5.9.15

Let the wedding planning begin! I can't believe we already have a wedding date! Originally we wanted a Fall 2014 wedding, but much to our surprise, all the venues we were interested were booked out through next fall. A comfortable outdoor venue was important to us though, and one of my number one rules is "I don't want to sweat on my wedding" so we decided on Spring 2015 - cross your fingers for sunshine.

As we searched for a rustic but elegant venue, we narrowed our choice down to Benhams Grove and The Willow Tree Inn. Benhams is a beautiful venue and we were very impressed but with a wedding party of our size, our only option for the reception was a tent. While tents are fine, we wanted some rustic elements and the thought of decorating a blank canvas like a white tent made the dollar signs in my head spin.

The Willow Tree Inn offers a beautiful backdrop, a rustic barn, and comfortable amenities. Bingo.

I fell in love with the Willow Tree when I sang there for a wedding in the 7th grade. I told myself ever since then that I wanted to get married there. *It captivated me* After meeting the new owners, I was pleased to learn that they married at the Willow Tree in 2000 and also fell in love, so much so that they bought the place about 2 years ago and have been renovating it ever since.

A beautiful old Victorian Home

Beautiful scenery

The Barn - Love love love

Now that we have the date and the venue, the rest of the fun begins! Adam just wants to know when we can go taste testing :)

xoxox - the future Mrs. Blimbaum

oh, how PINTERESTing: 3

Linking up with Michelle from The Vintage Apple to share with you my new obsession...

Tribal and flower print nails!!

If having beautiful long nails so that I can cover them with art isn't enough to stop biting my nails then I have lost all hope.

Some inspiration....

What nail trend are you obsessed with right now?

Next stop, CVS for some nail art pens ;)

Jes

P.S. Follow me on Pinterest to see these pins and more :)

It feels good to do what you love :)

A few weeks ago, a family friend hired me to make two paintings for their new living room. They just moved into an amazing new house and needed two paintings to complement each side of the fireplace.

The vision was muted tones (greens, yellows, browns, creme..) and trees on two 3' x 4' canvas. At first, I was very intimidated by the size of the project but then one night I woke up with a "vision!"

After some trial and error, this is what I came up with!

Two 3' x 4' paintings

Showing off my paintings and scaling how big they are!

Next, I added a distressed border and plumped up the trees a little bit more.

The finished product!

The paintings turned out really well and they were a big hit during the holiday party. Lately, the only paintings I have sold were pre-made so it was a great experience to make someone else's vision come to life. Our friend provided great feedback along the way which I also appreciated. People usually just say "make what you want! I like anything..." but in the back of your mind, you worry that your customer will feel pressured to purchase. With a little guidance, I was able to provide two original paintings that complimented the living room well and more importantly our family friend really liked!

I had so much fun creating these paintings and I can't wait for the next project to come along.

xoxox,

Jes

DIY: Newspaper Nails

My friend Devan came over the other night, (okay, I made this post a few weeks ago and forgot to publish it! I've been busy with work and my beautiful baby niece) and I fell in love with her nails!

Awesome, huh.

She painted her nails a pastel blue, dipped them in vodka and then layered on the newspaper. I had to know the details, so I searched Pinterest to find the step by step instructions:

Check out the Newspaper how to, HERE! I'm going to give it a try this weekend! Guess I better get to the liquor store ;)

xoxox, Jes

The Perfect Nursery

The baby could come any day now and I cannot wait to meet my little Niece or Nephew. Without a doubt, the holidays this year will be the warmest with the new baby to brighten things up.

I wanted to share the beautiful nursery that my sister and brother-in-law put together. My sister said, "There is so much love in the room with handmade art and furniture created special for Baby McFall." 

The color scheme is yellows, grey and white, and this isn't just because the sex of the baby is unknown, but also because my sister said that she has never been the girl-pink, boy-blue type. There is also a steady owl theme through out the room.

The Beautiful Nursery

Patrick's old baby mobile, and of course this crib can convert into a little bed set for when the baby outgrows it. Pat is always thinking ahead.

Hand painted and decorated furniture, and homemade curtains by Patrick's mom and a handmade owl picture by the little sister Kelsey.

My favorite part of the room is the yellow stripped ceiling!!!

Homemade baby keep sake box made by my mom, and an amazing owl nightlight.

