[one creative day]...improv art

so i am sorry for my lack of posting yet AGAIN...between being a part-time mum [aka. nanny]...to a full time fiance and also dealing with visa issues and leaving the country for 3 months CLO has unfortunately not been on the top of my list. however from here on out there will be at least a post or two a week as i leave to go back to the states next week and then the following week after that i start my internship with the amazing Kathryn Ireland...for those of you who do not know here...here is her website... www.kathrynireland.com check it out...but next week i will be doing a little post on her and her work to get myself ready for one of the most amazing opportunities of my life so far...

anyways here is a little something for this week...this was actually an email i sent a few friends and creatives of mine...i had finally found inspiration after one of the longest and most emotionally draining weeks since i have moved here to OZ...

Wow!! What a difference having a clear mind has! I got home on Friday and found these feathers that someone must have given me on my hens night as I don't remember receiving them! Haha anyways this wall was needing something and I decide to so a quick little art installation! I hung a string & taped it with some cute pink and white striped tape.. I then hung the feathers and also found some old photos of mine and hung them on little clothes pins. And then.... I decided to write happy birthday Adam on some fun scrap papers! Now this temporary art piece will probably be semi permanent and also ever changing! We all know how much I like change! Hence the rearranging of furniture yet again!!

Anyways thought I would share...this is one of my favourite little areas in our house! Great bench I won at the  auctions  with a fun zinc side table i picked up wednesdy for $10!! Down from $99?!? Who would have paid $99 for those I don't know. And then of course my ever growing collection of interior book...the magazines I just can't seem to throw & Adams  rusty board with the little pop of red is the cherry on top of this delicious space! 

When you are a renter you have to quickly learn how to make your space your own with all the limitations you have not being the owner! Since day one of living out of my parents nest I quickly learned how to make my space "my own"..It started with my dorm room...I remember the RA coming in and saying how my side of the room felt like a room at home! I could not live any other way. And from then on each space I have lived in has felt my own and not like a rental.

[colour palette]: great white

so it is about time to paint my long board "the great white" [yes...i have named it...i have named all my boards...purple people eater, three seas and robbie]. it is plain white and deserves a little colour it is life.my tall man has so kindly offered his creative talents and skill of painting boards all i have to do is come up with the colour palette as i know the design i want! i will do this the same way i get inspiration for any project.

so i feel that, specially when decorating a space, that people go about getting inspiration in the wrong ways and places. that is typically by looking at interior magazines and seeing what they like and what they feel will look good in their space. well the outcome is a space that is not unique and personal to that individual plus being of the moments "trend" design results in one having to constantly update their space in a world of ever changing design .

in our advanced colour course we had to weekly come up with colour palettes. this is where i developed the technique that i feel is one of the best ways to find inspiration for ANY project.  this is by choosing 3-4 images from a magazines. these images are never images of interior spaces rather images that catch my eye. i then tear the pages up and make collages that then turn into my colour inspirations. i then choose colours from these collages to make a palette. the colours are not  just colours to paint the walls in but also colours to use for other furnishings and styling accents as well as for an overall "feeling" your space evokes.

i feel that by using this technique you will find yourself in a more individual unique space rather than one seen in every other house and every magazine. if you are not one for collages then just choose the images and pick and pull key colours and ideas from them.

so while i work on the colours for the "great white" here are a few of the collages along with their palettes...i have more than a handful and will try and post more each week... but for now enjoy the two i did for the neutral and earth palettes

[neutrals]

  

{the first image i found was the one of the salt and pepper..i just loved the textures and the colour... i then found the one of the girl with the blue hair...i just had to but that in as it added a little pop to the neutrals...then i just loved the other 2 images (picture of the model and then the textured wallpaper with the orchid. they just helped soften my inspiration}

[earth]

{i dont know how any one would flip through a magazine and not be drawn to this image...the colours and the intensity just draw you in. she was the first image i found. and then considering it was an earth palette i found an image of the ocean to soften the intensity and then i was just in love with the image of the exterior of this house with all white and the blue shutters}

                                        

Each palette could lend itself to any style of space whether it is traditional, contemporary, eclectic or organic.

          

[one creative day]: look around

so i am sorry for the delay in posting...



i did not open or even touch my computer for over a week! it was quite nice i have to admit... just enjoyed time on the road with my "soon-to-be" and did a lot of reading and sleeping...


here are a few pictures i took while i was away that i have found some inspiration from: inspiration is everywhere even if you don't know where you are or what you are eating!

[sunset]

{ somewhere between maitland, NSW and Forster, NSW}

[spoonful of colour]

{yes this is my breakfast...i had to take a picture of it as it was so colourful and so fresh looking unfortunately the colours don't look as yummy in this picture as they did in person}

                                       

[round rainbow]

{this colour wheel was on a poster which was in the bathroom of the cafe where i ate my previously colourful breakfast! i think my breakfast had close to every colour in the colour wheel}

[pac-man]

{ok so i know it is silly but i was eating corn chips & pulled this out of the bag  I then looked looked down at the blanket and noticed the dots..i just had too!}

so this week i would like you to start looking everywhere...notice something you would normally not! it makes the heart smile!

coming this week:

[lost & found]: some before and afters of some  "trash" that will be turning into my "treasures" this week

[colour palettes]: a few of my past colour palettes as well as the one i am working on to paint my long board

[i heart________ ]: the pantone hotel

[I heart ________ ] : Dad's Day

Missing home today as the family is all together at our best family friends house celebrating Father's day! I just got off the phone with my dad and he had just opened his iPad that we all got him![thanks mom!] He is so excited to play with it and take it on the road with him. I usually resorted to a book for Father's day for my dad, however now with all the great new gadgets for i-Phones and now i-Pads I can get a little more creative with my gift giving to my dad!


