Living Room Mood Board

I recently ordered new living room furniture from Ikea. Since my old roommate and I parted ways, she took her futon with her, and so my living room only has two old armchairs in it. I figured it was time for at least a sofa. I ended up ordering an Ektorp sofa, two Billy bookcases, and two Inreda lamps for the bookcases.

And, the dork that I am, I made up a quick mood board (ignore my crappy job cutting out the photos - I'm not at work) in photoshop to see how everything will fit together. I'm going with a white/greys/black color scheme with purples and yellows as accents.



(Click to see a bigger version)


Most of the things are things that I already have, or things that I had and have updated. I got that big frame at an antique store for $40! It's solid wood and probably 4 by 2.5 feet big. It doesn't have any glass though, but I'm fine with that. I'm thinking of either getting some wallpaper to put in it, or painting something myself.

I'm excited to see everything come together!

My first sew

My lovely Michael bought me a sewing for my birthday a few weeks ago and I finally got a chance to use it this weekend!

I went to Mitchell Fabrics and picked up a few basic supplies and some fabric. Mitchell Fabrics is a huge fabric store in downtown Winnipeg. There are some good fabrics, but there's a LOT of tacky fabrics as well. But if you're willing to sift through hundreds, you might find what you're looking for!

Anyways, I picked up some fabric - two Amy Butler prints and two solids, with the plan of recovering some pillows. I am a pillow addict and have collected a lot throughout the years, but some of them had pretty awful patterns.

(Michael will make fun of my Christmas woolies.)




It's been nine years since I last touched a sewing machine in home ec class, so I read through the manual to re-learn how to load up a bobbin and how to thread the machine.




The color palette for my pillows (and living room - new Ikea furniture arrives in 9 days!!) comes from my grandma's vintage lamp she gave me (with a new shade from Ikea). I'm really loving the mellow greys and whites with a cheery yellow.




The larger pillow in the back is my shoddiest work - I had to work really hard to mush the pillow in to fit the amount of fabric I had, and I didn't have enough fabric to make a nice cover that's removable, so I sewed it completely shut. I still think it looks pretty good!




The grey pillow is my favorite and took me the longest to make. But I love the details on it!

Craft

I've been meaning to post pictures of the latest craft I've finished last week.

I must admit, the project was not my idea. I stole it from Design Sponge, as per usual. They have so many good ideas!


First of all I gathered objects and arranged them into the shape of a key. I used vintage buttons, a few keys (hope they aren't for my parents' house, I couldn't remember what they were for), a clothes pin, a few jewelry charms, some key holes, and a few cut out shapes (butterflies and puzzle pieces) and other knick knacks.



Then I spraypainted all the objects a flat black. Note for future reference: do NOT spraypaint inside your apartment. The smell doesn't leave the air for hours.



Here's some of the objects. Don't they look cute? I love that they match.



Then I rearranged the items and used a glue gun to keep them in place. I took a picture when I arranged them earlier so I'd remember how they all fit together.



And it's on my wall! It's an easy craft that makes use of things you have lying around your place.

I didn't have any watercolor paper big enough to fit the frame I bought, so I used a thinner stock, which I now regret. The weight of the objects makes the paper bend at the bottom. Ah well, next time. I still like it.



While I'm on the topic of hanging pictures, I have to mention this product I found. Living in an apartment, I have a really long concrete wall that I can't put nails or hooks into.

I found a really neat product that lets you hang things on the wall. It's called Command Strips by 3M. They're essentially really strong sticky velcro/tape which you can remove without leaving any damage or holes in the wall.



I think you can hang up to 15 pounds with 3 strips on one picture, so quite a bit! Anyways, these things have been a lifesaver! No more huge white empty wall!

Coldplay!

Ahhh! My favorite band to see live ever.

I saw them in November in Minneapolis after hearing that they'd canceled their Winnipeg show last year and nearly died. I've never been so blown away by a concert.

So, when they announced they were coming to Winnipeg in June, I bought floor tickets as soon as the pre-sale started.



Here's a video from the show. The first time I saw them live, I didn't like this remix of the song, but now I love it! Notice at 3:14, Will and Guy look like their talking with their eyes and Will does this funny little smile. It makes me feel like I'm in their secret conversation.


