Monday, June 24, 2013

A Few of My Favorite Things: my life according to my phone

Today's "Favorite Things" isn't in the form of Pinterest links or blog inspiration.  It is simple pictures from my phone capturing some of the things that I am loving lately.  Different filters, raw pictures, various frames, #ABeautifulMess graphics, etc.
Stamps.  Smash, Amy Tangerine, Dear Lizzy.  And smashbook media papers.  What's on your reading list this summer?  Playlist?  Who are your favorite athletes?

Fresh homegrown strawberries.  Like I said on IG, I wish I could send one to all of you:)

Pizza.  Homemade, on the stone, in a mock wood-fire oven (heated to 500+ degrees before cooking).  Lara's all official with that wooden paddle;)

A quick stop for ice cream at a place that my dad would go to in college.  "Those Christmas lights are probably the same ones that were up when I came here."  Ahh, nostalgia.
Adorable Targets that take you by surprise with their cuteness.  This was downtown in our big city.  I can't wait for it to open this summer!
 

Caprese on a toothpick.

Picnics.  Stripes and floral patterns.  Sun tea in an Izze bottle.

Haagen Daz ice cream bar.  And patterned pants, $14 from Walmart.

A Starbucks photo wall that looks like it popped straight off of Pinterest.  I will be back.

The sound of #paigetheportrait at work.

Pottery Barn Kids.  Make me wish I was a kid again.  Inspire me for more creativity in my own room.

Caramel on green grapes.  Same flavor as caramel apples, nowhere near the mess and work.

Beautiful skies that the Lord paints.  I don't mind the clouds when they look as lovely as this.

Oxfords.  Oh how I love this style.  Lace and floral? Yes please.

This single little flower amidst a sea of green.  The only bloom on the whole plant.  Looked like a little firework.
A dog who hides from showers.  Seriously, she wanted to leave the marshmallow in her hair rather than have a shower (???).

Also, a dog whose hair looks like this after the shower.  Ok, I helped it a tad bit.


 
$9 men's shirts at JCPenney's.  Will be living in these this summer.  See that one on the bottom left?  Wearing it right now with my polka dotted skinnies.
 
What are some simple things that you are loving right now?
 
~Kelsey

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Silhouette Project: Potluck Sign

Well, I reached a very special milestone on Thursday: I made a recipe from my BAKING board on Pinterest.....for the very. first. time.  I was so excited!  When asked to bring a few dozen cookies to a function, I determined that, instead of making that same old recipe for the thirtieth time (gingersnaps anybody?), I would try something entirely new.  Not just someone's gramma's "world-famous" chocolate chip cookie (now don't get me wrong, I love me a good chocolate chip cookie), but instead something that jumped out of my screen and said "!!!POW!!!"  And, well, these definitely fit the bill.  I'm a major sucker for snickerdoodles.  No amount of self-control can keep me away.  And when I saw this twist on the classic recipe, I was intrigued to say the least.  White chocolate pretzels?  Sign me up, I said.  These cookies should be illegal......or mandatory.  They're that good.  So good, in fact, that they needed a proper introduction.  So, I put #paigetheportrait (yep, "she" has "her" own hashtag) to work and whipped up this little sign!  Super simple and perfectly practical!  (Don't worry: I saved it because I'm SURE I'll be making plenty more batches of these cookies).  And so, bloggyland, here I give you my first "tutorial" using the Silhouette Portrait.  I hope it is the first of many!


Open up your Silhouette program (duh.) and create a new page.  Using the drawing tool, create a square/rectangle.  You don't have to get it perfectly the first time because you can adjust the shape and size.  I decided that I wanted mine to be roughly 4"x6", but decide what is best for you.
 
For this project, I used "Bookman Old Style" font.  Since I knew these letters weren't going to be huge, I wanted a font that would be easy to peel off.  Center the letters in your rectangular shape, and play with them until they only fill up the BOTTOM half of the rectangle.  Then, put your Silhouette to work!!!  Although you can just leave fold it in half and leave as is, I wanted to add a pop of color to this project.  Since the party was "America" themed, I decided on a sturdy piece of red cardstock for the background.  Instead of cutting pieces out just to cover the words, I decided to incorporate the red into the stand.  Use glue (I used a regular old glue stick [ha!] ) to secure the red on the back of your sign (in the end, I did not fold it exactly in half).  TADA!  You're sign is done!
 

