Paper Jewels

Truly this is just an inspiration picture – found at the wonderful Design Sponge. There are a boatload of wonderful projects over there – and lots of inspiration too.

Like the one that inspired this post:

You see what I mean about “inspiration pic”. It’s not that any one single element of this design is irreplaceable – it’s the lighthearted (and light filled) room that they’ve created. It might have been expensive but it certainly doesn’t need to be. Lots of white – white sheers on the (admittedly lovely) windows, plain floors, a lampshade that doesn’t match the lamp – a wooden table with a checkered tablecloth. Old (recycled I hope!) chairs that don’t match either – all in cheery bright colors.

You could adapt any of those ideas to make your own home more fun – I’m going to scour Craigslist right away for some old chairs nobody wants – because I certainly do

Go over to Design Sponge – and get inspired!

This DIY wall art project meets all those criteria. Also customizable, requires NO talent, adjustable in size – probably free – I mean, this is a total win-win.

Okay, not entirely free. You’ll need a backing / canvas – whether it’s cardboard, posterboard, foam core, or even a real stretched canvas. A cabinet door. Whatever you’re using to as a base for your artwork. And then, some tape. And paper. Leftover paint.

And you come up with your own version of this!

You see what I mean? The link takes you to Pinterest, which takes you to the original source. But honestly, for technique anyway, you’re looking at it. Play with tape and geometric shapes, then fill in the spaces with color – whether it’s recycled magazine pages, or bits of leftover paint, or fabric, or, well, whatever you come up with.

Or start with a collage of color – magazine pages, old telephone book pages, you name it – then tape over it and create your “painting” that way.

You choose the colors, the theme if you want – the style – the whole thing. It’s entirely original – and you don’t have to be able to draw a straight line.

This is a great idea!

I’ve been on a “stars” kick lately. Possibly prompted by the coolness of Chris Hadfield and his music video from space – and by the way, here’s a link to his YouTube video via my Pinterest page. The guy is just great (and he can even sing!)

But anyway, all that just reminded me that I get a kick out of star earrings – and so did a special customer who wanted Green and White. Here’s a peek at her earrings:

Available by special order in your choice of colors – I haven’t even got them onsite yet. And oh that’s right – very temporarily we’re having a little shopping cart issue, so if you’d like to request some custom work, just send me an email – there’s a link on every page at Paper Jewels.

Gotta love little computer / shopping cart arguments! But it’ll be cleared up pronto

Yikes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted! Don’t know how that happened but I am definitely getting into it lately. And right now, just wanted to post a pic of a new necklace I just finished.

The kanji Ai, or Love, is probably the most popular and requested kanji for custom work. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised (and I think I’ve mentioned it before). When somebody is asking for a custom necklace or pair of earrings for a loved one, well, they want to convey that love! And hearts, well, to a lot of people in Western culture anyway, hearts mean Love.

And that’s a nice sentiment for a present, I think

This is just an inspirational example – but if we look closely, it’s a really good one! Take a good look at the “before” and the “after” pics here. Yes, I found it on Pinterest:

Yes, it’s a classy, probably expensive, fabulous kitchen. But what we’re focusing (most) on right now is the transformation.

I think it’s mostly paint! The countertop hasn’t changed. The floor hasn’t changed (and boy do I love it!). The door hasn’t changed.

The backsplash has changed – and it’s hard to tell from the pics just what the new backsplash is. My vote, for a DIY look that’s similar? Is to use black and white patterned vinyl tiles! Why not? It doesn’t have to be marble or glass, and it doesn’t have to last forever. It has to work, and if it looks good, that’s even nicer.

The wall color and cabinet colors have changed. Hello? Paint. And she took off some of the cabinet doors. These are not expensive ideas.

The “before” kitchen’s not bad at all. But the “after” kitchen is so much more friendly, open, and full of light.

That’s what I call inspiring – and doable – and maybe even cheap!

I found an absolutely fabulous example of how great it is to repurpose vintage finds! The credenza comes from a thrift store (and I bet you could find them cheap – or free! – Craigslist sometimes).

This was an unloved discard that nobody wanted:

And look how wonderful it is now!

Now that is seriously great style – and storage too Learn more about this terrific transformation over at Censational Girl Blog where Kate, the inspirational blogger here, shows us some gorgeous before-and-afters, all terrific, all DIY, and all affordable. It’s a terrific – and fun – place to spend a little time!

I thought I’d show you another example of a request for custom-made earrings. These were more of a departure from the original pair…design does morph in interesting ways! This was the pair that started the discussion:

She wanted some purple in there, and maybe a floral pattern rather than the sort-of-geometric heart pattern here. So, well, one thing led to another – and did I mention she needed her earrings to be clip-ons? By the way that’s never a problem, I can always adapt a pierced earring style to make clip-ons. Or vice versa.

And after the back-and-forth process, here are her earrings:

And, gotta say, the absolute best part – is that she loves them

I recently had a request for a redo of a pair of earrings a customer had found online. I thought this would be a nice way to show that yes, custom colors are always possible!

Here are the earrings she saw onsite:

And here are the custom colors she requested:

They could have been radically more different, of course. Black background. Bright colors. The thing is, the customer – that’s you – you get to choose

I am determined to bring some order around here. I am. One way or another. Anyway, while I was thinking about it (instead of doing it) I started looking for ideas for drawer organizers. I’ve seen some great ones at the Container Store, etc., but I hate to spend money when I can do it myself. I just needed to focus.

And then I found a fabulous tutorial:

DIY Drawer Organizer

Aren’t they great? The wonderful tutorial is from The Stonybrookhouse Blog and she has terrific step-by-step instructions.

And a ton of other useful posts, too. Um… you might want to check out the pumpkin brownies. Just sayin

Love love love this one! It’s so simple – and brilliant! I found this on Pinterest – and had to pin it myself (definitely not pretending it was my original idea!)

Is that not a terrific idea? If you have to have a visible cord – for, say, your printer – why not make it fun? Use the leaves-and-bird idea as shown. Or maybe flowers. Use twist ties to attach paper or felt or fabric flowers. Or just draw them on the wall. Or a combo of.

This is a classic “why didn’t I think of that!” idea. And fun. And fabulous!