Road Trip With Remnant

Postcards~ Wish You Were Here!

The Oregon Coast {Tip To Toe}

Dear Readers~

It seems like it has been weeks since I've had WIFI and even now I'm sitting once again in a Starbucks, this time in Oceanside, California.

We have been traveling in our beloved motorhome, also known as Cozy Lodge, since February 7th. We started from our home which only about 65 miles from the Canadian Border to San Diego County in California. In case you don't know, San Diego is the last large city before our border with Mexico!

I have really wanted to share snapshots of the Oregon Coast and hopefully entice you to visit this beautiful state. But it's really hard to create a quality blog post on a cell phone with spotty internet. 

Most of what you'll find here today is a melange of seascapes. But I do want to give a shout out to the Atomic Motel in Astoria, Oregon. The Atomic is a well-done Mid Century-themed motel on Highway 101. It is a short distance from the downtown area (which is working hard at a great comeback). The motel was very clean and quiet, and the staff was great!

Astoria is the first city south of the Washington State border. It's a really funky small city that successfully blends industry, such as timber and fishing, with tourism. Astoria has a variety of boutiques and eateries, along with great coffee, antiques, and recycle shops. I hope to return this summer when the weather is sunnier and I have time to explore in more depth.

Now for a pictorial overview of our drive~

The beaches are very pretty. Some are white and sandy and some are covered with drift. Others, like above, have native grasses dotting the shore.

Of course, Oregon is known for its sea stacks. I could devote an entire post to pictures of these monoliths, but after driving the entire coastline I began to feel that if you've seen one you've seen them all.

I am not suggesting that they are not impressive, and certainly, some are more remarkable than others.

Oregon is experiencing a warmer than normal winter and Spring has sprung very early.

To be sure, Oregon has amazing coffee. Stumptown, a nickname for Portland, is among the best and the best-known roasters. They are large enough to be well recognized but small enough to still be considered hand-crafted.

The ocean never ceases to inspire awe.

And if you love bridges, Oregon's inventory will delight you!

And I could spend a lifetime visiting and photographing lighthouses, such as Aquina.

And to be sure, you can't have the beach without beach combers, right?

Are you inspired yet? The Oregon Coastal drive is a trip of a lifetime!

Thank you for rolling along with Remnant. We're headed to Arizona in a few days, and as I understand it, we will have access to strong WIFI. You never know how much you depend on it until you don't have it. 

Please return soon for more armchair travel. Until we meet again, I wish you sunny days as you await spring.

~Dana

Valentine Decor Inspiration

Rethinking The Color Palette.

From The Project File~

Hello again friends! I spoke in my last post about the decor challenges associated with traditional Valentine pink, and I explained that although I do like the color pink it is just not a good fit with my predominately neutral decor. 

Although I haven't gone overboard with decorations, I do have some fresh ideas to share, beginning with my Valentine Tree.

Along with my dear friend Laurie (bless her creative soul), I foraged for red twig dogwood a few weeks ago, on probably one of the coldest and windiest days so far this winter. However, with Starbucks all things are possible, right? Our excursion was delightful and our mission accomplished.

The twigs are set on a floral frog in a vintage pitcher from England, the one you've seen in so many of my posts because I use it for everything. The twigs are just such a naturally rustic red, and they are arranged very artfully because Laurie did it for me. Aren't you proud of my honesty? Truly, floral arranging is just not my thing. I would like to be good at it but I don't try hard enough and I'm just not patient.

The red twigs are accented with my handmade tags. I tried to think of many familiar love phrases and song titles to accent the tags and I also asked for Larry's suggestions. We had fun reminiscing about music of yesteryear. When I finished crafting them I hung them on the tree with hemp twine. I tried several other ideas such as jute twine and various ribbons and trims, but ribbon is really too frilly. The narrow hemp was definitely the best choice.

Here are some close-ups~

The tree by no means screams pink and red, but rather is a graceful fit in our little house. What do you think? Is this something you could try? If you don't have red twigs, use whatever you can find~ willow, birch, forsythia are just a few examples.

With Larry's help I also created this little piece of artwork~

I think it is subtle enough to leave on the mantle all winter.

