365 Days of Coffee + Summer List

So last night, listening to intermittent fireworks and smelling lit grills around the neighborhood, I started feeling . . . summery!  Living in Florida now, I kind of miss that ecstatic New-England-come-June attitude of "Time to get out!  Finally!  While we CAN!"

 Inspired by the atmosphere and a fantastic post from Beth at Home Stories A to Z, I made up a summer list of things I want to do before Labor Day - some of my activities came from her list, and some I thought of all by myself.

Underneath the espresso this morning is a first draft of the project that will hopefully go up on the wall above my desk, and - if I did everything right - a link to the full list is right  here!

Monday's Mood

My FiOs service has been all over the map today - I think it's trying to take a holiday, as well!  Two things inspired today's mood - the picture my honey sent me from Up Nawth and sunshine so bright it's reflective!  Enjoy and hope this encourages you to get out today (with sunglasses :)

Credits, clockwise from left:  Etsy, Google, Cartwheels (well, Cartwheels' honey) , Design Sponge

365 Days of Coffee + B&A Side Table

edited to add:  the following pictures are declining to have themselves edited.  We've been over it in Picnik and Picasa, and they simply refuse editing.  My apologies (advice for convincing them is welcome).

Good sunshiny morning, and Happy Memorial Day!  I finally got the hardware for this little side table, so it's ready for a Before and After!  Here's the before:

Not the worst Craigslist find, eh?  A little too dark and moody for me, though.  A coat of Martha Stewart's Macadamia,  then a faux glazed mixed with a smidge of Molasses and the lovely Anthropologie hardware, et voila:

Loving it!  

365 Days of Coffee

Mmmm, new espresso . . .

PS:  I will have succeeded when my cups look like this

Blue Bottle Coffee, via The Makers

Ooooh, and when I can buy these:

365 Days of Coffee + new knob

Good morning!  This is a little side table next to our couch, now all tricked out with its new knob.  Wiggled into a back corner, short and mostly hidden by the arms of said couch, it doesn't get much love other than optically-illusioned invisible drinks-resting.    

Fortunately for this forgotten piece, I was shopping hardware at Anthropologie last week and they had some fab knobs on sale.  $2.95 each?  Sign. Me. Up.  Especially since I was paying full price and inordinate shipping for another super-special pull already (I'm a sucker for doing that - buying more online than I had planned to, 'justifying' the shipping charges).  

So pretty!  Here's Sir New Knob with lowly Old Knob, who will quietly wait for some at-yet-determined repurpose the drawer he used to decorate.

Happy Saturday everyone - I'm off to the Farmer's Market, and will hopefully return with some interesting shots for Sarasota Saturday.

365 Days of Coffee + film grain

I think I would like to live here, with my bedroom being the last [fully visible] window on the left.  That way, when people asked where I lived, I could say "Where the vines creep into my bed."

Then, of course, no one would come over due to my inherent oddity and faint visions of Little Shop of Horrors, but no matter:).  

Dandelions, seven ways!

My wonderful honey sent me a picture from Sydney, NS this afternoon - a field of dandelions!  I know they're supposed to be weeds and people cut them, but I  also know I'm not the only one who wouldn't dream of such a thing.  The proof is in the Pinterest:

via google
Au natural 

via goodmorningandgoodnight.com

In white

via eachlittelword.typepad.com
Defined

 via printpattern.blogspot.com

Stylized

via Gerogienne

And so, so smirking!  

Last but not least - 

 (via  Italian Handful)

As a side dish!  My grandmother used to make these all spring and summer and they were delicious.

Any more dandelion love out there?  What's your wildflower/weed of choice?

365 Days of Coffee

plus

Is my idea of after-dinner.  Rosewater Sorbet via Pinterest 

Many attempted conversions later . . this is still the best formatting I could do!

With a lovely painted image picked up on Pinterest as a backdrop and lyrics I heard on an old episode of House last week, I finally made a postcard that approximates what I had in mind to send CKP in Nova Scotia.  The font is free, Jane Austen.  

