Monday, August 31, 2009

Interior Designer Tips by Gail Doby


What advice do you have for someone with a new house to decorate and perhaps a limited budget?

Start with the easy things - paint is the best option because you can make such a dramatic change. Restyle by moving items from different rooms and rearranging the furniture in new ways. Pick one or two treasured objects or rugs as the basis for your design, and keep your palette simple. Three colors at most. One dominant with 60% of the palette, 30% for the secondary color and 10% for the accent. Don't match everything perfectly.

What are the most common decorating mistakes made by homeowners? How would you correct those mistakes?

Don't match everything perfectly...it looks to contrived. Come close on the colors and be adventurous. The second big one is a problem with scale. Invariably, many people that do their own work have furniture that is too large or too small for the space. The third big mistake is designing to impress someone else. Please yourself...and go for comfort.

Most of us are always eager to know about the latest color, design, and furnishing trends. What design trends can homeowners incorporate into their interiors that are up-to-date but classic?

If you keep the majority of your large pieces in neutrals with classic or transitional (between contemporary and traditional) styling, and use accent pillows and accessories that work with the trends, you'll keep your budget under control. Personally, I like timeless design. I have a client from 11 years ago that asked me to come and "freshen" her place. All we did was repaint the same color, clean everything and do some minor lighting changes. It still looks as current today as it did when we designed it.

Thank you Gail.

Follow Gail on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/gaildoby

Read the full Interview.

*Note: All pictures are from Gail's portfolio -published with her permission and are subject to copyright.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

For The Flowers

I'm hanging onto summer by my fingernails and still clipping the roses to bring inside, even the tiny little dried up buds that never quite enjoyed their full blooming glory. What to do with the endless summer bouquet? Why, put it in a handmade vase, of course!

This a Large Upcycled Glass Vase from Twofold Designs is handmade from recycled magazine pages and features a water resistant gloss finish and glass interior....bring in the sunflowers!



This Multicolor Raku Cylinder Vase from Madstone Raku might compete with your flowers for attention, but its sleek design makes it a lovely piece long after the flowers are gone.



The Mountain Mist Sculptural Vase from Rising Sky Pottery is a truly artful design for a smallish wildflower display. Includes one mysterious portal underneath.


Some poppies for your poppies. The Sunshine Poppy Garden vase from Love Art Works has a contemporary hand painted design that's positively playful. And, I'll let you in on a little secret...it's yellow inside!


One or two flowers would look just right projecting from the small opening in this organic, nature-inspired ceramic vase from Claytastic

Ah, Summer....parting is such sweet sorrow!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tracy Selmer Gordon, Etsy Artist from Virginia

Before she answered these questions for me, here's what I knew about Tracy Selmer Grodon: She made cool stuff out of stone; She was a member of Design Style Guide; She had a cool name for her business. Now I know a lot more, and so will you, after reading this...


1. What is your shop name and what do you sell?


My shop is called New Dominion Blues. I sell nature-inspired home décor with a pinch of vintage home décor items as well. I currently have a large selection of stone coasters and trivets, some with designs painted on the surface. I am working on some larger scale stone pieces that can be installed as kitchen backsplashes, focal mosaics, or countertops. I also have a variety of beaded garlands and curtain tie-backs, and other small accent pieces. I started taking pottery classes in August of 2008, and I am thrilled to report that my skills have started to catch up to my aspirations, and I am able to offer some wheel-thrown pottery. I just recently added a vintage element to my shop, giving Etsy shoppers a more complete opportunity to browse through my interior décor aesthetic.




The origin of my shop name: My husband and I love blues music. We try to visit Chicago as often as possible, especially for the annual blues festival. We even got engaged there. While our hearts may often be in the Windy City, we live in the Old Dominion. Over the years, we have accumulated a large volume of blues music and memorabilia in our Virginia home; enough that we have created our own personal blues bar that merges the blues in our souls with our geographic location - New Dominion Blues.