This is the prefect project for summer parties, potlucks, etc.  And make sure to try out the recipe for these scrumptious cookies!!!

~Kelsey

Saturday, June 8, 2013

A Few of My Favorites Things: DIY clothes

Happy Monday lovelies!  Did you have a fabulous weekend?  I know I did, thought I might have enjoyed the sun a bit TOO much;)  It seems like, as the summer hits us, I see more people focusing on making their own clothes!  I definitely want to try to create some outfits in my free time this summer!  Here's my inspiration!

Zipper Sweatshirt from Cotton and Curls
Lace Sweatshirt from Anthropology
armommy-diy-glitter-top-belt-2
Draped Colorblock T-shirt with free pattern by Melly Sews
Draped Colorblock Tee from Melly Sews
Nautical Colorblock Shirt from Alida Makes
Lace for Days Skirt from Elle Apparel
DIY, Chevron Tee Shirt, How to paint chevrons with painter's tape, Painter's Tape Projects for Clothes, What I Wore DIY, What I Wore, Jessica Quirk, Scotch Blue Painter's Tape,
Glitter Chevron Tee from What I Wore
Ruffled Maxi Dress from Sugar Bee Crafts
 
Hope you have a lovely week!

Echo: Small Town Travels

This last weekend, my family and I traveled to a teeny town called "Echo."  You can probably already tell that it was cute just by that name:)  I didn't take a ton of pictures, but thought I would share on here those that I did:)
First things first.  We stopped by Jamba in the airport and tried these "wheatgrass shots."  Interesting.  They tasted like sweet peas.  Thankful for the orange juice!  Have you tried these?
 
It was a beautiful, sunny day.  The rays shining through these trees were just lovely.
I love old bridges, don't you?
We stopped for dinner on the way and I ordered a Caesar salad (for those of you who don't know me, I always eat Caesar salad).  But the pickles that came with the sandwiches sounded yummy, so I asked for "extra pickles."  You mean not everyone does that?  I think every meal should come with a side of pickles.
Lovely sunset on the river.  No filter, no editing.  Just a raw shot.
Those clouds.
 
Three of the four stores in the town: an antique shop, a bike shop, and a boutique.  All open from 9ish-5ish.....if the owners decided to show up (they didn't.)
 
A lovely old bank that had been there for many, many years.
 
I don't know what it is, but old firetrucks just make me happy.  But there weren't any there:'(





Love the look of this old building.  And the train in front.

 
Blue skies and golden grass.
Stopped by a train.  When was the last time?  I don't think I mind.






Thursday, June 6, 2013

Liebster Award



Have you heard of the Liebster Award?  It's given to "up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 or so followers.  What is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Well, Tara from Salt and Pepper Moms nominated me for this award!  I think she is the "Liebster", especially since I've been MIA for so long!!!  I first started following Tara via Instagram ( she's @saltandpeppermoms and I'm @fancythatnotion).  Now I'm following her and Devin on their blog, and love it!  They've got some awesome DIY projects, and yummy looking recipes!!!

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:
1) Thank your nominator and include a link back to their blog.

2) Answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominator

3) Post 11 facts about yourself

4) Nominate 5-11 other up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers-no tag backs!

5) Come up with 11 questions for your nominees to answer

6) Let your nominees know you nominated them so that they too can pass on the Liebster love!

Now that the official business is over, lets get to the fun part!!!


Here are my answers to Tara's questions:

1) Do you speak any foreign languages?  If not, which would you like to be fluent in?  I took a few years of Spanish, but never majorly picked up on it.  But now I'm learning American Sign Language!  Would definitely love to be fluent!  (And yes, I "eavesdrop" without shame when I see people signing.....don't worry, I can only understand like one word every few sentences;)

2) What is your favorite food or recipe? Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.  I still need to make the recipe that I've seen floating around on Pinterest!!!  (Have you tried it?)

3) What do you like to do when you are alone? Alone?  What's that?  In a family of eight, you're never alone;)  But on the extremely rare occasion, I'm usually sewing or reorganizing my craft supplies (sermon playing or music blaring, mind you!)

4) How many years have you been blogging? Just one year blogging!  But hopefully many more to come:)

5) Describe yourself in one word.  (Try as best as you can.)  Outgoingly-shy.  Is that two words?  And does it even make sense?  Well, let me explain.  I'm super energetic, love to talk and laugh - once I get to know you.

