Netflix's "Abstract: The Art of Design"

Last night I decided to try watching Netflix's Original "Abstract The Art Of Design." 

And being me, I skipped ahead to episode 8 which had the interior designer.

Have you watched it?

I LOVED IT.

When thinking of anything to tell you about it--

I'm rendered either speechless, or just rambling incesently about how inspiring it is.

Ilse Crawford is....

I'm sitting here silently pondering what to say here...

Do I go over dramatic and say she's my new hero? 

Do I try to sincerely convey how inspiring she is?

 I'm honestly just  dumbstruck.

She spoke both words in my heart, and words my heart needed to hear.

If you have any inclination towards interior design, or if you enjoy hospitality, or if you feel strongly about your home or workplace being a haven....

Turn this on sometime.

You're in for a inspirational treat.

Blake watched it with me and was also very impressed.

He's not particularly into interiors, but he teaches design to his engineering students. So it was applicable in that regard.

Early in the show she says that "Empathy is key in design." I remarked how cool I think that is and Blake told me that's what they teach their students. 

The way she speaks of humanity is just so deep. Which is wonderful in this context  -- because often design is looked at as shallow. But it is anything but.

(I'm looking forward to to the whole series. But this one I'm definitely watching  again!

And I'm definitely looking into her books.)

Let me know if you've seen it...or when you do.

I'm dying to gush with someone over it.

A Wonderful Art Resource

Hey guys,

The kitchen is coming along. It’s really close. But just can’t quite show you yet….sorry!

So for today, I wanted to show you something we’ve been using for school. Its a really cool online art class called Artventure.

(This is not a sponsored post, FYI. Just something we love.)

This is an amazing resource for anyone who’s hoping to give their kids some art opportunities at home, but isn’t set up to teach that skill. So clearly, it’s a wonderful resource for homeschool situations. But it’s definitely great for anyone who wants extra art instruction. (I believe it’s even used in some school settings.) And I can definitely see it being a wonderful addition to long summer days, when they kids are getting bored.

It’s put out by a women named Kirsty, who's from Australia. (I love her accent!) She’s an art teacher who walks you through learning to draw. The lessons are set up in groups of difficulty levels (My kids are still mainly using the easiest level, sometimes my 7 year old wants to try the second level.) (But if I wanted to, I’m sure I could benefit from spending some time with the higher levels on my own time.)

     So you pick out a picture, and Kirsty will show you each step of drawing it, and painting it. It’s made so that you watch it through once seeing what see does. And then you watch it a second time doing it along with her, pausing at the pause cues, so you can do that step along side her.

My girls have SO MUCH fun doing these. One lesson will occupy them for somewhere between 15-25 minutes. And often they ask to do more than one. So far we just use crayola crayons and watercolor paints.
    My seven year old can do it 100% on her own. And my five year old can do it on her own about 85% of the time -- but depending on her mood, sometimes she can get overwhelmed by something she finds hard, and then needs some support through that step.


Here’s some examples of our projects:

5 Year Old’s. (Notice the Moana reference that she added?)

5 Year old's

5 Year Old's

5 Year Old's

7 Year Old's

5 Year Old's

7 Year Old's

7 Year Old's

7 Year Old's

I have seen a HUGE improvement in their overall art skills since we started this. They love to draw in their spare time (without Artventure, in notebooks and things) and their drawings are getting much more advanced than they would have otherwise.

In my opinion --The biggest part of anything creative is learning to see. And then it’s just understanding the process of bringing it outside of you. Artventure is a wonderful way to give that to kids. I’m so happy we started this. It’s WELL worth the price.
It might seem like it’s just teaching them to copy something so that it’s not really teaching creativity. But that’s not the case -- it’s giving them the skills to implement all the creativity they already have inside.

This is a dragon my seven year old recently drew in her bed the other night (there is no Artventure lesson on this kind of drawing.) I don’t think she would have been able to create at this level before we started Artventure. She may be more naturally inclined to drawing, but this is an explosion of skill since she started. I know I never drew anything like that from my imagination when I was seven (...or older.)

Artventure is a website subscription, which you can buy in varying amounts of time. (3 months, 6 month, or 12 months.)

The price is really reasonable. Our year subscription equals out to costing $5 a month. That’s a single Starbucks! I say that’s worth it. (But FYI you do pay for the year all at once.)
(Since it’s from Australia the price is listed as AU , but that means it’s a bit cheaper in US dollars. And it’s just as easy to pay either way.)
The website is really well made --cute, very user friendly, and has been easy for my kids to use on their own. We’ve had no technical issues with it at all.

