JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

Oh me! Oh my! Does everyone know about The Makerie Retreat except me? I love the whole concept of creative workshops and to see something as lovely as The Makerie Retreat is pure inspiration. Their upcoming retreat will be hosted in 2012 on April 19th through the 22nd in beautiful Boulder, Colorado; and participants will stay in cozy cottages nestled in Chautauqua National Park. Aaah!

The retreat next year will hold workshops exploring: Intuitive Painting, Crochetology, Food Styling & Food Photography, Letterpress, Painting with Stitches, Shooting Your Craft, Sewing Oliver + S Sleepover Pajamas, Your Life In Pictures, Pretty Pressed Packaging, Sewing Creative Characters, and Sewing a Lisette A-Line Dress! Wow, what a line up heh? You can register and find full descriptions about the retreat along with info about the classes and teachers here.

Here are a few pics from The Makerie 2011 Retreat and a few highlights of the 2012 workshops. This sounds like a perfect creative getaway to go to solo or with a crafty friend….divine!

If you enjoyed the previous post featuring the apartment to build a dream on, then you are going to love this post! You can always count on Alvhem Makleri & Interior to showcase some AMAZING apartments. I featured a few of their spaces a couple of years ago, and they have added some great new spaces since then! It would be great to visit their shop. They renovated an old bakery into a home decor shop! How great is that. I remember while living in Savannah, GA, there was this little brownstone that was transformed into a home decor boutique. I use to go by there weekly just to browse and daydream of owning something similar one day! Everything was set up as if it was someones home, yet everything was for sale. Ok, enough about that, on to the pretty pics!

Oh look, I’ve found another great eclectic space located in Bostin that was designed by Nirmada Interior Architectural Design Firm. Loving the use of pattern, color, and texture.

Let me tell you what I like about the designs of Gary Spain. While their are some pieces in these rooms that I would NEVER take a second glance at , there are a lot of things that I love! Gary seems to be great at mixing and matching textures, colors, and patterns. I admire anyone who steps outside of the design box to put colors and patterns together that you ordinarily would not consider combining. I also like that he can switch up his design palette…a true sign of a great designer in my opinion. From traditional, to eclectic, to Hollywood glam and modern, Gary covers them all; and he does a great job at it! Something that I LOVE in all of the photos would be the lighting. Gary has a great eye for lamps and light fixtures, that’s for sure!

I love these rooms by Coddington Design. I especially love the top room in the first pic! All of the different tones of blues, turquoise, and blue-greens are fantastic; and the splashes of yellow are so pretty!

Browsing through the House Doctor Catalog last night was so inspiring that I wanted to pass on the inspiration by sharing a few of my favorite pics from their “Everyday” catalog! It’s all in the details! If you look closely you will find some really great arrangement ideas, pieces and color inspiration. My favorite would be the tiered drawers on casters as pictured below…how cool is that! That pic alone gave me lots of ideas on possible storage for my craft room. Oh boy! I seriously need some extra cash! Well..some extra cash, a nanny, and a plane ticket to one of their trade shows…lol.

Images via House Doctor

The work of Photographer Inger Marie Grini is just fantastic. Many of the photos taken below were featured in Bo Bedre Magazine; and although I do not understand a lick of the language, I sure do understand the language of pretty interiors that’s featured throughout the magazine! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the pics!

Remember a few days ago I mentioned to you all that I had a great “Let’s Go Visit” tour sitting in my que after a much too long blog hiatus? Well, here it is. Today we will be visiting the lovely and creative Brittni Mehlhoff of Papernstitch! I am more than excited to feature Brittni and her home, and I am so happy that she has been patient with me regarding her feature. Ok, lets go visit Brittni in Jacksonville, Florida!

Who: Brittni Mehlhoff of Papernstitch

Where: Riverside area of Jacksonville, FL

Website: Papernstitch

Her Style: Well, my decorating style is a little different than my husband’s. And our house is very much a melding of our two styles. I would describe my taste as maximalism meets organic modern/ minimalism; and my husband’s style is very minimal. He hates clutter. And so do I, to a certain degree. But at the same time, I love collecting things. So, its a bit of a balancing act. And although we lived in our house for almost four years now, it’s still nowhere near finished. We’re missing things like rugs, side tables, etc. It just hasn’t fully come together yet, but we’ll get there. Decorating is a very gradual process for me. It just seems to happen organically over time.

Her Inspiration: Well, I can’t really name anything specific that’s guided us as far as inspiration. My career as a curator for papernstitch is filled with constant visual inspiration. So, I imagine that translates to our decor in various ways. A bit of an eclectic mix of things really.

Her Biggest Decorating Challenges: By far the most difficult decor challenge in this house has been making our modern tastes work with our 1930s home. We struggle with trying to keep the original charm, like the wood trim for example, at peace with the more current furniture we’ve purchased over the last couple of years that we’ll have long after we leave this house.

Her Favorite Shops: Hands down, my favorite place to shop for our home is Nest Living. A friend of ours, Shaan, owns the store and he is always finding new things that I just can’t seem to live without. Other than that, I buy almost all of the artwork for our home from Etsy, with a few local pieces mixed in for good measure. Artwork is very important to me. I think its something that I’ll collect until the day I die.

How Her Home Feels to Others: I hope visitors feel welcomed and “at home”. Comfy. Cozy. All of that.

Don’t you just love when you stumble across a blog that inspires you so much that you click away feeling super motivated, as if you can now go out and conquer your creative world. That’s how I felt after browsing the immaculate photography and recipes that are taken and written by Photographer Katie Quinn Davies. I left her blog feeling as though I could prepare beautiful dishes and create lovely photos to remember my own kitchen creations by! What I like most about many of Katies photos are the rustic tones that many of them have…so comforting and inviting don’t you think?

