It's been a really long time. I'm just posting my creations today.


My fabulous earring creations. I've been having fun with Chandelier earrings. They turned out better than expected, which is nice for me because usually everything looks better in my mind and not great in real life.

This is my Lime Rickey broach. Love the beautiful fabrics and had to make something fun.

Next I'll be posting my glass charms. This is the first post with pictures so I'll see how it goes and then post more.

I'm still here, not much but are you?

Color Part 2

So I know it's a lot later than tomorrow but I'm getting to it.
Picking paint can be such a huge, and overwhelming task. There are so many how do you choose? One of the biggest mistakes I make is that I find a paint chip that I love and must have. I paint the room and am in love with my walls but then I can't find anything else that goes with them. Paint can be colored to match just about anything. Paint has the widest variety so don't start with paint start with something else. Start with a bed spread, couch, curtains or art piece that you will be using in the room. Match a color to one of these items. I take the color I like and go one, sometimes two shades down on mono chromatic paint chips (two colors lighter) . A small 2" square isn't a good indicator of what the color will look like on your walls. A lot of times the paint chip color comes out darker than you were thinking that is why I go two shades lighter, this means there is more white in the color. I have found that reputable paint stores are a great resource for picking color as well. I like to ask those working for advise for example, I needed a red but I didn't want a rusty shade or a pink shade I wanted a true red. I asked the paint store employee and he picked out a perfect red. If they supply to professional painters chances are they have seen the colors on walls or they have mixed enough of them to know what colors designers are buying.
There are a few things you need to know. Light in your room will change how it looks, it's best to buy a small amount and sample it. You can paint a 2'x3' piece of foam core (found at art supply stores) and move it around the room and view it at different times of day. Or different walls. I have painted rooms after dark and loved the color only to wake up in the morning and be disappointed by how it looks in the daylight. The great thing about paint is that if it doesn't work, it's not a big deal because it's relatively inexpensive to start over. Dark colors will require more coats. Plan on two coats with any color. The surface of your wall will change things also. Prep is so important, just as the foundation of a house, the better the bottom the better the top. Make sure the paint surface is clean and ready to go imperfections are only highlighted. There are whole books on how to paint and prep but I'm not going there. I hope you enjoy color in your house. You may be pleasantly surprised at the difference it makes.
End note: If you pick a paint first and go with it and can't match anything to it. Use neutrals. for example, I'm adding black and white in pictures, curtains, and bedding in my room I just couldn't wait to paint blue.

Are you afraid of color?

I am not at all. I love it. I can't even pick a favorite. Maybe that's partly because they change so much for me. Almost every wall in my house is painted a color other than white. Color can be very subtle or it can be very bold. If color isn't your thing, that's OK really it is. Don't try to use crazy color if it isn't really in your personality. Color has an effect on mood, size, space, and light. Color has an amazing effect it can energize you when you walk into a room, or it can make you down right depressed. The best thing about color is that it doesn't have to cost much of anything. Today's post will be about small ways to use color and tomorrow will be about paint colors because I could go on we should separate them. If you have a very sparse neutral room and you aren't ready for dramatic change start with something small. There is a large variety of throw pillows available in a large variety of places and prices. If you are out and about and see a fabric you love buy a yard and make your own. Or look for some pillows already made. Either way it's easy to just put a couple of purple pillows on the beige couch in the room with white walls to get a pop of color. If you don't know where to start with color look at magazine pictures. Maybe start with a favorite color and use it in a throw or pillows. You can even frame a piece of favorite fabric and hang it on the wall. These are ways you aren't married to your color choice and if it doesn't work for you give them to a friend, donate to a charity, or just put them away. Color can be fun you just have to get used to it.

Design notebook

I am a magazine junkie, I think it started when I was in design school. We had to go through magazines and pick out the elements in the pictures for vocabulary words, etc. I was always looking through BHG at lunch time so I ended up with a huge file of recipes cut out in a huge mess. Now days my addiction is two-fold, I really like that or I need that for later. So, I purchased an artist sketch book from the craft store and I am whittling away at my stack of magazines.