2. What long series of events led to you doing this?

I grew up running through the woods, building forts, and collecting anything and everything that I might possibly be able to use for a future “project.” That meant rocks, wood, bits of trash abandoned in the woods, you name it. Once a utility worker made the mistake of leaving a specific tool under a bush next to the large green box it was created to open. My friends and I gathered all the loose wire out of the box, and kept the tool so we could go back when more would be left behind. The wires we took weren’t connected to anything – they must have been left as extra for future work. My neighbor and I made a lot of jewelry from these colorful plastic coated wires, and set up shop on her porch. I’m not sure we ever sold anything, but we certainly were ready.


I have always had an interest in art, and a certain level of natural skill that I haven’t spent much time nourishing until recently. I have always been very driven to succeed – in academia and my career. That left little room for “fun,” and I haven’t really had the necessary space to spread out and create, either. I am fortunate to now have plenty of space – having recently finished building an in-home studio – and the experience of a number of home improvement projects that have honed my practical skills and inspired new ideas.




Another insight into my creative process: I have one pretty bad dog and one pretty good dog. I believe in decorating for real life, meaning that you work with and around your circumstances. Having dogs means worrying about dog hair, mud and drool. And that’s just for starters. It also means accidents, unexpected regurgitation, and, in the case of my bad dog, mischievous stealing. A table is right at eye (and mouth) level for my mastiff. His favorite game is stealing objects and hoping I will chase him. I have lost many, many items over the years, and coasters were out of the question due to their typically light construction. One day it occurred to me that he would be less likely to steal a stone coaster. I now use slate coasters identical to those I sell in my shop, and he has not once stolen one. Good design, practical use, problem solved.



3. Who taught you the particular skills you use in your work?


I have to say that my mom is the biggest influence I have in terms of creating. She and I work in different media, and her abilities range from quilting and sewing to basket-weaving and mosaic work. But I have certainly inherited my can-do attitude from her, and nothing is more fun than when we find opportunities to combine our crafts. She also has an Etsy shop at loneweever.etsy.com.


My second biggest influence is probably trial and error. I will dream up some crazy idea, and give it a whirl on a prototype or two.


I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Fran at Manassas Clay. Everything I know about pottery I have learned from her in her classes there, and I cannot even begin to thank her enough for opening up the world of clay to me.



4. How long have you been selling online?


I joined Etsy on March 13 of 2008, and began listing items within a week or so of that date.



5. What is your favorite thing about Etsy?


I love the atmosphere, the palpable creativity, and the opportunity to find that perfect one-of-a-kind item.



6. What is your favorite thing about what you sell?


What I love about my shop is that I only sell things that I would use to decorate my own home. It is very much a reflection of my own style and aesthetic. More often than not, I made an original to solve a design problem in my own home, and decided to create more to sell in the shop.



7. What is your favorite item in your own shop and why?



It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I am really excited about the new vintage items in my shop, and I will have a hard time parting with several of them. One of them is the vintage House & Garden magazine cover from June of 1937. It depicts a tree stump covered in blooming blue morning glories, and beautiful in its natural simplicity.



8. How does your work differ from the work of other artists in your field?


There are several shops on Etsy that offer stone coasters, but I have yet to see another shop that takes as much care to photograph the stones with as much detail as I show. Most of my competitors will list a set of coasters and indicate that the coasters they send to you will be similar to the ones shown. I find that choosing stones is a very personal thing, and I want my customers to be able to select the stones that speak to them. I try to select stones that go well together, but I want to leave it to the customer to choose the exact pieces that they want. I haven’t seen other stone coasters that have metallic leaf designs painted on them, nor stained images. I have also noticed that many shops cover the entire bottom of their coasters – which seems unnecessary to me, and unfortunate, since the beauty of the stone is a 360 degree experience.



