All Cats Go to Heaven

New Bag in Shop

meet the sailor bag

Moustache

pronounced: mooo-stash in the Sabbe houshold

Today feels like Fall, my favorite season. But that means we're closer to winter. I'm scared of my first Boston winter like I used to be scared of the movie It. {still am}

I am going to buy one of these moustache hats before the winter gets here. You think I'm joking, because I'm not. Moustaches = respect, think Tom Celic, Burt Reynolds, Alex Trebek... Winter will be scared of me.

p.s. More bags in the Etsy shop today!

Etsy! I Finally Did It!

This week has been eventful!

I FINALLY started an Etsy shop. Visit my Grand Opening. I haven't listed the big idea I talked about a month ago...still too hot. It will be there soon, so come back. I started with something I know I know how to make (which is probably a good idea when trying to sell something) BAGS! I think Tennessee people are still my biggest blog readers, so this first edition is for you. Get it while it's hot!

And...drum roll please... I got a job! It's really an "in the meantime/until the architectural world gets out of the hole" job, but I am SO pumped about it. It's at a cute little bakery down the street from my apartment. And the best part is, they know I'll eventually go back to Corporate America, and are cool with it. Other jobs I've interviewed for want me to say oh, no, I'll never go back to that world. Bleeeh, who needs a 401K and profit shares. I totally will go back, but I'm excited about this little sabbatical. It allows me to still teach my sewing classes, work on my Etsy shop, take free dance classes, and persue other fun things I couldn't, while working for the man.

More to come in the Etsy department! Stay tuned.

UPDATE: someone just bought the bag, so I'm back to zero items in the Etsy store. I promise to get it stocked up asap. come back, come back.....

Gilead

I just joined a book club in Boston. Has anyone read this? Please tell me it gets moving a little faster past page 30? Wait!...maybe it's better if you don't tell me.

UPDATE: I finished the book and I really liked it. It's a slow read, but it's narrated by an old man. So that makes sense. If you are a Christian you will LOVE this book. I strive to be more like John Ames (the main character) in my own life. He always ran to the Lord (instead of away from Him) when life got hard. Submission to a plan greater than mine is not always my strong point.

The MetroShip

I've been facinated with houseboats since childhood. What is cooler than a house that floats on the water? nothing. Three best friends at the University of Westminster thought the same thing and the MetroShip was born. more here

There's a Baby in the Basket

Way cuter than when I gifted it 4 short months ago!

Designer's Home Tour {Melissa's Condo}

Today I bring you Melissa's Midtown condo. Like Kendi, Melissa and her husband reside in Memphis, TN. She is an Interior Designer and her husband Austin is an Industrial Designer. Austin actually had a couple ceiling fan designs make it into Lowes retail stores this past spring. I always find dual designer homes the most interesting.

To start, their condo gets 10 cool points for being in this very trendy Cooper Young building.


I LOVE the stripe she did on this wall. It's the same color paint, but a mix of flat and satin finishes. The way the window light washes the wall makes it very dramatics when you are in the space. And the fan is one of Austin's designs.



The art below is framed wallcovering, which was probably a sample she ordered for a large hotel project. So the art was free, which is such a perk to being a designer (I'll show you my 100% free dining room rug one day)

Also note Melissa's great choices on where to terminate paint. Although it doesn't always work out this way, inside corners are always preferred. It makes for a much more clean, crisp transition. And see how it creates a large portal feel to her hallway walls. Very nice.

And these two sculpted panels in her art niche... also samples. They are from Modular Arts, a company who makes large scale plaster panels. They send us these tiny panels to show our clients. So instead of throwing them away...ta-da....free art. She's a genius for putting them on these little ledge shelves. I tried gorilla gluing hangers on the back of mine and came home to busted plaster on the floor.

And there is sweet Lola!

Here is one of my favorite parts to Melissa's condo. There is a stud wall right when you walk in that, instead of being clad in drywall, is clad in frosted acrylic panels. It's a inexpensive detail that gives the entire condo a much more modern look.

And finally the kitchen. I love her cabinets and hardware. My favorite part of this space is the fact that the stone counter on the island pours over onto the side and down to the floor. I've always been a big fan of this detail. It's very helpful in trying to avoid the ever dreaded metal bracket and is great for durability and clean up.

Thanks to Melissa and Austin for letting us into your super cool condo. Tell Lola thanks for being such a good scale figure.

Wood You Like to Live Over My Sofa...

This week I am crushing on some sliced tree stumps. I think a creative arrangement of these rings over my sofa would be the most awesome DIY artwork ever.