Here's a few of my favorite shots from the evening.

Punch-kick-kaboosh!



Crowd on the screen during Fix You. Look how happy everyone is!

Viva la Vida. I die every time Will Champion hits that bell.

Chris with a japanese umbrella in the butterfly confetti during Lovers in Japan. I love how the crowd is all looking up at the confetti.


All true performers bow at the end of their show. What gentlemen.



Sigh. I'm in love.

This is how I spend my Saturdays

As I wrote earlier, my mom, sisters and I go to a greenhouse every Mother's Day. I live in an apartment, so I can't plant outside like they can, but I got quite a few plants for pots inside.

I finally got nice pots today to plant my plants in! I spent the afternoon today moving my plants from their temporary plastic containers to new pretty pots.



I made a special mixture of soil, using two different kinds. My lovely's mother works in a greenhouse so I got tips from her.



The yellow and the silver pots are ones I already had. I decided I wanted a mixture of black and white pots, in a variety of sizes textures, so there's a few striped white, a solid gloss white, and two matte black pots. (on my lovely plant stand from Ikea. I wish I'd bought two!)



My apartment faces east, so I only get sun in the mornings, so I needed plants that would work well with a lot of shade.

Here's what I got:
(in the big white pot) Herbs! Cilantro, basil, oregano and parsley

(in the other white pot on the table) Goldilocks
(in the black pot on the table) Artillery Fern
(in the silver pot on the table) Christmas cactus I've had for probably 7 years. Every time I move, it seems to die a little. It looks a little sad.

(in the yellow pot on the floor) White begonias
(in the white pot on the floor) Oxalis
(in the black pot on the floor) Boston Fern

(The big leafy plant) Dieffenbachia



And while I'm talking about plants, I have to mention the huge put of chrysanthemums that Mike got me for my birthday! They're bright yellow and cheery and I love them!



You can't really see how big the flowers are, but they're probably a foot by a foot big! I love them. (Mike, do you like my use of depth of field here?)

Two things I found on Jen Loves Kev

I found two of the most gorgeous things on Jen Loves Kev while poring over dozens of pages of her blog.

The first is two necklaces by Figs & Ginger. Figs & Ginger is a husband/wife team who make eco-friendly sterling silver jewelry.

This fawn necklace is so sweet. I want it. And it's only $40! I'm very tempted to order it.


Lovebirds necklace, also $40. All jewelry is made from at least 50% recycled metal and all are made by hand. So sweet.




The next thing I found was the most beautiful prints by Bryan Nash Gill, an artist from Connecticut. (descriptions taken from Ashes & Milk)


Through relief printing and a laborious rubbing technique Byran created the above piece Hemlock 82 (Bryan literally scratched his fingernails over every surface of the tree). At the grand size of 5 long x 38.5″wide the actual diameter, texture and pattern of this tree section is gorgeously translated onto paper.



Ink is rolled out and a piece of handcrafted washi paper is placed over the print block. Pressing little by little with his fingertips, Bryan imprints the texture of the wood on the surface of the paper.

If you want a print of this tree though, they don't come cheap. Prints cost a mere $4000. Yes, four thousand. But aren't they beautiful?

Ah! Exciting!

I was reading Design Sponge this evening and from there I just stumbled upon the most fantastic blog! I'm always loving some good food/fashion/design, and Jen Loves Kev is perfect for me!

I'll share a bit of a post here to entice you a bit...

(image from Design Sponge) I LOVE the wall treatment... I seriously want to do it in my living room. I have this incredibly long concrete wall that I can't put pictures on, but this would be perfect! I love greys. And the little yellow heart on the pillow? Amazing.



Also this very sweet song. I need to re-learn french. I've forgotten so much in the past 5 years.

The Genius That is Frank Gehry

While I was in Seattle last month, I got my first experience of Frank Gehry's architecture in person. Excuse my excitement as I post a lot of pictures.

Gehry, a Canadian-born architect now living in LA, studied at Los Angeles City College, University of Southern California's School of Architecture, and topped off his education by dropping out of Harvard's City Planning program.


I'm a huge architecture nerd, so I was so excited to visit the Experience Music Project. The building was completed in 2000 and is home to many exhibitions about Seattle's music scene, as well as music from all over the world.



