hi dearies! i wanted to share with you my latest obsession, a creative mint. the lovely leslie shares her projects and photography in this dreamland of a blog- and like to sneak away there to find loads of inspiration.

exploring green :: more pink lemonade

vignettes of color :: vignettes of color

vignettes of color :: pinks, melons and peach

i hope you enjoy! xoxo

wrap up: {blog} {color} {inspiration} {obsession} {photography}

did you all have a good weekend?  i spent friday at home most of the day because it was snowing!  we’re having the longest/coldest temps since 1974- so i’ve been doing a lot of roosting.  saturday, however, david had a bike ride to attend in greenville, sc, so i bared the weather and went with him.  it was a balmy 3 degrees when we left- ah!  i found this adorable store called maymebaker studio while i was wandering the downtown streets, and ended up taking some pictures to share with you!  i must tell you about my sunday though first .. some of you may know that my mister, david, is in basic law enforcement training- and will be police officer in just a few weeks!  (i never thought i married the cop-kind- but he’s breaking the mold and doing so well at it!)  anyways, he took me to a shooting range yesterday and taught me how to shoot (i’ve never shot a gun in my  life- yikes!).  i’ve got mixed feeling about guns, not sure what i think most of the time, and generally, they scare me.  but i figured if i’m going to be married to someone who has to carry one everyday for his job- i might as well get comfortable with it.  so needless to say, we all survived.  it was 20 degrees and i was shaking, but managed to hit some pretty good shots on our make-do target (front page of a yoga magazine)!  ok- now to mayme baker:

this lamp hits you first thing when you walk in the door- swoon! it’s so beautiful!  i think my next major project might be to do something like it.  it was a bit flimsy to the touch- almost like it was done paper-mache style.  the post of the lamp itself looked wrapped as well.  i can’t get it out of my mind!

the store was set up exquisitely. every time i turned a corner i got lost in all the goodness!  this branch flows over one of the sections, with beautiful clay flowers hanging ever so softly from it.

the building itself led to an amazing set up with skylights and exposed beams and pipes.  hanging chandeliers brought it all to light.

this picture really stood out to me. it’s so simply yet represents such a story line.  this might be the next next project, as i was happy to find tons of etsians selling vintage keyholes!

update!

wrap up: {lamp} {projects} {store} {travel} {weekend}

happy monday dear ones!  we’re kicking off this week with one of my before and after projects- then make sure to check back later today for some sweet cyber monday deals!

i found this poor pitiful chair sitting in the corner of one of my favorite thrift stores.  so, i paid $5 for her and brought her home!  after a nice coat of primer and a fresh coat of yellow paint- below is what she had in store for me!

i couldn’t tell it at first, but i when i started to remove that drab burgundy cover- i found a whopping 9 covers that previous owners had just stapled on top of each other.  and, they were all really gross.  so one by one, i got down to the wooden board.  i replaced their ‘cushion’ with some batting of mine and simply stapled the cover to the underside.  after i got all the covers off- it only took me about 10 minutes to actually recover it!  now it sits in my sewing room and is perfect at my machine.  so bright and cheerful!

wrap up: {before and after makeovers} {chair} {cushion} {diy} {paint} {recover}

with the new house- i’ve been thinking about lighting. a lot.  i think the small things like light fixtures and door knobs are what make a house so unique.  i’ve changed about everyone of them- and though i think everyone’s tired of being my ‘electrician’ – that’s what makes the house uniquely ours!

these are some of the light fixtures i got from ikea- and they are making the house so bright and inviting!  i love the white and all the unique, clean lines they give.  check out their lighting page to see all the endless possibilities!

1 :: white burlap drum shade 2:: vintage minimalist 3 :: wire light pendant chandelier 4 :: lil bloom pendant chandelier 5 :: orono. vintage ball jar pendant 6 :: wire flower shade

i’m also looking for something unique for our screened in porch.  i am *loving the wirey look but just can’t decide! what do you think?

wrap up: {house} {lighting}

since i found my camera- i figured i should give a proper thank you to all of our wonderful friends and family who have been helping us with the house! plus, it will give you a sneak peek of our renovations.  there’s no way we could have done all of this without your help!

this is my dear sis-in-law and her beau robert.  they traveled over 3 hours to come spend the weekend with us and help!  and, did such professional work- hung crown molding like a couple of pros!

lindsay and chad came from over an hour away- and put in such hard work!  they are probably still sore from all the painting they did.  we would still have trim to paint if it weren’t for them.  plus, they kept us laughing the whole time. :)

mom gave us a hand in painting, mopping and decor opinions- thanks for all your help mom!

here’s my good ol’ dad working in the yard- so handy!

