The lovely and creative Jennifer Ramos of Made by Girl asked me to share seven things that I loved this month, so click on over and check out my post on Made By Girl! Thanks again Jen for the invite!
I’m back everybody! Well, how was your holiday? I am sure we are all ready for the new year to come as there are so many creative endeavors that I want to sink my heart in! The little one & I spent some time making paper snowflakes for our tree and gingerbread houses and gingerbread men, and we spent a lovely two days celebrating Christmas with my parents in Atlanta. I am super excited because over my little break I managed to finally obtain a cookie press, some bamboo knitting needles, a few quality paintbrushes, and a few yards of white cotton fabric to practice some hand printing! The baby in the belly seems to be doing just fine thus far, I go for a checkup this afternoon, and how I would love for her to just tell us the gender already!
Nevertheless, to make up for my m.i.a moments I thought I would share a pretty spectacular portfolio of the fabulous design firm Sixx Design! Enjoy!
I love magazines, I think they are like monthly treats of eye candy and inspiration. They really can make you feel special and offer up some wonderful dreams and ideas. So I recently scooped up the Christmas Issues of both Martha Stewart Living and Inside-Out(which I totally love). I recommend both issues to all of those who do not subscribe to or who have not picked a copy yet. They are filled with so many wonderful images and recipes and cute little gift ideas. I mean we all know that Marthas team will offer up some tantalizing ideas right? Anyhow, here are a few of my favorite images from them both! Unfortunately I will not be using any of these ideas this year, as the holidays just sort of sneaked upon me, but I made sure to grab them to hopefully pre-plan my festivities for next year! Hope these inspire!
Can we all take a moment of silence to give thanks to such pretty cupcakes that are carefully placed in pretty window vignettes and adorned with juicy colors like fuschia, orange, yellows, turquoise, and pinks. Oh my! If you are ever in Europe, near the Covent Garden Piazza, Fitzrovia London, or roaming Kingly Court off of Carnaby Street, then you must pop into the sweet shop of Candy Cakes! The decor is so lovely and the cupcakes, oh, why I have not had the pleasure of devouring one of these personally, I am more than positive that these sweet gems would be divine, and when you’re asked to create 300 cupcakes for Madonnas 5oth Birthday, then you know they must be tasty! Not only am I in love with their pretty cupcakes, but I think that their decor is great, especially the Covent Garden Piazza location with its jeweled greens, pinks, and whites, and the cute outside eating area!
I am totally swooning over these photos that I stumbled across. I don’t even remember the website that I saw them on, it was some sort of Moroccan travel site. Nevertheless, I do know that the all of the images are from Elle Decor…not sure of what year/issue. I think the colors are fantastic and so inspiring…hmmm, makes me want to add some pinks and purples to our living area.
Hi everybody! Hoping all is beautiful and creative in your part of the world? I have lots of great images coming up this week, and I have some fun things dancing around in my head for next year too, including an Amy Butler giveaway that I have been holding onto much too long.
Wow, I can’t believe it will be 2009 in a few weeks. I have so many resolutions…i know, don’t we all. But I am wondering, from a creative standpoint, what are some of your 2009 goals? Here are a few of mine:
have a scheduled block of time to do my arts/crafts
launch my motherhood blog
launch my fashion blog
maintain and follow a decent schedule
have more me time
send little trinkets and cards/notes to special blogging friends & family
pre-plan holiday activities and menus w/ cute files folders/boxes/binders
loose all the weight I am going to gain from this pregnancy..lol
scrapbook
sew a heck of a lot more!
I have a lot more, but those are a few of my most important ones. We will see how it goes!
Ok, here is a cute and simple tutorial I found on frosting candle votives..a great accent to your Christmas decor or as some Christmas favors for your guests!
How sweet they are! I would wear them in the rain and splash upon puddles with a childish smile on my face! Boots by Tamara Henriques
Photographer Eric Roth has a great portfolio of interiors & these are my favorites. I am absolutely in love with the first room! the colors are perfect, and so chic, simple, and rich! It’s perfect and I would give anything to spend a few moments or a day writing or creating in such a space! The flood of natural lighting in the second room is superb and I actually like the large motifs on the wall in the last.
Love the mirror and I think these red sleek & contemporary chairs paired with such a rustic dining table is great. The chairs are so rich and pretty, and makes me think of candy..j.cherry jolly-ranchers to be exact. While I love the color palette and textures I have to say that I would love to see a different type of cabinetry…or maybe it’s the counter tops…something is coming across as a bit distracting to me.
