The Ink Nest: Clip Art and Illustrations

I love The Ink Nest. I bookmarked it in my browser as "Hipster Clip Art Makes Me Happy."

For about $8, you can download amazing clip art that you can use on your blog or in other graphic design endeavors. It's so fun to look through them and dream about various projects!

The cool thing is that they're giving away a set right now! For an FB post or a tweet, you can download the "Bloom" set.

Find out more here!

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Halloween Cards From Rifle Paper Co

I am enamored with everything Rifle Paper Co. does. I checked out their website this week and discovered the cutest Halloween cards! If you're a fan of stationery, be sure to check these out (and everything else they do!).









So cute! I'm not in the habit of sending out cards for Halloween, but I'm tempted after seeing these!

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Owl Really: New Blog Design!

I am so excited to have my first professional blog design! I play with Photoshop and designing and with all the tweaks I have made over the past year, my blog looked like a mish-mash of designs. I wanted something sleek and professional, so I contacted Kaelah and she worked me into her schedule! I love her design work and Honeybean and I'm so honored to be one of her clients!

Blog before:




Blog after:



It is much cleaner and sleek. I love it! Feel free to click here to see it full-size and in action if you are reading in an RSS reader!

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Friday Fun: Lennon's Apartment

NBC premiered a new show last week called Best Friends Forever about two best friends (Lennon and Jess) who lived in an amazing apartment in New York until Jess got married and moved cross country. When her husband files for divorce three years later, she treks back to New York and moves back into the old apartment. The only hitch in the plan is that 11 months earlier, Lennon's boyfriend had moved in with her.

The trio are now learning to navigate how to live together in this amazing apartment. Did I mention the apartment is amazing? Because it is.

Let's start with the outside. How perfect is this row of brownstones (are these considered brownstones?)?

By day:



And by night:


Do you suppose they live in Brooklyn??? (Actually, looking at the 2 photos, those look like different apartments!)

When the show returned from the opening credits, we saw establishing shots of the interior of Lennon's apartment and I was instantly in love.

Click the photo to see it larger.

This reminds me a little of Amelie's decor - maybe it's just the slight green tint that reminds me of that but also I think the sconce and the whimsical prints. I love the collage and the wallpaper and the plants peeking out!

Click the photo to see it larger.

Little red (or pink?) fawns! Do you suppose they're salt and pepper shakers? So adorable! And I love the potholders and the cubby shelf!

Then we see Lennon and Jess pow-wowing on the couch while the awkward (but loveable) boyfriend meddles.


Here are some more shots of the living room, by day:


Love the wooden file drawer piece and those 2 teal trunks!

Click this one to see it larger!

A globe on an industrial stool?? Love it.

Plants!!! Love them. Do you really think this many plants would survive in an apartment away from windows? I want plants everywhere after seeing her place.

Now let's peek into the dining room and kitchen.



This point of view skews a little country for me, but check out the rest:



Love the wallpaper, curtains, and the silhouettes!


Love the hutch - want to see it better - it looks like it might be midcentury modern!!


More plants! Click this one to see it larger too! Really like the light fixture peeking out from the ceiling.

And then we got a quick scene in Lennon and Joe's bedroom:



Both actresses/show creators were part of the improv comedy group Upright Citizens Brigade and use their own names in the show. It almost wouldn't surprise me if this was REALLY Lennon's apartment and they were filming on location! Do shows ever do that? Probably not!

I've only seen the first episode so far, but I found the story and characters really entertaining and of course I loved the decorating eye candy!

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Pinterest: Vintage Living

Be sure to follow me on Pinterest - especially my new "Vintage Living" board! I have been having so much fun pinning real vintage interiors! Follow here and see all my boards here!

I am so inspired by real vintage photographs and design. And I love that in most of the photographs, a starburst clock is visible! I just wish I could find them often now!

Happy friday, everyone!!

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House Tour: Our Bathroom

Last week, we finally had some much-needed repairs done to our bathroom. We had a leak which ended up ruining some drywall. We got the drywall replaced, I painted with a deeper shade of teal (a $7 gallon - thank you Home Depot "oops" paint!) and we hung a new curved shower rod (which I LOVE). I switched out some artwork and voila!


The folk art print was a gift from Carolyn and features lyrics from my favorite hymn, Come Thou Fount. I picked up the little blue alarm clock at the Brooklyn Flea, the portrait is from an estate sale, and I can't remember where I got the bird years ago.

The 60s art is from the Downtown Antique Mall and the shower curtain is from Anthropologie and was a generous gift from a friend after she and her husband bought a house and it didn't match their new bathrooms. I had been coveting it for awhile and was so thrilled when she passed it on to me!

I wish I could get a better overall shot of the bathroom but it's so tiny, it's hard to take a photo of it.

