Thirsty Thursdays | Fridge Love Inspiration

In 2011, I plan on bringing Thirsty Thursday's back with a vengeance! TT is the name, quenching your inspirational thirst is the game.

Ok enough of the cheesy talkero.

This week I am totally feeling the fridge love, and revamping fridge fronts (and sides!) to keep you and yours truly inspired on a daily basis (because everyone uses the fridge!).

A few fantastic things that have my heart singing these days:

[Button Magnets]

[Scrabble Tiles - but as magnets - they come in almost every character/cartoon/image imaginable, and I already have a few other nintendo themed ones from miss lizzy hanging out on my own fridge]

[the modern version of the alphabet set]

[pixel art on your fridge - who would have thought!?]

[you can have your cow, and drink your milk too!]

I think a lot of times - fridges get missed in that whole decor thing because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there to do with them. It seems that there is - you just have to do a little digging! And hey, if all else fails - there's always the option of covering with pictures of family and friends. That usually does the trick nicely too :)

Happy Thursday!

On Pretty Things That I Love

Since I've opened myself up again to be inspired by all the grand things I see on an everyday basis - I've been feeling guilty about keeping them to myself!!

Here are a few things I've found this week that I love love love <3

1. All things Marilyn (this has always been a little bit of an obsession of mine). I especially love this quote which has been ringing in loud and clear since I stumbled across it:


2. Really (I mean really!) adorable and fantastical tattoos like these ones from over at A Beautiful Mess. Whoever thought crafty women could look so BA?


They've got me daydreaming about a new bird design for my back shoulder....

3. Great storage studio spaces. I figure that the more ideas I collect now, the more choices I will have when it comes time to fill a studio of my very own... whenever I happen to get one!

Sometimes I feel like there are so many pretty things in the world that even the most largest house wouldn't be able to hold them all. I've been spending a lot of time really thinking about the things that make my heart sing, and inspire me to live happily and intentionally.

Funny thing is, is that by simply settling you are really robbing yourself of your ability to learn more about who you are deep down inside. In a sense it kind of feels like I'm waking up after a really long nap. I'm experiencing fashion, and colors and (gasp) trends in a whole new light now, and realizing how important to your individuality these things can be. It's funny how you can forget those things, especially if you are surrounded by people who don't take a particular interest in taking the time to find out what actually makes them unique.

We aren't meant to have the same interests, skills or musical interests as everyone else. We ARE however, meant to learn those sorts of things about ourselves. I mean really - you take the time to learn all about your best friend, or that lady or man friend you fancy.

Don't you owe your own heart the same?

On Great Things to Make this Holiday Season

With so many great craft shows, tutorials and guest blog posts throughout the blogosphere that I frequent - I nearly starting jumping up and down with exciting after seeing all of the great ideas out there.

Consider this my wishlist of things I'd like to do this holiday season.

They probably won't all happen. But at least I'm passing them along, right? I'll share my own creations as I get to them!

1. Autumn Fabric Wreath via Elsie Flannigan! So easy - even the kiddies can make them for Christmas gifts!


2. Tissue Paper Pom Poms for our 1st Annual Family of Friends Christmas Dinner this year!


3. Heart Garland for dressing up my soon-to-be clipboard wall (via Rachel @ Smile & Wave)


4. This super-duper cute braid idea for even the most unruley of days!


5. DIY Decals -- the ideas are unlimited && it's safe for renters (or owners not wanting to have to repaint!). I'm so excited to attach a few changeable inspirational pieces to our walls :)

Have a crafty itch, but not really sure where to start? Join me and dig in a little to bring some creativity to life!

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo Shan

On New Starts

Homeward bound
I wish I was Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing

- Simon & Garfunkel

This weekend we are moving home! I am so excited to start nesting all over again, and I'm already embracing and owning my creative ideas for our new space.

With unexpected lift-twists, come good things if we choose to see them. This is one of those occasions. Now that we will be back in our own humble abode, I am looking forward to creating a cozy reading & writing nook, and am currently on the hunt for the king of all cozy chairs.

This time around, I'm letting go of my inhibitions of making it our own. Since purchasing our apartment, I've always been afraid of showing too much personality in it, for some strange reason.

Possibly because my design ideas do not commonly match those of HGTV or Martha Stewart. I tend to like things like this:

or this:

or this:

I guess it's just plain scary to decorate the way you really love it, because you know (and I definitely know) someone close to me will absolute hate what I've done to the place. This person quite possibly could be Mr. Extraordinary, whom I live with (which could cause some potential problems).

Needless today, I'm very excited about this newfound courage to express my inner emotions, and I've already purchased a few major pieces in anticipation!

[Edit - move definitely did not happen. Still waiting....]

