Stair Runner

When we moved into our house at the beginning of January our poor dog had a rough time. The previous owner has recently refinished the floors and they were, and still are very slippery. Porter, our dog, is small, fuzzy and has hair between his toes. The poor guy does not have traction anywhere in our house. He has done alright navigating on the first and second floor but getting between the two has been a doozy! In the beginning we would have to carry his toys up and down because he could not manage both, and in that dark, he would sit at the top of the stairs and cry because he was scared to go down. So sad...

Immediately my husband and I decided that we were going to have to install stair runners a bit sooner than planned. Fortunately I knew exactly what I wanted. For years I have been looking at Dash and Albert rugs. I first came to know them at In Watermelon Sugar in the Hampden area of Baltimore. And last year I was working on a small design project and the client had fallen in love with one of their rugs. So here is the rug that she loved, and now I love and hope to install in our house.

{Dash & Albert Rug, Plain Tin Wool}

The wonderful thing about this company is that most rugs come in a variety of sizes so if you like a pattern in most cases there is going to be a piece that works for you. Also, I find that their prices are extremely reasonable, which is nice because rugs seem to be so expensive! Who knows when we will get around to ordering and installing it, but at lease we are done with the search!

Also, if you have not been and are in the area, I highly recommend visiting In Watermelon Sugar located at 3555 Chestnut Ave. in Hampden. It is one of my favorite stores in Baltimore, Leslie, the owner does a wonderful job with buying and display. Everything in the store makes sense and is always inspirational. This Friday is the First Friday event in Hampden and would be a wonderful time to stop by. Most stores are open late, until about 8-9pm. Many have food and libations and a few might have live music. Just a thought!

A New Home

Recently, my husband and I purchased our first home. After years of living in small apartments, and being separated from many items due to lack of space we are beginning to unearth treasures that we have long since forgotten about. But that is not really what I am writing about today.

For a long time, a really long time, I have been tearing inspirational images out of anything that I could tear them out of. All for the one day when I would own my own home and I could reference these images to create my dream. So now I have all these images, semi organized, depending on when they were collected, and I have started a laundry list of "things I need for my new home". {need being the important word here, I do not really need any of them at this point, need is a word that I freely interchange with want, this is important to know about me} So on my list I have many things from paint colors, and stair runners, to fancy kitchen ranges, and walk in showers.

However there is one very small item, one that I have been excited to purchase from the time that my husband and I became engaged and were becoming a family. It is really very simple, but seems to mean a lot to me for no apparent reason. At the top of my list right now is an address stamp. So I have been on the hunt. I think that I have found some really good choices on etsy and I can't wait to make a decision and order one.

Here is what I have so far...

{from sweetpaperie}

{from rubberstampress}

I still have to weigh in with my significant other on his preference. I think that I am going to continue to look around, just to keep my options open, but hope to make a decision soon.

To be continued...

Open for Business

{Melissa earrings}

After many years of talking about it I have re-launched my etsy store. Please come and visit me at www.kflick.etsy.com. For the time being I have listed a small sampling of the jewelry that I have been making, and selling, for about 6 months. In the future I hope to post more goods such as vintage fabric buttons, tea towels, perhaps a clutch or two, and some floral brooches. And, if you are in the Baltimore area, stop by Red Tree in Hampden to see the jewels first hand.

{Gwen Earrings}

{Alexis Earrings}

Woodland Creature

{deer head from johnnyandstacieon on etsy, and can be yours for $25}

I have a small love of woodland creatures. This love mainly centers around mounted deer heads and antlers. I am not certain where I picked up this fascination, and sometimes I do question it. Sadly, at the present time I do not own any deer 'parts', and leave my obsession to figuring out the best 'parts' to acquire. But please do not dismay, there is a glimmer of hope in the future. There is a coat rack, wall mounted with hooks, that has mounted antlers as its decorative feature and it is headed my way. I have been waiting a while for it, and the wait is not quite over, but I am sure it will be worth it. At any rate, I came across this cute little flocked guy on etsy and think that he will make a great addition to someones home.

A New Home

So after taking months and months and months off from all things that used to be routine in my life I am finally starting a new blog. Please join me at Buddy Chicken, for the continuation of my life!

A New Identity

I have now been out of the corporate world for just over 8 months, seems like a lot longer, and have been relishing every moment of it. I have a lot of new opportunities that I am beginning to explore and am in need of a graphic identity, but basically just a business card will do for now. Luckily for me I am basically surrounded by people who make their living doing just what I need.











