Art & Design of Kelli Murray

A new illustration and a quote to inspire….

“We are the silver lining in any and every dark cloud we could ever find.  There is no need to go looking for the light when you bring it with you.”  - Tyler Knott Gregson

Be brave and shine.

Confession:  I spend way too much time “window” shopping online for clothes for Rylee.  I mean, way too much time!  Far longer than I spend shopping for myself.  Pinterest is much to blame.  Darn you pinterest.  I love you and I hate you.  It is one place I know I can go to instantly find heaps of inspiration, but it also has a way of distracting me from my own tasks, sending me on a never ending internet spiral.  Sometimes even leaving me with a twinge of jealousy.  That’s totally on me, but can you relate?  Anyway,  it’s mostly the best thing ever…but sometimes I have to stay away.   I first started with Pinterest when I was just about ready to give birth to Rylee and I wanted a place to file all of the websites for clothes I was finding.  It was like a dream invention that came just in time! haha.  And still today, baby clothes are one of my favorite things to pin.  Everything is 10X cuter mini, right?  To make the most of this unhealthy obsession, I thought it would be fun to dedicate a column, Mini&Me, to some of my favorite fashion finds….both big and small!

ME –  Bella Polka Dot Sweater  /  The Chelsea Boot  /  Blanche in the Brambles Bunny Tail Scarf  /  ASOS Rib Fold Over Collar Wool Coat

MINI – Mini Rodini Bunny Sweatshirt  /  Casual Leather Boot  /  Oeuf Neckie  /  Le Capelet

 Photos by Erica Schneider

 Wearing : Free People Faux Leather Trim Skinny Jeans  //  Creme De La Creme Tank - Zoe Karrsen

//  Plaid Shirt - Urban Outfitters - similar  //  Two Buckle Booties - Anthropologie

//  Felt Hat - Cotton On  // Necklace + Bracelet- Curious Creatures

This little scoundrel wanted in on our photo shoot, so we happily obliged and snapped a few mug shots.  How cute is he?   Too bad I didn’t have a cat flannel or something to style on him (i kid…kind of).  Well, just as I was thinking fall had officially arrived, in came another heat wave.  So out came the bathing suits and sunscreen again…..I know, rough life right?  But I am so ready for the cold!  We’ve been trying to celebrate the spirit of fall despite the heat.  Pumpkin patches,  apple cider, decorating the house,  and most importantly….pulling out our fall wardrobes.  (all the important things right? ha!)  I am a lover of layers, but right now, the weather doesn’t call for it.  So tank tops it is.  Especially this one by Zoe Karrsen.  And have I mentioned these boots?  I think I will wear them everyday when the weather cools down.  

E V E R Y S I N G L E D A Y.

Have a super weekend!

I’ve never been too much of a modern girl when it comes to home decor.  But lately, I’ve been loving all of the stark white rooms I’ve been seeing, with touches of modern decor mixed with vintage.  Just check out AMM if you don’t know what I’m talking about.  I am still slowly working on adding pieces to my office, and next on the list is a desk chair.  This is where I feel like my style totally leans to modern.  I’m on the hunt for the perfect one to match the style of my office (going for something like this or this).  These are a few I had my eye on.

1.  Modernica Prince Charles Side Shell Chair – This one might be my favorite.  Modern meets classic.  Just my style….but it comes with a price tag!  2.  Marais Arm Chair / Wood Seat - Maybe more practical for dining, but I think this chair would look pretty great in an all white workroom  3.  Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair by Herman Miller - Who doesn’t love an Eames chair?  I love this Aqua color.  I did some further hunting and found a handful of replica Eames chairs for cheaper:  here / here / here + a kids size!  But who knows the quality  4.  School Chair by STYLEGARAGE  5.  Eames Molded Plastic Arm Chair with Wood Dowel Base / replica  6.  Original Cherner Side Chair or the replica

What would you choose!?

Rylee is growing like a weed these days.  She has grown out most of her clothes and a major shopping spree is in order!  But before beginning the hunt, I wanted to take a stab at making a few cute tees for her on my own.  I had bookmarked this post forever ago and have always wanted to try something similar.  I went to the fabric store and I bought some fine jersey cotton fabric (t-shirt fabric), and a bleach pen from the grocery store.  Literally, that’s all you need for this DIY!  I am not going to go in detail about how I created the fringe tank and tee….because it was a lot of guesswork. But the obvious thing to note here is the fringe, and how you create that is kind of self explanatory.  An even easier route would be to just use an existing plain black tee and fringing the bottom, but it’s not quite the same!

So now is the fun part.  Before you start with your bleach pen, make sure you put a piece of wax paper or cardboard in between your top so that the bleach doesn’t leek onto the back of the shirt.  In true form, I decided to go with cats for our graphic theme (shocker, huh?)  Depending on your design, you can use either the thick side of the pen or the thin side.  Leave on the bleach for about 25 minutes or so.  The longer you leave it on the lighter it will be.  The bleach pen bleeds a little bit (or it did with me at least)  but I didn’t mind that effect.  After the 25 minutes are up, wash out all the bleach and toss it in the washer and dryer.

For the tee with the cat silhouette, after I washed and dried it,  I used a black paint pen to go over my design and add in the eyes, nose and whiskers.  For the tank top, I only used the bleach pen.

And here’s my lil model…terribly hard to get her to stand still these days!

You can see how the tank fits in this post.

Hope you have fun with this one!  I’m envisioning some cute halloween costumes that could come out of this too!