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Krafty October

Hello friends! It is Leslie here with my Color Me Pretty column for October. Holly and I decided to try something different this time. She sent me an image that she liked and I created the color story based off of that image. We wanted to show how you can take something that inspires you and turn it into a craft project, a floral arrangement or maybe a little décor item for your home. She thought with so many people pinning stuff on Pinterest, why not try to inspire YOU with how to actually translate something you're pinning into a real project that you can work on at home. Here is the inspiration from Holly - this photo and this palette. This was my mission! Inspiration behind CMP for October

The image of Kelli Murray’s invitations was a fun starting off point for me because I love stationery and I often look at paper for inspiration! The palette of a medium gray, coppery brown, black, and bright melon is a fun one to use for fall. Since it is not a traditional fall palette it could definitely be used year around. Since I did not have much copper paper on hand I shifted the color to a kraft brown. I hope you enjoy this series!

Color Me Pretty

Color Me Pretty

I just love the cute little feather garland Kelli included in her invitations and I wanted to try scaling it up to make one for my studio. I had a natural twine on hand and cut the feathers out of scrap paper, including a paper grocery bag (can’t get enough of them!!!). I had seen a post Merrillee on the Mer Mag blog had done on feather crowns and used her tips on how to cut out feathers as a guide. I did not use I stencil but rather just free hand cut the shapes. The feather shape is a nice change from the typical fall leaf shapes.

Color Me Pretty

Color Me Pretty

Color Me Pretty

Color Me Pretty

The black on white stylized owl illustration inspired me to get out some of the stamps I purchased last year from Impress in Seattle. I wanted to try making some stamped wrapping paper with them. I cut open large mailing envelopes because I have a box of them to use up! Then I quickly stamped some strips, cut them out and used them on some parcels. I finished the gifts off with some washi tape, black ribbon and more paper feathers. All this gift-wrapping had me motivated to make some more gift tags using my scraps and my handy Marvy Uchida gift tag punch! Their punches are awesome and it is a super fast way to use up any scrap paper. I then punch a small hole in them and store them away for future wrapping in a little box.

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I continue to create small mood boards in my little notebooks. It is an easy way for me to record a color palette I have worked with. I like using bits of paper to create a tiny color story. It is always inspiring to go through them later and look back on what I was interested in. Do you create visual journals? If you don’t you may want to try, as it is a relaxing way to get the creativity flowing.

Color Me Pretty

Of course, you can also create the more traditional mood board on the wall, which is what I did above.

Color Me Pretty

Color Me Pretty

Color Me Pretty

I also thought of ways to simply add some dots of the palette around my work studio - you can see the results of that above on my shelves. I even added washi tape around the shelves for some color.

Thinking about all my friends on the east coast who have been dealing with this terrible storm. Take good care. xo Leslie.

(text/styling/photography: leslie shrewing)