Should I stay or should I go?

Image courtesy of My Crush Party via Pinterest

So I want to start blogging again but there is no way I can continue with the blog looking how it does. It has been like this since 2009 and well, a lot has changed in that time. 

Some people don’t mind what blogs look like, some people like lilac and pink and sparkly bits but not me. Design matters. Yes, I am a design snob. Less is more and white space is king.

I chose Blogger back in the old days due to its ease of use but let’s face it Wordpress is the platform of choice for those that really know what they are doing. Or is it?

Is it just that Wordpress templates are a little more professional and a bit less ‘hobby’. A quick search came up with a few template download sites for Blogger which may yield some results and I have saved a couple but they are very reliant on imagery, which although I do want to increase as part of my blogging is always the most time consuming bit. Also, to say I am a little scared of updating my blogger template is a slight understatement. I have been tweaking the current template continuously since 2009 and can’t quite remember what I have done but I have backed it up so all should be fine.

But the niggle remains, should I take this opportunity to switch to Wordpress? Is it required to be taken seriously as a blogger? (If there is such a thing!)

If I stay with blogger is there anything else to consider, I want the best comment plugin as possible and I like the LinkWithin plugin, do I also finally sort out the URL (I have owned theprojectlab.co.uk since 2009!). What has changed on Blogger since 2009 that I need to consider?

Any advice greatly received!

The Nursery

Regular readers will know that we have had a few dramas getting the nursery ready for Baby B but we are now finally there. Mr B excelled himself one weekend once the plastering had been fixed (see before and after) and got it all painted - 3 coats on the ceiling, 2 on the walls and 1 on the gloss!

Since it's been painted I have allowed myself to start looking for decorating ideas. I love interiors and will share with you some of our home at some point but needless to say I am a subscriber of LivingEtc and love looking at all the interior/craft/design blogs. But nursery's - that was something new.

I decided to turn to twitter for recommendations of where to look. I was struggling as we don't know whether Baby B is a girl or boy and neither me or Mr B are fans of the bland and neutral. I wanted colour! Well you all did me proud with your recommendations which led to an afternoon of surfing and the following inspiration. Thank you especially to Kirsty (Imperfect Pages), Kelly (Place of my own), Kat (Housewife Confidential) and Baby Style File.

1 / Love the braveness of this black wall and the shots of colour (Found via pinterest, originally from ohdeedoh)
2 / Injecting colour with toys with a little bit of prettiness (LivingEtc)
3 / I am loving bright multicoloured blankets (LivingEtc)

I think one of my favourite discoveries in this journey has been Bambino Goodies and especially their room tours. Right up my street!
4 / Great coordination of the fabric (Jakob's Retro Room Tour @ Bambino Goodies)
5 / Really like the mix and match cushions and I am a sucker for letters (as above)
6 / I love the use of display shelves and you can never go wrong with a monkey! (as above)

7 / Light and bright nursery (Chic & Cheap Nursery)
8 / More statement shelves and remembering that a nursery can also be a little bit grown up (Project Nursery)
9 / A focus on using embriodery hoops as frames using different fabrics, perfect temporary decoration (as 7 above)
10 / Cute DIY mobile made using felt and another embriodery hoop (as 7 above)
11 / Great giraffe and retro shelves (Found via pinterest, originally Little Green Notebook)
12 / More decorative shelves and making books part of the design (Project Nursery)

13 / Cool alternative to a mobile and gorgeous quilt (Found via pinterest, originally Playing House)

14 / Alternative to embriodery hoop frames and the obliglatory bunting with name (Ohdeedoh)

I do hope you have enjoyed the inspiration and you may even find it useful for yourself and I have started a board on pinterest to catalogue all my nursery inspiration - because I keep finding more (!) which you can see here.

You will have to check back in the coming weeks - once I have made some of the decorative touches - to see how I have interpreted the above for Baby B. I just need to blow the dust of the sewing machine first!

An evening of inspiration

Well, last night I had an evening to myself and with nothing on TV I decided to spend it sat upstairs in the 'new' spare room looking online at various craft and design websites and blogs.

There was a time (probably about five years ago) when I would do this quite a lot but I weaned myself off it as time was just disappearing into the internet vortex! But one evening, that can't harm anyone surely..?

These days I tend to be directed to websites through Twitter and this was no exception. I had read that the latest issue of UK Handmade had been released. I have never really looked at a copy, as I am usually browsing the internet on my iphone but I was pleasantly surprised.

