Just In Case You Were Wondering....

I have promised a couple of people (for you Whitta) that I would post pictures of our apartment up as well as some of the paintings and decorating projects I have taken on. Since the job search lasted a little longer than I would have ever thought or preferred, I have spent time finding inexpensive (or free) ways to decorate our apartment. Ryan so graciously let me keep my craft supplies somewhere accessible (he wanted them in the storage closet...but we compromised). Now they are in these cute and nice-looking canvas drawers in our living room...tucked away where only I know what is in them. There is still a lot of decorating I would like to do in our apartment, but I think we have gotten a good start and we can add items as we find lasting pieces that we will want to use in our home someday.

The leaves on the mantle are fabric sewn onto a piece of twine to make a fall leaf garland. It was something I saw in a magazine a long time ago and vowed to do it one day in my own home.

I bought the giant S to use for our wedding and there didn't end up really being anything to use it for and we gave ourselves enough projects as it was. There was nothing over the tv so the decorated S did well to fill the space. The frame came later. It was a mismatched frame at Joann's that someone must have designed and then it wasn't right for them. It was the perfect size for what we needed so I sloppily painted it black (to get a more worn look). It has become one of my favorite pieces in our apartment.

The painting above the door was a last minute fall decoration that I ended up being more pleased with than I expected so that's always nice. I'd love to end up selling it in my future etsy shop, although I realize it will be out of season soon.

Our back porch has kind of become a haven for me here. It is always cool on the porch and the view of the Rockies is something I will always enjoy and thank God for (and my husband for picking the 3rd floor). This is our porch and some of the views from our porch. I think you will see why I love it so much. 

Here is our kitchen and the area around it. It looks very cluttered in pictures, mostly because of the million pictures on the fridge, but its not nearly that bad in real life. Up on top of our cabinets I have all of my beautiful wedding dishes/bowls etc. displayed 1. because we don't have anywhere else to put them 2. they are so pretty so they make for a nice filler to that space. 

 

This is the "Simmons" painting I made for our kitchen. I don't do a lot of red, but it goes well with a lot of our dishes and kitchen colors. I love the way the painting brings everything together. Sorry I can't take pictures that are not crooked. I am working on it.






This is our dining room area (really it is all just one big room but it is hard to show that in a picture) that is right by the door to the porch

 

It is hard to take pictures of our bedroom from any good angle but I will give you my best.  I am still deciding on what I want on the walls in here so it is still a work in progress.

I would show you our bathroom, but lets be honest, unless I had it decorated in a really spectacular way, you don't care about seeing it. What I will show you is a glimpse at what my studying husband typically looks like. Isn't he adorable? 

Now, onto some other paintings I have been working on.....These are some I would like to put in my etsy shop (in the works, i'll add the link here when it is actually presentable) if I can ever sit down and figure out how to format the pictures correctly. That is my current stumbling block, but I will overcome it. Until then, let me know if you would be interested in either the Thanksgiving or Christmas painting for yourself or a friend or family member. I might even give you a discount if I am feeling generous...

This Thanksgiving painting is still very much a work in progress. It was an idea I had in my head and tried it out here for my mom. Many touch ups and a couple more coats here and there and I will be done with it, but I wanted to show what I had so far. Jilly can't wait to put it up at the house this year.    

Below is a Christmas painting I did for us to use in our apartment. This idea started as a gift for (Mother) Teresa about 2 years ago. She is very creative with her Christmas colors, so this idea of the colored lights works perfectly with her color schemes. I have done a handful for others since then to give as gifts or for their own homes. I really enjoy this one and can't wait to put it up in our apartment as soon as we get back from Thanksgiving! 

After all that, I couldn't forget to give you a small glimpse into our lovely but all to short "fall break" in Destin. We flew in Thursday morning and met our Simmons family at the beach for some relaxation, wonderful company, and delicious food. This is one of the few pictures we took of the weekend at the restaurant that is very near and dear to our hearts (where Ryan and I had our very first date), Dewey Destin.