Be sure to look out for her first recipe book due to be published in 2012! Woo Hoo, and click the image below to see a short video highlighting her work and her inspirations via Martha Stewart Living!

Yay, it’s Friday! I hope you all have something creative planned for the weekend, but boy am I glad that it is a 3 day weekend (Labor Day)! I am not sure what I plan to do. I would love to play in my craft room, yet I have not really used my new space since we moved here due to two curious little toddlers and no official door up yet.

So, it has been way too long since I have done a “Creative News Post”, where I highlight some great creative events to look forward too and creative people to be inspired by. So, here you go!

1. Sew Zakka: Pre-Order your copy of Zakka Style: 24 Projects Stitched with Ease to Give, Use & Enjoy written by Rashida Coleman-Hale. Rashida is super talented. She is also the author of ““I Love Patchwork: 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew”.

2. Inspire Your Space:Now if you want to get your hands on some seriously inspiring creative spaces, then please do yourself a favor and go pick up the Autumn 2011 copy of Where Women Create. Not only does it feature spaces from: Holly Becker of Decor8, creative entrepreneur Becky Higgins, and Textile Designer Heather Bailey, but it is jammed packed with tons of colorful eye candy. This is the type of issue that you should savor along with some peace and quiet, a cup of tea or a cool smoothie.

3. She’s So Essential: How many of you watch Kelsey Nixon of “Kelsey’s Essentials” on the Cooking Channel? I love her show! She’s my kind of cook. Her recipes are easy, pretty, and familiar with some added zest; and i love the decor of her set. Check out this recipe video on how to make her Banana Caramel Cream Pie…yum; and don’t you just adore this behind the scenes video?

4. Chic Reads: If you are a fan of decor blog AphroChic, then you should be very excited about this news. Creator of AphroChic, Jeanine Hays is set to launch her first book with Clarkson Potter by Fall of 2013. Woo Hoo! I really get excited when those that I look up to do immaculate things! I hope to one day have a shelf full of books written by creative bloggers that I have virtually met & respect such as Jeanine…sort of an inspiration shelf; and it would be even better if I could get all of them signed by the authors!

So, although I was on a hiatus from blogging, I can say that I was still steaming up a bit of creativity in the kitchen. I cook A LOT! At least 3 times a day, so I figure if I am going to spend that much time in the kitchen, then I better make it fun, creative, and special! I love plating up dishes, planning menus, and coming up with simple ways to make breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, drinks, and even snacks for our family of five exciting! So, I thought I would share a few pics of some of my favorite dishes that I have prepared & plated this summer. One fine day I hope to publish an e-cookbook…only time will tell.

I MUST plan our meals 2 weeks at a time or else my grocery budget goes out the window, plus knowing what I am going to prepare for dinner seems to take a huge amount of stress out of my day! So, with that said, I hope these photos inspire you to cook up something new on your next menu! Do you plan your menus or do you just figure it out as you go? What is something new that you want to try cooking?

Oh Me! Oh My! I really feel bad about this post. I totally feel like an abusive blogger..you know the ones, who fill your eyes with eye candy and then disappears without any notice, then they come back for a bit and BAM!, they’re gone again. The type that always has an excuse of why they have not updated their blog in months…life, kids, exhaustion, forgetting they were a blogger…yes, that sums me up pretty well. Anyhow, I really have good intentions on blogging daily….I really do. I even have a great “Let’s Go Visit” post sitting patiently in my que…le sigh (can you hear my frustration). I’ve been so busy playing homemaker, homeschooling our seven year old, entertaining two toddlers, daydreaming, cooking, baking, daydreaming, budgeting, organizing, oh did i mention daydreaming. To sum it up, by the time I have any form of peace and quiet, I become comatose on the couch as I post a blog here in my head, but never physically in my admin…lol.

Ok, So I will spare you all with my excuses and get right to the peace offering…pretty photos and inspiring people! First up is Henry Road. I have always wanted to visit this shop! It’s chock full of fabulous finds; and for some odd reason the name makes me think of that old movie with Angela Lansbury called “Bedknobs & Broomsticks” and entices me to say the name “Henry Road” with an English accent. Now that I think about it it would be sort of fun to fly into a make believe world via a vintage bed covered in some fabulous textiles. Ok, I digress. On to Henry Road we go!

These are some of my favorite pieces from Henry Road. I absolutely love the chairs, and apparently so does everyone else, as most of them are sold. I posted them here for color inspiration. The camera sculpture and the ceramic candle holder (top right corner) are fantastic, and I think the number trays would look great in a little boys room or in a vintage kitchen along with lots of vintage milk jars!

What great colors these are from Pip Studios located in the Netherlands. Pip makes some beautiful items that include: stationary, bedding, kitchenware, and many other colorful accessories!

How many of you have already heard of Lay Baby Lay? I just ran across this lovely little site a few months ago and I fell in love with the nursery pictured below! The owner of Lay Baby Lay, Joni, designed the room for her daughter Vivi. I love the colors and the gray dresser is fantastic!!! You can see a few more pics here.

Joni offers up all sorts of yummy décor, products, projects, and color schemes for baby and kids rooms! Decorating spaces for the little ones is so much fun as you can really get creative and have lots of fun. I cannot wait to get started on baby girls room! Ok, if you are an expecting mommy, already a mother, or if you just love looking at kid décor then be sure to check out Lay Baby Lay!

Images via Lay Baby Lay

I would love to visit this shop if only to buy one of their amazing quilts from their ever revolving collections! Frog and Toad is a home-ware shop located at: 795 Hope Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906. It looks like they have some great unique pieces, so if you are ever in their neighborhood, do stop buy!