friday five #30...

... the we signed a lease on a sweet apartment edition!!!

true story! we found the perfect apartment for us, worked to get it and signed a lease last monday! i'm so relieved, and beyond excited to get in there (hopefully a couple of day before) august 1st to start painting, moving in, arranging and decorating! the apartment shopping is well underway, and i think that with the boys construction skills and helpful tips and my obsessive organization of both of our ideas it's going to turn out pretty awesome. lots to do, lots to diy & lots to buy (in the smartest way possible)!

01. craft room coziness - i'm really lucking out with the combination of us finding a 2 bedroom apartment, and living with a boy who's so rad he's totally cool with me using that second bedroom as an office/craft room (p.s. what do i call it? craft room sounds nerdy, but studio sounds a little highfalutin'). anyway, obvs i've been planning the set up for a while, and one of the things i'm really excited about is the cool futon we scored for free that i'm possibly going to paint, and definitely going to make all cozy and cute for mid-project breaks and visitors. right now i feel like i need one of these one-price-for-any-size coverlets from garnet hill! but alas, there are other things higher up on the priority list, like dressers and a larger bed!

02. "indie girl" - i am absolutely loving the chartreuse, navy, cornflower and salmon-y pink color combo in the newest collection from sassafras! and hi, there are feathers! it says a lot that i'm loving this collection, since usually flowery papers are not so much my thing, but the tones and patterns of these are so 70s cute, in a good way, that i kind of can't resist. can't wait 'til we get it in and i have my hot little hands on this collection!

03. birch mural - somewhere in my internet travels i happened upon this girl, whose name i imagine to be jen, who has a really adorable home. i'm super jealous of her studio space because look at that window and i really fell in love with her birch mural in the bedroom. i'm hoping we'll be able to pull off something similar, but maybe with just a few randomly placed birches and then a whole bunch of them behind the bed kind of like a headboard. our friend jessica should definitely be able to pull it off no problem!

04. diy pennant pillow - i know, i know pennants are everywhere right now, they're the new owl, but i love them anyway! urban outfitters has this sweet little throw pillow but of course, because i'm me, i want to make it myself so it can go perfectly on my little craft room futon! oh, this is where my crafty friends come in, is anyone out there sitting on any pretty little bits of fabric (no matter how small) that you may be willing to trade me something for? i'm either going that route or buying one of those cute little patch sets, but honestly i'm kind of afraid to start looking around on fabric sites because bad things tend to happen to my wallet when i do that.

05. fiestaware - this is probably an enough said kind of situation, but i just love the classic, hefty look of fiestaware, so as of now i'm trying to work my sale wangling magic to get fiestaware into our future kitchen. we're currently thinking lemongrass, turquoise, tangerine and either white or cream). it will take some pretty major wangling, but i'm hopeful, or at least determined.

four more layouts! four more layouts!

this is my layout for this month's scrapbook sketch challenge at the store. we used a sketch that cosmo cricket had on their blog a little while back, and incidentally i ended up using a whole bunch of cosmo, with some thickers thrown in obviously, because when are they not present? just 4 of the items i'm currently lusting after at anthro. who else puts stuff on their wish list and then stalks it 'til it's on sale? just a little trick cheiron taught me. you have to act fast once it's on sale, but it definitely helps the wallet.

this layout was inspired by an ad i saw on fat quarter shop for a quilt pattern, so it just goes to show, you always have to keep an eye out for inspiration everywhere you go. i combined the "eve" and "indian summer" 6x6 paper pads from basic grey to make up all the little squares.

this one, all about one of my favorite people in the world, is also made using a 6x6 paper pad, "earth love" from cosmo cricket. i was a little stuck for this, so i flat out scrapjacked a layout from one of cosmo cricket's design team members, sorry i suck and forgot which girl it was and i can't find the layout now. : ( let me know if you know who it was, she did it using "joy ride"

and lastly, i've been saving this silk rose ribbon for a little while now, and with this paper it just seemed like perfection. everything is american crafts except for the pink polka dot from october afternoon and the "to go cup" stamp from a muse, which i like to use a white glaze pen with to make the top look like a plastic lid!

hopefully i'll be working on some post-birthday scrappies soon, especially now that i'm done with my whirlwind "max & whiskers class and the store yard sale! eep!

friday five #29...

...the if we don't find an apartment soon i'm going to lose my mind edition. perhaps some wishful thinking in the home decor department will help!

01. color shelf interiors - obviously design sponge is the go to resource for sweet design touches. i love the simple little idea of painting the inside cubbies of the shelves for a huge pop. love.

