Dachshund Coat Rack

I was recently commissioned by a sorority sister of mine to make a dachshund coat rack for her to give to her sister for Christmas!  She saw this one I made a while back and we customized her piece with her sister's color tastes in mind.

The original was inspired by my miniature dachshund Jager:

Weenie dog in action: being useful for hanging dog leashes on in-between long walks in the park!

 Some of the colorful glitter tiles glisten in the sun

After the recent death of my mom's 3-year old doxie Oscar, we are especially fond of wiener dog paraphernalia!

Oscar Meyer Wiener

[2009-2012]

Rest in Peace

Knit Together

I recently painted a series of 9 12"X12" textured canvases for my dear friends Lindsey & Ryan.

Titled: "Psalm 139:13"

I was inspired by the word "knit" in the verse, and wanted an abstract representation of fabric being knit together with a crosshatch pattern.

I wanted it to be more neutral in grey, grey-blues, silvers, and charcoal in the background with punches of purple, black, & blue.  They wanted more color in their house but weren't sure what.  So I decided to  choose for them!  Since they both went to K-State- purple would be a a color both could agree on!

I'll post photos of it in their living room once they're hung after the holidays!

Framed Wall Vignette

 My latest project has been putting together all of the frames I'd collected over the past couple of years into a central vignette above the sofa.

It all started with this cardboard deer head we bought on sale through Joss & Main.

[Jager ponders the deer's head looming above him]

First I started with a rough sketch of what I pictured

[in order to explain the thoughts floating in my head to my husband!]

Then I laid my collected items on the floor in different arrangements

until I was completely satisfied with the composition

[confession: These all laid on my studio floor for about two weeks while I mulled over it all] 

My biggest tip for hanging a collection of things on the wall is to:

cut newspaper clippings the size of each item!  I learned this from Young House Love.

I labeled them so I would know which piece went with what frame and taped them to the wall the way I had laid it all out on the floor.

Tools Needed:

hammer, small level, tape measure, scotch or blue tape, pencil, and various-sized nails

By taping newspaper pieces to the wall, you can then draw with a pencil where the nail should go by measuring how far down the hook is on the back of each frame.  Then just nail right through the newspaper and then peel it off the wall!

My plan is to change out the graphics for each season.  Right now I have Christmas-related prints in all of the frames.  I think it would be cool one season to have just bright blocks of solid color in each frame.

 The Close-up Details:

A shadowbox [from Target] I lined with craft paper, and hung an ornament in:

My favorite by far is the kid on the right:

It just cracks me up that as your eye moves across all of the items, you will randomly stop at the strange kid holding presents! ha!

I love finding & creating humor in design!

 And to leave you on a final note:

Snail-Mail Christmas Cards

I love the tradition of getting Christmas cards mailed to your home every year!  Yeah, people don't use snail-mail as often anymore with the existence of e-cards and evites.  Yet, for the holidays, the tradition still seems to be strong.  Sites like Shutterfly, Minted, Snapfish, Cardstore, Pear Tree, Paper Culture, Tiny Prints, and Pixingo help keep the spirit of receiving cute physical cards alive.

  



[PS- Holiday Discounts I found in my Real Simple magazine: 25% off paperculture.com/holiday, 10% off minted.com/realsimple, 15% off pear tree promo code: REAL]

  

Here is our 2011 Frets family card:

[designed through shutterfly]

inside:

back:

We all dressed in purple with either our K-State or TCU gear on!  We've become a split family, but at least it's all the same color scheme! We've been giving my mom a hard time since she spelled Kyle's dog's name wrong [it's 'Khloe'] and they had already been ordered!

Here are some of my favorites from that photo-shoot:

And some of the outtakes!!!

mom & I get carried away when we have pom-poms!

When it comes to the question of what to do with all of your saved cards that year... [especially the christmas letters everyone sends] we've been a little stumped.  My mom could never bring herself to throwing them away so we've accumulated boxes of them labeled by the year in our storage room.  

A friend suggested putting them in a photo album where you can arrange them how you like.  This is what I've done for the past two years, but it bothered me that you could only view one side of the cards without getting them out, since some open or are front/back.

Her family card was the first one we received this year!...I love the colors!

Earlier this year I saw another friend's way of keeping them organized that I felt was perfect for us!  I thought this idea was so cute for people to look through past years, and is especially interactive for kids!

 [I know it's only 2007-2009 shown, those are the first I got to...a little overwhelming when my mom has 2010 all the way back to the early 1990's! But imagine how cute that will be when there is a whole long row of them hanging on stocking hooks from their lower level mantel!]

TO CREATE:

FIRST: I single-hole-punched the top-left corners of all our cards, letters, and photos

 

I wanted to keep it more compact, so I folded the larger letters into these gift sacks from Target I found in the dollar section [or you could use cute little envelopes] and hole-punched the corner

 

SECOND: I strung them all through these large paper clips I bought from Target [they come in a pack of 5] or you could use the thick metal rings that clip together, or ribbon

[making sure to string our family card from that year on top for easily comparing our ever-changing hairstyles and embarrassing phases!]

THIRD: I wrote the year with silver sharpie on some fun scrapbook paper glued on cardstock [so it's a little thicker] with stickers and strung it on the top for a cute label

FOURTH: find a cute place to hang them or table to display them on for years of fun reminiscing!

Let me know if you have any cute ideas or things you do with your cards!