Crafting with Design Sponge

When it rains in Atlanta the city seems to stop, especially when it starts raining during rush hour traffic. Our already busy highways become even busier with people trying to race home and get out of the rain. I'm not sure why Atlanta gets so crazy when rain rolls through. Maybe it's because we've been programmed to withstand heat better than water, or maybe it's because the rain tends to bring colder weather . Whatever the reason, I guess I've become a true Atlantian because I, for one, tend to shift into the same "rain" mode as every other person here does. Get me home. Give me some comfy clothes. Pray there is a good movie on TV (perhaps Dirty Dancing?) and I'm ready for a night on the couch to weather the storm.

Last night I ended up making an exception to my norm. Grace Bonney from Design Sponge was at West Elm hosting a crafting / book signing event. Our good friend and blogging confidant, Molly, asked me to attend. I wasn't so sure about the crafting segment of the night, but thought it would be a fun opportunity to meet Grace and catch up with Molly.

Upon arriving, we saw there were several tables set up and each seat had 2 napkins, some paint, foam brushes, xacto knives and stencils. I wasn't sure what I was picturing when I heard this was a crafting event. I thought maybe we'd doodle something on a piece of paper, have a few drinks and call it a night, but this was actually down and dirty crafting.

Grace arrived shortly after Molly and I had sat down and began the instructions. We were going to make some kind of monogrammed napkin with the stencils and paint. It took her a few minutes to run through the directions, which seemed easy enough, but when we turned to our napkins and looked at our crafting tools, we had no idea what we were doing. Everything had gone in one ear and out the other. Apparently we weren't the only ones feeling the same way. Our whole table was staring blankly at each other, holding our xacto knives mid-air and asking each other what we to do. It would have been smart to to actually open the Design Sponge book and read how to create our monograms, but instead we opted for the classic high-school-test-move where you look at the next table to see what they are doing. Finally, Grace came over and explained to us step-by-step how to start our project and eventually we all got the hang of it. After stressing about the design we wanted to create, the cutting of our stencil, and what color paint we wanted to use, Molly and I ended up w/ somewhat successful finished products.

Yes, I chose a golden retriever stencil. I tried really hard to make it look like our boxer, Harley, but that just took too much time, so I took the easy road instead. 

Here are some quick shots during the crafting time:

The stencils for the project 

  My mad cutting skills

  

Quote from Molly "I wish Jen were here to do this for us." I concurred.

My finished dog. 

 

After the crafting portion ended, I had the chance to meet Grace and have her sign my book.

Grace was uber-nice to meet and we even discussed our Savannah weddings. (I'm such a dork). All in all it was a good night, even though it was rainy and cold. I guess sometimes it's worth it to actually get out of the house when it's raining.

~LGT

Inspiration Monday: Silhouette Season

It seems silhouettes are a popular trend these days. They create a unique statement and always look modern and fresh. Obviously, the idea of the silhouette as an art form has been around for ages, though in the past they seemed to have had an air of sophistication and stuffiness to them. But in the last couple years, the silhouette has been making a comeback and it hasn't just been side profiles that are popping up in home decor. Dogs, birds, people jumping, playing guitar and doing karate moves, have been showing up just about everywhere, even in mainstream stores such as West Elm:

and Anthropologie:

We hope this trend stays around for awhile. We've always been a fan and have actually created some invites with silhouettes on them. This one was for a friend's son's 1st birthday. They wanted to have a party that was kid and dog friendly:





A lovely friend of ours and author of the entertaining blog "The Nesting Game" recently sent out her Save the Dates. (A little background info on the couple: Molly is a writer for an advertising agency in Atlanta and her fiance is an art director, so we knew these Save the Dates would be fun and unique.) As soon as I saw the envelope in the mail I knew it was their STD. The invite came in a kraft envelope w/ their names and address embossed on the back flap. In retrospect, I wish I would have kept the envelope for a picture, but my husband happened to be walking into the kitchen as I was staring at the envelope, considering saving it for later, but the odd look on his face made me quickly toss it in the trash. (Sorry Molly). The Save the Date, however, was the main attraction and Jen and I knew right away we had to give a little shout out to Molly on our blog for creating such a unique STD.

A few months ago Molly had blogged about creating silhouettes for their hallway with pictures of their family. They created these colorful works of art that, of course, everyone loved:

Their Save the Date was a nice spin on the same project:

Thanks to Molly's blog and their Save the Dates I've decided to take up my own silhouette project since our living room walls are still pretty bare. I'll have to update the blog when I complete it. Until then, keep clicking on Molly's blog and checking back with us for some new inspiration heading your way.

~LGT