February 10, 2011
February 9, 2011
Don’t you just love this print? It is a gorgeous etching and watercolor by the talented Amber Perrodin.
She is a fellow Northwest Arkansas Artist, and she has an etsy shop filled with sentimental, textured, and strikingly lovely artwork.
February 7, 2011
Ahoy mateys! We’ve been watching episode 25 of Dora the Explorer (it talks about Pirate Costumes) with Violet today. Seriously. The kid cannot get enough of episode 25. I am excited for talk like a pirate day, because Violet is going to nail it!
Moving on, we got the trim up on top of our bead board! It looks awesome!
We also installed new pendant lights. I am still searching for some fixtures to give the bathroom some personality. Pardon my terrible photos. I have had serious issues with noise in this dark poorly lit bathroom.
That is pretty much it for this week’s edition of the Bathroom Facelift! Until our toilet thaws out, we are unsure whether or not we will need to purchase a new one.
Any of you photograhy phenoms have noise reduction tips when taking photos in a poorly lit room?
Stacie
February 6, 2011
Good Sunday to you! Apparently there is a little football game happening today, but instead of chilling out with finger foods in front of the TV for a few hours (not that there is anything wrong with that) I thought that I would blog about the latest issue of La Petite Magazine!
February 5, 2011
Howdy! I hope that you are having the most fabulous weekend ever!
I just finished cleaning our carpets (oh the woes of dogs + carpeted floors), and since I cannot walk around most of my house for a few hours, I thought that I would share a few of the new products now available at Shop Gingiber!
Ditto on the Love Folded Cards
February 4, 2011
Snow days rock. Especially when you actually have all of the supplies necessary to complete a decorating project start to finish without leaving the house!
I’ve had an ongoing project to paint all of my mismatched dining chairs the same shade of green (the green that I used on my fireplace). Yesterday I tackled this $10 beauty from a garage sale.
This chair required a quick bit of sanding, 3 coats of paint, and a easy recover of the seat.
Get a look at all of the old layers of fabric! Yowser!
The fabric I used is actually a piece of the bag that my old Anthropologie bedspread was packaged in. I had been saving the big bag for just such a project.
A few staples from my trusty staple gun, a few screws, and viola! Instant pretty chair makeover!
I’m kind of in love with this little makeover!
February 3, 2011
Have you ever had a French Madeline Cookie? Those soft spongy, buttery pieces of heaven. They traditionally look like the picture above, in the shape of a shell. I used to eat them weekly at my old job at Starbucks (they sell the BEST packaged Madeline’s).
Now that I don’t work there, I decided to make them at home! But I don’t have a shell shaped mold for French Cookies. So in a pinch I used mini muffin tins! Still just as delicous!
The recipe I have been using is from Epicurious.com and is yummy to the max!
Paired with some coffee (and a cow spoon for stirring) it makes for a sinful breakfast!
February 2, 2011
What’s love got to do with it? Everything, that is, if you are referring to my recent decision to set up Nathan’s drum set in our bedroom.
Let’s backtrack a bit. When Nathan and I started dating, he was a happy go lucky college student, gleefully playing the drums and church and giving drum lessons to pay the bills. Somehow over the years, life intervened, and my sweet husband had to pack up his drum kit and put it into storage. It probably had something to do with moving to a small house, starting grad school, moving to a new state, having a child, etc.
Fast forward to this year. Nathan is a focused mathematician. Math is what he does for fun! He is never without a pencil and a notebook, diligently working away at his math dissertation. Then an opportunity arose for Nathan to play the drums at the church we had started frequenting (shout out to Vintage Fellowship). I could tell that Nathan was rather pumped, but intimidated, as he had not played the drums in 3 years.
So yesterday, as we were snowed in, I decided that we HAD to find a place for the drums in our home. Having a 2 year old posed a significant challenge, as we could not set the drum kit up in the dining room or living room (little fingers and such). The only option was our own master bedroom.
I like pretty things. Drums are not pretty. But these drums happen to be a maroon shade, which happens to sort of go with our bedspread (the lovely Liberty of London Quilt that just about EVERYONE seems to have bought last spring). I cleared out a large space next to the bed while Nathan and Violet were sleeping. When he woke up, I had pulled as many of the drum heads out of storage and put them in the corner, waiting for him to come set up!
He is one happy husband. And I love him so much. And I want him to have a creative outlet again.
So, in answering Tina Turner’s infamous question: what’s love got to do with it? Everything!
Howdy! This is a few days late, but I’m back with this week’s edition of the great BATHROOM FACELIFT (hold the applause… please).
Here’s the breakdown of expenses thus far on the bathroom! We are almost ready for the fun parts: decorating, creating a soothing oasis for yours truly, etc. Total Cost so far: $175.06! Not too shabby!
A few weeks ago we removed our bathroom toilet so that we could easily install flooring and baseboards in the bathroom. Well we have been a little slow to actually purchasing baseboards (blame little Schroeder and his MASSIVE vet bill… I kid, but seriously…) so the toilet has been out of commission.
In our brilliance, we put the ceramic toilet in the back yard for safe keeping. Yes. we are those neighbors with random appliances and furniture in our yard. Please don’t tattle on us. I cannot handle another once of those nasty letters from the city informing us to remove our junk from our yard, but that is another story.
Well, it has snowed quite a bit since the toilet was put in the yard. And we may just have to replace it now, as we cannot tell if the cold weather has ruined the toilet. Here’s hoping that we can have our “stall” reinstated in the near future.
Also in the near future: a trip to our local Re-Store to look for outlet covers, trim for the top of the bead board, and whatever else we can find on the cheap!
February 1, 2011
So I have a little announcement to make: my line of illustrations and paper goods, Gingiber has moved to it’s very own storefront!
I have loved selling through Etsy, and will continue to keep my Etsy store open until products expire, but I recently realized that it was time to make a change. I was inspired to make the move after reading a great blog post written by Maggie over at GussySews about the benefits of Big Cartel vs. Etsy (read the full blog post here). Her story was compelling, and after doing much research on my own (checking my Google Analytics referring sites, Monthly Etsy Fees, the benefits of having my own URL, etc.) I decided to dive in!
To Celebrate the Grand Opening of shopgingiber.com I am offering all readers a 20% discount when you enter discount code “GrandOpening” at checkout!
So please take a moment to click over to my new store, Shop Gingiber, and browse the merchandise! Along with the new store comes cleaner branding (I ADORE my new font), brighter product images (still finishing up shooting some product pictures), and a fresh start for me and my business!
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has shopped at my etsy shop the past year and a half. You have given me the courage to expand my brand and to go after the dream of running Gingiber full time. I’m well on my way thanks to you, friends!
Stacie
