Sets of FIVE! Hair Clippies!

OK, so the past few weeks have been crazy busy - but I'm finally taking a sec to show you what I've been up to! I still have a lengthy To-Do list, so if you want something before Christmas, please let me know ASAP!

All clippies in sets of five are $5.50 per set!

(left to right:) Santa Baby collection - My Girl collection - 

It's My Party collection - Dippin' Dots collection

(left to right:) Uptown Girl collection - Lady Marmalade collection - 

Walkin' on Sunshine collection - California Girls collection

Pets' costumes!

There's no doubt my daughter would love to have a dog, but that is just not possible right now with our busy schedules and financial situation. That does not mean, however, that I do not LOVE animals. I'm usually not a huge fan of day-2-day pet clothing but I've seen some of the CUTEST pet costumes lately. I mean, come on.... man's best friend should get to participate in the spookiest of holidays (even if it is just long enough to snap a photo)!

All so cute and creative!

Painted wine bottles

Painting ten wine bottles is quite a task, but I must say.... wiping, scraping and using rubbing alcohol to remove all the labels was the biggest pain!  ;)  My friend Monica (who must drink a lot - JUST KIDDING) had a really cute idea to paint some wine bottles. She mentioned a few of her family's favorite teams (Fyffe, Crossville, Alabama and Auburn) so I knew half of them would be sports-related. Then I gave her a few other "categories" we might be able to use to describe her beautiful family. 

(left to right) Husband's favorite hobby is golf, favorite family vacation spot is the beach,

the central bottle is a "W" for Westmoreland and a cross, daisies are Monica's flower

and her adorable son Will loves catching ladybugs and crickets

close ups

(left to right) Fyffe red devils, Crossville lions, the center is an all-sports theme,

and of course Alabama - RTR - and Auburn - War Eagle

Katherine turns 2!!

Anna Kate asked me to do a silhouette painting for her daughter, Katherine, a few weeks ago. Then, Aunt Virginia decided she wanted to give it to her adorable niece for her second birthday, so I wanted to wait before posting a photo!! I know she's too young to really know what's going on, but I hope she likes it!!

Beautiful mother and daughter the day of the party!

(photos from Miss Virginia's blog)

Organize, Organize!

If you're new to my blog then I should mention my weird obsession with ribbon. Well to put it lightly my "collection" has grown to the point of needing it's own special piece of furniture.... yes, it's quite sad. Therefore, another big project my dad and I attempted over the weekend was a ribbon/wrapping paper organizer. I LOOOOVEE IT and I love how proud my dad is to have been a HUGE player in the process. He's definitely handy but doesn't consider himself to be a "carpenter" by any means. You can find my inspiration and full instructions at one of my favorite places to visit: Centsational Girl!

The dimensions are around 32" wide x 60" tall

I know..... REALLY large

You can see the massive amount of ribbon is weighing

down the centers of the dowel rods - ha!

Ewww.......agghhhh.......pretty.

I haven't hung it yet, so for now, 

it's nestled in this little nook in the corner.

Thanks again DAD!!!

Dining space turned home office

As mentioned in the previous post, I finally took action in starting my home office over the weekend. I will go ahead and post photos, but it is not quite complete.... yet. I live in a pretty small townhome, which is great since it's just Ava and myself, but I have a LARGE variety of "side projects" which basically means I have a lot of tools and supplies (and CRAP). Therefore, the lack of storage space is the issue here people. My house has an open living/dining room area combination and I never grew up around a formal dining table and all of that; so what I decided was to use the dining space as a home office. Two main goals: a good-sized working area and STORAGE. I can't begin to express how thrilled I am to have the larger chunk of work behind me and now I need a few last, key elements (rug and chair) and accessories. But here is the home office in its current state.

From my previous "home office inspiration" post, you probably notice

my love for green & white (just take a look this blog). But having already

painted my living room a sky blue last year, I just went with mostly white.

Shelves, lamp and file folder boxes from IKEA - desk is a 

hand-me-down (originally a weird gold) that I painted white

Because of the lovely sunlight pouring in, 

these aren't the best photos.

Large vase and filler also from IKEA

You can see the table is pretty bare and there's

an obvious need for a rug and chair.

