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Showing posts with label Creating Vintage Charm magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creating Vintage Charm magazine. Show all posts

6.06.2014

BoHo Blues

As summer days heat up, blue hues can cool us down!

I had the opportunity to frequently help my friend Rita Reade 
get ready for the vintage show that she hosts with her sis in law, artist Christie Repasy.
Rita is so busy with show biznez, she hired MOI to take all of her fab stuff and style her booth - 
which is a total win/win:
She's freed from the stress of getting it all done, 
and I get to play in the vintage world I love so much!

The show is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 6 - 8, 2014,
and the show theme this season is 'Bohemian Beach'.
Rita didn't necessarily go with a beach theme, more cottage-y,
but the aqua color she chose was certainly in evidence in many booths...
I was completely inspired by what I saw!
 Every shade of blue was represented, 
bringing a definite bohemian seashore / beach vibe to this beautiful park in the desert.

Here are a few shots from Rita's Mammabellarte booth:

Details: Furniture in soft blues, whites, and warm pinks lend a beach cottage feel.
And a salvaged sink gets a new metal stand, and can be used in many ways on a summer deck!
Here, it's a planter.

Details: a faded aqua painted cabinet & basket, table runners made from vintage fabrics & trims,
and what looks like a ship's wheel - perfect summer decor.

 Details: a milk-glass chandelier and a ruffled sky blue tote bag on a regal mannequin.
 Furnishings and accents in white and aqua and pink create a serene setting.

Since I left on setup day, many of the booths weren't finished yet and 'ready for their close-up'.
If you keep an eye on the Vintage Marketplace's facebook page, you'll be seeing lots of images
of beautiful booths, dazzling decor, and inspiring ideas very soon!

Here are a few beautiful Boho details that I WAS able to photograph before I left:
The entrance gate just beckons you inside, a gateway to untold wonders...
Christie Repasy may be a renowned floral artist, 
but the girl works magic with paint everywhere...
This is not an old lantern. The patina is painted on!
And the va-voom paisley curtains here? Shower curtain panels.
 Last spring, I shared my embellished umbrellas / parasol tutorial
here on the blog and in Creating Vintage Charm magazine.
I used lace tablecloths and frilly petticoats.

At the entrance to the show,
 Robin of Vintage Beach House showed off HER versions, 
and let me tell you they are bodacious beauties!
She used doilies and table linens sewn together, dyed them a saturated aqua
AND THEN
she topped them with shell & bead-encrusted finials:
Can. Not. Breathe. GORGEOUS!

Quite a bit of summertime inspiration can be found at shows like this.
And it's all affordable and 'do-able' - just get your Boho vibe on ;)

shared online:
 

Creative Country Mom's Garden | Home Sweet Garden Party


1.29.2014

Fabric Hearts Tutorial

 Many years ago, I used up some small scraps of fabrics left in my 'stash',
making little stuffed fabric hearts for my winter / Valentine's Day decor.

Created from remnants of a chenille bedspread, a matlasse' bedspread, and burlap,
I've displayed them in many ways over the years...
As my seasonal decor contribution to two lovely publications,
Creating Vintage Charm Magazine and JOYful Home & Life online,
 I'm sharing a simple tutorial for making stuffed fabric hearts for the month of February
Because the tutorial is so photo-heavy,
I am hosting it here on my blog instead of at the other locations...
Enjoy this 'fast, cheap & easy'TM craft project!

continue reading for tutorial...

9.28.2013

Creating Vintage Charm Autumn!

The Autumn 2013 Issue of Creating Vintage Charm Magazine is here!

I am honored to be a regular contributor to this lovely publication, 
produced by a gracious and creative spirit, Sonia Cardona Crouse.
There is beautiful inspiration in each seasonal issue,
with ideas and projects from many incredibly talented designers, decorators, and photographers
... and autumn is packed FULL!
My contribution this season is a soft, warm, natural-themed tablescape,
perfect for any autumn day - and especially Thanksgiving.
[and yes, that's a peek of one of my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins from the issue!]
I'll share more images of my story after the magazine has been out for awhile...
for now, here's a beautiful slideshow preview of this issue that Sonia put together:
 visit the Creating Vintage Charm facebook page!

5.17.2013

Charming Embellished Umbrellas

I am so pleased to share that the May Issue of Creating Vintage Charm Magazine 
features one of my own spring / summer decor ideas:
Embellished Umbrellas

 Creating Vintage Charm is a PRINT publication
that inspires and shares your excitement in creating and crafting,
by featuring your handmade and repurposed creations and ideas, 
beautiful and colorful images, 
featured artists, studios, shops, blogs, galleries, 
tutorials and tips and more...

The umbrellas shown in the magazine and here in these photos
have been embellished with 'everyday' items to create beautiful effects:

 * The umbrella on the right is a 4' white nylon beach umbrella,
covered with a large white crochet lace tablecloth.
The lace creates beautiful patterns in the shadows beneath the umbrella!


* The umbrella on the left is a 6' diameter white canvas market umbrella, 
adorned with a white satin & tulle bridal petticoat!
The fullness of the tulle layers create a gorgeous ruffle all the way around!


These were the perfect toppers for a refreshment table at the Spring vintage show I hosted on my farm.


At another vintage show, I sold ribbon parasols...

I had a half-dozen regular umbrellas, and just ripped the nylon covers right off of them.
Then I used vintage seam binding, ribbon, and torn silk strips to create a new kind of cover
by tying the strips together in all kinds of patterns and configurations.
[They took FOREVER to make!]


