Brand Design Photography & Styling Clarity Consulting

my love affair

Yes, I call it that. My love affair with Pinterest is getting a little out of hand, but who cares. If you’ve joined in on the Pinterest craze you know exactly what I’m talking about. The scrolling through endless amounts of gorgeous photos, pinning this…pinning that. Collecting amazingness.


Click on above image to start to “follow” my pin boards!


1_Pinned from Old & New Blog 2_Pinned from Anthropologie.com


1_ Pinned from Early Electronics Blog 2_Pinned from Design Sponge

There are a lot of sites out there that basically do exactly what Pinterest does, but this site is gorgeous! Creating virtual bulletin boards couldn’t get easier and what a great resource to visit when the inspiration is lacking. I’m addicted and you should be too. haha

Go pin something!

friday finds & favorites

This is one of my favorite posts I get to do each week. All week long I hop from blog to blog, website to website…soaking up all kinds of inspiration and keeping the urls bookmarked for Fridays. It feels like I’m in 3rd grade and showing you my rock collection during Friday Show and Tell.


*Porter and I picked up these pretty flowers on our morning walk this morning. He carried them all the way home in his mouth. He’s decorating for his grandma that is coming today.

Here’s this weeks round up:

1. This dress at forever 21. It’s affordable and I’m getting it!
2. I stumbled upon this blogger’s tumblr site and the visuals are gorgeous.
3. And this blogger’s tumblr site. I love how it’s a visual documentation of notable posts by other bloggers. I feel like I need this kind of thing to keep my flagged posts organized.
4. I’d like one of each please. Beautiful modern print quilts. (Down their PDF catalog)
5. One Day for Design. Check it out!
6. I’m terrified of moths, but this little locket is adorable.
7. Danielle’s inspiring summer goals. I need to jot some down.
8. This quote was posted on Chelsea’s blog Sea Blanket and I’m in love with it. Go check out her blog and other writing by Haruki Murakami
“Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads – at least that’s where I imagine it – there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own private library.”
9. This hair cut is adorable. If I had some balls and didn’t love having long hair, It’d cut my locks for sure. Anyone out there looking for a new do?
10. Print your own fabric. This has been on my to-do list for ages.

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend. I’m really excited because my parents are coming to St. Louis for the weekend and they are staying with the boy and I. I think we’ll being taking them to our favorite St. Louis spots and going to my very first auction! I’m sure you’ll all see the fun in next week’s posts.

Enjoy dearies!

bunny ring!

A little over a month ago I fell in love with blogger LLYMLRS. She has impeccable care free outfits and amazing jewelry. Anytime she would post an outfit post I would envy her collection of jewels and dream to have them. Well guess what peeps??!! She has a little online shop and sells jewelry! (product is always being updated)  It’s amazingly priced and really unique pieces.

I recently bought this bunny ring from her shop and patiently waited as it traveled to me from Europe. (This bunny has been getting around!) All week, I’ve been getting double takes around the office. People ask, “WHAT is THAT on your finger? It’s amazing!” The intricate design and quality are definitely reminiscent of pieces like those from a fine jewelry supplier. I highly suggest checking out Lily’s blog and her cute little shop.

finding what makes you tick

This post was originally going to be about how I strive to make things “perfect” in my world and how I’m a classic work-a-holic. I read a post last week written by Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess and it really got me thinking.She explained how she was OK with her “work-a-holic” status because she is romantically in love with her job. At first I was really happy for her, then I was jealous, and then I was slightly annoyed. I wasn’t annoyed with Elsie and her ability to make her dreams come true, but annoyed with myself. One day I’m on edge with excitement about what the future has in store and the next day I’m frustrated that those days still haven’t arrived. I start to think that I’m failing and then I start to over think things.

One thing I fail to do often is recognize the small milestones that have been reached. I neglect the fact that I’m working hard every day to better my world and I’m not sitting on the couch waiting for things to happen. I’m an active participant in shaping my future. Patience is not one of my strong points and I need to keep in mind that my timelines are not always realistic. The universe is going to keep spinning no matter how hard you try to stop it.

I think I’ve found the key to feeling like you are living your dream. Find the small things that make you tick. Do you love crafts, but don’t have enough time to do them? Make it a priority to do little projects here and there and don’t use the excuse that there is not enough time. There is always a little time for what you really enjoy if you put it on the same priority level as doing laundry or cleaning the house. Life will go on if laundry isn’t done on the weekend.

Ok, so I’m rambling now. I just wanted to share with you guys how I felt about living your dream or having your dream job. If you are actively working to make things happen you need to be patient, I need to be patient. Fill your days with little things that make you tick and celebrate small milestones.

