'All those who wander...' freebie

The past few weeks have been a bit extra stressful lately so I've been more emotional than my usual steely self. So when I stumbled upon this beautiful verse by J.R.R.Tolken, it hit a chord with my sensitive side. I've never read one of his books so aside from the first line, it was entirely new to me.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

It inspired me to do another inspirational mini poster freebie (the first one here, inspired by my favorite movie). And while I know the second line has nothing to do with traveling per se, it certainly seems fitting for someone who loves to wander like me.

So from me to you, an inspirational mini poster. Hope it brightens your day. Just download and print.

{DOWNLOAD IT HERE}

Whether your wandering involves pajamas in your living room or steamer trunks to Antarctica, this one is for you.

PS: Don't worry, Im not going to turn into one of those blogs that gets all
theoretical on you about the meaning of life or posts pictures of kittens hanging onto tree limbs. I promise to keep my weepy whiny time to a minimum.

Brooklyn's Backyard: Prospect Park Zoo

A few months ago I shared one of my favorite buildings, the boathouse in Prospect Park. We arrived to early to go inside, we decided to take a detour and visit the zoo.

I knew it had been renovated and gets good reviews but haven't been inside for ages so I wasn't sure what to expect. I can confirm its completely adorable - perfect for the young and young at heart. Well designed, compact enough for little feet but with enough interesting animals.

The entrance had a huge wire sculpture of a dinosaur...

that just happened to have a nest of baby birds inside. Not sure if that was planted or happened by accident but it was fitting.

Am I the only person who thought a black swan was purely a economical theory term? Evidently not.

There is a great little seal feeding show they do multiple times a day. All the kids loved it.

They have an indoor "monkey" house that has a collection of small animals that totally won my heart. It was really dark in there and the animals were behind glass so I didn't take any photos but there were a pair of Pallas cats that I just wanted to take home with me.

And the highlight of cuteness was a red panda that appeared to just be waiting for me to arrive. We stared at this thing for entirely too long. And then at some point he stuck his tongue out of at us as if to say 'yea, im even cuter this way. deal with it.' I was just completely enthralled with its cuddliness. (Is that a word?) I'm fairly certain the only thing that could be more adorable than a red panda is a baby red panda. I will have to find one to do some scientific comparisons.

This zoo brought out the true juvenile in me. So much so that I was compelled to make this for your viewing pleasure.

I dare you not to fall in love with him!

So that was our detour to the Prospect Park Zoo. The most darling area in Brooklyn by far.

If you want to see some more of my fine borough, you can check out some of my prior posts here or read my one day tourist's guide to Brooklyn.

Shore Files: More cowbell.

So where was I? Right, we cleaned, painted and redid the floors. We had some furniture. It was time to get to the fun stuff. At this point it was all pretty neutral so added some of things you'd expect in a place near the water.

One of the first projects was designing three large canvases for over the couch. I had seen a few other things I liked at the time but none of them fit the space or the budget so I went off on my own. I designed the panels and had them printed on canvas. (Forgive the crap photos - these were taken before I knew how to operate a camera.)


A closer look at at the panels.



We hung some prints taken in of our town around the turn of the century.


As for the smalls, I added some natural items (I'll have to snap some of my own photos the next time) - a giant clam shell, a hunk of white coral, a recycled wood frame, etc.


And printed a few of our favorite photos taken by the beach (either this one or on vacations) and used them to punctuate the room.

steps the beach at the jersey shore; shipwreck on robben island, south africa

Now I know some of you may be rolling your eyes here. Beachy things for a place near the beach? How predictable! Can't really argue with you there. But its intentional - casual and relaxed and simple. I can appreciate wanting to go another way but this was a shore getaway and I wanted it to feel like it. I will admit that at that point, it was looking all a little one dimensional. It needed some depth. More cowbell!! These photos were taken several years ago an I have done a few things to punch it up a tiny bit (one final living room update coming to bring you into the present) - but there is still work to do.

It was around this time that we took a fork in the road and we started doing our Brooklyn renovation so all of my plans went bye-bye. So its back to business. I'm still very much sure I want a beachy, breezy vibe in here but I wouln't mind a little bit of a twist either. Ideas?

Style & Skill Crush: CSI Project

Meet my new favorite blog, the CSI project. I don't remember how I stumbled onto this jackpot but its my new addiction.

The site is a collaborative effort run by these three lovely ladies. Each week the gaunlet is thrown, er, a challenge is posed based on a different concept or theme. Readers from all over submit one of their projects that work with the idea and then a guest judge picks the "winners".

Some recent examples include the Hardware Challenge, the Martha Stewart Challenge and the Paint Challenge.

And while not every entry is a home run, there is definitely enough gold in the pile to be worth digging around in. I'm particularily fond of how many clever upcycled uses for easy to find items are scattered within the readers submittals. Some of my favs:


A beautiful use for old shutters from A Glimpse Inside


Great budget recreation of a Pottery Barn mirror by Cottage Love ; Outside inside gate screens from Funky Junk Interiors


Chicken wire shelving from Crafty Sisters; Whimsical Dresser from Twice Lovely


And by complete coincidence, their most recent challenge, Frames, Art & Wall Decor, was closed out today and I got an honorable mention for my ironically framed television. Sweet!

Hard to believe this site has only been going for a few weeks and they already have a loyal following. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Blogger Tag Sale: Interesting trades? #bloggertagsale

I was super excited to get home yesterday and read my emails to see what peaked your fancy. Thank you so much for all of the great emails and bids!



