friends

we did this for our dear friend allison's 17th birthday. i guess all of those hours spent tinkering away on indesign & photoshop in the journalism lab really paid off.

if there was any doubt that i was/wasn't cool in high school, this might (not) clear things up.

fall window display 2010 // anthropologie

the last of my summer work at anthropologie for their visual display internship.
theme: boathouse
over 50 vintage wooden "buoys" were constructed.



also, take note. the numbers i painted on there were actually special numbers. you'll have to stop by the store itself to see them because they aren't in these photographs.

diy: sewn book page tree

there is something about a page of text looks beautiful to me. the formatting, the font, the paragraphs. just the rhythm of words & how they flow embedded on a book page. i like books. i like fonts. i like book pages.

i love them so much that i'll even rip them apart.
and make a tree.



i simply ripped out book pages and tossed them under the sewing machine as i was stitching them together. some thumb tacks later, and you've got a tree. i twisted and contorted some of the book pages to add some depth and dimension.

i took book pages made from trees,  that were bound in a book, and repurposed them into a tree. if that's not postmodern, i don't know what is. or just irony.

dining room turned "zen" room possible inspiration

hi says tommy boy

sometimes, i'm not sure why i buy some things. yanno, maybe it's that a company made it that i love, so once i see the brand "i've gotta get it."  this circle rug was one of these.

it was a floor display that was used in the store, so literally, it was a floor display. i'm going to help redo the formal dining room into a "zen" room for my mother. i don't know if i like the idea of this "zen" crap, but i'll do it to make my mother happy. (however, i'll add a little spin of vintage & elegance to it.)

i think i may want to use this piece as an inspiration to base all the other finds that i'll be scavenging for over the next few months. apparently, the formal dining room has to stay "formal" because it's aunt whats-her-face's furniture that she wants to see. however, the only thing she is going to see is how hideous it is, unused it's been, and the sheer amount of dust that never knew it could collect in 1 year. so, i can't start this until november.

but, really, come on. check out the price tag.

feel free to post any fun color palettes. i think i like this one.


Color by COLOURlovers

summer window display // anthropologie

this was my first project at anthropologie as visual display intern. when i signed up for the internship, i was informed that i would be doing a lot of tedious & monotonous work.

flashback: unpaid labor for doing arts & craft that was going to be on display and then tore down. this sounds familiar... a lot like pledgeship during homecoming. minus the hazing & alcohol. however, this unpaid labor was for school credit and not for some greek society.

i thought, okay, that sounds fine to me. i would be learning lots of new crafts & skills, and maybe even bring some of my own handiwork to the table. did i know i was going to be doing basket-weaving? did i know how to do that before? no. the only thing i knew about basket-weaving and baskets was that my mother, a midwestern middle-class suburban stay-at-home mom, loved longaberger baskets.





as i got the hang of making this basket-woven tepee-like structures, i became more comfortable with trying out different ways to maneuver the reeds. i had to use my iphone to snag this shot.

so, why not intersect this two.

these displays for the summer are now gone. i tore them down with tears that i never shed in undergraduate upon my first art project, because after all, this was my first art project for school credit.

bedroom display 2 // anthropologie

over my summer internship at anthropologie, i had the opportunity to go through an entire floor change of the concepts. home and apparel. this home concept was called, "material culture."



now complete with bedding. we used the extra burlap dyed strips to accent the folded yoruba bedding. you can see the before without the bedding here (link)

behind the bedding display, we did some string art. i never thought i would be doing string art for school credit, but i did. that & basket weaving.

yes, i nailed in each of those nails in a perfect circle. using a pattern, of course, same depth too.

a touch of red

my two dear friends got married this past weekend in paola kansas. the wedding photos haven't been released yet, but here is a shot of their engagement photos.
so beautiful.

[caption id="attachment_478" align="aligncenter" width="376" caption="nick & katie, photography by the smiley face collective."][/caption]

the ceremony  & aisle set up was extremely unique because the alter was placed in the center of the room, with chairs surrounding the couple & respective bridal party + groomsmen.

i added a little pop to my sports coat. remember those little felt flowers i made & attached to headbands. yeah, i had one of those little guys laying around. with the slip of a gold safety pin. the red flower added a nice dandy touch to compliment my strip of red in my fedora.

bedroom display // anthropologie

anthropologie bedroom display. enjoy!
it's a 5ft x 8ft structure with burlap dyed strips woven in a patchwork pattern.