9. What teams do you belong to and what do you like most about them?


I only belong to the Design Style Guide, and I love that it is such a broad base of creativity and artisanship. I also love that the team is focused on interior design, a subject I find interesting and dovetails well with my shop.



10. What is the most fun thing you do to promote your shop?


The most fun, and most labor-intensive, thing I do to promote my shop is my blog, New Dominion Blues. I try to give insight into my shop, my studio, and my creative process, but I also spend a lot of time featuring other artists, things that inspire me, and related subjects.




11. What are some of your favorite finds by other sellers on Etsy?


I have many, many favorites, but I will share a few that I have bought, and a few that I will someday buy…


I swoon for alinahayes’ robins egg pieces.


I bought one of these salt shakers from StudioElan, and I still keep coming back to gaze at it online.


everyeskimo is one of my newest favorite shops.


I have several of these vintage skeleton keys with borosilicate glass beads, made by Venbead.



12. What do you do in your spare time?




I’m not sure I have much in the way of what I would call “spare time,” but I do tend to fill my time working on my Etsy shop, my blog, working in my studio, throwing pottery, home improvement projects, training and wrangling my dogs, and preparing to write a number of books that have been rolling around in my brain.


See also: Our Exclusive Interviews


• • • • •


If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below. Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.



If you like this blog entry you'll love my blog, jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks. Check it out. I'll be glad you did.


Monday, August 24, 2009

say it with words!

I have decided to explore the written word this month..... our Design Style Guide sellers on Etsy are full of bright ideas when it comes to ways to incorporate the written word into their designs. Here are a few of my personal favourites
Enjoy....
Jo Bradford @ Green Island Studios
xoxo


eat it bowl (large size) by laurawallstaylor

-----------

Live, Laugh and Love Decorative Silhouette by mountainbrook

-----


--------

Friday, August 21, 2009

It isn't easy being green

Lively Lidded Vessel by Barbdunshee











I've read in numerous books about civilizations being identified during excavations through the pottery shards found in the rubble of their buried buildings and homes. That means pottery has lasting power, and once fired, it doesn't return to the earth very well for reuse.




As a result, I try to be very careful in making sure that what I create is worthwhile as either a beautiful decorative object or more likely, as something that is functional, yet beautiful to look at when not in use, too.




Additionally, I only fire my kiln when I have enough work to fill it completely. I recycle all my clay scraps and glazes, too, as well as try to use found objects as my tools rather than buying new ones.




Even my kiln disasters where something cracks, warps or drips are recycled. I have mosaic artists around the country who are happy to accept my pottery shards for their creations.












The way that I think pottery and ceramics is most friendly to the environment is through the durability of it. Rather than throwing away a styrofoam cup or plastic plate, clay dishes can be used over and over for eons.




Handmade pottery also satisfies an internal need for personal contact. By that, I mean that there is nothing that feels as great to drink from as a handmade cup or tumbler where you can feel where the creator's fingers manipulated the clay. Handmade pottery has an allure that makes you want to touch it, hold it and use it...something that I feel a manufactured product cannot hope to achieve.




So the next time you reach for a handmade cup or bowl, consider the thought and care put into its creation that you'll be able to enjoy for many, many years to come.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Giveaway #4 featuring Joan from “thegifthutch”

il_430xN.26783492

What fun it was to look through thegifthutch, searching for items to show you. It made a little disappointed I couldn’t enter the contest !!!!

Joan makes some beautiful pillows, along with sachets, sachets for men, and even a gorgeous sachet to be used as a curtain tieback!

Here’s what Joan says about her work:

“For many years I have been designing and crafting pillows for friends and il_430xN.64017162 family. One of the things that influenced this creativity was watching my Mom sew just about everything from cushions to wedding gowns; never using a pattern even for the most complex designs.


