Happy Tabletop

Because he knows me and knows what I love. Miniature things, you forever have my heart. And yes beautifully handsome, miniature orchid, you are part of that.  Because he knows me. And how ridiculous I am. And not only does he love me anyway, but he also continues to make me smile, no matter how dark the day.  Days are never consistently wonderful, but my husband - he most definitely is.

Happy Tabletop

It's not Monday, but tabletops are calling to me.  There have been lots of pretty tapes, scissors, and pencils on my tabletop recently.  I love taking my time in putting together my orders to ship out. Nothing beats a pretty package.

Things currently making me happy:

-My man. Today. Tomorrow. Always.

-FALL. Even though it is HOT, HOT, HOT, I'm patiently (and excitedly) waiting for fall. 

-Classical solo piano. Yes..that's my jam when I'm painting.  And I've been doing a lot of painting.

Enjoy your day!

xo,

Laura

52 Week Project: Week 35

As the evenings turn dark earlier and earlier and as the air gets crisper and cooler, I'm feeling hopeful for what the new season has in store.  Hello to pretty, dramatic light and wonderful mud tones.  You, my friend, are beautiful.

xo, Laura

Fashion Confessions

If you follow me on Pinterest, you probably already know I've been digging hats.  If you need some inspiration, check out my Hello Hat board.  Holy hat heaven. 

I haven't really worn hats anytime recently, but it was a must when we were in Bahamas.  And because sunglasses didn't really cut it (and because I had some slot machine winnings), this hat made its way back to Virginia.  Hello hat love.

xo, Laura 

Home Tour: Master Bedroom Makeover

I realized when I was first getting together our Master Bedroom, I was doing it in a way that wasn't really me.  I was getting things and decorating

because that's what belonged in a master bedroom

.  Two nightstands, two lamps, neutral comforter, etc.  And all of this happened while thinking that in the end it would look hotel chic.  And let me tell you, it was far from hotel chic.  You can check out the first initial attempt at the bedroom

here

.

What the room was majorly lacking was personality, so this time around instead of doing what I felt

belonged in a master bedroom,

I just did us (maybe me). With a very tight budget, I convinced the man, like usual, with a Photoshop version of what I was hoping for.  And wahoo for him not only being on board with it, but for helping and making it that much more fun.  So first the Photoshop plan and then the real before and after images. Enjoy!

Along with the rest of the house mini makeovers, the room feels way less cluttered and way more put together. And best part is (well, there are a few) it got done in two weekends, it didn't cost us more than $200 and our room now has personality!

And in case you're in love with my sexy husband floating in the Caribbean Sea, you can now buy that large

print

that hangs above the bed in my

shop

.  And don't worry.  It's totally abstract...so it's not really like you have my husband hanging in your house!

Happy Thursday!

xo, Laura

Happy Tabletop

Minty greens and turquoises have always had my heart, but throw in some cobalt blue, and well, I'm in love. 

Things currently making me happy:

 -Decluttering. And simplifying.  Every aspect of my life. Or at least trying to.

-A clean house.

-A newly painted front door - feels so refreshing!

-Project Life. I'M KEEPING UP WITH THIS. I AM AND I WILL.

How's that for reassuring? Happy Monday!

xo, Laura

Nature Nerd: Backyard Bliss

It's still hard for me to believe I have my very own backyard to explore whenever I want.  I love seeing the things that naturally grow there and then seeing the things we've planted and how they have embraced their surroundings.  Backyard bliss it is. 

Happy Thursday!

xo, Laura

52 Week Project: Week 31

The weather here has been very fall-like, and even though it's been pleasant, I do not want the summer to end so quickly.  Strange for August, but it's got me yearning for my go to cooler day pj's.  Shorts, high socks, and a over-sized thermal long-sleeve shirt.  Oh, and our room is getting a dreamy makeover, hence the photo on our nice, clean, new, white (unmade) bed.  Lesson to self: always buy white bedding.

xo, Laura

Weekends Are For: Project Life!

