I’m a dedicated waste deterrer. I go out of my way to avoid creating, contributing to, or purchasing waste or wasteful things. I’ve been this way for years, slowly, steadily finding ways to reduce the amount of waste I generate. I’ve got to tell you, though, it’s not easy. There is an astounding amount of…
At first I thought that this week I’d offer some books that marry well with Julia’s Blackberry pie (Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Pie and Pastry Bible comes to mind!). Who isn’t curious for pastry and pie making tips? But then I thought…why not offer some ideas for those of you who can’t have gluten, don’t eat…
Thanks for having me back! Today I am sharing a recipe for blackberry pie from the new book 250 Treasured Country Desserts by Andrea Chesman and Fran Raboff. I illustrated the cover for the cookbook plus made patterns for each of the chapter openers. I thought it would be fun to pull a recipe from…
i can’t get enough argyle! here’s a quickie friday afternoon project for your onesie socks (click here for yesterday’s argyle card project). while i was playing with them i found that the band at the top of the sock make a perfect little soft neck at the top of the vase. i might have to…
good morning! i’m reporting from brimfield, massachusetts this morning where both amys and i are collecting fun new pieces to use for d*s posts. i wanted to kick off today with these lovely new recipe cards from rebecca at moontree letterpress (click here to check her out in “design by the book”). these sets of…
Dahlias are like the lions of the flower world. With big heads (some as large as your own) and thick manes of petals, dahlias roar with color and personality. Not only do they come in nearly every color under the sun (except blue and black), they also come in an amazing range of sizes and…
every now and then i stumble upon an interior designer whose work feels like the perfect combination of modern and classic. i find myself constantly struggling to combine my love of classic, traditional design with my desire to indulge in current color and pattern trends. so when i heard from designer tamara kaye-honey i was…
when this first before & after came into my inbox yesterday i just smiled. finally, a great piece of wooden furniture that wasn’t painted, but was instead restored and waxed to its natural beauty. most of the time i don’t have any problem with painting furniture if it’s in poor condition, but this piece from…
this bathroom makeover comes from jenna rose in ontario. her washroom had been painted a deep brown with dark brown trim, accented by lime green curtains. determined to update her master bathroom suite, jenna wallpaper the back wall in a paintable wallpaper and painted it, as well as the walls, a cream color. the trim…
this fantastic before & after project comes from lucinda henry of shakti space designs, a decorative painting business. inspired by pieces she saw in a magazine (see photos below) lucinda decided to refurbish this old cabinet she purchased back in 1997. after traveling with her from chicago to seattle, then portland, this little cabinet lived…
good morning! i’m kicking off before & after day early this morning with a great kitchen makeover from d*s reader sabinra holley-williams. sabrina was up against a seriously tough combo of red brick and brown cabinets but decided to power through and give her entire kitchen a face lift. after diligently painting the brick a…
These days I’ve been kind of obsessed with making fabric covered hangers inspired by a recent vintage find. You use up small bits of fabric you can’t stand throw away while turning an otherwise depressing closet of wire hangers into something really special. What’s not to love? CLICK HERE for the full instructions (and more…
there are so many charming things associated with school that it’s hard to narrow it down! argyle socks are way up there on the list though, mainly because i love patterns. argyle is great because its shapes are so universally familiar, so you can isolate and abstract them and they remain recognizable. i played around…
i’m pretty obsessed with wax seals. i think they may any letter seem more special- especially if in miniature form. so when i heard from kimberly and her husband from ragehaus about their wax seal project i was over the moon. this designing duo recently screen printed 5 new prints, each wrapped in parchment paper…
maps have always held a special place in my heart- especially vintage maps dealing with bodies of water. so when i heard from d*s reader kimba of a soft place to land, i was excited to see her map-related diy project. kimba found an affordable large-scale map of the united states and decided to use…
i’m a big fan of the plate upcycling trend that people like sarah cihat made so popular a few years back. it’s been fun to see various artists work with vintage or found plates and cups and apply their own modern spin to them. artist natalie horsman recently started selling a series of upcycled plates…
marimekko is one of those brands that seems to be universally loved across the globe. it’s hard not to love their bold colors and cheerful patterns, so i was thrilled to hear from maria at new wall in canada about their new line of marimekko wallcoverings. launching at the end of this month at IIDEX…
today i’m thrilled to introduce our second free d*s desktop wallpaper design for 2009- a beautiful design by lena corwin! we hit a tiny snag with the timing, so my apologies for the delay, but today we’re back on track and lena is sharing 2 beautiful desktop wallpaper designs with us, based on her popular…
Last week a blogger friend of mine (Kate F!) casually mentioned she was reading The Remains of the Day on a rainy afternoon. What?! Way to be an awesome, collected and cool grownup. Rainy afternoons I can normally be found carrying armloads of groceries in paper bags home without an umbrella or chasing after missed…
today’s biz ladies post is dedicated to a topic that’s near and dear to my heart- website design and user experience. as someone who looks at least 200-300 websites a day via submission emails, i can tell you that there are some definite do’s and don’ts when it comes to creating a site that entices…
