Home

Marbled Clay Craft Night

| A Peace of Creativity

My first craft night, so generously hosted by Guest Peacer and invitation extraordinaire, Desiree from Heirloom Paper Co!

On the agenda: marble clay dishes and pendants from A Beautiful Mess. (For complete instructions see here and here.) On the menu: Blackberry Jam Fizzies, which were quite good.  I have never had a drink with jam in it before and it is the perfect amount of sweet.

For the dish, I picked turquoise, whites and just a hint of gold, black and light blue molding clay. Twist, loop and then twist again, over and over until the grain is the thickness you are looking for.

Roll into a ball, roll flat and cut out to the size dish you want.

Mold into the bottom of a dish and bake!

To make the pendants we simply cut out the shape we wanted from the rolled clay and baked with the dishes.

My favorite part was the discovery of this addictive gold paint. I used it to paint the edge and pump up the gold clay swirled in the dish.

Gold jewelry bails were glued to the pendant and then strung on a chain.

It was so much fun to see how everyone’s dish came out as they were all so different. I loved how the hot pink in my BFF’s dish pops and the black and white pendants looked like real stone.

I had a really good time crafting with one of my BFFs and meeting other talented ladies who love to craft as well.  Thank you so much for inviting me Desiree!

 

Save

Save

Save

Mammoth Love

| A Peace of Creativity

About a month ago, my awesome family so graciously let us and our good friends use their condo in Mammoth Lakes, California. We wanted to do something to thank them as we had such a wonderful time there. Decorating for your home is a hard enough feat never mind decorating for your vacation home.  As I love the challenge of interior design, I thought that some custom made, Mammoth inspired pieces would be a welcomed addition.

If you are familiar with Mammoth, this symbol should also be familiar to you.

Using the same technique as my personalized pillows, I added on the Mammoth logo and a green heart to a pillow I found that matches their couch.
  

During our time there, my husband and I went on a mini excursion to capture the beauty and nature among the grounds of their condo complex in photos. I picked out these IKEA frames, a personal favorite, in this very rich but modern brown.

We picked out a handful of photos to have printed and put them in the frames. These days, it is so easy to take photos with our phones always handy, but don’t forget to take the time to print some of them.  You really can’t see all of the detail on your devices and I think you will be surprised at how much better they look printed.

While my husband took photos with his DSLR, I took the one of Lake Mary with my iPhone 6 and was amazed at the quality of the 8×10 print. Here are some of our favorite shots.

Mammoth Love

I was so excited to give these to my family because I know how much they absolutely love their home in Mammoth and I hope these gifts represent that love for them!

Save

Save

Embellished Letters Part 2

| A Peace of Creativity

A good friend has been searching for art ideas for her home and after the Keira letters, I couldn’t wait to try another set. The biggest challenge in this project was choosing a style that was refined and contemporary for their home, which was a lot harder than letters for a little girl’s nursery.

The walls in their house are grey and I thought the black letters would give a nice contrast. I was lucky to find this set of scrapbook paper with mellow geometric prints in a neutral and grey color palette.

 After tracing and cutting out the letters in scrapbook paper, I used spray adhesive to affix them to the front of the wood letters.

  One thing I really liked about these particular letters were that they stood up on their own. This gives my friend some flexibility in where she can put them in her home.

  Since the letters were already black, it allowed me to save time from not having to paint them and accented their depth.

  With all of the fronts of the letters on, it was time to add some decoration. I picked up some paper daisies, pearls, white twine, and metal-like embellishments and the stickers came with the scrapbook paper set.  Using craft supplies by Handmade Modern from Target, I painted the wood shapes gold and added some daisies and stickers.

 For me, this project was all about simple elegance.  I wanted it to look crafty but not kitschy, modern but not cold.  Honestly, it was not easy to find coordinating pieces to meet this vision, but knowing my friend and her style definitely helped.  The daisies instantly reminded me of her and I based my decor around them.   

  
  

Save

Save

Embellished Letters

| A Peace of Creativity

I am an auntie again!  My adorable little niece is a week and a couple days old and to celebrate this new life, I wanted to share something my mother in law, Vicki, and I made for her.

Vicki told me that she got some letters from the craft store and would love my help in thinking of ways to decorate them for the nursery.
In brainstorming this process, I knew that I wanted multiple textures in order to keep the letters interesting and to give it a really custom and handmade feel.  After a very successful shopping trip, we picked up yarn, tulle, embossed scrapbook paper, glitter, adhesive pearls and chiffon flowers.