I fell in love with these pieces from Wee Go Home. I absolutely love the Desi stools..are they not fabulous! I can see them in a pretty shabby chic Moroccan inspired room with a beautiful geometric cushion on top or to use them as a side table to set up a small vignette of scented candles! I am also quite fond of all of their storage units as well. I am dying for something like this to put my tv on in our living room!
About 5 years ago we moved to a very tiny little apartment, and at the beginning, I made my creative self quite distanced from the idea of making it feel like home. It felt temporary to me and filled with accents and fixtures that drive me crazy to this day! So I went through my days surrounded by white walls, bland decor, and zero personality, until one day my husband said something along the lines of this: “you should always appreciate what you have while you have it, and make wherever you are feel like home”. Now I know this should have been common sense, but like I said, I just didn’t want to put any creative energy into such a small and standard apartment that was not even mine. But after he said that a little light bulb went off in my head. I told myself: “I’m an artist, so why not make my home reflect that”. So from there it began. I insisted that although I wanted our apartment to feel creative, I was NOT going to spend very much money. So our entire apartment is decorated and embellished with thrifty finds, handmade goodness, and even some freebies from my very thrifty dad!
I see a lot of decor blogs talk about decorating on a budget, but I wanted to take this moment to talk about that. I have a pet peeve sometimes when I see a headline “Decorating On A Budget” only to read further and find pieces that are $100 and even sometimes in the thousands. Now it is quite obvious that I love decor/design and the chic pricey pieces make my heart melt, but I am on a serious budget and spending even $100 or over for one piece of decor for my home is out of the question. So, what to do, I hit up all of my local thrift stores and made a few things myself. I think it’s important to highlight homes such as mine, that is not necessarily chic and classy, we don’t have hardwood floors and grand ceilings, or ikea pieces, but I find joy in recreating a purpose for something that someone no longer had a use for, or seeing something in a magazine and then making it myself for half the cost. Decorating your home is not about trendy pieces, and designer names, but about the warmth and creative passion that you are willing to put into it. One of the most biggest transformations to your home can happen just with a can of paint! So, in honor of this post, I ask that all of you who may feel a little uneasy about decorating or feel that you have to have the pieces and decor you see in the design magazines, to rethink your mission and squeeze your creative juices because a home is not defined by how much it costs, but how much love you care to put into it. And with that said, i welcome you all into our little abode. Please forgive any unbalanced lighting and over saturation, as I am no Interior Photographer, which is why I love highlighting them so much here on JuBella, because they really do capture the essence of of a home so beautifully! It’s nothing fancy, quite shabby/chic/bohemian. But it’s ours and I love it! Enjoy your visit!
My “Studio” Space: This is where I paint, sketch, and sew for the most part. I bought the luggage from goodwill for $3-8 each. I use them as storage for my art supplies. it works great at keeping little fingers out of your things as well! The frames were given to me by my dad(note: my dad is a serious thrift junky..I think this is where I get it from). I originally planned to buy art for the frames, and I hung them up as placeholders and decided I liked them much better empty:) my sewing machine is an old Elna that my hubby bought for me about 8 years ago and my fabric samples are my treasures that inspire my colors and creativity..I just don’t have the heart to cut them! I like to collect old album covers and I loved the composition and colors in this Dian Ross cover. the lamp($2.99) use to be a pea green until I painted it white, and until I make the lampshade that is in my head(I want a sheer layered/ruffled look), it will stay shadeless.
Reflection Space: This is where I do my journaling and sometimes reading. It’s actually our little ones old baby crib that I painted with a white washed/weathered effect. I made the pillows, the floral sheet came from the thrift store($3.99) and the little basket holds address and birthdays of all of my special friends. i keep it stocked with envelopes, paper, and stamps, to make letter writing easier and often! My favorite thing in this space is my “Dream” card which I purchased from “Made By Girl”.
Dining: Our dining table use to be quite goddy(ahem some may say it still is), it was silver & gold with gray seating. It was hidious. Yet again, my dad found it at some yard sale and asked me if i wanted it, so I said yes, and then I saw it and was like “what am i supposed to do with this!”. So, when all else fails you break out the decopauge. Yep, the entire thing is decopauged with magazine paper. I call it my Anthropologie table because I used so many of their old catalogs. Some may call it kitschy/tacky, but I think it’s lots of fun!
Can’t afford It? Make It! I just finished this pillow Sunday. It was inpsired by a pillow I saw at Urban Outfitters(which I was not going to pay $40 for). I bought an old round pillow for $2 at the salvation army and covered it with scraps of fabric I had laying around.
