:: 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

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:: macro monday

{ r e a d }

The stack of books currently on my nightstand waiting to be read. 

Happy Monday!

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

Currently reading Winter Garden & so far it's very good.

Living Your Strengths

Having a Mary Spirit 

The Measure of a Lady

All But My Life

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

The Art of Living

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:: little chairs & a bookcase update

Okay, Okay,

so if I had to tell you what my favorite find from the Country Living Fair 2011 is....

I think it would be my collection of vintage children's chairs.

I think they are especially adorable.

My original plan was to mount them above my table in the keeping room

and use them as 3D artwork & little shelves.

Well, with the addition of some other items in my spaces

I decided it would be too much 3D stuff.

Honestly I also didn't want to have to put any holes in the chairs in order to hang them.

SOOOOOooooo,

I decided to display them on top of the bookcase instead.

This is the built in desk in our Keeping Room off of the kitchen.

My collection of butterflies I cross stitched used to reside up top,

but I did a little switcheroo and put them on the desktop to hide cords & 

ridiculously placed power outlets....seriously....

don't even get me started on that subject.

Okay....who puts a power outlet and a phone jack at the very top of a desk?,

shouldn't they be down low where you can hide them with your things more easily.

Okay, sorry rant over...but this is a serious pet peeve of mine....builders need to consult women.

My goal has been to really simplify things in my house,

I could possibly be a closet hoarder....I seriously can see the usefulness in too many things.

I simply turned all of my vintage books around to show their paper patina and vintagey goodness.

I really wanted to pull in some of the aqua color I'm loving,

so I pulled out some vintage aqua ball jars,

and some old electric insulators as well.

Okay, so I'm not going to tell you about every little thing up there,

but I will say this....there are only two things up there that didn't come from a thrift store or yard sale.

Here's a shot of pretty much what it looked like before.

Lot's of color huh and a little busy too.

I tell ya, bookshelves aren't easy.

I've messed & messed with this thing over the years,

but finally I'm pretty happy with it.

I think it's the simplicity that I love.

Another shot at some point in time.

See the mess, this spot is nearly impossible to keep clean.

It is the dumping ground for everyone's everything.....UGGH.

Do you have a catch all space like this?

Or do you have a bookcase that gives you a fit?

Well thank goodness I've finally gotten this one under control.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

P.S.  I just want to say a big HELLO to any new friends and followers.

I try to find time to respond to all comments, but I'm really not very good at it.

I really do appreciate the time you take to leave them for me,

and know that I'm trying to get better ; ).

LINKED UP TO

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:: antlers, shells, & eggs

I chose this shot to share today because I liked the contrast between light & dark. 

This is also a shot of what's on the coffee table in my library/great room. 

I love apothecary jars and I change out the contents of this one seasonally. 

Right now I have all of my shells in it, in the fall....probably pinecones. 

The candle holder is on of my favorites, and I have it filled with quail eggs...

I love those precious little eggs.   

I'm going for a naturalist/antiquities vibe in this room, and I love nature. 

It's fun to find things from the outdoors to add to my room. 

The antlers are real, I can't remember if my they were my father's or my husbands, 

we do eat what we hunt {we are carnivores....sorry to any non carnivores out there}. 

The books are both thrift store finds, I love the illustrations in the gnome book....

and well....birds are always a favorite subject for me.

Just playing around with angles in this shot, but you get a little sneak peek at a little more of the room here. 

I just love glass and apothecary jars....did I mention that already?

Well, today is the last free day before school starts, and we have a few things on the agenda today. 

The big thing though is the installation of Direct TV. 

My hubs is so happy, he's geared up for all the football he can {and I} can handle. 

Good thing he has a man cave...or else I might go a little CrAzY. 

Bad news is that I may be without internet for a few days while we make the switch. 

Thursday & Friday will be a little crazy anyway with the first day of school, 

and a church consignment sale for me. 

I hope to see you again soon though....stay tuned.

Have an awesome week : )

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

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{ book promo }

Okay, so you may have noticed this book on my sidebar under publications.

Well the story goes like this...

About a year ago, I was contacted by a representative of Lark Books via a convo at my etsy knitting shop

Lily & Lulu.  They apparently liked some of my designs, and wanted to see if I would be interested in 

submitting some designs to be in a new book they were creating called Knit & Wrap.

I was like Oh my goodness...really...me?

 I was so very flattered, and excited at the opportunity to have my work in print...and in one of my 

favorite things in the world...a knitting book.

So, I began working up some of my patterns, and photographing them for submission.  

I submitted two or three,  and after a few months they requested one of my designs for the book.

The cowl I call " t u e s d a y " was the one they selected to appear in the book.

Next step was to send them my finished sample cowl, and the written up pattern...then I waited.

So here it is now, it's all finished & I have to say it's absolutely lovely.  There are many beautiful designs, 

and the photography is great.  What a difference a model can make for displaying your work.

Here is my wrap on the title page.

you can just imagine my excitement when I opened the book up for the first time.

Papa Wren was so proud of me, he went around bragging on me to friends and family

 like I was some kind of star... isn't that hilarious... since I'm just a girl who got really lucky.  

He's my biggest fan, and I'm his... I love me some Papa Wren.

{ sorry for the mush, but he is my biggest support...and I'm soooo lucky }

Here is the pattern page, with more lovely photos, and they named my cowl " WISH ".

I love how they named them all and then gave a great description.

I really love this knitting book... it's so much fun... I would have it in my collection even if I weren't in it.

I have a huge collection of knitting books, and I always look to them for inspiration.

Here are some more of the lovely images from the book.

This is just a sneak peek, I don't want to give too much away.

There are so many lovely designs in this book, and so many talented designers.

I consider myself so lucky to be among them, and actually have my work in print.

So if you are a knitter, this one is definitely a must have for your book collection...

you will definitely be inspired to knit up some fluffy goodness of your own.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to Nathalie Mornu,

and all the folks at Lark Books who made this opportunity possible for me.

I so appreciate it.

:: peace, love & hugs ::

Carrie

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{ weekending }

There's absolutely nothing better than a lazy Saturday. They don't come around often, especially with kids, and all of their activities, but when they do, they are something to be cherished. Is there anything better than a warm cozy fire, a stack of library books, a cup of coffee, and some knitting. I really don't think so.

Lucky me, this has been my Saturday. I got to sleep in this morning thanks to sweet Papa, who is always so good to me. He knows what a cat I am. He's the early bird, so he always takes on morning duty in our house. {how did I get so lucky?}. Did I mention Papa is awesome. These are the days when I feel like a true Queen, hanging out in my chambers like Anne Boleyn {but with a good loving husband}. {speaking of Anne Boleyn, I can't wait for the Tudors new season....anyone else a fan?}

Well, it's dinner time now, so it's off to see what kind of evening we are going to have.

I hope you have had a lovely Saturday also, and a lovely Valentine weekend.

Don't forget you still have time to sign up for my Valentines Giveaway.

*peace & love*

Carrie

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