PAPER SEEDS Seeds of ART and THOUGHT


Come on in... relax, kick off your shoes, and get cozy for a few minutes. I intend this space to be a happy and encouraging spot in your day where perhaps you'll sign off feeling better than you did when you signed on.

I have so much in life that I want to create, experience, and wrap my head around, and I bet you do too. I dedicate this space as a safe place to "grow" our seeds... Seeds of movement to increase our joy, inspiration, and insight - Seeds of change and evolution of our souls - Seeds of of celebration and creativity - a place where we thrive to live lives we're proud of.

How cool is it that we are given the opportunity to create a future that doesn't exist yet. That we have the choice in creating our lives and planting seeds that will grow into our dreams. I want to learn more everyday about how to do this in my life, and I would love for you to join me.

Stacey

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Inexpensive Creativity: Tips to Freshen up Your Living Space

Made this mobile out of paper
and fishing wire.
Hello, hello good people!  I just went back to my last two blogs and YOWZA! we need a lighter subject this week!   Written straight from my heart, both blogs were dramatic and heavy... which is all good, but  spring is in the air, at least here in Charleston, SC, and I'm all over clicking up my heels and feeling light as a feather!

Since moving to a new home, I haven't given much time to creating new artwork, at least my paper design artwork.  I have been enjoying nesting in my new home, and I've been spending any extra time that I have nurturing the kids so that they feel safe and happy in their new environment.   I have managed to take some time playing with photography and writing, which I have both thoroughly enjoyed.

So, no new paper design artwork lately... perhaps I'll come back to it in a while.  As with most things in life, I've found that my creative expression is a cycle...  Hmmmm, kind of like eating, now that I think of it... Sometimes we gorge ourselves on all the yummy stuff on our plate, and it makes us feel so full and satisfied.  And then comes a time when we just have to push ourselves away from the table and digest.  We know we'll come back to the table, we just aren't sure what we'll choose to eat.  Same with the creative process.  I know I'm coming back... there are just so many delicious choices that I think I'll take a taste here and a taste there for awhile.

Today, then, since you're probably in the season of freshening up your lives after a long winter, I'll share a few ideas that might spark some home improvement ideas for you.  I'm all about inexpensive creativity right now.  So here are few cheap and fun ideas I've incorporated into my new living space.

Since the move, I've acquired white walls... for me a bit of a challenge, but I'm liking them right now because I can be very eclectic with color.  Amazing what a $2.69 cans of spray paint or acrylic paints can do to jump start some fun.  Here are a few items I've re-painted...


This planter used to be terra cotta color...
 a little white paint changes the look.


Royal blue planter?  Not anymore!



Yes, a bold and black sun!  I don't think you can tell from
this picture, but after I painted it black, I added a coat
of glitter paint to add sparkle when it catches the light.
   



Found this shelf at the thrift store.  It used to be white...
yep... navy blue now.




These little fishies on a picture frame needed to "pop"...
a little lime green paint did the trick.


I think you get the idea.  My husband says I get carried away with the re-paints, but I always remind him I'm saving him money!  So keep that in mind when looking at items in your home... what color do you want them to be?  What would brighten up that old item and give it new energy?


Here's a pretty cool idea to display artwork or pictures, or anything really.  I had been wanting to display the kids' artwork around our home, but I didn't want to put each piece in a picture frame and put nails into the walls because we're always cycling in new artwork of different sizes.  I liked the idea of black cork board material behind the artwork but didn't want to pay the going rate.  So instead, I found a $6.00 black 2 x 6 foot carpet runner to use as the backdrop!  I think black and white photos would look awesome on this too.






Because it's a rug, all you need to adhere the artwork
is the "catchy" side of the Velcro.  Cycle in new artwork
or pictures or whatever you want... whenever you want!


Come on!  Not bad for six bucks!!!
Although, I'm thinking it needs a little frame or softening
on the sides.... hmmmm....  any ideas?



An easy peasy way to spruce up an old lampshade?  Stamp it!  Buy a stamp that you love at a craft store, find the color ink you like on a stamp pad, and then go for it!  It actually releases a little tension.  Here is one I did, and I get a lot of compliments on it.  People can't believe that I didn't pay good money for it in some fancy designer shop.  I literally spent about 15 minutes on it... 


Bird stamp and floral branch stamp combined...
blank ink... that's it.



Here's another lamp shade I did a while back and sold on Etsy.  I papered the lampshade with pages from an old book.  Then I traced the bird onto paper and cut it out along with a little branch for the bird to sit on.  Then I glued them on the lampshade.  Really so easy. 






And one last idea.  I think fresh flowers and plants are so important in giving our living spaces wonderful energy, so that would be my first choice for sure.  There is, though, another alternative that I have gone a little crazy with because I think they are so fun and happy and adorable.  They are "flower-like" but they never die.   I make them and sell them on my Etsy Shop, and they are my biggest sellers... WISH FLOWERS! 

This planter of sea grass was rather boring until I
added some wish flowers to it.


I added these wish flowers to a store-bought,
pre-lit branch that glows so beautifully
in the dark... love it!



Overkill on the wish flowers?
Probably, but I don't care... they make me happy.

Also, I totally suggest buying a pre-lit branch to add to a dark corner of your home.  I have enjoyed my little branch so much since I got it over a year ago.  Its luminescence is so beautiful at night and provides just the right amount of light to create ambiance in a dark area.  Very magical indeed and totally worth the money!

So, that's it for today!  I hope your week brings you some lightness and freshness, and that your creativity flows through you like a river! 

Thanks for visiting!

Stacey

2 comments:

  1. What a great post Stacey! And your analogy is spot on... that's what its like for me too.

    I love all your altered spruced up projects! What wonderful ideas to give your own old items new life! I LOVE the way you displayed your kids art work! What an awesome idea! It looks like real art! And you can change it up! So amazing! Love the lampshades too.. what an awesome idea! And I love the paper garland... I've been wanting to make some myself and haven't yet. Maybe for an EtsyInspired project.

    And of course your wish flowers just brighten up any room. I love walking into my craft room and seeing your bottle and wish sticks on my creative table and then Laura's bottles in my window with more wish flowers. They make me smile!

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  2. Love my little rat head in the corner of your shelf ;) And fabbo idea for the carpet, because I love how you can change out the artwork so easily!!! Can't wait to see it in person!! xoxo, Laura

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