Family Rules Art

I have been wanting to make a family rules sign for a couple of years now! They are all over Pinterest. I have pinned some favorites over time for inspiration. My favorite one was this one:

I loved the text. the words. the simplicity. so i went with it. inspired.....GO!

Back in the summer, when we were building my studio, my husband and i were hooked up with Old Navy shelving units here in Rochester! Our store was moving locations and started fresh with everything new. So we have used the shelves for the general purpose, but also ART! as you can see here...

They started out like this. So I taped them off and painted them with paint as a base/foundation/back drop. I had extras laying around so I thought It would be perfect. So I started this project over a year ago.....whoops. It has been on the "list" to finish for months! So below, is what I did a year ago. 

I wanted to add more text and make the letters more bold. I also wanted to add some floral to it and some gold! Like everyone else, I am obsessed with gold/glitter right now! Here is the finished product!

I love it! We are going to hang it up in our dining room! So fun. Does your family have House Rules? or a motto? I love having the uplifting words as a reminder to our fam. Happy Monday! If you would like me to make you some House Rules, Contact me anytime! I love making custom art! xoxoxo

HIGH FIVE 4 FRIDAY

HELLO! I am so excited that it's the weekend! We have some fun stuff planned and I am ready! It has been a very wintery week, even though it is S-P-R-I-N-G! I am coping with this brisk weather by keeping our fireplace on, fresh flowers everywhere, pastel nail polish, being crafty with my girls, and baking. Oh the baking.......such an addiction of mine. Here are some high lights from my week:

I have so many pictures of my daughters in the mornings! Never enough, though. I just can not get over their sweetness when the sun is shining in. the cuddles. the smiles. the jammies. and the bond they have. (Kiyah is cutting 4 stinkin teeth. Lord, Help me.)

Andy and I have been hosting like crazy. Like everyday this past week....but it has been great. We got to have our dear friends, Bruce and Sherry, over for dessert. They are amazing, Godly people. They are friends. Mentors. Partners in ministry. Real. I made America's Test Kitchen Chocolate Bundt Cake with homemade whipped cream and raspberries. We made them a Cafe Miel too! (well, right.) yum! 

 Oh my goodness, does this 3 year old act like her........mother. ha. She woke up the other day, starting her day like normal. She was opening her dresser drawer and scratched her hand on the knob....and this is what happened. A day full of "Dramaticistis" FOR REAL! "Mommy, I only have one finger (hand)." and "Mommy, I can't wipe myself" and "Mommy, I can't eat." and "Mommy, Pay (pray) for my hand." and so on. It was hilarious! Thank You to everyone who follows my Instagram and was praying for Zion Leilani. The prayers were answered. She is going at it again. 2 hands. 2 feet. and one spunky attitude. 

Our youth group, THE GATE, had an awesome All Nighter this past weekend. It was full of GaGa ball, sugar, pancake bar, crazy dance party, The Oz and lots of chaos. I hit up the church while my littles were sleeping to spend some time with my peeps. It was a blast! 

I have been getting a lot of art projects done at home. I needed this. I needed to get out my paint brushes, turn on pandora, light some candles and breath in the creativity. I finished up my House Rules for Cass Casa! I will reveal my art in the next few days! Check back! Happy Friday! Have a blessed weekend. 

(Linked up with Lauren at frommygreydeskblog and Jeanette at life rearranged)

Art Gallery Wall

Today I thought it would be fun to show the details on my newly updated wall in my living room! It has been a working progress. Ever since I put our computer in our living room, I have been wanting to personalize this space. With it being our "office area", I wanted it to be fun, inspiring, creative without being too busy or distracting. I love color and fun punches of personal favs. So here is our new gallery wall! 

The top left oval painting is Zakiyah. My friend, Kelly made it for her! I love it! I am so happy with how this space turned out. 

 Here is a good picture of the wall! As I mentioned here, my clock is from Target!

My desk is from IKEA. I would like a bigger one someday. It is not urgent, just a little small for our stuff. The amazing blue chair is TJ MAXX!

I got these Umbra polaroid pictures from my friend Shel a few years back. I love how you can just slip in pixs in the frames. They measure 3.5" by 3.5". The top two are me when I was little. The middle left is Andy and I when we started dating. It was taken at the north shore (MN) in 2002! The middle right is Andy as a little boy.....hilarious. The bottom is Andy snakeboarding back in his glory days. ;)

 This is sketch I did on a plane ride 5+ years ago, when we were coming home from Mexico. We had taken the youth to a orphanage to work for a week or so. I love it. It is my life now! I am so blessed. I love how it says, "dancing in the kitchen with my Nova". Which is Andy's nickname, and now our daughter, Zakiyah's middle name. 

I also love using clip boards to hang art. Easy to change up. Fun and casual. 

This is Andy with his dad and bro. Love. I think our girls look a lot like him!

Here is Zakiyah at one week old. So precious. Photo taken by Michelle Fagan. 

My sister, Chelsea just gave this picture to Zakiyah for her baby dedication! I love how the commandments are perfect for little ones. The colors and background are so happy too! 

I got this sketch on Etsy a couple of years ago for Andy' birthday. I thought it would be fun to give him random art over the years. We don't own a mini van, however, we have discussed how we approve of the Volkswagen Van. It definitely tops the Coolness factor for car-life. So, I gave this to Andy, stating this is the only van we will ever own. 