As a child, I learned vintage style pillows (triangle folds) from watching my grandmother’s neighbor and friend. il_430xN.46784595Little did I know that the process stayed with me and today I make my own pillow creations incorporating the ideas from those memories. Other vintage style pillows I learned were smock and ribbon weave. These pillows are truly works of art and each finished piece brings much pleasure. The sachet passion began later on as I experimented with smaller pieces of fabric.


I have crafted as a hobby for a very long time. My first crafting experience was making dolls and dolls clothes as a little girl.il_430xN.35325590 Crocheting came next, as a young adult, then came Swedish Dawning (hand towels, etc), smocking (pillows), ribbon weaving (pillows, sachets, jewelry cases, etc.), macramé, quilling (picture frames - coasters, wall pieces etc.) and some of my own creations. My love of art and crafts and encouragement from friends and family led me to start sharing my work with you. I hope you will enjoy your items as I have enjoyed creating them.il_430xN.83175447


My aim is to create beautiful enjoyable accents for you, your home and your gift giving.”

il_430xN.44315916





Joan, of thegifthutch, is offering a 30.00 credit with free shipping to one lucky winner!






To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is visit Design Style Guide – go to the “Home Accessories” and tell us which category attracted you the most! Post this as a comment and you have been entered into the giveaway!

If you would like a couple of extra entries you may get them by:

1) Visit our featured sellers shop thegifthutch and leave a comment here, telling us what you would want to get if you win.

2) Retweet this giveaway – and leave ONE message here that you retweeted

3) Follow this blog and leave us a comment telling us you are now following!

*Note: all comments that do not follow the entry rules will be deleted before winning post number is drawn.

Please ensure that the profile you use for your comment(s) is public or leave your email address in your comment. If we are unable to email the winner, we will pick a new winner.

This giveaway will end on Sept 2, Noon PDT. We will use Random.org to choose the winner, email the winner, and post the winning post number here. This giveaway is only open to US addresses, legal residents of the 50 United States and at least 18 years old at time of entry at this time..

**Note General DSG Giveaway Rules

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Get this LOOK for LESS...

How many times have you browsed through magazines and websites for inspiration? I do it all the time. With a tremendous amount of information at my fingertips it is really not difficult to do. The most difficult part comes when it is time to implement what I found on the Internet into reality. To find even similar looking items for a reasonable price is very time consuming and often frustrating...

That is why Design Style Guide Team came up with a new feature on our website:

"GET THIS LOOK FOR LESS..."

E
ach month, we will feature a fully designed room with links to stores where you can purchase similar items to achieve a similar look for less money.

This way you can not only find inspiration, but also a shopping guide that will halp you get what you need in minutes.


Here is our first Featured Room:


Come back each month to see a new room.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Avoid Heatstroke and Just Bring the Outdoors In

August is that time of the year that you know you should be outside enjoying the summer, but it is often just too hot to do so. How, you may ask, can you enjoy the out of doors without risking heatstroke when the temperatures outside are boiling? Bring the outdoors in! You can easily accomplish this task by checking out some of these great shops below:





This is the Sunshine Poppy Garden from Love Art Works. Not only will this vase brighten your day, but the proceeds will help brighten someone else's as well. The proceeds from the sale of Sunshine Poppy Garden are also going to a great cause-The American Cancer Society.




This stone ware copper and turquoise vase from Marielle Macville Ceramics. It is a beautiful example of her artifacts collection and is fully functional as a vase.






What a great way to display all of your outdoor finds! The Buckets....Whats at your windowsill...
from ArzuMusa are made entirely from polymer clay.




The moss terrarium No. 139 from Made by Mavis is made from slow growing moss and other tiny plants. You will not need a green thumb for this mini garden as it requires little care and pretty much takes care of itself.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Decorating your child's room

When it comes to making a child's room bright and cheerful, there's no end to the decorating ideas you can find among the Designstyleguide artists on etsy. From furniture to bedding, toys and wall or window decorations, you can find unique, affordable, and well-crafted pieces perfect for a child's room. Here are just a few of the items available.