Now, I have a feeling I made this whole little project as complicated as possible - I created it in Word, with three text boxes (one each for the fade image, the actual text, and the border).  I could NOT, for the life of me, find another way to auto-format my postcard size (yes, I printed it on an actual blank postcard - though I debated just making it paper-size and sending it in an envelope!).  THEN I made it into a jpg, which came out paper-sized for no reason that I know of, which messed with my [apparently limited] abilities in Picnik, which further messed with how it looks before you now.

I can attest to two things with absolute certainty - the sentiment is heartfelt and the finished product is adorably imperfect.  The stamps matched, but are crooked around the address.  My handwriting became even and romantic when writing a message on the back (but I didn't think anyone else wanted to read my missing-my-love letter).  I think it's my favorite sent-craft yet. 

Score one for me - although it wasn't on my projects list, per se . . .    

In case you thought I was bored . . .

This board is ever-expanding, and never-ending!  I think the problem is starting on everything all at once, and leaving approximately seven thousand loose ends on all of it . . . ever do that?  I ALWAYS do that :)

365 Days of Coffee

Would the invisible tea and morning coffee taste better if I were wearing this dress?  Yes, yes I think they would.  

MYO Art & Matting

In reality, these are straight and evenly placed - I cannot figure out why the photo makes them so wonky!

So, I have an aversion to blank walls.  The empty space above the television - which faces the couch, back to the awkward corner above - has been irking me since we moved in, but what to do?  Hang a plant?  Floor lamp (that would never be lit, as it is right near the TV)? Or go custom?

Guess what I chose:)

What you'll need:
- Coffee table book
- Large piece of card stock/poster board (mine was 49 cents @ Walgreens)
- Paint/brush
- Pencil
- Razor/Xacto
- Scrap wood
- Tape/glue gun

The thing about coffee table books is that they look so pretty, but are usually stacked on top of each other for optimal styling, hardly ever opened.  Until this project, I only glanced through mine on occasion, and I doubt visitors saw anything other than the cover, ever (oh, except for Jon Stewart's America.  People borrow that one).

I have a ton of art-based coffee table books, so I sat down perused the double-layouts for the right colors.  This one is an old Harper's Bazaar cover that I probably couldn't afford in 'real' print, but the photo quality is excellent, and the image is already prime for corner placement.

Tear out the photos without killing them (or any others):  Wet the center, where the pages are bound, with a small brush and minimal amount of water.  Go slowly, inching down from the top for a bit, then the bottom, working toward the center.  When finished, leave the book until dry.

Paint the card stock/poster board:  Not evident in my photo, I painted it the same macadamia as our TV stand, in small swirls that texturize the mtt.  Let dry (mine required two coats).

Cut the mat: Measure out the size of your mat frame (silhouette-style, so you end up with a solid square/rectangle) , according to the art size and how large you'd like your borders - mine are two inches around legal-sized art.  To make the 'window' the art shows beneath the mat, put the card stock face down on your work surface, then center the art face down on top of it and trace the outline with a pencil. Remove art, and trace a border about 3/4 of in inch inside the outline.  

Using the razor, slice along the inside border lines, to cut out the window.  I used a piece of scrap wood under the face down card stock to make slicing easier and cleaner, but if your razor is sharp enough and you're not worried about cutting into your work surface, it's not necessary.

Tape or glue the art:  I chose to use strips of tape to adhere the art to the new mat (everything still face down), after my glue gun ran out of glue (oops!).  If you choose glue, run a VERY THIN line around the 3/4 inch between your window and the outline, and smooth the art to the mat quickly - if the line is too thick, you'll end up with the art stuck to your work surface after glue smooshes out of the window after smoothing, and tear the image peeling it off.

Flip over and hang!  I don't suggest the tack method I'm temporarily employing, but I ran out of Command strips and, well, everything we do is a work in progress to some extent!

Good luck, and I'd love to see your creations - patterned mats?  MYO art inside MYO mat? And what have you come up with to address blank corners?

