The Weekly Fluff

While I was at Faded Elegance late last week to fluff my space, my eye gravitated to books and such...already there are "back to school" ads in the paper, so maybe it was a subliminal suggestion...summer has just shown its face here in the Pacific NW so I don't want to think about fall yet...but I was drawn to brown colors and tones nonetheless...

I've been having some fun with different photo finishes...everybody is raving about the photo apps on the i-phone...I don't have an i-phone but thought I could duplicate that retro/vintage look with my photos on my own...here's my take on making your photo look like a Polaroid shot...

These next two photo collages suggest those triplicate slides you get from a photo booth...with the colors pumped up as if the pictures had yellowed over time...

This last one I changed to black & white and messed up the edges to mimic old glass slide photos...

I used Picnik for creating the photo collages and changing the color hues; I used Microsoft Paint to mess up the edges on the last trio. 


Linking up to Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House where many more photographic wonders await...

Glorious summer

Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific NW...I know that we have been the envy of the country with our cool weather...but I wanted to shed my sweater and wear a sleeveless t-shirt at least once...finally I got my wish.  I travelled over to Whidbey Island Thursday...the ferry ride was perfect - sparkling blue water, crisp sea air, outline of snow-topped mountains in the distance...when the weather turns nice here, it truly is glorious!





My trip to Whidbey Island was two-fold - lunch with my favorite artist friend Wendy Lee Lynds
and a stop at Farmhouse Flowers in Langley.

Tracy Taylor Huffman, owner and floral designer extraordinaire, has this charming shop in downtown Langley.  A large part of Tracy's  business is wedding planning - not only the flowers but the entire look and feel.  This jumbled display showcases some of the goods you can rent to give your wedding that vintage vibe...

In addition to lovely flowers and wonderful wedding ideas, Tracy has an eclectic mix of home decor, gift ideas, cards & stationery and art...I have three original multi-media collage pieces on consignment there as well as a healthy assortment of my greeting cards for sale.

Just a teaser of what you will find...

Across the street from Farmhouse Flowers is the Good Cheer Thrift Store...of course I just had to pop in...

and my finds certainly did leave me in good cheer...

Hoping your weekend is filled with good cheer...and fine treasures...

I am a catalog junkie

Upon my arrival home from work yesterday, I squealed...yes, squealed...
the 2012 IKEA catalog had arrived in the mail...

You see, I am a catalog junkie and this was one big fix that just landed in my lap...I love catalogs for their inspiration of ideas - especially ideas that I can translate to my home.  And I love catalogs (and magazines - a close partner in crime) because they are the perfect bedside reading material - short, sweet, nothing heavy duty nor taxing - ideal for the 15 minutes of drowsy time before I fall into a fast slumber.

Way back in the dark ages (before there were personal computers, cell phones or the internet), I learned about IKEA and its clean-lined approach to design.  It was 1986 and I had just moved to Seattle...I heard there was an IKEA store in Vancouver (there were none in the US yet) and thought that it would be great to travel to Canada, buy everything I needed to furnish my house and return home...but that situation with duty fees/taxes proved to be a problem...I had to wait...

Fast forward to present day...there's been an IKEA store in the Seattle area for some time - though it is an hour drive from where I live, I usually make a trip once a year for inspiration and usually a few bargain items.

Now, I would never want an entire IKEA house (though the catalog pics can be pretty enticing - come on, wouldn't you love to live in the space pictured on the front catalog cover above...) but I love what IKEA does best - simple, functional, basic design.  We have several of their bookcases in our current home - three white BILLY cases in my office, 5 cherry BILLY cases in the Southern man's office, four more BILLY cases in our kitchen for cookbooks (yes, we have a lot of cookbooks!)  My studio perimeter is lined with their wood
GORM bookcases - sturdy construction that hold 1000 pounds each.

The light over our dining room table started with an IKEA fixture that I stripped down and then embellished with a junker vibe...


When I rearranged my office a couple of years ago, an IKEA trip provided the finishing touches.  Small organizing shelves above the computer printer...