Would love to hear your thoughts on how to make your dream job a reality. Any insights?

Oh…by the way… Take this dream job e-course now!! (I’m signing up for this ecourse and THIS one.

the flower nursery

One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is walking through a flower nursery and looking at all the flats of flowers. My mother has been working at a flower nursery for as long as I can remember, so being surrounded by plants/flowers is somewhat comforting and makes me feel close to home.




*Check out that pineapple thing above my head!

One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is walking through a flower nursery and looking at all the flats of flowers. My mother has been working at a flower nursery for as long as I can remember, so being surrounded by plants/flowers is somewhat comforting and makes me feel close to home.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve acquired my mother’s green thumb because I seem to have the hardest time keeping houseplants alive. I’ve never had the space to have an outdoor garden, so maybe my luck will change when I attempt a real garden. Let’s just say indoor plants hate me and I tend to go through them pretty quickly.

On Sunday I was in my normal Sunday Slump, doom and gloom mood and the boy did a really good job at filling the afternoon with things I really love to do. We visited the loop and spent a good amount of time at a thrift store where I found a perfect vintage white knit top and a denim sun dress. On our way home we stopped at Bayer’s Flower Nursery to check out there succulent selection. Succulents are my only real hope at keeping something alive, so I thought I’d restock. The nursery was bustling  with weekend warriors and you could tell everyone was excited to bring their backyards to life. I came home empty handed, but really enjoyed soaking up the sun and smelling all the greenery/dirt. So refreshing!

Are you guys planting a garden this year?

*wow! Who knew I could ramble about plants.

a walk around the loop




I’m going to take you on a little tour of one of St.Louis’ most eclectic neighborhoods. The Loop is home to a lot of St. Louis’ well known Landmarks such as the Tivoli Theater, Blueberry Hill restaurant, Fitz’s grill and bottle works, The Pageant concert center, and Vintage Vinyl. This area of town really comes alive when the weather is nice. “Starving music artists” fill the streets playing their instruments for eclectic crowds that pass by. It has a very artsy/hippy vibe and the stores in the area cater to this kind of crowd. If you’re not there for eating and shopping, at least there is great opportunities for people watching.

If you every have a chance to stop by St. Louis Missouri, I would highly suggest stopping by Jake and my favorite spots on the loop: Star Clipper comic book store, Avalon Exchange thrift store, Ziezo clothing company, Vintage Vinyl, and Cheeseology. (see our trip to Cheeseology and Vintage Vinyl)

Do you guys have your favorite neighborhood in your parts of the woods? Favorite places to visit that are iconic to your city? I’d love to see them. Post a link in the comment section and I’ll stop by to check them out.

4.10.11

The Veda House had a really good week this week. Not only was it a good week for me personally, it was a really successful week for the blog. Thanks to Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet for choosing me as her spotlight blogger, I now have a bunch of new readers I can hopefully get to know better. Thank you Dani!!! I was also hit with a little bit of clarity about what my next big adventure is going to be. You could say I’m inspired and have a jolt of energy to share with you guys.


1^ I’ve been so inspired lately I think I have too many projects going on at once. I might have to streamline some things.
2^ It was a crazy week at the agency. Working on new businesses pitches are fun, but so exhausting.
3^ My family is coming to visit next weekend and I’m taking three work days off. I’m excited for them to come and for the couple days to recharge.
4^ St. Louis was hit with another heat wave this weekend. It was 85 degrees for both days with sun and a nice breeze. The humidity is also back.
5^ Check out this blogger. I’ve fallen in love with her style and free spirit.
6^ Taxes are done and I’m getting money back!!! yipee!!
7^ Are we friends with Google Friend Connect?? If not, all you have to do is click the button in my side bar and I’ll come check out your blog!!!

Happy Sunday!

 

photo tutorial: how to achieve the "sunday portrait" look

I wanted to do a little tutorial on how I achieve my Sunday Portrait photography style. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this, so I thought I’d share. What you’ll need is a photo and Adobe Photoshop. I currently jump around from using CS4 at home and CS5 at work, so I believe the steps would be the same for all versions.

This tutorial uses a form of cross processing to achieve the desired look. Cross processing is another way of saying “you developed it wrong” if you were actually using film and chemicals to develop.

*Keep in mind each photo may need minor adjustments based on the quality of the original photo, but you get the idea. Also know that this tutorial will probably require some basic understanding of Photoshop, the layer’s palette, and adjustment layers.

Let’s get started! (CLICK ALL IMAGES TO ENLARGE TO FILL ENTIRE SCREEN!!)

1. First open you uploaded photo from your camera to Photoshop. I then immediately re-save the image with a new name. (ex: portrait_retouched.psd) I then always make a duplicate layer in the layers palette so I always have the original layer to work with.