Owl shelves made by my mom and Patrick's old toys :)

Keep sake shelves with old toys and an owl piece I made

I used colored felt and embroidery floss to stitch together a cute owl on a fabric background.  To twist things up a bit, I used a wood embroidery hoop and a coat of white paint to frame it!

Isn't everything gorgeous??! I am slightly jealous of the baby's room because it's so awesome.

Hurry up Baby McFall!! We're ready for you :)

Halloween Invisible Pops

Inspired by Halloween, I took to www.marthastewart.com for some party treat ideas. I found this recipe for homemade suckers that can be tailored for any occasion with the right candy decorations. I chose pumpkin and skeleton candies. The options are endless!

All you need is:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
Lollipop sticks
Assorted candies

• 
  

Martha must have a steadier hand than I because my suckers didn't turn out very round.

The candy hardens quickly so you have to move fast!

Tip** Don't use your best pot to melt the candy mixture because it is tough to get out. The best way we found was to heat up the mixture again and again and pour it out onto the cookie sheet until it was all gone.

My friend Becca enjoying the treats she helped me make :)

Next time, I may try to add some food coloring to the candy mix to see what happens!

Enjoy! 

Puppy Portrait

In a previous post ANGEL, I shared with you the story of my family dog Angel and her need for surgery. Angel is now out of her head cone, and recovering wonderfully. I just recently took her on a walk and she was acting like a 4 year old skipping around (she is about 11 years old!). I was worried she might get too excited and re-injure herself but the doc assured us that she is strong and doing well :)

Friends of the family, Mel and Jon donated reward money that Spartacus won in a cute dog contest, and as a gift for them, I painted a Puppy Portrait of their other dog Peanut (so he wouldn't feel left out) and because he is too awesome to NOT have a Puppy Portrait.

Spartacus (on the left) and Peanut (on the right)

Aren't they funny!

Here is Peanut modeling with his Puppy Portrait!

If you are interested in a Portrait of your Puppy or pet, contact me at Jbarmstrong87@gmail.com with a brief description, and a picture of pet!

I look forward to hearing from you! :)

DIY: Spoon - Fork - Knife

Inspiration

Household Words on Etsy

Irell on Etsy

My Interpretation

How to:

As a kid, whenever we went to the hardware store, I would get lost in the paint section plucking up as many paint swatches as my little hands could hold. I used to cut them up, draw pictures and stare at the rainbow of colors for hours. And when we went to the fabric store, I would get my grubby mitts on the quilting squares. They are usually only 2 dollars a square and they are organized in the store by color, so I have always been drawn to them. Well, some things never change, and I had 3 brightly colored quilting squares that I had no clue what to do with. I also conveniently had 3 small canvas that I also had no clue what to do with.

I have been inspired by prints lately, and decided to make my own humorous, spin on cute Spoon - Fork - Knife paintings for the kitchen :)

Supplies and sketches

I think a staple gun would have made more sense but I didn't have one and I am too impatient to wait so I used a glue gun. It gets the job done!

Make sure to glue opposite ends of the canvas to make sure the fabric is tight, before moving on to the  next side.

The final result!

What do you think?!

If you have more questions for me about how to make your own Spoon - Fork - Knife paintings, or if you would rather me make them for you, email me at Jbarmstrong87@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

Cubicle Blues

I move into my apartment August 20th and my creative wheels are cranking. I'm excited to have an apartment to decorate and I look forward to sharing my new ideas with you all. My first project is to make over a tiny breakfast table set my mom found at a garage sale for $15. This little table will make the cutest patio table on my new porch :) Look for updates soon.

With my new apartment also comes my new job.. and for those of you like me who are still in an office cubicle.. you know that it helps to add a few warming touches here and there to brighten up your work day.

I have been eyeing these perfectly tiny terrariums for quite some time now and I finally purchased them to accent my cubicle. They only require a drop of water and minimal sunlight so they will survive in even the dreariest of offices. I may purchase another set for my apartment because they would look so cute lining a window sill.

You can find these cute terrariums and other furry goodies at Tortoise Loves Donkey's Etsy page.

On another exciting note.. I am only about 120 pageviews away from 10,000 views! Thank you so much for reading everyone! XoxoX

Cherry Blossom Fever

April is the month of Cherry Blossom fever in Washington DC.. and I'm not mad about it!

