Pin it, Clip it, Tack it, Tie it

Oh how we love a good inspiration board! 

Many people use an inspiration board to jump start their creativity.  These little works of art are collages or compositions that help you cultivate your design on whatever project you might be working on, whether it be a wedding, a room makeover, art project or whatever.  Using an inspiration board this way is a great way to visualize your project and explore your options.

Those inspiration boards are great but, I actually love a collection of items that their only requirement is that I love them and they make me happy.  I love to have a place that you only have to pin it, clip it or slip it in for it to be welcomed to the group, where no elaborate framing or thought is required.  A collection that can include photos, quotes, cards, fabrics and trims, favorite papers, found objects, ephemera and any other items that I have taken a fancy to.

I have found some fabulous examples and whether you call it a bulletin board, pin board, memo board or inspiration board, it’s all about the same thing.  If you don't have a place to group your favorite things, here's a few ideas:

Several of these ideas start with a frame.....this one - large and ornate and a fabric covered background.  Love that it is big enough to attach another framed picture inside.

From Brooklyn Limestone - Start with a frame and insert radiator grill material in center.  Get instructions here.

Love the simplicity of wire wrapped around a nail, and hanging items on the wire.

Great frame color.....Cut foam core to fit inside frame and decoupage the foam core with your favorite music and ephemera.  Push pins made with old jewelry or buttons glued to large thumb tacks.

My entry - family photos clipped to chicken wire, with sewing machine drawer that acts as a shelf and ledge. 

Magnetic map board....of course we love anything with a map - By Apartment Therapy

This was a display I did several years ago in the 7g booth.  (sorry, not the greatest photo) We covered pieces of chipboard with brown kraft paper, tied it with string and applied sealing wax over the string.  The pieces were then randomly attached to the foam core I put inside the frame.  The display was all about the cards and the waxed seals.  The string made it possible to tuck a card here and there onto the string.  Loved the original idea that came from an Anthropologie display.

 So cute!! - Tuck letters, photo and postcards into the louvers of the shutter.

 We have used a bed frame often in the 7g booth.  Easy to hang and great to clip things to.

This bed frame is by Funky Junk Interiors - find out how they did it here.

 I have always loved anything wire.  This one by Vintage Rose Bracket

 Great mini board out of embroidery hoops from Houzz.  Choose several sizes, cut a piece of foam core to fit inside each hoop.  Clip fabric into hoop and trim off excess.

 To make these pin boards start with an inexpensive bulletin board and turn it into a great home decor piece....see how here.

Start with a great piece of wood!

 This is made from the end of a day bed (turned upside down).  Cool idea from Design Sponge.

 Pottery Barn....makes you want to go out and get some paint samples

Pottery Barn

 .... more Pottery Barn

 ....and still more Pottery Barn, this one is my favorite....just haven't been able to make the splurge....love it!

My favorite part is how they used a rolling pin to hold the twine.

Love the size and that it includes the clock.

 Very clever - from Mamie Jane's.  She made this from a vintage wood slaw cutter.  Instructions here.

 Cover a group of clipboard with coordinating paper and instant display.....by Martha, instructions here.

 I love that they made this from 4 sticks and some twill tape.

 This is so simple....get this one from Ballard Designs .....Or make your own.

Cover a piece of sheet metal with decorative paper.  Drill holes and attach ribbon.  

 Feed Sack memo board by Wisteria

Whew....that's a lot of inspiration!          

Now it's your turn.  

We would love to see your inspiration boards!  Don't be shy, you're among friends.... just snap a quick photo and email it to us.  We will share them on Friday....so send it soon!

deb  

High Flying

Trapeze anyone?  Really, like the kind in the circus.  Just a stones throw away from my house is a real honest to goodness trapeze school.  Sometimes when I have driven by they are out swinging away.     The founder Dylan Phillips spent the last eleven years traveling all over the world performing and with his partner Brian Lazarus decided to start -

Trapeze U - An Institute of 'Higher' Learning

Check out their website here.