I just finished this hoop art this past weekend. I found the quote on Pinterest! It says, "Everything you say to your child is absorbed, catalogued and remembered." Amen. Good reminder for me to keep it together! I used embroidery floss, fabric, and felt. I stretched duct cloth on the hoop.  It was super easy, cheap, and inspirational for me as a mother! 

I gave this art to Andy this past Valentines day/birthday. I got the PDF of the "I love everything about you" on here. I water colored it then mod podged it on some duct cloth. I painted the duct cloth first then mod podged on the paper. I painted on the flowers/ arrows/ hearts after the mod podge dried. I used some sharpie marker to define the flowers and arrows. I used this walnut circle frame from my Grandma Cherie. I think it turned out great. 

My cousin, Brit sent us this fabulous Cass Street picture. She goes to college at University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse and stumbled upon this sign in her town! She surprised me with real mail and printed this for me! I love it and I love her! She rocks!

This is a pix of my girls! Kiyah was a couple weeks old here and Zi was 2.5 yo. Precious ladies.

Our friends gave us this "love will save the day" sign for a gift when they got married. It is perfect! 

Zion Leilani at 1 yo. Photo taken by Fagan's. Her eyes sparkle in this picture. Stunning.

My BIL and SIL took this picture at a local apple orchard. I love how happy Z is here. She was 1.5 yo. 

I am working on making my desk more happy. I brought down this tray from our bathroom. It is West Elm, candle is Aveda, faux greens are Pier One, and Cass Fresh glass is a beer in Korea. We have some glasses from our friends. The owl paper is Target. 

Do you have any gallery walls you are working on? I seriously have 8 in our house! Never too many! Have a great day! 

heart patches on my elbows! LOVE

last night, after finding this awesome tutorial on a beautiful mess. i was inspired! it was so easy....a little putsy with the hand stiching but worth it.  isn't it cute? i love it! i even wore it today!!! love....for those of you that are interested...the fabric is from Amy Butler's new line lark, which i m obsessed with. my BFF just so happens to sell it on etsy :)

I create

It has been awesome having a maternity leave for the obvious reasons....spend time with family. bond with Zakiyah and Zion. Make family dinners/eat family dinners. ( normally we don't get family dinners Monday-Thursday do to our work schedule) Just the act of slowing down has been wonderful, well the Christy version of slowing down. But I have been doing some fun changes on the home front this fall.

I got together with my friend Kati recently and mentioned that I wanted to do a chalk board wall in the kitch. She told me she had extra chalk board paint that I could use! PERF! So that day I took advantage of nap time and made it happen. This is a before pix of the kitchen.

After! I love it. I have yet to buy dust-less chalk. Did you know it exsisted? Best invention ever:) We are going to use the chalk board for bible verses. quotes. meal planning. notes. art. and Z2 art. I am excited. 

  Here is the left wall by the desk area.

 the right wall by the patio door. I moved the floral art on the wall by the door. Isn't the ice cream parlor table precious. Our good friend, Shel has borrowed it to us for as long as we can use it. Zion lives at this table. I also switched out our curtains for a more fall/cozy look. They are from a good friend of mine. I think they are from Linens 'N Things. They are a burnt orange Micro fiber. I love them. I have hemp wrapped on them now since we are still using the deck.

Here are the old curtains. They are Pier 1 gold striped. I love them as well. But its fun to switch out seasonally. I still really want to paint the rest of the kitchen this winter. I just can't decide what color to do. Ideas, anyone? 

Here is a close up of the curtains. I love myself a good damask pattern.

I also just picked up this awesome vintage tray that is from my Grandma Cherie. It totally reminds me of growing up and having happy hour at her house. Cheese/Crackers and Root Beer for the kids. I put it in my dining room on the buffet.

Isn't it cute?

I also just made this painting on a canvas! I love it. I have been really into layers my art with different textures. I took an old painting from our old house and recycled it up. Considering it was just sitting in our storage room.

Here is the before painting. I love it as well but it was time for change. I started with using mod-podge and glueing newspapers on the canvas. Then I took some sticker letters and wrote out scripture. "The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." Andy picked out the verse. Then I painted over the stickers with different colors. While the paint was still wet, I peeled off the letters and allowed the painting to dry. Then I took a sharpie and outlined the letters so they popped off the canvas more. I wanted to paint poppy flowers on the canvas too. So I whipped up some flowers and then used some paint markers (best thing ever btw) and wa-la! It was done. I have it hanging on my fireplace stone. I LOVE IT!

I just hung this Bless All Who Enter sign by my front door. My Friend/client gave this to me for Christmas last year. I have been meaning to hang it this whole time and finally got around to it. Great quote for the entryway.

On top of the craziness at our house, Andy, my rockin hus just finished our deck! PTL. I love it so much. It was a long summer project. Digging holes. putting posts up and having it look like a pergola all summer. When we had Kiyah in August, he finally had time to work on it. It was such a busy summer for us so that was the best time for him to concentrate on it. A shout out to Mike, Luke, and Isaac for helping us out! We went with composite deck wood in a light gray and white metal spindles. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

  It is 19x12 feet. It is the perfect size for our fam. It is a balcony deck....no stairs needed. Especially with our small flat portion of the yard.

 Zion sitting on it right after it was done. Isn't it gorgeous?

Here is a view from the kitchen facing out. We are so spoiled with this view.
So that is the updates on the projects at the cass casa. xoxo.