give with joy // the blog: 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

splashes of pink + bunnies | nursery series

My daughter will enter this world in about 10 weeks and her room is a wreck and I have no idea what I am doing in there. As I mentioned here, I won't be overkill on the nursery since I want to stay within a budget and I am keeping a spare bed in that room.

To help keep me on budget and on track, I am creating some room inspiration boards - plus this will make it easier to show the husband and have him be part of the process.

Etsy is a talent pool filled with great work and I could just sit and browse forever. I found some great new pieces today from two shops. I have shopped at one of them before and purchased this for my home because we should never forget our love for dancing.

I am also obsessed with this fabric. I already made pillow cases from it and now I may be back at my sewing machine making some sheets for our sweet little daughter - because you know she'll notice her sheets.

Take a look at this room inspiration and browse the shops I listed to find each item.

Room inspiration from:
The yellow room inspiration is from Sugar and Charm.
Handmade + small shops for art.
Crib sheet tutorial.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

teal nursery inspiration | nursery series

A two-toned wall is a big task for someone who proclaimed she would never paint again.

This proclamation was made after the give with joy studio was painted from top to bottom and a goop of paint landed on my eyeball when painting the ceiling. I thought I would be blind. I'm not. But I still hate painting. Anyone want to paint for me? I will make you these amazing cookies.

Who knows if we will paint the walls, but one thing I know is that we can't have pink walls.

When we found out we were going to be parents to a girl, my husband said no PINK walls. He preferred dark colors, blues, yellows or no painting at all.

Here's a nursery inspiration board inspired by teals and yellows with a just a few beautiful pieces I've curated on my Etsy profile.

Room inspiration from:
The teal room inspiration is from a tour on Apartment Therapy.
I love Cotton + Steel for fabric. I can't wait to sit down and make those crib sheets.
Handmade + small shops for art.

Monday, May 18, 2015

where she will sleep | nursery series

Everyone asks about my daughter's nursery.

As much as I love decorating and creating spaces making them feel cozy and full of personality, I also don't like to spend too much money.

For the nursery, we are going to keep the guest bed in there for a while since we will be having lots of visitors and can use all the space we have. With that, I don't want to go overboard with decorating and purchasing new items unless I can support handmade shops or make things on my own (crib sheets, curtains...)

I've started to create nursery boards to help me visualize and budget accordingly and as I do so, I will share them with you. I hope it sparks ideas for your home - whether it's a nursery or not.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Valentine's Day Cards

Last week, a handful of inspiration came to me for Valentine's Day cards. I grabbed my pencil and sketch pad and started the design process. At give with joy it always starts with pencil to paper, then ink to the sketch, then sketch to computer for digitization and editing.

It takes time.

That's why I am showing you some of my favorite Valentine's Day cards this year - all created by illustrators and hand letters. Hover over your favorites to Pin them!

Also, I know that Valentine's Day seems like a "Hallmark" holiday, but how often do you write to your #BFF, crush or even your mom? Get writing, people. Fill those mailboxes with some lovin.

1. It's like middle school all over again except you probably wouldn't have highlighted the perks.