You will need:
Sketch book
self-adhesive divider tabs
Glue stick
Pen

First divide your notebook into categories that you will use, i.e. recipes, things you like, reference, home decor ideas, etc.
** I actually have ideas for a few different notebooks, for now the recipes are thrown in a binder with plastic page protectors I'll sort them one day into tried and loved and chuck the ones that I don't want, but one thing at a time. **

You can buy blank divider tags that you can use the self adhesive tabs to attach to a page in the notebook to help find the pages when the notebook is closed.

Then as you are going through magazines (for me it's two or three at a time so it doesn't get away from me) cut the pictures you like and paste them onto the pages in the appropriate category. The best part is you can write on the page next to the picture why you saved it so you don't have to remember for later. Sometimes for me there is something way in the background that appealed to me because it sparked another idea. I can record that info and later I don't wonder why I cut out a Clorox ad with a person in a tub. There is also enough space to sketch the new idea.

As you go through your notebooks you can start to see consistent themes that will help you define what your true design style is and what is just a passing phase.

Organizing

Every year Nov. to Jan. it seems every where you go stores are giving away free calendars. Most of the time these aren't ones you want to hang on your wall. Random cowboy scenes to tractors aren't my idea of good design elements. So, rather than waste those calendars I put them to a use. If you buy a calendar that you like and you would like to recycle the pictures to frame for later, I don't recommend writing on it. Sometimes pen will bleed through or even emboss or pierce the picture for the following month. So I save the calendars I love to hang on the wall and use for reference and the others I have a few different uses for.
I always get one from my bank that has pockets I like to use this one to collect my tax info or medical spending for the year. I keep it on my desk where I pay bills so that when I record doctor co-pays in my check register I record the receipt date in the box and put the receipt in the monthly pocket. When it comes time to claim flex spending or do taxes I have all of my medical receipts in one place and I have a record of them. I add them up monthly and write the total on the corner. Then I'll record when I've gotten reimbursed in another color pen. This doesn't happen more than a couple times a year so it doesn't get too confusing.
I get another spiral bound calendar from my insurance company. I like to carry this one with me in my bag. I like to write some to-do's for the week or month and fun things that happened or record growth or funny things my kids have said. It's also great for keeping track of birthdays. This way it's something I can file away to use to journal or scrapbook later. But it's all together. You can record new teeth, lost teeth, weight and height, appointments, vacations, first words, funny things, and you don't have to remember to write a date. This is good for those of us who are always thinking I need to remember to write this down, and don't. I also like to record housekeeping things to do like patch and paint the walls. I have found that if I write a specific date to do these things life always happens and it doesn't end up happening that day. This year I am going to write weekly goals and monthly goals this way I don't have a rigid deadline and I can still live but I also have a loose deadline pushing me to accomplish something. I really need something to push me to do the regular housekeeping things that need to happen but aren't so fun to do. At the end of the year I file my medical calendar. The other calendar I go through the info and take the things I need and record them in the appropriate place and put the calendar with all of our other memorabilia from the year. Now I just need a better filing system for the memorabilia.

Changing my blog

I have decided to change my blog. I will be putting my education to better use. I have been having these crazy creative dreams lately (probably due to the pain killers I am taking right now). So in my drugged haze I have decided I will make this blog about design and making a house a home. And making this some place I can share all my projects (maybe I'll finish some now). I will still have a blog about my thoughts and other things on another blog. So spread the word, post questions you may have and we'll see how long my creativity lasts.

Bad mom

I really don't know what to say right now. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by life. I yelled at my children tonight and sent them to bed. They acted like untamed monkeys at the grocery store. I had had enough. I was so mad because I have been on vacation for a week and apparently everyone behaved themselves. So, I'm sitting here contemplating why everyone is being crazy and why I got mad and why really a lot of things. Typing my thoughts here when my son came out of his room to tell me he's sorry he acted naughty. So in the middle of this post about how I am a crazy parent my child proves to me a little that maybe all is not totally lost.