They have a variety of classes that range from:

$20 - Fly By (a climb up the ladder and one chance to fly) to $65 - Trapeze 101 (2 hour class)

If the shot was panned out a bit more you could almost see my house from here!

Not everyone has a trapeze school in their backyard.....so if you are ever in the area be sure to let me know, cause I want to come watch (watch being the operative word).

Oh, and if that's not enough you can also take a juggling class! (big red nose not included)

deb

Queen Bee Market

Just a short report today on the Queen Bee Market that took place in San Diego this past weekend.  We drove down, with the nieces in tow, a few days before for a short vacation and stayed through Sat to attend the market. 

 So after we watched a baseball game at Petco park,

 rode a few roller coasters at Sea World,

 and hand fed a few very tall friends,

we made it to the show.

It was held at the beautiful Hilton, right on the water front.  I have never attended this show and found it to be a bit smaller than expected (I think this is show number 3 for them) and super laid back (no pressure to buy whatsoever).  I say that because many of the vendors did not even stand by their booths which is so different from antique shows that I have attended.  All items were paid for a central "check stand" (which was very convenient) so many of the vendors could wander around.  Being indoors is also very different too!  

Here are some of my favorite vendors:

Pillow Factory

Absolutely beautifully sewn pillows, bags, coverlets and banners.  Her stitching is impeccable.

 And she is funny too!

Love these banners made from vintage sheets.  I love how Gioia stitches the band at the top with striped sheets instead of the usual twill tape (which is what I would do).  

I also love this one.

 Crystal B

Crystal makes jewelry using beads, resin flowers.  I loved this display of earrings on shipping tags.

 I got these.  They look so cute I hate to take them off the tag.

 Funky Vintage Lovely
More resin jewelry, fabulous bright painted frames that everyone was buying up.  I don't see them in her Esty shop but boy, they were hot at the show.

 necklaces

 rings

 cake plates made from re-purposed dishes.

I bought this magnetic chalkboard for the bedroom that I am STILL redecorating.  Okay, I have pretty much just been gathering things and then one day I am going to get it done.  But it's not going to happen in August...WAY too many deadlines this month!  I guess it's a good thing this frame stands up on it's own so it doesn't have to be put into the gathering pile with the coverlets, sheets and pillows.

Inspire Lovely

Go to store for great packaging items like tags, string, and ribbon.

There were also other vendors with handmade clothes,

jewelry,

and fabric necklaces, like these from Allhora Handmade. 

We had a fun time at the Market and on vacation, but now it's back home and back to work!  The husband only has a few more days till school starts again so he's going to get in at least two more rounds of golf before it does.  Let's see if I can get just one more project out of him before Monday.

cheers!
paula

We Live On The Sun - Part 2

We have had some interesting weather this summer, particularly some monstrous Arizona dust storms.  I have lived in Arizona my whole life and have seen a lot of dust storms but this one was one to remember.

....check out my back porch!

This summer has brought some crazy heat and when escaping to the beach is not an option, how about a little indulgence.   We pulled out the ice cream freezer to make another favorite.  It’s the same basic recipe that we used in a previous post with a few minor adjustments.  

Strawberry, Banana and Almond Ice Cream

(For 6 quart ice cream maker)

6 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 quart half and half

1 T vanilla

whole milk

1 1/2 T almond extract

***

2-3 cups of cut up and sweetened strawberries (see below)

3 smashed bananas

1/3 cup sliced almonds 

Before mixing:

Chill ice cream maker canister.  

Cut up strawberries and cover with 1 cup of sugar (this sugar is not included in amount above).  Let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or until the sugar dissolves.    

Mixing ice cream:

Beat eggs well, add sugar, then add in remaining ingredients to the almond flavoring.  Pour mixture into chilled ice cream maker canister.  Add whole milk to just below fill line (because we are going to add the strawberries, bananas and almonds later).  Freeze following manufacture instructions for your ice cream maker.  When ice cream is thick and almost done, add strawberries, bananas and almonds, pushing them deep into the canister for a good mixture.  Continue freezing ice cream until firm.  


