Jen Bowles Design

House Tour: Ebby's {Teen} Room

For a long time, Ebby had a pink room.

Here's Ebby's room in 2003. 

It's ok to be jealous of the mottled brown shag carpet.  This room also had louvered folding doors that led out to a bizarre Juliet balcony over our family room.  Perfect for a 6 year old. Not.  And the walls--pink.

In our next house, here's Ebby's {Tween 1} room.  It's still pink, but we jazzed it up with pear green and bold polka dots.  Ebby really liked this room because it was big and had a walk in closet.  Can't blame her really.

When we moved into our current home in 2008, Ebby's {Tween 2} room was an ivory colored box.  The former owners had used it as a guest room for their grandchildren. We discussed the wall color for a while.  Ebby picked out 4 colors and wanted one color on each wall.  Unpacking from an interstate move into a house where every wall was ivory?  I just wasn't up for that.  So she chose one color.  You guessed it:  pink.   (The messiness in some of the before pictures is purely for effect)       

Last summer Ebby officially became a teenager.  For her birthday she wanted a bedroom makeover.  No more pink.  I agreed and we designed a room to coordinate with her 13th birthday party--or did we design her birthday party to coordinate with her new room?? Hello turquoise, lime and aqua!

For the wall paint I used Valspar Signature paint & primer-in-one from Lowe's in Rapids. I was a bit unsure of the color when Ebby picked it, it's bright & saturated.  Once it was on the wall, I loved it.  Her room gets plenty of light (when the shades aren't down...) and it looks great.

Overall the size of her room here is small (10x11, maybe) so furniture placement is a bit of a challenge.  The location of her Expedit shelving unit was non-negotiable.   We did however swap out the pink bins and replaced them with turquoise and  brown.  Her new bedding is from Target.  I found a great desk hutch at Jordan's Furniture clearance center which gives her some nice additional storage.  And yes, she actually uses her desk.  The pinboard was recovered with the brown polka dot fabric (from Joann).  A couple of months after the re-do was completed, Ebby got a pet chinchilla, Charlie.  Lucky for him, his cage color harmonizes with the rest of the room ;-).  Ebby really wanted a butterfly-type chair and we found this one at Target last summer, along with the turquoise faux croc cube next to her bed.   The quilt is the one my mom made her for her birthday.  The small shelves over the headboard hold a few special trinkets and some word art.  I love that we used the giant E from her birthday sweets table. We added this little accessories nook after my mom gave Ebby the wire jewelry hanger for Christmas.

My favorite part of Ebby's room is the ceiling decor.  Once again, I reused decorations from her birthday party.  A few months later I sewed her several long paper circle garlands and we added those to the mix.  For some reason Ebby gets annoyed with me when I go into her room, lie on her bed and stare at her ceiling.  I can't help myself, I find it endlessly fascinating to look up there.

So there you have it, Ebby's {Teen} room.  I should probably refer to it as Ebby's {Teen 1} room.  She's already asking to move the furniture around.  So restless, always wanting to change things.  I have no idea where she gets that from...

Handmade Happy Easter Banner

For once, I'm not behind schedule for making holiday decorations!  I actually completed this Happy Easter banner a full 5 weeks before Easter.  If I could manage to stay on top of my handmade Christmas gifts like this, I'd have a lot less self-imposed stress.

This was not a quick project. Part of what was so time consuming was these hand cut letters.  It seemed like a good idea when I thought of it.   But then I had to draw each one, cut them out, glue them, glitter them and attach them to the banner with foam tape so they'd have some dimension.  Are they unique?  Yes.  Is it sustainable?  Not so sure.

More than any other banner I've made in a while, I struggled with this one.  When I just had all the pennants covered in paper I really didn't like it.  By the time I added the embellishments though, it had totally grown on me.  Now, hanging in our picture window, it make me smile whenever I see it.

This banner was going to be a prototype for a few Easter banners to put in my {currently empty} etsy shop.  After it took me hours and hours to complete this first one though, I tabled that idea.  At this point, I'll just be enjoying this banner at my house.  And for now, that's perfectly fine with me. 

Of course if our weather would warm up to even 50 degrees so it would feel like the Spring and Easter season, that would be perfectly fine with me too ☺.

Fun with Salt Clay

Back when Ebby was, let's see, 4 yrs. old, we used to "do salt clay" fairly often.  I'd create the shapes using cookie cutters and after they were baked and hardened, Ebby (and sometimes the boys) would decorate.  We used all sorts of embellishments:  paints, glitter, chalk, acrylic gems. 

That summer Ebby's preschool bff Danielle couldn't make it to her birthday party.  Instead we invited Danielle and her sister Rachael over to decorate salt clay and eat cupcakes.  The afternoon apparently made quite an impression.