Above my desk, these two galvanized drawer fronts (that they were selling out for $1 each) were turned on their side and now provide a place for inspiration and important messages.  The small lip on the back of each drawer panel was hung off of a old yardstick that I cut in half and screwed into the wall.  The galvanized clock and picture frame (both from IKEA) complete the set-up.

So I'll be perusing the pages of this latest installment of IKEA love for the next couple of nights...and then making my annual pilgrimage...if I discover a great find, I'll let you know...

Grand re-Opening!

"create" notecard

After months of procrastinating, I finally have (re)opened my etsy shop - fourcornersdesign

I made a feeble attempt at this etsy thing about 4 years ago, but didn't know what I was doing so I let it go.  This time I did my homework...and now I'm ready!

This will be the place where not only will you find my vintage-inspired stationery and notecards, but original multi-media art collages and one-of-a-kind junk inspired creations.  I'm starting with 12 lovely sets of notecards but will adding more items on a regular basis.

To kick off this Grand Event, I'm giving all of my blog readers free shipping for the month of August! 

Its easy as one, two, three...

ONE - visit my esty shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/fourcornersdesign

TWO - decide which set (or multiple sets!) of cards you must have to send out simple thank you notes or quick hellos...so easy and much more personal than email...

THREE - enter 811FREESHIP when you place your order to receive the free shipping offer.

There's an etsy icon on the right column of my blog that will take you direct to my shop with one click of your mouse.

And if you have any questions or requests, please feel free to email me.

Happy Shopping!

Out of the ordinary

Recently I was contacted by a junking acquaintance to make two crowns for her...now, this is a little out of the ordinary for me...I'm not a glitter/glam/lace/ruffle girl...but she didn't want ordinary...she wanted something no one else would have...

She was attending a three day event to celebrate a friend's 70th birthday...including a tux and tiara gala with a circus theme and a live elephant...it sounded like quite the soiree...so I went to work...





The completed crowns...aluminum duct metal for base...white paint & glitter for the surface...antique buttons and silk ribbons and other found objects for embellishment...

She called me last Monday to let me know that the event was spectacular, she was exhausted from partying all weekend and the crowns were the perfect touch...no one had anything like them...mission accomplished!

Cabinet card curiosities

As part of The Altered Page blog hook-up, Buried Treasure, I'm re-posting one of my favorites.  The aim of Buried Treasure is to discover artist's blogs that you may not have seen...in the morass of the internet, its easy to get buried!  The criteria was to re-post a favorite past post...its interesting that the one I picked is related to getting ready for the Fresh Paint art show in August...of which I'm currently in the midst of prepping for this year's 2011 show...In the weeks ahead, I'll be posting some previews of my current work which is a take-off from these past collages - so please check back! 

But for today...visit The Altered Page - Buried Treasure for the complete list of participating artists...there's sure to be many gems waiting to be discovered... 

Over the years, I have accumulated quite a collection of cabinet cards.  I'm not quite sure why I collected them but the expressions of each subject conveyed something to me - I was curious about these men and women.  To get you up to speed, here's the definition of cabinet cards from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_card

Surveying their expressions, I wondered what these individuals had to say - what were their lives like, what were they thinking when their picture was taken, what happened afterwards...  So I decided on an art project that would attach a story to each picture and embellish each assemblage with vintage found objects.  Since I have many old books including interesting narrative novels from the early 1900's, I looked through these texts to find the words that conveyed the story that I imagined from the photograph.

I've been having a great time - the melodramatic scenarios that I have chosen to accompany each photo are a hoot!  And the 3-D effect from including vintage materials in the composition adds a textural element.  I also like the fact that I'm using old frames that had been cast aside since losing their glass.  Here's some examples-

and the close-up of the text...

These three beauties, and a dozen more, will be for sale at my booth at Fresh Paint, the art festival at the Everett Marina on August 21-22.  Additional details are at the Fresh Paint website at www.freshpaintfestival.com.  I'll be in Booth 81 - stop by and visit me!