a couple of ponies and a limb down

Yeehaw! I rounded up a couple of ponies from the thrift store! 

(picture me saying that in my best cowboy accent..)

Their ears were a little chipped, so I just added some Paint n' Patch to them to shape them back to normal.

Then I prepared to paint the two ugly bucklings on my ever official paint surface. 

I used Liquid Leaf. I had never used it before, but let me tell you, it is awesome. It is super liquid-y, almost the consistency of water, therefore it filled in the crevices really easily. The only downside is it is quite potent/fume-y. Next time I will use it outside. 

Also, I found it at Wal-Mart, so no need to run to 57 different craft stores to find it. 

Like I said, it went on super easy, and it was really fast to paint these buckaroos. It dried fast too, and it only needed one coat! Woo! 

Awww little brass beauties! 

Of course I took some shots of them in action.

They won't be staying here..

If I don't find a place soon, I may sell them. I'm thinking of putting some of the knick knacks I transform on Etsy. Would anyone be interested in these ponies?

Yay or neighhhh? 

HAHA! 

In some outdoor happenings, this is what I came home to today:

Downed lines! EEK! 

It wasn't blocking my drive, but it was fully crossing the ol' neighbors'. Luckily, no one was hurt, and no cars were hit.

Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire! 

Kidding! It pulled down Peyton's phone and cable wires, but since he has satellite, it didn't knock out the TV, and since he doesn't have a land line, it only cut off the WiFi. 

View from Peyton and Carly's driveway.

ZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT! 

We did some he-man branch cutting. Peyton had his rudimentary tools..

and brought the awesome saw I hadn't had a chance to use yet. SCORE!  

Of course after I cut the first branch, I lifted it over my head and said..

I HAVE MADE FIRE! 

which is kind of ironic, since I could've made fire out of all this..

Now there's a ginormous pile between our houses. You can see that little tree to the right of the big pine... the large branch took HALF of it off when it fell. Scho schad. 

Now. You know what I'm thinking..

Are there any projects to do using branches?

Hmmm...

Linked to: Addicted2Decorating

my new puppy!

I've added a new little addition to the family! 

How adorable is she? And she knows a couple tricks!

SIT! 

And.. HOLD FLOWERS!

I decided to go with a succulent, because I'm hoping it will be hard to kill.

Yeah, he's a bit dinky. I was at WalMart and decided to go to the checkout in the garden section when I thought "I need to fill the puppy!". This was the only succulent left that wasn't in a nice container (seeing as I was going to move it, I didn't want to pay more for a ceramic planter).

I went to the side porch and gathered a bit of the river rock to lay in the base. There isn't a hole at the bottom, and I've seen this done before when the planter doesn't have a hole.

It wasn't quite enough, so I put some soil from one of the flower boxes outside. Then I pulled the succulent out of his pot, and placed him in there.

It almost looks like she has a tail! haha

So chic! I think she'll end up in my room, but it doesn't get that much light. Maybe she'll just float around the house. 

"Sooo we're not being replaced?"

"No, dummy."

"OK GOOD!"

stream of consciousness!

So instead of writing random blog entries and calling them "ramble on" or "thoughts" or whatever, I had an epiphany of what to categorize these posts as..

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS! 

Gah, the fish goes with so many things! 

Let's talk about the branding issue I've been having.. I came up with a few names, so please please please (please.) let me know what you think! 

Good Herring Design

or

Red Herring Design Co. 

And that's all I got. Good Herring sort of sounds like good hearing.. I've gotten mixed reviews on it. I like it, but I feel like it's one of those where you have to explain it, sooo that makes me not like it.

Red Herring was one of my first thoughts back in the beginning, but most of the domain names were taken, so I gave up on it, but then I found out some variations were available. Also it's my initials, RH. I brought it up to my sister, and she freaked out and said it was her "thing" to use. Why? Because her name is Scarlett.. like the color red...

redic. 

Sooo are there any other ideas out there? I have looked up stuff that rhymes with herring, that goes with hearing, that rhymes with red, design adjectives, h adjectives for alliteration, creative verbs, etc etc etc. I am pretty sure I want to use the word Herring instead of "fish". That way, when anyone needs some design help, they can get some Herring aid.. HA! And I would still be able to logically have the blog paired with it. 