So here is the story according to Wikipedia:

Japan gave 3,020 cherry blossom trees as a gift to the United States in 1912 to celebrate the nations' then-growing friendship, replacing an earlier gift of 2000 trees which had to be destroyed due to disease in 1910. These trees were planted in Sakura Park in Manhattan and famously line the shore of the Tidal Basin in Washington DC. The gift was renewed with another 3,800 trees in 1965. The cherry blossom trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction (and the subject of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival) when they reach full bloom in early spring.

If the National Cherry Blossom Festival isn't enough to get you excited, you can experience cherry blossom treats like cherry cupcakes, cherry flavored brandy, cherry upside down cake... you name it, and as long as it doesn't remind me of cherry flavored cough medicine.. I want it!


I first fell in love with cherry blossoms when I went to China last summer. There are subtle hints of cherry blossoms in  everything from pottery, to paintings to garments... when my trip came to a close, I became obsessed with doodling cherry blossoms all over my notebooks in class. So obsessed that I got one of my cherry blossom drawings tattooed on my body. 

My tattoo

The cherry blossom has different meanings in Chinese and Japanese culture. In China, the cherry blossom stands for women's dominance and beauty as well as feminine sexuality. In Japan it symbolizes the transient nature of life, as the cherry blossom blooming season is so short.






So now that I have bored you with my interest in the cherry blossom, take a look at some beautiful pictures my friends and I took along the Tidal Basin when the trees were in full bloom

The Princess and the Pea

I can't pinpoint exactly what inspired me to illustrate my version of The Princess and the Pea. I've always wanted to illustrate children's books, so one sleepless night I decided to try a stab at one of the fairy tales. I wanted to covey the feeling of isolation and loneliness.... I think I just may make a few more fairy tale illustrations.

I wish I had better pictures or a scanned image :/

Do It Yourself: Mosaic Plate Mirror

I wish I could take credit for this one, but this idea was originally my brother-in-law's mother's idea. She is super crafty and inspiring. My sister created her first mirror about 2 years ago and I have been dying to make one ever since.

This is one of my favorite projects because not only is it easy, but it helps you take out some aggression with a hammer :)

So first, you need to get thrifty and find a mirror and some old plates that match your desired color scheme. (It's fun to recycle someone's old things! Trash to treasure right?!) I decided to pick up the fun colors in my bedspread.

*Make sure your mirror has a relatively flat frame and enough room for you to get crafty with plate placement. It doesn't matter if the frame is "ugly" because you will never see it.

After you get your materials, put a few plates at a time into a paper bag. *For your safety, make sure to wear work gloves so that you do not cut yourself and work goggles to protect your eyes just in case. Next is the fun part, HAMMER TIME! Check periodically to make sure you are smashing the plates to the desired size for your mirror.

After you have all of your plates smashed and ready, use grout mix or mosaic tile mix to apply the plate pieces to the frame of the mirror. I usually place the rounded edge pieces of the mirror around the edges so that there are no points around the edge.

Let dry, and TADAaa!

Another tip, *If you don't like the white grout, you can use tea bags to stain the grout to an off-white color. This is really great for antique style mirrors. Also, you can add beads, antique brooches, etc;

The options are endless and no two mirrors will ever be the same!

Tin Man

Acrylic on Wood

"And so it goes a man grows cold

Some would say a man grows strong

They tell me life grows short

I say the road only grows long

And as long as there's a road

My feet will never touch the ground

And if you won't give my heart back I've no need to stick around

I miss it

Oh, I miss that feeling of feeling"

~The Avett Brothers - Tin Man

Do It Yourself: Jewelry Tree

I have been wanting a Jewelry Tree ($70?! Really?) for a long time... I had my sights set on a white metal tree from Urban Outfitters for about $35 and then I thought... I can just make this myself!

I found the perfect branch and just screwed it tight onto a wooden base I bought at Michaels Craft Store for only $3.

 

Viola!

Super easy right?! And rather than a manufactured "tree," your Jewelry Tree will be one of a kind! Right now, my Jewelry Tree is natural but I may paint it with some white gloss paint for strength. So far though the branches are holding up just fine! It complements my natural Origami Crane Mobile well too! :)

*please note: I am too poor to buy a camera for the moment so my Droid camera will just have to do