Creative Escape 2011

You guys. I just had one of the most fun weekends of my crafting life!!! I had the amazing opprotunity to attend Creative Escape 2011 with one of my BFFF's Hillary! If you don't know what Creative Escape is, it's a conference where you are able to attend different classes everyday, and make awesome scrapbook projects! It's idea was pitched 6 years ago to Doug Jones the owner of Bazzill Basics Paper, by scrapbooker Heidi Swapp. (Just wanna say that I personally know Heidi... used to babysit her kids and everything.) Anyway, my mother has attended Creative Escape a few times and I always wondered why she was gone for 3 days, and then came back with crap loads of scrapbooking stuff. Well now I know... because it's freaking AMAZING!

 

You would not believe how many smart and talented women attend and teach for this thing, and I was lucky enough to MEET them! Women fly in from all over the world to let their creative juices flow and be able to partake of the inspiration Creative Escape gives. The theme of this year's Escape was "Create to Remember." When Heidi gave the keynote speech last night, she explained that when we create something around a memory, it's far easier to remember. With scrapbooking, you are taking these moments and making them sparkly and decorative... we do this because they are WORTH remembering. It completely made me realize that I need to start scrapbooking A LOT more!

Here are some photos of the greatness:

 

"Welcome" Sign Class -- taught by Heidi Lynn Schreiber

 

Oh... there's Heidi, who is also Hill's sister. We had a good time goofing around in her class... and making hilarious comments.

 

We won this cupcake in a jar in her class, which totally was a dream, and devoured within about 1.5 minutes.

 

She also made this lamp... I was jealous.

 

Memory Book Class -- taught by Amy Totty

 Amy also had these books on display in her class. So talented!

Oh, and she made this lamp too. Obsessed. 

 Gettin' my tan on at the pool

 Amy Totty handed these to Hill and I just before her class started... we had way too much fun.

 Hills and I not taking anything seriously.

And some dessert on the last night (which wasn't that great =/) and a little goody about Heidi Swapp.

Needless to say, I had a blast! It was so fun to be creative and meet those women, but most of all to spend some time with Hillary. We laughed so flippin' hard the whole time, and I want to publicly thank her and her family for inviting me to attend.

On a different note, I'm excited to inform you that I have quite a few new projects coming up. They include: pillows, ombre dying, doileys, and Halloween decor. Get excited.

MIA

I haven't blogged in close to 2.5 weeks. I have felt SO empty! I'm sorry I haven't provided any updates either. I feel really really lame!

Here's why:

So the first weekend of August was actually our first vacation of the summer. The husband and I planned a trip up to the mountains with some friends for the weekend, so we headed up to Fossil Springs in Strawberry. The day we got there we hiked down to where the falls are. Well, there were a lot of people there, and by a lot of people, I mean a lot of drunk people. Anyway, my husband was standing on the edge of the huge pool, and underneath some cliffs. Some kids were having a little too much fun on the rope swing, and shook some rocks loose on the way down. Ben just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and took a boulder (the size of a couch pillow) to the head. He was carried up the trail, took an ambulance to the small neighboring town, and air-vacced to Scottsdale. He had emergency surgery to repair severe lacerations to his head, and we later found that 4 of his thoracic vertebrae had been fractured. We spent 3 sleepless nights in the hospital.
It's amazing he wasn't killed or paralyzed, or has any damage at all to his brain. He is currently in a brace and will be for 2 more months. The staples in his head come out in a few days.

That being said, I spent a lot of time in the hospital doing NOTHING! The only thing I have "crafted" was putting the pads on the plastic part of his brace correctly. However, I spent a lot of time blog hopping and wasting WAY too much time on Pinterest. Do you have a Pinterest account? If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up... it is so choice. (Ferris Bueller anyone?) Since being home, I've been working like crazy (since he can't) and putting all of my time and effort into making sure he's taken care of. Things are starting to wind down, so there will be new projects soon!

Here are some cute ideas I came across while "pinnng" and blog hopping!

Thumb tack vase fillers
found on

www.landeeseelandeedo.blogspot.com

A fancified baby onesie... I'm a sucker for baby stuff.

found on

www.acoupleofcraftaddicts.blogspot.com

Curtain rods hung from the ceiling to create a canopy bed

found on

www.dressdesigndecor.blogspot.com

 

Cute Cute Cute reclaimed wood art

found on

www.cornerhouseblog.com

 

Freakin AWESOME zebra rug

found on

www.vintagerevivals.blogspot.com

 

Stenciled and Painted Pillows

found on

www.tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com

 

Family Sign

found on

www.jmbredsguardfamily.blogspot.com

SUPER cute stuff, huh? I love it all. Anyway, Halloween is coming up!! Yay! It's like my favorite holiday after Christmas. I still make my husband dress up with me. Anyway, keep an eye out for new posts featuring some fun Halloween Decor!

Oh, and my birthday is tomorrow, the 24th. Is it sad that I'm not even excited? 22 seems so lame... Who knows though? Maybe it'll be the best year of my life!

Finding YOUR Style

 The following was written on Tuesday, my day off from work. My apologies for the delay. I've been pretty lazy this week.

No DIYing or Craftliciousness today. Today was a poop day. So for this post I will be talking about Finding YOUR style. But first, I'm going to tell you why I had a poop day.

Last night I planned my day with the best of intentions.

