Design Blogger Conference 2011

WOW what an amazing few days I just had! I am back home from an inspiring 3 days out in California at the Design Blogger Conference. To be honest I was not sure what to expect, sometimes you go to these conferences and they can be hit or miss but this one was spot on! I found it to be geared much more to the full time interior designer and blogger, purely focused on business. Seriously there was no messing around here and I loved it! I will have a full recap over the next few days but here are just a few points that continue to stick out in my mind.

 

 "Work Hard and Be Nice"!
One of the common themes from each speaker was that you will work harder than you ever have and be nice to everyone you meet! Social Media is a very supportive and encouraging place, take advantage of it. Many people credited their ability to reach out to those they admired and ask for help and guidance. Most often these experts were willing to offer up a few minutes of advice or pass on a contact!

"Valleys & Peaks"
The quote that truly resonated with me was from the infectious Tracey Porter that we learn more in the valleys than we do in the peaks but when we are in the peaks we should slow down and stay focused. This is something I need to implement, when we are all at our busiest we are moving so fast that we might veer away from our goals and get off our business track. Her suggestion was to stay on point with your brand and constantly check in with yourself!

"Photograph EVERYTHING!"
Tobi Fairley is incredible and shared so many tips on how to grow your design business. I will share many more of her tips in the next post but the one that kicked my butt into gear was her advice to take photos of everything. Especially the before photos. We all get so excited to start our projects we forget this step, she literally takes photos from every angle in the room, even if it is just a blank wall. Her strong advice to hire the best photographer you can afford was well received!

In the next post I will have even more tips and advice from the conference but right now I need to get some packing done, I move in 2 days! In the meantime hop on over to twitter follow my CreateGirl tweets and the hashtag #DBC2011 for even more tips.

(Image via Raina Kattelson - please note correction this is her actual room!,  Matt Burke Flickr, Tobi Fairley)

Monday Morning Happy

Happy New Week! It's the first full week of spring and I plan to embrace it, even if it is still a weee bit chilly!

The end of last week I was in a bit of a creative slump, I am happy to say it has passed! Phew! Holly over at Decor8 sent me an encouraging email which was just so sweet! I also decided to "clean the slate" in a way and I started with my inspiration board which sits over my desk. At times the best thing to do is "empty the room" and start over, it's a great way to take stock of where your creativity is. So this is what I came up with some pieces are constants like the quotes and photos on the left but to the right I exchanged almost all the room photos.

before the cleansing!

after:

I cropped the room inspirations here:

A window seat always signifies relaxation and serenity for me so when I saw this picture I knew it was a keeper! The brown cushion accented with turquoise and yellow pillows are a fabulous color combo and one which I see myself drawn to lately (more to come on that)! The black and white tile in the kitchen is fantastic, I dream of this for myself someday. With spring here I love the idea of a crisp white vase with a simple single flower. Just lovely! These are just a few images which caught my attention this weekend. This is an exercise I should do more often. It's nice to have the option to "clean the slate" and start from scratch! Afterall isn't that what spring is all about?
Enjoy the week
jul

budanART

It's amazing how one thing leads to another! At the start of this week I came across this gorgeous stained glass window on the local blog I'm From Worcester. The intertwined sharp colors immediately caught my attention and in a way it was mesmerizing. I have always admired stained glass but honestly could not see it in my home. So off I went in search of stained glass like wall decor without the price of a real stained glass window! Look who I found! Let me introduce you to the incredibly talented Canadian artist Mandy Budan. She describes her art as:

"abstracts of the landscape, emphasizing and rearranging the elements to show the beauty of the landscape in unexpected ways. Inspired by nature, I use strong colour, discrete shapes and rhythmic patterns to create paintings which can be enjoyed for both their abstract and realistic qualities"

budanART's original paintings are available on her website and also offers affordable reproductions over at her Etsy store. For $18 - $38ea you could purchase a few of these amazing prints to group together. I love the fact she has scenes from all seasons! They are incredible and have such depth you could get lost in the image. The prints have a stained glass feeling with her varying use of the same color. I just love them, it's the pop of vibrant color any room could use. She also gives us a sneak peak into her design process over on her blog. Check out the poppy transformation, it is beautiful!

Abstract Poppy

Spring Shadows

Rocky Shore

(images from BudanArt and I'm from Worcester)

Have an Inspiring Weekend!

Welcome to the Weekend!
This week was filled with a few ups and downs. As you can see I turned to my favorite bloggers for inspiration and they definitely pulled through! Where do you turn for inspiration or a quick lift your spirit moment? Thankfully the week is ending on a very positive note!

A quote to remember, found over at Creature Comforts

I was reminded once again of the very true statement "if life gives you lemons make lemonade". So when I came across the "Sipping in Style" post over at Hostess With The Mostess I just had to laugh!



Desire To Inspire reminded me there are only a few short months until outdoor dinner parties resume!! I can't wait!




The last thing to leave you with before we head out for the weekend is an adorable, free spirited video "Cloud Nine" over at Coco+Kelley. Check it out, it will put a smile on your face!

Thanks for another fun week here at CreateGirl! I truly appreciate all the comments and for all your visits!
Enjoy the weekend
jul

Monday Morning Happy

Happy New Week!



I have just been reminded once again what an amazing community the blogging world is. As I was searching for the "Cute Picture of the Week" I jumped over to Cookie Magazine where they are counting down the top 10 house tours of 2008. This adorable little red head caught my eye, she is part of the Nielson Family. This is where it gets interesting, as I clicked on her Mom's blog I am overwhelmed with this incredible story. Stephanie, the mom of three little ones is the author of the NieNieDialogs. It is an absolutely adorable blog of this mom and her adventures of raising children. Her house is perfectly lovely and she has a great talent for using found items and meaningful mementos to design her rooms. For instance below she uses sweaters her grandmother knitted (and her mom shrank!!) as decoration on the babies crib! Too sweet and very thoughtful!




The real story unravels as I continue to read. Stephanie and her husband were in a terrible plane accident and were both severely burned back in August. The blog has continued by readers "reposting" their favorite entries and what that post meant to them. I was completely moved by the devotion of her readers and their commitment to keeping the blog going until Stephanie will be able to post again. Through these blogs, which each of us slave over to create informative, interesting posts each day, we are all connected in a way where we become involved in each others lives. It is truly amazing. I continue to love the idea of clicking on one article or blog to only be led to another which I might not have found otherwise. So I send a little blog love to NieNie and hope her recovery continues to go well. Please visit her site and be inspired by all of her readers and the Nielson Family.

Have a great week
JUL

(images from Cookie Magazine)

Inspiration in the Dining Room

For the most part Thanksgiving revolves around the Dining Table so I compiled a few of my favorite rooms to share with you. As you can see my style ranges from casual, to regal to comfy modern! I hope you enjoy a peek inside my Dining Room Inspiration Folder!

fun twist on the traditional style with the bold fabric on the chairs

a serene and calm setting

this Georgian Style Dining Room feels regal but relaxed, I think I was drawn to it for the orange

I am positively, absolutely in LOVE with these dramatic chairs and table!

this picture is similar to my personal style, great clean lines but still dramatic. I might just switch out the chandelier and the rug to something a bit more modern.

(images from Domino Mag, Point Click Home and House to Home)