cool end table was on clearance :-) Score! It's something I would have never picked myself but is now one of my favorite things in the room.

I went with a higher backed, white leather chair than the ones suggested, as they were less expensive but I did love the ones on the board. I picked up these glass bowl vases for a buck fiddy each. I switched the table center piece color because I had switched the chairs, more coral needed and less teal.

Jackie had suggested replacing my black leather ottoman with a white coffee table but we use it as a footstool much more than a coffee table so I kept it and plan to cover it in a lighter, fluffy fabric. I got the end table version of the table and it is gorgeous. Yet again, IKEA is my friend and I built this sucker in 20 minutes. I swear I have reached master builder status at IKEA.

I also found this silver orb candle holder there. Jackie mentioned the use of reflective items to move light around. It does.

The rug is from Target! It's an indoor/outdoor rug which means I can take it outside and hose if off if it gets too dirty or I could just leave it out there when I'm sick of it :-) I like how much color and light it adds. The fabric on the wall was changed from my original lime green. Plus here's a distant glimpse at my new, custom built by Boyd, concrete mantle. It is so awesome. We have disliked our mantle from day one as it didn't match our home at all and always intended to change it but this gave us the push to get a new one. When I asked Boyd to build me a mantle for my birthday I thought it would be a wood block that he panted but oh no. I will share the details another time.

So there it is.

Mission accomplished.

Light, Bright, full of spring.

Go and check out Jackie's site. She has 100 mood boards for you to browse in all colors and for every room/area of your home. 

My First Time

Spray Painting.

I keep seeing these colorful home decor projects and my attempts  with a spray can had not yet surpassed the rushed cub scout project or a home made pinata. Still, I am optimistic and could not resist the rows of pretty paint colors at Home Depot.
I have 2 chairs that were looking pretty worse for ware, lets face it, 10 winters and summers in Utah, it's pretty amazing anything holds up. I was considering throwing them out but they are actually pretty comfy and we use the extra seats a lot so I decided to give the spray paint a shot.

It's a pretty easy process. A quick sand with a sanding block, a good scrub with soapy water and a rinse.

Tape off the parts you don't want to paint and ...

voila

I tied the blue in to my other furniture with some pillows.

 and now our outdoor space is pretty comfy.

Please be assured, lack of trees is being taken care of and shrubs will wait until next year.

So what do you think of spray paint? Have you ventured into the world of instant color splash yet?

Spot the Utahn.

Whilst waiting at the airport for Ronan and Boyd, Asha and I were playing a game of spot the English
person.
 (the flight was originating from London)
You can tell an English man by his skinny legged suit or his stylish shoes, a female by her spunky hairstyle or classy coat.

.

 Then last night I noticed another look.
 The Utahn.
I was watching a guy on the voice from Provo Utah, Ryan Innes, incredible, gave me the goosies you should check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wxlKksuT7M
When the camera snapped his family, excitedly waiting in the wings, I thought HA! you can totally tell they are from Utah.

There used to be these "you know your from Utah" jokes about green jello and nephews being older than uncles but I have been thinking about an updated version. Some of these I have fallen into myself and will regroup.

 You know she's a Utahn when: 

 She has a $200 diaper bag but serves hamburger helper for dinner.


She has several maxi skirts with matching bubble necklace.
She loves to decorate with chevron or even wear it on a maxi skirt.
  ( I do like this color)

 Her handbag doubles as a carrier for her SLR camera she whips out at the park she drove to in her $50,000 minivan that could use a vacuum. Oh now I'm getting specific but I could count more than one of these moments just today.
 

 She wears an unfinished under shirt under a pretty blouse or flirty sundress.

Sorry ladies but I spot 6 in this picture, not including the ones hiding.

Her hair looks like this for 3 hours a week

but like this for the rest of the week

Any of this familiar?

She has a years supply of fruit snacks and marshmallows (there just always seem to be coupons for those and lets face it, in a disaster a marshmallow can be very handy)

She has a 4 year old  home that's she wants to move from or remodel because white is the new wood.

Man I could go on for hours but I need to dust around my color coordinated candy filled apothecary jars before browsing pinterest to plan my next child's wedding, oops I mean 1st birthday party that'll keep me so busy, I won't have time or money for a date with my husband. Ouch! That one left a mark.

But she probably won't be skiing or riding trax because it's too expensive or too slow or because she has so many kids/ bags to carry and has to be back for kindergarten pick up then carpool then homework then soccer then piano then drive thru dinner then idol then the activity she's in charge of then.......

So what do you think? Do you look like a Utahn?