Hallway upgrade!

My kitchen nook is getting closer to coziness!  Here it is in its drab before - 2.5 years of being in limbo.

First year:
 (nevermind - I can't find any pics from the first year)

Second year after painting the walls:

 Boring, weird colors and completely out of scale - go ahead and say it cuz I know it!  Sadly it remained this way until about 2 months ago.  Inside my green stands, I kept all my photo prints, random knickknacks, tools, ribbon, and worm feed & compost teabags - yup, a huge smorsgasbord! (ok, it's really bugging me that I can't spell that word!  I am an AWESOME speller!)  I was starting to outgrow the drawers, plus the stands were way too small and green for that space.

Now, here it is with things a bit more IN scale and I couldn't be happier.  It started with just the yellow dresser.  Then I found the mirror, but the mirror was left on the floor for THE LONGEST TIME!  Hanging the mirror has kept me giddy for about 2 weeks now! :D

Want to know how much it cost me to upgrade this tiny section of the house? :D  I'm pretty excited!  Ok, here it goes:

Yellow dresser - $25
Gold framed mirror - $7.99
Everything else - already had!  I especially love my iron pineapple for $9.99!
TOTAL upgrade: $32.99

Yay!

xoxo, isabel

The Olivers

love the chandelier, headboard, and touches of glam

D Home Magazine recently featured the lovely home of Jamie Laubhan-Oliver and Larry Oliver located in the historic Cedars neighborhood of Dallas.  To read the whole story go here! All photography–the amazing Manny Rodriguez.

black ceiling??! YES!

i SO want a wood-planked wall!

there's something about pretty metal wastebaskets

Thanks to Rue magazine Issue 2 for showcasing the home of Dallas blogger, Atlantis Home, whose way eccentric home deserves a post of its own!  Perusing her site, led me to uncover how un-cookie-cutter DHome really is!  I've always admired their covers, but felt it was too uppity for me to ever buy, but it really is a great resource for getting to know a little more about how suburban areas can throw caution to the wind and thrive on uniqueness and local shops.

I'm looking forward to getting to know my area better!  A budding "designer" has got to have her little black book of resources and here's an easy, risk-free start.  I even looked at their job opening/internships to see if they could use a photographer =).  They have a listing, but they don't recommend full-timers to go for it. Maybe I'll try for it in the summer!  (I have GOT to stop making excuses and just GO for it, sacrifices and all!)


xoxo, isabel

Jocelyn's Mama Pics!

My friend, Jocelyn, was so nice to let me take her maternity photos!  I emailed her back in July with "I'm still not very good, but..."  She looks SO GREAT for 7+ months - I hope I look as good as her whenever I have a bun in the oven!


At the session, I found myself doing a LOT of poses, which I wanted to stay away from.  I wanted more creative, in-the-moment, unique shots, but for my first time around I got some beautiful images.  I always leave shoots feeling really disappointed.  "I was so nervous.  I gave horrible directions.  I wasn't as funny and fun as I wanted to be.  I did a lot of boring poses.  I take too long."  Then I start seeing my images opened up nice and big on my computer and R walks through them with me.  He always helps me pick out the standout ones and tells me why they're good or how they can be improved.  His artistic eye is soooo wonderful to have!  I feel a tad better after that =). My pictures are typical for now, but more practice and I'll get more creative once I stop thinking so much about the technicalities of everything! 

I can't wait to do more!  Here's Jocelyn!

xoxo, isabel

Jon's Boston Retreat

My cousin Jon just got his teaching degree (YIPPEE!) and is onto a bigger and better rental house!  I'm so jealous that he lives in Boston :D

He wanted help designing his room and who did he call on?  ME!!!  It's been a little slow and more challenging since we're doing everything virtually - but he's been amazing even with his insane schedule! He says, "Overall, I don’t want something too modern and sterile. I want something that’s very homey with a lot of warm colors that will be relaxing to be in."  Add in some dark furniture and no painting, and we got ourselves started!

