seaside inspiration

maybe it's because we used to live so close to the ocean in california or maybe because now we're close to the great lakes that look like oceans but whatever the reason my new favorite interior design trends are all ocean/sea inspired in color and theme. not the kind with everything covered in shells but in a more sublte "feel the ocean breeze" way!

i have a large collection of ideas and photos that go along with this theme but recently i have been enjoying the website and portfolio of the famous Sarah Richardson. she is a canadian designer and no stranger to anyone who's interested in interiors. i don't want to use the word love for everything but i love her cottage; the colors, the wood, everything and these are my favorites below. these are all going into my file for future ideas.

i noticed the birch log lap on the bedside table. i'm now wondering how to turn my recently scavenged birch log into one of those!

the cute chairs on the left long side of this table are antique bankers chairs. i want to find something similar and paint them the same way in a color that goes with my stuff.

cute . crAfty . creAtiv :: #1 crispy muffin wrappers

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i wanted to start posting some random things that excite me. mostly small ideas that are just too clever and you wish you had thought of. i find so much online just browsing and why not share them here; after all this is creAtiv.life where we celebrate the gift of creating and how it enhances our lives and all those around us. 

This is from marthastewart.com {of course!} i love these ways of doing simple things differently.  

*check out how to do these yourself

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ruffly ruffles

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Well the new shop is still in progress and so far so good. i've had my hands mostly in the beads recently and can't wait to showcase what resulted from that. amongst many other things in life i keep on with my designing and even got myself into even another project last night. sometimes i start things and then they turn into something else later and that is what happened yesterday. all of these new ideas i plan on having in the shop soon.

In addition to last nights ideas i got the singer featherweight out today so i could use the ruffler. that's the "mommy" commercial singer in the background there. the baby just gets to come out for the really good stuff! i took all this sheer organza ribbon left over from our wedding and ruffled up yards and yards of it to go along with current and later projects. 

Doesn't it look delicious all piled up there. i can't wait to see it flowing across the other projects!

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something inspiring i found in my, well, inspiration pile!

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it's been so long!

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exciting new things are coming!! 

the shop is temporarily closed and getting ready for some lovely new items!

stay tuned for a new face to creAtiv.life studio and even more wonderful things once you step inside!!!

**wow, with that many exclamation points, it's gotta be good ;-)

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solvang, ca trip 4th of july weekend! we just headed over for the day before the crowds hit. the weather was beautiful and we had a great drive. i got busy taking shots with our minolta 5mpx point and shoot. here are some of the things i liked there...

so many beautiful flowers! we had just missed the big flower festival they have in that area. we went in search of the flower fields to get some good shots but unfortunately they were all gone. 

i enjoyed all their cute benches. the "gossip bench" was at the Finnish cottages on the main road. that's part of my heritage that i unfortunately don't know much about; so i was interested to see what was there. this is a great day trip if you're in the southern cali area. 

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all these things

there are so many things i love :: beautiful colors, piles of fabric, the feeling of hand stitching, spotless white kitchen counters, my stack of new pillows, and so many other things that you can fill your house with. it's easy to get caught up with all these interests; especially when reading all the wonderful design blogs with all the beautiful imagery [decor8, modish, stylefiles]. 

with this in mind i decided to stop dreaming about what our abode could be someday and started concentrating what i can do today to make it into the best cozy home. so i've been whipping up a few simple little projects to feather the nest and as i continue i'm going to take photos and post them here. our apartment that i am so thankful for is going to become a main attraction. i'm going to focus on the little things that make it ours!  i always tell my husband that i'm easy to please so i'm going to put it into action everyday and i'm going through all my little odds and ends to make the most of everything!

back to it...

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well i'm slowly getting back into my little blog and design bubble that i was living in for awhile. i had to come up from it to get a breath of fresh air! sometimes creative inspiration can come like a flood and you feel so energetic and productive and then come times of nothing. you never know what will inspire you in life and it's not always under your control! 

my husband was away for some time. to keep myself busy during this time i had lots of ideas planned. most of them didn't pan out or were untouched! turns out he's more inspiring to me than i realized before because in his absence i was a little less productive! i have the safe and relaxed feeling with him around that allows me to work on my interests. 

well i'm thankful he's back; though he's jet lagged to say the least! because of his temporary sleep schedule right now we have been up enjoying the early mornings together with walks and special breakfasts. seems like we are really breakfast people huh!?! 

it's a beautiful day here and the temperatures continue to rise! i look forward to getting back to making mosts of new creativness and a few things i've been working on. 

enjoy this day where you are [rain or shine!]

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time away...

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it has been some time since i updated the blog or added new goods to the shop. i spent some time away from here to refresh and get some new ideas. that's easier said than done but i am working on some new things as my inspiration slowly comes back.

some fun hand stitched surface design i did one afternoon to spruce up a boring tank top.

i hope to have some wonderful new art posted in the coming days/weeks! maybe if i announce it now then i will be inspired to do my new pieces!

have a great weekend!

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a small makeshift champagne brunch i shared with my husband at home several weekends ago!!! i also made some killer hash-browns, eggs with a bread-crumb crust, and my new special chili rosemary mayo! mmmm...

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i love to keep the blog updated with fun new things and make regular posts but life interrupts sometimes. and that's fine of course! new things arise and new priorities surface. therefore the posts may be a little more spread out for a short time but hopefully will be equally creativ and inspiring (?) as before !!

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