Before & After: Rustic Live Love Side Tables

Hi everyone! Long time no blog...I'm enjoying the slow start to 2013, with lots of lazy nights at home, refreshing yoga classes and cooking comfort food to fight off the frigid winter we've been having. How about you?

So I'm very exciting to share a furniture makeover with you - my first one since around wedding time over a year ago! This was a great project to dive back into because it's for someone super special. My amazing friend L is getting married and I knew I wanted to donate furniture for her wedding social. Well, tomorrow is the big day of the social and here's what I did!

I had a set of two simple side tables in storage for a very long time and they were perfect for this project. I gave them a good sanding, primed them and painted them in an allover pale white/grey. Then I trimmed off a border and added a pop of colour with a vibrant turquoise. But it need a little something extra...so I added a little messaging to really make them unique and mirror the new start with L & I's upcoming marriage. A bit of distressing for that rustic look plus a few coats of finish and...voila! I introduce to you the Rustic Live Love Side Tables. I hope they find a fabulous new home tomorrow!

 

Have a fabulous week everyone!

Say hello to my new baby...

Good morning lovely people! How are you doing? It's grey and raining here and I wish I could cuddle up under my duvet and stay in bed! I know I haven't been blogging too regularly these days but there is just so much going on. Do know that I still pop into my RSS reader on my iphone every night and read through all your blog posts? I love hearing what you are all up to even if I don't have time to comment on everything!

So now that my wedding invites are complete (thanks for all your sweet comments!), I've decided to take on a new creative challenge. I know you're probably thinking - what about your Etsy store?? - and the truth is, that is still in the works (slowly but surely). But I was really just craving something new and so I got myself this beautiful (almost-new) Brother XL-3200 sewing machine off Kijiji for a steal! Check her out...

I know I've mentioned this before but my younger sister Lindsay is a sewing SUPERSTAR and I long to be able to do what she does. Plus now that I've had a taste of tailored clothing, I love the fit and would like to make myself a few things (hee hee, see how I turned my shopaholic ways into a creative weekend project?? J won't notice...).

Can I sew, you ask? Why yes I can. My mom had a sewing machine growing up so I dabbled with her plus I took Grade 9 home ec! I also went through one of my flights of fancy in my early 20's that involved sewing so I already owned this of course:

You know me, love to read the books! Regardless of how well this new endeavour goes, I'll enjoy the creative journey. I hope to post a few projects on here as I go, but nothing too regular. After all, there's only so many hours in a day right?

My very first project is to add straps to this lovely strapless summer dress I ordered from Shop Ruche. I knew I needed straps but I couldn't resist the pretty material and long flowing maxi style. I'll be sure to show it off when I'm done!

 

So what's your most recent creative obsession? Have you been longing to try something new? What's holding you back or propelling you forward?

Have a fantastic week friends!!


PS: I taught my very first Red River College workshop this weekend on 'Intro to Social Media' and my mind is still swirling from the experience and all the things I learned (yes learned - teachers learn too!). I'll share more but I'm still digesting it all and it will take it's own blog post to say it all! Plus I'm gearing up for this Saturday's follow up workshop 'Learn to Blog' - if you know anyone who might want to sign up, send them the link!

Arts Junktion

This week I discovered a very cool place here in Winnipeg called Arts Junktion. This not-for-profit has a super simple premise - salvage junk from landfills that could be used as art supplies. You can drop off and donate your old supplies...and you can come and take what you need! It's like 'leave a penny, take a penny' for creatives.

How can you support this great idea? Check out their website for a list of accepted items for donation, artists can donate pieces of art for their annual auction and by becoming a member, it's free and Arts Junktion can show strong membership numbers when applying for grants and other funding. Become a member here!

So what did I find in my treasure hunt? All kinds of great wedding finds! These fantastic wood frames...I'm thinking of painting them and using them as signs or photo props at the wedding.

A collection of rustic clothes pins that I plan to use to hang my seating charts...

And an assortment of pretty ivory and teal buttons to use on my wedding dress! (they will act as centres for the lace clusters on my waistband)

There were all kinds of cool things at Arts Junktion for fun projects. They have a reasonable sized fabric section with lots of good sized scraps, it's even divided by colour! There's stacks of old magazines, wallpaper remnants, scrap wood, old file folders, pieces of tile...all free! Yay for creativity! I could go on but you just need to go there yourself...

For those of you outside Winnipeg, do you have programs like this near you? Isn't it just a simple, smart concept? I love how they're promoting the arts while being kind to the planet. :)

Have an amazing day friends!

Exciting Announcement: Lather is Going Global!

Hello friends! Thanks for your well-wishes, I'm feeling much better today.  So good in fact, that I can't hold out any longer - I'm showing you a sneak peek of my giveaway item for my 1st Blogiversary and the prototype for my new Lather Creations Etsy shop! Maybe it will entice you to enter if you haven't already?? The draw is tomorrow so get in there asap!