For those of you who have sent in bids, you'll get a final answer by end of day. If you want to get a bid in, please email me asap. Assuming all of the bids I've received pan out, there are still a few items left. They are feeling really sad and lonely. You don't want that on your head, do you? So bid often and bid high.

I was a little bit surprised that I didn't receive a single 'interesting trade' offer. If only for the comic relief, I figured I'd get at least one clever swapper out there. I suppose cash is king :)

Thanks again to everyone. I'm glad I dragged this stuff out for your shopping pleasure. Now I have to drag my behind to the post office!

Blogger Tag Sale: Make me an offer. #bloggertagsale

If you read my tweets, you'll know I've been hyped up for the Blogger Tag Sale and its finally here. I'm really much more interested in what the other participating bloggers have for sale but I figured I'd raid my closet and put up at least one thing. Would you belive I have 10 things I'd be happy to part with? Huh?? Thats a lot for someone who throws/gives everything away. Seriously, I don't like to keep or store anything I don't absolutely need so Im ruthless. Or so I thought.

Anywho, on to the wares. Come one, come all. Welcome to my booth. You like? You buy. No reasonable bid will be denied. Got something to barter? I'm down with that as well. The very low bar I've set is that the price or the trade has to be worth me braving the nut cases at the post office. Ready? Set. GO!



The first two items are still in the original boxes so you can't see them. In fact, I've even wrapped the very first one up in chevron giftwrap just for you! (Ok, it wasn't for you but its a long story.)

A. Pottery Barn Bedford Charging Station in White never removed from box. (See it here.) Purchased as a gift but it turns out that the giftee already had it and I didn't keep the receipt.
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B. Bamboo Roman Shade 23x72 inches long. I had two sitting in my closet for ages. I used one in my office and its twin is just dying for a home. (See its bro hung in my office here.)


C. Pillow lovingly sewn by moi using gorgeous Amy Butler fabric. I still love the pattern but it doesn't really work in any of my rooms so I'm willing to give it to a loving home. It has been used in a purely decorative way and includes the insert. (See it when it was first born here.)
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D. 1 yard of Vicki Payne Olive Oil Home Decor fabric.

E. Pair of old worn frames with Victorian women illustrations within. The frames and images are showing their wear, er charm.

F. A skinny bolster black and white floral pillow. Came with the Target slipper chair but this fabric doesn't work for the room. (See the get up here.)

G. Unopened Making Memories Distressing Kit. (Sold new here.)

H. Completely random framed carrot photograph. (Used this in the kitchen of my last home. I swear, it made sense in there.) Frame has subtle red accenting on the edges.

I. Set of 3 framed New York City photographs. Also used in my last home. Top photo features pre 9/11 NYC skyline taken from Brooklyn shore; middle photo features from the air view of midtown centered on the Chrysler Building; bottom photo features tree lined path in Central Park. They are all signed but the photographer although I can't read what it says.
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J. Oversized decorative key made of some kind of metal (heavy!) in a distressed off white finish.


So thats the lot of it.

The tag sale will remain open for 1 week. If you have questions or would like to make an offer, drop me an email. I estimate shipping for these items will cost anywhere from $8 to $15 and I would love to combine shipping so if you'd like more than one item, that will go a long way in winning me over :) If you propose a worthy trade, I'll even pay for the shipping out of my own pocket.

So bid often and bid high people. Off to go shopping at the other bloggers tag sales. Here are the ones I know about but if you are participating, drop me a comment.

http://www.designblahg.com/
http://www.sketch42blog.com/
http://thingsthatsparkleblog.blogspot.com/
http://visualvamp.blogspot.com/
http://chicmodernvintage.blogspot.com

Shore files: Furniture!

After the walls were painted and the floors redone, it was time to get some furniture.

I wish I could say that we got that accomplished over a long weekend but in reality it was almost a full year before we had anything to sit on.

I always wanted a white couch so here was my chance. I liked the sleekness of the color with the casualness of the slipcover style. Its been 4 years and still no stains (knock wood!). On the negative side, Im not loving how slouchy the couch looks as time goes on but so be it. At this point there was still plenty to do in this room - like art on the walls, window treatments (still yet to be done 5 years on!), etc but it was coming together.

As that was getting sorted we had to figure out the bedroom. Not wanting to blow a lot in here, off to Ikea we went.

Once again, not at all finished but immediately more cozy.

So at this point we had the basics. It was now time for some more finishing touches. I've made some progress (I'll share that in a future post) but now that I think on it, its been forever and I've done so little. Its just so hard to be focused once we're down there - its like my heart rate slows the minute I cross the threshold. And those little and big undone things still drive me crazy so its not like I don't notice them - I just can't seem to cross them off the to-do list. Must.light.fire.under.me.

Fourth of July Freebie Download

As you may have read me mention before, I heart fireworks. Completely mesmorized by them. So it should come as no surprise I'm looking forward to the festivities in a few weeks.

We aren't throwing a party but I know many of you are. I've seen some fabulously styled celebrations photos in magazines lately and that got me in the mood to do a freebie. Just a little kitchy BBQ menu / invite / sign ready to display all the goodies you'll have on offer.

Download it here.

If you are looking for an easy to make (aka: even an idiot like me didn't ruin it!), give the blueberry buckle recipe I blogged about last year. It was yummy.

Hope some of you can make good use of it. I'd love to know if you do.

***Want more free stuff? Check out my some of my past freebie downloads: paint storage labels, love is all around mini poster, turkey menus, halloween toe tag invite and labels, victorian chair pattern, and a one day tourist guide to Brooklyn.***