Sisters in the City.

July entered the world this year with fantastic weather. And how better to enjoy it than with a picnic with two of my sisters in the park?

Jenni enjoyed some nectarines, and Hannah enjoyed a refreshing blended strawberry lemonade.

Then we all enjoyed some photos.

The photographer, attempting to capture her muse.

She is one with the trees! Nature woman, we like to call her. Or the Organic sister.

Also, I found this neat idea on ReadyMade. I had been looking for a way to hang this piece. Isn't it a creative way to hang art?

And if you have excess wooden hangers after that project, try this out.

(found here.)

Are you enjoying sunny weather? Or are rainy days your forte?

Enjoy!

Weekend Prelude.

Crazy days at work. And I think it will be a busy weekend too!

Sometimes I type in random words into the search box of Pinterest and see what photos come to me. Since I'm feeling busy, this is what came up when i typed 'busy'.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via April on Pinterest

Kind of fun i think. And I have been enjoying Apartment Therapy tonight as well. Have you checked out the website? Click on the link below the picture. Enjoy your weekend! What are your plans?

Enjoy!

Lull.

I really did want to craft. I did. But, the start of a new semester holds my creative inspiration back. There will most likely be a lull in posts. My mother, on the other hand, was showing me all sorts of neat creative things the other day! Here are some blogs she showed me, and a few I found.

A very fresh Mudroom idea! - Creative ideas from a mom named Beth. And she likes decorating on a dime! My kind of crafting.

Pretty bird decor! - another creative blog from a mom who lives in the suburbs, but prefers cozy cottages. This isn't even facebook, but I'll like this blog without clicking a button.

A very neat idea with chalkboard paint! - I love the idea of chalkboard paint, but I am scared that if I actually painted something with it, it would lose its novelty. But props to Just Live Simply for trying it out!

Be Inspired! Be crafty! Be creative so I don't feel such withdrawl!

Enjoy!

Kristen

Craft Retreat..at home.

Have you noticed the new banner and background? I thought it was nice and wintery, since winter has set in here! I have had many ask about the name of my blog, and it is NOT because I live in a place where it is summer all the time. definitely not. I actually just happen to enjoy summer, and when I think of summer, I think happy, sunny thoughts. I am an extremely optimistic person, so...

summer=happy=kristen

That, and it's a line from a Feist song, 'Gatekeeper'. I enjoy that song a lot.

Clarified!

Oh, I have missed crafting! During term break, I have been so excited to just craft and listen to Christmas music for the first time of 2010 for four days straight!

Thanks to my sister Jenni, I decided to try a new plant (my strawberry plant wasn't too ecstatic about living indoors), and so:

Presenting, sprouts!

They started out as these, wee little guys:

And thanks to warm water and a Mason Jar with cheesecloth, they're flourishing!

I think they look ravishing! I plan to eat them on a sandwich. When, you ask? No idea, but if you know of anyone who would like to eat a sandwich with sprouts as a vegetable on it, I know a sprout supplier! If you're looking to grow your own, here's some instructions I found helpful.

Onto Project numero Two: (I don't speak any other language than english. i know, i had you convinced for a second...secundo?)

Is it weird or neat? I truly do not know. It's a satchel of some sort. I was thinking of attaching an old leather belt as a long strap to it. Made out of MCC fabric and Wal-Mart fabric. No pattern necessary!

Project Three:

I'm an open book, really. I decided to take an old book a few weeks ago, wanting to create one of those secret compartment books (I was an avid Nancy Drew reader at one point, and I am pretty sure she must have used one of these). It's not finished yet. I'm about two hundred pages in. Here's how to attempt this one.

Project Four:

Just some more wall art for my dorm. I painted an old frame, and really wanted to keep some of my favourite tea boxes. Anyone who remembers Tazo African Red Bush knows what i'm talking about. Three boxes of it stashed away displays my lifelong devotion to this magical tea.

And! I promised I would display some of my tea cups. Here's a few!

Ikea find.

Ten Thousand villages. It's so textured - I love it!

Try having your own craft weekend. It's super fun.

Enjoy!

Dorm Decorating-Phase 1 (reposted)

I had a little mishap with my blog, and had to delete this post. But here it is for an encore, Dorm Decorating -Phase 1! In case you haven't gotten to enjoy it yet!

I have been coming up with many ideas to decorate my dorm room in the fall, and I think I've come up with a colour scheme. I'm thinking red and teal, muted teal (I'm not letting this teal get a word in). Now, at first I didn't think these two colours went together, and was trying to decide if I should go red, or teal. I've come to realize that I can make my two absolute favorite colours live together for 8 months happily and in harmony. They may not always want to get along, but I think with hard work and a little encouragement here and there, they can work out their differences.

I found these frames on my garage sale trip so I suppose this could be considered a part three of the Garage Sale Adventure. They're so fun and vintage looking, I thought they needed some fun and vintage decor in them. My sister (see link above) and I found some old Hollywood silhouette faces, (Audrey Hepburn, Ginger Rogers..the whole lot) and I traced them onto some homemade paper that I found and then attached those to some gorgeous paper I found at Michael's a while ago, and Voila! I came up with some pretty wall art for my future dorm!

Here's some really elaborate, vintage dorm room ideas! Gorgeous!

Blair Waldorf's Dorm Room -check out the chandelier wall decal at the 'other things to include' section. My sister just gave me one of these that I will also use in my dorm!

Vintage Inspired Wall Art for Dorms -On a whole site for dorm decorating! Who knew such thing existed?

Enjoy!

P.S. Watch for a before and after dorm room transformation to come soon!

Wall Art...Simple, yet Effective

Wall Art..the window to one's soul. What is displayed on one's wall is said to be the emotions and life of an artist set free - i'm sure someone said it anyway.

I worked on this project quite a while ago, a birthday present in fact. I always have liked the idea of making gifts rather than buying them. So unique and personal! Rarely do I actually have an idea that is gift-giving material. I was flipping through a ReadyMade magazine and saw an ad with something similar to my project, but i added and tweaked a few things. This one is super simple to make, but I think turned out pretty well if you're wanting a modern look.

Here's how I did it.

1. Purchase two white canvases- I think these were from michaels. Dollarama even has some!

2. Begin taping off lines in different tree like shapes, or really, whatever shapes you like, with painter's tape.

I cut the strips of tape into three different sizes and used them interchangeably

3. Paint in between the tape..self explanatory. I started with greys and browns and merged into reds on the other side of the canvas.

(You can peel off the tape whenever really. These paints were very fast drying acrylics and i was limited on tape, so i peeled it off as i went and re-used it. Go green!)

4. Do the same for the second canvas. I switched up the colour order.

5. Add something for dramatic effect if desired. I added grass. dramatic? yes. effective? oh definitely.

The lovely finished products..to eventually go on a wall, not the floor.

So spice up your walls! Get some canvases, tape, and paint, and create the simplest pieces of wall art ever!

Enjoy!