As soon as the EMP was in sight as we walked there from our hotel, I couldn't contain my excitement. This building did not disappoint!






It's truly a work of art, combining organic shapes with metallic and glossy materials in baby blue, copper, red and pinks.



It's curves were so gorgeous, and I love how the public transit train runs right through the building.


In one end....



... and out the other.


(Is this a sphynx? Intentional or not?)



The interior of the building is nearly as impressive. It's a seemingly endless interior of curves, halls, metals, and shapes, all accented with bright colors.


The tourist picture, complete with the Space Needle in the EMP's reflection. I look cool and collected here, but I was dying on the inside.

I think I spent more time gawking at the architecture than I did at the exhibits inside the museum (a common criticism of Gehry's work).


The EMP is just one of Gehry's works, though one of his more famous.



Among his other notable pieces is Hotel Marqués De Riscal in Alava, Spain.


The hotel is built into the Spanish country, and is almost like a ribbon on the side of a hill.


Another notable piece is the Disney Concert Hall in LA, completed in 2003.



Another Gehry building I hope to visit one day is the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

A present for my bicycle

I bought myself a basket for my bike last week! I'm not a huge cyclist, but I like biking to work ( 7 blocks away) and to the store to pick up small amounts of groceries.

I found I was really limited to only being able to get whatever I could squish in my purse while biking, and now I can fit my purse, my lunch, and whatever else I desire in my basket. I got it at MEC and so far I'm thrilled with it. It also has a release mechanism so the basket detaches and you can carry it in the store with you, eliminating the need for plastic bags.

I must admit though, it's a bit different to steer having the extra weight in the front. And having a full basket makes it a bit harder to maneuver around. I used to be able to pick up my bike and carry it up and down the stairs at my work, but it's a lot heavier now.

Mother's Day

Every Mother's day, my mother, two sisters (one of whom is also a mother) and myself go to greenhouses, wander around and pick out flowers, herbs, vegetables and other foliage for the upcoming summer season.

While I'm the only one of us four who doesn't have a yard to plant in, I do like to keep plants in my apartment. I don't get too much sun in my living room, but I think that plants (real or fake) really brighten up a room.


This year I picked up two varieties of ferns, beautiful and leafy chartreuse goldilocks, sweet white begonias, as well as a plant I'd never heard of before called Oxalis, which has gorgeous purple triangle shaped flowers.



Right now my new plants sit on my coffee table while they wait for me to buy more pots to put them in.

It's amazing what plants can do to brighten a room, even if the room is a little bare and grungy like mine is. I'm getting new living room furniture next week, I promise!

I'm a terrible blogger.

I must apologize for my lack of blogging lately. May has been an incredibly busy month, with moving, vacationing in Seattle (I'll post about that later, once I get all the pictures) and a lot of work.

I finally managed to steal Mike's camera and take some pictures of some DIY projects I've been meaning to share.

First off, in addition to my beloved Pyrex butter dish, I've made another purchase on ebay. I bought a vintage kitchen scale in robin egg blue, which I got in the mail from England a few weeks ago.


(Sorry for the crappy picture, the lighting in my kitchen is terrible.) I use it as a fruit basket (did you know 1 lime + 1 tomato = 1/2 pound?). I also finished a DIY project in May. With the help of a coworker who cut scraps of wood to the correct size to me (I really need to get some more tools) I built, sanded and painted a spice rack for myself. I got the project from a lovely blog called Craftynest, but changed it in that I only have 4 shelves, not 5, to allow for more finger room when grabbing the tins of spices.



I also don't think I ever posted a full-size completed version of the afghan I made back in winter.


Here it is, on my bed. It's big and heavy and oh so cozy. The finished product ended up being about 6 by 6 feet after 120 hours of work and going through $120 of yarn. Now that I've been done for a few months, I've been craving crocheting some more. I'm thinking of making a smaller throw blanket with a zig zag pattern.


This project isn't so much DIY as just updating. I got this great vintage lamp base from my grandma over a year ago and had it sitting in a closet because I didn't have a lampshade for it.


While on our vacation, I stopped by Ikea in Vancouver and bought this shade. I love the grey with the yellow!