2. Once you have a duplicate layer made, click the “create new fill or new adjustment layer” icon in the Layers palette and select Curves. From the Channel drop-down box, select the red channel and drag the top right of the curve a little to the left. Then drag a couple of points on the curve so the curve looks like an gentle “S”. (this will darken the shadows and brighten the reds in the image)

3. In the green channel, add another gentle “S” curve. This will bump up the contrast, especially in the highlights.Next, select the blue channel and drag the curve’s top-right point downward a tad. This will take some blues out of the highlights. Then drag the curve’s bottom-right point up a little.

4. Next, select the blue channel and drag the curve’s top-right point downward a tad. This will take some blues out of the highlights. Then drag the curve’s bottom-right point up a little.

5. Now it’s time for a little fine tuning. Play around with those curves in the different channels to get a look you like. Don’t mess with the combined RGB curve.

6.  In the Layers palette, click the “Create new fill or new adjustment layer” icon and choose Brightness/Contrast. Move the sliders around a little bit until you get the desired contrast.

7. I call this the step where all the magic happens.  In the Layers palette, click the “Create new fill or new adjustment layer” icon and choose Solid Color. I then choose a dark brown for the color (#362f2d) and turn the opacity down to about %50.  Change the layer style to “Color”

8. That’s it. I hope I didn’t lose you in all that mess. It does take some time to get the hang of it, but once you do, you’ll love it. I tend to tweak the process slightly from image to image because no two images are exactly alike.

Let me know if you have any questions and I can try to help you. I’m no pro at editing photoshop, but I do spend at least 6 hours a day on Photoshop at my day job. We’ve become best friends!

friday finds and favorites


*This picture was taken just as a test so I could test the settings on my camera, but I really love how it turned out. Spring has arrived in Missouri and the bikes are proof.

1. Thinking about getting a custom portrait made for my family from either Pop Pop Portraits or Paper Mama. I also may try to take a stab at it myself and put use to all my years of art school drawing classes.

2. Design Sponge shares my love for chairs! What  to do with all those chairs you pick up at the thrifts.

3. This beautifully designed bicycle website called BEG.

4. This amazing DIY project:  a massive chandelier/lantern out of paper!

5. Sienna Miller’s new clothing line.

6. Take a peek inside the studio of a Corter Leather.

7. This daily schedule sounds dreamy. I’m uber jealous!!!

8. I’d really love to own this vintage clock in Olive Green Anna’s Etsy shop.

9. I’m  absolutely in love with the city prints by Judy Kaufmann. (especially the 7th one down in the link provide. sooo cute!)

I wanted to thank everyone for the music suggestions that have been rolling in. Some really great artists. I was blown away with Miss Kelly-Ann’s  (over at Flowerchild Dwelling) list that she sent me last week. That gal knows her music!

Fleetfoxes, The Snake, The Cross, The Crown, Band of Horses, Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos, Horse Feathers, Sarah Jaffe, Seryn, The Tallest Man on Earth, Alela Diane, Wye Oak, Ray Lamontagne, Mt. Desolation, Ohbijou, Among the Oak and Ash, Marissa Nadler, The Lighthouse and the Whaler, The Avett Brothers, Andrew Belle

I also asked for some new French artists to check out and here’s what came in:
Edith Piaf, Madeleine Peyroux, Francoise Hardy, Serge Gainbourg, Yann Tiersen, Maxence Cyrin, Carla Bruni, Vive la Fete

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s photo editing tutorial

we've had a breakthrough


So last weekend the boy and I were enjoying a lunch out on a restaurant’s patio and we had a breakthrough. Here’s what went down.

The boy: I think I want to totally revamp my closet with thrifted clothes. I’m really sick of wearing what I have.
Me: Really, or are you joking?
The boy: No for real. Let’s hit up some thrift stores.
Me: Like today? Or just sometime in the future?
The boy: Today…On our way home. I want to get some really “out there” t-shirts.
Me: Awesome. I’ve been waiting for you to say that.
The boy: Yeah. I need to find a shirt with 3 wolves howling at the moon. It’s time I join the wolf pack.
Me: I  don’t think you need a wolf pack shirt.
The boy: Hopefully I find one that also has an eagle flying in the background. That’d be killer!

SO there you have it guys. My boyfriend has finally accepted my love for thrifting and claims he wants to join the Wolf Pack. I’m just glad I won’t have to drag him along anymore and that he will be joining me willingly and with enthusiasm. Yahoo for breakthroughs! (that rhymed)

I’ll keep you guys updated on his search for the perfect wolf pack shirt. Where does he get these crazy ideas?

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