Tonality Designs

Inspiration Board #1: Aileen and James' Perfect Sunset

My dear friend Aileen met her perfect mate James and they are now planning their wedding. Their love affair is in fact a worldwide affair as they first met in NY a few years ago but Aileen lived in Ohio and James lived in Australia. They kept in contact via email, but their love didn't truly bloom until Aileen took a 3 month trip to Australia. Well, 3 months turned into 6 and when Aileen finally returned to the States, James quickly followed. He found a job in South Carolina, where they are now living and planning their wedding as James proposed to Aileen this summer in China. Yes, China. They both love to travel and I told you from the beginning that this is a worldwide affair. They are getting married in Aileen's hometown in Ohio, but James always pictured being married at the beach. So, why not try to bring the colors of the beach to their wedding? This inspiration board derives from a perfect sunset. It's also perfect for Aileen, who always wears and decorates with eclectic patterns and colors.

So here's to Aileen and James and my first Inspiration Board! I couldn't have been inspired by two better people. Enjoy...

Sources:

1. Bride and Groom photo by Todd Pellowe
2. Flowers by Pollen Floral Art
3. Save-the-Date by Frank Chimero
4. Table setting by Martha Stewart
5. Blue feather/flower photo by Rebecca Thuss
6. Multi-color fabric canopy photo by Karen Wise
7. Poppies photo by Happy Cavalier
8. Roses in milk glass photo by Punam Bean
9. Lantern photo by Rebecca Thuss
10. Balloon photo by Josh Goleman
11. Van photo by Amy Squires
12. Fabric Flower by Martha Stewart

Fabric Flower Creativity Boost!

One of my good friends is getting married and she recently sent me a link to some DIY Fabric Flowers (pictured above) from Martha Stewart Weddings. She asked me if she thought we could make the flowers for her seating cards for her wedding and I said, "Yes, please!" The Martha article actually shows 32 paper and fabric flower ideas. Of the 32 designs I've already done all of the paper and ribbon designs and only the most simple of the fabric flowers, so I've decided to gather all the fabric flower projects I've been dying to try in this blog post. Hopefully it will act as inspiration to you and will get me motivated to actually try one or two of the designs out.

First, the Martha Stewart Fabric Flowers which I believe may have been inspired by Emersonmade (pictured above). I originally blogged about Emersonmade on my birthday, suggesting to my friends that one of her handmade flowers would be the perfect birthday present! This weekend I hope to try my hand at these handmade peonies and roses. 

 

Second, I just love embroidered pillows, so these 3D felt pillow designs from Amy Butler and Anne Kyrrö Quinn are just beyond perfect in my book. I think I've wanted to make the Amy Butler Snow Mum Pillow for over a year now,  Download Snow_Mum_Pillow .  As for Anne Kyrrö Quinn's pillow, thank you How About Orange for blogging about the free tutorial available here on Etsy.

And because the web has endless inspiration, here are some links to some other fun finds. For instance, I found the blog Kinda Wonderful where she posted about 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days.

And let's not forget my love of Heather Bailey's fabrics and I've found her patterns prove to be just as great. Try her Pop Garden Scrap Flower and La Fleur Debris.

Also check out these fun patterns: Calamity Kim: Fold & Twist Fabric Flowers; The Artful Crafter: Flowers from Fabric Remnants; Molly Chicken: Fabric Flower Tutorial

So have fun flower crafting. I'm thinking there is definite party decor potential here for table runners, centerpieces and maybe even invites. I'll post my creations soon...

Let's Have a Little Chat...

Project Runway is back! As I was watching not only the premiere but also the 2 hour special All-star Challenge (brilliant!), I realized how fun it would be to open a conversation with you my readers—whoever you are. So every Thursday night or Friday morning following the show I'll kick off the conversation by posting a Project Runway inspired post. Then hopefully you'll add your thoughts and opinions so that we can just have a fun "little chat" as Heidi says to the judges. It will act as the perfect Creativity Boost you know I believe we all need.