Expectations: 
Wake up extra early and look super cute
The hubs and I were going to go look at houses this morning (because we're looking, yay!)
grab some lunch
then I would be off to do some thrifting!
I had planned on finding something grand at Goodwill and making it awesome
Then doing a full DIY post.

Reality:
Woke up at 10AM because I felt sick all night and didn't fall asleep till around 3ish
Took a shower only to find that I only had about a nickel size amount of shampoo left and no conditioner. Frizzy curly hair day.
Looked at some houses and found one we really really want. Pretty much the only un-poopy thing today.
Husband wanted gross food, so he dropped me off at Anthropologie while he picked it up. Anthro has a killer sale right now, but we don't get paid till later this week, so I couldn't get anything. =(
Didn't eat any lunch, but headed off to Goodwill instead. Didn't. Find. Anything.
Went to another Goodwill. Again, nothing.
Breann, I said to myself, think outside the box. There has to be SOMETHING good here.
Nope, nothing. BUMMER.
Got some Costa Vida to ease the pain and went home to watch a movie.
Decided to watch Step Up 3, which by the way, was a compete waste of time.
Started to blog hop and slowly began to feel like more of a failure.
It was a POOP day.

Then I realized, we all have poop days. I decided to get over it, and instead write a helpful post on finding your style instead. Boo-yah... Poop Day can suck it.

Please keep in mind when reading this, that I am no professional designer. I didn't go to school for Interior Design and only have my OWN experience. Everything I give advice on is based off of my own decorating successes and fails.

I discovered most of my decorating fails took place because I didn't know what my own personal style was. I knew when things looked good and when they didn't, but I couldn't pin point what exactly I wanted my house to look like.

Color Palette:

I think the best thing to start off with is determining a color palette. I have found, that the best combinations start with mostly neutral colors with pops of color.

My faaaavorite color palette right now is whites and grays, popped with yellow and light blue. Here's an example:

 

I love these pops of color, but they're not too obnoxious. Very soft...

Some have a hard time determining a color palette.... I for one thought that black and red was awesome. Wrong! Black and red made everything look so dark! I started to add creams and beiges to that and it looked a million times better. If you aren't sure what colors you love... go with all neutrals! It'll give you a clean canvas, and as you play, you'll find colors that you love.

 

Neutral walls and decor, but then popped with the orange chairs.

 

Neutral couch, walls, and rug, then popped with blue door and red pillow. dreamy.

Styling:

Finding your style can be super hard and confusing! It's hard to determine whether or not you're classic, eclectic, vintage-y, or modern. What helped me decide how to style my home is starting with the center of my room. What's the center of the living room? Duh, the couch. What's the center of the bedroom? Duh, the bed. Pick out furniture that you love. Why? Because furniture is effing expensive, and you need to pick out pieces that are quality because they will last you a long time. When shopping, keep in mind pieces that will match your color palette. A black couch is not going to go well with light airy colors. And a white couch isn't going to match brown, red and gold tones. My husband and I went with a dark brown leather couch and a dark wood sleigh bed. We made it neutral, so that we could build off of it. After you've found your pieces, don't be afraid to PLAY. 

Go to different stores and look for things that catch your eye. When you find a style you love, you'll be able to work off of your centerpieces and implement your color palette. 

Pottery Barn has super classic style... their stuff is gonna look good for a long time!

 

Anthropologie is super eclectic. Decorating eclectic-ly is going to ensure that you won't walk into everyone's house and see the same thing. Very fun!

 

Are you more of a vintage-y girl? Google local boutiques and antique stores in your area. If you're into DIY stuff like me, the vintage look is SO easy to pull off! All you need is some sand paper, and you can tie that look into almost anything! 

 

Love the modern look? Think symmetry, and solid colors. Kind of like the Apple store. Very cool look... you'll feel super fancy.

 

Keep in mind, that you don't have to be just one style. I'd say I'm a good mix of classic and vintage. 

Don't be afraid of accessories either. They can always be changed! I can't tell you how many frames I've re-painted, pillows I've re-covered, and walls I've re-decorated. Style is constantly changing, don't be reluctant to change with it. EMBRACE IT!

Walls:

 Having the right walls can either make or break a room. How many times have you been searching for a home, walked in, and seen a hideous color slapped on the walls? I think walls are VERY important.

 One thing I always remind people of is that having lighter colors on your walls will make a room appear BIGGER. I'm not saying that every wall needs to be painted white, but please don't paint them some hideous army green... I'm begging you.

Also, you can do more than just paint! There are so many options! Don't be afraid to explore textures!

Here are some fun examples!

   BRICK!

Board and Batten

 

Wood

I don't suggest it for every single wall, but having a patterned accent wall looks very cool!

 

I heart Chevron Pattern!!

 

dreamy

 

stripey!!

Well, that's pretty much all the advice I can think of for now. Most important, don't be afraid to PLAY! Everyone has decorating fails, so please don't give up! We learn the most from our mistakes. Keep shopping around for things you love. Everyone has a different style, just make sure YOU love it!

If there are any questions, please contact me! I'm not an expert, but I love a challenge! Love all of my followers! Hope you guys are getting super craftlicious!!

P.S. Can you PLEASE visit and follow my friend Hillary's blog?!!!  

www.itsprettymagical.blogspot.com

Basically, you'll pee your pants because she's hilarious. Seriously puts a little more brightness into my already blinding days. Do it, I know you'll love it.