Photo Credit

Home Studio Inspiration | What I'm Reading Today

I'm pretty ashamed to admit that I've spent the majority of today down the rabbit hole.

The website/blog/art inspiration rabbit hole.

And I'm not taking about a measly hour or two. I pretty much wrote off 5 or so hours.

Mind you, it hasn't all be in one chunk (thank goodness!), but now my head is swimming with colours and happy thoughts.

I'm also currently contemplating between making my "built in" desk space, or my Ikea desk space my main working area. Because of this, I've been paying particular attention to other people's working spaces lately. I've found a few that I really like, such as this one from shopevalicious.com:

Coincidentally, she actually has the same desk as me... except her's looks so much neater than mine does on a regular basis!

I have been considering moving my desk out such as this, rather than having it up against a wall - but unfortunately, I don't think this is do-able, due to lack of space.

Another picture of her studio space made me want to jump in my car and drive to Ikea asap:


I had totally forgotten all about their racking storage option, where you can hang lovelies from the wall mountable bar. We had one of these in our old apartment, and we used to hang our flippers and such from it. Wall shelving would also be something worth investing in, considering the only shelving i currently have is tucked away in our laundry room.

And if I don't see my supplies - I'm pretty much guaranteed not to use them.

Unfortunately, my brain is so fried from all the reading & colourful pictures I've taken in today, that I don't exactly remember anything I've read. So much for promoting being literate (shakes finger at myself).

I'm going to craft.

Thirsty Thursday's | More Photo Collage Inspo

You have them.

I know you do.

Stacks and stacks of photos just waiting to be seen, framed and shown off, but instead they sit idle and collecting dust in photo boxes and albums.

There comes a point where every photographer (from the Polaroid totin' tween to the professional with bags of expensive equipment) that we start to wonder about the quality of our pictures vs. the quantity. Ok, maybe not the tween since usually during those years its all about capturing as many pictures as humanly possible in an attempt to freeze those moments for ever.

But as we get older, I think we naturally start thinking about the accumulation of stuff that seems to collect without our homes and our hearts. And sometimes, it's better to have 100 really good, soul baring pictures, rather than 1000 posed-for-in-front-of-disneyland/rose bushes/nice car style photos.

But once we start learning how to take those photos - then what do we do with them? Should we really just tuck them away with the other 40 grade 3 reading ceremony pictures? (not taking anything away from grade 3 reading ceremony pictures).

I'm thinking not.

Which is why I'm creating this post. To give you a little inspiration to dust off those old/new/even undeveloped pictures and pick out your favorite ones. No, they don't have to be cheery, and now they don't all have to be from the same christmas party/family reunion/wedding. Pick the ones that speak to your soul. That make you feel proud to say that you took that picture, that you captured that moment.

They don't even have to be of people that you know, or even people at all.

Sometimes we forget that photography isn't all about memories. Sometimes it's just about capturing a feeling.

So I'm sharing some inspiration that I've found recently, to help us all get those dusty pictures out of their nooks, and up! Up on walls, up on shelves, up on counter-tops. Heck, even up on the floors.


Framed.

Propped.

Lined

So those pictures are finally able to do what they were meant to do when the were taken - inspire us.

In whatever journey we are on.

To inspire us to be happy.

more creative.

giddy.

self-caring.

loving.

or to be still

So go on, be creative with your pictures. Even if you aren't creative by nature. Heck, even just copy what's done here. Your friends and family won't even know it was copied. They just might think you pulled that originality out of your butt.

But at the end of the day - you will have displayed your photos. Your artwork. And things that make you happy.

Now doesn't that just make you excited all on its own?

Pictures Source

Thirsty Thursday | Quenching a Thirst for Art

In 2006 I fell in love.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

With an artist by the name of Kurt Halsey.

Thanks to my completely random, picked on the internet, thank-god-she's-not-crazy roommate, I was introduced to this incredible artist and the many many prints/paintings/sketchings that he has completed, published, and sold since my first introduction.

If it hadn't been for Chelsea, I probably would have never heard of him, and would never have been so emotionally moved by cartoon like drawings. And for that (and don't worry Chels, for other things as well!) I am grateful I met her.

What do these pieces of art look like, you ask? I will show you.



It could be my meloncholy nature, or the place I was in [in my life] when i first discovered them - but for some reason, I found myself in a lot of them.

The words he choses to adorn certain drawings, the use of whimsical lines that somehow capture the feeling of the picture, his ability to display an entire emotion without even showing his subjects face - makes us remember the way things were, the way things are, the way things were supposed to be, or the way things will be.

