just playin

I'm just taking a little break from painting my craft room trim. Yes...I finally broke down and am going to finish the job. That's what happens when you stop for the holidays. We moved onto bigger things and left that little chore dangling. It's already the 19th though and I'm itching to get it crossed off my January To Do List. Seriously...hubby has way more of the list than I and he's making some great headway.

I found a few on-line color sites to play around with. First one...Benjamin Moore. Love their paint. I've tried others but end up being frustrated and wonder why I strayed. Their Personal Color Viewer is so much fun to try out paint colors with no mess. Apparently you can upload your own photo but as my room is totally torn apart...I'm not going there right now. Maybe once the drywall goes on.

Here's a few different rooms I tried out with Benjamin Moore Wedgewood Gray HC- 146 ...




It's interesting how it looks a little different in each photo depending on the light.

Next I discovered Color-a-room at bhg.com They don't use Benjamin Moore colors so I went with a close approximate. In this program you can pick a room to color and even change up the decor colors. I tried to make this room have a burgundy/wine sofa but it fell a little short. I just couldn't get the depth of color but really...not bad. I was getting some idea how it might look. My hands are tied right now designing around it but oh well.

And here's the hideous still functional reclining sofa. It was a gift, never my choice, but it fit the budget at the time. Unfortunately...the budget still says it needs to stay a little while longer. I must say, it is comfy the rare times I actually sit in it to watch a movie. You may be wondering at the weird angle. It's currently situated in my dining room for the duration of the renovation along with other various things from the family room. A little judicious cropping was in order.


OK one last try...for this image I did a little retouching in Photoshop Elements. I found this living room set image on-line somewhere with soft white walls and then changed them to my color or something close. I also "stained" the hardwood darker to get closer to my existing flooring. It's not perfect but I wanted to have some idea how it would work. It's not a perfect representation but I think it will work ok until I can replace the sofa.



I'm sure there's lots of other fabulous on-line tools out there. If you have any links...I'd love to try them out!

Off to finish up another coat,

Julia

A Hostess Gift for the Holiday Party & a Digital File

I'm excited about this little hostess gift I put together for a holiday party I'm going to tomorrow night. The hostess is a sweet friend of mine and I wanted to put together something special but still inexpensive.



For the base of my gift I picked up this pretty frame at Home Sense. It has some wonderful scrolls and dimension and can be used to put a family picture in. On top, a couple mercury glass votive candle holders and then tucked in some sweet jingle bells and some silver glittery accents from a Christmas pick. I love it all lit up. Of course, I'll put in some new votives before I give it. I'm going to wrap it up in clear cellophane with a bow and a little card.

To give this gift, a piece of scrapbooking paper would be sweet inside the frame instead of the faux picture is comes with. I actually created a fun little digital file that I printed out onto photo paper to put inside the frame. It's fun and Christmassy. I know...the graphic style and the ornate frame look a little eclectic together but a little funky is fun some times.




And as a little gift to you for stopping by my blog, feel free to use this digital file for your own holiday projects. Put it in a frame or make tags or cards from it. Enjoy! To use, just click on the image to enlarge and then save as a file on your computer. If you're looking for something a little more vintage, you can also check out ideas from Every Thing Creative.

please use this file for your personal use only.
please do not redistribute this file. thanks!

This is a little more gift orientated than party orientated but it's what I'm doing for a party this year. This post links up with



Happy Creating!

Julia