Moss Rock Festival- day one

What a great first day for Moss Rock Festival! Beautiful weather, huge crowds, lots of fun! Below are pics from the booth! Now off to make a mad dash at re-stocking. Hopefully tomorrow, there will be coffee!

My new "booth shot" for art show applications.

Wall of pretties- felted, dyed, assembled, handmade.

Necklace board after a few sales and some "filling in".

Bracelet tree- ready for gift giving!

fretwork - recycling great pieces

Fretwork is an easy item to recycle into the home. It is lightweight, decorative, and adds depth to a space from the age or patina of the pieces. Below are some great uses for fretwork that has been re-imagined into more modern spaces.



hotel room screen screens bath from bed



Fretwork as "shutters" from Elle Decor

Fretwork mirror from http://circawho.com/category/mythoughts/

laurl designs- the website

I am working on building my new site. Building online portfolios and trying to connect the variety of things that I do into one cohesive concept is difficult. Artist, creator, designer. Color, pattern, line. Concepts, ideas, actions. Here are some of my new images on the site.

Grey and yellow. Sparkle and ikat. Recycled and wearable.

Pink and green is always a great combo. I love recycling fabrics into new things.
 

Rich reds, ochers, greens make this pretty necklace

I love the turquoise chaise with the houndstooth cabinet and clear tables.

Handbags can be made more interesting as a collection.

Visually rich image on my hand painted lamps.

Neutral no more- adding color to your home interiors- part 2

The second part of my adding color to a neutral interior space address a family room/den area. (To see part one of the series click here). In this typical neutral cream to taupe space, I have chosen complimentary colors to accent the space in blue and red-orange. As in the previous space, I have used olioboard.com to create the space. This color palette can take a room to an Americana space, Eastern influenced space, or can go quite modern. I have gone with a hybrid of Eastern and Americana.

With the simple addition of changing the accent pieces I have taken the ivory walls, sisal rug and cream sofa to a brighter, polished finish with blue wing back chairs, on trend patterned pillows with blue and white, tones of orange red in the lamp bases and a bronze Brown cut work bowl with a blue lining. Could this space go further to add color? Surely, but for the color timid, this is a great start by adding small changeable color pieces and practically neutral blue chairs.

If you are interested in any of the item's on this board, I would love to tell you more about them! Simply drop me an email at LaurlSelf@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.

Eco-Chic at Home- The Boy's Nursery

Boy's are all about being on the move. So, today I am looking at decorating a nursery for a boy with the concept of movement. Layering on the component of green design, we will be looking at buying local, handmade and recycled. Maybe people think about being green as simply recycling, however when you think about green in a holistic way you see that it is about the conservation of thing. Buying items that have a longer "shelf-life"maybe as a conversion item, buying items that do not cost a lot in fuel to get to you, and buying items that come from something that can be grown again easily or that used to be something else are all ways to look at the concept of green. So, antiques are green, and so are items made by local artisans! Here are a few great designs that follow some of these ideas!

All items can be found of Etsy! The first items in the list is from a member of one of the Etsy teams I am a part of and called Alabama Accents. This team is doing a promotions drive and featuring one team member a day

BronstarDesigns on Etsy brings us this great growth chart all about easy modes of transportation! I love the clear color palette of blue and red!

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Movement can also be about the air and unseen forces! This Modern Mobile- The Supernova in Deep Red by The Wonderland Studio is a great contemporary design that adds color and movement into the nursery.

What a great vintage scooter from LilAndLou! Not only would this be a great early mode of transportation, but it also brings some history to the nursery. Because of the narrow profile, under 6 inches, it would also make a great wall piece. So, you have a recycled piece that is wall art and functional once your little mover gets moving! What a great way to celebrate green design.

These fun little bicycle pillow can add repetition into a space. Repetition is a great way to add pattern without creating visual clutter. Soft artwork is great for little hand and chewing mouths! These organic bicycle pillows comes from BirdMafia on Etsy.

I love mixing moderns with vintage, especially when the larger piece can grow with the child. This Bamboo storage cabinet would be great for storing books and toys now and a TV later. Because the piece is made of bamboo plywood the piece is strong and from renewable materials! This piece is from MaddoxStreetStudios and the only problem with getting this piece home if that you might want to keep it for yourself!

Dressing up what you already have- pillow makeovers

Sometimes design and decorating is about altering what you already have. It is a form of green design! I  think it is akin to switching out your clothes each season, you are see what you already have and love differently. Here are a few ways to dress up the pillows and other accents in your home!

What a great crocheted hair clip from Innov8ive Knits on Etsy! You can certainly wear it as intended. However, looking at it differently, like would be cool centered on a pillow or in a group with other flower pins. Nor only are you dressing up your pillows, but you are also finding storage alternatives!



This pretty flower pin would look great with the hair clip above on a pillow with maybe a third flower. Always work in odd numbers when designing a space, it is more pleasing to the mind! Rosy Posy Designs from Etsy brings us this great pin!





The perfect accompaniment to your flowers in your pillow! This lovely vintage rhinestone brooch is from Relics4you on Etsy. Vintage pins are a great item to collect and display in clusters on pillows. Make sure these are not pillows that you use often, because that could damage the pins!





Pillow Slipcovers are also a great way to go to update a space. This slipcover from Victoria Hayden on Etsy is featuring the hottest trend in design- the ruched fabric look.



For a funkier or folksier look to your decor, this folk design pillow slip cover can take a functional but tired pillow to a different place! See RustiqueCat on etsy for other folk inspired items!

Tribal chic lumbar pillows- ikats, suzanis and more

Etsy is a great source for pillows of all kinds- decorator fabrics, leather, pleather, hand printed, screen printed- and all hand made!  I am in love with the new tribal prints. It is a trend I predicted in 2008 and it is finally making it way into the mainstream. Here is a selection of great tribal prints pillows that will bring a one of a kind look to your home. Best part of a lumbar pillow is that it is easy to use and does not hide you other awesome pillows. These are more functional that square pillows!

Suzani print pillow from Trina Turk fabrics from PillowChix on etsy.

Fantastic tribal chic pillow created with various patterned fabrics from SisterBatik on Etsy.

I love a rich salmon and red ikat! This one is from PlayPurdys on etsy.

Grey has a way of freshening any tired space. This is a great option from ChicDecorPillows on etsy.

Great orange and cream ikat from WillaSkyeHome on etsy.

Tribal, check, recycled, check. Eco-chic, absolutely!
Funky vintage tribal needlepoint reclaimed by PlanetDaisyWorld on etsy.

Delicious embroidered suzani pillow from BertieWoodhouse on etsy.