 So I'm asking again.. let me know your ideas! 

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Another thing going on in my life.. I'm in a wedding later in the summer, and my bridesmaid dress came in and it's too small. Wahh wahhhh. Remember when I told the blogosphere that I had started the Insanity workouts again? Well that lasted all of two weeks. So I'm going to try to go the old fashion route for this by eating right and exercising. 

I hate counting calories just to count calories (we all know I love a good beer with some wingies), but I'm viewing this as sort of like a physical challenge.. I guess because I'm not one to be like "I need to lose __lbs.". Now I actually have a goal, and if I don't do it, I'm going to look like an idiot with a rigged up dress.. 

Just thought I'd announce it. Do not worry, this will not turn into a weight loss bloggie! haha

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The side porch has not made any progress from the last time I wrote about it. For some reason, I got a fire lit under me about getting the yard in shape. Hopefully it spills over into getting the side porch finished.

Here's a reminder of all the dumb little rocks I have to get out of there..

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Random: We started using this program/app at work called Trello (trello.com). I thought it was the coolest thing, so I made an account to use at home. It's for production management stuff, BUT it is awesome for list making, and it is extremely user friendly. Maybe I like it because I have tons of different lists going on (design work, home projects, life, etc), but I figured I'd pass it along to everyone in case there is a crazy list maker like myself out there! I seriously have lists everywhere.. in design notebooks, on post its at work, on the notepad on my phone, a google spreadsheet.. you get the idea. One thing that's cool about Trello is that there is an app that goes with the website, and it updates instantly! So I can add something to my grocery list while I'm blogging at night, and then I'll have it on my phone when I get to the store the next day! 

HOW CONVENIENT! 

You can also make lists within list! So on my home list, I can write grocery shopping, but within that, I can make a check list! (I swear my whole list isn't about groceries..) If you're interested in it, I suggest you watch the ol' video on the homepage of their site. Quite informative! 

PSSSSST: I linked my Instagram to the bloggie facebook page, so go like it for some sneak peeks of projects! I'll only add design related stuff to the page, but if you'd like to see some "life" photos, you can find me on Instagram by looking up ilikewhatimherring! 

bedroom semi-reveal

Soooo I've finished a big chunk of my bedroom, but I'm calling this a semi-reveal. Once I got everything in place and started taking pictures, I realized that it seemed kind of blah. And not for lack of color or pattern, but more for lack of flair.

Kind of like an outfit without jewelry. 

So this is the semi-reveal to show everyone how it's coming together so far! Also, please keep in mind that the lighting is my room is terrible. 

Let's start with the rug.

This baby is 8x10'. I had help bringing it upstairs, but then after vacuuming I found myself alone, and I didn't want to wait for assistance.

So I totally pulled a Wile E. Coyote and got it under there myself. First I tried lifting the bed, then kicking the rug, but it wasn't turned the right way to be rolled like that. Also, when I lifted the bed at the end, I was only pulling up the mattress and box spring, not the bed frame. Soooo I lifted the mattress and box springs, and slid one of the ottomans under it. Then I crawled under there, lifted the bed frame and rolled out the rug.

I was sure the ottoman was going to slide out, and I was going to be smushed. Death by decorating. What a way to go!

But I wasn't, phew! 

    

The rug was suppose to be beige around the edges, but once I got it upstairs, it was apparent that it was green. Thank goodness I used that color in the room! It looked pretty good with the green curtains.

Ok, before I show you the entire view, let's have a look-see at the before view.

After!

Does it look 100x bigger or what?!? 

 Long shot!

A few things to note: I need to get new shams and bedskirt. The old ones are just chilling there for the time being. I also need to style the pillows a bit.. and I need one with some orange to bring in the blanket at the bottom. I know it really pops in these pictures, but it's not as obnoxious when you're actually in the room. 

I put Bedside Table the First on my side of the bed. It's taller, and has two drawers for my junk. I need to change up the doodads over here. They've been the same for a long time.

And here is little Bedside Table the Second. I wish he was a little bit taller (wish he was a baller) to show the mirror underneath, but I'm glad he's the same style as the other. Again, he needs a bit of styling. 

