Little Pink Studio

My creative space: Where Bloggers Create tour

Hello, and welcome! I am joining in today for the first time in a few years to celebrate and tour all of the studios shared with the 7th annual Where Bloggers Create Tour! In case this is the first time you have ever visited my blog, let me introduce myself. My name is Cerri, and I have been the owner of a sweet little shop for the past eight years, The Little Pink Studio. I also run a monthly craft subscription service, The Little Pink Box, and am co-owner (and chief Mom in charge) with my oldest daughter in a planner supply  business opening mid August called It's Paper, Dear. This is where all of the creative things happen in our home. Since this is quite the photo heavy post, please grab yourself a glass of iced tea and enjoy! I will try to keep my rambling to a minimum.

My studio is in a large open area in the middle of our home. It is divided from our library by a huge floor to ceiling stone fireplace and opens to our kitchen on one side. Since it is only divided by the fireplace and a kitchen wall, there are not any doors to my studio. I have made separations with old windows and columns as you can see in the photos below. 

Behind the windows are some of my vintage mannequins, and we have installed little lights that shine onto them so that when looking in to the room, it appears as if you're looking into a boutique of sorts. 

 

For the most part, our house does not get great lighting due to being surrounded by trees, but this particular room always has wonderful sunshine. It makes it feel so warm and cozy. 

This is the sitting area side of the studio. The white love seat is from Ikea, and the pale blue settee and the little peach chair are vintage. In fact, all of the furniture in my studio is vintage except that love seat and a cube unit I have on another wall. 

The 3 paintings on the right of this wall of some of my very favorite things. They were all painted by my great, great aunt. She was an amazingly talented woman that sadly passed in her early 40's while living in a mental institution. She painted SO many paintings that mostly everyone in our very large family has at least one original painting, all the way down to my generation. The furthest on the right is my original and the other 2 are copies of my mom's and aunt's originals. They are truly stunning in person.

You might have noticed that my walls are covered in fabric. We hung an unbleached muslin fabric on all of the walls, which looks just like a linen. The seams are covered all the way around the room with different vintage laces over a vintage pale peach satin ribbon. It's probably hard to see in the photos, but I love the way it looks.

 My room is filled not only with supplies, but also my collections of pretty things I love. 

All of these photos were taken in October, that's why there is a Halloween garland hanging from the cupboard, and there have been a a couple of changes since then. Mostly, just little changes like a cube unit filled with vintage lace and fabric, and there are more raskog carts from Ikea. (they're painted pink now, too)

And this beautiful kitty isn't currently visiting us. He's at home in Nashville with his Mom. :)

So, I think that's it! If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to ask. If you want to see particular uses of items in the room or a closer look at something, let me know that too and I will do another blog post about it. I feel blessed to have a large space, and would love to one day host workshops or small creative gatherings in my studio. 

Thanks SO much for visiting today! I can't wait to take a look all around blog land at your beautiful spaces. 

Have a wonderful weekend, Cerri

 

Daily studio shots

Hello! I've gotten a little lax the past week with my daily studio shots, but thought I would pop on here with what I have taken this week or so. One of these days, I'll get some proper studio photos, but for now, I'm enjoying taking some random shots with my phone. What you see above is one of the side "entrances" to my studio. It's kind of hard to explain, but my studio and living room are really like one huge room divided only by a massive floor to ceiling stone fireplace. -So really two rooms, but very open. To separate the spaces, I used some vintage windows and columns that "lead" into the room. I't will be hard to show that in photographs, but hopefully you get the general idea. I wasn't sure when we put up the windows and columns if that would be odd. I'm sure a realtor might advise against it..but I have no plans of selling my house so I might make some choices just based on what I love. As far as that goes, I also covered all the walls in my studio with unbleached muslin and seamed them with vintage lace. I am not sure that would have been advised either, but I really love it. 

Ok! Enough of the rambles, a few more daily shots. 

I have a few of these antique pin cushion dolls, but this is one of my favorites. 

Vintage chalkware, rubber stamps, old platters, satin boxes, and a vintage florentine jewelry boxes. Just a bit of things I love on a shelf in the studio. Mostly all functional. :)

A Valentine box I made last year sits on a sweet little pink table.

