{ Happy Wintery Weekend }

Happy weekend to everyone! I'm finally posting photos of my Christmas village I decorated a few weeks ago during craft night.
It's chilly here, stay warm ;)

{ Happiness is..... }

* sharing a warm spot next to the fire

* creating lasting memories with family
* A Christmas Story movie 24hrs.
* singing out loud to Christmas tunes in the car
* sorting through the years worth of photographs
* taking time out to reconnect with sisters
* warm holiday glow
* finding a comfortable yet chic holiday outfit
* snuggling with the family pups
* stocking up on leggings
* new magazine subcriptions
* making it safely through another wintery commute
* automated post office machines

May you delight in your own Happiness this season ;)

{EV Photography}

{Renegade Handmade- Online}

Read all about it! The Renegade Handmade On-Line Shop is now OPEN! Just in time for a little holiday shopping too! Take a look around and check back here for updates on new products and other fun stuff.

Happy Shopping ;)

*For Holiday orders, please place them by December 18th.

{ Memory Display }

It's times like these that really help one sort out what's really important. Family is and now more than ever are my comfort, home, and joys of my life. Browsing through my digital photo albums I pulled my favorite memories from the past year and turned them into B & W photos. I think B & W never fails to turn a color photo into a timelessly classic looking moment in time. I was inspired to group these photos into a collection with the help of the ever beautiful wall displays from Pottery Barn. These silver gallery frames look so modern and makes every photo stand out on its own, which is exactly the esthetic I am looking for. Pottery Barn now offers downloadable wall templates to help you plan your frames and space with style! Here are my favorite wall gallery's. I'm also happy to share with you some of my favorite memories that might make my memory wall in the near future ;)

{EV Photography}

{ One of a Kind Show }

How great is it to make weekend plans in the middle of the work week? If you are in the Chicago area, the One of a Kind Show would be a great show to check out this weekend. I am meeting up with some friends to check out all the goodies by indie artists. This might hopefully be the motivation I need to begin my holiday shopping ;)

{ Stretch.....}

I hope you all had a lovely long holiday weekend. I rarely post on a Sunday but thought it might be a nice treat to recap the holiday weekend. I feel so revived and ready to start the work week with full creative force....aahhhh.. I heart that feeling! I'd love to hear how your holiday weekend went too.

Here's how I spent my carefree days:
~ finished my christmas village (photos to come)
~ started working on 2009 calender
~ tuned into the Light 93.9 & rocked to holiday classics
~ saw my newest favorite movie Australia (I laughed & cried, twice)!
~ slept in every morning until 10!
~ made awesome garlic mashed potatoes for our family feast
~ took our 4 family pups to the dog park for a pre-feast walk & trot

{ Craft Night }

Happy Friday everyone! Tonight my stylist/design friend Jill is hosting craft night at her house. We are transforming these plain paper mache houses into a Christmas village. I've painted them using nickel and silvery copper spraypaint to give them a vintage lived-in feel and will be spending the rest of the night decoupaging, decorating, and gossiping over a bottle o wine. There is such a comfort in creating on a cold winter's night, don't you agree? I'll be sure to post the finishing touches next week. Be well ;)

{These house can be found at Hobby Lobby}

{ Small Magazine }

Small Magazine has just come out with their newest collection of all things small (in size) but big in every other way. This magazine primarily showcases children's products and designs but it is also all for showcasing small-scale productions including illustrations and other creative goodies. Plus very adorable editorial photography and featured products for the little person in your life.

{How cute is this color it yourself wallpaper!}

{Photos by Small Magazine}

{It's beginning to feel....}

A lot like Christmas!
Is it too early to start listening to Christmas music before the Thanksgiving holiday? Not when it's my favorite time of the year! And with the upcoming Renegade Holiday craft fair on its way, I'll be sure to find special gifts for loved ones this year. Oh, joy!

{All Jeweled Out}

I've been working with our Art Director Beth on these jewelry shots for the past few days in hopes of getting more work for the studio. Happy Monday you all! Stay warm.

{Textile Republic}

Textile Republic is a unique interactive community. Founded by Kimberley and Brian Osborne in the spring of 2007 to promote the work of aspiring textile designers across the globe. Textile Republic not only presents a forum for designers to show off and display their talent, but also provides them with a real chance to earn money for their designs. Every 4 to 6 weeks Textile Republic will select the most creative and popular (based on user voting) patterns to be printed and will be used to create a line of fabrics, clothing, wallpaper, stationery, and other merchandise. Designers whose patterns are selected to be printed and sold by Textile Republic receive $1,000 cash for their design and a 5% royalty on profits. They are currently seeking design submissions for their upcoming competition entitled, "Preppy with a Twist" that ends December 1st, 2008. Here are a few samples of what designers have already submitted. I couldn't think of a better way to start off a new week than with some healthy design competition!

Photos & Designs by Textile Republic}

{New Day}

I woke up this morning wondering if last night was all just a dream. Happily it was not. I don't know about you but after last nights election outcome I have had a lightening of the spirit that has stuck with me all day. I realize that one person cannot change the outcome of the world. But I know it takes just one person to get things rolling in the right direction and a special person to awaken others to take action for the greater good. It is truly a new day.

{Jewelry Workshop}

Over the past few weeks I've been really into making and remaking jewelry tailored to fit me and my petite frame. It seems like everything these days just seems to be getting bigger and bigger in scale and size that most things in the store just drown me. So I've been taking jewelry apart with the help of my trusty tool kit from Michael's. My aunt came over the other day and saw what I was working on and asked me if I could lead a workshop on how to resize and restructure jewelry. I happily replied yes and am now in the process of organizing a girls get together to demonstrate some techniques. I am by no means an expert by any measure but through trial and error and lots of practice of the years have learned ways on how to make jewelry work in my favor. Here are some of the things that I have remade recently. Happy voting to you all today!

{Photos by EV}

{Spirit of the Season}

I happened to find these while poking around OK Great's blog. There's actually a site dedicated to creating these crafty politico pumpkins over at Yes We Carve.

{Design Freebies}

Head over to Mujka Design shop for free delightful design downloads like these contemporary & vintage swatches. Aren't they lovely? Design makes me uber excited!

{Book Wishlist}

I am overcome by all these great patterns & designs from the Simply Pattern book from Victionary. Its a great collection of patterns that are showcased on fabric, products, interiors and installations in this book. Which makes it a definite pick for my book wish list. Any recommendations for tasty eye candy design/type/illustration books like this one?

{Photos by Victionary.com}