Sunday, May 27, 2012

Bedroom Magic

Flea Market Treasures
BHG.com
I'm in the MOOD, oh yeah, that's right, to decorate. I've got a couple of not so snazzy bedrooms that could really use some attention.
About the trend | Gypsy Life | Country trend 2011 | Decorating trends 2011 | Decorating ideas | PHOTO GALLERY | Country Homes & Interiors | Housetohome
Love this canopy found on House to Home
What color would you paint the walls considering I have the original unpainted wood trim? Almost everything online these days shows white woodwork. How do you get around that? I thought about painting the trim, but my whole house has unpainted wood trim, and I think it might not flow if the bedroom(s) are different, right?
Pic from Glitter Guide: I WANT this Ikea bed (painted blue) but they are all gone.
Can you sell me yours? Please???

So, where to start?Where do you go for bedroom inspiration?
And where can I get the Hemnes Ikea Canopy bed now that it's not at Ikea anymore??? I knew I shouldn't have listened to my husband on that one....

Honey Houses

All of these images are from Magic Bedroom, Pinterest


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Top Ten Lessons From Blogging Your Way 1.0

 
Surrounded by Inspiration 
Last spring, I took Holly Becker's course Blogging Your Way, an interactive virtual class designed to help creatives enter the realm of blogging.  It was co- taught by Leslie Shrewing of A Creative Mint with a focus on photography and styling- fun, fun!

As I prepare to begin Blogging Your Way 2.0, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on what I learned from the first class.  There's an abundance of material, some technical and some inspirational. I'm going to focus on the inspirational piece here, if you want the super technical stuff take the class!

Top 10 Lessons from Blogging Your Way 1.0

Detail from my Mood Board, BYW 1.0
1. The most successful blogs have a focus. (Argh, is mine focused enough?)

2. We can not make perfect decisions, but we can make right decisions by identifying our goals/priorities and working towards them. I'm not a perfectionist, but have a hard time picking a focus b/c it's hard to narrow down all the possibilities b/c they are all so GREAT! (typical ENFP behavior)

3. Change takes proactive and innovative thinking. Decide to get off the hamster wheel of thought. In other words, don't stew- ACT.

4. Declare your niche market. (I still haven't exactly figured this one out yet. Dear reader, can you help??).

5. It's OK to write about topics that have been written about before (think magazines- they do this all the time) the key is to make it fresh by adding your perspective, voice, pictures, style.

Detail from my Mood Board, BYW 1.0
6. Conversely, look at the material that's out there and ask "WHAT'S MISSING" and how can I fill the void?

7. Less talk, more walk. Stop talking about what you want to do and start taking creative actions daily.

8. Surround yourself with what inspires you and lessen your exposure to everything that does not. (This is good advice in general, I'd say).

9. Instead of thinking in terms of "I like/dislike" think in terms of Why you like/dislike something, or Why does that certain thing inspire you? Takes you into a deeper, more meaningful place of discovery.

10. Keep at it.

AND

Blogging Your Way 2.0What I'm hoping to Gain from Blogging Your Way 2.0 (starting June 1)
Co-taught by: Jeanette Lunde of BY FRYD and Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely

1. Connection with creative, like- minded entrepreneurs, artists, coaches, designers and fashionists.

2. A more focused idea of what my niche market is- who are you anyway???

3. Technical stuff like how to add those pretty little color palettes on photos and how to make cool collages like this one to your right.

4. How to connect with a wider audience and gain readership? Best forums for design, creative entrepreneurs?

5. Learn about the future of blogging/key trends & tips from the pros!

6. How to build a business  and market it with integrity.

7. How to build a brand. I think this is key.

8. Growing my readership in a way that still feels authentic to me.

9. Learn strategies to work in a way that's more efficient. Think "does this move me forward, or am I back on that hamster wheel again?".

10. ...

Most of all, I'm looking forward to being inspired by people I truly admire. 

Have you taken BYW? What did you learn? What do you HOPE to learn?

Friday, May 18, 2012

Kokuun's New Studio Space & Photo Shoot

Sarah J. in her new studio space, Kokuun
Yesterday my dear friend Sarah Johnson invited me to her new studio, Kokuun for a spot of tea and a little fashion photo shoot.

I have to admit when I came through the door I was a bit giddy with excitement- the combo of fashion, art, vintage stuff and tea with a good friend is enough to send me overboard with glee.


Luckily, Sarah is patient with my frenzy.

She is gearing up for her grand opening on Gallery Walk in Brattleboro on Friday, June 1, so I wanted to tease you a bit with some pics of her studio where she offers vintage clothes and home accessories as well as some of her one of a kind furniture pieces.

Don't live in Vermont? No worries, everything you see here is in her cutey pie Etsy shop- Kokuun.
Sarah altered this little dress with a punky patch on the back and waist.
Love the fit, super comfy!


Sarah made this orange industrial style clothing rack
out of an old table found at a thrift store.  So DIY.
Detail of a shadow box in the studio. 
Put your hot vintage roller skates in your roller skate bag, oh yeah.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Sisters. Tribes. Goddesses. MasterMinds. Connect. Support.

Okay, so I have been a "student of manifestation" for about six years now. I don't talk about it much here because I already feel I need to reel it in with my wide focus, but I feel like talking about it today.

About six years ago, one of my dear friends invited me to form a group to focus on how we could all become more prosperous. The group met once a week for lunch and our discussions centered around the book Overcoming Underearning. Being the metaphysical self-help book junky that I am, my initial response was "No thanks, I've read this stuff before. It's fun to read, makes you feel good, but I've heard it all and besides, I'm not sure if I really believe this stuff anyway."