Isn't she lovely? Let me tell you her story...

The {Love} Handpainted Necklace Hanger is upcyled from reclaimed scraps of hardwood flooring. As many of you know, my amazing fiance J and his partner G owns his own hardwood flooring company called Meticulous Wood Flooring. They have a true 'green' focus - through using water-based finishes, reusing salvaged gym floors and doing dustless sanding. (if you live in Manitoba or Saskatchewan and are looking to have your floors done, he's your guy :)

Well J often comes home with a truckbox full of scrap hardwood from a job, unusable ends and low quality boards that are headed to the dump. It took me a while but I've finally come up with a creative way of rescuing J's hardwood remnants with Lather Creations. I'm handpainting necklace hangers in my signature 'Lather' style! Plus these are perfect for the Etsy shop I've always wanted but doesn't work too well with large furniture pieces and cross-border headaches. Don't worry, I'm going to continue my local furniture business and my extended line of necklace hangers will be sold exclusively on Etsy!

The winner of tomorrow's giveaway gets my very first one! I'll be building up my inventory for the Etsy shop launch and you will be the first to know when it's ready to go....

Depending on my mood, the season and what I have on hand - each hanger will feature different hand painted palettes, words and knobs. I'm Lathering up a storm in my studio to make the perfect girly additions to your closet, dressing area, powder room or bedroom - wherever you happen to keep your lovely baubles! Here's a few pics of the {Love} hanger showing off her stuff...

Isn't she pretty? Although tempting to keep her all to myself, I'll be sending her off to the giveaway winner shortly!! I've also made another style of necklace holder that I'll be showing off to you tomorrow...but it's a gift for a friend so she needs to see it first of course!

Now tell me friends, I'm dying to hear what you think about Lather Creations coming soon to Etsy? Plus, any seasoned sellers out there - any advice on starting out would be welcomed with open arms. Of course I have many details to work out like shipping and payment and such, so please share your lessons learned...

Have an amazing day and thanks for being here for me!

Delightful DIY: Charmed Cupcake Flags

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a happy Wednesday. I'm a little under the weather so I'm holed up at home in bed, but I prepared this simple little DIY project on the weekend that I wanted to share with you. Plus, I'm SO EXCITED about the handpainted necklace hanger I made for my 1-year blogiversary giveaway winner. There's a couple days left to enter so be sure to get your name in the running!

It was my niece's 11th birthday the other day and I was charged with making her cupcakes. But I wanted to make them a little extra special so I decided to make little birthday flags for them. These have been done a million times, so they're definitely not a new idea, but here's the step by step in case it's new to you!

You'll need:

-a colour printer

-paper

-scissors

-toothpicks

-craft glue

1. I started by playing around in Photoshop and making large rectangles with small motifs like little birds, the letter H (for my niece Hailey) and phrases like 'Happy Birthday', 'Cutie Pie' and 'Birthday Girl'. Each item was doubled to allow for a double-sided folding flag.

2. Using the middle of your two prints as a guide, cut out a large rectangle and fold it over. Cut it into a triangle flag shape.

3. Using craft glue, dab both sides of the flag and the end of the toothpick. Fold the paper around the toothpick and press it closed.

Ta da! Teeny little cupcake flags!

I baked these chocolate cupcakes using my usual cheat method (a boxed mix) but glammed them up with luscious homemade buttercream icing (I use Martha's recipe). Of course i had to make it my own so I added 2 tablespoons of cocoa and 3 tablespoons of peanut butter to the icing. The result? Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with charming personalized flags for the 11-year old birthday girl!

Sadly, I wasn't feeling well enough to eat them but my niece gave them two thumbs up for taste AND appearance!

Have a lovely week friends - I'll be showing you a sneak peek of the handpainted necklace hanger in the next day or two, so cross your fingers that you're the winner!

Thursday Blog Share: Pugly Pixel

Happy Thursday friends (a wee bit early of course)! Lately I've been sharing how I'm learning Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, thanks to lunchtime tutorials from my lovely Fusion designer friends and Adobe Creative Suite for Dummies. I started down this road in order to do my own wedding invitations, but it's been a happy, creative injection to my blog to be able to do some of my own graphics!

So today I'm sharing some of those graphics with you and steering you towards a blog that's helped me tremendously. It's called Pugly Pixel and blogger Katrina shares her love of photography, culturama and all kinds of ultra-cool digital downloads like clip art, Photoshop brushes and textures. She offers many of these free, and you can also sign up for a premium membership to take advantage of even more great digital downloads.

Here are the banners I've designed to highlight my regular blog features, thanks to a little help from Miss Pugly Pixel!