IS•LY: calligraphy

I've been into letterpress goods lately, like Rifle Paper Co. & Hammerpress, however I stumbled upon this beautiful piece of calligraphy from IS•LY.

When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

– Desiderius Erasmus

I love this whimsical handwriting.
I've never dabbled in calligraphy, yet I'm vain enough to admit I like my various handwriting styles that I may want to try something like this. But am I vain enough to hang it up in my own room? Haha, we'll see.

diy: string tree wall mural

Maybe it's my nostalgic love for agrarian societies that I never experienced as a child as an oppressed suburban middle-class white boy, or my half-hearted allure for the idea of the outdoors to reclaim the remnants of alpha-type masculinity, but I love trees.

Check this apartment therapy hack via re-nest:
How to Make a String Tree Wall Mural

It looks fairly easy to make & I have a rich avocado green wall, a little darker than theirs, to work with.

Just promise me I'll never get a tree tattoo, instead let me channel my appetite through artwork of trees and the like.

gold cassette tape art

Found at the Jupiter House Coffee Shop in Denton, TX (location)
This could be a great arts & crafts project for an hour.

diy: black crocheted headband w/ red flower.

anna looks great. i knew who she was right away when rachel requested that i make one that is red & black.
photo credits to: bethany

diy: red meets black

i think i finally have the folding & cinching of the felt down. hooray, thanks anne.

diy: crocheted head bands / earwarmers

i accidently crocheted a beanie way too tight, way too soon. so i ended up with a very small beanie. i split them in half & voila! 2 headband/ear warmers!



i literally found this beautiful gold felt in a "FREE" stuff box outside of a boutique in downtown columbia. i snatched it & started dawdling around with. a nice braid did the trick. the first one i used a single stitch & the 2nd one i used a 3 stitch process. :)

diy: crochet slouchy beanie w/ flower

i crocheted my first flower onto a beanie. a slouchy beanie. so far mike & doug have been wearing it around the house, however, it needs a real home. is this etsy worthy?

i love the soft colors of this hat. and it took me probably 4 hours total to make this. yeah, i bring my crochet hook and yarn to church. i can cook through a hat & listen. boom.  but seriously, if you would wear it. let me know. *cough*

eat your heart out anthro & urbn.

cupcake trees in eden

i crafted with the kindergarten class today. while creating the garden of eden with construction paper, magazine clippings, markers, and crayons, one of the kids made a cupcake tree. awesome.
i bet there were cupcake trees in eden. everything was perfect before sin entered, right?

diy: braided scarf

i want to/can easily make one of these, no?
i like the colours though. but not for 3 months rent. c'mon.



made by damir doma? whatever. neverheard of them before, but i dig their scarf.

diy picture frame photograph collage

I snapped this bad boy on highway 40 in Colorado & blew it up to a fairly large size. However, I got back this week from Kansas City & Minnesota to find that I left the window open in the breakfast nook to find it had been watered.

Sophia & I cut it up anyway and started matting on the ragtag group of picture frames that I collected at a garage sale in Columbia. I'm pretty sure they were free or sitting in the nickel bin.

We used cardboard boxes that we found at 1605. I hope that was okay. We found them in the house broken down & ready to be trashed. (thanks girls!). A little masking tape, scissors, & some nails. Voila!

They are for sure water-speckled/stained, but it looks fun anyway. Now, I need to find some lumber to create a faux-headboard.

Staircase

I decided to fill the empty staircase walls with an ascending array of picture frames.
Golden, brown, and some handmade art.

DIY file cabinet

I plan on using this filing cabinet as a dresser to store my underwear, socks, tshirts, etc etc. I cut out cardboard and contact papered the cardboard to cover the bottom of the rusty drawer.
The question is: how do I change the color of it? Spray paint? Regular paint will scratch off, I think.