summer showers bring crafty flowers:

 Today was quite the day.

A day of rainstorms and open windows.

Our house felt humid like a rainforest... with accompanying howler monkeys inside too.

The best way to beat the heat and gray skies?

Crafts, glitter, paint!

Today we used pipe cleaners, beads, tissue paper, coloured papers and a styrofoam bowl for the base of our 'flowers'.

"This is not a hat, mama."

We also had some of our favourite *unexpected* guests today - my bestie and her cute kids for playtime and lunch, while my folks popped in later and stayed for dinner!

 As mentioned last week, it's so freeing to just welcome people in and not worry anymore!

It also helps entertain the kids who were inside almost all day.

What do you do with a rainy day?

Colourfully yours,

Mel ;o)

 

Spring scribbles and splashes of colour:

Azriel's "happy family...and dad has black hair".

Little brother's swirly scribble fun. (He's a lefty it seems).

Collaborative art between older sister and brother (for Daddy's birthday).

Azriel's happy people.

Flowers, a palm tree... Azi and her best buddy Reggie hanging out.

Just some cute colourful creations by our kids to brighten this gray spring day.

I love watching our kids create.  Watching their pudgy fists sprawl and scrawl across the open pages before them.  Seeing their little worlds and characters come to life.

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I love looking back at pictures I drew as a child too - pasted into the tattered scrapbook my Mom had faithfully preserved for each of us kids.

I always drew my Dad with a green beard.

And all the people were always happy.

Despite the fact that their arms came out of their heads!

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Now when our daughter makes a new masterpiece I often say "Wow - that's beautiful.. let's take a picture of it!"  because.. you know.. our fridge is running out of magnets - and every time you pop the door open to grab food an art gallery of drawings flutter and flop around you.

Maybe I'll make a photo book of their creations.

Maybe I'll turn them into wall paper for their rooms... ha.

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 And there's my cue to hop off the computer - the lil' guy is proceeding to dump all the crayons and markers all over the table.. whheeeee!

Colourfully yours,

Mel ;o)

 

 

 

The perfect palette... picked!

Just thought I'd quickly update you on a successful colour crush I've found here.

You all know how much I love turquoise anything by now right?

But picking the perfect paint tone for this was like nailing Jell-O to a wall.  I'd stare for ages at the colour decks where I work (Benjamin Moore) and continually waffle between: "too blue" "too green"  "too bright"  "too gray".

Honestly, I'd be my own worst customer for making a choice of paint colour!

Sometimes the real trick is to find something else you love that's already in the colour you crave (a scarf, a painting, a piece of pottery) then find the paint chip to match it.

Voila ~ the perfect turquoise for me!

I got slap-happy with my paintbrush and brought this old wooden high-chair back to life.

Scuffing it up after ward for that yummy distressed look. 

Now that I've finally settled on a paint colour, it actually was the perfect pick.  It already goes with a lot of the turquoise pops of colour in our home... even the kid's room curtains.  So I'll be splashing more of it in there.

It even matches the tone of my turquoise/wood earrings I have for sale.

 So.. that's something.

For anyone wanting that perfect bold pop of colour... here's my top pick:

 

I wouldn't paint an entire room in it.. just highlight pieces.

A more subdued antique tone that I would love on our walls would be HC-144 Palladian Blue. 

Gosh, I am such a colour geek.

What's your perfect palette?

Mel ;o)

tour the nest: bathroom makeover.

Well what do you know.. this preggo mama mustered up the hutzpah to repaint our bathroom this past week!  I thought it would be fun to show you the colour transformation here.

 

 If you recall from the past house (nest) tours, our bathroom used to be a dramatic dark brown.

Throughout our house, you'll know that I am a fan of COLOUR.  In fact, I would never have considered myself someone who could go 'grey' or 'off-white' with wall colours... but I'm happily shocked pleased with this soothing result.  Granted, I still plan to paint that brown high chair a wild turquoise real soon.... muahahah).

The wall paint is Benjamin Moore's OC-28 colour named Collingwood.

(side-note: working for Benjamin Moore... I get to see first hand how every.body.and.their.dog is buying GREY paint nowadays!)  I don't usually follow 'trend colours' but this transformation was worth the sell out. ;o)

 

And yes, the built in soap holder is still a perch for my bird's nests.. and pottered birdie I made.

Our daughter gushed with delight at the "beautiful painting" and the "pretty smell" of the Aura Bath and Spa collection I was using... she's funny like that.