I will hopefully post more "house tour" photos in the future - I am working on getting more projects done! I think our house is my ultimate canvas and I want to document it!

Have you done any easy updates lately??

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Vintage Decorating: Flower Arranging

One of my Thirty Before 30 goals was to learn how to arrange flowers. I haven't learned just yet - I would love to take a class in person. I d0 have a vintage flower arranging book (Better Homes & Gardens: Flower Arranging, 1957) and the new Design*Sponge book has a section on flower arranging, but I'm not there yet. I think I would learn better through hands-on experience, so I'm still on the hunt for a class to take.

In the meantime, here is a 2 page spread on arranging for autumn! You can click the images to see them much larger on flickr.





Personally, I love the last image with the teal tablecloth, yellow flowers, and mod plates!

Do you know how to arrange flowers? Where did you learn? Do you know of any great resources for simple arranging?

Inspired By: it's a small world

I have been trying to pay more attention to the world around me and glean inspiration from more places than just blogs... I am definitely guilty of running through life and not stopping to really pay attention to the beauty around me.... however, on our recent trip to Disney World, I found a lot of inspiration in "it's a small world!"

Before we went I posted this photo from our trip when I was 2 and I absolutely loved the colors... and they were even more gorgeous in person!



As we floated through this part of the ride, I was dazzled by the beautiful design. The white, teal, purple and hints of silver and gold were so stunning!

I wanted to challenge myself to design a room based on the end part of "it's a small world" where the colors are more streamlined. I could have done earlier parts of the ride, but it would have been a color explosion!

I found some beautiful items online that I think really fit the aesthetic. They are all WAY out of my budget but it was fun to create a dream room!


1. Purple ferris wheel metallic fine art photo 8x12
2. X-Clock with Large Black Face
3. Mid Century Aqua and Gold Lamp
4. Eva sofa
5. Love One Another pillow
6. Handmade Zen Grey New Zealand Wool Rug
7. Stray Dog Designs Antique Mirror Side Table with 3 Shelves

8. World Map Triptych
9. Plum Mini Celebration - Original 5x7 Painting
10. Simple Stripe Evelyn Ottoman Peacock and Grey
11. Jonathan Adler Capri - One Light Table Lamp
12. Donna 8x10 print
13. Large Birdie Pillow by Ferm Living
14. Garbo Coffee Table
15. Uttermost Fontaine Armchair


This little project was really fun and challenging. I would definitely like to do more, like the "living in" series on DesignSponge... I just want to think of unique ideas!

Where's the most surprising place you found inspiration? I'd love to hear!

Also - last night I updated my blog design! If you are reading in a feed reader, click here to visit the site and see the new design and please let me know what you think about the pink! :)

A little corner of my world

40+ hours a week, I run a music website and do artist interviews on a regular basis. We have a little studio set up in one of the offices but circumstances called for us to do an interview this week in my office.

A few years ago, Elise designed our studio and bought the chair for the room and I have brought in other props over the past year to change up the looks. I pulled this look together in an empty corner of my office on Monday and I have to say - I love it! Even though it was set up for a video shoot, I'm thinking about keeping it styled this way just to add some vintage flair to my office.

I picked up the little table (with flared midcentury legs!) at Goodwill recently and luckily had it in my trunk the day I was setting up this vignette. I got the typewriter at Goodwill also - it's in pretty bad shape so it works perfectly as just a prop. The teal mug holds a succulent that was used in our wedding and sits atop some vintage books. The poster is a Spirit of Nashville print I bought years ago. Behind the mug and succulents, you can see a hint of a yellow pitcher I bought from a neighbor's yard sale years ago and a few candles accent the mug.

I love being able to style and re-style the sets in the office! It's so fun to play around with different looks.

To see Elise's design of our office, where we shoot most of our video interviews, click here!

Emily Keafer's Every Little Thing Studio

I'm going to brag on my friend Emily Keafer for a moment. Emily is one of the coolest, most talented people I know. She worked for one of the leading design companies in Nashville (have you seen the "Spirit of Nashville" posters? Yup, she did some of those.) and left in order to become a freelancer. She has kept busy with a variety of clients and was kind enough to do all our wedding design. She is amazing!

If you haven't seen our invitations, feast your eyes on these:

click to see the images larger!

Adorable, right?

Emily is launching a new portfolio - click here to see her work including other invitations, books, Bibles and more!

(And if you're coming here because you know my mom's blog, Emily did her banner, too!)

Not only is Emily graphic design savvy, but she is just hip in general. Everytime I visit her house, I look around in awe and get inspired. I love her style!

She even had a fancy garden party in July for her birthday and I wanted to blog about it but never did - luckily, fellow party-goer Robyn blogged about it today. Check out Emily's fancy garden party here!