Still Life Perspectives

This weekend as the last of my Valentine flowers were about to fade I wanted to capture thier beauty.  I love both of these perspectives for very different reasons. I am really drawn to the sparseness and use of negative space in both shots. And I really liked the ornate and rustic pattern of the surface I used. A found piece of metal waiting to be thrown out by its former owner.  The softness of the flowers mixed with the industrial surface is what I really love about these shots.

This series of still life shots really got me thinking about new ways to create photographs that are interesting to look at, simplistic in technique and using only natural window lighting. I hope to shoot more in the near future.

IKEA Family Live

Have you heard of this great source of interior inspiration known as IKEA Family Live?  I just found out about it last week and am excited to be sharing some of my favorite interior shots with you today!  My favorite thing about this site is that all the homes are real! You can tell, too..they just feel so comfy and lived in, love it!  All of these images can be found under the home stories page, where you can see and read in more detail about the singles, couples, and families that have transformed there spaces to work for them and their living needs.  I find it so fascinating to see how people from around the world set up their homes.  Don't you? Enjoy browsing through these archives!

Photos by IKEA Family Live

DIY Fabric Covered Potted Plants

To jumpstart the week I wanted to share a simple project I worked on this weekend.  I recently bought a few small potted plants from my local home depot to add some color to our bay window.  And instead of transferring the pots into a better looking pot I decided the quickest way would be to just cover them with materials I already had on hand.  A few pieces of fabric and yarn did just the trick!  I like the way these came out that I'm thinking of incorporating a handful of these fabric covered potted plants  (big and small) into the wedding decor. I'm digging the casual and rustic vibe these will bring to our day. Plus they are super affordable to boot! Wishing you a happy start to your week :)

LOVEly Day

What are you and your lovies doing to celebrate today?  Joe and I are treating ourselves to a special night out on Friday at Boka but tonight we are staying in and making a yummy chicken curry in coconut milk with soba noodles and unwinding with a glass (or 2) of vino! I always like to write a few sentiments in a card too...yes I'm a card person, but I don't really need a holiday to inspire me to pick up a pen.  I just enjoy capturing the moments through words.  After all, words are all we have, right!  To show those we love that they really matter and that they are enough.  And when words aren't enough we can always rely on crafting something sweet like this paper projects above!  How great is that giant pom pom heart!  May your day be a most lovely one indeed!

DIY Hearts/ Crayon Hearts/ Love Pom Pom

Inspired by: Dip Dyed Home Goods

 Antique Spoons, Side Table, Candles, Tablecloth, Baskets, Curtains

I always love to find new and unique DIY techniques to help reinvent and give home pieces a fresh new look.  I realize this dip dyed technique has been floating around the online community for a while but it's only just now pulled me into seeing its possibilities for a certain coffee table that I think would be a perfect dip dye canidate! Do you have any home decor trends that are calling you to rethink any home goods?  

Gifts from White Nest

  Top photo by me.  All other photography by White Nest.

Joe and I look forward to the Renegade Craft fair every year in Chicago.  It's just a great vibe with yummy eats and such a collection of crafty talent it makes my head spin (but in a good way)!  I love to talk with the artisians that set up shop every summer.  It's nice to get to know who you buy from, right! Joe noticed my loving gaze when we entered the booth of White Nest.  But being his sly self he just pretended not to notice.  So it was a nice surprise indeed when I recieved 2 lovely gifts from White Nest for the holidays!  Can you tell I love birds?!  Haha, well now they have a space on my wall and on the couch.  They are both minimal works of art and I am happy to have them in our interior mix!  They are currently having a great sale right now if you'd like a piece for your home too.