02. paintable wallpaper - i know paintable wallpaper is pretty old school but target, of all places, is selling this retro mod version that i can imagine in all shades of pebble-y grey, deep teal and deep plum.

03. cutie juice glasses - julie west, one of my all time faves, has created these super sweet little juice glasses for art star and i need a full set. i might even start drinking orange juice other than when i'm sick just so i can use them.

04. home print - "home" by edward sharpe and the magnetic zeroes has made it's way back into constant rotation in my life as of late. so, this print, that i also found at art star, is perfectly timed! it just arrived in the mail. now i just need a home to hang it in!

05. re-done spindle desks - another design sponge find, love the idea of a re-done spindle desk with vintage wallpaper drawer fronts. plus, the colors not too shabby either.

a little summer to do list...

have you seen the brand new night owl press stuff yet? so cute! this card is one of their new customizable wood invitations/save the dates! check out their stuff here. anyway, this is just a little mini list of some fun things to do this summer since i've been working on a great big list for the year ahead, but more on that later...

friday five #28

01. hey cupcake! lust - this time last year i was in austin, tx being shown what's up by the best austin tour guide in the world, miss kerry potter mccormick. she has defected back to nyc, and luckily i'll be able to spend my birthday with her here on the east coast this year, if only she had brought hey cupcake! back with her though! not only is the little airstream trailer, complete with rotating cupcake on the top, too cute for words but their vanilla dream cupcakes are the only bakery cupcakes in the entire world that i love! everyone who is able should be giving them a try, like right now. now.

02. iphone art - design sponge did a really cute guest blog entry all about awesome and well designed iphone cases, and i fell in love with these etched bamboo ones from grove. they have some really rad artist series cases and the option of uploading your own graphics to be etched for you and only you. you even get to pick the color of your bamboo and the outlying bezel color. they are a bit pricey, but look to be pretty sturdy and could end up being more than worth the bucks. perhaps they will be a post-birthday option.

03. halsey birds - yes, i have a quasi-quilty little spot in my heart for kurt halsey. i admit it! so i pretty much almost dyed when i saw his fireflies necklace at art star. i snapped it up and i wear it all the time and always get compliments on it. well, lo and behold art star posted a new weekend special today, spend $35 in the store and get a kurt halsey birds necklace free! that's an amazing deal, especially considering i didn't even know this new necklace existed. sadly i won't be able to get there this weekend so i ordered it up as a little birthday present to myself. but to all my philly peeps, go for it! it's a $34 necklace for free when you spend $35, that's insane! (ooh, also note how it comes in 2 different lengths, love that!)

04. spring cleaning apron - i'm working on a list things to do in the next year, and one of them is to complete a sewing project. i used to really enjoy sewing years and years a go, so it stands to reason that i will still enjoy it, right? the amazing fabric out there right now, not only from amazing fabric designers, but also from scrapbook companies i already love (cosmo cricket, basic grey, mme & more) is pushing me into action. i think my project will be this sweet scalloped apron from fig tree quilts. i love how it's designed to use just one "jelly roll" from moda and a little extra for lining and the scallop. i think i'll be using this jelly roll by joel dewberry, but may also still decide to get adventurous and mix my own fabrics. i could see how this could get silly expensive, but i'm going to fake myself into believing it's an investment, haha.

05. custom calligraphy address stamp - this little pretty jumped off oh so beautiful paper and straight into my "want" folder this week. how amazing would this be when we finally find an apartment? it's beyond beautiful, and just right for my handwriting hating self. just another reason for the universe to align and find us something already!

in the cards...

yeah, that's right. i did just use a totally cheesy blog entry title. deal. just a little bit of the crafty things i've been doing lately, at least the cards portion.

this is one of the cards i'll be teaching in the "max & whiskers" edition of my recurring "maximizing your 6x6 paper pads" class series.

and this is one of the cards from this past month's installment using the old school-ish "granola" paper pad. i can't believe that "granola" was my 12th paper pad class! i'm really glad that i still enjoy teaching them so much.

this little lady was my card for this month's card sketch at the scraptasia, it goes up tomorrow, so shush! loved using the hamly stitch rub-ons to "stitch" the two patterned pieces together.

gigi showed me how to make these cute scrap flowers a while a go and i passed them along in how-to form last week on the store blog after...

... i was inspired by the rosette how-to on the hero blog that i used to make this card. p.s. i don't think i'll ever be over this collection from crate paper!

just a little peek into my card pile. i have new layouts to share next week that i'm pretty excited about too.