Publisher: Upcycled Treasures

About My name is Katie and I live in Georgia with my super awesome husband, Eric, and we are the faces behind Upcycled Treasures. We moved from Southern California to Atlanta, Georgia a few years ago so that we could be closer to family, and Eric could watch every Falcons game {only half kidding}. eric-katie-upcycledtreasures After 6 amazing years together Eric and I are finally getting finally got hitched on October 19, 2013, yay! Prior to getting engaged I had never opened up a bridal magazine or given much thought to wedding plans, aside from knowing I wanted to get married outdoors. I quickly became obsessed with the wedding world, and enjoyed working on the details of our handcrafted wedding so much I created a wedding blog, A Handcrafted Wedding. katie-eric-wedding-upcycledtreasures Photo Credit: Facing the Lens Photography My goal for this blog has always been to share home and design projects in hopes of inspiring you to get creative. Sure my projects may not be perfect but hey that’s called character, right? Plus I learn from each furniture/craft/wedding project I work on, and am just happy to be back into my creative groove {which I fell out of for quite some time}. I love the transformation of turning something old or thrown away into something beautiful and unique, and It amazes me what a little bit of imagination and elbow grease can create. mason-jar-chandelier-before-and-after I was in a creative “funk” for many years and let life get in the way of spending time doing what I love. I want everyone that visits my blog to know that if I can DIY it, so can you! I hope you will feel inspired to be inventive and create a space that is personal to you through your own projects and personal style. coffee-table-before-and-after-upcycledtreasures Although you may not see him as often, Eric is my rock and has become a bigger part of this blog as well. He enjoys fiddling around in the garage and building us furniture, we otherwise couldn’t afford. When he’s not busy working, watching the Walking Dead or building stuff, he can be found working on his first novel. Yup, he’s amazing! DIY Rustic Industrial Desk - UpcycledTreasures.com DIY Rustic Industrial Desk - UpcycledTreasures.com diy-office-storage-upcycledtreasures The storage shelf he recently built for my new office. Just needs to be stained and have industrial hardware added :) Back in August 2012 I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), otherwise known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), after injuring my wrist during a game of volleyball. CRPS is essentially a nerve disorder that affected my right hand and made it impossible to complete simple tasks such as washing my hair, getting dressed, typing on a computer or driving. Although the doctor’s had told me there was no “cure” or time frame for my hand to start functioning again, I was able to recover (or go into remission as the doctors would call it) in a matter of weeks. I truly believe that it was a combination of treatments that healed me, but that faith and my mind played an integral part in that process as well. I soon realized that life was too short not to be doing what you are passionate about, and I’ve been following a creative path ever since. katie-headshot-upcycledtreasures I decided to share my story, which you can read here, to raise awareness about this disorder and bring hope to others who have been diagnosed with it. I am so grateful for every day that I am able to craft it up, design on my computer, and even peel potatoes because it reminds me of the days when those tasks were impossible. For this reason I have decided to donate 5% of proceeds from any wedding invitation sales to RSDSA (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association) a non-for profit organization to help fund research to find a cure for this terrible disease. I welcome all feedback, comments and tips so thank you for stopping by and joining me on this new chapter in my life! Let’s inspire one another and get creative!