Houzz Tour | Ben & Sarah Willson

One of the many perks of working freelance with Houzz.com is that I get to meet bright, engaging, creative people. A few weeks ago, I interviewed artist, craftswoman and designer Sarah Wilson about her new home in Waxahachie, Texas. Her stylish house, which she shares with husband Ben and daughter Goldie is a breezy, modern oasis deep in the heart of Texas cattle country.

Sarah comes from a large family, and her goal for the house was to create an open layout with a studio where she could produce her jewelry line, Sarah Briggs. The new build was completed last month and took four years to complete. Here are some of my favorite images from our photo shoot. But be sure to go HERE and read the full article.

But that's not all... 

Not only does Sarah make gorgeous jewelry, she also makes art and textiles, which she sells on Etsy. I had a wonderful time talking with Sarah about her creative work and perusing her line of throw pillows and art prints. If you have some browsing time, check out her beautiful work at the links below:

Sarah's Blog

Sarah Briggs Jewelry on Etsy

SB Home: Art andTextiles on Etsy

Facebook

Harness  -  8" x 10" print available at SB Home

Blue Vases  -  Textile

Blind Date  -  12" x 12" original painting

And to top it all off... she bakes. 

Here she is serving Crepe Cakes that she made for Goldie's first birthday last week.

Sarah Wilson, how do you do all that you do?
I demand answers!

image courtesy of Do It Sarah Style

Morning Light

The day after Christmas is always one of my favorite days of the year. Usually, the house is stuffed with left over feast food and pie and my child is happily playing alone, consumed with new projects, toys and games.  We had a white Christmas yesterday - an outright miracle in sunny Dallas, which only three days before clocked in at 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

This morning, as the sun rose, my bedroom window was magically under-lit by rays reflected off of the gleaming snow. Here's a picture of the paper heart garland that hangs over our bed. I hope you have a beautiful post Christmas day!

Paper Heart Garland from MontclairMade on Etsy

Compassion, Stregth & Determination

I've just finished an art commission from a dear friend of mine who owns and operates a back yard boot camp and gym facility called Positively Fit Lake Highlands.  As the name implies, her mission is to help her clients create a positive, energized life through fitness and self care.  I've been attending her classes for almost a year and she was very instrumental in my 75 pound weigh loss. Basically, she is amazing and I was very excited that she was interested in my artwork.

She asked that I create three large scale pieces for her gym with the words Compassion, Strength and Determination.  She gave me an energetic color scheme and then set me free to create whatever I liked.  I thought I'd share them with you!  Here they are, ready to hang:

See more of my work HERE.

Patina Vie

I'm in a search and score mood today - clicking through all the buried online treasure to be discovered at Etsy.  I bumped into Patina Vie, a store filled with vintage goodies, and fell in love with the sweet items below.  If you've got a moment, click on over and check out the beautiful trinkets at Patina Vie. You won't be disappointed.

And don't forget to enter the Bedding Style Giveaway!  

You could win a beautiful bedding set!  Enter to win by clicking HERE.

Sarah Saw Something

Welcome to the "my life" edition of Sarah Saw Something - a weekly feature where I share little odds and ends that I found interesting around the blogosphere this week.   But as I said, this week, I'm highlighting some personal news.  I promise to be back on Monday with my usual boho decor fare and an awesome giveaway!  So stay tuned.

It's been 35 weeks since I began my weight loss jonrney and blog Smaller Sarah.  As of this week's weigh-in, I have lost fifty pounds!  Fifty!  Read more about it HERE.

Smaller Sarah

 

And my son, Charlie Fighting Bear, continues to combat back the effects of his stroke.  He just started some new therapies and is already making amazing strides in just a few short weeks!  He was recently selected as a beneficiary for an organization called Kenna's Kids.  They are hosting an huge golf tournament as a fundraiser for this year's kids - there are two others in addition to Charlie.  I know most of you are not local, but click HERE to read how you can help Charlie heal from afar.  You'll also be able to read about the other two amazing children who've been selected as 2012 beneficiaries. Your support means the world to me! 

Help Charlie Heal

 

And I've just restocked the small but sweet selection of vintage goodies at my Etsy shop.  Please click HERE to browse!

La Maison Boheme Etsy

Ladies Ecru Gloves

Vintage Portable Royal Typewriter

Small Ceramic Pitcher

Vintage Hand Mirror and Comb Set

The Watermark Bindery

Do you journal?  I do.  I have since I was about nine years old.  Its one of the only habits I've been able to sustain through out most of my life - well, that and eating.  A few years ago, my mother-in-law gave me a journal made the Watermark Bindery, a small business based out of Port Townsend, WA.  The journal was beautifully made, and did something wonderful: it stayed open when laid flat.  I have now scribbled my way through five of these journals.  I love them.

As you know, its black Friday.  If you want to avoid the malaise of long lines and discounted discontentment being peddled in every corner of the retail world, look no further.  These journals, address books and note books are truly beautiful, thoughtful holiday gifts.  They are lovingly handmade by a real person with a small business.  They are unique, well priced and of the highest quality.  You can buy them on the website, on Etsy or at unique small book stores and galleries around the country. (click HERE for a list).  Here is a look at the book binding process used at the Watermark Bindery.

Today, I started a new journal from the Watermark Bindery...

"What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something looseknit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk, or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds and ends without looking them through." - Virginia Woolf

Walker's Room and a Winner!

First things first - the winner of the Shabby Apple giveaway is #57, Athena!  

Congratulations on your beautiful new dress!  Athena, I'll be in touch shortly...

And now, on to Walker's new room.  Remember THIS post from a few weeks ago?  You all had some great ideas for Walker's room, many of which I implemented.  Just as you suggested, I went lighter with the wall color and made sure that all of Walker's books were easily accessible for a little guy.  Walker had some requests as well - mainly that his fish be closer to his bed and that I keep the window clear of big furniture.  He said, "I want to look at our street and watch for ducks or bad guys."

Again, here is a photo of his room before hand.  As you can see, it definitely has the baby blue nursery vibe and he had to share it sometimes with his baby brother, Charlie.  Walker turned four last week, so he needed his own space - free of the baby stuff.

Here's the new room!

 

All of the furniture was already in our home, so it was just a matter of re-arranging some things and in some cases, hitting it with a bit of spray paint.  The new elements are the huge pull down school house map on the back wall and the floor to ceiling curtains, which I have still yet to hem.

The bolster pillow on the bed , throw pillow on the couch 

and the curtains are all IKEA fabrics that I picked up on sale and stitched together.
The paint color on the walls is "Creamy Mushroom" by Behr Paints.

The chevron print pouf is by Aleta Fae, which I won in a
giveaway at Head Over Heels.  And the love seat (an old Craigslist find)
is a pull out bed for when Walker has sleep overs.

These sweet prints - a galleon and turn of the century hot air balloon - 

are from Collage-O-Rama on Etsy.  The frames are IKEA and I spray painted the mattes.

Here's a close-up of the map, which I found for a great price on ebay.

It's from an old old school house in Georgia (1957).

I snagged this cool vintage globe during a sale at The White Woods.
The White Woods has a great little collection of vintage goodies.

And the beautiful quilt on Walker's bed was made by our wedding officiant.  

He is an amazing quilter and created this for Walker when he was a baby. 

Of course, Walker loves the end result.  

His favorite part is the little chair and reading lamp under the window.

Okay, so now comes the time when you tell me what you think! 

Any thing that I should add, subtract or re-think?