Another thing that I really like about these pieces is that each and every one seems to mean something a little bit different. They make you feel a little bit different than the previous.

they seem to pull out memories that we've somehow forgotten about and stored so far back in our minds that it surprises us when we find ourselves reminiscing.


Some messages are hidden, some of obvious, a few are even blunt [not shown here].

My ultimate goal is to one day own this beautiful piece (and if i'm going to pine for something materialistic - let this be it).
My next tattoo is actually going to be one of his works, but that's a completely different post all on its own.

one love

P.S. a week or so ago, I started the no complaint challenge, as created by Kayla [friend, not sister]. I'm happy to report that I have been doing surprisingly well. I've been catching myself starting to complain, but then force myself to change the direction of the statement/sentence/whiny question into something that could not possibly be taken as a complaint. Kind of like quickly searching for the silver lining to all things not-so-good.
and it feels great.
Is anyone completing it along with us? How are you guys getting by?

Thirsty Thursday | Quenching Your Home Decor Thirst

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Mr. Extraordinary and I are working on de-cluttering our home (and then fill it up with things that are completely and totally us). Needless to say, I have spent way to many minutes (ok... hours) oogiling over beautiful homes and nifty things that I would splurge upon if i had unlimited dollars (or unlimited time to make).

Now, since I have a tendency to be a little too quirky, or like things that are a little to unique or non-mainstream i DO have to tone it down a little bit, because of the size of the space that we have. It's been really fun piecing together the images in my head of how to mesh mine and his ideas of home decor - without making our apartment look like a total clash of ideas.

When we first moved in, I had this wild idea to create a photo collage. This idea, however, was halted early as we decided to change the original layout of our living room furniture. So I resorted to a smaller photo collage instead. Which I love, except that a) it's too small b) it's too plain and c) it's not actually finished. Lucky for me, it is easily up-grade-able, allowing me to embark on a search for picture frames that look like this:

(source)

I've been checking out local thift stores online, in search of these beauties, and hope to find the perfect ones to bring home to adorn my walls.

Also, a few more things peaking my interest lately that I am playing with somehow incorporating into our space of living:

(source)
[really liking this idea for my office at work. quirky. but not too much. sleek. different. and it's a fully functional white board!]
(source)

(source)
(this girl has tons tons tons of really neat home decor ideas hidden away in her blog + the occasional tutorial that even the anti-homemaker can complete, without want to pull on le hair.

And this take on the inspiration board [by breaking it out into a ton of mini project inspiration boards] is tots inspiring. Will be coming to a wall near me!

and, because i forgot to mention it earlier this week... happy March!

time to put away the mini pumpkins...

... and bring out the actual scarves (not just pashminas!), mittens and those cute pins for your winter jackets.

This past little while i have been brainstorming Christmas gift ideas for those still outstanding on my list (about 4 or 5 - go me!), trying to finish up some handmade items, and trying to plan holiday gatherings. Also trying to get my novee scotia package ready to go, so i can ship it ahead of schedule. It's my first year putting together a package of my own, and it feels kind of cool. like i'm starting to get all growed up :)

I've been down the etsy rabbit hole again, and i've decided i just have to share these awesome items that i've found:

1. ShabbyChicFairytale 2. polkadotmagpie 3. melaniefavreau 4. ChickadeeVinyl

And then i found these seasonal items, but i will only share a few because i know a lot of people just aren't ready for the onset of christmas decorations just yet!

1. missmosh 2. NestaHome 3. TerreMum

Even though we are just now heading into winter, i am already super excited for the summer months to come, as we have travel plans this year! Jess and I will be traveling to my hometown this June to celebrate a cousin of mine getting married! We weren't sure if we were both able to make it home for the celebrations, as Jess's work does their vacation time based on seniority and a lot of people have been at his place of work for a very very very long time. But luckily enough, he got the time off he requested, so we are set to book our flights as soon as the next seat sale comes on. I'm looking forward to spending time with family, and he's looking forward to jumping in the ocean. I have forwarned him that it will most likely still be freezing in June, but he hasn't let that dampen his spirit.

Also - i ended up getting a new phone. I discovered that i cannot function without a crackberry. So i ended up going with the blackberry curve and it is lovely lovely lovely. For the first time ever i have the whole shebang (meaning i've subscribed to the data package which gets me emails, voice to text messages -it takes voicemails, converts them to text, and then texts you the information!- blackberry messenger, msn messenger & gmail messenger). it's enough to drive a person crazy, that's for sure. Everytime my phone makes a noise now, it is for a difference kind of message, and half the time i don't even know what the noise means! Go me + technology!

Ah well, i'll have it figured out sooner than later.

Anyways, time to get back to the grind here at the office - gotta keep up with the overflowing inbox!

Here's to slowly bringing christmas cheer into our hearts and homes.

one love