Thursday, April 24, 2008

I am excited to say that you can find "olive" my designs at Ladybugs in Haymount. Here are the items in the shop right now... {Galvanized Tub Monogrammed in Black with Hot Pink and Black Polka Dots}
{18" Terra Cotta Pots Painted Black with Lime Green Polka Dots and a Hot Pink "L" with a White border}

{8" Terra Cotta Pot painted Turquoise featuring Brown and White Polka Dots & Monogram}

If you live in Fayetteville or anywhere near, you should run by and check the store out! The owner, Jennifer Higgins, has a great assortment of items for anyone! She carries Rainbows, Vera Bradley Notebooks & Calendars, Candles, Baby Clothes, Handbags, and most importantly... Custom Products by Erin Olive Designs!!!

...Ladybugs... 1226 Fort Bragg Road Fayetteville, NC 28305 (910) 483-9257

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

{Tips for Organizing Magazine Clippings}

I found some great stuff last weekend while going through the stack of Home Magazines and Catalogs from the past couple of months. I like to do this once a month , it helps me come up with new colors and patterns to use on my designs.

This is how I organize the materials... When I find something inspirational I tear out the page and set it to the side. I assign separate piles that coordinate with the tabbed sections in my 3 Ring Notebook. Once I have looked through all of the Magazines and Catalogs I take the pages in separate piles and cute them down to the Item or Section that I found inspirational. I like to put a small post-it on the page to list what I liked about it. Next I use a 3 hole punch and add the sheets to their designated section in my notebook. This really comes in handy when I have a new order for a client or want to do something for my own home... all I have to do is simply browse through my notebook to get ideas.

{Suggestion: After looking through Catalogs I throw them away, but I always keep Home Magazine's that I subscribe to. This way you can always go back to get ideas as your styles change. I have subscriptions for Domino, Blueprint, Real Simple, and North Carolina Gardener}

Here was my favorite find...

This image was from a Pottery Barn Kids Catalog. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the stripes on the walls! I really like the way they are carried onto the ceiling... It makes the ceiling look vaulted! I am definitely going to try this in my Master Bath... I will update to post pictures of the outcome!

...PS... What a great vanity! The easy pull out step incorporated into the bottom really looks great...better than a step stool!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

{Southern Pines}

On Saturday the hubby and I took off for a romantic evening in Southern Pines. We pulled into town and headed straight to my favorite local lunch spot "Sweet Basil". Of course there was a brief wait for our table of 2 so Sedberry and I headed next door to Monkey's. He lasted all of 3 minutes inside the madhouse ... I lasted only 4! I headed outside to find Sedberry sitting patiently waiting for our name to be called. By the time I had gotten my hands on every local publication in sight I heard "Olive party of 2"... YES!!!

We ordered our drinks and lunch at once, no need to even look at the menu! Sed ventured out and ordered a sandwhich with Avacados and Eggplant, but I stayed safe and ordered the usual... The Turkey on Tuscan. I love this sandwhich, it is turkey and swiss cheese on tuscan bread... but what makes it so good is the cole slaw that they make from scratch. I can not figure out how they make this cole slaw and it is driving me crazy! My mom, who is an INCREDIBLE cook, has tried to figure this out and has come up empty! I might call and just BEG them to tell me... who knows, it might work!

After Lunch, we walked around the corner to The Jefferson Inn and checked in. We went up to Room # 2 and put our bags down and relaxed for a bit. At 4:30 we went downstairs to have a cocktail and decided what to do for dinner. I had seen an advertisement for "Ashtens" in one of the 10 magazines and papers I had read since we arrived in town. We deicided to go there for cocktails and an appetizer around 5:30. Fortunately, it was just down the block so we could walk there and back.


OH WOW... This restaurant was a 10! It had great food, wonderful wait staff, and BEAUTIFUL ambiance! We asked the hostess if we could sit in the bar area since we only wanted to have a cocktail and appetizer. She was a doll and lead us to what I feel was THE coolest Bar/Lounges ever! The 2 level room was lit by Tiffany style lamps and had beautiful Velvet Sofa's, plush wingback chairs that you litterally sink into {so comfy!!!} and mahogany coffee tables that served as the dinner table. This room continued down a few steps to an old Mahogany Bar...small but just so perfect & quaint. It was exactly what we were hoping for...

