...verification...

Well... I'm officially official.  Although, I'm not sure what exactly is official.

Got a message from Pinterest that I should become verified...

I followed the steps...

(I think)

And am supposed to upload a file to my blog to become verified.

So, here goes nothin'...

...

...

...

And it's just that... NOTHIN'

I do not know how to upload a html file... now to go to Google for help...

Stay tuned!

 

...N'ville or Bust...

Well blogosphere...

Nashville Or Bust

I am packing up all of my worldly possessions and moving on up...  I'm headed north to get to the deep south.  Nashville or bust!  Now, I'm not moving to the Music City as an aspiring musician... but I do aspire to perfect my art and maybe get recognized for it.  But this girl is no starving artist and I will be finding me a regular old 9 to 5 to pay the bills.  So keep yours eyes out for lots of craftiness to come.  I have a feeling I am going to get a whole lot of southern inspiration from my new surroundings.

One thing I am super duper excited about is being able to thrift with my mama at the most awesome thrift store I have ever come across.  I have added a new page called Nifty Thrifty and can't wait to share with y'all all of the amazing steals we come across.  In the last couple of trips I have gotten not one, but two, Diane Von Furstenberg dresses for only $4 a piece... yes... $400 dresses for $4!!!  And there was not a thing wrong with them.  You have got to love small town thrift stores that get their merchandise from big town, wealthy donors.  So, stay tuned to see what else we dig up...

...fresh start anyone...

Who needs a new year to make a resolution or to start fresh?  Who says it needs to be on January first or even your birthday?  I am declaring today to be my “Start Fresh Day”.  I had a doctor’s appointment today in which I was not given good news.  I am the new owner of a body with high blood pressure… and not the “I can ignore it” high blood pressure.  They kind where the doctor took me off of my birth control right then and there in the exam room and said she cannot write me another prescription.  The kind where from the time where I came into the office my blood pressure jumped over 30 points on both ends.  So, it is time for me to take care of me.  It is time for a fresh start.  It is time for me improve my life in all aspects.  A happy me will equal a happy blood pressure reading (and drugs too… I’m sure the drugs will work).

I realize that a lot of my happiness comes from being creative.  However a lot of my creativity leads to a gigantic, enormous, out of control mess.  Yep… I am one pile away from being on Hoarders.  So, I need to fess up to the fact that I need to get organized… something fierce!  I want to be able to have a spur of the moment craft session and not feel like I couldn’t have people over for a month afterward.  Where are Niecy Nash and Clean House when you need them?  Except without the camera crew… I do not need to air my dirty laundry all over TV Land… even if there are piles and piles of dirty laundry that needs to be done.

Ok… here is my plan.  I am going to dig out my old tried and true day planner and actually USE it.  I am the very addicted owner of a super smart-phone and have access to many computers and electronics, but I think times like these make me want to resort back to the good old days of paper and pen.  I don’t want to worry about remembering to sync something or charge something.  I want to see, in my own scribbled writing, what I have going on and what I need to do.  This means lists.  I am a big list maker, but not a list follower.  I have never gotten any satisfaction from crossing something off a list.  I will spend hours upon hours making lists, even adding pretty colors, check boxes, and pictures… but I never use them.  The satisfaction I get is simply in making the list itself.  That has to be some kind of disorder?!?!  So… I need to curb my urge to make visually beautiful lists and just go for the simple, write it down and cross it off approach.  I do think that my past lists have intimidated me more than encouraged me and I wonder if I concentrate on only a few key points in my list if that will help.  Instead of breaking every task down into sub tasks with defining categories and time limits (yes, that’s how I usually make lists), maybe I can find a kinder approach.  No wonder I never follow them, I even think I’m nuts by the time I’m done making them.

So… how should I break down my lists?  I want to include things that I want to do and not only the things that I need to do.  Maybe I will start with itty bitty baby steps.  I want to have categories such as Health, Home, Work, Creativity, Relationships, and maybe a category for those things that can’t be avoided like death and taxes… let’s hope I’m not crossing off death anytime soon.  As I am envisioning this in my head, I am thinking these may be more like opposite lists, than list lists.  Instead of making the list of things I should do, I may take the approach of writing down the things I do after I have done them...  a way of encouraging myself instead of discouraging myself.  For an example:

Tuesday, July 24^th, 2012

Health          

Doctor’s Appt

Grocery Shopping

Home

Laundry

Mopped Kitchen Floor

                    

Work

Finished NOI Calculations

Updated VOE Spreadsheet

                    

Creativity      

Planned Selah’s Birthday

Blog Post

Relationships

Visited with Kendra

Death & Taxes

Made New Doctor’s Appt

This way I can look back on a day and be proud of what I accomplished instead of dreading what I didn’t get done.  And it will give me the simple goal of doing at least one thing a day for each category.  I think that as long as I keep a calendar of when certain things are due, I should benefit from this method.  Plus I think it will help me reach certain creativity goals like blogging more and sharing the projects that I have actually completed from Pinterest.  Heck, I may even be able to get my Etsy store stocked up if I take the time to be creative at least once a day.

Here I go… a fresh start.  Me and my day planner are going to conquer the world (at least my little part of it).

…project life…

I have decided to start a Project Life scrapbook.  I know that the concept has been around for a few years and I have to admit, at first I didn’t quite like the look of the books I had seen.  But… I am loving it now.  I am loving that it is a simplified way of scrapbooking that still allows me to be creative… actually, I think it challenges me to be more creative.  It is a complete oxymoron in the fact that it is a simplified creative challenge.