Holiday Home

 

When I take a moment to think about this holiday season I feel blessed with an abundance like no other this year.  Blessed to have my family (close by), a sound body and mind, love that continues to grow, confidence, peace of mind, and a steadfast passion to create- all on the brink of my 30th birthday (no less).  And a large part of this happiness comes from this little creative outlet of a blog and all the great people I've been so fortunate to meet along the way!  Your comments truly inspire me and help to motivate me to keep going and growing.  Thank you for all your encouraging thoughts and good cheer.
I can't wait to keep pouring my thoughts and ideas and share them with you here!  Here are a few snippets of what my home currently looks like this year.  Check out another amazing holiday home from my friend Theresa from inspirationCooperative.  Theresa said by sharing photos of your home, it's almost as if we (bloggers) are spending the holidays together!  I couldn't agree more with you Theresa!

Home for the Holidays: Photo Session

 

Over the weekend Joe and I spent Saturday afternoon capturing my friend Jill and her family in their beautiful home.  Jill works as a photo stylist, so I was even more excited to see how she had decorated this year for the holidays.  We had so much fun photographing her and the family decorating the tree, drinking lots of coffee and just spending the afternoon together.  The hard part for me was picking out my favorites to share with you today.  Happy Holidays!

Book Review: Amy Butler Midwest Modern

 

Photographs by David Butler

Happy Monday to everyone today!!  Today I'm happy to share a book review of one of my most creative inspirational people..Amy Butler.  She is and continues to be a creative force in the fabric design, pattern, and craft world.  Constantly expanding her hard and soft lines to include everything from plates, rugs, wallpaper, bedding, patterns, and a line of stationary (just to name a few).  I received this book Midwest Modern from my brother a few years ago for Christmas and I still reference it to help me whenever I am stuck in a creative rut or just need a fresh new perspective on things.  It's more of a lifestyle book and I think that's why I keep this book within arms reach on the bookshelf at home.  My favorite section of the book is getting a tour of her interiors where she displays a lot of her fabrics and patterns as a kind of rotating gallery of products while getting a glimpse of her studio space on the lower level of her home.  How fun to be able to divide your home into a completely separate work and live space!  A girl can dream, right?!  I hope to make room for this dream someday down the road at our next place.  But for now I'm glad to have a book where I can seek new creative ideas in design, home interiors, prints, fabrics, and home/work life. 

DIY Advent Calendar

Enjoy this little DIY I put together for you to countdown the 25 days of Christmas! I got this idea when I found out that these plastic sleeves were going to be thrown out at work.  I thought they would be the perfect size for a project like an advent calendar.  And since I don't have a mantel, I pinned these to the garland going up the stairs instead.  They just add a nice pop of holiday color to the staircase, I think. Have fun making one for yourself!  Let me know how yours turns out :)

Halloween Tricks & Treats!

Happy Halloween to you all today!  So glad you can join me today for this double topic post today!  I got loads of great feedback from bloggers loving the post I did about photographing on different "surfaces" last week.  So I thought I'd share with you another fun (and free) background to set your photographs on, paint chips! This works especially great for small objects to photograph, but you could also create a grid with these to shoot larger objects against!  Fun, right?!  Bonus: You'll have a rainbow of swatches to choose from at your local hardware store.  Just don't go crazy and stuff them all in your purse from sheer excitement, you might get some weird looks from store employees :)  I shot a small pairing of pumpkins against a few different paint chips, just to get your creative gears turning for your next mini-photo shoot ideas.

  I seem to have an endless supply of pumpkins these days, since our fall outing from last week to the pumpkin patch.  So I also included some easy ideas I'm using this season to display my gourds indoors and out.  Inside we keep them grouped together, on top of the microwave, no less :)  Until we find a better use for them... I smell a pie in my near future! And then I also used them to decorate my small outdoor landing area.  I also picked up a hay bale during our country outing last week, for (get this) 5 dollars!! Holla!  You can only find those steals in the country baby! :)  Okay, sorry I'm back.

In other news, I'm sorry to tell you that I am signing off my blog until next week as Joe and I have so much to prepare for this weeks wedding we are shooting together!  I'm talking planning some shots, buying more gear, getting our website in order, ordering business cards, the works!  Oh, and we are also setting up a photo booth for the wedding in between everything else.  Yep, it's a lot of work.  But who am I to complain?!  So until next week, take care!


