The Water Sign: Pisces Inspired Decor

It's that time again! Last month I started a monthly post series on astrological inspired decor. It's been really fun scouring the internet for decor inspired by each sign of the Zodiac. Last month's post was Aquarius inspired, but this time it's all about Pisces! I'm excited about this one, because this is my sign! 

Since I'm a March birthday girl, I already know all about this sign, but to write this post I did do a little more research just to get my facts straight! According to Astrology.com, Pisces (Feb. 19 - March 20) is a Water sign whose symbol is two fishes. Pisces is known as the dreamer of the Zodiac, and like water, people born under this sign are said to "go with the flow." They are intuitive, sensitive, and artistic.

When it comes to decor - fishes, watery blues and aquas, curvy lines and a dreamy, calm feel is what comes to mind with this sign. Furniture with curvy lines like waves in the ocean also seem fitting, as it is of course, a water sign. Style at Home says that a Pisces prefers blue and green hues with lots of natural light, open windows, and art to fulfill her creative side. Here are some of my Pisces inspired decor picks:

From top to bottom: 1) Fish art from Joss and Main 2) Ceramic wall art from Etsy 3) Gurgle pot from Amazon 4) Kyoto pillow from Serena and Lily 5) Nestor table lamp from Joss and Main 6) Goldfish decor from Zgallerie 7) Waterway art from Serena and Lily 8) Tufted club chair from Wayfair.

And here is a room that I think fits the Pisces style - a bright and sunny sunroom with sea blues and beachy accents:

Image from here

I have to say I love this look and have several beachy and tuquoise-y accents in my house! Must be the Pisces in me? :)

Snow Dump Before the Big Warm Up?

Ok, so I didn't plan on doing a weather-related post today, but it's quite frankly the only thing on my mind, and I don't have much else to do, so here's my weather/rant post of the week! 

So I, like probably all Americans living in the Midwest or the Eastern U.S., am SO tired of the snow. Today we probably got at least 4 more inches added on to the already several inches we've had on the ground for the past two months! Here was the forecast this morning...

 (Photo from the KWQC News Facebook page)

I actually attempted to go to work today. I started on my way down the interstate, until I just decided to turn around and head back home! I couldn't see anything, the roads were being covered more and more as I was driving..then on my way back home, it felt like I was in a snow tornado! Snow was flying at me, then it started sleeting. Thunder began soon after. Needless to say, I stayed home the rest of the day and don't plan on leaving the house anytime soon.

On a lighter note, I saw this photo on Facebook today - I can't remember what page it was from, but I thought it was funny, and very appropriate -

I can't even count the number of snowfalls we've had this winter, or the number of days it's been below zero. But our weather channel predicts that we'll be starting the warm up this week, with temperatures reaching around 40. I've never been more excited to see 40 degree temperatures in the forecast before.

Trent actually made it in to work today, and this was his truck as he was clearing snow off to leave:



For a summer loving girl, this kind of stuff is hard to take. I can see many Americans packing up and leaving Illinois to move to a warmer climate as we speak.

Here's hoping the weather warms up soon like the forecast says....THINK SPRING everyone!

Update: They are now saying this is the snowiest winter on record, and we're expected to get rain soon when the weather warms up. Looks like the snow will be turning to slush! :/

Painting Switcheroo

My little living room gallery wall sees a lot of changes. And now, it's changed again...

Not only did Trent surprise me with roses and cook me dinner this Valentine's Day, but I also came home to see my Dave Matthews-inspired painting hung up in the living room.

I loved my pink painting hanging there, but I have to give props to Trent for being thoughtful enough to hang my new painting up there. And I have to say I like this one here just as much!

Who knows, next month this frame arrangement might change again. But for now, I think it looks pretty cute.

Nothing like homemade art to make a home feel special.

Valentine's Day 2014

Yesterday was of course Valentine's Day, and it was a great one! Working all day wasn't that great, but then I came home to Trent cooking in the kitchen and hurrying to get our Valentine's Day dinner ready, and my day was immediately better! 

Every year we have dinner at home, and Trent always cooks. He had cleaned and set the table and had music playing. I brought in the presents I got for him:

Trent opened his presents first. I got him a few little things this year.

One was a set of 4 personalized beer glasses to add to his collection. I thought they would be perfect to drink his home-brewed beer from (which we really need to start making, by the way!). He really liked them I think! I got them from here, at Red Envelope.

I also got him two other things that he had been wanting - the CD and the Blu-Ray of Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds live at Radio City Music Hall. It is an AWESOME CD! We've already listened to it. I really want to watch the live recording together, too.

After he opened his presents, we ate our dinner. Every year Trent cooks something different. Last year he made veggie lasagna. This year he made vegetarian stuffed peppers, and penne with vodka sauce.

The stuffed peppers were actually really good! They were stuffed with rice, cheese, beans, and olives, and topped with marinara and parmesan cheese.