Here are a few of my favourite guy gadgets and pressies for all those dads, husbands, boyfriends, brothers and mates...[no cheezy golf related items here]



                                {custom i-Phone & i-Touch covers by uncommon} 

                                                              

                    {programmable Vodka bottles by Medea}                              

                                                

 {leather i-Pad and i-Phone gadget pouch

 by Saddleback Leather Co.}

                                    

{iRetrofone Base for i-Phone by freeland studios on etsy}

[i might have to save up for one of these!]

                                                          

 [what i heart the most....]

                                    {image taken by noelle from images by noelle}

[one creative day]...what is a journey?

What is a journey?

A journey is not a trip….

It’s not a vacation.

It’s a process. A discovery

It’s a process of Self-discovery.

A Journey brings us face to face with ourselves.

A journey shows us not only the world, but how we fit in it.

Does the person create the journey or does the journey create the person ?

The journey is life itself.

Where will life take you?

-Louis Vuitton ad [view ad here]



i have created this blog as an attempt to find my creative way again.


 after owning a wedding floral and event design studio at the age of 21 thinking that was what my life's calling was...i now find myself 5 years later, engaged to the most amazing man, living in australia, finished interior design school and still feeling ...LOST! Creatively and inspirationally that is. I feel as if all the other puzzle pieces are in place except for the one...
i am inspired by everything and almost anything...from fashion to history to colour to nature. i love finding treasures on the side of the road [one of my favourites was an old trunk probably dated back to the because 40's with all of the treasures i found in it! that became my coffee table when living in california...i miss it] i love painting, drawing, taking pictures, rearranging furniture, puzzles, kittens and cats, the ocean, the sand, my family and friends...the list is practically endless....

with all of that said here i am today...i graduated from Sydney Design School in december. i went back and took an advanced colour course with my favourite teacher/mentor/owner of colour dot...Di Swinborn...she recommended me to a designer from LA she met here in sydney while she was giving a lecture...well long story short...i am now going to intern with this designer [name TBA] in september for a little over a month before i get married.


however with all of this exciting stuff happening...like i already said, i feel lost. i do believe that we create ourselves rather than find ourselves...so i am not feeling like i need to find myself...i am feeling like i need to find my way again... a HEAP [aussie for ALOT] of big changes have gone on in the last couple years and i am a little all over the place in my head...


so with this blog i plan on doing one creative thing a week...anything from painting and fixing up furniture to creating resin jewelry...i will interview inspirational creatives...give you sneak peaks of some of our wedding inspirations...take you on home tours...provide you with before and after pictures...
i will take you on a little creative journey...
please feel free to comment, email, call, fax, send a letter via snail mail..


and stay tuned for next weeks [one creative day]...i will be featuring "octopus art" from myself as well as "some friends" of mine!

                                           
                           painting by [myself] circa 2008


{this is just a little motto i like to live by. so one day i saw these 3 canvases and decided to paint them in bright bold colours with block lettering. they are now in a friends house in California. i think it is time that our unit here in Sydney enjoyed a little peace.love.creativity.}

what am i...

I remember reading childhood books that would have a description of something and then it would ask what am I? Lets play a little game of "what am I?"

I like to write.

I like to read other people's creative insights.

I need an outlet for my creativity.

What am I?

I am a blogger! Well I guess the right thing to say would be, "I am becoming a blogger!" 

I am addicted to blogs myself and thought that it would be yet another perfect outlet for this ever busy and crazy mind of mine. I will try my best at frequent updates but do promise weekly posts for now. [ as a blog reader I know how bummed I get when my favourite bloggers do not post something new!]

Below is a list of the different posts that you can expect to see! 


[A word with: ________________]  interviews with inspiring and creative individuals
[colour palettes] monthly i will be providing you with a new colour palette 
[I heart __________] things that i love and that inspire me
[lost & found] "trash" that i have turned into treasures
[home sweet home] transformations of houses to turn them into people's homes
[one creative day]  my goal is to every week do ONE creative thing. I am constantly doing creative things but this is one planned creative thing a week 
[wedding inspiration] behind the inspirations of our wedding


So those are just a few of the many things I plan and hope to bring to you all!
I hope you enjoy! xx ccc 


(does this mean I can tell people I am a blogger when asked?)

little gold heart

{i took this picture at the bottom of the stairs to our unit. it is someone's rubbish that i found the beauty in! i would like to encourage everyone to not always look straight ahead as sometimes beauty is found by looking down or looking up! it is amazing what we miss by just looking straight ahead}