:: simply beautiful ... sunday inspiration

1

Spending a little time this Sunday searching for simple beauty. 

This little stand with cloche is perfection covering the spiny cactus.

2

Tree stumps, apothecary jars, a votive & a eucalyptus cutting.

Such a simple and beautiful image.

3

A beautiful floral arrangement, books & a lovely mug...

looks like a perfect Sunday morning to me.

4

Dark & moody amber bottles with wildflower cuttings on a beautiful windowsill.

5

Oh the verdant green in a simple white bowl. 

How I long for spring.

6

simply sparkling, a lovely glass jar with a simple bare bulb....gorgeous.

I'm always sad to see the weekend come to an end, 

but I'm thankful for the time to search for beauty & renew for the week ahead.

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

:: tiny interiors

Sharing a few inspiring Tiny house interiors today. 

They may be cute on the outside, but how do they function inside.

The tiny homes below all have great functionality & STYLE.

image source

Traditional Dining Room by Little Rock General Contractors Bret Franks Construction, Inc.

Traditional Living Room by Little Rock General Contractors Bret Franks Construction, Inc.

Farmhouse Living Room by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Shabby-chic Style Bedroom by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

{peace, love & hugs}
Carrie

:: fauxligraphy

A little hand lettering practice I worked on yesterday in honor of #NationalHandwritingDay.

My quote is not actual calligraphy, it's fauxligraphy. 

This piece isn't perfect by any means, but since it is practice... 

and hand lettering I think the imperfections make it more authentic. 

It's been a long time since I've had to do hand lettering work. 

Typography was my favorite class when I was in design school, and 

I'm so old that we actually did hand letter most everything ha ha.

MY PROCESS :

1: First I write out the quote using my pencil {my favorite pencil here}

for word placement & also to make sure I have correct spacing. 

2: I use my Pigma Micron pens to go over the original pencil 

3: I then create the thicker downstrokes found in real calligraphy

4: Finish by filling in & erasing all of your original pencil marks 

{ be careful to let the ink dry for a bit or you get smudging, like mine :( }

 As you can see, Fauxligraphy is really simple and anyone who can write can do it.

I love this quote & believe it with all of my creative heart ;).

How have you used your imagination this weekend?

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

GO PANTHERS!!! KEEP POUNDING!!!

:: snow birds

I've spent this snowy morning drinking coffee, journaling & bird watching.

I'm so glad that I was able to fill up all of my bird feeders before the winter storm hit.

The little birds seem to be very happy & content, I've seen so much action today.

There is nothing more beautiful than birds in the snow.

I sat watching this little Purple Finch { Haemorhous purpureus  }

for the longest time as he took a long rest. 

He finally flew away & was replaced by this handsome fellow below :).

I had a landscape designer recently question why anyone would plant a tree in front of a window, well that "anyone" was me & this is exactly why I plant a tree near or in front of a window...Birds.

I love watching birds, especially in the winter when branches are bare & you can see all of their little movements. I will always have a place for a feeder near a window wherever I go.

Below the feeder on the ground the white striped 

White Throated Sparrow { Zonotrichia albicollis } .

The every beautiful & graceful Mourning Dove { Zinaida macruoura },

I so love their soft gray coloring & the way they fly in.

Off in the distance away from the feeders sitting in pristine white snow,

I captured this dapper fellow... the Dark-eyed Junco { Junco hyemalis } .

I waited and waited for this striking fellow to show up & land for a perfect capture. 

Our beautiful State Bird the Northern Cardinal {Cardinalis cardinalis }.  

Shortly after I got that shot another guy showed up, 

his coloring was a bit more vibrant & on the orange side. 

This photo harkens spring with the evergreens in the background.

I love how the snow is shining through creating a great bokeh effect.

I'm not the only one in my house who enjoys watching the birds :).

This is my favorite Field Guide, you can find it here.

How are you spending your Saturday?

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

:: All Photos are mine, taken using my Nikon D5300, with a Sigma Macro Telephoto Lens ::

:: friday...snow day

Goodbye Wednesday & Thursday.

Hello Friday & snow day!!!

Kinda funny that it's snowing here & I'm using seashells.

Could I be secretly wishing for summer days? 

Nah, I'm so excited to see the white fluffy stuff I can't stand it.

Ok so maybe an antler is more appropriate considering the weather ;),

I am so excited for a new daily spread...it is so fun to change things up.

