Appreciate or Emulate - Participate

The last of the weeks love fest with the combo that IS! - stripes and florals

I was having so much fun with this combination - in case you couldn't tell - that I had to join in.

I picked up this skirt from the op-shop the other day and with no shortage of stripes in the wardrobe here I am dressed for a lunch date with my mum and sister - perfect excuse for a new skirt.

I also fancied dressing up the house so I grabbed a $2 'vase' (aka a ceramic toothbrush holder) from a variety store then some black electric tape and a $5 bunch of fruit shop snapdragons later and these are prettying up our house right now

So there you have it my love affair with stripes and florals comes to an end, on the blog anyway, because I don't think I will ever tire of this perfect match for me or my home.

Appreciate or Emulate - Gingham

I am still checking out all things gingham and here are my picks for how you can check in.

Sweet and simple, bold and bright, graphic and minimal - decorate with gingham

 

 

 

It's a wrap, a party, a picnic - celebrate with gingham

Country, cute, creative and classy gingham is a classic

There is no-one more able to get you to join in than Martha - here are two of my favourite 'gingham' DIY'S that I found both from The Crafts Dept via marthastewart.com

Oilcloth lunchbag tutorial

Drawstring bags tutorial

The good news is I found my sewing machine in the garage the other day and we in the midst of creating a bit of space in there for us each to have a 'create' corner - or for me a 'dandy' corner. The bad news is the skills can't be downloaded matrix style - better get my learn on so I can fully check in to the gingham trend as well.

Appreciate or Emulate - Part 4

I have awarded myself the unofficial record for the longest winded blog post of all time. It is extremely unofficial and it is an anti-award type of award - there will be no trophy or ceremony I'm afraid.

I started sharing my photo print Appreciate or Emulate ideas with you a month ago so for a post that normally comes to you in one hit I have managed to give it to you in 4 hits over 4 weeks - some achievement! I can blame things like pregnancy vagues, tonsilitis and a little foray into vignetting distractions which you can see via my facebook page here.

But finally I arrive at the bit where it's all about you. Participate!

There are so many great DIY's with photo's and photo print but here I share just a few that I found inspiring.

I must add a disclaimer here that I have yet to try these myself - it is a case of sharing with you to motivate me. I would also urge you if you are going to try any of these to use your own images, or one you have permission to use - so much more personal and not using someones else's hard snapped shot without their permission.

'Textural' storage boxes via Craft and Creativity. This DIY uses bought paper but you could easily take, print and use your own images depending on the size of the box you want to cover. Make sure you take your images on the largest size on a high pixel camera for the best quality possible. I though it would work well with close ups of your favourite foliage, stones or textured weathered timbers - for kids room storage you could photograph grouped toys such as block or toys - indicating what's inside.

A favourite blog of mine which often has great DIY's is Poppytalk. I first discovered them as Poppytalk Handmade which is as a monthly online curated marketplace showcasing the handmade goods of emerging designers. It is well worth a look. This cushion DIY, which even as a tentative novice sewer I was excited by, uses the services of another great online resource Spoonflower - somewhere you can design your own custom fabric, wallpaper, decals and even gift wrap. It is not as expensive as you may think and I am searching my image files for the perfect project right now!

This last one from Fellow Fellow is a little technical but wow what an impact. It actually uses fewer materials to make it than you might think and with the right image to use and a steady cutting hand it could be achieved more easily than at first it might appear. The best thing is you could photocopy and practice would make perfect without being too expensive. Imagine a row of these greeting guests at a themed event or making a xmas themed display like this. Magical!

Will you be trying any of these? I would love to see any results if you do - head along to my facebook page to share. I also hope to share some of my own in the not too distant future.

Appreciate or Emulate Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday I would normally post all things relating to this weeks Finding Everywhere theme, and how you can Decorate, Celebrate, Titivate and Participate with it, in one post but this weeks photo print perfections have been too numerous to share in one place so here is part 2

To personalise a gift it is not just about what's inside - the anticipation of what treasure lays within is only made all the more special by thoughtful wrapping - here are some of favourite photographic gift wrap ideas

A wedding is all about particular special people - well any celebration for that matter - and photo displays of the people the event is to honour, and in some cases the guests, personalises the event for everyone

Polaroid guest book

Photo wreath

And these just make me smile as they would your guests

Take your pics, print then party.

Appreciate or Emulate

Here's how you can climb every Mountain at home, in love, out and about and on your very own

This weeks decorate ideas are all, rightly, for little explorers

I think there is nothing more beautiful than a mountain wedding - it lends itself to some beautiful decorations and a 'running away to the hills' atmosphere. I fantasise often about winning the lotto and flying my family and dear friends all to the Spanish Pyrenees where mine and my mans love flourished in our adventures together around small pockets of the world - here we could have a mountain high celebration of our own. In the meantime I will enjoy these pics from some beautiful mountain weddings - hope you do too.

This wedding on Mountain Side Bride, above, in particular takes my breath away - every little detail including that red dress oh my!

It's all in the detail of this Rocky Mountain Wedding via Style Me Pretty. I especially love these vintage postcard feeling favour bags.

Vintage and intimate is the vibe of this couple for their Colorado Mountain Wedding as seen on Ruffled

Lastly this is not so much a wedding as a Love Festival on a hillside in California from Green Wedding Shoes

Everyone is rocking the mountain look

Him - wearing, among other things, a Mountain Print shirt from Nemis

Her - I love this mountain print scarf from Totokaelo

Them - Uber cute leggings for bambino from Salt City Emporium on Etsy and this clever and cute top by Swallow Return

This could be where I tell you to take a hike but as that is neither polite or in some cases practical I thought instead to show you a little experimental DIY I did today.

I was inspired by this

And by a mother that hails from the Blue Mountains and 2 lovely sisters who when together visiting said Mountains as children were snapped by many a foreign tourist standing in front of the 3 Sisters -
to have a go at making my own rubber stamp.

Trust me when I say this was a very quick and rough first attempt but I am reasonably happy with the results - there may not be an eraser left standing in the house by the end of the weekend as I practice and get stamping.

She'll be comin round the mountain again I suspect as I have loved every minute of this one.