A soft place to play

Almost 3 months ago we installed new flooring on the main floor of our little nest in the forest. What I didn't realize at the time was that our kids would miss the warmth of carpeting for playing on. They still also enjoy laying on their bellies and watching tv from down there. So, before the holidays, I thought that it would easy to find an area rug that both DH and I could agree on. W-R-O-N-G.

I'm happy to say that after going through 8 or 9 other stores, we found one that we thought would work. Brought it home, and the kids were immediately unrolling it for us and put it in place. So, it's received the stamp of approval from everyone in the house, doggie included.

I know that red can be too intense for some, and I was worried myself. However, after having this in the family room for the last 3 days, I must say that I love seeing it against the new dark floors. It injects the colour that was needed.

Now...my search for new couches and armchairs begin.

WindowShopping: LaPomme

Hands up...who is actually done with their holiday shopping?

Well, I'm not. I may be about 90% done, but that's not good enough. So, I've been perusing Etsy for some inspiration, and came across this cute shop, LaPomme . Here, you will find darling plush toys for adults, such as Inspiration Apples and Plush Swans. Here's a little peek at what this shop offers:

So simple, but sweet, don't you think?

There's always time for shopping

It's been a busy, busy summer, but I always find time to shop for home decor! :)

While in Kamloops for a little family reunion, I spied an Urban Barn and just had to take a peek when I saw the SALE signs posted on the windows. I didn't manage to buy anything, since our car was already very full with passengers and luggage. However, I'm now wanting to buy one of these cute doormats for our front door:

Currently, we have the most utilitarian doormat in black, which is not very welcoming if you ask me, so it's time for something a bit better. Which would you choose?

A New Direction

Yes, I'm still here. Posting has taken a backseat to, well, life. I've been busy planning for some vacation time in the summer. We are hoping to take about 2 weeks away from city life and get to the mountains and beauty of our 2 western provinces of BC and Alberta.

And, I've been daydreaming a lot about what direction I should go in for Amie Hartman Designs. During this daydreaming, I've been reading a lot of home decorating blogs, visiting online decor shops, antique shopping, and crocheting a runner for my dining room buffet.

I have decided that I get a lot of joy in creating with my hands, be it a greeting card, an altered coffee tin, or a crocheted coaster. So, I am going to expand on what I have to offer in my shop.

My shop will now also include crocheted home and personal care items, more altered items and of course, my greeting cards. So, I hope you get a chance to visit my shop and let me know what you think. I open to some helpful advice, as I'm always trying to learn. Here's a small glimpse at one addition:

I hope you are having a good weekend friends!

The Need to Create

Almost 30 years ago, my dear mother taught me how to crochet because I just kept bugging her to teach me one of her crafts. My mom learned these crafts out of necessity, at a time when store bought sweaters and clothing was just too expensive and hard to come by when living in a small town. So, she had figured that her daughters, who would eventually end up growing up in the city would not be too interested. She was wrong. The need to create with our own hands, has been deeply coded into our DNA. We've inherited this creative gene that has been passed on from my grandfather (a musician and chinese opera coach), to my mother, to my sister and I, and now, to my own DD.

And while I have perhaps not completely mastered the art of crochet, I do love it. So, I recently challenged myself to create something that I could put on display. And I chose this pretty medallion trivet as my first project in many years....

This took me about a week, not bad, considering I was only working on it during gymnastic practices, hockey practices and the few minutes I had to myself after the kidlets went to bed. Depending on your screen, it may or may not look like the light aqua blue that it is. And it is super thick, so I do need to be careful of what sits atop it. Perhaps a nice large vase of flowers? I think I could treat myself to flowers on a weekly basis, right?

How about you? If you love to create, who taught or inspired you to learn your craft or art?

My new birdies

So, I could not resist the little birds that I last posted about. Well, they arrived on Friday and today, I just had to run out and get a frame for them. So cute! I placed them on my kitchen windowsill. Just perfect.

And I want to also introduce the other two lovely birdies that came to live here a few weeks ago. Meet Pete and Penny....

And when we have to do up the dinner table, these two do double duty as bud vases!

Friday Five

Once again, this post is late. I spent 2 days off work fighting a cold and could not summon the energy to think of my 5 words for Friday. So, although I'm tardy, here they are:

1. Ox - Monday was Chinese New Year's Day - the Year of the Ox
2. Hockey - My DS had a late hockey game on Tuesday and early basketball practic the next morning. This creates one tired mom.
3. Red - I have had the colour red on my mind lately. Since we are redecorating, we will be using black as our anchor colour and red for accent. So, I've been looking for budget conscious ways to incorporate it into our home.
4. Tissues - no explanation needed
5. Takeout - lots of takeout and delivery this week as I have not been able to deal with cooking.

Do you have 5 words to describe your week?

Decorating on a Budget

I just found some good tips on the Real Simple blog. Thought I would share:

http://simplystated.realsimple.com/home/2009/01/decorating-on-a.html



Just what I need as I look at the almost clean slate that I have at home. My home is slowly coming back to order as the Christmas tree has been put away. We only managed to put up 2 photos after the painters left on Dec. 18th, as we've decided that we're going for a more simple modern look. So, be forewarned, I will be posting or twitter-ing a lot about what I find on Etsy!