Of course we had to take the annual "Valentine's Day dinner across the table" pics. This year Saleen made an appearance in Trent's picture.

 

Hard to believe that the sun was still kind of out when we started eating our dinner. It's getting darker later now (I can almost smell spring time...kind of.)

Here's the whole meal. Trent is quite the cook! I am lucky!

The Brownie Batter cake from Hy-vee was what made the meal for me. YUM. Ha!

After snapping a couple pics together to remember the night....

We headed up to the cities for a Quad City Mallards hockey game! My dad won tickets, and WE GOT TO GO! Our friends Kayla and Leo joined us. It was really fun. The first time this year that I got to go to a hockey game!

We had a blast and ended up winning. It was even dollar beer night, so...we enjoyed ourselves. :)

The perfect ending to a perfect Valentine's Day! I even woke up today to find this in the kitchen:

Another reason why I love him! Today I've been spending the day at home while Trent's at work. But I'm getting excited for tonight - we're having a special celebration that's kind of a secret. :) More to come!

Be Mine, Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! Trent surprised me by getting roses delivered to my work yesterday. I think he's a keeper. :)

I'm working again today (but hey, at least it's Friday!), then after work Trent is making me dinner, and we're going to a Mallards hockey game. Dad won tickets at the radio station, so we get to go with another couple. I'm excited - it will be a busy day! Hard to believe we will be celebrating our sixth Valentine's Day together. You can see what we did last year here, and see this post for a little recap of past Valentine's Days and our annual tradition of having a candlelit dinner at home.

Hope everyone has a great day with their sweetie. :)

Currently Obsessed: Katie Daisy

Yesterday I shared a small painting I did with one of my favorite Dave Matthews Band quotes. It is a really simple painting, and not nearly as detailed as those I drew my inspiration from. Those would be the paintings of Katie Daisy, which look more like this:

In short, they're amazing. And I'm currently obsessed with them. I first discovered her paintings on Pinterest, then saw them on Young House Love, and earlier this year, I ended up getting a Katie Daisy calendar for the kitchen, which I love looking at every day.

I love all of the intricate detail she puts into her lettering, and all of the whimsical flowers she adds. She takes simple quotes and turns them into works of art. I love how cheerful and happy they are.

It is no wonder she is only in her twenties and is busy illustrating for magazines, greeting cards, and so many other ventures. She also sells prints on her Etsy shop, The Wheatfield.

Love, Love, Love them all! I found all of these images by searching on Pinterest. You can visit her blog here, or watch a really cool video here about how she finds inspiration. It really makes me want to illustrate more quotes onto canvas!

DMB-Inspired Painting

Hey y'all! I know I've been absent again for a few days...BUT I've been busy painting! Here's the result:

I've been wanting to paint something with this quote for a while now, and have been thinking a lot about how I wanted to lay it out, colors, etc. It's taken from the song "Oh" by Dave Matthews Band. You can listen to it here. I don't know what it is about this song, but it makes me happy every time I hear it. It's my alarm in the morning and my ring tone. I love this lyric from the song - "I love you oh so well, like a kid loves candy and fresh snow." it might be one of my favorite lyrics ever.

As for how I layed out the words and came up with the composition - I was going to start out with some sketches and ideas on paper before I started on the canvas, but I decided just to go in and lay it out on the canvas, outlining it in pencil. I already had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do, so I just went for it. Here's my pencil outline:

I know it looks pretty rough, but this was a pretty quick sketch, and I didn't care if it was perfect, since I would be painting over it. I did erase a little to get some of the angles of the letters how I wanted it, but I freehanded all of the writing - no rulers, didn't look at any specific fonts - it's just my handwriting in a mix of cursive and print. I think it gives it more of a handwritten touch instead of looking like something so perfect it was done on a computer. It is a little square canvas (about 8x8 I think), so I wanted to be careful about how I laid out the words - I tried to center them, yet fill out the whole space.

Once I had the idea down on pencil, I started filling in and tracing my outlines with acrylic and watercolor paints. I used a mix of both, because I wanted to just use the colors I had on hand, and wanted a mix of bright shades and more muted ones. I kind of chose the colors as I went along and ended up with a lot of reds and blues.

I painted more flowers around the sides to fill the space a little more and add some cheeriness. And I ended up painting the edges a bright green color. I drew a lot of inspiration from Katie Daisy's paintings, which I'll share more about on the blog tomorrow. I am seriously loving her illustrations lately!

I really like how this little painting turned out. It's not perfect, but I like how it's kind of cute and charming and bright.

Plus it's sentimental, since it's from one of my current favorite Dave songs! And it's almost Valentine's Day, so it's fitting, too!

**Update: My masterpiece is hung! Click here to see! :)

Linked to: The Pin Junkie, Dream a Little Bigger, Kitchen Table Art, Domestic Superhero, DIY Showoff