6) Do you prefer a fork or a spoon? Spoon.  (Think ice cream?)

7) What is your favorite cereal?  If you don't eat cereal, what do you replace it with? Grits.  I used to think they were blah, but now I kind of love them.

8) Where do you like to buy your clothes from? Gap, Ann Taylor, Loft, Target, Romy, Nike, Under Armour, GW Outlet (EEK!)

9) What's your favorite movie? Peter Pan.  I'm a die-hard fan.  Don't judge;)

10) Which blog is your favorite to follow? See Kate Sew.  She is one of the first blogs that I ever followed, and I absolutely love her style.  (And seriously, how cute are those two kiddos???)

11) What project have you not done yet on you blog, that you would love to do? I'm working on a sweatshirt covered in bows.  But it turns out that I'm not a huge fan of sewing the same straight lines 15 times over again.  Soon hopefully!

Alrighty, now I get to tell you 11 completely random things about myself!

1) I hate bananas.  But I eat them ALL. THE. TIME.

2) I scream whenever I drive by a semi.

3) I don't understand the obsession with mustaches on necklaces.  I think mustaches are great and all, but on a necklace?  Not thank you.

4) I've been pinched by a crab in the ocean and a praying mantis in Costco.

5) I talk to myself.  ALL. THE. TIME.  Sometimes even more if I feel people watching......weird.

6) When going up or down stairs, I have to land on my right foot.  Does that have anything to do with being an engineer's daughter?  Maybe...

7) At meals, I eat all of one food, all of another, and so on.  I don't take a few bites of each one.  Everything in order.  Again, engineer's daughter.  Right here.

8) When my hair is straight (it is naturally curly), it goes past my waist.

9) I have an obsession with beachcombing.  I can't help myself.  Weird part?  Now my dog picks up whole sand dollars.

10) I've never broken a bone in my life.

11) I'm known for my "eagle eyes" and good memory........except when it's really needed.

And now for my nominees!!!


Andrea from Aidie's Hideaway

Christie from Storehouse Crafts

Shannon from Shannon Weight Photography

Charming Touch Parties

Emily and Ingrid from The Handmade Girl


Here are my questions for you lovelies!!!

1) What's the first blog that you remember following?

2) What's on the top of your bucket list?

3) What is your favorite color combination?

4) What part of the blogging process takes the longest?  (planning the project, taking pictures, writing the post, etc.)

5) What's your favorite crafting product?

6) What would be your dream job?

7) What's your favorite healthy snack?

8) What wakes you up the most in the morning?

9) What trend is popular right now that you think is ridiculous?

10) What is one crafty thing that your really aren't good at? (if any:)

11) What is your favorite way to accessorize?



Please let me know when you nominate some other blogs so I can read your answers and follow some new friends!!!

~Kelsey

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Thoughts on Polka Dots....and other things: What I Wore Wednesday


               
Would you do it?  Would you wear polka dots on polka dots?  Well, I am.  And if I had polka dotted TOMS, I'd wear those too;)  Even though it's a blazing 80 degrees (ok so that's hot where I'm from) I'm braving the elements with long sleeves and jeans.  I just wanted to get this outfit on before summer hits us entirely.
 
 
 
                                
Also, would you wear tribal jewelry with polka dots?  Well, you guessed it!  I am;)

What are YOU wearing today?
~Kelsey



                 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

A Few of My Favorite Things: Silhouette Portrait

Why hello there!  I'm back again!  I thought I'd start with a round-up post, an especially special one this time!  Cuz guess what?  I won a Silhouette Portrait!!!  So, needless to say, I've been looking at a bunch of projects for inspiration on what to make!  If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Bow Bookmark ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Paper Flowers ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Spring Paper Wreath ~ from Tater Tots and Jello
Travel Pinboard ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Travel Journal ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Gift Card Holder ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Recipe Cards ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Mini Notebook ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Wish You Were Here Card ~ from The Silhouette Blog
Hello Card ~ from The Silhouette Blog
DIY Canvas Beach Art
Beachy Canvas Art ~ from Mom Endeavors (she's the one that I won the portrait from!!!)
 
Hope you have a wonderful Monday!!!
~Kelsey