 A few weeks ago Danielle slept over and the girls asked if they could decorate salt clay--just like they used to do ☺.  Sure I'd spent the afternoon with Ebby and another friend making cake balls, but how could how refuse such a nod to crafty nostalgia??

The girls picked out the cookie cutters, I made the salt clay and baked the shapes.  The next morning it was time to paint.  I love this zebra shoe that Ebby did.   Danielle (and Ebby) made several adorable gnomes by turning the ice cream cone shape upside down.  So clever.

Who knew, salt clay, fun for all ages!

In case you're interested, here's the salt clay recipe I use:

SALT CLAY

2c. flour

1c. salt

1c. warm water

1t. oil (optional)

 

• Mix salt & flour
• Add in warm water and oil (if using)
• Combine until all dry ingredients are incorporated
• Form salt clay into a ball and knead several times until pliable
• Roll out clay on floured surface 1/4-1/2 inch thick (or you can sculpt shapes freehand)
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or  implement of your choice
• Bake at 250 degrees until shapes have hardened and clay is no longer moist (usually 1 1/2-2 hours but varies)

Decorate and enjoy!

Art Around the House: Main Floor

I'm going to ignore the fact that it's the first day of Spring and it's snowing outside.  I know it won't last, but still.  It's bringing back bad memories of April 1, 1997 and the 16" of snow we got that day that was no April Fool's joke.

Yep, ignoring the snow, showcasing the art.

The other day when I took photos of the Hall of Woof, I thought it might be fun to take pictures of some of the other artwork we have on the main floor of our home.  As I look around, it makes me happy that much of the artwork we have is handmade and/or from etsy artists.  Hooray for affordable, unique, personal, meaningful art!

Let's start the tour...

In the dining room/library I have 3 different art vignettes.  The first is on top of my 15 year old $20 painted hutch. 

Old globe found at a  yard sale, flower still life by Ebby, age 5 and mosaic birdhouse by my mom.

I recently (finally) painted the frame around this piece, it had been the wrong shade of green--too minty--for years.  It took all of 10 minutes and 2 coats of paint to make it pop with this dark turquoise-y color.  Ebby drew this piece during a summer art workshop that took place in a beautiful garden.  It was taught by a friend of my mom's, artist Lynn Rizzotto.  Seems like a long time ago now. Sigh...

I also broke out the blue paint for this oak shelf, found in the dump swap pile.  The vintage binoculars belonged to my grandfather (I think) and the globe is from another yard sale.  The little bear was a cute Christmas Tree Shop find.  I've shown this By The Sea assemblage/collage before.  Inspired by the Gridlocked class my mom took with Lisa Kaus, I really love this piece.

Speaking of Lisa Kaus, this Eat Cake print is her work and looks great in the dining room.

Also in the dining room, this ART window.  I keep meaning to paint the letters some different colors and add more kid artwork but the one watercolor sunflower painted by one of Ebby's friends is all I have for now.  I love it just the same, old window turned art gallery.

In my office I have this milk bottle print that I love.  It's not from etsy, but it is meaningful.  I first saw this print when Bobby Law and I went to Sanibel Island for our 10th anniversary.  It was among the brightly colored decor at the Island Cow restaurant.  I even took a picture of it.  Five years later, I found the exact print at the Pottery Barn Kids outlet in Gaffney, SC for $10.  I scooped it right up!

Today's final vignette is this spot in our (sort of small to call it a) Great Room.  This dresser was formerly off-white and partnered with a very ornate, Victorian gingerbread looking mirror.  With our lower ceilings here, the piece wouldn't fit intact.  So I painted both pieces this great green color and split them up.  The mirror is in the basement family room.  The bureau is home to a yard sale find vintage Underwood typewriter and a handmade (not by me) beach treasure photo holder.  Hanging over everything is the first print I bought after we moved here, Our House by Catherine Thursby of Red Shoes.  It worked out nicely that there's a 5 on the print and there are 5 of us (plus now 5 assorted pets...).

So there you have it, a little glimpse at some of the artwork around our home.  I still have so many blank walls to fill, I'm making that a goal as spring rolls around.  In the meantime, I've been gathering ideas for art and display on my Pinterest boards.  Lucky for me, walls never fill up in the virtual world!

Happy Friday

Sending you happiness to last the whole weekend long...

{pottery heart by Lark Roderiques}

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lucky a photo by fertree33~Jen Bowles on Flickr.

I'll be celebrating by putting shamrock sprinkles on the cupcakes I'm making for the latest school bake sale. How times have changed ;-)...
Enjoy!