It’s a great gift idea for someone(s) in your life, too!

If you are intrigued, there is a free 48 hour trial period so you can just check it out and see how it works for you. (Make sure you start your trail at a good time, so you can get the most out of the 48 hours.)

Just wanted to pass that idea along to you, since it’s so great! Happy Creating.

Living Room Refresh

So, it was only a few months ago that I showed you a mirror, that I had made over, hung up over my sectional in the living  room.

But, you know me I'm always changing everything.

This makeover was kind of an accident. One day I bought a throw blanket for the room (on clearance for $15.) It was white, and putting it in the space inspired me to bring in a lot more fresh elements.

I wound up having everything I needed on hand, so this may cover cost me no more then the clearance throw blanket. But it made a significant difference in the room. It's much cheerier now.

These pillows are all made from scraps of fabric that I had laying around. Which are used to recover pillows I already owned. I wanted a lot of texture, but not a lot of color so this worked out great.

This pillow was made from a tiny bit of fridge I had left after adding it to my throw blanket in my family room. I just sewed it down the center, two times facing each other, and so it up-and-down it to hold it in place.

These pillows, were made from scraps of cotton blanket. And I will be in my own yard to give it extra interest.  And for the biggest pillow I made my own tassels from the yarn. The yard is one of those Kenzie are in it's like the current thinner as it's woven, so it gives a lot of nice texture. ( and I actually got it for free once when ordering a different yarn online. Extra bonus! )

The art I have up and there was kind of an accident but I kind a love it. I want of scraping off old art thinking I would paint on this again that really like that was left over. So I'm calling it an abstract art. It works for me for now you know me I'll probably change it later.

So that's the living room now it's looking a lot brighter. I feel like it's more welcoming this way. Which is nice since the first room you see you when you walk into the house.

Thrift Store Art Makeover

I just thought I’d do a short little post to show you a tiny makeover I did on some thrift store art.

I like to grab random art at thrift stores to help fill up my walls. 

I don’t usually know what I’m going to do with it when I buy it.

It’s just a grab for grab sake, with faith I’ll figure it out later.

I grab stuff sometimes just for the frame, if it’s got a really good looking frame. Or just a really large frame. (New frames are expensive!) You can always cover up the art/re-use the frame for something else.

Sometimes I grab it because I just love the art for itself.

I’m obsessed with this one I found for $4. 

(My girls are equally in love with it. What’s not to love about it?)

And sometimes I grab it just because it’s quirky, and I like that.

I saw this funny little squirrel for sale at GoodWill for $3.

I knew it was kinda a hit or miss piece.

I know tons of people hate squirrels.

I know this entire piece of art is rather hideous.

But I have a soft spot for squirrels. 

I found an abandoned baby squirrel when I was in High School and took care of it round the clock for a while. I think he was sick to start with, he didn’t make it. But I loved him.

I also just think squirrels are really adorable in general -- that tail just gets me.

And we happen to have tons of squirrels in our back yard here.

I watch them out our big family room window all the time. 

I just get a kick out of their scurrying about.

So I bought this little guy, not quite knowing how to fix him, but knowing I just thought he was really cute. No matter what anyone else thought.

I brought him home and took it apart.

This one was actually really hard to take apart, because the back was glued on.

And once it was apart I learned it was all one piece -- the squirrel was on the same page as the “mat.”

Which was kinda disappointing.

So, I took a gold pen and colored over the brown oval “mat.”

And then I spent a night or two cutting up some different whites, and sort-of-whites paint chips I had laying around, and glueing them over the faux wood grain area.

Once the weather warmed up I spray painted the frame flat white.

And I just really really love how he turned out.

He lives in my family room “gallery wall."

Sorry this is a not styled, lame iphone pic again. So I’m not gonna pintrest-woo you. But everything on this wall (besides the clock which we got for our wedding) came from the thrift store. Collected mostly over the past year, with a couple from longer ago.

It’s not like up to par with true design blog’s art walls -- but I think their art wall cost them a whole lot more than mine. And I’m pretty pleased with mine for now. (I’m sure I’ll tweak it over time.)

I bet I spent maybe $50 or less on all these pieces. And they each make me happy.

Anyway, just thought I’d show you my little makeover.