I had started

Project Life

once we got settled in after the wedding with the idea of documenting our first year of marriage.  I printed out some wedding pictures and some honeymoon pictures and excitedly got to work.  Before this past weekend, I still only had up to the honeymoon finished.  And it's been a full year (well, more!). So I've been working hard to get it up to date, and guess what...I'm just about to start fall.  That's fall of 2013, of course.

And yes, oddly enough, I love working on it on the carpeted floor in my studio.  Which means my studio has been a mess - and I actually quite like it. 

Happy Monday!

xo, Laura

52 Week Project: Week 30

Recently, the summer has got me feeling like a little kid again.  I don't know if it's the bright converse, the jean shorts, or just riding my bike, but I can't help but be reminded of my childhood.  Hours upon hours of playing outside, climbing trees, jumping off roofs and into pools, pogo sticks, stilts, and obstacle courses... and all of the cuts and scrapes down my legs to show for it.  Oh childhood, you really are something special.

Happy Tuesday from this nostalgic gal!

xo, Laura

Happy Tabletop

Although I love having fresh flowers in the house, I tend not to buy them because I really hate throwing them away once they start dying.  I also have BIG problems with throwing away my dog's toys after she's destroyed them.  They're just too cute.

Anyway...

Things currently making me happy:

-My bike. I love, love, love my bike and my man is the best for buying me one. It makes me feel like a little kid again.

-My first dahlia finally bloomed.  So big and so beautiful.

-Weekends at home with my man.  It's been awhile since we've had more than a single weekend home and it feels fantastic.

Happy Monday! Let's hope for a productive week.

xo, Laura

DIY: Faux Felt Flower Balls

As I mentioned, I've been busy going from room to room in our house making little changes here and there.  Although there have been (and will be) some bigger changes, this was just a little something I added to our

living room

. 

After retiring some of our

mismatched vases

from the television console, I knew I wanted something more uniform and simple there.  I had the idea of lining the entire console with mason jars and thought little pom pom flowers (

like from the wedding

) would be perfect there.  Except instead of the yarn ones I am familiar with, I figured I'd try felt ones to get a more perfect ball shape, like

these

.

And then I came across three problems..

1) The felt I needed was really hard to find. What aisle would it be in?

2) Once I finally found it (in a nameless aisle, FYI), it was much pricier then I was excepting, and well I didn't want this to be more than a $10 project.

3) Even if I was willing to spend more, I wanted really neutral colors, and unless I was looking in the wrong place, the felt I saw was much more colorful than I wanted.

So as I was walking helplessly out of the craft store, I found these funny little balls things..and I knew I was set!  Here's what you'll need:

1. Flower stems.  I opted for the thicker, neutral colored ones.

2. Glue for the hot glue gun

3. Hot glue gun

4. These weird balls! I found them on the outskirts of the floral area.

5. Scissors

6. A tea kettle or something with similar a curve

Now, not much explanation here.  A

very

simple DIY. Cut stems to desired length.  I did three different lengths.  Hot glue balls to the stems (I pushed each stem into the ball for a little extra strength).  Take stem and curve around the kettle for a nice, natural curve (like below).

And voila! You're done and you have some cool, neutral looking flower ball things! I shall call them

Faux Felt Flower Balls

(obviously).  It really helped to add just a little something to our living room, and all under $10 too.

Have a great day!

xo, Laura

52 Week Project: Week 29

This past week has been a massive attempt to declutter, reorganize, and even redo some rooms in our house.  I know, I know..I just got done saying things with the house are finally done, but does that ever really happen?

I certainly don't think so. I moved this table early last week and it's pretty much the only cleaned and finished space of the house right now.  Oops.  Hello manic self.

Happy Week 29!

xo, Laura

Nature Nerd: Geeking Out At Aquariums

You know when you're searching for something that you know exists somewhere, but somehow it just disappeared? And you feel like you CAN'T stop searching.  Yep, that's me right now..looking for a post that I swear I did, but somehow can't find. I tend to never give up on these things (I once waited/searched for nine months to find the remote for my camera instead of spending the $40 for the new one), but I think I'm calling it quits on finding the post.

And yes, this is a text (AND PHOTO) heavy post - haven't had one of these in awhile.  Well, probably not since the mysteriously missing post!

