Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Mantle Decorating
I was soo excited when my roommate told me that her mom needed a little decorating advice, she just moved into a new home and had a large mantle in their living area that was a little awkward and she doesn't quite know what to do with it. Here's a photo of how it currently looks.
And here are a few of my suggestions for her: First one they could put the tv on the mantle and center it, then get some vases of various shapes and sizes to place on either side. Second idea is that they could get a mirror that fits the space and lean it up against the center window, and place various frames and accessories on either side. They could also paint it a darker color to create an accent wall. I can't wait to see what she ends up doing with the space! Below are some pictures of other mantles that I fell in love with while searching for inspiration . . . also gave me some great ideas for our large mantle :)
I love the large statement piece in this one.
Continue reading Mantle Decorating
Monday, January 3, 2011
Getting Crafty
Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday celebrations, I sure did! I just wanted to share what i've been up to over the holiday's and also to share a few of my new year's resolutions. Number one on my list is to get back into shape, I want to live a healthier lifestyle and just feel good about myself. One of my motivations is a wedding dress that i'll have to fit into in about 8 months. Number two on the list is stay in better contact with family and friends. I love my family but don't get to see them as much as I would like to anymore since I live in Kansas City now. So since I won't be able to visit them as often, I plan on calling them more often to stay in contact with all my loved ones, as well as my closest friends. For number three I want to continue to push myself as a designer and artist and try to go outside of my comfort level to try new things and new medias to better myself and to continue to build on my portfolio. There are a few more resolutions that I would like to make for this year, but i'm keeping those private for now ;).
Painting and creating things are a couple of my favorite things to do. Painting is soothing and relaxing for me, and as I'm quickly finding out, is starting to become one of my favorite hobbies. It all started in my last semester of college (well actually in middle school but I never had the time and forgot how much I enjoyed it) and one of the last projects of my collegiate career. One of my favorite professors at Iowa State assigned us a fun project to end the stressful semester on. With this project we had to create a watercolor drawing as a discovery and design expression. Basically I chose two different sections of the floor plans of the hotel my partner and I designed and placed them next to each other. I then chose a color scheme related to the color scheme in our hotel. That was one of my most favorite projects and I had soo much fun working on it. Here was the finished product:
Then for Christmas 2009, I was short on money for gifts so I decided to make some of my gifts for family. Iowa State was my inspiration for my future father-in-law's gift. I thought it would be a great addition to their finished basement which is pretty much Greg's sweet man cave. This painting took me about a week and a half to draw and paint it. I finished the sides so it didn't need a frame but told him he could frame it anyway. This was my first time working with acrylics since middle school.
For Christmas 2010, I'm painting Matt's gift. It's not finished yet but should be in the next week or so. His is a bit larger, it stretches over 3 canvases. I'm excited to see the finished product and i'll post pictures as well! I did create a photo holder for my future sister-in-law Sara. I was shopping in Hobby Lobby when I got the inspiration for this gift, it's soo easy to make too! Everything was bought at Hobby Lobby for under $10. The frame was a cheap one that I spray painted black, the fabric that I chose for the background was 30% off and I just hot glued it to a piece of cardboard then put it together.
Then lastly I made myself a framed jewelry holder to hang on the wall. I had been wanting to get one for a while but didn't want to buy one since I figured it would probably be easy to make and cheaper than buying one. It's a great way to display necklaces and earrings and see what you actually have instead of fighting to untangle necklaces or trying to find mates to your earrings. I got the frame at Hobby Lobby and again painted it black, and I bought the wire at Home Depot. Here is the finished product!
Continue reading Getting Crafty
Painting and creating things are a couple of my favorite things to do. Painting is soothing and relaxing for me, and as I'm quickly finding out, is starting to become one of my favorite hobbies. It all started in my last semester of college (well actually in middle school but I never had the time and forgot how much I enjoyed it) and one of the last projects of my collegiate career. One of my favorite professors at Iowa State assigned us a fun project to end the stressful semester on. With this project we had to create a watercolor drawing as a discovery and design expression. Basically I chose two different sections of the floor plans of the hotel my partner and I designed and placed them next to each other. I then chose a color scheme related to the color scheme in our hotel. That was one of my most favorite projects and I had soo much fun working on it. Here was the finished product:
 | |
| Once I finish designing my home office/design studio I'd like to frame this and hang it up. :) |
I wish everyone good luck on their resolutions and I hope you enjoyed my creations! Feel free to leave comments on what you think of them or what I could do to improve them. I've been thinking about opening my own little shop on Etsy to sell the photo and jewelry holders. Thanks for stopping by!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Goodbye 2010 . . . Helloooo 2011!
Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe how fast this year went by and all the exciting things that had happened. Here's a little recap of what's been going on in our lives this past year.
January: I bought my BLUE 2006 Hyundai Sonata. I absolutely love driving around in it! Also Matt and I bought a house in Overland Park, Ks!
February: Matt started his new job at Burns & McDonnell as a Consultant Electrical Engineer and he loves it! I'm soo proud of him!
March: I moved from Ames, Ia into our new house in Kansas!
April: Matt and I flew to California to visit our good friend Scott. While we were there we went to San Fransisco and then to a few wineries in Napa Valley. On our 2nd to last day there Matt proposed to me on top of a mountain at the Pride Mountain Vineyard! I can definitely say one of the best vacations i've ever had!
May: My little brother Paul graduated from IKM-Manning High School, I'm soo proud of you Paul!
June: We had a house warming party for our friends and family to come see the new place and to see the minor changes we've made to it. We still have a long way to go but we're getting there, it's been a great learning experience!
July: Speaking of great learning experiences, at the end of this month I started a contract position with Hallmark in Kansas City, Mo. I met some great people and learned a lot at my time there.
August: Matt and I joined his dad's side of the family in the Ozarks for the Martin Family reunion, it was a fun time catching up with everyone that was there. At the end of the month my good friends Holly and Mike Rau got married! I had the honor of being Holly's personal attendant, and she'll be one of mine in our wedding. Congrats again you two, I hope you have many happy years together! Continuing with the wedding talk, Matt and I set the date this month for our big day to be August 20, 2011!
September: We had a bunch of friends come visit us and met new friends as well. When Angela, Tom, and Dave came to visit we had a blast going to the Kansas City Art Festival at the Plaza, and catching up on each others lives.
October: Another one of my good friends Amanda and her boyfriend Brandon came to visit us. Matt showed them a little bit of KC & took them to Power & Light, where we stumbled upon a free Smashmouth concert! Two weeks later I went wedding dress shopping with my mom, Matt's mom, and my cousins Taylor and Marina and ended up finding my dress! Then the next day I joined the newlyweds Holly and Mike for the one mile zoo run at the Henry Doorly Zoo.
November: This wasn't the greatest of months but thankfully I had Matt, my loving family and great friends to help me through it and to help me just roll with the punches. For Thanksgiving Matt and I traveled about 6 hours to Peoria, Il to visit the Martin clan for the holidays! One of my good friends also let me know that her and her husband are expecting their first child to come in June! This definitely kept me going this month.
December: A much better month, I was able to reconnect with a lot of great friends from high school and spend time with both of our families for the Holidays. I also had three interviews for a Design Consultant position, I haven't heard a hiring decision yet but i'm hoping that something good will come my way career wise in 2011!
Overall 2010 was a great year and i'm excited for the new year to come!
Continue reading Goodbye 2010 . . . Helloooo 2011!
January: I bought my BLUE 2006 Hyundai Sonata. I absolutely love driving around in it! Also Matt and I bought a house in Overland Park, Ks!
February: Matt started his new job at Burns & McDonnell as a Consultant Electrical Engineer and he loves it! I'm soo proud of him!
March: I moved from Ames, Ia into our new house in Kansas!
April: Matt and I flew to California to visit our good friend Scott. While we were there we went to San Fransisco and then to a few wineries in Napa Valley. On our 2nd to last day there Matt proposed to me on top of a mountain at the Pride Mountain Vineyard! I can definitely say one of the best vacations i've ever had!
May: My little brother Paul graduated from IKM-Manning High School, I'm soo proud of you Paul!
June: We had a house warming party for our friends and family to come see the new place and to see the minor changes we've made to it. We still have a long way to go but we're getting there, it's been a great learning experience!
