Category: Design

Wall Art from the Archives

~ Crystle ~ 13 Comments

I’ve got six months of gestation left before this kiddo comes. I don’t even know what we’re having yet but as far as I can tell from the sonograms, it’s a human. Whew! That being said, I’ve been thinking a lot about (gender neutral) baby room stuff. I know, gag. The baby room decor from major baby retailers has left an emphatic scowl on my face. I’m just not impressed. Aside from basic linens and an essential item here and there, I’ve decided I really don’t want to pull decor straight off a shelf. Goodness, I’m already way over thinking this…

In an unrelated turn of events, I went through all my old photos from the last 5 years last night. I have boxes upon boxes of film negatives, data CDs and prints from my earlier years of film photography. Scavenging through the photos, reliving my early college days was more fun than I thought it would be. But I thought to myself; what am I supposed to do with all these images?

Then it hit me. Why not pull some of my favorite nature prints from those old backpacking trips and make them into wall art for the future baby’s room? They’re certainly gender neutral enough! Suddenly my archive browsing brought on by boredom had a direction.

I’m still pulling prints from both the film and digital archives, but so far these are some of my favorites. I really like the soft light of the outdoors from a Colorado trip I took awhile back. I may take some filters to them in Lightroom or edit them otherwise. Not sure yet, but I’m sure I’ll be too excited not to share when the end product is at hand.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on which images you think might look nice either enlarged or on canvas!

A Giveaway: Pretty Little Necklaces by Red Rabbit Ears

~ Crystle ~ 9 Comments

Hey Folks!

Since I found Jess’ blog over at Red Rabbit Ears earlier this summer, I haven’t missed a post. Her dogs, wedding plans and images of life in South Africa have me intrigued.  She’s wildly creative, too. My husband has busted me on more than one occasion drooling over some of the nature-inspired and domestic-themed necklaces  (both are right up my alley!) in her catalog. Needless to say, when I received an email from her offering up a necklace of my choice and two for some of my loyal readers, I was ecstatic!

I picked out ‘The Bear Hug’ for myself, and ‘Oh Deer’, and ‘Yee-Haa’ for you guys.

The mailman knocked on my door a few hours ago to hand-deliver a well-traveled piece of international mail. The parcel was wrapped so beautifully I could hardly bring myself to open it beyond the burgundy ribbon. Excitement prevailed and I now have a lovely bear hug around my neck, as well as two lovely necklaces waiting to be given to you!
So, to pay this gracious gift forward, I’m opening up a giveaway.
For a chance to win one of these Hand Crafted Pretty Little Things, leave a comment for one or both of the following: 
1. Tell me which piece in Jessica’s catalog (or from above) is your favorite! 
2. ‘Like’ Red Rabbit Ears on Facebook, or  follow @RedRabbitEars on Twitter and leave me a comment telling me that you are now a fan or follower. 

It’s as easy as that. Just be sure to get your comments in before July 31st at 11:59PM PDT. That’s when the giveaway ends and commenting closes. Multiple entries are fine by me, as two winners will be selected by random on August 1st and announced shortly thereafter.

Good luck, friends!

So you want a couch from Ikea…

~ Crystle ~ 5 Comments
Last weekend, Isaac and I went to Ikea in Federal Way, WA where we walked around the show rooms and made ourselves belligerently comfortable on all the furniture (I’m talkin’ feet propped up, garments thrown about). We were in the market for a big, inexpensive couch and Ikea was pretty much the perfect fit. I learned a lot that day.
Here’s a little FYI:
1. Ikea has some very firm sofas
2. Ikea has some very comfy sofas (one of which we selected)
3. All these sofas will come in weird shaped boxes
4. You will have to assemble that thing
5. You will ultimately love it.
We found exactly what we were looking for…that was the easiest part. After making our final selection we had to go to the warehouse area, caravan a bunch of oddly shaped boxes to our rental truck, and haul it home. Then the unpacking and assembling began:
 
 The design and packing was really genius. The cushions were packed in the hollow portions of the unit. The covers velcro onto the sofa which is also brilliant for two reasons: first, this makes cleaning a breeze, and second, it means you can buy a cover in another color and boom! New couch!
 I made haste on the getting covers on the cushions, Isaac had the hard task of actually putting it all together. We play to our strengths, clearly.
Et viola! Our new couch is paradise! Here’s an uncanny twist: about the same time we finally got this thing set up, I plopped down and read through NPR’s stories. Here’s one that struck a chord: The Deep-Seated Meaning Of The American Sofa. So many new memories will be made right here; we can go ahead and mark the assembling memories off the list.