Our retinas are still getting used to how BRIGHT it is when we stumble in there first thing in the morning... but overall, a fresh makeover for our growing nest!

Any home reno's/decor on your horizon?

Mel ;o)

D.I.Y: embroidery hoop wall art.

Pretty simple right?

Just take a group of various sized embroidery hoops and stretch a colourful collection of fabrics over them all.

(As you can see.. I still have to glue the raw edges around the backs of the hoops.. oops!)

Then lay the hoops on the floor first to get a pleasing arrangement... or just keep filling the wall with nail holes, whatever your style is!

A fun punch of colour and pattern to any space.

Here's a couple other inspirations too... this and this! 

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For those of you wondering, we just created this play nook for the kids in the corner of our Living Room.  Yes, where the massive T.V stand used to be... what a great purge.

No more T.V, stereo, clutter, junk, stuff, etc!

Upon seeing this blank wall space I said to the hubs:

"I should fill that with fabric hoops"

To which he replied:

"Of course you should, heaven forbid there's an empty space for more than five minutes around here"!

 Oh, the dry wit... but really, he's a very patient 'minimalist' in light of my decor style.

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Hoop you have fun creating your own colourful corner!

Mel ;o)

hair razing.

Sooooo.. I just can't hack this whole 'grow your hair out' torture.

It was like trying to watch astroturf grow.

So, I decided to do a quick trim... and now it's all Pulp Fiction style again.

So, I decided to slap some leftover red dye... and here we are.

Let's just buzz it off and try again, shall we?

Samson and I are polar opposites... hair is my *weakness*.

the red head,

Mel ;o)

 

a list of happy things:

+ paint palettes.

+ summer skirts.

+ new leather sandals.

+ pretty pink peonies.
 

+ snuggling children.

+ dinner ready.

+ quiet times reading/praying.

+ friends who 'get' me.

+ family.

+ chocolate cake.

+ colourful fabric.

+ new wedding band!

***

Just a few of the highlights of my week so far, and how goes yours?

Oh, and yes.. I ordered a new wedding band since I seem to have lost misplaced my chunky big amber one (for the past year)!  I love these stacking, spinner, 'meditation' rings I've seen lately.  Opted to get a frugal version of it from Etsy... and it's a beauty.

Three spinning rings within it (silver and copper).

"A cord of three strands is not quickly broken"

Ecclesiastes 4:12

 You may have guessed I'm not a 'diamond' type gal.

Keep it chunky, keep it weird... much like myself, thank you.

What's making you happy this week?

Mel ;o)

more summer sewing:

Hello again lovelies!

Recently I've been working on a few more little sewing projects, and thought I would show you the random assortment today.

The last post I showed you had some fun summer skirts... and I'm still at it:

Navy + white striped jersey cotton.

Extra material run through the waistline as the belt ties.

Of course it's hard to see the shape of the skirt when you pose if front of a growing garden... duh.

 So yeah, here you can see better.. I did that beloved 'mullet' skirt style that I love seeing every where right now (short at the front, party at the back, right?).  Fun!

(Not so fun.. Mr.Hudson going for the power sockets and answering machine buttons behind me.. again).

 I whipped this cute 'flapper' hat up for our daughter since they seem to have already lost the previous ones I made for them last summer.

I followed a pattern, but extended the brim.. (doubled it really) so she'd have a lot of sun protection, and look like a cute pirate with the flap way up there. 

 My sis-in-law has her birthday the week before mine.. so I sewed her a fun crafting bag/purse.

It's made with upholstery canvas.  And while I tried to follow a pattern, I am convinced the instructions were wrong... and after trying to re-read them frontwards and back.. I just decided to 'wing' it and use my own favourite bag as inspiration!

 Leopard sparkle print infinity scarf.

Saw this material and totally thought of my blogger bud... since it's jersey cotton I opted to make a quick scarf.  Um, for the record I attempted a new approach... sewing up the opposite ends before the length, and ended up with this mutation:

 A super long tube sock instead of an infinity scarf?!!

It's all good.. I can still wear it... and hide when I need to as well.. raaawwwwwr.

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Sew there you have it.

Any creations you've been working on out there?

Happy tuesday, I'm off to work at my paint store!

Mel ;o)

here + there.

dandelions + dandy locks.

farm fields + photo shoots.

bringing home bones.

thrifted teapot ($1!!!) Cock-a-doodle-doo!

sunshine + laundry line.

still lovin' that lime.