July: Speaking of great learning experiences, at the end of this month I started a contract position with Hallmark in Kansas City, Mo. I met some great people and learned a lot at my time there.
August: Matt and I joined his dad's side of the family in the Ozarks for the Martin Family reunion, it was a fun time catching up with everyone that was there. At the end of the month my good friends Holly and Mike Rau got married! I had the honor of being Holly's personal attendant, and she'll be one of mine in our wedding. Congrats again you two, I hope you have many happy years together! Continuing with the wedding talk, Matt and I set the date this month for our big day to be August 20, 2011!
September: We had a bunch of friends come visit us and met new friends as well. When Angela, Tom, and Dave came to visit we had a blast going to the Kansas City Art Festival at the Plaza, and catching up on each others lives.
October: Another one of my good friends Amanda and her boyfriend Brandon came to visit us. Matt showed them a little bit of KC & took them to Power & Light, where we stumbled upon a free Smashmouth concert! Two weeks later I went wedding dress shopping with my mom, Matt's mom, and my cousins Taylor and Marina and ended up finding my dress! Then the next day I joined the newlyweds Holly and Mike for the one mile zoo run at the Henry Doorly Zoo.
November: This wasn't the greatest of months but thankfully I had Matt, my loving family and great friends to help me through it and to help me just roll with the punches. For Thanksgiving Matt and I traveled about 6 hours to Peoria, Il to visit the Martin clan for the holidays! One of my good friends also let me know that her and her husband are expecting their first child to come in June! This definitely kept me going this month.
December: A much better month, I was able to reconnect with a lot of great friends from high school and spend time with both of our families for the Holidays. I also had three interviews for a Design Consultant position, I haven't heard a hiring decision yet but i'm hoping that something good will come my way career wise in 2011!
Overall 2010 was a great year and i'm excited for the new year to come!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Holiday Centerpiece Ideas
Ok so it's been a couple of days since I posted my last blog, sorry! Since I skipped a few days and I promised I would try to come up with an inexpensive Holiday decorating idea or tip everyday til Christmas, i'll post a few today to make up time. :) I'm mainly focusing on centerpiece ideas. After I finished decorating our Christmas tree this year, I had a few leftover ornaments and a decorative bowl from Target. So I just dumped out the decorations that were already in the bowl and replaced them with the ornaments. A picture of that is in one of my previous posts.
My next idea was to take a glass cake stand and gather either artificial garland, or go to my backyard and cut a few pine needles off our pine tree :). You can place several different items in the center of the stand, it just depends on what you have on hand or what you're willing to spend money on, and also what kind of look you're going for. Here are a few more ideas that I found while searching online, and they all seem pretty easy to create as well (my favorite one is in the middle). Here is another idea that I just love. Thanks for stopping by!
Continue reading Holiday Centerpiece Ideas
My next idea was to take a glass cake stand and gather either artificial garland, or go to my backyard and cut a few pine needles off our pine tree :). You can place several different items in the center of the stand, it just depends on what you have on hand or what you're willing to spend money on, and also what kind of look you're going for. Here are a few more ideas that I found while searching online, and they all seem pretty easy to create as well (my favorite one is in the middle). Here is another idea that I just love. Thanks for stopping by!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
More Christmas Decor :)
I can't believe it's December 2nd already! Today is also my mom's birthday, Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! So I have had a lot of free time lately and I have been able to clean and decorate the house. I just wanted to share what I made yesterday after reading Modern Jane's blog. It's a free and easy way to decorate for Christmas, all you need is a color printer, paper and a picture frame. You can go here for the free Christmas printable, you can also use this cute one too. Here is what the finished product looks like!
From now until Christmas I'm going to do my best to post a free or mostly free holiday decoration idea or tip. So keep checking back to see what I have come up with!
Continue reading More Christmas Decor :)
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Engagement Photos!!
There here!! I received our engagement pictures in the mail yesterday and I love all of them! It was very hard to choose my favorites because they all looked soo good! I also was just way too excited and I already started designing my save the date and it's pretty much finished (even though I won't be sending those out for at least 2 more months!). Well as I promised, here are my two favorites:
I hope everyone has a great day! :)
Continue reading Engagement Photos!!
I hope everyone has a great day! :)