I still like having my affirmation in the header, but I changed the date to include

the day of the week as well. The arrows are fun, and make things a bit more playful and way less structured. I decided to just have one space for notes, giving me a bit more space to play with.

I'm sure I'll change things again soon, but for now I think this spread is kind of cute.

{ peace, love & hugs }

:: tiny house trend

So tell me, what are your thoughts on the tiny house trend?

Could you find yourself living in a tiny house someday?

Rustic Exterior by South West Photographers Matthew Heritage Interior Photographer

This tiny home is called the "bird house",

I guess that could be quite appropriate for a family of wrens :). 

I actually like the simplicity & natural look of it, but 

I would have to have tons more windows to survive living tiny.

Rustic Exterior by Madison Architects & Building Designers Hall Smith Office_Architecture

What a little cutie all tucked into the woods, could there be water too? 

I love the grayed out siding & with that tin roof rainy days would be bliss. 

If I could I get a wrap around porch on this one... it would do.

Traditional Exterior

Getting closer with this one, I love, love the screened porch & cedar shingles. 

I could see this little gem parked right along the shores of a lake somewhere couldn't you.

Modern Exterior by Boston General Contractors Cape Associates, Inc.

This is another lovely tiny cottage with cedar shingles... 

I love cedar shingles. The white trim on this one hits the mark for me. 

Farmhouse Exterior by Peachtree City Architects & Building Designers Our Town Plans

This little farmhouse mini hits all the check marks for my love of farmhouses. 

That little porch is cute, but I would need more... wrap around if you please.

Contemporary Exterior by Blue Hill Architects & Building Designers Elliott + Elliott Architecture

Cedar shingles... check, lake.... check, seclusion... well it has two out of three anyway. 

If I were to ever go tiny it will be all about Location, Location, Location.

Farmhouse Exterior by Jefferson Photographers Edwina Benites-LM

Another farmhouse, this time a bit more rustic.... I love rustic. 

If this had an amazing mountain view it just might do.

I sometimes think I could go tiny. I love the idea of living small & having less impact on the environment, and I definitely like the thought of going off grid somewhere with amazing views & wildlife. However, with 3 kids, 2 dalmatians, a yorkie, and a cat... it would be some stressful living ha ha. Someday when it's just me & the hubs we can think of having a tiny house with amazing views.  Then we would have lots of time to travel & see so much more of this beautiful world.

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

:: my bullet journal

I began bullet journaling earlier this month as a way to stay on top of my calendar & routines.  I couldn't be happier with how it's working out for me. No more missed appointments, and I stay on a very consistent routine... and for someone who suffers from depression & anxiety this makes a huge difference in my life. I also came across another great resource for making life run more smoothly ...FlyLady.net, I personally have started implementing some of her routines and they really are helping me stay organized, and most importantly they are sticking. 

This is a view of my very simple bullet journal key. I may change this up as time goes on, 

but I want it to be something simple so that it can be easily remembered.

Here is a view of my daily layout,  and a special list for keeping up with things to do at our vacation home. There is no right or wrong way to set this up, you just have to play around until you find a layout that works for you.  I spent quite a bit of time online searching for layout looks that I liked, special headers, date, and other features to make it fun & nice to look at. Along with my bullet journal I use the Cozi App to help keep our family in sync. Need ideas for your bullet journal? Follow along with me on Instagram where I will also be sharing snaps of my favorite pages. 

I am currently using a black Moleskine with grid pattern, they have been a long time favorite.

A Leuchtturm1917 is on the way... I will be reviewing it once I've had chance to use it.

It gets rave reviews from other Bullet Journalists so of course I had to give it a try for myself.

How do you stay organized & on track?

Do you Bullet Journal too?

Send me links, I would love to have a peek :).

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

additional product sources :: 

micron pens

 plastic template

mechanical pencil

:: free 6x6 chalkboard print

Hello Friends...Hope you all had wonderful holidays.

I'm beginning this New Year by giving away a new chalkboard print.

Frame found here.

 "TO THE MOON" 6x6 print.

I created my artwork in Photoshop using a free chalkboard background found here.

I then spent hours searching for Chalk worthy fonts at Dafont,  below is a list of my faves.

123sketch, Chalk hand letter, Coalhand Luke, A bit sketchy, a song for Jennifer, lemonade, ROAD MOVIE, BlackBoard, Diamond Dust, Autumn Chant

Feel free to share my "TO THE MOON" 6X6 print with anyone you think would enjoy it.

:: peace, love & hugs ::

Carrie