First of all, I just want to thank ALL of you for your sweet support after yesterday’s Better Homes & Gardens feature. It was incredible to feel the rush of encouragement from everyone, whether it was from my mom or from someone I had never even met. But since I know, without a doubt, that at least a few of you are sick and tired of hearing about the feature, I’m going to smile, nod and shut the heck up (I say this with a glimmer and a smile, by the way). So THANK YOU!!!! But let’s finally move forward…
Today, I wanted to gush about one of my favorite newly discovered designers. I first heard about Caitlin Wilson following her own feature on The Everygirl. Everything about this particular post caught my eye – from the colors and styling, to the patterns, not to mention the incredibly vibrant gal behind it all. At just 28 years old, Caitlin’s bold and sophisticated textiles (a sampling of which can be seen above) have taken Pinterest by storm. Even before I became familiar with the Caitlin Wilson Textiles brand, I remember pausing every time I stumbled upon a pin featuring her work. And now that I know it by sight, I can’t help but smile every time I see one of her pillows featured in yet ANOTHER gorgeous home. This is one talented designer, and one that I was more than happy to welcome into my own home, even if just in the form of one (beautiful) little pillow.
Although rightfully so, her designer wares are a bit pricey, so when I decided that I just HAD to have one, I could only allow myself just the one. Luckily, I happened upon one of her recent moving sales, and scored my new Mustard City Maze pillow cover at a slight discount.
As soon as I saw the mustard yellow color plus that modern-meets-traditional geometric pattern, I felt like it was a match made in heaven for our living room. Happily, the shade of yellow perfectly suited the color of our accent chair by the window. Now I’ve just got to find a counterpart to go on the opposite side…While I would love to IMMEDIATELY add this one to the mix, I’m going to have to hold off and save up for a bit.
I’d love to know – If you could have any Caitlin Wilson design you wanted, which would you pick? There are so many to choose from, but I adore her newly released British Bouquet Pillow…
Today’s the day! The Better Homes & Gardens July issue that features little old me and my favorite DIY project to date has finally hit newstands (and yes, I framed my advance copy just hours after receiving it). I hope that you will take a moment to check it out the next time you’re perusing the magazine section at Barnes & Noble, Kroger, Walgreens…Wherever and whenever you happen to find yourself near one. This is a big moment for me, but the real stars of this show are the blog, the dresser and all of YOU who have helped me find the confidence I needed to push the limits of my creativity.
I couldn’t have done it without you!!!
I’m going to be short winded today here on DGD only because I invite you to click through to the Better Homes & Gardens Style Spotters blog, where I’m sharing an intimate behind the scenes look at how the photoshoot came about.
Tiffany-Congratulations! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article and am so appreciative of the encouragement you offered readers. Just wanted to say thank you and congratulations!
-TW
June 18, 2013 - 12:21 pm
dreamgreendiy@gmail.com -Thank you so much for the kind words! I REALLY appreciate you stopping by to tell me that – Made my day =)
June 18, 2013 - 6:34 pm
Lisa Williams -Congrats Carrie! You article and new website look great–your hard work definitely shows!!
June 18, 2013 - 6:58 pm
Brittan-I found your blog through the feature! Great dresser!
Excited to read more from you, xo
June 18, 2013 - 7:57 pm
dreamgreendiy@gmail.com -Thank you so much!! So excited to have you as a new reader
For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently working behind the scenes as a social media intern for Le Papier Studio. I help out with drafting blog posts and assisting the founder, Vana Chupp, with Pinterest and Facebook management, among a few other things. It’s been an incredible experience, learning from such a wonderful mentor, and last week I came home to a welcome “Thank you!” from Vana herself. After struggling my way through a tough week of back-and-forths with theme administrators and servers to get the new site up and running, I so needed this pick-me-up. And once I finished ripping open the (gorgeous!) packaging, I knew that I just HAD to share the photogenic goods with all of you.
First up, we have this set of gorgeous letterpress coasters. I adore the cute couple motif, Vespa included, and can’t wait to put one at my desk at work. And another at my studio desk. And one more on my nightstand. And beside my favorite chair in the living room…
I literally gasped out loud in glee when I unwrapped this new iPhone case. I have been coveting one of the newly released Rifle Paper Co. cellphone cases ever since sneak peeks started circulating around the Internet. Even John loves the look of my new floral beauty, and it turns out that Vana sports the same one on her phone! I’m head over heels in love with it.
The couples silhouettes calendar was yet another sweet surprise. I’ve always been the type to say that you can never have too many calendars. I’ve got one in my studio, one in the kitchen and another in our bedroom – But I’ve been in desperate need of an extra special calendar for my new office at work. This one fits the bill and then some, with lovely silhouettes of couples dashing through city streets, toasting the New Year, enjoying a bike ride and toting home a Christmas tree. I can’t wait to frame the illustrations when 2013 wraps up.
Sent along with a beautiful personal note, Vana couldn’t have made my day any better – And, like I said, I really really really needed it…Thanks again, Vana for thinking of me and for teaching me so much over the past few months! It’s been a joy to work with you and to work for your fabulous brand. GO TEAM LPS!!