 

Art Around the House: Hall of Woof

Today I thought I show off one of the fun spots in our home:  the Hall of Woof.  When I showed this space before, back in the summer of 2009, is was known as the Wall of Woof.

Since then, we've gained and lost a dog and gained a dog again.  We've also added a whole bunch of doggie artwork.

Here is the right side of the current Hall of Woof, looking toward the front of the house.

Here it is again, looking toward the back of the house. 

Our new dog, who isn't at all new anymore, is Maisy.

Jake is our older Golden Retriever.  So he gets a bigger picture on the wall.

For Christmas 2010 I had two 5x7 custom pet portraits painted for my hubby.     Denise of Mothball Charlie did a wonderful job and was easy to work with.  I love how the portraits turned out (complete with customized wording) and think they look great on the wall.

Another addition to the wall is this greyhound canvas.  I bought it at a fundraising pet fair.  I must admit that I painted over the original background colors and enhanced the polka dots with charcoal pencil.  I liked it before but after tinkering with it I liked it enough to hang on the wall☺.

I did create one original piece of artwork for the Hall of Woof.  This collage started with a vintage flashcard.  For a long time I couldn't decide whether I should coat the whole thing in beeswax.  Finally I just glued the star jewel on and put it on display.  I do have two more dog flashcards though...

The dog that we lost (in 2008) was Daisy.  She was actually Maisy's sister and littermate.  We got her as a puppy and had her for a month before she got quickly and fatally ill.  It was horrible.  Fortunately I had taken pictures of each of the kids with Daisy soon after we got her. 

Also in memory of Daisy, this print that my husband bought...at a diner in Arkansas or Tennessee.  Art is everywhere, right?? Originally it had an ornate gold frame and ivory mat that I just didn't like.  When I finally swapped it out and placed it in a white IKEA frame like the rest of the artwork, I was much happier. Relatively speaking.

This print and one other hang on the left side of the Hall of Woof.  Or Bob's side as I like to think of it.

The latest addition to the Hall of Woof is this framed photo/poster that Bobby Law (hubby) got at LL Bean last summer.  I wasn't there, because I'm sure I would've vetoed the purchase for budgetary reasons.  However I really like it so it all worked out.

We still have plenty of room in the Hall of Woof, so who knows what may be popping up on the walls in the future.  I'd love to add some beadboard with a mosaic chair rail (inspired by what Catherine did at her Red Shoes shop) and put this Dash & Albert wool runner down the center. 

It's called Cat's Paw.  How purr-fect would that be for the Hall of Woof?  ;-)

Quoteable...

“She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short.”

(photo taken in August 2003)

Moleskine Art Journal: finally finished!

Well, it took me a few extra days, but my very first Moleskine art journal is complete!

That only took me...3 years.  Literally.  I completed the very first page in this book back in March 2008.  We still lived in North Carolina back then.  Yep, you could say it took me a while to get into it.

At any rate, here they are, the last dozen or so pages {click to enlarge images and/or visit my flickr photostream for complete views}

All the Single Ladies

I love the font I found for 'ooh la la', it was cut out of one my Parent's Book Club books by Jack Kent.

Remains of Valentine's Day

Used a few odds and ends from the Valentine's tea party celebration, including tissue paper that I decoupaged to the page for a background.

Think Spring now

Getting a bit impatient even back in early February.  Incorporated some rub-ons (KI) from my scrapbooking stash.

Let the Elephant Roar

The centerpiece of this page is a reproduction matchbox sticker from my stash.

Oh Baby  

I wanted to incorporate some fabric bunting onto a page.  The thing about the piglets made me giggle--and be thankful I didn't give birth to 34 babies at once.  Two nearly killed me as it was. Literally.

Polka Dot House

This page totally makes me smile.  More dimensional elements in the form of paper flowers.

No. 4

This page came out of having 4 circle stickers I wanted to use and listening to Ebby & Caroline repeat lines from the I Am Number 4 movie trailer over and over during a vacation visit.

Tell Me of Your Love

This is something I started singing to my kids when they were babies.  I still say it to them but I'm more likely to get an eye roll than the sweet responses of yore. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

Time for Spring, Now

Even more impatient...

Create

I love this page.  I was totally inspired by a page by Samantha Kira Harding in a past issue of Somerset Art Journaling magazine.  That's one of Cuyler's spelling worksheets in the background.

Window

Bird from old Cavallini calendar, lots of hand cut letters from old books

Lucky You Wish

I particularly like the quote about the Queen's tirade.  I may or may not have been thinking of my favorite teenager whilst creating this page...

Colorful Life

One more collection of magazine phrases, along with Amy Butler die cuts from K&Co. and some doodling.

The End

Thinking I might use this phrase on every last page of my journals.  Of course I may forget that by the time I finish my next one in 2014 ;-).

