Hello friends! I am away all week but I thought I’d pop in to leave you with a few links to enjoy and to announce that on Friday, September 3rd I will have two special guests visiting who will share 10 tips on how bloggers and crafters online can build community and be helpful to one another. You have to wait until Friday to see who they are… However, you will be invited to get involved in the conversation and leave your tips as well so remember to pop in on Friday to read this helpful post for bloggers and crafters everywhere.

(please click on image for more on the triangle craze!)

Until Friday…

Enter the Olioboard contest, it ends on September 13th but there are only a few entries and some nice prizes to be won so give it a go! I just found out today that I’ll be on the panel of judges to choose from the winning entries. So enter! Enter! Enter!

Do you miss seeing Etsy Take Five Tuesday today? Don’t worry, I wrote about a triangle trend  just for you with links to over 20 sellers so you now have 4x the normal take five serving! Here’s the link, I hope that you enjoy my finds!

Four recent Etsy purchases that I made and love!

See you on Friday!

Confession time! I’ve been a bit moody when it comes to posting this week, I know, but it’s work related deadlines I promise! Truth is, the book I’m working on has me on deadline — at the moment I’m writing and drawing up lots of floor plans for the book designer. No one likes a late Lucille so I have to get on it, man! I’m not complainin’, just explainin’ since you deserve to know where your fickle friend has been. Not basking in the sun on holiday, that’s for darn sure!

I’m still here, and I miss you…. (all together now, “Awww”) but I pinkie swear that regular posting will resume again soon. Just not as soon as we’d all like. I’m thinking we should meet here on decor8 on Tuesday, September 7th after Labor Day weekend when things will return back to the regularly scheduled program. I won’t be blogging again until then though, I need to finish my book, start packing for my big move and get everything ready for students in the upcoming e-course. Plus I have to start planning for my teaching trip in Morocco since I have lots of fun materials to pull together for the lovely ladies who have signed up for a week of magic in Marrakesh. I can’t WAIT.

So with that… I’m going off into deep, dark book writing cave. Don’t worry… I’m bringing snacks! And lots of coffee, a pot of green tea too, and my trusty laptop but that’s it — I’m going in. But I won’t be long — plus once I’m back, you know me, I’m action Jackson with daily posts and tons to share so until we meet again, so long dear ones… Wish me luck!

(image: poppies and posies events <— visit them, okay?)

I’m delighted to share the work of English illustrator Alice Melvin today. Alice grew up in northeast England but today calls Edinburgh, Scotland her home – a place I long to travel to since Scotland has long fascinated me. Her work is inspired by a love of creatures both on land and in the sky along with text and pattern and everyday objects like teacups. How nice.

Alice adores paper and the process of screen printing images by hand which is still an integral part of her work — in fact the entire production process is her “thing” and so she produces lots of her own work from start to finish. She even makes fantastic cut-out kits and sells them in her online shop. I’m guessing that Alice is trying to promote the process of making through such kits, it only makes sense that she wants to share the act of creating something by hand with her adoring fans. There is so much joy that comes from making something with your own two hands and the best thing about crafting something is that your self confidence grows the more you practice and produce. In addition to her online store, Alice also sells her work in shops like Plaisir, where I originally learned about Alice.

Aren’t these bird stamps wonderful? I want to order some to stick on journals and cards.

“Her first book An A to Z Treasure Hunt was published by Tate in 2007 and was an interactive alphabet book for children. Since then she has worked with the Tate on a second children’s title, Counting Birds, and two children’s merchandise ranges. Alice continues working with a range of clients as well as developing her own products and prints. Her hand printed artists’ books are held in private and public collections including: British Library, Tate, and Centre for Fine Print Research at University West of England Bristol.”

I hope you have enjoyed examining Alice’s portfolio with me for a moment — you can see lots more on her gorgeous website.

(images: alice melvin)

I’m so impressed and feeling quite creative after reviewing my mile long list of “people to blog” because I have collected many amazing creatives out there that I can’t wait to share with you over the next few weeks! I have to show you the work of Swedish photographer Pia Ulin today. And while I’m at it, I’m going to share some ideas from each collection I’ve pulled below with some of my own tips on decorating, styling and even some notes on relaxation. I think this is a nice Friday post… :)

Try this at home: Paint your heat registers jet black, collect glass vessels on your windowsill, try mixing gold with indigo blue, craft a big flower-like piece of art for your wall.