P.S. Apparently the issue has already come out in some parts of the country, but if you haven’t already heard via my social media, the issue of Better Homes & Gardens featuring yours truly comes out nationwide tomorrow! Flip to the back page, and you’ll see a familiar face alongside a familiar project featured way back when, right here on DGD. See you tomorrow morning for even more information and even MORE behind the scenes goods. Have I mentioned that I am so so thankful…?
Ali Mackin-These are all great! I love things like this and hope to open an online print shop at some point. Your internship sounds exciting.”Like your post” on Bloglovin. I just discovered you could do that! ; )
Ali of
Dressing Ken
June 17, 2013 - 12:33 pm
dreamgreendiy@gmail.com -I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Good luck with your print shop and thanks!
It’s not everyday that I get to reference “my photoshoot” in a blog title – or really even in everyday conversation. Sure, I host mini quote/unquote photoshoots in our home any given weekend, but my models tend to look more like chalkboard trays and new pillows. And yet, I had the incredible opportunity to hop behind the camera MYSELF, and surprisingly had a blast doing it.
As you may know, I am a lifestyle contributing editor for The Glitter Guide. I tend to write about things like top 10 design books, DIY party backdrops, 4 fun ways to decorate with pink and so on and so forth. Beauty and style are hardly my forte, but when founder and creative director, Taylor Sterling, asked if I could help her out with a style post, there was no way that I could say “no.”
So I made sure to pencil in the hour or two I needed (I hope you can sense my sarcasm here) to go to Old Navy and hunt down two active wear outfits that I thought could inspire our readers. The clincher, as I’m sure you’ve discovered by now, was that I needed to document said outfits – On MY body. I knew I needed to call in the big guns for this photo shoot. Someone who I knew could make me feel the confidence I WASN’T going to feel, and who could make me look like I did this all the time.
Enter Liz Cook. Liz is a local photographer who just happened to photograph one of my best friend’s weddings. Truly, I didn’t have the faintest hope that she would have the time or the interest in collaborating (there was no budget for this project). But amazingly, she hopped on board right away! And I couldn’t be more thankful or pleased with what she was able to deliver…
The funny thing was, although it may be hard to tell in the photos, it was raining pretty steadily during our impromptu Saturday morning shoot. You may be able to see the rain drops in the second half of our session (seen below), and my hair starts to look just ever so slightly wet, but we made the best of it. Once we got back to Liz’s studio and were going through the photos, we happily discovered just how bright the colors came out thanks to the dim lighting. I was so excited to be able to incorporate Rocky too – He’s a trooper, and just so gosh darn photogenic. If I do say so myself.
So there’s a little behind-the-scenes look into my one and only 30 minutes as a “model.” I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have to extend one last big thanks to Liz for believing in my brand enough to donate her time and incredible talent to this project. I could not have pulled it off without her.
Notice anything different? Well if you’re viewing this from your browser, then you might have caught on to a little bit of an upgrade to the surroundings here at DGD. I’ve been having anxiety attacks about the process of switching from WordPress.com to WordPress.org for the past few months, and I finally just WENT for it. And, as predicted, the anxiety was waranted. It was a complete mess getting to this point, and just 24 hours after deciding that I wanted to go for it and staying up waaaaaay past bedtime to hammer out the details, here she is in (HOPEFULLY!) all her beautiful .org goodness. I will be sharing a LOT more about the process next week, so stay tuned.
But let’s move forward shall we? Oh, one more thing – If you happen to notice any major issues with the site, please just let me know via email and I’ll work on targeting that asap. I was having trouble with the server this morning, but am hopeful that all is resolved now. There are definitely some other little things too that didn’t get perfected in my rush to keep up with the ultimately rushed transfer (for example, I’m working on getting those post photos uploaded so that you don’t keep seeing these “Sorry!” messages), so I ask for your forgiveness!!
And now let’s REALLY move forward shall we?
Now that the official start to summer is only a little over a week away, I’ve got camping (or should I say “glamping“) on the mind. I love the idea of a fun weekend getaway to the lake – a cozy cabin, the dog, a fishing pole…It’s time to embrace the outdoors and, now that the cicadas seem to be fading a bit, I’m finally willing to venture forth into the wild. This quaint cabin is the perfect example of my kind of rustic.
Let’s talk details…
1…The striped Hudson’s Bay point blankets are the key factor for me. Without that hit of laid back sophistication in the print, the room might not be quite as magazine-spread-worthy as it is. Overall, it’s a super endearing space that I would love to embrace with book in hand.
2…I think paneling is coming back. What do you think? The honeyed pine in this space is obviously well suited to its purpose on what I can only assume is a wooded camp ground, but even beyond that, it warms the tiny room up like nothing else could.
3…Notice how the stylist hung the art way, waaaay below eye level? Kind of an interesting thought given that it’s only a foot or two off the ground, but I like it! I’m glad to know that we shouldn’t feel limited by our vertical wall space when trying to incorporate art.
What are your favorite details?
For past “All in the details” features, click here.
P.S. I’m super excited to share a really fun project that I worked on in collaboration with Glitter Guide and Old Navy. Click here for my tips for making the most of your active wear as we get outside more and more to exercise this season. Even Rocky made an appearance! More tomorrow, plus a few extra photos right here on DGD. Until then, I hope you enjoy the feature on GG!
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