To cover the letters in scrapbook paper, trace a flipped over letter on the back of the paper.  After cutting it out, we used spray adhesive to affix it to the letter.  In a matter of minutes, it was dry.

Spray adhesive was also used to cover the “I” with glitter.  We used a couple coats of both just to make sure that there was an even cover of glitter.  Using white glitter on a white painted letter helped to disguise any holes, if there were any.Wrapping the letters in yarn and tulle was by far the hardest step.  I found that by wrapping in the long direction first, as pictured above, and then continuing to wrap in the short direction covered most of the gaps.  A glue gun also helped tremendously to keep the wraps in place as we went along.

Probably the most fun part of the process was embellishing each letter with the florals and pearls in a unique but cohesive way.

  
  

It was a challenge to mix so many different elements while sticking to one style.  One thing I try to do, is to pick one element that you really love and center your design around that.  The fabric flowers were one of the first things we found and our favorite.  Everything else we chose was based on those flowers.We can’t wait to see what they will look like up on the wall of the nursery.  I will have to post a photo when they are hung.

Stay tuned as I really want to try these letters again for a friend’s living room!

Save

Save

Personalized Pillows

| A Peace of Creativity

It’s time for another felt project!  After making the Chicka Letters, I wanted to use the same concept to create personalized pillows for some of the dear little ones in our lives.

20150620-namepillows-01Using the same font but in a smaller size as the Chicka Letters, I printed and cut out letter stencils from the computer.

20150620-namepillows-02From my abundant supply of felt, I tried to pick complementary colors for each letter of the name.  I love this pillow cover because it allows the colors to pop and brings a youthful and modern balance.

20150620-namepillows-03In order to center the name on the pillow, I simply folded the pillow in half height and lengthwise and marked it with a pin.  This gave me a guideline to work from.  After placing all of the letters down, I then measured the left and right margins in order to make sure they were of similar length.  A plastic cutting board inside the pillow case allowed for an easier pinning session!

20150621-namepillows-05This is a case where an embroidery hoop really comes in handy because the pillowcase is pre-made.  Using the hoop kept the opening of the pillowcase wide enough to stitch in and out. And, it’s done!

20150621-namepillows-06




IMG_7065[1] IMG_7072[1]




Framing a Milestone

| A Peace of Creativity

Greeting cards…from birthdays, from showers, from graduations, stacked high in boxes, in the closet, in the garage, or not.  Maybe they collect for a day or so and then find themselves in the trash bin.  Yes, we have all done it with maybe just a little bit of guilt, or not.

cardscutouts-26The first Milestone Frame I ever did was after our wedding. This project lent itself nicely to this time as we had just celebrated a major moment in our lives and were beginning to build our home.  The same goes for baby showers and first birthdays as the parents I know are always looking for ways to decorate the walls of the nursery.  This current project is from the cards from Julie’s baby shower.
cardscutouts-2cardscutouts-6After gathering all of the cards from the occasion, I used a heart shaped punch to highlight certain pictures or patterns that I thought were interesting and in this case, cute!  Sometimes, I find entire pieces of a card to incorporate, like the letters, the bear, and the duckie.
cardscutouts-13The best part about getting a card is the message inside.  Before closing up the back, I wanted to make sure to preserve and include these well wishes.

cardscutouts-14
cardscutouts-composite1In this piece, the hearts took a very organic shape around the letters.  In others, I have used a more structured form.  On a side note, my favorite place to buy frames is IKEA.  This is the Viserum, but I also love the Ribba and the Sondrum.  The frames are classy, modern, come with matte board and are unbeatable in price!

IMG_00176
For my nephew’s room from the baby shower.
cardscutouts-27
For a first birthday.

As a gift or something you do for yourself, with happy occasions or even ones with grief, these Milestone Frames can serve as a constant reminder of all the love and support around you.

INSPIRED PEACE

Milestone Frame by April!

Save

Save

Save

Guest Peace: Boxes for Form and Function

| A Peace of Creativity

393197_10100930939217166_496989639_nLauren and I have been best friends for over 20 years and she is my “go to” person for any and all things crafty. Her technical mind mixed with a love of design makes for a beautiful and easy execution of whatever she decides to create. It only makes sense that she would be my first “Guest Peace”.  I’m sure you will be hearing a lot more from her here!