Outdoors: Our patio is VERY small. but there is enough room to have some tomatoes, basil, aloe vera, bellpeppers, and a small lavender plant. The wooden chairs I got from non other than the thrift store for $5 each. I plan on painting them but not sure what color yet. No, the ducks are not ours, but they roam around our community all lined up in a row. They are super cute!
The Kitchen: Our kitchen is quite simple, with a touch of fun. I painted the laundry room door with chalkboard paint and covered our terribly old fridge with food clippings. I love using glass jars and they make great holders for forks, spoons, and knives! I bought some tiny magnets and used them to hold my cookie cutters on the side of the fridge. If you ever get tired of looking at all of those clashy cereal boxes, then I suggest making yourself some cereal bags. I used plain white cloth to make ours in which you can usually find cheerios in it!
The Little One: This is our sons room. He is 5 years old. I painted these jack and the bean stalk vines along the sides of the wall, and one wall is painted all green. This picture means so much, because minutes after I was done taking the photos it appeared as though a hurricane had hit it. LOL! Oh how I only wish his room was always this perfect! Iironically enough, that is not chalkboard paint on the back of his bookshelf…little did I realize that regular flat/dark paint takes chalk quite well! As you can see…he re-purposed an old film canister from our photography days into a jelly bean container!
The Bedroom: This is one of my favorite spots. I wanted a headboard, but did not want to spend that type of money, so I whipped out some semi gloss paint and it turned out great! The hubby was quite skeptical, but loved it after he saw it!
My Desk: When I am not snug into the corner of our couch typing and researching on the lap top, you might find me here where I should be sitting! This space is actually a storage closet turned workspace! I can close it off entirely by closing the two folding doors on each side! My favorites are the 3 crane birds I made hanging from the ceiling, my “Fly & Be Inspired” bag I received from lovely & creative Andrea of Fly Girls, my “LOVE” card, and a very inspiring letter printout from a fabulous fellow mommy blogger by the name of Que Jimenez!
Good morning everybody! Oh, I am feeling so much better in the past few days! I have not been bothered with morning sickness, but the fatigue and lack of energy is something to deal with, especially when you have a running list of things you have to/would like to do! Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful Monday morning and I hope your week is off to a creative one! I wanted to share this recipe that I found via Cream Puffs In Venice. It’s called Lemony Bread Pudding French Toast(does that nor make your mouth water as you read it?). I must try this, even if it is just as a dessert or a guilty pleasure snack! Just click on the link above for the full interview, and while you are there you will definitely want to bookmark the following that really caught my appetite:
Okay everybody, i hope you enjoy these tasty finds and I have some inspiring posts for this week! Have a wonderful Monday to you all!
I love the Australia shop of MOZI! Their collections contain such pretty colors, patterns, and such lovely packaging! My favorite collection would have to be the Secret Garden Collection
Loving the imagery of these rooms by photographer Erik Johnson The image above is so nostalgic don’t you think?
I LOVE the reds, caramel & chocolate browns, and ivorys here and how I only wish i had that pillow on my sofa!
Raise your hand if you know the designer/style of these ivory chairs in the room below? I think they are fabulous! Totally swooning over them! I also love the way the colors in the painting pops beyond the light grays and whites in the eating area.
I would love to spend a quaint weekend at The George in Rye in the southeast of England. What I love about this boutique hotel is the ambiance and the decor that resemble the comfort of home. There is nothing worse than staying at a hotel that is sterile and deplete of character. Bed & breakfasts, and “homey” boutique hotels such as The George In Rye would be my first pick over many mainstream hotels. When living in Savannah, we had the opportunity to tour and stay in many of the bed & breakfasts, and the charm of the old homes and the comfort of the southern food was enticing, and the huge rice beds and fluffy pillows was just icing on the cake! One of my favorites was the Olde Georgia Inn(no longer in business). It was a period home and the kitchen was gorgeous..wood block island, porcelain kitchenware, vintage stove, and brick walls. If I can find a photo, i will be sure to post it!
So, have any of you had the opportunity to stay at a bed & breakfast or a swanky and comforting hotel such as The George in Rye..do share!
Hi Creative People! Ok, first let me apologize for being m.i.a. for the past week…sorry. I have been SO VERY tired and sluggish because I’m Pregnant with a second bundle of joy! YAY! 11 weeks to be exact, and my expected due date is May 17th, 2009. I have been wanting to post , but everytime I think I am going to post, all I ended up doing was falling asleep:) Nevertheless, I am thinking that my energy level is coming back, because I have been sleeping a lot less, and feel a bit less nauseaus in the morning. So, that’s where I have been in a nutshell, and I should be back to posting regularly either tonight or tomorrow, so see you soon & feel free to visualize a little girl for us! 
