life around these parts

Summer is crazy around here- while the rest of the world seems to take time off for vacations and fun, we have been working around the clock so once fall arrives we can take a little time off. From studio classes, working on future projects, business planning, creating online classes and hosting visitors from out of town, summer is insane at our house! But amidst the chaos we have been trying to make time for little moments of joy and fun- bikes rides, trips to the beach and the farmers market and lots of family time is keeping us sane and present! Here is a peek into life around these parts:

I am pretty much smitten with Instagram and it is a place where I am able to document, show and share a more personal look into our life (without words).You can follow me HERE for a peek into our daily happenings.

a peek inside my sketchbook- lace inspired

You can find my lace drawings on a handful of products in my Society6 shop HERE!

pineapple cucumber salsa

Something about summer makes me want to snack on chips and salsa all day and in our house we love coming up with our own uniques salsa and dip flavors. Recently we tried our combining a few of our favorite flavors- pineapple and cucumber. It might sound a little strange but this salsa is really light and refreshing and is perfect for dipping but is also a great marinade or even a yummy salad topper!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of diced pineapple

1 cup diced cucumber

1/4 cup red bell peppers

1/4 red onion

1 handful of chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon diced jalapeño (or more if you want lots of spice)

2 tablespoons lime juice

Mix everything up and serve fresh! 

potting table makeover

It felt so good to tackle our backyard project and while everything looks AMAZING, we had one big mess left to address- the back of our shed where we have a covered potting area and work bench. Up until now, this area has been the catch all for our tools, scrap wood, piles of weeds and basically anything we didn't want to deal with. So we set out to clean up the area and turn it into a potting table and place to store all of our gardening gear. Our goal was to spend little to no money and use things that we already had on hand!

Here is the before and after! I gotta say that out of all the projects we have worked on, this one might be one of my favorites because it was so simple! Here is what we did:

So we started by cleaning things up and this really made the most difference. Sometimes a good DIY project is as simple as a good cleaning! We pulled weeds, removed the scrap wood, power washed everything, I even added a fresh coat of white paint to the trim. Then we gathered up all of our gardening stuff and made a plan.

We wanted a place to hang our tools that we use everyday and also wanted a shelf to store pots so Andy used scraps of a leftover picket fence and turned them into a storage rack to hang above the work bench.

I love barn quilts and wanted to put my twist on the concept to create a colorful statement piece that could hang at the top of the shed. I used a scrap piece of plywood and painted colorful blocks. I love how much POP this adds to the space!

The last step was to fill the area with all of our gardening tools and supplies. Its so wonderful how just a few simple and creative changes completely transform a space!

fashion friday- coiled rope pouches

When you make craft and DIY projects for a living, you end up with all kinds of excess and projects fails! Back when I made coil rope baskets (you can check out the post HERE) I had to experiment A LOT with different sizes and shapes and I ended up with lots of castaways and scraps. Being someone who can't seem to throw stuff out, I held onto all those scraps and recently had the bright idea to turn those scraps into little purses and pouches!

I used my castaway baskets (they were quite large) and cut them up, like you would a piece of fabric. If you would like to see how I coiled and sewed the rope, you'll have to check out my post on making the rope baskets to see how I coiled and sewed the rope.

Next, I sewed those pieces into simple purses and pouches. I created a cross body bag by sewing up the sides and the bottom of two rectangles and then added rope!

Note- I used cut up baskets but you could also coil that rope FLAT instead of turning it into a basket and then sew with it.

I even used zippers to create really simple pouches out of my little scraps.

Note- the stitched rope is way too rigid to sew things on the inside and then turn them right side out so I stitched everything on the outside.

a family rock garden

After finishing our backyard renovation, we have been working on all kinds of little projects outside, things that will make our garden and yard a little more colorful and creative. My favorite project has been creating a family rock garden- we have a couple of spots with really rocky soil and a colorful rock garden was the perfect solution! 

Painting rocks is nothing new or original but it is truly one of my favorite simple projects for anyone, any age! So over the last month we have been collecting and painting rocks as a family.

We thought it would be fun to incorporate all of our different styles and things that are important and special to us as family- like writing down memories and moments, our favorite quotes, song lyrics or things we like to say around the house, shapes and symbols, doodles and drawings and all kinds of colorful designs.

We've created lots of rocks and have challenged ourselves to continue to create more as the months go by. We even plan on inviting guests and family to paint a rock when they come over to add to the collection. The idea is to have a big rock garden full of color, creativity and memories that can be collected over time. 

Tip- Finish painted rocks with a clear coat of polyurethane to keep paint safe from the elements.