Linked to: 

365 Days of Coffee

It's all about round edges this morning - the cylindrical stems, saucer and cup, table, saucer shadow . . . big ball in the sky:) 

Monday's Mood

It was supremely humid and cloudy here today, full of blooms too hot open, thirsty for the threatening rain that  still hasn't come.  The kind of day where you just wait for those huge heavy clouds to open up and pour instead of hanging in the air, all oppressive and laden like a hothouse.

Monday's Mood in an ode to the bulbous thunder clouds and those thirsty flowers.

Credits, clockwise from top left:  Felt Necklace Tutorial, namoilio, Elizabeth S, le souk

Outside the [hat] Box

A collage (look who is getting more familiar with Picnik!) of my two keepsake hatboxes prior to their transformation.  They both had the same, fairly generic Tommy Bahama print.  The octagonal box is smaller, and, in this photo, already has a coat of primer and a coat of white paint.  I would so use spray paint next time.

Since these are going in the revamping bedroom, they needed a yellow/black/white facelift (although if I could have painted them woodgrain, I would).  So a little painter's tape, Jane Austen font, and a sharpie later . . .

Yes, my Sharpie skills leave a bit to be desired.  The script reads boite a tresor (box of treasures) and they're certainly not something one would pay, say 50 cents for at a garage sale.  But they hold a collection of personal mementos, and making them personal (not perfect) and somewhat matchy with the room was the goal.

Accomplished!

What would you have done differently?  I'm thinking black electrical tape for what are supposed to be straight black outlines, and the spray paint, obviously. What else?

365 Days of Coffee + Progress!

Two months ago, this is how I took my daily coffee picture:

 I styled, framed, edited, you name it to the best of my knowledge at the time.  And this is today's:

While I've obviously got a long way to go (last night I played with Picnik for hours, trying to re-create the Instagram effects 'by hand,' so I can add the same ideas without resorting to one-click, pre-made lovely), there are few things more gratifying than progress.  

It's a little painful to look at my earliest posts, but I'm successfully resisting the urge to edit them all (content included) so that another two months from now I can feel the same sort of mental boost, same sense that this is not all for naught.

Do you find yourself looking back with the same kind of pride?  Or does embarrassment/perfectionism tend to take over and lead you to makeover your earlier posts to reflect your current skills?  

365 Days of Coffee

Another Instagram shot - I feel a teeny-weeny bit like I'm cheating on the original purpose of 365, but I comfort myself with three things:

1) The composition is original for the series

2) Playing with photo-editing software is part of the deal

3) This was taken today 

Time for me to hop in the shower - enjoy your Sunday, everyone!

Saturday in Sarasota

The docks along Sarasota's Bayfront Drive, looking North

West facing . . .

There are still 'working' boats, and - as a native of working-class coast, I tend to seek them out.  I enjoy their stress lines and rust, their toil.

365 Days of Coffee + Arty iPhone App

Hi there,

Jayca @ Cartwheels just shared an Instagram photo with you:

view full image

"Good morning!"

Thanks,

The Instagram Team

This (free!) app is a ton of fun to play with, all sorts of filters, etc.  I took this shot just started applying filters - all of a sudden, I'm a creative genius!  If you're the Twitter/Facebook type (aka, the rest of the world) this adds an airish feel to the most mundane activities.


You will see more of these . . .  

For Giggles

As you may or may not know, my honey CKP is justifiably proud of his rich Swiss heritage - he grew up spending summer and winter vacations in Switzerland with his mother and maternal grandparents, where the (huge) family has various houses (chalets, rather) in various sweet little villages - all with some of the most stunning views I've ever seen.  

Note my complete disregard of all that with this rather witty (I think!) poster I made upon finding the Keep Calm O Matic (via Lexi).  This took me a whopping two minutes to create (the red is still a bit off) and I think he'll find it a cracker-jack addition to his office upon his return.

Or maybe not . . . but I'm printing and matting it all the same.

      

365 Days of Coffee

Wow it's a busy day!  I love the way the light came in on my cup this morning,and  although I usually try to show the espresso, this one was just too halo-like to pass up.  Not much for content this run-around Friday, but I'm  working to still take a photo and post it every day no matter what.  So, I've succeeded in that, at least!

