good morning lovelies! did you have a good labor day weekend? ours was busied with lawn mowing and sewing, but it was wonderful to be at home! today i wanted to share with you one of my latest favorite finds, 17 dove street.

erin godbey authors 17 dove street and though she’s only been blogging for six months, her content is that of a pro’s!  she is a craftster, cook, party planner and lover of all things handmade.  through her amazing photography, she shares diy projects, recipes, party pics, art and so much more- you’re sure to be inspired by the time you leave.  plus, she’s heading up the fabulous indie craft parade coming up this weekend! what does she not do?

wrap up: {17 dove street} {blog} {erin godbey} {indie craft parade}

so, i’ve recently discovered the wonderful world of dingbats and vector graphics!  who would have thunk all the possibilities?  these flower silhouettes are a free vector image download, and by changing the color and transparency of them, i was able to come up with this!

these leaf images are dingbat fonts, i used a mixture of arboris folium and wm leaves- both free from dafont.com.

this we love nature flower font is the first one i found that really sparked my inspiration.  isn’t it stunning?  unfortunately, i can’t find it anywhere for free, but you can purchase it right here.

i bet you’ll never think of fonts the same way again.  this one is called gardening font with sue, it’s free and full of little gardening characters!

kalosca flowers is another free download and has a different flower top for each letter of the alphabet.  if you browse the dingbat section on dafont i’m sure you’ll be able to come up with tons of your own inspirations.  let me know what your favorites are!

wrap up: {dingbats} {flowers} {foliage} {fonts} {graphics} {images} {vector}

as we’re all making ourselves at home in our new space, the timing for my pin it forward post couldn’t be more perfect!  pin it forward comes from victoria over at sfgirlbybay and is a great way of connecting hundreds of bloggers!  she teamed up with my favorite new web tool, pinterest, to bring this times theme of ‘what home means to me’.  how perfect!  if someone asked me what going home to roost was about, i think i’d pretty much sum it up by saying, ‘it’s about what home means to me’.  melissa passed the torch to me in her post yesterday and i’m pinning it forward to sam over at good measure for tomorrow! so without further adieu, this is what my home (and appropriately, blog) means to me!

the biggest thing that home means to me, is living in the mountains.  if fact, that’s exactly why i went home to roost.  i was tired of living in a big city while i went to school, and new it was seriously time for me to go home to roost.  so i journeyed back to my favorite place on earth, the smoky mountains.  yes, it’s a small town and i have to drive an hour to get to target (3 hours to get to trader joes) but how could i give up all this beauty?  all these pics were taken from around my area, and i couldn’t live without seeing the beauty that surrounds me.  the mountains, lakes and all the wildlife gives me inspiration and spirit (as long as i’m viewing the bears from behind the safety of my car windows!).

pins from: rod the rabid rodent, deb campbell, mharoldsewell, abennett23, a selfmade view

the second thing that makes my home is cozy comfy places to curl up to nap, read, blog, or sip tea.  i’m a serious lover of all things comfortable, and for a place to feel like home, it’s got to be cozy, soft and warm.

pins from: the little green, dede p., sfgirlbybay, ivy style33, bonnieforkner

something i’ve learned (rather recently) is that there is nothing that makes my home feel more home-y than having fresh flowers around.  there’s something about bringing the beauty from the outside in.  if i’m stressed, tired or having brain farts and writing blocks- all i have to do is go pick some flowers and arrange them in a vase to start feeling rejuvenated!

pins from: carrie m. becker, yoshiko314, bonnieforkner, *mayxxx*, ara133 photography, a creative mint

my home wouldn’t be home if i didn’t have a healthy mix of old and new.  i love putting some found item from a thrift store beside a brand new ikea lamp.  i love the dimension created by mixing textures and eras, and have an interesting nostalgia for a time i never lived in!  bringing old items in and around helps my home have a story, and how fun it is to think about what different items have seen or been through!

pins from: bonnieforkner, solveig flittiglisene, gloryof 80s, bricolagelife

finally, what is a home without a little bit of homesteading?  i’ll always remember the first tomato i ate from my garden, and the first egg i found laid by my hens (i ran around the yard screaming, while i held it up in the air).  eating from the land (or from a front porch potted basil plant) brings home a little closer to the heart.  i like to think that even if the whole world stopped around me, david and i could still go on at our tiny home, eating eggs and picking apples.

pins from: bonnieforkner, honey & jam photography, the bear foot shaman

so there you have it!  that’s what home means to me.  what does it mean to you? you can view all my pinboards (with more photo details) on pinterest. you can also find out more about the pin it forward project here.