My 'Before and After' banner shows off my furniture redo's. You can find downloads of the scallop and starburst medallions here.

'From the Kitchen' is my random collection of recipes and you can find the paper buffet clip art here.

For 'PIY Pointers', I post tips and tricks about painting your own furniture. Download the collection of tape strips here.

'Etsy Love' is my virtual shopping cart of pretty things I'm coveting. You can get the tres cool colored shipping tags clip art here.

Isn't it amazing to have this vast online world full of fab people sharing awesome stuff? Once again I'm reminded how much I adore blogland!! Hope these resources can help you my friends and big hugs to Pugly Pixel!

Keep smiling and may your day be filled with good things...

Shades of Blue

Happy Friday friends! I'm sooo looking forward to the weekend. We moved offices this week and it's been a sea of change - all good but you know how change is. It drains your energy a little more than usual.

So yesterday I finalized my first design decision when it comes to my wedding vision and I'm so excited to share it with you. As you know from my cardigan choice, my main colour will be a dusty turquoise complimented by soft neutrals like ivory, grey, pale yellow and leafy green. My round tables will be covered in white tablecloths but I'll be adding squares of assorted coloured fabrics I purchased from Etsy in those shades for a pop of colour and a 'vintage' mismatched feel. My lovely sister and matron-of-honour Lindsay will be sewing them for me.

Here's a sneak peek at the fabrics I chose...

 

 

 

 

 

 

{all images via etsy}

It's really feeling like it's starting to come together and I'm so excited!

My dear past brides, how did you decide on your colours and design? Did you choose something you always loved? Did you break out and try something new? I'd love to hear about it!

Have a great weekend friends!

Fresh new Lather. Write. Repeat.

I am so excited to welcome you to my new blog design!  I thought I would fill you in on some of the background behind how it came to be...

Working in marketing and advertising for an agency, it's been a really unique process to be 'The Client'.  I'm so lucky to be working with a designer that I know well, and whose designs and personal aesthetic I truly admire (thanks B!).  I'm dying for her to get her own website so I can promote her like crazy to all of you.  I also can't wait until she starts letterpressing her own paper products so I can buy them all!

One of the really important steps in coming up with my new design was thinking about what I wanted to say - visually.  A blog is unique because it really is a representation of who you are, so in turn, the blog design is really a representation of me.  B asked me lots of questions that forced me to think about what Lather. Write. Repeat. is all about.  To me, it means approaching each day with a fresh new perspective, approaching each day open to creative possibilities and approaching each day writing from the heart.  It also means you'll do it all over again tomorrow, so take what you will, learn what you can and always go easy on yourself.  I hope you see the design and feel like you know me a little bit better.

Thank you for all your feedback on my secondary copy line!  I appreciated all your votes.  To be honest, I didn't expect such a split in the preferences, which made me even more confused!  I was also just getting started on Lather Creations as the time, so I decided to go with a very simple 'A Creative Blog'.  I think it sums everything up, from the personal to the DIY to showcasing pretty things I love.  So thanks again!

I started this blog on March 29th after seeing an inspiring presentation on the importance of social media.  It's been a daily creative challenge that has been both exciting and frustrating, but always fulfilling.  Now, through my blogging, I've started to move forward with my dreams of owning my own side business 'upcycling' old furniture - Lather Creations.  Without the creative outlet and blog audience, I don't think I would have taken these chances.

Today is a big milestone for me and I'm  overjoyed to have you here.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and I hope you continue to do so!

XO
Lenore

New Editions to the DIY Pile

Keeping on the theme of treasure hunting, that is one of the things I love about sprucing up old furniture.  I love visiting Value Village and searching Kijiji for the next great find!  I've recently added craigslist and Used Winnipeg to my search as well.  I'm often inspired just by coming across a piece I think has potential.  Upholstery is one of the areas that I'm a complete newbie so armed with one of my new books, I picked up a few practice pieces this week.

This black stool was a great find on Used Winnipeg for $15.  I plan to paint the legs white and recover the fabric in a bright, cheery fabric. Because it's a more modern construction, the upholstering was done with staples as opposed to more traditional upholstery tacking.  I think it's going to be a great place to start.

This chair was another great Kijiji find for $15.  The wood is gorgeous but it's pretty squeaky, so J may have to take it apart and tighten up the joints.  My ambitious plan is to strip and refinish the wood and recover the seat.  It's been recovered in the past but it could use more padding and a tighter recovering job.  This one could take a while but I'll keep you posted!

Another thing I plan to do - is put the word out for potential clients who have an old piece of furniture they would like freshening up.  I will assess the piece and made some recommendations on how I could fix it up to match their current home style.  Just planting the bug in your ear...more on that as I get going!

Happy Wednesday to you all and thanks for reading.

Written with love,
Lenore