Post Details:
Photography: evphotogal
Photo Templates: Pugly Pixel
Font: Journal

March Happy!

Hello to a promise of warmer weather and sun rises on my way to work!  I welcome March today with open arms in hopes that I'll be winding down on wearing multiple layers to keep warm. And I welcome this week with a hope full outlook as Joe and I returned yesterday from a long ski weekend we took with family and friends at Granite Peak, WI.  Our weekend was filled with good company, deer and moose sightings, cozy fires, board games, and of course skiing! The time spent away was totally what I needed to come back to my comfortable surroundings.  Don't you just miss your home and love it that much more when you return from a trip?!  We walked in last night after being gone for two nights and the first thing I couldn't wait to do was fall into my clean bed! And a few hours later, I did :) Today I wanted to share some wall stencil inspiration.  A perfect solution for renters like us who still want to add a punch to our walls. I like to give Joe a say in the decor details, he does have to live with them too after all :)  We are almost in agreement with this one from Cutting Edge Stencils. I love the soothing graphic shapes and I can't wait to see how it will look in our kitchen.  The stencils from the photos below are from Royal Design Studio. Any home projects on your to-do list for this month?

Home Happenings

Happy Monday to you all. It felt great this morning to stretch my legs after spending a much needed weekend mostly at home. And for great reason too, our couch that we've been much anticipating has finally arrived!! Joe and I love it and after being without a comfy place to unwind at the end of the day for weeks now, it's a much needed piece of furniture especially around this time of year. The only changes I made in the solid pillows was a switch in color. I traded in the turquoise for a chartreuse pair. I love the pop of color against the charcoal gray couch.

I also treated myself to a sheepskin throw I've had my eye on for a while. I love the soft comfy texture against the Herman Miller chair.

Oh and a little greenery on my kitchen window sill is well on it's way to sprouting. I planted these paper whites a few weeks ago and am enjoying watching them grow a little more each day.

Welcome back!

Jayson Home & Garden

Hi everyone. I'm back from a week long staycation. And what a great time it was to say the least! I slept in almost every day, dyed my hair back to it's natural color (dark brown), decorated my first real Christmas tree, made some yarn ornaments (photos to come) and other holiday decorations, stayed home on black Friday (yeah!), and managed to sneak in some rejuvenating workouts among all the yummy treats and eats! Although I throughly enjoyed my time off, I have to admit I enjoy coming back to a routine of a scheduled work day... I know, I just do :)
How was your holiday? Did you take some time for yourself?

West Elm

Here are some of the lovely shops I visited this week:

Jayson Home & Garden
Sprout Home
West Elm
Urban Remains

The Goodwin from West Elm

It's been decided and done! A few weeks ago Joe and I placed an order for our biggest purchase to date... a couch!! I couldn't be more excited to be receiving this comfy piece of furniture in a few weeks, just in time before the cold of winter sets in too. If your in the market for a couch or simply some fun decor ideas West Elm is the place to check out. The prices are affordable (our Goodwin rang in at 25% off the purchase price), the quality is comparable to that of Crate & Barrel and a growing number of their products are made under sustainable conditions. How can you beat that?

Goodwin in Slate.

Hello October

I'm just catching up on things from this weekend. It was so great to ease into the season this past weekend by spending Friday all by myself. I spent the day running errands, taking a cardio bootcamp class, and sprucing the outside with pumpkins, gourds, and purple mums! I even had time to carve my very first pumpkin while the seeds toasted up all yummy in the oven :)
For those of you who are just as head over heels for this glorious season as I am , I'd love to hear how your spending it!

For those of you who are looking for a seasonal lift, stop by That's Happy blog, and download a cute owl desktop wallpaper calender by illustrator Lisa Rupp. I have it on my work desktop, and love the hint of autumn it brings to my 9-5. Thanks Lisa for sharing!