I am going to be working with one of my good friends to design a card, and hopefully eventually much more, but as we all know great things are not done over night, and seeing as once I get an idea for something I just got for it, I needed a fast solution to the situation. I was recommended to moo.com. This is such a great site for all who are new to it. Based in the UK, of course, you can have custom cards sent to your house in small runs in as little as 10 days. For just over $20 you can have 50 double sided business cards printed up. This is great because usually you are spending hundreds of dollars, and getting hundreds of cards, and lets face it not all of us have the money, or the demand for that amount of product. With this site you can upload up to 50 images, one for each card, or 10 images and receive 5 cards with the same image, well you get the idea. So if you are an illustrator you can upload your illustrations and have a mini portfolio always at hand. The site also has a half business card size, which was the only option until recently, and has proven to be enormously popular. For my first go I went very simple with some color floods and a few letters, no photo, and then my information on the back, or front, however you want to look at it. I will be sure to give my review when they arrive. At any rate I am really excited and can't wait.
















On the flip side of the business card printing realm, and the one that I hope to venture into soon is the high end custom card. These are the cards that you get handed and can't put down. They are well designed, printed on scrumptious paper and something that you want to put on your inspiration board at home. For me, when I am working with someone creative, from a hair dresser to an event designer the smallest details can make it or break it. A business card can definitely fall into this category. So this leads me to the picture above, which is from a company justly named Brooklyn Social Cards. I love the card featured above, and well most of the cards that are on their site. Really I am just a sucker for letterpress. So happy hunting for those of you who are, and those who are not, shouldn't you be?

Wedding Season Again...

I guess that if you really enjoy planning events, finding inspiration for them and seeing how excited your exceptionally creative friends get about planning theirs you will never really move out of wedding season.

Last week one of my bridesmaids got engaged and JP and I could not be more excited. I know that she will put together a unique, hand crafted, every detail thought out, event. Over the past few days, with the exception of when we went to the beach, I have been busy putting together a wedding care package for her. I can't wait to finish it and send it off. Hopefully I will snap some photos to share, I really have to get better about doing that.

I stopped in last night to chat with with woman who produced our invitations at Chelle Paperie, in Hampden, and was thrilled to discover that she had recently gotten engaged and has been feverishly, but totally under control, planning her upcoming wedding. Interestingly, both of these women are from the same area in Pennsylvania, I am excited to see the outcome of each of their visions.











And because I am on the subject of weddings, here are some picks from my wedding in Telluride, Colorado from the end of May. We are about a week away from receiving the professional photographs, but these are some of my favorites from family and friends. The top image was my mothers idea. When we were talking about ways to economically enhance the wooden structure that is at the wedding site, she drew out the idea of a wreath with an F in it, for JP's last name, and swag draping from it and down the columns. It was such a great idea. I found a huge F, and grapevine wreath, at a craft store in Baltimore on a shopping trip with one of my bridesmaids. I simply wrapped the F in some sisal twine, and handed it all over the the florist. It turned out to be one of my favorite things, and now the F adorns the front door of our house. The second image is again, from the ceremony site. Here you can get a better view of the snow capped mountain backdrop. And the third image is JP and myself signing the Colorado wedding license. (It was filled out in the courthouse on a typewriter)

Oiseau

So it is no secret that birds are the things to have and hold these days. For the past few years it seems that everywhere you go there are at least 10 different pieces of bird merchandise to satisfy your need of your feathery friends. I have to admit that I have fallen into the bird situation, but have tried to limit my flock.

One of the jewelry lines that I work with has, I believe, done the bird well. Figs & Ginger is a husband and wife team based out of Asheville, NC who specialize in Eco-friendly sterling silver earrings, necklaces and soon a wedding line as well. Elijah and Rhonda try their hardest to use only recycled silver and gold to create their pieces.













On a side note...
When JP and I were going through the ring process, the jeweler who we were working with recycled the gold from the setting of the stones that had been passed down from our families. Not only did this save us some money, but we were happy to hear that the left overs were not just going to waste. It's nice to know that they might go into creating a meaningful piece for someone else.

So I encourage you to take a look at their site, at the very least their whimsical designs should put a smile on your face. And being a fan of all things woodland creatureish I have to give Figs & Ginger two thumbs up on their deer collection as well.

Jean Jack

When JP and I were on our honeymoon in Santa Fe, NM we stumbled upon the Jean Jack gallery. We were, well I was in love. JP liked it as well, but it really struck a cord with me. We tend to be fairly picky about art that we would have in our house. We go more for photography, drawings and some multi media work, but vary rarely do we get turned on by paintings. Jean Jack has lived in Santa Fe for the past 18 years, and hails from the east coast. She has been painting landscapes for the past 38 years. Her shop is meticulously put together, a fantastic mixture of found objects, art and white wash. We came away with a glorious little house with a blue roof, a found object not painting. But we know that one day one will hang in our house and we will be reminded of our journeys together since our trip to Santa Fe.