Here's what I sent him before I left for Hawaii.  It's been about 4 weeks now and I need to check back in with him to see how its coming along!  The first couple are his inspiration "moodboard" (i kinda hate that word; need to find a new term) and the rest are layout options.  Can you tell which one I like best? haha!

 I am loooving google sketchup!  Sometimes, it's very difficult to use as I know nothing about CAD drawings and axes and uploading (which it isn't), but I made it work for me :).  I ESPECIALLY love the ability to rotate to any angle - amazing.  Nice little touch to add the person in for scale, huh?

Well, first design project part 1 done!  Now it's time to make him some pillows and make it homey after a long day of outrageous 15 year old physicists.

Much thanks, Jon!
xoxo, isabel

going baking crazy!

This week I've been busy!  First, I started my photo-styling project with some food, because naturally, I was hungry!  Craving a little protein, but not wanting to bust out meat, I boiled some eggs and decided to photograph them shoddily :D

See, I told you.  No, really, you can say it!  It's ridiculously stupid.

Then I started on my zig zag pillow because I realllllly wanted to knock-off some expensive-ass pillows for super cheap and my living room needed a new color scheme.  Pictures and post to come! 

Twinkle Living

All of a sudden, I went baking crazy.  Dad's birthday is on July 4th and I was really craving brownies, so Congos ensued.  They are a little chocolate chip cookie in a brownie consistency - delish!  My lil bro helpfully played styling assistant, but that quickly led to "I want to see how high I can stack them!" and getting his almost-black-tan hands all over them.  Oh high school boys :)  Dad also on a whim stuck his face in the shot -silly.

I made some OFF THE HOOK banana-berry muffins last weekend for the other family.  Sooo perfectly baked, they were moist, dense, lots of flavor without overpowering yummyness!  Gone in 1.5 days means make another batch!  And this time, style them :)  They weren't as perfect as the first batch, but still down-right good and GREAT for my lil project.  I didn't even get laughed at by R.!  

 

Finished the pillow - learned a lot of mistakes and wrote them down to prevent the next one from being too shabby.  And then, had a strong desire to make puffy pastry dough by hand :)  What goes well with that?  Hmm...apple turnovers, neopalitans, maybe cream puffs?!

look at all the layers I created!!!  'Scuse the nasty picture.

Lastly, I went on a mock trash the dress photoshoot last night.  Took some horrible horrible pictures, made some more friends, and heavily doctored up some images to see if they were salvageable.  Downtown Dallas looks GREAT at night!  I want to go back for more, especially in the walkway where Campisi's is.  Molly - you know you want to come with!

That's a wrap!  I just contacted a friend to see if she wanted maternity pics and am going to email a coworker about her 6 month old.  I need to get more practice and I need to get myself out there!  Scary!

xoxo, isabel

heart skips for: cannelle et vanille

Ok, dumb-butt (myself), why have I not favorited anything on flickr??!!  Whilst checking my flickr stats, I clicked on Elaine's favorites and found this amazing pasty chef who self-taught her food styling and takes amazing photographs.  She started with a Canon Rebel XT (which I embarrassingly still have) then upgraded to a 50D and now uses a 5D.  Seeing as how I just bought a new film slr,  I guess I'll need to wait a bit for a new dslr =D.

See, here I go again - back and forth on this film vs. digital pov!  How do I want to distinguish myself as a photographer?  We'll see as I keep playing around.

Anywaz, Aran's photographs are lovely!  She is amazing; check her out here!
Aran @ cannelle-vanille
*Aran, I'm sorry if you found this by accident!  I tried emailing you to ask for permission on your photos, but it bounced back!  I love your work!!!*

and please check out my own right here - I had so much nerdy fun!  :)  I realized today that it's time to look for some linens and distressed wood surfaces to add to my accessories store! :)

ok, now I really want to take my photos down after a quick up-scroll, down-scroll to compare pics with Aran...bleh


xoxo, isabel