Pink Vanity

This project was a huge learning experience and I am very pleased with how it turned out. It started out as a dark, high gloss finish out-dated desk. The finished product? A bright, fun vanity perfect for this teenage girl's space... last thing to add: the mirror! Thanks again so much, Kimberly, for being so great and so much fun! :)

Craft time...Bracelets

As I've talked about before, I have seasons with my craft times... winter brings on the knitting/crocheting/sewing bug and summer brings on the beads/cooking/painting bug :) Recently we've (my best friend and I) have been preparing to take several of our products out to a show in Battleground, WA. The shop owner we were going with found these adorable ideas for bracelets and I asked if I could take on the challenge of creating some for her. The main feature in these bracelets was buttons... classic-vintage gorgeousness. Here are some pictures to show you what I came up with:

We Were Here Studios Update

Back in February I posted about the birth of We Were Here Studios... a combination of my ever-evolving interests and the crazy skillz of my best friend, Stacey Smith. I thought it was time to update about our venture! We Were Here is now in a shop in Tacoma! Stacey's artwork made its debut at the Design Cottage   about two months ago. Her artwork varies from vintage classic to cottage contemporary. Almost all of the supplies used to create her one-of-a-kind pieces are repurposed materials from architectural features to driftwood. But enough words... let me brag by photo :)

1) The frame on this hand-painted piece is a salvaged drawer with burlap stretched to create a make-shift canvas

2) Vintage illustration creatively adhered to a 100-year-old architectural redwood plinth.

3) Hand-painted local pride Proctor Tacoma sign on a repurposed cabinet door

4) Hand-painted "to the BEACH" sign painted on hand-picked driftwood from Cannon Beach

Desk Makeover [Part One]

I just picked this desk up at a local moving sale a few weeks ago... They had so many good finds, but this desk just spoke to me (not literally!). I had so many ideas going all at once so I brought my find home and stared at it... a lot. Came up with a bunch of ideas and then one of my good friends told me about these really great stencils that you can order online to use for walls or furniture. [Don't you just love this peacock feather one by designer, Kim Myles?!] So, needless to say, this got my imagination going so much more and I hope it sparks a creativity note in you as well. I'll be back with more updates and the final project shot of this desk soon!

New Hobby!

Recently I've taken up a whole new hobby... re-finishing furniture! I have Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Diane at the Design Cottage to thank for my new obsession. I was brought on about a month ago to come in and help her paint furniture in her shop...

She'd been telling me all about the amazing benefits of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (no sanding/priming & it can go over any existing finish) and said that she could use some help in the shop with painting so I gladly volunteered to learn and our very cool shop owner, Diane, began to impart her knowledge :)

Here's a look at one of my first finished projects.

BEFORE

AFTER

This is Louis Blue color... beautiful, right? Also, the fabric that is draped on the bench is the fabric that will will re-upholster the cushion. Here's a couple more looks at some befores and afters.

So, to wrap this post up... THANK YOU, Diane at Design Cottage for being amazing and teaching me so much! And be sure to check back later, I'll be posting some more of my own projects up pretty soon too!

It's the weekend! And it has been a wonderful Saturday... and that means that I'm gonna talk about crafts now :)
So, this winter I've dug deep into my knitting and crocheting vibe. I was able to make handmade gifts for almost everyone on my list for Christmas and now I'm about to finish a baby blanket for a good friend's baby boy who should be arriving very soon (yaaaay!). Anyways, here's a couple shots of my projects from this year since no blog posting is any fun without pictures and a couple of my favorite patterns still to do:
Bow Headband
Zeb the Zebra
A variety of beautiful cowls (okay, yes, it's kinda warm for cowls now, but aren't they gorgeous anyways!)

Hey everyone! I'm back at it again! :)

My best friend and I just started up our Etsy shops... okay, she just started her Etsy shop and I just started working on mine again after my incredibly long  sabbatical from all internet workings (i.e. blog, facebook, Etsy shop, etc.) Check out our shops:

We Were Here Studios

She has several pieces that can be purchased for download, print, or mounted on art board in a variety of sizes. The whole shop is a conglomeration of our artwork... but I think mostly Stacey's genius :) 

Then, the best part of all of her shop is the custom encaustics that she does... each and every one is 100% YOU... how cool is that? She has a variety of styles and... how to put this? The woman is CRAZY good!

Occasional Designs
This is my shop that I'm finally getting going again ;) It's a variety of things... as I've said before, I have the attention of a goldfish (according to Snapple caps that's about 3 seconds... how do they test this stuff???), but recently it's my own original artwork and event stationary... I've stuck some photos below for you to get an idea.

Okay, that's about it for now! Our shops will be growing massively over the next few weeks, so keep checking back and I'll try to keep adding updates!