One of my favorite etsy artists, glassnwood, created this whimsical duck that is perfect for a child's room window. This 4.5" stained glass sun catcher is just $10.

Whether for little or big kids, wooden blocks make a great decorating tool, and you can play with them, too. Etsy artist, anotherbrightidea created these solid oak blocks with five different acryonyms. You can check them out here.




Night stands complete the bedroom. This one from funhousefurniture features a solid maple top and sturdy drawers. Non toxic American produced materials and water based finish? Of course! All night stands are 24"h x 24"w x 12" deep.



In this pretty print on canvas, Etsy artist reniebritenbucher has depicted neighborhood kids who have gathered to rake some leaves and jump into the piles! Lots of fun and whimsy for your child's room. It is 14" wide by 11" high and is available for just $28.99.





Etsy seller, Laughingcoyote, created this beautiful classic rocking horse which would be a focal point in any child's room. This rocking horse is an heirloom quality toy that can be handed down from parent to child for generations to come. And it's fun too! They make their rocking horses to be played with, not just looked at and dusted. Constructed from various hardwoods and finished with water-based polyurethane, this little pony is sturdy, strong, and built to last.You can choose from a body made of maple, walnut, or cherry, built on maple or oak rockers. Every child will adore this colorful dresser by Madteapartyfurniture. They may even be more inclined to fold up and put away their clothes at the end of the day! This five drawer Broyhill dresser was hand painted (no stencils ever used) in maraschino red, ink, bublegum pink,and light sage. Ladybug inspired, bright and whimsical. Layers of glaze are applied for protection.

To find more decorating ideas for a child's room, go the the Etsy site and type 'Designstyleguide' into the search engine. You can refine your search even more by adding words such as wall decor or furniture or bedding.







Friday, August 14, 2009

All Things Skinny


We've all got a nook or cranny we'd like to fill with something beautiful, something handmade, something uniquely Design Style Guide. Long and narrow is what I'm talking about here, so let's see what I found for the nooks and crannies in your house that need a little spicing up, a little pi-zazz with a capital 'p'!

First up, and admittedly the inspiration for this post, a 3-shelf Narrow Chimney Cabinet from Black Mountain Furniture. This lovely nook piece comes in your choice of over 50 different distressed colors to choose from.

This skinny collage, inspired by Mother Nature and created by Wyldewood Papers, is entitled Cherry Sunset and fits nicely into a cranny at 6"x24".

Stand tall with this Lady Liberty folding screen from Atelier Expo Art, printed on high quality polyester tissue, padded, framed in metal with metal hinges.










Another beauty, this skinny Antique Barnwood Jelly Cupboard from Strong Oaks Woodshop made from vintage 1800's southern yellow pine features an all-natural, hand rubbed, non-toxic beeswax and citrus oil finish.





Finally, who ever said the nooks all had to be indoors? This fabulous Two Tiered Celestial Wind Sculpture from Christopher Crooks Designs stands over 8 feet tall and is balanced to pivot in the wind.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

One Step At A Time

In 1977, I ordered a "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt kit from a woman's magazine. I remember the color scheme was Harvest Gold and Avocado Green, like everything else those days! When the kit arrived I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of pre-cut hexagons. At the time I didn't know any quilters, had never heard of a quilt shop, and had never seen a quilting-how-to book. I put the kit in a drawer, thinking that "someday" I would make it. Well, that project was never finished (okay, it was never even started!) but the desire to learn quilting persisted.

