bringing sunshine

Bringing Sunshine is a fantastic little project started by my good friend Stacey. I've know Stacey since high school and she ultimately helped persuade me to pick Clemson as my college of choice. We've had lots of fun together over the years, but the activity we love doing the most always involved being creative.

In Stacey's words:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." I am the imagination behind Bringing Sunshine. I love encouraging people, helping them see the positive and putting smiles on their faces. That is my inspiration behind Bringing Sunshine. I hope my items bring people light, color, and a little happiness. I want to thank my husband for allowing me to live out my artistic dreams.

All of her projects are stunning and crafted with care. You can tell she loves everything she makes and her attention to detail is outstanding. Below are some of her items:

crocheted purse

leather bracelets

watercolor cards

personalized puzzle

Check her out!

spring fever

I'm self-diagnosing myself with spring fever. I long for the days of open windows, blooming flowers, and sunglasses. I'd love to escape the gloom and doom of winter and enjoy a day of this:

How lovely would it be to just sail around Lake Murray all afternoon? We could drift in open water and have a picnic lunch and then continue cruising around until the sun sets. 

Of course I would need the perfect sailing outfit. How adorable would I look wearing this:

sunnies by Chanel

can't be squinting all day - you'll get a headache!

boatneck sailor tee

the 3/4 sleeve would give you just the right amount of protection from all the wind

stretch chino slim crop pants

while white chinos would be darling as well, navy would be a better bet in case you get splashed by the waves

red canvas oxfords

who doesn't love red paired with navy? so americana!

porch weather

Although it's very short lived here in the south, porch weather is going to be here before you know it. We're very lucky to have our very own screened in back porch. Currently it is covered in the hubs tools from working on the boat, but hopefully it'll be cleared off so we can actually sit out there and enjoy it.

I'd love to be able to get some wicker furniture and big fluffy cushions to put out there to make it extra inviting. Below are some porches I'm currently crushing on:

images via Better Homes and Gardens

it's paula deen y'all!

We got our new dining room table! We got a phone call from the salesman at Jeff Lynch Saturday morning saying the table had arrived, so off we went. I was so thrilled that the hubs was ready and willing to go up to Greenville that day.

The first thing we had to do was take down our old one. Anyone interested in a cherry table? It's been posted on Craigslist.

Next we had to get the new table inside. Let me tell you, this table is s-o-l-i-d. It must weigh the better part of a baby elephant. 

Since it was a quarter till 12 by the time we got everything inside, the assembly process didn't happen till Sunday morning. I l-o-v-e love this table. It's from the Paula Deen Home collection.

the new table without any leaves is as long as the old table with its leaf

with both leaves in we can fit five chairs on one side!

the legs give it just the right amount of fanciness for me

the hubs polishing off all the finger prints from moving it around

I plan on refinishing our chairs. I want to paint them an antiqued white. I just know that if I try to stain them the same dark color to match the table they will be slightly off, so it's safer to go the complete opposite direction. Hooray for another project!

and that's a good thing

Another room of inspiration come from miss crafty herself, Martha Stewart. I love the sage green cabinets and drawers, such a wonderful color.

the shape of the attic lets you feel tucked away free to create till your heart's content

I love seeing an organized drawer space

pretty pretty paper

a place for everything and everything in its place

shock and awe

Talk about inspiring! I believe this encompasses every aspect of my dream craft room.

Creations by Christie

on the hunt

I've come to the conclusion that I do not own very many water proof jackets. In fact, when I look in the coat closet there's a only a handful.

The first is my Tiger Guard jacket. Technically this jacket is part of a wind suit. It's not waterproof and does not have a hood. Fine for a light mist, but nothing more.

The second is another Tiger Guard jacket. Again it really falls into the wind breaker/jacket category, but it does have a hood. Downfall is that it's a pullover.

The third is a pink jacket from Gap. It's double breasted and just lovely. Matches my rain boots perfectly. It is NOT waterproof. I found this out the hard way one Saturday when I decided to wear it to a Clemson football game. By the end of the first quarter the jacket weighed 50 lbs from all the water and I could feel the drips running down my back. Not good.

The last one is my North Face jacket. it is an actual rain jacket, but it's more for throwing on with jeans and a long sleeve tee, not over my business casual attire.

Let me present to you my pick for fixing my rain jacket dilemma:

the SunShower Double Breasted Funnelneck Coat by Lands End

Trench coats have been around for years and years so I feel confident in saying it would never go out of style. The next question though is, which color? Do I stay traditional and order the khaki? Or do I embrace the color and pick wine grape or willow green. My wellies would go lovely with either. 

Lucky for me Lands End offers to send you fabric swatches at no charge! I've requested all four colors (black, khaki, wine grape, and willow green) so I can make the proper decision.