Monday, September 27, 2010

Seasons

I often forget that things occur in life for a season and then we move on to something new, different, or perhaps something very challenging. This is especially so in the life of a toddler. My son recently stopped napping and along with it, I've had to figure out how to alter my life and schedule to work with this lack of "me time".

One thing that has suffered is my chance to work on projects. The list grows and so does my anxiousness to start or complete some.

So, in light of this, I'm posting pictures of a centerpiece project I worked on for a mom's group at my church that I did a few years back. The theme was focused on getting recharged and encouraged from this community of amazing moms so that we can go back to our homes and bless our families, and in turn, our neighborhoods and communities.

These centerpieces represent neighborhoods around the greater Seattle area:

Magnolia



The University District



West Seattle


Ballard



Fremont


Queen Anne







* missing ones for Lake Union & Greenlake

Too nice?


After dodging rain and fog in the weather forecast, we were blessed with one of the nicest days we've had this year: 81 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, happy kids, etc.

However, I think that we got more than we bargained for since the typical Seattle overcast can produce great lighting and we had some harsh sun and shadows on Saturday. We may have to go for a do-over with the great Fiona photo-shoot of 2010.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Photo Shoot Inspirations

My daughter recently celebrated her second birthday. Typically I like to go with more of a "clever" party theme than with the commercial ones pushed by the local Target. Having run out of time, my husband suggested that I go with good old Dora the Explorer, a favorite of the soon to be two year old. It was a hit with the birthday girl and required little effort on my part.

Last year we went with "The Red Balloon" as my son's birthday theme and took some shots of him in our neighborhood, attempting to capture the charm of Pascal and his beloved balloon.

I'd love to loosely duplicate the overall feel of this shot for Fiona's second-year birthday shot rather than going with Dora and Boots as the inspiration.

A few weeks ago the kids and I went to the local farmer's market to enjoy the last of rays of summer sun and stumbled across the most charming band performing - The Toy Boats are an ensemble of four musicians using toy and small instruments. We three happily munched on freshly made crepes and donuts while listening to tunes one might hear on a European city street.


(photo from The Toy Boats facebook profile)

I then ran across the fall line at Gap Kids of Parisian-inspired clothing and couldn't resist buying this adorable boatneck sweater dress (why don't they have fabulous clothes like this in the adult sizes?!?):

(photo from gap.com)

As long as the weather cooperates with us, I hope to photograph her in this dress at this farmer's market or in our old Seattle neighborhood of Ballard in the next week. Not sure about the prop since I don't want the Red Balloon theme again. Perhaps a basket of apples? A lollipop? Flowers? Too bad we can't hire The Toy Boats to play nearby to inspire the model during the shoot.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Master Bedroom

In the quest to figure out paint options for our new house, I saw this little concept. Actually, I saw it posted months ago in various design blogs and Living Etc, but came back to it recently as an idea for our master bedroom.



I adore the crisp, classic, yet dramatic feeling that Jenna Lyons (J Crew creative director) created in her son's nursery. I sense a future of blue tape and great frustration in my future...

(photos via Habitually Chic)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

It's what's on the outside that counts



I've always had an obsession with gift wrap and packaging supplies. Some of my favorite card and wrapping designs are from the company Snow & Graham.


How thrilled was I when I happened upon the following item in a Garnet Hill catalog - "Tweets" sheets!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Beach Cottage Art

The parents' beach cottage is still a work in progress, though certainly getting much closer. Looks like a winter kick-off to our beach getaways rather than this past summer.

We made a trip over there recently to check out the new fire-pit next to the boathouse:



Anyway, I'm still keeping my eye out for fantastic art to decorate the few spots that may be available to my particular taste.

Here's a great item spotted on Design Sponge by Wayne Pate. A fun take on the nautical theme with a dose of humor.

A recent trip to Hawaii started an obsession with vintage-looking beach art. The lovely eye-candy rich store called "Sand People" has a slew of it. Here are some favs taken with my sorry little iPhone:

The two following signs can be customized for one's house/restaurant/vacation spot:





One that I hope embodies the spirit of the beach house from the Honolua General Store in Kapalua:


A nice little print from Ballard Designs - I've seen this one a few times at catalogs over the past year or two and I still find myself gravitating toward it:

Naked Walls

It's been 8 months since we made the move from city living to this urban-suburbia. One of my favorite design features of our house has to be the wall space - big, beautiful naked white walls that are begging to be transformed.

Being a maximizer, it's difficult for me to pin down one concept until I find the ultimate one. Here are some that are rattling around my brain:

Frames made from molding, lined with wallpaper. I love how it makes such a powerful statement, yet is limited to the specific space.



(first photo from Apartment Therapy; I'm uncertain about the source of the second)


This second wall decor concept also incorporates wallpaper, but rather than a solid pattern, it's a gorgeous quilt of wallpaper scraps. I sure wish I knew where to access such lovely scraps around here!



(both photos via Apartment Therapy)

Hang Loose


My dear blog friends, thank you for your patience and grace. This year -- and more specifically the move to the new house and town -- has proven to be more than I could multi-task. The freshdwelling blog has suffered and been ignored. With the onset of fall and recently returning from a trip to Maui, I'm feeling renewed and energized and ready to become bloggerific!