sandy is my mom-in-law and she and tom have just about been over helping us every night.  i can’t even tell you all they’ve done!  so fun, so helpful, so sweet, and i’m so thankful!

dad-in-law tom here- who knew he was so handy!  he’s hung shelves, changed out lights, painted, put together new furniture and so much more!  he’s probably going to regret revealing all of his hidden talents- but as long as i p the cookies coming, i think he’ll be happy.

this is my dear sis becky.  always dependable and always willing to help.  plus- she’s an awesome painter!

and chris- her professional electrician boyfriend (score!).

good friends cory and bethany came as well.  they hung shelves and all the cabinets in my new sewing room- (which i can’t wait for you to see!).  cory built his house and bethany works construction for a living- so again we were blessed with the talents of some wonderful people!

finally, here is david and i.  though it was loads of fun giving orders- we tried to put in our fair share of work too!

again, thank you so much to everyone for helping us out.  we are indebted to you! so, don’t forget us the next time you move!  we love you all! xox, bonnie and dave

wrap up: {diy} {house} {renovation} {thank you}

oh my circus- cotton candy promises

hello!  it’s been a bit of a circus around here this week- so i thought this was only fitting.

playing circus

i’ve taken this whole week off work- and we’ve been working away at our house non-stop!  we’ve sort of been climbing over each other to get stuff done- but that’s no complaint because we’re so grateful to all the people who are helping us!

big top sketch

things are really starting to come together- and we even have this (possibly unrealistic) goal of spending our first night there tonight!  i’ll keep you posted.

keep calm and clown on

so for now- this is all we can do.  keep calm and clown on!

so, i’m taking the rest of the day off to work diligently.  i’ve been up to my elbows in paint all week and am ready to clean up and start moving!  i’ll be posting pics via my twitter today- if you want to keep up with what we’re doing!

in the meanwhile- here are some links i’ve been drooling over for you to enjoy!  (p.s.- they are all from home to roost commenters! (thanks!))

butterfly food: http://butterflyfoodie.blogspot.com/

lobotome: http://www.lobotomeblog.blogspot.com/

papermango: http://papermangodesign.com/ (don’t forget she’s had giveaways every day this week that you can enter to win!)

the fabric shopper: http://fabricshopperonline.com/

love, natalie: http://lovenatalie.squarespace.com/

brown eyed fox: http://browneyedfox.squarespace.com/

oh chalet: http://ohchalet.blogspot.com/

blue sky butterfly: http://blueskybutterflystudio.blogspot.com/

dandy bread and candy: http://dandybreadandcandy.blogspot.com/

the morins: http://www.jeremyanderinmorin.blogspot.com/

raenovate: http://raenovate.blogspot.com/

dance in my garden: http://www.danceinmygarden.blogspot.com/

birds in chandeliers: http://birdsinchandeliers.blogspot.com/

teal town: http://tealtown.blogspot.com/

making chicken salad: http://www.katherinejalaty.com/

well here are just a few pics from this weekends demolition (my camera seems to be mia- but as soon as it re-appears i’ll post a few more).  we got SO much done and things are starting to come together!  i can’t say thank you enough to all of our friends and family who helped us- we are forever indebted- thank you thank you thank you!

this is me painting our new front door- yes, purple! do you like it?

and david putting together all those ikea boxes- he’s such a dear. :)  stay tuned!

love, bonnie

happy monday! i am loving this brilliant artist lisa congdon.  her innovative style and funky approach to art just makes me smile.  i was so excited to come across her flickr album filled with images from her adorable home- hope you enjoy!

lisa is a san francisco mixed media artist and illustrator and did not begin making art until she was 33 years old; at age 40, it is now the most significant part of her life and livelihood. aside from a painting class, she is entirely self-taught. she uses her lack of training to her advantage: instead of following refined technique, she works with her own sense of color, composition and design as her guide.

lisa is almost constantly drawing, photographing and annotating her life. and, lucky for us, she meticulously documents all of her work as she makes it and shares it for others to see through flickr.

lisa’s work has been shown all over the states and her story and work have been featured in numerous print magazines and art/design blogs.  she even has a new line of stationary which was just released in spring of 2009 by chronicle books.

on top of all the wonderful things she does, lisa is also the co-owner and gallery director at rare device, an adorable design shop and art gallery in san francisco.

she believes in truth telling, working hard, and being nice to people. she lives in the mission district of san francisco with her 9 pound chihuahua mix, wilfredo, and her two cats, barry and margaret (named for barry mcgee and the late margaret kilgallen, two of her favorite artists).

her kitchen is my favorite part, aren’t her collections inspiring?  makes me want to do a mod-makeover..

find lisa on {etsy} {her website} {flickr} {her blog}