 About a year ago I finally decided to invest in a few of the brightly colored lacquer boxes and trays that I was seeing on all of the interior design blogs and magazines. But after looking around I realized that I could make them myself — in the colors and shapes I wanted and at a much better price! I had two small unfinished wooden boxes that I had saved from some of those lotion and body wash gift baskets that used to be popular, and I found another larger box at Michael’s. A few coats of spray paint and a couple more of clear coat transformed them into exactly what I was looking for.
LivingRoomThe hardest part was choosing the colors! I decided on a deep blue for my living room where I wanted a pop of color but something that could shift with my mood and the seasons.
Kitchen1 I chose black for the two small boxes. I knew I wanted one in my black and turquoise bathroom, and while I didn’t have an immediate plan for the other one, it’s found the perfect home sitting on my lime green vintage stove.
Bathroom2Even though I wanted the boxes as a decorative touch, they help me stay organized and corral bottles that would otherwise end up all over my kitchen and bathroom counters. They would make great housewarming gifts filled with new dish towels and fancy dish soap to make washing dishes a little more luxurious, or even a bottle of wine and cheese. The possibilities are endless!

Save

Save

Memories of a Wedding…Dress

| A Peace of Creativity

WeddingOn May 1st, my husband and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary! In honor of this special milestone, I wanted to share a way that my wedding dress has evolved since that time.

details037_compositeAround our one year, I cut my entire dress to shreds.  No…it was not out of anger and YES…I was terrified to do it.  What prompted me to do to such a thing was the thought of this beautiful dress stashed in the corner of our closet, only to gather dust and be forgotten. I wanted it to be a part of our everyday lives.

weddress-3My dress, although simple, had delicate fabric and beaded flowers scattered along the skirt and train.  They were a perfect part of the dress to display. For contrast and to make the embellishments stand out, I draped the ivory, flowered netting on top of a solid grey fabric.  They were then framed and hung over our bed.

weddress-1I think I can speak for most in saying that finding artwork for your home is really difficult.  Ideally, you want something that both reflects your style and has meaning.  This was a fantastic option to fulfilling both. Not only does this fit the look of our home, but when I walk into our room, I am reminded of our wedding day and how incredibly grateful I am for the last five years.

Wedding photography by Karen Nakamura

Save

Save

5 Minute Frame

| A Peace of Creativity

A dear friend and colleague of mine will be a first-time grandmother to not one,  BUT THREE grandchildren this year!  I had been keeping an eye out to find frames to showcase all 3 grandbabies in her office.  Nothing was striking me, and so, I decided that I should start with something simple and elaborate on it.

framedphoto-3

My original ideas were to cover the entire matte board in some sort of print or cut out large paper flowers and put in the corners of the frame.  Going through my expansive collection of scrapbook paper to find inspiration, I came across a geometric pattern which happened to have wording applicable to the occassion.

framedphoto-1

I used the outline of the geometric shapes to cut out interesting patterns that could be glued right onto the matte board.

framedphoto-2

With minimal time or effort, this is a fantastic way to add a personal touch to your gifting.

 

Save

Save

Save

A Built-In of Our Own Design

| A Peace of Creativity

We absolutely love our home.  Although small, it is very bright, comfortable and has a good flow.  We use almost every single inch of the house and if there is an opportunity to gain more storage and make use of some space, we take it!

This is our dining room built-in design process with construction and installation by the fabulous Matt Mason and team!

Fishman LR Built In_drawing

After some research online and an inventory of everything that we would need storage for, this was my design.  The unit needed to function as a buffet/office/craft room.  The drawing was super helpful in showing contractors what we needed.

NEW 3D

MW Mason Construction was able to create something almost exactly like my original drawing.

Photo Mar 25, 8 52 47 AM

Yes, we had a huge 70’s mirror and slate flooring on the wall in the area where the built-in would go.  Being that the wall was inset a foot and a half, it was the perfect location for a built-in.

builtincabinet-6

And just like that, my vision became a reality!

builtincabinet-8 Using oak allowed the grain to peek through. Chrome drawer pulls and crystal knobs for the doors add just a touch of shine and sparkle.

builtincabinet-11

The stone for the backsplash was love at first sight. It was rather pricey but with such a small area to cover, we couldn’t resist.

As I sit here, working on this post at our new desk, I love knowing that this has become a much more usable, enjoyable and beautiful space in our home!

Save

Save