Then twelve years ago, during a particularly dark period in my life, I challenged myself to learn something new, something positive, something that might spark a little light in me. I saw a newspaper ad for a beginner's block-piecing class at a local quilt shop, and forced myself to register. That first day, when I walked into the shop, I felt immediately at home. Like many quilt shops I've visited since then, this one was located in the old part of town, in what we now call a "re-purposed" building. Whether in an old house, bank, inn or barn, these shops are invariably warm and cozy. Every nook and cranny is filled with fabric bolts, threads, patterns, and packets of "fat quarters." Sewing/quilting tools hang on pegboards, and sample quilts cover every inch of wall space. Shop owners and assistants never fail to welcome newcomers, and are happy to answer questions and offer advice. There is virtually no way to feel depressed in a quilt shop! I was instantly hooked. The photo below shows my small quilt from that first class, pieced and quilted entirely by hand. The bonus was that in the process of creating an actual, physical item, I felt powerfully uplifted. Since then I've heard similar stories from many fellow quilters. For us, quilting is a form of therapy -- almost a meditation. You can witness this on a mass scale during times of acute crisis. If you ever get the chance, visit the 9/11 quilts, or the AIDS quilts, or Hurricane Katrina quilts. In all of these, many, many blocks are submitted from quilters around the world, and assembled together to honor those who have died. On a smaller scale, most quilters donate quilts to a local charity, like a childrens hospital or rescue service.

My second class was hand-applique and hand-quilting, and resulted in the quilt below, which now hangs over a banister in my home.I also made a few baby quilts during those early years, still all hand work. It was the next quilt that marked some huge changes for me: I was gaining confidence in my ability, I joined a large guild for quilters, I started collecting fabric. I had previously bought only enough fabric for the project at hand. I had heard quilters talking about their fabric "stashes," but I didn't even know what that meant. Then my daughter asked me to make a queen-sized quilt for her. The block pattern she chose was a fairly simple star, but she wanted it to be a "charm" quilt. In a charm, each individual piece must be a different fabric; a queen-size charm in the star she liked would need over 1600 fabric pieces! I became a frequent visitor to every shop in a three state area. It took almost a year to collect enough to even begin piecing the first stars. Then I discovered online fabric sources, and became addicted to them. That sped the process up, but I was still piecing, quilting and binding entirely by hand, and Lisa's quilt took almost three years to complete. But I learned an important lesson with that quilt. In the beginning it seemed like an impossible task --- almost like the long ago hexagon kit that never got done. But this time around I realized this: I could only cut and piece one star block at a time. I did this regularly, and eventually I had enough blocks to make a row. I kept going until I had enough rows to make the main part of the quilt. Then I added borders and basted the top, batting and backing together. Finally, stitch by stitch, I quilted the layers together. Approaching the project as a whole was overwhelming. But breaking it down into achievable goals led to a really special final result. (See photos below.) This has of become my mantra, in life as well as in quiltmaking.


Lisa's quilt was the last one I made entirely by hand. After hers, I had a fabric stash to die for, and dozens of new projects dancing around in my head! There was no way to get them all done unless I switched to working by machine. I really resisted this for awhile, stuck on the idea that "real" quilters work only by hand. That was true back on the prairie, but few quilters work that way today. In fact, many only sew the top of the quilt, then send it off to be quilted professionally. The pro usually has a huge, long-arm machine, often computer-guided. They do beautiful work. But I like my one-step-a-time = finished quilt approach. Luckily the quilt world is now big enough for all of us!

I now have a sewing machine and a mid-arm machine on a 10 foot rack. No computers, but I can finish a large quilt in a week or two, rather than a year or two. Three years ago I started selling quilts locally, and then online. It's the best job in the world! I still can't live long enough to finish all of the projects I want to tackle, but hopefully most of them. I'm still learning something with each project, and continue to take the occasional class to update techniques and network with other quilters. I get inspiration from other quilters, workshops, books, and magazines. Most often, though, it's fabric that initially excites me; I especially like using the same fabric design in different colorways. Looking for the perfect block and layout to dramatize particular fabrics is what drives me.

You can find more of my work online at Quilts With Heart, or my DSG Profile Page. You can learn more about me, personally, on my blog.

See Also: Our Exlusive Interviews