And the food... seriously! It was INCREDIBLE... I had Reuban Eggrolls {yes...Reuban Eggrolls} and MASHED POTATO PIZZA! Now you would have to know me to understand how much I LOVE Mashed potatos... it is a problem!
After we left Ashtens we walked across the street to O'Donnell's Pub. Sedberry and I played pool and had a blast. They had a band playing and after a few too many drinks I felt the need to request Uptown Girl by Billy Joel. Here is some advice, NEVER request Billy Joel when one of the band members is wearing a Metallica shirt... they will laugh at you AND will not play it!!! We ended our night back at The Jefferson with drinks in the Bar and the live Jazz Trio that was playing. {They did honor my request for Stevie Wonder} We had a lovely time and I can not wait to go back again next year! {By the way... this is a close-up of the main Dining Room's GORGEOUS hand painted walls. They were absolutely Beautiful!}

Friday, February 15, 2008

{ Cupcakes Galore }

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days of the whole year and this year was by far the best of the 27 I have had! There are several reasons for this... first being that I was married this past Fall so it was our first Valentine's Day as husband & wife! The second reason it was so special is that it was the first Valentine's Day for my new neice...
Berkley Elizabeth Stiles...
I HAD to make her a special cupcake for her Valentine's Day debut!!!

I decided to make cupcakes for all of our friends, family, and my in-laws hard working employees. I decided to make traditional Vanilla cupcakes as well as my hubby and father-in-law's favorite kind...Red Velvet. All cupcakes had Cream Cheese icing, which I dyed hot pink. Always wanting to mix things up; I decided to pass on the traditional hearts and decorate them with white polka dots instead! I got white cake boxes from a local craft store and decorated both sides { you guessed it... with polka dots! }with a red marker. I finished each off with a wide, red grosgrain ribbon bow...

I was very happy with the final outcome... and hope that everyone that received one was too! This is why I love Valentine's Day... for me the day is all about romance and chivalry. So I like to create something special for the people in my life to show them how much I love and appreciate them.

Sedberry {my hubby} took charge and planned a romantic out of town date! We are headed to Southern Pines in the morning to spend the night at the Jefferson Inn. This is the Inn we rented out for ourselves, our parents and the wedding party over our wedding weekend. This is where my Bridesmaid Lucheon & our Rehearsal Dinner were held... Most importantly, this is where we spent our wedding night and woke up as a married couple! I am so excited about our overnight date and am so proud of Sedberry for planning such a perfect Valentine's Day celebration!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and that you felt appreciated and loved whether you had a Valentine or not!

{ Mystery Wallpaper... Solved! }

I absolutely fell head over heels last Thursday night while watching the new program Lipstick Jungle. The show was alright but the WALLPAPER in Nico Riley's bathroom was what I was smittened by! Did anyone else notice this? After doing some research, I found that the wallpaper is Birdcage by Woodson & Rummerfield (Woods & Fields). You can find it on www.GreenWithGlamour.com and www.ShopModify.com. It runs around $80 per Roll and there is a 3 Roll Minimum per order. I found the 2 colors above; however, the wallpaper I saw featured on the show was a deep blue with Ivory (like the pink one but blue instead). I really like the Lime Green pattern the best, and plan to use it in my hallway!

Monday, February 11, 2008

{ Welcome to my Blog }
...My first post so be patient with me...

Welcome to the Erin Olive Designs Blog!!!

First off, I must introduce myself. My name is Erin Olive. I am 27 and live in my hometown in North Carolina. Nice to meet you!

For the past 6 years I have worked in the Mortgage Industry but my real passion has ALWAYS been Design. I have always loved creating things for myself, family, & friends. I never thought I could turn that passion into a business UNTIL I ran across this little website called Etsy.com... You might have heard of it (...wink...wink...). Finally I saw an opportunity to do what I love and actually make money doing it! On November 17th, 2007 I opened up my Shop...
ErinOliveDesigns.Etsy.com. I sell my hand painted designs such as Wall Plaques, Picture Frames, and Flower Pots... just to name a few. Please check out my products and give me any feedback or suggestions you might have.

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS BLOG!!! Basically it will cover all types of subjects... Projects, I am currently working on, Home Decor Ideas I Love, Websites I can't live without, Photography, Weddings, Entertaining, Gardening, Cleaning & Organizing, Cooking, Shopping, and Tips & Tricks to make life easier on us all! I can't wait to share all the great stuff I come across everyday with you! I am still learning, so please leave comments with suggestions if you have any input.

Thanks again for checking me out!
Please continue to check in to find out about "OLIVE" the things I love and think you will too!

Take Care...