Green

Color Inspiration: Strawberry Fields

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courtney khail color inspiration strawberry fields

strawberries via tiny white daisy tumblr, open sign via personal collection, tent via party perfect

To me, strawberries are synonymous with summertime-and paired with crisp white and grass green nothing is more nostalgic. Makes me want to nap in a hammock, eat grilled corn on the cob and catch fireflies. Can you tell I was raised in the South? I would have added something about being barefoot, but that would just leave the door wide open for the jokes...

Happy first official day of summer!

color inspiration: rosemary and lemonade

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benches via mustard and sage, Popsicles via oh happy day, books via whichgoose

I love this color combination! It's refreshing and crisp and clean and kind of reminds me of warm summer mornings in Italy. Normally I wouldn't mix green and yellow together, but since they are so muted they work together perfectly. Speaking of Italy, there was this one park in particular where they would screen a different American movie each week of the summer and the chairs were painted this exact green. They were so perfectly worn and beautiful with their different layers of paint poking through.

color inspiration: coffee, parchment, and velvet

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pencil sharpener photograph via Jen Causey's blog Simply Photo, typewriter keys via peonies and polaroids,the pinwheels photo has been on my desktop for forever, but I've never been able to find where it's from. Could one of you please help me so I can give credit where it's due?

Unlike most people I know, I really loved school. (And I actually mean the school part of it.) Of course, my education was definitely unique so that may be why I have such fond memories of it. I spent 5th through 12th grade at a fine arts magnet school where at any time during the day you could wander around and hear the jazz band, watch dancers practice choreographed routines, see kids painting or throwing pots, etc. Once I got to college, I studied scientific illustration and even though I did have science classes (which was actually where I met my husband), most of my days (and many a week day nights) were spent in the studio joking around with my friends.

Those uncomfortable metal stools with the wooden top?  Always reminds me of critiques (and never being able to get comfortable.) Pencil sharpeners? I can already smell the graphite and wood shavings. And no whenever I see a can of white paint, I'm always reminded of the final days of a show when you've taken all the work down and are repainting and repairing the walls for the next one.

While most people I know tried everything to get out of school, I always felt like it was part of me and that I was part of a long line of artists who studied there before me. So when I found Jen Causey's photograph of an old pencil sharpener, I was immediately reminded of studio days in college and knew I wanted to do a board around it. This one in particular reminds me of old wooden floors that creak as you walk across them, parchment and tracing paper scattered across tables, natural light streaming through old glass panes, and the smell of coffee (and quite possibly whiskey from the night before) that was forever lingering in the air. (If you'd like to see our old building, you can view it here.)

And for anyone wondering where the velvet comes in- blame it on elementary school. Anytime I think of velvet I think of a deep green and am reminded of the super heavy stage curtains that framed the little stage in our cafeteria. (Of course those were red I think, so who knows why green comes to mind....)

Color Inspiration: lemon, watermelon and lime sorbet

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my kind of ferris wheel via moS.nap flickr, popsicles via oh happy day, and cotton candy via martha stewart

For the past few days it's been warm(er) in Atlanta and because of this I've been tricked into thinking spring is coming. (Keyword, tricked. "Oh! Look! It's 70 degrees today. Must be time to break out my sandals." No, Courtney. It's still February. Put away the cotton dresses and opt for jeans. Because while it's 70 right now, by 7pm tonight it's going to be cold and you will look ridiculous. This is hypothetical of course. I wasn't wearing a dress.)

Anyhow, even if I can't rotate my closet yet, I can dream about warmer, sunshine filled days. Hence the super cheery color inspiration today. And color names that revolve around sorbet; a treat most of us only eat when it's hot outside and we are in bikini's and therefore cannot justify eating the chocolate cake. How fun are these colors? (that was my attempt to not go on a "how much I dislike trying on bikini's" tangent.) Reminds me of what I always wished fairs were. Bright, retro pastel colors, crisp, fresh air, and yummy treats like tart Popsicles and sugary cotton candy. Unfortunately, fairs are not like this at all (hence why I don't go to fairs. Well that and the whole motion sickness thing.) Instead of being sweet nostalgic events, today fairs are normally smelly and filled with loud noises, jarring colors, and "treats" like deep fried oreos and other "please tell me people don't really eat that" options. Of course, those images do not make for a beautiful color inspiration board so I'll use my dream version instead (because it's better.)

color inspiration: fire, nylon, and other campfirey colors

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tent photo via you are my fave, mason jar candle holders via east side bride, awesome red lamps via an apple a day

Hmm. Maybe I got a little too excited with the title today. Eh, whatever. Sounds better than red, blue, green and yellow, right?

So camping has been on our minds a lot lately (counting down/preparing for the road trip this summer) and as we wander around REI and peruse online gear sights I slowly found myself falling for the slightly kitschy, overly saturated colors of camping. You know the ones- the hunter greens, the navy blues, the marigolds, the deep reds. (If you're having a hard time imagining, just open an L.L. Bean catalog.) Combine those with the glowing embers of a campfire, the all encompassing darkness just outside of your lantern's reach, and the jewel like glow given off by a tent that's lit from within and I'm in love.

There's just something so peaceful and enchanting about being alone in the woods. (And by alone I mean with at least one other person, a car within 20 miles, and my kindle. I'm not trying to pull an into the wild* "die by myself because I wasn't prepared moment" here.)

Color Inspiration: molasses, parchment and slate

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martha stewart caramels via ritzybee, landscape via wishfulfillment, dress photo via anna williams (found on city sage)

The snow here is still holding on tight (and by tight I mean it's turned to ice that even the DOT is having a hard time combating) so everything still has a beautiful stillness to it. (If you ignore the people who for some reason think their summer tires are good enough and that by living in Atlanta they somehow have mastered driving in snow. Come on people, you're not impressing anyone and kind of look like a jerk as you spin out and put others lives in danger. Okay, back to the point.)

So when I was coming up with today's color inspiration I wanted something warm and calming. We've had a fire burning pretty much constantly for the past few days and after it's out and we're heading to bed the charred wood has a beautiful slate green grey covering it. I decided to take that color (which impressively is the same color as a field covered with a frozen morning dew) and combine it with a luxurious chocolate brown (oh my gosh that dress is phenomenal) and the color of the parchment that covers homemade caramels (or homemade cookies as in my case) and this is what evolved. (I can almost hear the crunch of the thin ice under my boots and smell the wood burning.)

Stay warm everyone!