It is full of interviews, reviews and tutorials and has introduced me to some new names.

The first thing to grab my attention was the Scandinavian Cosmetics Pouch on page 14 which on first glance looks like a great tutorial and perfect timing for last minute Christmas gifts. Also, unlike many tutorials you see it would be easily adapted to make a pencil case or larger bag.

The next thing to catch my eye was the illustrated interview with artist Bryn Hughes on page 42. I have wanted to have the confidence to sketch for a long time (even enrolling on a water colour class earlier this year) but, as is typical with me, one thing led to another and I never kept it up. Anyway, Bryn's sketches are completely my style and are what I would aspire too. The speed that seems to be captured in them, their immediacy and the colours are all perfect.

And, as an evening session on the internet dictates, visiting Bryn's blog led me to discover yet another one - Urban Sketchers. Described as a "nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing, promoting its practice and connecting people around the world who draw on location where they live and travel. We aim to show the world, one drawing at a time." Gorgeous! 

A quick scroll here, click there, and I was led to their Flickr Group and the piece below stuck out for me. It is by user 'Charkie_44' who I think in real life is Jack Noel?? You can see the full version here.



I think all this looking at sketches has encouraged me to get my Creative License book by Danny Gregory out again.

We'll see...

[ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ] everything happens for a reason

Today is wonderful for a number of reasons.

First of all it is December the first and that for me means it really is nearly Christmas. I tend not to have many Christmas related activities until it is officially December, no decorations, no mince pies. So it can all now begin.

Second, today marks the first day of the next phase in my life. I am officially unemployed after taking voluntary redundancy in November. This was not a easy decision, after four years of giving your life to an employer walking away was not easy. But, it could not have come at a better time for me. So, after a couple of weeks out of the building, a number of mixed emotions and missing some really good friends, I finally feel I am becoming the new 'Lucy'.

Thirdly, I am now also in my third trimester of pregnancy (well depending on which definition you read!) which means it is the home stretch. There have been many times over the past six months that we never thought we would get here but it feels very good to be here, and having a very active little baby kicking me every now and again to remind me what is important.

Finally, I hope this post will be the first of many [ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ] posts in the coming weeks as I share with you what is wonderful and also strive to remind myself.

So I leave you with the following, please stick around to read my musings. I can't promise to be interesting but I will certainly try.

Design by me, quote anon

Watercolours

So tomorrow evening I start a watercolour course at the local college. I am really looking forward to it as I have never tried watercolour but think it may be a challenge.

My A Level Art at school consisted of painting with just acrylics so I find the 'free-ness' of watercolour slightly daunting. To give me some inspiration before tomorrow I have been searching Folksy and Etsy for 'watercolour'. Below are two of my favourite finds.

Mimilove's postcards on Etsy feature prints of her original, hand painted, watercolour paintings on stretched canvas. Mimilove's work features watercolour and embroidery (another of my interests). My favourite is of a chicken in vibrant zingy shades of oranges, reds and yellows with contrasting tones of purple and blues.

Free Range Chickens Postcard  $2.50 Mimilove 

 
My second find of the evening is from Atherton Lin over at Folksy who make stationery that tells a story. They are influenced by British children's books, cinema and pop music. It's a calendar for 2010, bit late I know (!) but that does mean it is reduced! The calendar starts with a New Year's resolution — to stand up straight (which I do actually need to do!) and it follows six nameless characters through 12 months of letter writing, music mixes, childhood fears, old stereo equipment and perhaps a parallel universe. Four of the months can be seen below:

Stand Up Straight 2010 Wall Calendar now £5 Atherton Lin

Now I don't intend to be able to paint like either of those by the end of Monday night but it is good to have something to aspire too!

x

We have colour!

Well at least more than we had!

It has only taken me all night to design a banner for the top of my blog but I am quite happy with it - well it is better than nothing and quite neutral.

For colour inspiration I used Adobe's Kuler. If you have never come across it before it's a great website that includes lots of beautiful colour palettes (well they call them 'themes') that have been donated by the Kuler community. You can tweak them using the lovely interface to get something perfect for your needs.

I was tempted by themes called 'Procrastination' (very fitting for me!), 'Tibetan Love Song', 'Ice Cream Colours' and 'Highway nostalgic' but finally went for 'Nicoletta revival'.

Well it's getting late and I have another busy 9-5 week ahead of me so best be off.

x