Enjoy the last bit of summer,
deb

I love my iphone

I have been having some fun this summer with my iphone and a couple apps, Instagram (free) and ShakeIt ($1.99).  The apps have been around for a while but since I am not really into Facebook or Twitter I needed to find a different way to use the apps rather than just taking the pictures and posting to the web.  I decided to see if I could print them...and yes, I can.  I'll show you how I did it.  But, first let me tell you about the apps.


Instagram
Instagram is fun way to change a basic picture to a more retro look by adding filters with the push of a button.  There are at least 16 or 17 different filters to choose from.  Really, the hardest part is choosing which one to use.
Once you take a picture, you can scroll through the filters to test which one looks best.   I send the picture to myself in an email for later use but you can also instantly share right from your phone on Facebook, Twitter, Flicker and Tumbler.  For me, when I get home I just click on the email I sent myself, drag the photo to the desktop where I keep a file folder named Instagram photos. Then it's ready to print whenever I want it.

Here are some of the pictures I have taken with different filters (each filter has a different border).

Jacaranda tree in bloom in my neighborhood.

Ice cream cone at McDonalds

I know this in the inside of my car but I took it just so you could see that the filters make everything look more interesting.  Love this boarder on the Nashville filter .

ShakeIt
ShakeIt is great too as long as you hold on to your phone and don't throw it across the room when your shaking.  So the gist here is....bring up the app, take the photo (the phone makes the sound of an old Polaroid) then watch as the picture seemingly slides down from the top of the phone.  Now shake the phone (yes, I said shake the phone)  for a bit, then watch the photo "develop" right before your eyes, just like the old Polaroid that we know and love (and can't get anymore).  KIDS LOVE THIS APP!  Hence why I previously mentioned the phone flying across the room during the shaking portion. Oh, and adults love this app too!  At least I do.  As you can see from the following photos, the app gives the photo a heighten sense of color and a vintage look to mimic the original Polaroids.  Super fun.

Roses at the local farmers market

Steaks on the grill

Vegetables at the Farmers Market.  My favorite picture of the summer!

Making Lemonade with lemons from our backyard tree.

Frozen lemonade (kids added the straw because they thought it would look better in the picture)

One always need goggles to run in the sprinklers

home

kay, so now you have taken all these cool summer photos, what to do next?   
Print Them!
I have a 6 year old (that's like 18 years in computer world) Epson Picture Mate printer.  It's about the size of a lunch box and I can get it out to print a 4 x 6" picture with ease.  Here is the updated version of the printer I have.  I seriously swear by Epson for true picture color.

After printing, I moved to the work table to cut off the excess edges (even though you can't really tell in this picture the excess is much whiter than the faux Polaroid so it's easy to know where to cut)

 Here is the Instagram photo of the tree.  The picture comes out about 3.5 x 3.5".

I like the ShakeIt photos because the Polaroid frame gives me somewhere to document the event and date.  This way I can continue to take photos though the summer (like on vacation this week), then print when I have a minute, document the photo, then put them into a mini book at the end of the summer. 

One final note.  I did load a couple of the pictures into Costco Photo for printing to see if it would work.  When you order it looks like the entire photo + frame will print on the 4 x 6" size.  But when the pictures are printed, it auto crops them and each side is cut off spoiling the effect of the frame.  So unless someone knows something I don't, Costco is a no go for printing these kinds of photos unless you are a Photoshop aficionado, which I am not.

Happy Summer!
paula

PS - Remember we are giving away this...

It is someone's LUCKY DAY...

 Julie Turner said...

I'm trying to get my creative juices going again by setting aside a little time to work on projects each morning before the kids get up. This would be so much fun to play with in those early hours!

Congratulations Julie!

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