Jen Bowles Design

Mosaic Monday: Turquoise, Red & Green

Happy Monday☺

 

1. Lime-a-brick, 2. Green, 3. ~Sea Green~, 4. RedChick, 5. 99 Red Balloons Go By [Explored!], 6. rusty red wagons, 7. Turquoise Door, 8. just for you, 9. Untitled

 

'Welcome' Thanksgiving banner

For whatever reason, I decided that the house *needs* to be decorated for Thanksgiving this year.  To that end, a couple of weeks ago I made the 'Give Thanks' wreath.  This weekend I made a simple table runner (no pics yet).  My favorite Thanksgiving decoration I've made so far though has got to be this 'Welcome' banner.

I used a cereal box (Frosted Flakes to be exact) to make most of the pennants.  The circular ones are chipboard coasters.  All are covered in sheet music and/or scrapbook paper and machine stitched for extra detail and overall snazziness.  The letters are chipboard by Basic Grey.  I painted them gold and then glittered them with my most harvest-y looking Martha glitter.  I finally got brave enough to use my Martha scoring board and created a few rosettes to mount some of the letters on.  I only had to call to consult my mom 3 times to make sure I was doing it right.  For embellishments I used a few vintage buttons, silk flowers, some ball fringe and an assortment of ribbon. 

It's a little ridiculous how much I like this thing☺.

Hopefully our guests will like it too and indeed, feel welcome.

 

Mosaic Monday

Happy Thanksgiving week!

Latest flickr faves...

1. ..., 2. Polka dots, 3. orangina!, 4. Crepe Paper Rosettes, 5. Happy Thanksgiving, 6. Bins & Drawers1, 7. thanksgiving wreath, 8. Wendy, 9. kitty on the steps

 

 

Visiting: Heart Rock Display

A few weeks ago Ebby and I ditched the boys (and the dogs, the cat, the turtle and the chinchilla) and headed west on the Mass Pike to visit our bff's in upstate NY.

I was lucky enough to see my bff Kathy just a few weeks prior, when she came for a quick solo visit to our house.  Our girls (she has 3) however,  hadn't seen each other in over a year.  We're only 3 hours away--that's just not right.

We love poking around each others homes when we visit, seeing what's new since our last trip.  Or maybe just admiring the same well-loved objects over again.

Now, I have my own collection of heart rocks.   I don't have my collection displayed in a muffin tin in my kitchen--but Kathy does.  Love. It.  I also don't have the coolest heart rock ever, from Alaska.  But Kathy does.

Great collection, great display, great friends ♥.        

Mosaic Monday

Latest flickr faves...

 

 Adventskalender - Advent calender, 2. vintage find, 3. honey bunny, 4. .'create' mood board., 5. Shelf Songbird Collection, C-147 (2009), 6. one single dahlia, 7. We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance., 8. tiny treasures, 9. and so it begins......

 

Beach morning, November

A beautiful autumn morning at the beach today. Plentiful sunshine, salty air to breathe in and two pieces of sea glass into my pocket.

Thank you Mother Nature.

Open Studios visit: Vernon Street Studios

This past weekend my mom and I ventured into the big city of Somerville to visit the art studios at Vernon Street Studios.  In addition to being big fans of art and artists' spaces, we had someone special to visit.

This girl, my cousin & artist, Audrey Mack.  Audrey recently acquired studio space at Vernon Street and has been settling in.  She typically works in oils and creates large scale abstract canvases with striking colors, shapes and forms.  It was wonderful to see her work and her workspace.      Lots of natural light, plenty of room, and lots of fans, including Audrey's mom (my cousin) Penny ☺.

Viewing Audrey's work was definitely a treat and afterward we set about exploring several other studios in the building. 

I took these photos in Steph Koufman's studio.     Great authentic feel to her work and workspace.

Winning the award for kitsch (in a good way) was the display of snowglobes at the Museum of the Modern Snowglobe exhibit/studio.     That was a lot of snowglobes.

The building that houses the studios is an old factory with wonderfully creaky wood floors and lots of industrial touches like these old lockers. 

At Pigweed Press I finally got to see my first real letterpress!  She was printing invitations and it was interesting to hear about the process.  I love the feel of letterpressed stationery.  Swoon...

There were lots of artistic touches throughout as well, including an inpromptu chalkboard wall which everyone was encouraged to doodle on.  Can you see my contribution?  Obviously not edgy enough for the neighborhood, luckily someone else come along and remedied that situation.  Gotta love collaborative art!

Aside from Audrey (of course), I think my mom and I agreed that our favorite studio belonged to Suzanne Lubeck.  My mom spent a long time admiring her beaded crochet jewelry, which was lovely.  I, on the other hand, was busy drooling over the rest of the studio including her encaustic collages, inspiration board and colorful canvases.   We could've spent hours in there.

Speaking of favorites, how about these awesome vintage cash register flags??   One of the artists bought a box lot of them on eBay and was using them for price flags.  So. Cool.  They are my new obsession.  Must. Have.  Hello, Brimfield... 

So there you have it.  Our artful afternoon full of eye candy, family and hugs.  Hard to beat!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

 

Thank you Veterans

WW II Memorial, Washington D.C.

at the Vietnam Veteran Memorial, Washington D.C.

Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby, 1864

Dear Madam:

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.  I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.  But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.  I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln

Thinking of our veterans today, and throughout the year, with gratitude and respect.

Happy Veterans Day.

Give Thanks {wallpaper} wreath

After taking down our Halloween decorations, things were looking a bit bare around here.  As we are the official Thanksgiving host family this year, that just would not do.

The first thing I did was to head to the attic.  I took down all of the Thanksgiving decorations we had (that I like).  After setting up 6 toilet paper roll Pilgrims circa 2002, I decided we need more.

My first Thanksgiving project for this year, completed today, is a wreath. 

Ta da:

Originally I was going to make a yarn wreath.  Then I decided that would take too long.  When my mom and I helped our friend Pam clean out her art studio last week, she gifted us with many treasures.  Included in my haul were several sample size rolls of wallpaper (Pam is also an interior designer).  I had an idea.

I started with a $3 straw wreath.  Next I wrapped it with thin batting secured directly into the wreath with pins. The rolls of wallpaper were not terribly big (think wrapping paper) so I was able to slice off  3-4" chunks/mini rolls using my heavy duty guillotine style paper cutter.  I pinned one end of the wrapping paper to the wreath and then wrapped it around several times, pinning the end.  Onto the next wallpaper piece: overlap, pin, repeat.  It may not be the cleanest look but I like it☺.  And it was quick and used upcycled supplies  I had on hand--bonus!

The rest of embellishments were attached using hot glue including some vintage Scrabble Jr. letters I mounted on punched pattern paper and chipboard scrapbook letters that I altered by glittering.      

The wreath is now hanging on our back door, ready to welcome our guests.  Thanksgiving and otherwise.

 

Linking up to Robin Rane's All Things Merry & Brite Blog Party :-) Lots of great holiday decorating ideas to enjoy!

Mosaic Monday

Latest flickr faves...

 

1. lost in dreaming, 2. Autumn walk, 3. Untitled, 4. {postcards :: the vintage car}, 5. the sound of white, 6. There's no chance survival, And no hiding place. You must be my rival, I remember your face., 7. Architectural Salvage, 8. Untitled, 9. It's raining here, do you need an umbrella?