{butterflies} all around

On Tuesday my family and I visited the Pacific Science Center here in Seattle. My brother was visiting for Amber's wedding and so we made a special trip to this fun place.  Stopping by the butterfly exhibit was definitely one of the highlights. There were so many flying around you had to be careful where you stepped, plus they kept landing on people. Such a cool place to be.
 

You can click on the image below to see it a little larger in Flickr. There are four butterflies that are the most easily seen.....the rest are a little too far away or out of focus. Enjoy!

 

{birding} and a vacation

Back at the end of August Ryan's folks came for a visit.....and it felt like a real vacation. Most of the photos I took are still on Clem. Eventually I will edit them to share, but for now here are my Instagrams with a few of the highlights :D

One of my favorite adventures was when we went birding at Padilla Bay.  It was our first time birding and we all had fun trying to identify the different birds, with the most exciting being when we saw a blue heron up close.  I had downloaded a couple birding apps to my phone and would listen to the bird songs and look at the photos trying to figure out which bird was which.  And the view?  The view was spectacular.  Such a beautiful place. Clem (my camera) loved it there.  Below is the Big Indian Slough.  Most of the larger birds were wading around there during the low tide.  To make that day perfect we had chicken for dinner and then watched The Big Year.  What a great movie.  I'm a sucker for a movie was good morals and a good ending.  Birding.....who knew, right?!?

Above is a pic from when we visited Snoqualmie Falls.  I don't know about you, but I love waterfalls.....and this one is giant and grand!  Plus the grounds around the viewing area are very well groomed and make walking around enjoyable.  Being there felt like a different time.  An earlier time, like the feel of the Victorian era.  Very cool. 

 

Later that week we also ended up going to a Mariners game that I will never forget.  First of all there was a streaker who ran around the field in the middle of the ballgame, outlasting all the security until finally deciding he was bored.  Then, a huge flock of seagulls swarmed around inside the stadium right before we left.  There were so many it reminded me of Hitchcock's The Birds.   Love that movie.  All in all it was nice to be a tourist for the week and spend quality time with Ryan's parents.  Summertime in Seattle, I love you.

{autumn} wall art

This week I ended up changing most of the photography on my walls to add a bit of an Autumn feel. I even put up my fall wreath, adding a freshly spray painted gold dinosaur into the mix (thanks to inspiration from my dear Steph). My craft room has a couple different work tables and this little red table hold my typewriter, and my most used art supplies.....the perfect place for a little extra Fall color!

Below is the wall above most of the other storage in my craft room. I don't know what I'd do without my giant chalkboard frame to help keep me organized, and lots of color on the wall is a must for inspiration.....

I don't know if I'll even get over my love of cloud photos, and the mini dinos are a keepsake from Steph.....she gave them to me just before I moved here. Love. Love.

Above is my first attemt to add embroidery to a poster (inspired by THIS). The thread I chose is a little too light to notice the design well, but the artistic suble feel is awesome. My *it's okay* wall art is from THIS tutorail. I made it at the beginning of the year as a sort of motto for the year.  What are some of your favorite Fall decorations?

(All the art and photos on my wall are by me, except the large poster was taken by Steph.)

{diy} sharpie mugs

Today I thought it would be fun to share my technique for the DIY Sharpie Mugs I created for Amber's bachelorette party! When starting this project I tried a few different tutorials online (which didn't work for me.....the sharpie kept washing off), and ended up with the following combination finally giving the result I had hoped for.....

 

Supplies:

• White Ceramic Mugs (already glazed, like the kind you find at any home goods or thrift store)
• Sharpie Paint Pens (in the colors of your choice)
• Rag
• Dish Soap
• Oven

Directions:

1. Thoroughly clean your mugs.  I used Bar Keepers Friend to get off any stains from the thrift store mugs.
2. Begin to draw your design with the Sharpie Paint Pens onto your mug.  I chose to use sayings from one of Amber's favorite love songs, Elephant Love Medley.
3. If you mess up, just wet your rag with water, add little dish soap and scrub it off.  Wipe the mug dry before trying at it again.
4. Once your design is complete bake your mugs in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
5. After the 30 minutes is over, turn the oven off and let the mugs cool with the oven door open.
6. When the mugs are completely cool you can now hand wash them and they are ready to use!

Notes:

• Originally I tried using the regular Sharpie permanent markers and my design washed off.  This was not a permanent solution for me.  Make sure to use the Sharpie Paint Pens.
• These mugs are hand wash only.  Do not put in the dishwasher.
• If you decide to use the colored Sharpie Paint Pens instead of just black, most of the colors change quite a bit from baking in the oven (they darken).
• I found that while baking my mugs they did make the kitchen smell a bit odd.

And here is a peek at one of the homeade tea bags I assembled to go inside the mugs as the bachelorette party favor.  I used THIS tutuorial for making them, and it worked great!  I had to figure out my own measurements, and ended up desiging my own labels, but other than that everything else is mostly same.  Now if only it was cool enough to drink hot tea today!?!  I don't know about you, but the last couple days have been warm here in Seattle ; )  Link me up if you've tried any of these DIYs yourself and enjoy!

{bachelorette | birthday} weekend

 

Oh, how I have missed blogging. I know I should have stopped in just to say hi, but my summer has been so busy I never made the time till now. Hello. It's nice to see you again : ) For today's post I thought I'd share a few Instagrams from my birthday weekend which also happened to be my sister Amber's bachelorette party weekend! The photo above is Amber while we were on a walk along Port Williams. We talked about plans for her wedding, some of the decorations, and also just plans for Fall. It feels like such exciting times.  And yes, in case you were wondering my Fall fever has begun.

 

Over this birthday | bachelorette weekend, I was able to give out the party favors for Amber's bachelorette party.....DIY Sharpie mugs embellished with lyrics from one of her favorite love songs (Elephant Love Medley) and stuffed with homemade tag bags, tied all together with lovely elephant ribbon in blue (her favorite color). My mom and I had the best time picking out all the loose leaf tea at the Sequim Spice and Tea Shop for the homemade tea bags. We ended up with Pear Spice, Meyer Lemon, and Hibiscus Delight. They all smelled amazing and tasted just as good. There was also a minibook (the one with mustaches on the cover), which I made for her bachelorette party were I took a photo of each of the girls with my Instax Mini, taped it into the book, and they wrote her a little note on the opposite page. By the end of the party it was stuffed full and now holds some awesome memories.

 

On my actual birthday I found these gems at the thrift store.  The little owl pair is a music box, the glasses are for a friend, and the sheet is for a future sewing project.  You can feel the weather changing here and I have been wanting to sew everyday.  I think it's some sort of nesting | preparing for fall thing.

 

We had a big dinner to celebrate my birthday with my family in Sequim, and my mom bought me these happy flowers and a small milk glass vase to hold them.  In the photo below you can see part of the leather wrist band that my brother in law made me, and in the collage towards the top is a photo of the fire pit from when we relaxed outside in the warm summer air just after dark. 

 

Well, I think that's it for now.  I'll share more photos soon.  They'll probably be Instagrams as well, until I make time to edit some of the photos from Clem.....which most likely will be after my sister's wedding next week.  See ya soon!  And happy almost Fall!!!  <3 carrie="carrie" p="p">