bywhitney

I am an American living in Ireland. I love to craft, and since moving to Ireland, Ive been inspired to craft even more! Im very drawn to the beach, and all things nautical by nature. The Irish Coast is amazing, and so beautiful. While the beach is my favorite type of place to be, I also love to be wherever my friends and family are. Family is the most important thing to me!

I have a dog named Pia, and she is my 7yr old 5lb ball of fluffy Chihuahua love! I got her when she was just 10months old, and when I was only 18! I took her to all my college classes, she is so good. Her actual nickname in our family is literally "Best Dog Ever", because thats just what she is, plain & simple! She doesnt bark or yip like most small dogs will, except at strange men. She knows 2 tricks: Speak & Do A Twirl. When she "speaks", its this adorable little "woo-woo-woo!" howl, and she'll do it for any tasty bit of food! Do a twirl is exactly what it sounds like: she gets on her hind feet & twirls! Shes the best dog ever.

We will soon be adding a tabby seal-point Persian kitten to our family! Pretty excited to get him to our house! Hes only little right now, but when he is old enough we will be able to bring him home!

Me & my husband love to travel, and have been fortunate enough to be doing a lot of it so far! Because we live in Ireland, we are so close to the rest of Europe, and are able to travel to a different country once every month! I love travel-related things, and LOVE to collect a special nic-nac from each new country we visit. Our little mantle collection is growing better every month! Our most recent addition: a bronze Big Ben!

I tend to read a LOT of books! I frequent our local second-hand book store quite often, usually once a week just to see the new goods! Im into Sci-Fi & Fantasy the most, and sometimes historical fiction. My all-time favorite authors are definitely Anne Rice & Steven King. Having said that though, theres always a rush in finding an un-heard of book & it turning out to be one of the best books youve ever read!

Ive been collecting Unicorn books from about the age of 7. I have most of Bruce Coville's. My favorite Unicorn book of ALL time is of course, "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle. I would SO die if I ever found a first edition of this book! Die!

I also collect early edition Kiplings & Dickens, and have a nice row of them on my bookshelf! I once came upon an entire SET of early Kiplings, and bought them all at once! I have early editions of some childhood classics too, like "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Robin Hood".

(rant alert!) I LOVE to collect children's books with gorgeous illustration. Im so against ugly art for children's books, movies, and tv. In my opinion, cartoons used to be aimed at children but were still thought-out and beautiful. Take the old Disney classic "Sleeping Beauty", for example and TELL me its not a complete work of art that belongs in a museum! Every frame of it! Now look at modern cartoon art, like "Ed, Edd & Eddie" to name one. Is it art? Ok sure its someone's art. But come on, even "Tom & Jerry" was a beautiful masterpiece compared to today's version of art aimed at kids.

That is why I collect children's books that have REAL art in them. Pages filled with illustration that knocks my socks off! The books I find that fit this are sometimes very old, sometimes brand new, but they all speak to me!

My favorite craft supply in the world is paper! Printed, plain, textured, flat, new, old, see-thru, hand-made, or store-bought! Paper is the best thing ever, and I tend to hoard it a little bit...I want to branch out & try new crafty projects, like sewing or collage art. I recently joined a different local swap where we all made 20 paper beads. That was a really great use of my pretty paper collection that I had never thought of before!

I really love to paint & draw, too. I dont do anything with the finished pieces, except hang a few up. I find drawing extremely relaxing. My drawings are usually based on still life, or photographs, and are just black & white and as close to the still life as possible. My most recent one is a rabbit skull, because I loved the natural shadows created by the eye sockets. I dont think Im particularly morbid, but I like the things that are generally macabre & darkly romantic.

I do like to paint when I have a feeling that writing cant convey. Sometimes only a big splash of color will do where words cannot. I sometimes feel like I cant paint, because Ive never seen a canvas big enough for me! I feel like the smaller the paper or canvas is, the more trapped I feel by it.

Like with books, I tend toward Sci-Fi movies. Also high on the list are suspenseful, dark comedies, hero dramas (cops, firefighters, etc), war-themed, and apocalyptic. Comedies & rom-com movies just dont do it for me for some reason. Having said that, I love to go to the movies every chance I get, no matter what the movie is! Id prefer something I like, but Ill sit happily thru something lame too. BUT! I will not see movies twice. I just cannot sit thru a movie Ive seen before, its painful. I think I hate to know the end!

Breakfast to me is a lovely hot french-pressed cuppa joe; with Bailey's or Kahlua if Im feeling cheeky! If Im out though, I usually get a large cappuccino. I like cappuccinos so much, that I named my hamster after them! (RIP Cappy)

In a true American spirit, I have a light lunch & a heavy dinner. And what a glorious thing dinner is, I hop you agree! Im not picky, we eat everything in this house. Favorite food in the world is hamburgers though. We pride ourselves in making the best hamburgers from scratch, starting with fresh Irish beef! What goes into them after that though, changes as often as the sun changes places with the moon.

I also love to make myself a delicious fruit smoothie! My favorite smoothie has bananas, strawberries, peanut butter, vanilla yogurt, milk, and a scoop of instant oats. Try it, youll be in love!

Im not a HUGE sweets fan, and try not to eat it unless for a special occasion (or if we go to the movies!). But when I have some, I do love dark chocolate! I also like gummy candy, sour candy, mallow-gummies, and the soft gummies with the white soft stuff on the bottom. Gummy stuff in general I guess! I like truffles, and the best chocolate truffle Ive ever had was in Belgium! No beating it!!

Favorite animals: Dogs, horses, unicorns, finches

Favorite flowers: Peonies! Hydrangeas & Wildflowers

Favorite colors: Dove Grey! Also peacock blues, peony pinks, washed-out yellows, watermelon-oranges, sandy tans, and the brightest of whites

Favorite prints: Stripes, Nautical, Chevron, Toile, Ikat, Agate, Navajo/Tribal, & Florals

Favorite scents: Vanilla, Apple, & Cinnamon

Greatest wish: To travel the world!

Self described style: Weird. Organic. Minimalistic. Cluttered. It really depends on what room we are talking about! See my Pinterest account for my style room by room!