Exciting News!

images via 1/2/3

I have some pretty exciting news to share with you today! About a week or two ago Craig and I sat down to have a messy picnic and a very serious conversation. A conversation that could only be had over egg salad and pizza flavored Gold Fish, apparently. We talked about the future and all of the things that we wanted for ourselves. We talked about our future babies, and how our adoption was going to change our lives next year. You know, one of those conversations that come up out of no where and you're all like...really? I mean, you can only solve so many questions in a 1 hour lunch break. We continued this conversation over the next few days - and then we started planning. Planning is my favorite - the future is a marvelous thing. There are so many possibilities, and choices, and you just have no idea where each road is going to lead you. Well, after much prayer and debate we have decided....

 I will be leaving my 9-5 job to dive into my upholstery business full-time! 

My last official day at work will be April 10th! I can not tell you how excited I am. This decision was not made lightly and it didn't completely come out of no where. We know that when we bring the babies home (yes, I said babies...multiple...two!) I will not be working. I want to make sure that I am home with them, bonding, loving, teaching them everything that I can.  But just because I'm home doesn't mean that I want to do nothing. I want to continue to share my life with you, I want to follow my passions and make a difference. 

I've been networking a bit with my upholstery and I have several jobs and projects lined up...but the problem has always been time! Where do people find the time?! So Craig says to me "Let's just jump in head first. Quit your job, see what you can do." Wow, that's scary, but we're doing it!  I'm going to pick up a little part time job to make myself get out of the house a few hours a week, but other than that it will be just me and my staple gun....following my dream.

I hope you'll all be as excited as I am about change. Keep us in your prayers as we make this transition, which is never easy. And, of course, if you need some custom furniture you know where to find me :) 

xoxo

Lomokino v.02

Last weekend Craig and I took a few minutes out of a busy Saturday to grab a blanket and take Kennedy Buttons to the park. We let her run around (it was fenced in, no worries!) and tried to keep her from eating mouth fulls of grass. No luck on that. We laid around and read books, and danced.

It was a great day.

Check out my first Lomokino video here. I am never putting this camera down.

A Slice of Home: Mary Jo's

This weekend I went home to spend some quality time with my parents and get my hair cut. Yes, I drive 3.5 hours to let my bestie cut my locks - worth it!! One of my favorite places to go when I'm home is Mary Jo's Cloth Store. I remember going there with my grandmother when I was younger, and now that I actually know what to do with high-quality amazing fabric it's like a little slice of heaven. The prices can get a little high, but it never dissapoints in terms of variety. You may have heard Sherry from Young House Love talking about it a few times - which I freaked out the first time that she mentioned it....like "Thats MY fabric store!".

Copper Bottle DIY + A Spring Table!

I'm excited to share a quick DIY that really helped me brighten up my dining room table and get it ready for Spring! I bought these cute little milk glass jars at Ikea a few weeks ago at about $1.50 each. Hello great deal! At the time I had no plan for them, but once I saw them I knew that I couldnt leave with out a few.

Here's what you'll need:

Glass Jars - you can find these here

Painters Tape

Spray Paint

Plastic or Paper Bag

Step 1: Take a plastic bag - you can use paper bags or newspaper too - and wrap the top of your bottle to the point that you do not want the paint to cover. Secure the plastic down with painters tape, this will give you a nice crisp line. I made sure that I had enough plastic to push down into the bottle so that the rim didnt get any paint on it.

Step 2: Spray paint your bottles! I used copper spray paint and I really love the shimmer that it gives off. I only used 2 coats for these, but really I could have done one more.

Step 3: Once the paint has completely dried you can remove your tape and show off your new bottles!

I think they look great with some of my vintage canisters from my wedding. Spring is the best time to add in brightly colored trinkets all around the house!

I would also like to take this opportunity to admit that I am a lover of faux flowers. I know that I may lose some of you on this one, but I cant help it. I especially loved these green leafy branches that I found the other day at a local craft shop - they're so vibrant! Am I alone in this? I'm a firm believer in putting things in your home that you love...not because they're hip or because other people will like them, but because when you walk into your home you feel at ease and inspired to be your best. I am not so good at keeping real plants alive (although I am working really hard to keep one little guy going strong!), but I really enjoy having bright little bulbs around.

I try to update my table each season, but I didnt really change it up too much this winter. You can see my fall decor here.

Lomokino v.01

I am so excited to be showing off one of my newest cameras - my Lomokino movie maker! This seriously could not have been a better purchase for me. If you've never heard of this odd little device the way that it works is that you put regular 35mm film into the camera but instead of capturing the photo by pushing a button on top you spin the crank on the side. Each time that it clicks it takes a picture making little tiny movies! oh gosh - its so exciting! Instead of creating 24 or 27 exposures it makes 147 little tiny frames. It still has all of the charm of my little Holga, but with so much more potential!

A few weeks ago we had some family in town and I really wanted to try out this little guy. I decided to bring it along with us to the record store, and I'm so glad that I did! I already learned a few things after my first use..... 1 Even though it is nice and sunny in doors, your film will NOT look sunny unless you are in direct sunlight. 2 The actual picture that it takes it much closer and off center than you think it will be. 3 This will not produce a very long video. This whole video below is one roll of film - I like to think of these clips as mini reminders of sweet days spent with special people :)

Trust me when I say that I know this is grainy and off center and crazy. But I am so in love with it and the potential of learning a new camera and all of its quirks. 

I've already shot and finished my second video and it is so sweet! Film is so underrated. I really can't wait to keep making these and sharing them with you.

I hope you enjoy! xx

I've missed you, friends!

 I am SO happy to be back and blogging again!! If you didn't catch my last post you missed that I totally crashed our Mac and its taken about 2 weeks to get back up and running again. I have a laptop and an ipad, but you cant get much blogging done with out any editing software, and not to mention that I very rarely post on anything but my Mac. Creature of habit.

The first week of the Mac being dead was mostly me in denial trying to reboot it without losing everything. Well, that didn't work. Most of the second week was me on the phone with Apple Care for hours trying to fix it...that didn't work either. Finally we took it into the store and they made all necessary repairs in about 10 minutes. What did we learn? Just take it to the store. Always.

ANYWAYS! What have you guys been up to? I'm been working away on lots of new DIYs, playing with new cameras, shopping, cooking lots of new recipes, remodeling our bathroom, buying new fabric for an upcoming upholstery project, trying out some new pampering routines, painting my nails over and over....ohhh and Craig and I did the Color Run! Lots of fun stuff to be sharing with you over the next few weeks. It feels so good to be back :)

Giveaway Winner + Excuses

Does the whole Internet hate me for not posting my giveaway winner on Friday?? Yeah...that's what I thought. Well, last week I did something really stupid and completely wiped out my Mac. Cue gasp now. As in, not only did I lose everything on it, but I cannot get it to download the software to boot it back up. Right now it just sits with a grey screen. I would have already taken it to the Apple store but I was in a wedding this weekend that was out of town. I know, I know. Whatever.

Aaannnyyywwwaaayyysss let's announce a winner!!! Drum roll.....

Congrats Eunice! Send your contact info to me [at] aflynn920@yahoo.com and ill get this bad boy out to you!!

Thanks for all of the support! I can't wait to do another give away soon!! Ill be back to my regular posting as soon as I have my computer back! Wish me luck :)