It was related to this post and talked about the whole process of starting a photography series.  I shared some images that I had recently taken at the Camden Aquarium that were inspired by Gary Winogrand (check out the above post link).  In particular this image and this image had me falling hard for Winogrand's style. In my last semester of school, I had an assignment where I had to choose a photographer to mimic both in style and in subject matter, and I chose Winogrand.  Due to some film mishaps and the Richmond Zoo being not such a happening zoo (sorry Richmond, I'm used to the Bronx!), the series did not come out as great as I was hoping for. It was actually much harder than I expected to catch some awesome animal/human interaction.  Hmm..who would've thought.

Anyway, here are some of the images I captured from that trip to the Camden Aquarium that are now over a year old.  And yes, you may recognize them if in fact that post existed.

Now even though I had done an assignment when I was trying to get pictures like the above pictures (and didn't), these were sort of

happy little accidents

(thanks Bob Ross for those three inspirational words). It started more as the kids were hogging the front row view of the hippos and I was trying to get pictures of just the hippos in between flailing hands and "that hippo just pooped near my face" talk. I did succeed in some, but while looking at my camera I actually really liked the pictures with the flailing hands (which look oddly serene and peaceful in the images).

And thus, being reminded of Winogrand, and somehow succeeding in doing something I wanted to without really trying, a series was born.

PHEW. Not we're up to date. And I've come to the conclusion that I deleted this original post for some odd reason. And now for the new section (YES, ALL OF THAT WAS

JUST

CATCHING YOU UP)....

One of the reasons I was really excited to go to the Bahamas (other than all of the obvious reasons) was to continue this series.  I hadn't been to an aquarium since the Camden pictures, so I was super excited to be

SURROUNDED

by aquariums all week long.

And then two sad things happened:

1. I only got about 20 minutes with all the aquariums with my camera in hand (hey, I was busy being on vacation)

2. When I tried tried to shoot with the intention of this series it was not easy! Boo hoo.

Happy little  accidents

, why can't you happen all the time?

3. (Yes, I guess it's really three reasons) It's really not that cool to try and follow kids around an aquarium and take pictures of them. Hello alarmed parents. I don't blame you.

So here's what I came back with...

 Again, two problems..

1) These are all my husband. And yes, I love him to death and yes he's a good sport and always poses for me when I tell him to do this or that, but for me, children at an aquarium are just much better subject matter...but maybe it's because of the fact that

2) These are posed and that could totally be why they lose the magic for me (even though I still like some of the images).  Or maybe there's nothing wrong with them being posed and I should just make my husband follow me around the world to every aquarium and be my personal model.  In which case I think I'd like him to be my personal hand model because there's something more intriguing in the images with distinct hands versus the images without them. 

I don't know.  All I know is that this is the thought process that goes through my mind every time I do a new series and it's draining.  So many decisions to make that I seem to never be able to commit to. And out of desperation after my vacation, I thought maybe I can just combine aquarium images that I've taken over the years (before this series ever existed) with other images of people (including myself) and create new images without actually visiting aquariums.  And I came up with two.

And again, even though I like the images, I feel as though they are missing something, and I'm sort of back to where I was, just liking my

happy little accident

images and wanting to make a series out of it.

UGH.  And people think being an artist is easy (just kidding, kind of).

Now I can see why I deleted the original post I've been referring too - I'm sure it was just a lengthy tangent that I later regretted.  Note to self: Don't delete this.

Okay, that's all. I swear. Happy Friday! And if you have hints/tips/suggestions on any of the above images, please let me know.  I could use a good old critique.

xo, Laura

And PS (one last thing and I promise it's worth it) how did I just discover this picture by Winogrand of a piggy and woman swimming together.  I mean if it wasn't taken in 1964, I would swear it was me and Moo Shu.  Total love fest of this picture going on right now.

52 Week Project: Week 28

No, I'm not running away, but I'd love to run back on vacation (yes, I just made up that saying).

I'm slowly getting back into things..

Enjoy your day!

We've been having lots of summer storms and I'm not complaining about it one bit.

xo, Laura