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.  Hoping I march forth this month with continuing in a new art journal along with getting back to creating some banners and other etsy shop type goodies.  I'm feeling like the art journaling really helped with my creative motivation. 

Now I just need to clean-up my work table!

 

 

Cupcake Quest: Coccadotts, Albany, NY

Last week over school vacation, Ebby and I were able to pack up and head west for a quick overnight trip.  We went to visit my bff Kathy and 2 of her 3 daughters.  Kathy's husband and oldest daughter spent the week in London (and Edinburgh and Paris...).  Rather than feel sorry for ourselves that we weren't also touring Europe, we headed out in search of cupcakes.

Just as good, right?

The company, yes.  The cupcakes, not actually as good as a European vacation.  My expectations may have been a bit high...

After a few quick google searches we settled on our destination:  Coccadotts Cake Shop in Albany, NY.

Note:  all opinions are mine, based on my taste, design aesthetic, and rigorous cupcake standards ;-).

Location Whereas I'm not familiar with the area, it's a bit harder to judge the location of the shop.  It seemed pretty good to me.  Located in a freestanding building on a city boulevard, it's close to the highway, numerous car dealerships as well as endless big box stores including Joann, Etc. ☺.  Parking, to the front and side of the shop, was ample and easy.

Shop Appearance

Exterior:  The brick building was a bit commercial looking, but the cheerful awnings and colorful signage definitely upped the curb appeal. Besides, what's not to love about a neon CUPCAKE window sign?

Interior:  The black/pink/polka dot theme from outside is carried into the shop as well.  I would describe the decor as craft store chic--again, cute, but the vintage charming feel that I'm partial to.  The pink striped walls were fun, as were the giant paper mache letters spelling out Coccadotts.   The polka dot fabric valance over the bakery cases was a nice touch but the white feather boa stitched along the bottom was a bit much.  The signage on the baked goods was clear and easy to read but I felt missed an opportunity to add some of that elusive cupcakery charm. 

The shop itself is cozy but not tiny.  They do have one high top table with 3 stools located in the front corner.  The girls sat and ate one of their cupcakes. It was a bit crowded with Kathy and I also standing there given that the table is right next to the shop door.  We had to ask for napkins and we didn't see any drinks for sale, so it definitely seems like more of a to-go location than a cafe.

Cupcakes

Variety:  Coccadotts scores high here!  There were at least 17 different varieties available when we arrived at 3pm.  Great selection.

Appearance:  The cupcakes looked good.  Many were cute, with a creative or thematic twist.   Several cupcakes also had fun names (Sex in the City, Almond Joy).  Slightly disappointing was the fact that most of the embellishments appeared to be pre-made or out of a package (Strawberry Shortcake picks, hard sugar flowers).  On the other hand, the duck and bubbles on top of the Rubber Ducky cupcake were adorable.

Taste: There were 5 of us and we each selected 2 cupcakes.  It was too hard to chose just one, what with all the yummy sounding choices in front of us.  The girls got Red Velvet, Peanut Butter Cup, Cookies & Cream and Coconut.  All flavors got a thumbs up from the 13 and under crowd.  Now, onto the more sophisticated palates.  Kathy and I both got an Almond Joy and a Strawberries and Champagne.  I had my Almond Joy at the shop.  In a word: disappointing.  I guess I had fantasies of a coconut cake infused with chocolate ganache and a nice crunch of almonds.  I may have watched one too many episode of Cupcake Wars...Anyway, what I got was this:  yellow cupcake, chocolate frosting that literally tasted like Betty Crocker out of the can, a sprinkling of flaked coconut that provided texture but no taste and 2 almonds (which were crunchy and good).  Kathy tried the Strawberries and Champagne.  Her reaction:  no hint of champagne and the strawberry that was encased in the yellow cupcake tasted not fresh but rather coated in a sugary gel much like pie filling.  Now don't get me wrong, we ate them.  And they were good.  But there were more grocery store good, not cupcakery good.  Overall the cupcakes and frosting tasted like they were created using mixes and prepackaged ingredients rather than from scratch.  And for many people, including several patrons that came in while we were there, that's fine. 

Value:  At $2.50 a cupcake, Coccadotts is reasonably priced for average sized cupcakes at a city bakery. 

Overall 

The staff  (and the shop decor) was friendly and cheerful and the variety of cupcake offerings was great. Cupcakes were good, but not gourmet. And while  our trip to Coccadotts was a fun excursion,  when we visit Kathy again I'd rather search out new cupcake lands to explore.

Fun bonus:  We saw the Coccadotts cupcake truck parked in the side lot.  During the milder weather, that would be a cheery sight to see!

Stay sweet,