They were very summer-y and fun, and though they wouldn't protect you from rain or sun,
they certainly added feminine charm to the setting.

although....
I also used one in the rafters of my barn store one fall, 
and it looked decidedly spooky
Prettily embellished umbrellas are a perfect idea for photo props, 
and as event decor for garden parties and bridal & baby showers!

shared online:

Cupcakes & Crinoline | Project Inspire{d}

4.04.2013

Photo Finish: 3 Spring Tables

 in my last post, i shared the process of cleaning up and decorating a garden house
(more than a shed, but not quite a greenhouse)
that was lovingly built in the backyard of a house i rented in Seattle.
[the owner is my sweet friend Todd Waddell, a VERY talented garden & visual designer
who also owns the lovely shop Bountiful Home in Edmonds, WA]

after the two day, no cost garden house makeover project was done,
i took the third day to do a few exterior improvements
(also shown in my last post
and then i just PLAYED, taking hundreds of photos.

i gathered up some props from the yard and my studio,
which all combined with my basic white dinnerware and clear glassware
to create several different tablescapes for spring.
some the images you see in my new banner and other graphics
were all shot inside that greenhouse on a cold, cloudy winter Seattle day...
 the natural light in this space was AH-mazing!

i hope you find decorating & entertaining inspiration in these
three very different table settings with Spring-fresh style:

 in this previous post, i shared my idea for using stemless wine glasses as miniature 'domes'.

this pink tablescape for spring shows one version of them:
miniature pink ranuculus blossoms inside a mini terra cotta pot, under a glass dome,
which is set off by vintage Coke bottles holding pink roses
and vintage linens with a pink border.

revelation: the roses are fakes. GOOD ones. so are the ranuculus. 
it was about 38 degrees when i shot these photos,
but you'd never know it from the flowers!

then i switched things up, and shot it this way:



 moss [scavenged from the yard] fills up terra cotta pots of various sizes, 
including miniature pots under the glass 'domes' - 
one dome fits over the tiniest pot, another dome sits up IN a small pot.
a tiny leaf on a twig and the sprouts of a bulb add interest to each.
[those bulbs with the green sprouts? onions.]

a quick switchup, and i had this setting:
 clear glass, white ceramic pieces, white tulips, and some wood eggs [found at a thrift shop]
create a simple, farm-fresh look - that can also be very contemporary. 

 the wood eggs sit on top of antique cut glass salt cellars, under the stemless wineglass 'domes'.

then it was time for some 'garden' photos -
and amazingly, the sun came out just as i was shooting them!

 those fabulous white tulips show up a lot in my photos. pretty, huh?
they're fake. 
i pulled them out of floral wreaths that i found on a clearance rack at Restoration Hardware Outlet.

the leaves sprouting up out of terra cotta pots?
fake!

being a visual stylist is like being the biggest liar on the planet sometimes -
we have to create spring in winter, Christmas during a summer heat wave, and summer in the snow,
and make it as realistic as possible! 
when i find products that work as well as these tulips do, i use them. often.

a few shots of of some collections... staged on a miniature chair.

it was a really fun day for me, 
enjoying the fruits of my labor and a space that was all my own to work in.

and do you know what happened the NEXT day?

yeah. it snowed.
gotta' love Seattle!

shared online:

funky junk interiors

3.25.2013

Be a Good Egg!

so many fabulous egg-related decor ideas are floating around the internets right now:
literally hundreds of ideas for coloring Easter eggs and making patterned Easter eggs 
and ideas for making wreaths and topiaries from plastic Easter eggs. 
LOVE the creativity i see out there!

but.... what if you don't celebrate Easter
or what if you just want a more subdued palette?

you're in luck! 
(and good company, to be honest... pastel eggs are NOT my thing. 
the closest i got to them was when i brought home 
two dozen brightly-colored 'Cascarones' from a visit to Texas one spring.)

so today, i offer up some inspiration 
for creating spring decor with un-decorated eggs!
some are real, and some aren't.... use papier mache', clay, wood, or ceramic eggs.
first up, an ostrich egg (HUGE) embellished with a strip of vintage sheet music.
[the title 'Song of the Bird' was a perfect fit!]
i nestled the finished egg into a handmade birdsnest, 
then sat the nest on a 'pedestal' of an upside-down milk glass lamp shade (with the narrow end up).

here's a photo of the same egg standing UP in the nest, without the glass base:

another idea is to create a small vignette inside a glass jar...
and this works perfectly when you are using real (blown) eggs, because they are protected.
[note: do not - under any circumstances - 
forget to blow the eggs, and then seal them in a jar. 
BAAAAAAAD side effects :( ]

a little nest of grass is placed in the jar and an egg nestled into it.
a scrap of vintage sheet music or a poem with a Spring theme might be inserted as a 'backdrop',
and a strip with an appropriately 'Spring-y' title is glued onto the jar as a label.
i also covered the jar tops with a scrap of burlap, tied with twine.

[i use pickle or olive jars from thrift stores. 
they come in medium and large sizes, are wider than mason jars, and have no embossing on the sides to blur the contents]

this LARGE handmade nest sits atop an aged garden urn.
[i used ivy and hops vines from the yard to make it]
moss from a corner of the yard fills the center of the nest,  providing a soft resting place for a few eggs.
a glass garden cloche finishes off the look perfectly.
[you could also tuck in some gardener's gloves, hand tools, and some bulbs 
for a perfect Spring gift!]

then again, you don't really have to have a nest...
a simple egg presentation:
a glass salt cellar or napkin ring can hold an egg,
and a clear stemless wineglass as a 'dome' will finish it off with style.
if you write each guests' name on the egg, these are perfect place cards!
_________________________________

those last two shots are a bit of a sneak-peek - 
they are part of a garden-theme project and photoshoot last winter in Seattle
that i'll be sharing here on the HOMEWARDfound blog later this week.

i am delighted that photos from that shoot are featured
in the Spring issue of Creating Vintage Charm magazine!