Sample PL Page

I am going to do a version that will get me to take a picture every single day for a year (I practically do this already with my iPhone).  I will then do each spread with seven pictures that will tell the story of my week.  I want to start this project in May so that I can record my 33^rd year of life.  For some reason, I feel like I am in a place where I will appreciate both the process and the reward of this project.  Even though I am the last of my friends to start a family or even be married, I have a feeling that 33 is going to be a good year.  And even if nothing monumental happens, I will be able to look back on my Project Life and see just how amazing my every day life is.  I think it will teach me to be thankful for everything I do have instead of wondering when I will catch up to everyone else.

So… stay tuned… my Project Life starts in T-minus 6 weeks…

Until then, check out my board on Pinterest.  There are SO many talented people out there recording their lives one week at a time with Project Life.  There are SO many ways you can do this... one I look forward to doing someday will be a baby's first year album.  Goodness knows that when I have a baby I will be taking pictures of that child every single day!  And how amazing would it be to be able to look back on that first year that seems to fly by way too quickly (says the Aunt to 4 girls).

…Mr. & Mrs. Smith…

Smith may be a very common name, but the day that the Smith’s got married was far from a very common day!

 

 photos by loveisabigdeal

I couldn’t justly tell the love story that one of my very best friends, Kerri, has been lucky to be a part of. And there was no lack of love that went into the planning and the designing of her wedding.  Kerri and her husband, Adam, got married in Franklin, TN (you must go there… trust me) on October 8^th, 2011.  The ceremony was at O’More College of Design with a reception that followed at Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant.  They had a yellow and grey color scheme with a fun bicycle theme throughout the wedding (including Fat Tire beer... yum).

photos by loveisabigdeal

The ceremony was set up outdoors in front of a beautiful oak tree on the grounds of O’More.  Kerri and Adam made a charming cross from found wood pieces to serve as their altar to be married beneath.  They also constructed a double door entrance which was decorated with their respective initials (which the bride crafted herself).  This wedding was definitely full of charm and handmade details.  Kerri and I made her ceremony programs, along with many of the other papercrafts.  All the small special details of the vintage hankies and tin cans filled with sweet flowers gave the ceremony a delightful, southern flare.

 photos by loveisabigdeal

We also recreated a scene that was reminiscent of Adam’s proposal to Kerri.  They went on a bike ride and had a picnic just before Adam popped the question.  I brought a quilt that was made for my mom (inspired by her wedding theme of yellows and daisies) and a picnic basket, we added a picture of the couple and a bike decorated with a few flowers…

photo by Barbara Peterson

 photos by loveisabigdeal

During the cocktail hour guests were refreshed and entertained by drinks and wedding Mad Libs.  Kerri and Adam chose Tennessee Sweet Tea as their signature drink which was made with lemonade and sweet tea vodka... so very refreshing (and a little too easy) to drink.  We added sweet, simple little details to the cocktail party with color schemed straws and lots of photos of the couple from their engagement photoshoot.

 photos by loveisabigdeal

Carrying over the southern charm of the ceremony into the reception was a cinch.  Puckett’s provided a unique and engaging environment, along with wonderfully yummy down home comfort food!  The mismatched tables were decorated with several different kinds of glassware used as vases (did anyone see the more than appropriate Jack Daniel’s bottle?)  Along with the picture frames and adorable cloth table squares in the yellow and grey theme (made by the crafty hands of the bride), there were handmade menus and a fun, interactive seating chart.  Because this was an out of state wedding for the majority of the guests we made a map of the southeastern states and used pins to mark where everyone traveled from.  Along with the unique seating, the bride and groom had a very special guest "book.”  I snagged an old bike wheel from a friend and made tags with a tandem bike cut out on them for everyone to leave their well wishes on for the bride and groom.  And thus this became the Wishing Wheel.  This is one of my favorite details of the wedding, and it is something that Kerri and Adam can display in their home for years to come.

 photos by loveisabigdeal

The entire reception was a complete BLAST!  And most of the thanks goes to the band, Stretta, and the photographers, the Souders with Love is a Big Deal, without them we wouldn’t have the outrageous memories of that special night.  Between singing and dancing all night long and getting our cheese on in the “crazy booth”, everyone (old and young) had an amazing time that I am sure they will never forget!

photos by loveisabigdeal

The night eventually had to come to an end, but not before the bride and groom were whisked away in the actual police car from the Andy Griffith Show.  The Mayberry P.D. didn’t haul them off to visit Barney Fife but instead on a nice little drive around Franklin and to have some more photo-fantastic fun.  Everyone joined in to send the happy couple off with a sparkler farewell along with much love and well wishes!

 

T

                                      photos by loveisabigdeal                                    photo by Barbara Peterson



 photos by loveisabigdeal

I have had the immense pleasure of designing and planning several weddings and I have to say that the couples that put their stamp of personality on the event are my very favorites.  This wedding will always be one of my much loved favorites and a major inspiration!

 ...myself and the beautiful bride...

Visit the Bride & Groom's blog and watch the amazing video of the day.

...the touch, the feel...

The cotton fields near my parent's land in Alabama



I am headed to Sweet Home Alabama this week for my favorite holiday of them all.  I have always loved spending my Thanksgivings in Alabama.  And one of my favorite fall sights in the south is the fluffy cotton fields.  It is so amazing to see vast acres and acres of snowy white cotton before it is picked.  My best friend’s grandfather was a cotton and cattle farmer and for her wedding we incorporated actual cotton bolls in her bouquet and for the boutonnières.  My mama’s neighbor’s husband brings her home a bouquet of cotton every fall and both my mama and I have decorated with cotton in our homes.

Here are a few cotton pickin' ideas...

Cotton Themed Wedding Ideas

Cotton Boll Wreath

Cotton Art Print

...I wish I may, I wish I might...

One of my very best friends married her very best friend last month and I was THRILLED to help design and coordinate the wedding.  Here is a sneak peak of the very creative, very fun wedding details that we came up with...

Wishing Wheel