Gloaming Designs

Tuesday's Ideas - Free Frame

this was a quick late night project that, literally, can cost nothing.

our shelf of family photos was missing my parents and i finally got to editing the photo that i have that i think they would both approve of.  tricky, that!  but, having something along the lines of 0€ in the budget for a picture frame i came up with this quick solution.

i started by cutting a piece of heavy cardboard (use your recycling powers here if you can!), non-corrugated is best, to whatever dimensions you like.  i went with a bottom heavy 'frame' to keep the photos at different heights.  then i went over the the Flickr group Best Textures - a group of creative commons photos, and printed out a wood texture that would go with our decor.  i've recently discovered high resolution inkjet paper and that is really a help here, the image prints out at a very smooth high quality.  i adhered this paper to the cardboard and simply used some artists tape to stick the photo on.  you can add a triangle to the back to prop up the piece, or simply lean it against something.  done.

it may be a temporary solution but you can really try out some fun things and change out the photo whenever.

try scanning too: an old letter from grandfather to grandmother with their photo attached.  some fabric you adore.  leaves.  lace, anything.

i'd love so see if you try it out!

Tuesday's Ideas - Recycled Jar Labels

i was thinking i'd like to do more tutorials but not sure that i wanted to lock myself into a step-by-step format every time.  something more along the lines of a free flowing path of ideas to share.  so i'm going to try a new series called 'Tuesday's Ideas' to share some fun little projects that sometimes flutter through my imagination.  of course, these will often include step-by-step but sometimes, the format just needs to be as free as the ideas!

so here we go!

do you have this folder on your hard drive too:

'Inspiration'

there is so much of it coming from the amazing world of the internet and blogs that i often find myself saving images to that folder 5 or more times in a day.  but, honestly, i don't have the wall space for every one of those lovely bits of enlightenment.  nevertheless i like to try and keep myself surrounded by inspiring stuff and, let's face it, beauty.

enter:labels.

i use a lot of recycled jars and cans for holding everything from studio supplies to leftovers to pantry items.  before, they are nothing to write home about, but with an image from your inspiration file, a photo editing program (like Picnik) to add some text, some paper and some glue you can pepper your inspiration file all over the house.

you can paint the lids (i'm in the process of painting them all white) if you want and using a regular glue stick to adhere the labels keeps them secure but will easily wash off when you're ready to change the label.

how do you keep inspiration around you?

remember: those lovely images that we save for inspiration are the hard work of artists that share with the us their visions.  so these labels are to sneak sweetness into even more corners of your house when you've filled up your bulletin board - not to ever be sold or used for profit.  let's keep it respectful.