Pia is based in Stockholm and is represented both in Sweden by Agent Bauer and in New York by Thomas/Treuhaft. I’ve had several editors contact the photographers that I’ve featured on decor8, so if you are from a magazine (or anyone else out there sourcing for a great photographer) Pia is a great one to consider. She has some gorgeous work on her website — my favorites shown come mostly from her interiors portfolio though I managed to slide a few lifestyle shots in the mix to create a little more visual interest.

Try this at home: Pair two coffee tables from the same collection in two different sizes, collect lace doilies and with a little starch craft them into pretty bowls, place framed art on your kitchen counter, stack some magazines and top with a candle placed a little to the left (or right, just not dead center).

Try this at home: White dinnerware always works and as you can see above, you can change the palette of your dinner table quite easily since you don’t need to work off of the patterns and colors of your china to create a theme. Why not have a few sets of dinnerware, one patterned or with color and another in fresh white? Why not? Also, add green to your home to give it some life – there are some beautiful plants out there that don’t require a green thumb to maintain and look lovely placed in the right vessel.

Try this at home: Don’t be afraid to display some of your prettiest dresses and smartest shirts in your bedroom. I always air dry my silk blouses by hanging them on the rod above my window and love how the patterns look in the room through the filtered light. If you have a few favorite pieces, photograph them in your bedroom and see if you can create some pretty photos for either your blog or personal collection of images. Lay a dress casually on a bed. Take a few dresses on hangers that look nicely together and layer them against a door. Hang a gorgeous dress in the window from the rod. This exercise can also help you to see what certain colors and patterns can do to a room, often a dress hanging on your closet door can wake you up to a stunning new palette for the bedroom. Oh and try to use linen, whenever possible, in your home. It breaths so well and drapes beautifully. On tables, as tea towels, on beds, curtains, shower curtains… and it’s such a forgiving, durable fabric.

Try this at home: Remember when you were little and still in grade school and the teacher called a “time out”? That usually meant you were to put your head down on your desk and take about 10 minutes to nap, day dream… as long as the pencils were down and you were not talking. Sometimes, as adults, we need to take a time out during our work day. If you are at home working from your office there, get up and stretch, pour yourself some hot tea, sit on your porch, or simply put your head on your desk for 10 minutes and just chill out. Relaxation promotes creativity. If you want better, more authentic ideas you must take some time out moments each day. Why do you think the French are so creative? It’s those lingering lunch breaks! Another tip, if you are showing a photo of your bathroom on your blog or in a magazine, fill it with bubbles and a plop a big sponge on the rim — nothing more inviting that that!

Lots of these shots where stylist by Stella Nicolaisen, whom I’ve talked about before on decor8. I hope that you enjoy my picks today from Pia’s magical portfolio and I hope that you’ll visit her website to view many more gorgeous photos that are not shown here.

(images: pia ulin)

This is your last call to enroll in the Blogging Your Way e-course that will begin in September with co-teacher Leslie Shewring and I as your teachers. We may bring this class back again in February 2011 but cannot promise it as I have a lot of commitments in the early part of next year. This class sold out a few weeks ago but I decided to add more seats and open it to beginners who do not currently have blogs in addition to seasoned blog authors since we won’t be running another for quite some time….

We’ll have a lot to cover in 4 weeks but I’ll leave the class open at the end for an additional 4 weeks so that you can catch up if you need to. The forum will remain open during those additional 4 weeks so that you can network with fellow students. I will post a podcast weekly for 8 weeks, the final 4 weeks you will be invited to a special section in the forum where you can discuss the topic with other students.

This is a self-paced, password only e-course so only students can access all course materials, website and forum. We will not have group homework assignments in this class but will have weekly homework that you can do if you’d like — these exercises are meant to help you get the most out of this class but they are not difficult assignments — they are fun!

Class dates: September 3 (on the 3rd you will only receive materials to get you started, class officially kicks off after Labor Day weekend on Tuesday, September 7) and runs until October 4, 2010 with class/forum time extending until November 1, 2010.

Requirements: Either 1. You do not have a blog but want to get one started soon OR 2. You are already blogging and want to learn some new tricks and connect with us and make new friends… You also need a digital camera (point and shoot or DSLR, your choice) and it would be helpful if you started your blog during class so that you can directly apply what you’re learning as you go.

Complete course outline here.

Leslie and I cannot wait to welcome you to our next class – you can SIGN UP HERE until the class is full and then registration will close. If you do not have a blog, enter decor8blog.com in the URL field on the sign up page.