Azriel's abstract (mama's masterpiece).

still stuck on her.

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Another week another peek at the moments in our nest.

Wow, I still feel like we're soaking up the colour and chaos of this new season around here.

It seems like a distant memory that winter was so long, so dreary.. so monochromatic in comparison.

And the colour I'm basking in lately?  Gorgeous glowing green.

The grasses are vibrant from spring rain.

The trees are budding and blooming with chartreuse.

It's kind of the 'theme' of many shots here today.

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It's shaping up to be a pretty sweet week here... we're enjoying our annual stay.cation again.

I get a hot date tomorrow with my dudes (Ben and lil' Hudson).. while Azriel has a play-date with the grandparents.

I'm also eager to shop with some fun birthday gift cards burning a hole in my wallet ~ Fabricland, Value Village, Old Navy, Winners.. here I come!!

Shopping about once a year for myself makes this spree a real treat! ;o)

I'm just starting into a new book I got for my birthday too.. Eyes Wide Open (not to be mistaken with the Tom Cruise movie!) and the basic premise is how we all strive for beauty.... even down to our basic delight in a cup of coffee, a piece of art or a stirring song... but that all of these expressions of beauty are pointing to something deeper/bigger... the source of Beauty itself ~ God.  I'm liking what I've read so far, it's always good to be reminded that the Giver behind the 'gifts' is worthy of the attention and delight of our hearts.

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Speaking of art and beauty.. I'm holding the (late) opening for my Skyscapes art show at Black Honey this upcoming Monday (june 3rd) for you locals who would like to attend!

4-6pm ~ c'mon out and say hello!

I hope your week is treating you beauty-fully as well?

What's been new this week?

warmly,

Mel ;o)

couch recovery...

 ...so we're in that shabby-chic stage of home decor around this nest.

You know, when you can only afford shabby (second-hand, or *free*) furniture... and you attempt to make it look chic.  Yah, that.

We've been given a few different couches during our marriage.

Most were passed down from grandparents/parents...  so they are abundantly 'floral' in nature, and rather saggy centred.  You can guess how delighted I was to find two couch covers at a yard sale for $5!

At the time it was even a lucky strike that they matched our current wall colour - khaki olive taupe tone.

But then, recently this hit me:

 Every.thing.is.the.same.colour.here!!!

I bet you can't even see me, it's like couch camouflage.

To say I started hyperventilating may be a stretch... but I was totally weirded out that our living room seemed so monotonous.

Now, maybe I'm just craving the palette of Spring flowers, or something... but either way, I was instantly consumed with quilting a punch of colour into this space.

 I quickly set to work.

Chopping through various upholstery/vintage fabrics from that freshly organised sewing nook.

I made 4 rows of 6 squares if you're curious.

The fabric was cut to 8'x10' size roughly.

And, as with any sewing project - the cats were all over it.. geeeez.

 Along the way, daughter Azriel showed her delight saying:

"this is sooo beautiful mama, I need to do somersaults on it"!

Of course, the cats love it too.

As do I.  So I sewed up two!  Now both couches can feel bright and cheery.

(Especially since our ol' couch covers were starting to show every *stain* of child-rearing...ugh).

I still need to do some final stitching/embroidery to finish these off, but wanted to show you the funky project.  I've only ever made a tiny baby quilt before, so I never realised how fast it is to zip off rows of squares like this... fun, fun!

Have you made a quilt before?

Now to recover those throw pillows, hehe.

In colourful stitches,

Mel ;o)

here + there.

logs + laces.

wide open spaces.

savouring the scenery.

taking home the 'greenery' (pussy willows).

caught snuggling.

 again, that face.

fancy feathers + boot envy.

quilting + colour crushes!

Wow, already halfway through another week?!

I guess it's flying by because it's been full.

Full of nature walks in the sunshine.

Painting canvases during naptimes.

Visiting friends, doctors (for lil' Hudson - all good!) and family.

Quilting in every other spare moment. (more on that tomorrow).

Playing with the kids.

Washing the dishes...

...and all that jazz.

We truly are blessed.

Even in the trials - I see so much to be thankful for in these simple moments around our Nest.

I think Springtime is breathing some fresh life/hope in these parts.

How about you, ya sweet nutters.

How's your world spinning this week?

Mel ;o)