Two Trees and a Tree House

In the two and a half years I have been blogging, I have only featured the homes of friends a few times, but each time, the response has been good.

Most people enjoyed seeing Lisa's house

and Leslie's beach house was a big hit.

Both my house and my life are topsy turvy at the moment - nothing bad, just lots of balls in the air - so I thought today would be a good time to feature another friend.

 Recently, I photographed Michelle's home and creative space.

I met Michelle over 20 years ago when our classrooms were next door to each other.

Nowadays, this is where I usually see Michelle, while we are both walking our dogs.

The front yard of Michelle's little beach cottage is welcoming, but she spends little time sitting there.

Every day when Michelle gets home from school, she goes right to her garage where she has carved out a place to create beautiful jewelry.

I love the story of how Two Trees Jewelry came into existence.

Michelle was going to New York to visit a good friend who had moved away and wanted Michelle to bring her something that would remind her of home.

Two Tree Hill - oil on canvas - Steve Cook 

Two Tree Hill is an iconic feature of Ventura so Michelle created a piece of jewelry for her friend depicting both the ocean and Two Trees- 

and she found herself with a second career- Two Trees Jewelry.

Michelle grew up in the same beach neighborhood where she now lives and says she has been collecting heart shaped rocks and bits of shells her entire life.

She turns those found pieces into unique pieces of jewelry.

She also combines silver with semi precious stones such as lapis lazuli to create beautiful pieces like her popular lotus flower.

In addition to the Lotus flower, Two Trees and a Peace sign are Michelle's top selling pieces.

Michelle found some driftwood on the beach and created a piece to hold her tools.

She is a woman with many talents - she made the TO BEACH sign for herself one Christmas and also for each family on her lane.

I had not planned to take any photos of the interior of Michelle's beach house, but after admiring the stepping stone mosaics she made, Michelle showed me the tiles she created for her kitchen island.

I peeked into the back yard where I found an amazing tree house .

Years ago, when Michelle's children were little, a neighboring family built the 3 story tree house and it still stands today.

I climbed to the top of the treehouse - very carefully - and was rewarded with

views of the the Ventura hills and the Pacific Ocean.

I was shooting right into the sun so this photo does not do Michelle's treetop view justice.

I hope you enjoyed peeking into Michelle's garden

and her creative space.

You can see more of Michelle's work at twotreesjewelry.com.

If you are interested in purchasing anything, let Michelle know you read about her on my blog and she will give a discount.

Good Things Come In Small Packages

I have mentioned multiple times in posts that we live in a little house.

We wouldn't change it for anything.

It may be small, but our bedroom is full of color.

I mix and match the bedding- 

red sheets with blue bandana pillow cases

 blue stripe sheets with red check pillow cases

white sheets with red pillow cases.

The bedskirt, small pillow and curtains are made from a set of  Tommy Hilfiger sheets I found on sale at TJ Maxx.

The painting, "Land of the Lofts"  is a view from JP's loft in downtown Los Angeles.

He no longer lives in the old Pacific Electric Building, but it had great views!

The bookcases came from the study in our former home.

When we moved to the beach, I had no place for the bookcases so we just stored them in the garage.

Horace Mann said, 

“A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them.”

We had no place to put our books anywhere in our house and I hated it.

I felt that our house did not reflect the occupants - avid readers - so I found a place in our bedroom.  

When we changed bedrooms, the bookcases were moved to the hallway, after being painted white.

Now they are at home in our bedroom.

The left bookcase is mine and I have books arranged by color, baskets filled with socks and boxes full of jewelry.

Steve has the right bookcase, but gradually I am encroaching onto his side.

Last summer I hung 3 of my hands from my collection on the wall to hold my necklaces.

They are hanging to the right of the bookcases and I regret hanging them in that spot.

I really like how they look and wish I had hung them in view.

I only see them when I get into bed or when I'm selecting a necklace to wear.

I suppose I could move them, but my guess is that won't happen soon.

I bought this tiered rack at an antique store the day I completed the comprehensive exams for my Masters Degree.

It cost far more than I would normally spend, but I was rewarding myself for accomplishing a goal.

It has moved around from the entryway holding shells to the hallway and then the living room.

Now, my bracelets are constantly on display.

Previously, I used clear glass plates on the rack, but I like the colorful plates and basket.

And, sometimes I actually use it for its intended purpose and display candy or cupcakes on it at parties.

You are probably looking at this photo and wondering why it would be included, but it shows a really important addition to our house.

Several years ago we began a Domino Effect alteration to our house.

In order to put in forced air heating, we needed to go up into the attic which meant installing the pull down attic stairs.

The installation of those stairs is what allows us to live in a small house.

In February, Steve traded a custom painting for the completion of our attic which means we now have the full floor plan of our little cottage available over our heads.

One of my summer projects is to completely organize the attic.

Our entire cottage, and especially our bedroom, is tiny, 

but we think good things come in small packages.

....................................... 

I  am linked up at

Knick of Time Vintage Style

and

My Romantic Home

Show and Tell Friday.