Best wishes all around - if anyone has fab ideas on how to squeeze the art into hectic days, I'd love to hear them.  I'm admonishing myself as we speak (type) b/c I have quite a bit else to do before the busses stop for the night.

How do you justify taking the time to craft, create, appreciate?  Even if only to yourself?  

Sweet Nothings

As you may or may not know, my honey travels for work pretty much constantly during the spring, and I'm always on the lookout for/dreaming up new little things to send him, to remind him that he is loved (I operate under the assumption that everyone loves real mail, especially when 'coming home' to a santized, blank hotel room night after night).

To that end, this is what I sent to Canada this afternoon:

This began as one of those free wooden paint stirrers from the Home Depot, and took all of an hour(?) to become a fairly feasible ruler.  On the flip side:

"I love you beyond measure"

I thought this was just so cute, though very poorly executed (the dots and hearts on this flip side are just plain  ugly) and  I happen to know that exceedingly talented folk inhabit blogland, and can fashion something similar but far more beautiful.  

I invite examples!  Please!  This was something I could make with what I had on hand (wooden stirrer, yellow paint, actual tape measure, black sharpie) and zero planning (I thought of it during my shower, crafted it during the awkward time I wait for my hair to dry 'naturally' before artfully tousling it) and send today.  

I'd really love to see what someone with real crafting supplies (and, say, better pretty penmanship) and less time constraints could do.  Spread the love!

PS:  Must credit inspiration to seeing this ruler pendant lamp not too soon after this lovely decal.  

365 Days of Coffee + New-to-Me Cups

So I broke out a collection of cups and saucers that CKP deemed unfit for espresso use - the sides of the cups are too thin to retain heat, the circumference too small to properly pour, etc.  They were a gift to him somewhere along the line, and I had kept them wrapped up, because their colors truly fit nowhere for display purposes.
But I was dusting this morning (random, machine-heating-up mini-chore) and decided that if I was going to dust the pretty box they came in, I might as well at least try them.
Of course he's right, and my morning jolt is a little off.  And I tried about seven different placements before coming close to a reasonable picture to post with this guy today.  But it's a new challenge to make these suckers bloggable, and we all know how much I love a challenge.

What have you tried to 'fit in' lately?  Or are you one of those fantastic curators that weeds out and gives up the superfluous pieces?

OOooh! I have that!

So much prettier than they're regular function(s)

While furiously going through my Reader tonight (trying to squeeze two days worth of material into approximately four hours), I came across the launch of a new style magazine, Collected, by LA designer and blogger Jessica Comingore.  It looks lovely, but - this being my blog and all - I'm more interested in one of her newer posts, which highlights the kitchen of textile designer Ashley Helvey, and - most importantly - the wooden bowls on the top shelf.   

I own them!  This never happens!  

With further clickage, I toured the whole house via the Design Sponge sneak peek, and found that she credits these bowls to a place called Value Village, "a true Northwest treasure." (Like the Christmas Tree Shops of the Northeast?)

I thus set out to grill CKP regarding the origin of these bowls (they, along with Harry the Duck, had been unearthed in the big move and, at my insistence, put to use).  He, burnt out from another 14 hour day in Nova Scotia, was less than helpful.   

So I say this:  I have bowls that someone with taste has, and that others with taste blog about.  

Of course, they hold spare change and mini Mr. Goodbars, keys and a few winning-dollar scratch tickets (plus that rope/tassel, which is currently awaiting repurpose after being removed from a redone hatbox), and are typically less artfully arranged on an entry table - but still.  Small pride.  I'll take it!

Botanical Baggage

Successful Trip!

I tend to have trouble with arranging flowers, and I think this arrangement (the way they collapse around my bag - yes, this is exactly what I was walking down the road with) is the best of the bunch.  Any thoughts?  Or, just look at pretty flowers:)
PS:  For more lovely blooms today, check out A Creative Mint's pretty pretty collage