A bit more looking into the studio. You can see some of my favorite things here. An old chippy door with tons of layers of paint exposed, one of my antique mannequins, a 1930's cupboard that stores SO many things. My lovely velvet settee, jars full of millinery flowers, and a wonderful old parasol. If you look closely in this poor quality phone photo, you can see the lace on the fabric covered walls. 

(if you'd like to follow along with my instagram, there is a link on the right hand side of my blog)

I'll be in the studio all weekend, getting the last of the shop update ready. What about you? What are your plans for the weekend? 

In case they include something creative, here's a sweet Valentine image you might like.

Happy weekend, Cerri 

Daily studio shots

Hello! Lately, I have been taking daily photos of little details in my studio using my phone and posting them on instagram. (a few of you follow me there, and may have already seen these photos) I thought it would be fun to share a recap of those photos on my blog too. 

 The first photo is a dish filled with some of my favorite vintage millinery flowers and and old bisque doll head. 

In the collage, you see more of my old bisque dolls/heads, and a bit of vintage millinery on a hanger with a vintage bed jacket. There is also a photo of a fabulous and vintage ruffled tulle pillow, and my oldest mannequin wearing her scarf and a bit of Christmas tinsel. I need to take a full photo of her, she's pretty amazing. She's a mid 1800's mannequin with the wasp waist and caged bottom. Love her. In fact, I really need to take photos of the studio in general, but today I hope you enjoyed the little daily snippets. 

What are your plans for the weekend? I need to tackle a mountain of laundry and hope to spend some time in the studio. In case you have some creative time scheduled, here's a sweet little image to inspire. 

Happy Friday! Cerri 

A cozy studio weekend...

Hello! Are you having a lovely weekend so far? I've been in the studio all weekend, yes still trying to get it organized. I HAVE to have it finished by the first weekend of December as I am hosting a party in there, but hopefully I will have it finished in the next couple of days. Just thought I would share a few instagram shots from around the studio today. 

I've been making my piles and organizing all of the projects for the Little Pink Studio Handmade Holidays starting this week! So many ideas! Can't wait to share. 

Organizing and making labels for the many, many bins and baskets I have. I decided I wanted to print some on fabric, so I printed these beautiful labels that were a freebie some time ago from Cathe Holden. I love how they turned out on the tea stained muslin. 

I just wrote directly on the fabric with a ballpoint pen in my not so wonderful handwriting and pinned them on to the basket with a bit of lace tucked behind. (fabric box you can barely see in the background is from Ikea)

And my favorite pale pink roses, brought to me from my sweet husband for no reason at all. 

So, what have you been doing this weekend? Has Christmas began to show up in your home? Even in tiny bits? I notice at night while I am driving around that several people already have their trees lit up in their window. I'm thinking of putting mine up next weekend. :)

xo, Cerri 

PS, Don't forget to sign up for the stocking swap tomorrow if you're so inclined. :)

Happy Friday!

Hello, and happy Friday! Sorry to have missed the tutorial this week, but truth is, as we all know sometimes life is a little messy. I've just been in a bit of a funk and not feeling my normal self. I look at my supplies and don't have a single idea.. Hopefully, I'll snap out of it and we will be back to our regular tutorials next week. In the mean time, the photo above is a little snippet of my studio today. See the background paper? It's the end paper from a really old children's book. I've been trying to replicate it today, but I can't get it just right with my printers so I may take it to the copy shop and see what I can do. I would LOVE to paper the back of my studio shelves in this paper. Wish I had rolls of it. :) 

Speaking of the studio, that's what I'm working on this weekend. I. HAVE. TO. GET. THIS. ROOM. FINISHED.  Hold me accountable, will you? Maybe I should post some progress photos each day? Or maybe just on Monday? 

But, just in case you're working on some Halloween projects, here's a few images for you. 

I found this fabulous old photo on pinterest today, but could not find the original source. I cleaned him up a bit, and think he would be just fabulous on some Halloween projects, don't you? 

Or just in case you need a fabulous old pumpkin with eyelashes.... 

What are your plans this weekend? Will you be carving pumpkins? Visiting haunted houses or corn mazes? Planning to attend any scary movies? 

I am hoping to fit in a couple of scary movies myself....if I get my work done. :)

Cerri xoxo

Currently...

Hello! I hope you've all had a lovely week. Here's a few things I have been up to. My husband hung my new ruffled shades from Ikea in my studio. I've finally been working in there again. Sheesh, it's been a long time coming, but was pushed aside for so many different reasons. Hoping to have it finally complete SOON! Still trying to figure out what to put in the long frame at the top of the wall there..