The rug only comes about a foot and a half out on each side, which is fine, but I'm considering finding a couple small patterned rugs to layer on top of this one for each side of the bed.

This bedding may or may not be permanent. I tried about a dozen before I found this one that I was content with. Content, but not in love. I thought I wanted something neutral with a pattern of some sorts, but I brought a couple in here, and it just looked too bland. I liked the colors in this, but not the pattern so much.

The only reason I started using it was because it only cost an awesome TEN DOLLA! On sale at Garden Ridge, yall! It's not the best quality, but it's pretty soft, and has a bit of a shimmer to it that looks lovely with the high gloss stripes. I know I shouldn't skimp on bedding, but between bedside tables, a rug, and life, I didn't want to spend a lot right now (and it was making me cringe to see the old seersucker on there with all the new updates around it). 

I'll be sure to update everyone as I fill in these missing pieces! Before we go, let's have one more look:

Before:

After:

WAPOW!!! 

City Arts Boutique

GUESS WHAT?!?! 

My art is now in a store here in town! 

HOW EXCITING!!!!!!!

It's at City Arts Boutique, which is located in Woodlawn. The exact address is 5528 1st Ave S., so plug it in your GPS and get down there! It's a really neat place. Not only do they have the gallery, they also host art classes! Here is some more info about them from their website, www.cityartsboutique.com: 

"A new concept boutique combining a gallery, shop, and on-site studios. The boutique presents an eclectic mix of art, handmade arts and crafts, unique clothing and jewelry, all created exclusively by local Birmingham artists." 

How cool is that?! I'm so excited to be a part of it! If you want to see what all they have to offer, check out their facebook page here. Brooke is the owner, and she is really nice. I can already tell it's going to be great to be a part of her boutique! 

 My string art, barnwood bamas, and stationery are there! 

There are so many other awesome pieces, so everyone please go check them out! They're open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:30am-3:30pm. 

EEE! 

project gallery

I've had a riveting Saturday night here at the Herring household updating the bloggie! You may have noticed I added a project gallery tab at the top. It was thrown together fairly fast with just links to projects. 

Booorrrrriiiinnngggg. And a bit uninformative. 

Tonight I added some pictures, so now you'll know exactly what project you'll be clicking on! 

WOO!

I'll be updating it as I complete projects.

Enjoy!

ramble on

Now's the time, the time is now! 

It's rambling time, yall. I didn't get the rug or the bedside table upstairs.. DON'T HATE ME! Diesel is already giving me the stink eye for everyone who's not pleased out there.  

I did however clean my room, so it's ready for them. EEE! 

I finished the ginormous book I had been reading. 

It's Under the Dome by Stephen King, and it is a big ol' boy with 1074 pages. It was really good, and then it took a strange turn towards the end. Overall, I liked it a lot. Has anyone else read it? I tend to finish books, and then want to discuss them, soooo anyone? Bueller? 

And I don't mean discuss in a philosophical English class kinda way, more of a "wasn't it weird when this happened?!?" and "i can't believe that guy died that way" and "these vampire books are dumb" (that's not a reference to this book, btw). 

I've read all the series book that have been real popular lately: Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, & Dragon Tattoo, and I must say Harry Potter is still my favorite (then Dragon Tat, HG, and Twilight.. I tend to not like super girly books). 

I also like Southern books. Carl Hiassen has some good ones: Nature Girl and Skinny Dip. Gods in Alabama is good too. One of my top favorites is The Time Traveler's wife, although it's not Southern. My most favorite book is Where the Wild Fern Grows. I read it in fifth grade, and then I reread it when I was in college. Ahhhhh tearjerker (especially if you have 2 pup pups), but so good.

Man, I took a turn to library town! Anyone have any recommendations, because I am ready to start another!

I have moved north in my artwork! My dear sweet friend got me to do a Tennessee string art to give as a gift. The heart is around Sewanee where they went to school.

It was nice switching it up! 

Tomorrow night I'm going to Brewfest here in town. It's an awesome event where you pay around $30, then you get a glass when you walk in the door, and you basically go nuts! There are tons of booths serving beer, and there are also delicious food trucks there as well. DISNEY WORLD FOR ADULTS! 

The rest of the weekend, I'll be getting my room in order.. and hopefully working on the side porch some more.

WOO!