Enrollment ends on September 1st! We only have a limited number of seats left!

(images: Leslie Shewring)

This is product styling perfection in my book. It’s gorgeous. I love seeing wallpaper coming out of a typewriter — so unique. But then again, I’m not surprised as Ferm Living is one of the most inspirational home decor company out there today. Love them!

Here are some more lovely shots from Ferm that I think are quite pretty, too. And look at all of these gorgeous knit vessels and gold and white cups and, and, AND! Just look already! :)

I can’t wait to wallpaper my new home, I’m definitely buying some rolls of paper from them and installing it in my bedroom and possibly in the entry or hallway, too. And when I’m finished, I will definitely share the results here on decor8.

Yum!

(image: ferm living)

Canadian House & Home (a lovely magazine that I miss since moving to the other side of the world!) is hosting their annual Design Contest once again. This is one winning entry from last year that I loved – the bathroom is gorgeous, don’t you think? I adore the graphic floral wallpaper in black and white, so fresh and clean, with that red chair adding just the perfect bit of color to break things up. It’s a truly lovely space. And the tub! Oh how nice to paint it black and to use those gorgeous tiles on the floor. I think the bathroom is the one room in the house that I don’t mind looking absolutely catalog-perfect. I don’t know, I expect other rooms in the house to feel lived-in, but the bathroom I always expect to be simple, clean, spa-like and styled perfectly. I don’t like a lot of clutter in a bathroom, less is more! That is why this space appeals to me.

If you feel you have what it takes to enter their design contest this year, why not click here to learn more about it and to see what you could win. Go for it, why not? You may walk away with a nice prize and a feature in their smart magazine.

Simply take a photo of any space you have renovated or decorated yourself and enter it into any of the six categories that it would fit in — like the best use of color, kitchen, best budget style, small space, best house and best decorating, Remember, read the contest rules first and note: you must enter and submit your photos online by October 13th and the contest is open to only residents of Canada. That means the rest of us have to simply wish our Canadian friends the best of luck and wait for the big reveal online! Until then, here are some more smart rooms from the magazine that I found interesting enough to share today. Do any of these rooms speak to you?

Bold never grows old, does it? Above I’m seeing a little Palm Beach, a little Morocco, some coastal blues, and some over the top graphics. It’s all so, so good.

Do you ever watch House & Home TV online? It’s great, especially when you don’t have design television (me!) and only have the web to turn to for design programs. I love their design editor and host Cameron MacNeil — I’ve followed his work for years now since he was super young and love watching him now on video, he’s even better than I had imagined!

(images: house & home)

I was just talking about how I want to decorate my bedroom first when I move over on haus maus since I’ve been pulling together interior inspiration in binders and in file folders on my desktop…. You know, all of the beginnings of any decor project! And I was thinking about all of the little details that really MAKE a room. It’s so exciting to move and have all of these visions in my mind soon to be realized but it’s funny, when I think of decorating I do consider foundation pieces (sofa, flooring, window treatments) important but above those, I consider the little details even more so. The sofa matters (it’s the most important piece of furniture in the living room just as the bed is the key piece in the bedroom), but it’s what I have around the sofa and on it (a soft throw, some pillows) that I delight in hunting and gathering as I begin a decorating project. I love the details, right down to the fine stitch work on a cushion or the beads carefully sewn around the edges of a curtain. It’s all in the details, baby!

While searching for interiors inspiration I came across the home of Ingrid and Vidar from the Fjeldborg blog and fell in love with her space because she is detail-oriented too. I found Ingrid via Jeanette who runs the lovely Fryd+Design blog and well, I fell in love with the sugar sweetness of Ingrid’s decor. I have a bit of a different direction in mind for my own space, but there are definitely parts of this home that inspire me. I hope it inspires you today, too.

About her home Ingrid says, “I like both the one and the other: white and shiny, rough and worn, black, pastel, retro, real wood floors, painted panel… I love flea market finds and painting projects, and at times I am good friends with the sewing machine.”

Bonus: Like what you see? Jeanette photographed this home for her upcoming second issue of her e-mag so watch this page for that issue to appear around September 1st. I can’t wait! I love Jeanette’s online magazine soooo much.

I’m on deadline all week with the Decorate book so blog posts will be a bit more tortoise-like and less hare-like, but I’ll be doing my best to get up a post or two each day between now and Friday. Bare with me! :)

(images: ingrid from fjeldborg blog)