Also in the studio I've been trying to figure out what to do with my vintage prom dress collection. I've been thinking of hanging them across the fireplace...not sure yet though. It's so funny, they're all too small to fit on my antique and vintage mannequins! So they have to be displayed somehow on their own.

 The other thing I'm currently working on is a large shop update. I've been taking and editing all sorts of photos. So many new (and new, old) things! -Like the vintage ribbons and trim above. Don't you love that sweet, vintage peachy colored fabric trim? Definitely keeping some of that for myself. :)

Gah! And don't you love these super sweet old store stock butter cartons? I discovered these sweeties at the 127 sale. I think they would make the cutest packaging. 

So, I'm planning on a shop update on Monday, the 27th. I'll pop on and post some previews over the weekend. 

And lastly, my baby girl starts her first day of college on Monday, so there's a bit of girly shopping in our future this weekend as well. 

What about you? What have you been up to? Any exciting weekend plans?

Much love, Cerri xo

An extension and a tiny bit of studio progress

Hello! I hope your weekend was lovely. First up, I had several requests for an extension on the date to purchase the Spring Beauties kit, and you know I wasn't really thinking that through very well when I listed the date. First, I totally forgot last week was tax week, and I only offered it up for a few days. Not the smartest decisions on my part all the way around, but most importantly, I want everyone that wants a kit to be able to purchase one. So, I extended the sale date on the kit through Sunday, April 30th. If you're still wanting one, then you have time! Get them here. To see more photos and details, check out the previous post. For those that have already ordered, thank you. I will still begin shipping those kits later this week, no worries. 

Next up, I thought I would share a tiny bit of progress on the studio. Are you getting tired of reading about this move, yet? Sheesh. It really is taking me forever, but between working, weekends at the lake, my daughter's senior prom, and getting her ready to graduate, I work on this in my spare time. Eventually it will get finished. My goal is to have it totally finished by Mother's day so that I can host a little luncheon for the gals in my family. Cross your fingers for me, ok? Mother's day is just 4 days before graduation. 

So above, is a wonderful little 1930's armoire my husband bought me, and on it is a favorite old parasol and part of my millinery collection. Yes, I said part. Remember my lace dilemma? Millinery is almost as bad. And of course, you might notice there is also a (rather large) jar of vintage lace scraps on there as well. Really, is there any hope for me? 

This frothy little thing is a vintage bed jacket. Why don't we use bed jackets anymore? I am thinking my husband might prefer those to my standard tshirts and pajama bottoms. Ha. 

And then there is this lovely. It occurred to me that I had not properly introduced you to her yet. She was a Christmas present from my husband. (I knew about that one in advance...I found her in an antique shop outside of Atlanta and asked begged for her.) Happily, he is a good husband and obliged. She is my 3rd mannequin. I would show you all of her glory, but unfortunately she has a mess at her feet at the moment. She is different than most I have found, she's actually quite petite. I am thinking she was probably for a young adult? I don't really know how old she is either, the gal that worked in the shop said she thought her to be from the 1920's. She was already stenciled when we bought her as well. She is made of an odd paper like material. I don't know..I just know I loved her instantly and am thrilled to have her. 

So, that's it for today, I'm a busy bee assembling journal kits. I'll be back soon. 

Cerri xoxo

Is there a 12 step program..

for collecting vintage lace? Sheesh. I think I am in need of one. This is just the neutrals, and the lace that I kept. I still have 2 full bags of vintage lace and trims I am going to get rid of.... Maybe in vintage lace samplers? :)

 Here's looking at it from the other side. I've been working on the studio ALL day, and beginning to wonder if I will ever get this move complete? You can see my progress here and here. It's the organizing and sorting that is taking so long....and the simple fact that I have too much stuff. Sigh.

It's getting there. Hopefully I will have more to show you soon.

OH! and in case you're wondering why I organized my lace this way, it's because I'm not a huge fan of looking at plastic organizers and boxes. I prefer pretty storage..so I lined the drawers of my large vintage dresser with those cheapy plastic shoe boxes. I then sorted all of the lace by the type it is..or how much I have of it. That way, I can just grab a box of what I need and easily put it back. Plus I kept the lids so I can just grab a box of vintage lace when going to be traveling. 

I hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Cerri xoxo 

Peeks of the new studio

Hello! I hope you're all having a lovely week! As you know, I've been slowly moving my studio and shop to two different rooms in the house. It's quite a process as I'm sure you can imagine, but I think the rewards are going to be soooo worth it. For one, the "shop" room will strictly be inventory, shipping, and shop supplies. That is going to make shipping, ordering, and keeping track of business so much for efficient! (and it's cute too, I'll show you photos of that soon) And now, my studio will be more centrally located in my home, and is just a studio. It was so hard to keep the studio clean when it was combined with the constant influx of inventory, and I'm one of those people that doesn't feel that creative unless my space is pretty tidy and organized. So enough blabbering and on to the peeks.  The photo above is of a fantastic old door my husband bought for me. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to put anything at all on it, but as you can see I decided to utilize it a little. 

I am pretty sure I mentioned to you that I covered all of my walls with fabric, right? Well I have also lined any shelves with layers of old lace and sometimes millinery flowers. 

I'm still using old boxes, or boxes covered in old papers to organize a lot of my bits of paper and things. 

I love having my rubber stamps on display. The tin in the back is a wonderful art deco candy tin I found on a recent trip to the DC area with my husband, here you get a glimpse of the fabric walls with the lace and ribbon striping. 

A wonderful gift from my husband from Christmas. Can you see her dainty little shoes peeking out from her dress? 

Maybe this post should really have been about how I display my rubber stamps? :)

Old hat boxes, jewelry boxes, and purses, must have staples in any vintage studio, right? 

Oh ick! Please ignore the dead bug in this photo. Those stupid bugs have invaded east TN this past year and they turn up everywhere. I can't believe I didn't notice when I was taking the photo...

This wall is not completely finished, I still need to add smaller frames to the inside of the large frame in the upper corner as well as some other things, but you get the idea of where it is going, right? The new studio is filled with natural light all day, and I adore that. It is also a smaller room, and I have to pare down and just keep the things I really love, but so far it is making me quite happy. 

I'll share more when I get more finished, but I hope you enjoyed the little peeks into my new world today. 

xoxo, Cerri

A better look, and textures...

We had some nice sunshine today so I snapped a quick photo of the finished product from yesterday's tutorial. You can see the sweet details a little better in this photo, I think. I also forgot to mention yesterday that I also colored the bird's cheeks with the same chalk pencil I used on the pixie.  

Anyway, my husband and I have been keeping our minds (and hands) busy with a massive project in our home. We're moving my studio again. You know how people like to rearrange their furniture? Well we prefer to rearrange our rooms. Seriously, this will be the 4th room my studio has been in. Hopefully, it will be the last. We are separating the shop from the studio and that is a welcome thing for me. It's so hard to keep a studio neat when you have inventory coming in all the time, plus inventory storage, and shipping materials, etc. You get the idea, especially those of you that also run little online shops. So, the shop will now have it's own room, and I get a new studio (complete with fireplace), and hubby gets a media/game room. All happy, right? Well except the fact that we always seem to take on these crazy ventures of ours around Christmas. 

So. The studio will look quite a bit different this time around. We covered the walls with fabric. Yep. Fabric. Unbleached muslin to be exact. 

To cover the seams, we used a very pale pink vintage ribbon, which created stripes. Each stripe is then covered with vintage lace. All of the lace pieces are different. 

This photo  is a little pale, but you get the idea. I absolutely adore this! It's so different, but so warm, and lovely. We thought of using burlap, but I think it would be too dark, and maybe too smelly, and too trendy. I wanted a white/neutral/cream studio with little pops of pink here and there.

Love this old umbrella. 

And this. This is by far the most colorful thing in the room. It's a stunning old door that was originally supposed to be a Christmas present, but I convinced my husband that I needed it now. (the black smudges are not really there in person. Not sure why they're there in the photo...) For now this door is leaning against a wall, but it will be 'holding' something special soon. 

So, there is still much work to be done. I'm hoping to at least have it workable by the time Kenz comes home from college on Sunday. So, wish me luck. I'll share more along the way. 

xo, Cerri

PS, There are still a few kits of each of the designs I have done, and they're all ready to ship. There's also some ornaments, and other great Christmas things in the shop. I will be closing up next week for a week or so to spend some time with my family, but there is plenty of time to get your things still and plenty of time for more Christmas crafting. :)