One last look from the living room. I've used the couch as 

a kind of "divider" between the two spaces.

Home Office Inspiration

Hundreds? ........ Thousands maybe? ........ In case you're wondering, I'm trying to estimate just how many home offices I've searched out over the last few months as inspiration in my own my home. Whether that be through magazines, web-scouring or Pottery Barn catalogs, I FINALLY (with the much appreciated help from my dad & the "attempted" help of my seven-year-old daughter.... gotta give her a little credit) 'walked the walk' this past weekend. However, THIS particular post is about the inspiration.... the photos of the both sweaty and teary weekend will be next!

I apologize for not having all the photo credits.
A couple include: Pottery Barn and Design Sponge.

Jewelry frame!

I've been pretty busy with the jewelry frames. My house nearly looks like a frame shop. This particular one was for my friend CANDICE ZANE who said, "I don't care what colors you use.....just have fun with it."

Size is around 16" x 28"

Purple frame/black metal panel/silver stars

(closeup)

The stars were inspired by her tattoos!

Give me a shout if you would like a 

custom jewelry frame for yourself!

brittnava@gmail.com

Thrift store finds...

Coming from a very small town, we didn't really have too many thrift stores.... only yard sales. And they're great too, but I'm not a morning person at all and yard sales always begin at like 5 am and no matter what the bargains are, sleep is an absolute priority for me. So, since moving to the Birmingham area, I have discovered thrift stores. LUV! I only wish I had more free time to peruse around and find wonderful things (many of them being fixer-uppers). Here are a few things I found a couple of weekends ago.... some of which are already in progress!

Spice cabinet, two frames and a wood sign that has mucho potential.

Telephone table I found for about $5

New project: hair bows

Someone requested that I make her daughters some hair bows, and even though this is something I've never attempted I thought I would take a shot at it (another reason I agreed is because of my secret obsession with ribbon...I seriously buy some nearly every trip to Hobby Lobby and I really have no specific use for it.... problem solved!!! I'll try to remember to post a photo of all the ribbon I have in the near future - it's quite embarrassing). Anyway, I do not consider myself to be talented at all with a needle and thread so mine are "no-sew" bows.

The bow size averages between 4 and 5 inches.

Yet another bow holder

This was another gift for a friend - just to show the variety of color available!

$30 - Let me know if you're interested! 

brittnava@gmail.com

butterfly series

Many of my projects lately have been for babies, which of course never get old! Here's another done on four 12x12 canvases of the main stages from a caterpillar to a butterfly. She also wanted a beautiful quote so I tried to come up with a unique way of tying everything together. The quote is painted on wood and is actually a brand new piece from Lowe's that I got to beat up and paint white to make it look old and worn. And it hangs in loops of ribbon from the first and last paintings. It was so much fun and I was pleased with how it turned out!!

Let me know if you have a unique or custom project 

in mind that you would like me to attempt! 

I'm always happy to discuss new ideas!

brittnava@gmail.com

bulletin board for baby boy

A friend at work recently made a baby gift request..... something thoughtful and unique for a wonderful couple who were blessed with a beautiful baby boy, Davis. I happen to believe that adoption can sometimes be highly underrated. Adoptive parents are sometimes forgotten in the grand scheme of baby showers and other traditions. It seems to me that the fears and anxieties that new adoptive parents face are the same as new parents....worrying about your abilities as a parent, if you will accomplish everything that child needs, if you will provide a better life for him or her, and so on. The list is endless, and adoptive couples need to feel the love and support of their family and friends just like every other new mom does. So I thought what better than a personalized bulletin board to proudly display their heartwarming journey....

The frame was a thrift store find that I painted white (22" x 28")

I used the green push pins to represent leaves and
the thin white stripes are pieces of transparent ribbon! 

Silhouette painting of Ava

At last I am going to post one of several projects I worked on over the weekend. Some are finished, some in progress....stay tuned!

I love how silhouettes have come back! This is all paint on canvas.

This oval canvas has the "lovely" stapling around the edge so I had to 

cover it up somehow.

Let me know if you're interested in ordering one for yourself! 