wrap up: {bloggers} {home} {pin it forward} {pinterst}

{welcome to our nest by freshline}

hello darlings!  welcome to our new cozy home! go grab yourself a cup of tea and make yourself at home.  if you’re viewing this in a reader, you might want to hop on over to the site so that you can see the new design! the amazing jo klima of the darling tree designed the new look, and has done a brilliant job of turning my dreams into reality! i hope you’ll have fun finding your way around the new format.  there are just a few things i would like to point you towards.  1st, all of the gardening, simple living, etsy shop help, and diy projects are now visually archived so that you can find them easily, anytime you like!  to view them, just head up to the nav bar and click through the icons on the right.  2nd, you’ll find the search, categories and archives over on the right beside my welcome.  and 3rd, the blogroll, friends and share links are now located under lovely links at the top.  enjoy browsing, let me know if you have any questions, and let me know what you think of the new look!

oh yes, and the giveaway winner is….  #56- courtney pearce!  congratulations!

wrap up: {blog} {cozy} {design} {giveaway winner} {home} {nest} {theme}

{stork in blue}

the time has finally come!  many of you know that a new design for going home to roost has been in the works, and the time to share it with you is almost here!  i’ve been working with the spectacular jo from the darling tree and what she’s created has exceeded even my highest expectation!  i think you all will really love it.  it will be a brand new theme as well as a brand new format which is not only more visually appealing, but much more easily navigable as well.

the new theme will be going live this monday! the site may be down a bit over the weekend, and maybe a little on monday as well, but bare with us, we’ll try to avoid it!  also, i’ll be posting updates on the status of the new design on twitter, if you would like to follow the progression there.

next time i see you, we’ll be moved into a new home!

xox, bonnie

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this beautiful work comes from kate macandrew, a mixed media artist from england who is obviously, inspired naturally! i love how she combines her passion for nature with her ability to take beautiful photographs, paint and draw- and she shows all three in each of her art prints.  each print has so much character and depth, and seamlessly takes your right in to nature.

make sure to also check out her beautiful blog (hint: designed by the darling tree, who is also designing the new theme for ghtr!)

wrap up: {art} {draw} {mixed media} {nature} {paint} {photography}

hello from the beach everyone!  we finally made it and are settled in for the week!  i’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, you can see my first glance of the ocean here!  it feels so nice to have nothing else to do other than write and relax- ahhhhh.

oving on, have you heard of jessica hishche’s daily drop cap project? the daily drop cap is an ongoing project where jessica posts a new hand-crafted decorative letter every day!  you can use the beautiful typography she provides for your personal enjoyment and beautification of your blog (not for branding or logos, read usage limitations here).  going far beyond type, jessica also illustrates and writes a wonderful blog, both of which will surely inspire you!

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hello beloveds!  instead of an etsy shop help post today, i’m writing about something that i often get asked about, how do i ‘pretty up my posts’? the good news is, that there are many resources out there to help you doll up your images, posts and projects!  the bad news is, some are free and some aren’t- so i’m just going to outline a few for you today.

first things first, digital tape seems to be the biggest craze!  on the left is one of my favorite masking tapes called naked tape elements from designer digital (costs $3.50).  the 2nd set is my latest absolute favorite tape download, available for FREE from pugly pixel!

other favorite tapes are these stripey ones ($3.99) and these colorful masking tape ones (also $3.99).

the other thing you’ll see me occasionally do, is use ‘paper’ on my posts.  this effect could be obtained by a number of different ways (free, i’m sure), but i bought this notebook paper pack from designer digitals. all of these downloads are easy breezy to use, just download, unzip the file, and then start using them in your desired program (usually photoshop, printshop or paint).

staples are also a fun way to doll up your posts and make them look realistic.  there are a number of staples you can purchase, or download this staple set for free!

there are also tons of hang tags you can find!  hang tags are a great way to add a little flavor to your pictures or posts.  especially great when you want to add a little statement, or make the cost of an item visible.  the first one above are journaling tags, the 2nd ones are shipping tags for FREE by pugly pixel, and the 3rd ones are from a set of these adorable hang tags.

you can also find lots of help from lovely other bloggers!  poppytalk posts free downloads from time to time, pictured above are their free labels and free hang tags.

creature comforts also offers many freebies and downloads, all so beautiful!  you can find them on her projects and freebies page as well as on her printables page.

finally, i just found free design goodies, a side blog that’s authored by summer of design is mine! here she posts fab freebies and downloads, yeah!

finally, pretty fonts and beautiful colors are the easiest way to doll up your doings.  pictured above is kaufmann bd bt, dj fancy, luna bar, and lariat – all free!

so there’s my inside scoop.  do you have any finds for prettying up your posts, pictures and projects? if so, please share with us where you found them in the comments section!

wrap up: {collage} {digital} {downloads} {free} {freebies} {paper} {posts} {tape}