Lilac Creative

Okay, so there is a limit to my creative abilities: interior decorating. Oh, and cooking. I'm absolutely rubbish at both. When it comes to interior decorating, I feel completely overwhelmed. Designing anything larger than a computer screen seems daunting to me. Plus, add in the whole 3rd dimension and...well, I'm just hopeless. My walls are white, with sporadically placed mis-matched wall hangings. It never really bothers me, but when it comes to M's room, I do feel a tinge of guilt. Every little girl should have a little-girl room, right? Unfortunately, renting doesn't leave you with many options for decorating. Painting's out. So is wallpaper, not that I'd ever want to attempt that. So, what's left?

Well, a trip to the paint and hardware section of Walmart  turned up a decent selection of removable wall decals with matching borders. M had her choice of Disney princesses, Tinkerbell & friends, or brightly colored butterflies, ladybugs and dragonflies. She chose the bugs ("Butterflies are my favorite, Mama!" she said--and it's true). We got them home, and about a half-hour's work produced this:

The decals feel like they're made out of the same stuff as contact paper, and it pulls up pretty easily if you need to reposition something. She is obviously thrilled with the result, and the decals she chose matched the quilt my mom made for her when she was a baby (I love that quilt). Not too shabby for someone as interior-decorating-impared as me!

I love to customize and personlize everything; I always have (and it's a big reason I got into web design in the first place). If it's paper, I doodle on it. If it's wood, I paint it. If it's electronics, I look for unique skins or cases. When I got my very first Mac earlier this year, I Googled skins for Macs, which brought up and endless array of skins and decals. But one of the things I loved about my MacBook Pro was it's simple, sleek silver case, and I was reluctant to cover that up entirely (as most of the skins I found would have done). And then I came across Gabby and Tal's shop on Etsy. I immediately fell in love with Gabby's graphics, especially the organic swirls of her Flora decal for Macs (or any other computer/size you specify). I ordered it and then spent two weeks stalking my mailman (Gabby and Tal are in Tel Aviv, so shipping to the States takes a while). I was SO excited when this finally arrived the other day:

I LOVED the super cute packaging, and the hand-written note (personal touches like that give me warm fuzzies)! I just had to photo it. Then I busted out my decal, and followed the application instructions. Just like they said, it was SUPER easy to apply, and how stellar does this look?!

And what's more, she sent along a couple of mini extras that I applied to the inside of my Mac:

Conclusion: My Mac is now customized in a way that is totally me, all thanks to Gabby's awesome decals! If you're looking for a cool way to dress up your Mac (or your toilet or stockings, for that matter) or you're into cool & unique silver jewelry, check out Gabby & Tal on Etsy! Awesome designs from people who love what they do!

About once a year, we make a pilgrimage back to my place of origin (the Detroit area) to visit with the ‘rents and the sibs (and the nieces).  This year we knew it would be in May, but we weren’t sure when (it depended on some business-related things for my husband), and ultimately we decided about a week ago, that we were making the trip this week.  Not a lot of planning time!  So, I apologize if you’ve tried to contact me over the weekend and haven’t heard back from me yet.  My weekend was eaten up by traveling and Mother’s day-type activities, and I’m just now getting caught up with emails (while still working on the projects I have going right now).

More big news for me, it was a serendipitous time for us to make a visit, because my brother’s wife had her baby today!  So, I get to see my brand new nephew RIGHT after he was born (instead of seeing him for the first time when he’s 3 or 6 months old, as happened with his two older sisters)!  I am so excited!

So, please bear with me as I work “on the road” for a week!  I am accessible by email now, and I’m still on schedule with all current projects, so if you have proofs or other deliverables due this week, you can expect them to arrive on time!  If you sent me an inquiry this weekend, expect to hear from me within the next day or two!