About Me
Hey there! I'm Adrienne.
Nice to meet ya! I created Byrd Nest Studio because I love to create and come up with unique home DIYs and love to share my life experiences. I am a total visual and hands-on person and firmly believe most people learn by doing. Most of the time I’m a messy learner and things aren’t so Pinterest-perfect, but I enjoy the journey of being creative and hope you’ll follow along with me.
My life right now
I’m a mother of two beautiful kids, Sidney (15) and Evan (12). I’ve been married to my husband, Johnny, since 2003. We live in Tennessee and currently have 2 cats and a dog. Johnny and I are just regular folks working our full-time corporate jobs during the day and at night and on the weekends, we enjoy hanging out with the kids (A.K.A running errands and being a taxi service for our kids), sitting outside next to our fire pit, drinking wine and beer, while watching a movie on our outdoor movie screen. In 2013 we bought a fixer-upper house in a very nice wooded neighborhood, for a fantastic price and we have slowly been remodeling and revamping it on our own. We love to DIY as much as we can to save money and to be able to say this is real sweat equity!
My Day-Time Gig
During the day, I work as a digital designer creating website landing pages, social media graphics, animations and general graphic design. I adore my job because I get to be creative on the computer. But there’s just something about stepping away from the computer and doing some analog work with your hands!
When I’m not helping with homework, being a taxi service, drinking wine by the fire pit or working all day, I love to be creative in other ways that don’t involve a computer. I have to keep my hands and mind occupied by something all the time. Even if I’m catching up on my Netflix shows, I have a crochet hook and a ball of yarn in my hands. When the mood strikes, I’ll pick up a paint brush and a canvas and paint something while listening to Sia, Ray LaMontagne, or even Aerosmith, depending on my mood. I love building things and working with power tools and I really get excited when I figure out that I can repurpose something and turn it into something new, especially on the cheap!
My Paintings
My background
I was born in Memphis, TN in 1977. When I was two, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and was treated at the famous St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. I made a full recovery and have been cancer free for more than 40 years now. St. Jude is an amazing place and treats kids for free with no cost for treatment, housing, food or travel. I encourage you to donate or take a virtual tour of this amazing place that saved my life and gave my parents hope, so long ago.
Because of my chemotherapy treatment, I struggled a lot in school with reading and math. I had to repeat the 4th grade and had to go to a remedial school to help me. One thing I found that I enjoyed and never got frustrated with was art. It was the one area in my life I felt I had control over and it was pure joy. I also enjoyed building things and figuring out how things worked. I played with legos and built elaborate house layouts. Later, I would start drawing house plans of my dream house. I would wake up Saturday mornings as a teenager and watch This Old House on PBS. I took art classes and loved to paint and draw. I loved making Barbie doll clothes with any scrap fabric I could find.
When I finished high school, I started college as an architecture major and loved it–until I got to calculus and decided, this wasn’t for me. My dad suggested graphic design because he knew I loved art and computers were becoming the biggest thing and I could actually make money and not be a starving artist. My dad passed away in 1998 and the next year, I changed my major to graphic design. I graduated with honors and have not looked back. Throughout my adult life, I have continued to create in some way or another, from making my daughter’s first birthday dress, to building a swing pergola in our backyard all by myself. I’m not afraid to get in there and just do it. Who cares if it’s not perfect! It’s mine and I made it!
My mother loved art too, and my grandfather was a carpenter, so I guess I got my hands-on creativity from them. My mom taught me how to sew and how to crochet. I really got into crocheting a few years ago when I picked it back up and taught myself more and how to read patterns. My mother passed away in 2018, but I know she’d be so proud of me and all I create.
Byrd Nest Studio origins
My maiden name is Byrd. I wanted to honor my childhood and my parents who always encouraged me to do what makes me happy and encourage my art and creativity. I am completely obsessed with birds and have them all over my house. They are my symbol.
I added Nest in the name because my studio is at home and most of my projects are for the home and lifestyle. I enjoy crocheting and textile projects, so I always think a ball of yarn looks like a nest, as you can see in my logo.
Here we go…
I hope I can inspire you to be creative and look forward to showing you my DIYs and sharing my journey with you. I hope you find my site useful and inspiring and hope you will share your creations with me, as we have a lot of learn from each other.
All the best,