BUT, this was a good friend and a FUNNY friend... someone you want to spend time with and he's also a good facilitator. SO, we started our little group. To make a long story short, I got exactly what I asked for, but it almost cost me my life. I learned this stuff works, but it's powerful, needs to be respected and needs to be almost treated like a science, not something to just dabble in.

Since then, I've read everything out there on the Law of Attraction, Manifesting, and all that jazz. I've been in some long term groups and some short term groups. What I know is that it's ESSENTIAL to be in some kind of group to make magic work. I'm starting to sound cultish, but I'm not. K? Well, maybe a little teensy bit :)

Anyway,  I've been immersing myself in all things Danielle LaPorte and Marie Forleo for a little while now and I just bought this book- Firestarter Sessions . As soon as I read the first page I got chills. As soon as I read the second page I knew I wanted to form a group around this.

Last night I went to bed thinking about how I'd form my group. This morning I woke up and saw this video with Jennifer Louden and Danielle Laporte on how to form your "tribe" around manifesting your dreams. Maybe I'll win a spot in Jennifer Louden's online workshop"Creating Your Own Mastermind Group". Can you tell I'm into e-courses right now?

Here's what I've decided-
If I DO win, I'll start a group around Danielle's Firestarter Sessions.
AND
If I DON'T win I'll still set up a group around Danielle's Firestarter Sessions. So either way, it's on.
Interested? Leave a comment below.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Meet Tina Tangalakis of Della: Stylish, Affordable Products Minus the Sweat Shop.


























Want to know a good reason to use Pinterest? Because you might meet someone really cool, like Tina Tangalakis, fashion designer and social entrepreneur extraordinaire.

Somehow in this magic online world she started following me on Pinterest, so of course I had to check her out, liked her style and one thing led to another... to make a long story short I sort of stalked her online.


Image of Blushing Rose Hobo Bag
And this is what I found out: Tina combines her passion of fashion design with her love of travel and humanitarian work- now that's something I can relate to.  According to this article in Darling Magazine, she is a native of Los Angeles and found Della in 2009. In just three short years, she is selling her products at Nordstrom. Wow. And equally as impressive, a portion of the proceeds goes to skills training and educational programming for the women who make these lovely products in Ghana, West Africa.

 Now it's really nice to feel good about what your buying, and we can all agree we'd love to support other women in the world, but let's be honest- it also needs to look good and that's where Tina has it RIGHT. She's designed products that women would buy regardless of her mission and that's where I think there is room in the fashion industry to grow. We want to buy pretty, affordable things and feel good about it, and that's just what Della does.

Super Cute MacBook Cases

Want to see more? Shop Della online and get me something while your there. K?

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Six Creative E-Courses and Why YOU Might Want to Take One.

Hello, tomorrow is Mother's Day in the United States, and as I do plan on getting out into the garden, and having a lovely brunch with my sweet fam, I'd like to give you a little gift (well, ok, and me too!). As I continue to work on my own creative endeavours with my show and blog, I often look for inspiration/support and find it's pretty important to surround myself with other creatives (mostly women) who are succeeding as creative entrepreneurs doing what they love. There's a bunch of you out there, and I love connecting with you all!  That's why, I started a little hunt for online classes, or e-courses, because...


1. It's a fantastic way to connect with other creatives online who can inspire, support and encourage you and...


2. Because you can actually learn something. 


If you know me at all, you know I love Holly Becker's blog, decor8, and that she teaches a great blogging course called Blogging Your Way. She is currently offering a more advanced version of this course, Blogging You Way Class 2.0 which starts June 1. And yes, I'm am enrolled and excited! There's a bunch of other really cool online classes that you might like, and so I thought I'd make a list for you and perhaps I'll enroll in one more myself... 


Six Creative E-Courses to check out 


1. Holly Becker's  Blogging You Way Class 2.0  focuses on blogging, building your brand and more. 
Blogging Your Way and Blogging Your Way 2.0 takes a creative, personal approach to blogging. Both e-courses will help you to get in touch with why you’re blogging, or want to blog, in the first place and shows you how to use your blog as a catalyst to create your best life. The next class will be BYW 2.0 and held online for 4 weeks beginning June 1. 


2. Beth Nicholls, a self-described adventurer, wanderer and seeker of knowledge and beauty, is offering her next Do What You Love E-Course starting May 14, 2012- YES, that's this Monday!


3. Hello Soul, Hello Business, taught by Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth NichollsThe Business Soul Sessions: Where passion meets profit teaches a new generation of business owners to build business with soul, beauty and positive impact making more money than you thought was possible. Hey, that sounds pretty good, right?


Building a Creatively Made Business E-Course4. Building a Creatively Made Business by Jeanne and Oliver Designs, this one looks super cool too, although it started on April 16- wonder if it will run again?


5. Creative Courage by Stephanie Levi is about finding, following, and realizing your creative dreams. Spring session is sold out, but don't worry the next one is in September.



6. Sarah Ahearn Bellamare, author of Painted Pages, will be teaching her first online paint and mixed media workshop this July. 

Are you looking for a creative community to connect to? Which of these courses would you take? Do you offer a course that we should know about? Do tell! 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

FASHION in Brattleboro


FASHION IN BRATT
Twice Upon a Time has a fashion show during Gallery Walk in Brattleboro, every first Friday of the month at 7pm. Don't miss the next one hosted by Ken Schneck on May 4! 
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