Will someone who lives in the country {where there are fallen trees and chainsaws} please cut me off a few slices and stick them in the mail? thanks!

Imagery

tree stump

suntree

treepath

abstract tree art

treerings

petrified wood

Tea Party for Two?

How cute are these tea towel invites by Bird and Banner?

My friend Meems used their Itty Bitty Teeny Weeny invite for her shower last year. It was just fun to read, over and over again.

LOVE creative people. If you haven't check out their blog, go now. run. do not walk.

Mini Bunting

What better way to celebrate a Friday!

Does bunting make anyone else as happy as it makes me? I could stream it through my whole apartment.

Their Afternoon Routine

Whaaaat?? Your husband doesn't kiss your animals good night? You lie.

p.s. if you know my husband, you know nothing about him kissing cats. got it! this blog may be permanently shut down:)

Love

Told you all it needed was a fat baby inside.

Designer's Home Tour {Kendi's Apartment}

I have decided to start a new series on my blog entitled Designer's Home Tour. As a designer, people are constantly commenting to you "oh, I bet your house is so cute." This makes myself and other designer friends of mine laugh because, while we are creative and know the parts and pieces of making a great space, young designers typically do not make that much money. We therefore cannot spend much money fitting out our own homes to what most people consider"designer" standards.

But after going to design school and working in the industry the past 5 years, it occurred to me that I have a lot of friends who have done some really fun things with their teeeeny designer budgets and I've asked a couple of them to share with us.

So first off I bring you Kendi's apartment. Kendi is a fabulous designer who worked with me in Memphis. There is a "paint the walls back the way you found them" rule for her apartment, so she very cleverly created a wide stripe that ribbons around her entire first floor space...which would be very easy to paint over when she's ready to leave. I love her eclectic style.




I think this same idea would be fun to try with wallpaper, or fabric, using the starch application tutorial I've been wanting to try forever.

Thanks Kendi for letting us peek around your apartment!

p.s. I have a little announcement/deal I'm going to post later this afternoon, so stop back by

Kitty Bag Dispenser

I take a break from this cover letter filled day to bring you a craft.
We scoop a lot of kitty litter in our house and I've had this one on my to do list for months now.
So easy. Start to Finish, 30 minutes.

Zoe says it made her day. I'm sure it will make Mr. Sabbe's as well.

Sneak Peak {curtains}

I still do crafts.

I promised Mr. Sabbe I would buckle down on my job hunt after we returned from all of our travels. Which are not quite over. We go back to Memphis in a week and a half! to see a pretty bride and some very missed, very dear friends. But I sent out 6 resumes yesterday and had a job interview, which adds up to the most productive Monday of my stay at home career.

Here is a sneak peak at the curtain panels I told you about last week (I still have a lot to do). I slipped in a couple of dupioni silk stripes to add a little fanciness. But honestly, how fancy can you be with a grill on your window?

Zoe is not supposed to be on the coffee table, and she knows this. But it is so freakin' hot here, and that grill prevents us from putting an ac unit in the front, I can't punish her for finding a cool spot. I may go lay on the coffee table later.

MaD Men {revised}

UPDATE: ha, ha I originally typed Man Men as the title of this post {typo}. Sorry loyal viewers and thorough spell checkers, it is now corrected:)

UDATE #2: Ok, now I'm laughing out loud. I can see myself making one typo. But in re-reading, this WHOLE thing says Man Men. I must have let spell check correct everything it wanted. Unfortunately this is not the first time I've let the Spell Check Monster make me sound like a lunatic. Although I've never seen it, I do know the show is called Mad Men. thanks alicia!

Last night I drug my friend Jenny to Noir, in Cambridge, to witness a season premier party for the third season of Mad Men. The funny thing is, neither of us have ever seen Mad Men. We both have the 10 channel cable. But after hearing all the hype, I felt like I was missing out on a sign of the times and a good costume party, so I decided we should go despite the fact we know nothing about the story line.

I wish I would have brought my camera, the costumes were great. Hopefully some of them tried out to be a guest on the show.

Without ever actually seeing the show, I still covet the jobs of the set and costume designers. I bet they laugh all day at some of the crazy things they find. How much fun would this be...

I think Jonathan Adler must be watching the show.

I would be a pro at these types of kitchens. We could carve one right out of some of the houses we saw when searching in Memphis.

And Mr. Adler again with this living room.

ahhh, before they knew it killed you....

I think I may have to join the bandwagon.

I read somewhere that Boston was supposed to be Hollywood East. Is that true? If so, I am SO seeking employment as a period set designer.

photos found here, here, and here