Love your desk

My desk has been bothering me. It was full of lovely things but it felt messy and unorganized…sound familiar?

Something had to be done.

While Grace painted outside, I cleared off the entire surface and started over.

I knew the vintage chalk board that I found antiquing needed to hold court as my inspiration board, so that went up first. With a little time and lots of moving objects around, it slowly fell into place.

I’m especially fond of my sting of inspirational images…thanks to Artful Blogging and Boho magazine.

Tomorrow I have to clean off the blackboard…it has far too much math on it for my taste. I just noticed this in the pictures.

I think some lovely poetry would do nicely.

How’s your desk looking? Does it need some love?

xo,

Ivy

Summer Days

This past weekend the weather was amazing. Sunny, clear and warm.

Like good Portlanders we got out and did the things you are supposed to do when the sun comes out!

We went to the farmer’s market and gobbled up tons of fresh berries. Yum.

We filled the house with fresh blooms and…

adored the garden.

And of course, we went barefoot in the cool, green grass.

Hope your summer days are filled with simple delights.

xo,

Ivy

Vintage treasures…

I wanted to share the treasures I discovered while happily roaming through Sellwood’s antique stores.

Yes, they are all sparkly…are you surprised?

Not sure what I will do with them yet but I sure had fun taking these pictures.

Don’t you love those 1920’s shoe clips? So pretty.

xo,

Ivy

Father’s Day unexpected gift

On Father’s Day, our fabulous neighbor invited my husband, my father-in-law and my daughter to go on a father/daughter fishing trip SO I got the morning all to myself! I guess that makes up for my Mother’s Day spent moving into our house!

It was a delicious treat and I got straight to work on some more decoupage projects. Bear with me…I know I’m obsessed but it makes me happy so I’m going with it.

I wanted to make another adorned bottle but this time with more earthy colors…

I used a larger bottle this time.

Figured out my elements.

And voila! Another pretty bottle. Such fun.

My second project was a thrift store find. I got this mirror for 99 cents. It’s pretty cool as is, but it doesn’t go with my palette so I re-vamped it.

I wanted to do a shabby chic feel…soft and feminine. The vintage floral works well with the silver frame.

This was easy and really rewarding.

Okay, well I’m sure you will be seeing more projects in the future. While Grace was in school this morning, I was roving the antique stores and found some really sweet treasures!

Look around your house…I bet there is something that is just begging for a little decoupage love. If not, hit your closest thrift store and you surely find some suffering tray or mirror that desperately needs your help!

xo,

Ivy

More decoupage love…

Next to making skin & body care products my new obsession is decoupage. I dabbled with it back in high school but never really had much success. This is what I’ve been working on lately. I love the whole concept of turning something ordinary or even trash worthy into something functional and beautiful. I’m pretty new to this but I find it so therapeutic.

I sourced paper from my local craft shop and also from a wonderful seller on Etsy who has vintage papers, documents and other lovlies for paper crafts!

One of my projects inspired by EAB Designs is this adorned apothecary bottle.

I had so much fun making this special little bottle.

My second project was to take this hot cocoa tin and transform it into a beautiful pen holder for my desk. Grace sat across from me doing her own collage work. It was such a pleasure to sit quietly with her – listening to soft music and happily cutting and pasting away.

My pen holder has a travel theme to it…since I often dream of jet setting to fabulous destinations.  This project was a delight and it cost me pennies to make.

Okay, well that’s all for now, but I have a stack of finds from thrift stores that I can’t wait to re-invent!

Never thought of myself as crafty but then again I never thought I’d make skin care products either…who knew?

xo,

Ivy

Etsy Treasury

It is a huge compliment to be included in an Etsy Treasury! Out of millions of products, yours is selected, hand-picked by a devoted Etsy fan. I am so grateful!

Thank you Soy Comfort! Check out her lovely candle Etsy shop here.

xo,

Ivy