My dining table centerpiece is somewhat of departure from rustic, although still neutral. I thought maybe on the table I could get away with a bit of white icing so to speak. However, when I finished making all these pretty flowers, which were indeed a huge time investment, I decided although they inspire romance, the overall look is a bit too wedding-like. Really though, anything handmade is an expression of love, and I know Larry recognizes this. And after all, why not feel like a bride on Valentines Day?

And as a finishing touch I added place cards because I think place cards are a refined addition to any table setting and I fell like they are a demonstration of thoughtfulness.

Thank you for looking at all of my photos. I hope I have moved you toward creativity in your own home this month. If you would like some additional inspiration I encourage you to visit Botanic Bleu. Click on the link and avail yourself of the loveliness created by my blog friend Judith.

Remnant is once again on the road. I will be sharing our travel photos as we make our way down the coast of Oregon and California on our way to San Diego. So visit again soon!

Hugs,

Linked this week to~
French Country Cottage

Valentine Decor

Waiting For Spring.

From The Project File~

Something about Valentines Day makes me feel spring is just around the corner. Our local grocery store is already selling cut daffodils and tulips at the entrance, luring shoppers to the floral department. Flowers trick us into believing that months of gloom are behind us; sort of like everything's coming up roses (or crocus, or maybe hyacinth). Flowering bulbs are a harbinger of sunshine and brighter weather. The trick works, for me anyway. There's no better antidote to emotional fog than a vase of freshly cut tulips; white ones of course.

Retailers have stashed away the reds and evergreens for another year and replaced them with various shades of pink. Hearts are in windows, conversations are on candy, and countless numbers of greetings, professions of true love, dominate the shelves of the seasonal merchandise aisles.

Does this count as a Valentine?

I like Valentines Day in theory. I value the sentiment and as you would expect, I like having a reason to craft decorative touches for our home. Decorating with hearts and such does have some inherent challenges though. I don't like to sell out to "cutesy" and I'm not a real fan of pink in this particular house, given that I am a neutrals enthusiast.  

Because I'm prone to wander, I have to detour for a moment. We never really talked about Christmas, other than a bit of chat about the RV and all the signs I painted. We had a beautiful Christmas celebrated with our only child, John. I am the first to admit that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but I have to say that the gift to me of a Cricut Maker (from Larry and John) was nothing short of thrilling and a true blessing. Well, Larry and John are the blessing of course, but oh my gosh, how indulged I am to have this cutting machine! It has and will continue to propel my creativity to new heights.

Here is my first project with the new Cricut~

We have had this hanging in the kitchen for many years, although I photographed it in a brighter spot. It is an old kitchen cupboard door that some clever crafter converted to a chalkboard. It was very pink when I bought it, but I loved it anyway. When I got it home I whitewashed it. I left some of the pink because I didn't want to paint over all of the door's history. Then we added the hooks, which make the chalkboard very functional as a message center and a key rack.

With my new machine, I was able to create and cut a vinyl stencil. I applied the stencil to the chalkboard and used a dry brush technique to paint the words, It's so good to be home. It is supposed to look like I hand lettered it with chalk. I hope it does.

This idea was inspired by a project I saw on the Cricut website. I did not create the image, it was premade and legally available to use. But I did teach myself how to manipulate the image, cut it as a stencil and transfer the stencil to the chalkboard. Although it took me the better part of a day, start to finish, I was and am proud of this result. It was quite a zealous undertaking as a first project.

So, in actuality, I do have a touch of pink in the house. Once a year, in February, I hang this LOVE ornament. It's a comfortable fit. And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm revealing to you this very pink wall hanging that is atop the chalkboard year round~

I made this for Larry many, many years ago when we lived in a historic house in small-town MidAmerica. That was house pink-appropriate. Some houses just are.

Despite the frilliness of my little cross stitched sentiment, it's important to me to have it on the wall. But this is just about the extent of pastels in my house.

I have a few more fun Valentine projects to share with you soon. Plan a return trip to Remnant for a little DIY inspiration. If you are interested, you can learn a little more about Cricut and the Cricut Maker by clicking on a link I've included in this post.

Thank you for dropping by.

       ~Dana