They also make great gifts! 

brittnava@gmail.com

Faulkner gym

Got to spend another Saturday painting a gym floor logo.... except this one was 16 FEET wide!! Whew!! My back and neck are definitely suffering today!!

Oak Mtn gym

OK so I previously gave a sneak peek of our first gym logo at Oak Mountain HS. Sorry it's been a while, but at last I'm posting the final photos!! It's pretty tough working all day crouched down on the floor in a hot gym!!

Save the Gulf

Threadless is a great site if you're looking for a unique t-shirt. They also make great gifts for all ages, even sweet babies! The following is extra special because I'm sure we all wish we could do something.... ANYTHING.... to help out with the Gulf crisis. I've got mine and love it!

Ava is 7

My sweet baby girl had her seventh birthday party Saturday at TreeTop Family Adventure. I thought the location was nice because it gave the kids a variety of activities to choose from AND I didn't have to worry about clean up! It all stemmed from some cute cupcake plates I found at Hobby Lobby. From there I found some clearance purple napkins and decided to go with the purple and green color scheme.

mini-golf with Pop

go-karts with uncle Mick

cupcakes from Edgars bakery

homemade cupcake toppers

lollipops and other candy from Serendipity Sweets

birthday headband and #7 sparkler candle from Party City

birthday banner made with scrapbook paper

Design*Sponge

The internet/world wide web has its pros and cons... but being a designer and creative person in general, MY favorite thing is the limitless amount information. It is such a simple way to discover creative inspiration whenever and wherever you like. Want to find "India-inspired design?" One simple search later... Voila! An amazing, personal blog on ALL things design, with a special focus on Asia and India.

Well I have tons and tons of great sites I'm dying to share, but it HAS to begin with Design*Sponge (run by Brooklyn-based writer Grace Bonney). I'm sure many of you already know about it. It is absolutely one of my favorites and has been for years! This is just one of the wonderful DIY posts I'm so excited to pass along! Let me know what you think of Karen's coffee can lanterns!

Credit goes to Karen from maggiemakes!

Simply b Button

After going back and forth, I've finally decided to ATTEMPT a blog button. For those of you who are blogosphere newbies, this is used commonly on a sidebar so that other sites/blogs can use the buttons to link to their favorite sites. Let's hope it works. Cross your fingers!

Gymnasium - Oak Mountain HS

A good friend of mine was asked to take on a pretty significant project for Oak Mountain High School. And since she was understandably anxious about doing a large-scale painting for the first time, she asked for my help. My main experience is with wall murals. However I did assist with a gym floor painting once before.... about TEN years ago. Yikes. Needless to say.... we both had our moments of uncertainty in the beginning. But, after a full day's work, I think we deserved a nice (gentle) pat on our very sore backs!

This photo is a bit of a sneak peek (over half-way finished) - once the guys put two coats of clear gloss on top of the whole floor, we'll run back over and take a photo of the finished product!

Thank you notes

My brother and I have a wonderful mother who always forced us to write thank you notes growing up....for EVERYTHING. However now that I'm older and "wise-ish," I've come to appreciate this tradition and common courtesy. It seems that we as a society have fallen prey to the fast-paced convenience of technological communication. The days of old-fashioned letter writing seem to be over...but I am going to continue holding on for dear life!

These simple, personalized note cards (blank inside) were a request from my mother (of course) FOR my brother. The majority of the thank yous now-a-days are too pretty and girly for my little brother, a college basketball player. As a solution my mom asked me to put together something so he would no longer have an excuse!

The navy and red are his school colors.

Just in case you want some great tips for writing thank you notes, click here!

Color inspiration

In the midst of planning Ava's 7th (yes...SEVENTH) birthday party, I thought I would dedicate a post to my color inspiration. As women we often "wear many hats," but I've always had passion for planning special events. Wedding sites/blogs are great sources of color inspiration considering how much goes into each and every single detail. For the big "partay," I will be using one of my personal favorite combinations: chartreuse and lilac...more commonly known as: green and purple.

photo courtesy of theKnot

Houndstooth painting

Having always lived in Alabama, I've done quite a few Alabama/Auburn projects. This one doesn't necessarily HAVE to be Alabama...but it was done for a pretty intense BAMA fan! Everything is painted except for the red ribbon.

(size 16" x 24") $40