I think Michael Kors summed up the All-star Challenge perfectly: "They are an amazingly talented group of people. To see what they were up to and to see how they've progressed, I thought it was fantastic." You go Michael. Although I would have liked to see Korto win (her restraunt dress was A.MAZ.ING), her attitude after loosing totally changed my mind. I get being disappointed, but to be so angry is just a waist of energy. Who was your favorite return designer?

As for the new talent. I don't have a favorite yet, but I can tell we are in for a good season. I love that it's in LA and they are utilizing the LA Fashion District. It sounds glamorous, right? Well, really it's a grimy warehouse district and I love it. It's my stomping grounds when I'm looking to be creative. They have trim shops, bead shops and fabric shops galore, but keep in mind some of the fabric shops are filled with $1 per yard fabrics. So you can imagine some of the quality, but that's where the fun comes in. Finding the diamond in the rough.

So with that said, if I was a producer I would do a $1/yard Challenge. Give each designer $20 and see what they come up with when only buying fabrics that are priced at $1/yard. That would be fun. What challenge would you create? 

Until next week, make it work!

Over 15 Million Have Watched This Wedding!

Creativity Boost for a Wedding!

I discovered this amazing wedding entrance video a couple weeks ago and shared it on my personal Facebook page, but I can't believe I didn't blog about it. When I first watched the video I was amazed that it had been viewed on YouTube close to a million times. Now it has over 15 million views! If you haven't yet seen it then you're in for a treat. If you have seen it, watch it again. It's bound to make you smile each time. And it teaches us that if you strive to make your event memorable it can make a lasting impression not only for your guests, but the world. Due to the popularity of their wedding video, the couple has set up a foundation to raise money for the Sheila Wellstone Institute. See their website here. Fun and amazing people!

Sweet Treat in the Works

I finally get to try my hand at the ever popular candy buffet. Inspired by Amy Atlas, a NYC event stylist who specializes in creating dessert bars, and Hostess with the Mostess, I'm in the middle of creating a candy concession stand worthy of going to the movies. It's for my first Bar Mitzvah. The theme is a night at the movies, so a concession stand will be that perfect unexpected detail.

Pictured is a rough sketch for the table. The candy is all movie theater inspired. The hard part is deciding how much candy to buy, but it looks like there will be an overload of fun treats. There will be a lot of red, white and black accents, but you'll have to stay tuned for the details. More posts leading up to the final table's reveal, but in the meantime check out Amy Atlas and Hostess with the Mostess for some wonderful eye candy—pun intended.

Update! We had the party and the candy concession was a box office hit! Click here to read our post.

Creativity Boost: Finger Painting Street Life

I know it's Monday, but this Creativity Boost couldn't wait for Thursday. The New Yorker posted this amazing video of Jorge Colombo sketching New York City using Brushes, an application for the iPhone. Just one more reason I'm sad I have a BlackBerry. What's funny is I've always been a Mac girl, but I just wish Verizon could offer the iPhone.

Creativity Boost: Ikea Summer Sale!

Unfortunately I've neglected my blog this week, luckily I'm forced to post something on Creativity Boost Thrusdays. So here goes, but stay tuned next week as I'll have a nice report on Kreeley's Birthday Party that I've hinted at in a previous post. We're very excited for her and her guests to have a grand time this weekend!

So, I LOVE Ikea for party supplies. I highly recommend you all go and see what they have on sale. When shopping go with the creative mindset that you can turn any vessel into a vase, any material into napkins or tabletop runners and any kid's toy into perfect birthday party decor. I'm sure when you leave you'll feel exactly like the lady in their sale commercial that simply doesn't get old. (Note this is promoting their winter sale, but indeed their summer sale is going on now.)

There are a couple other commercials on right now that have me laughing everytime.  Both happen to be from Heineken. They aren't belly-laugh funny, but I relate to both so much that I love them like the Ikea commercial. Is there a commercial that you love?

Creativity Boost Goes To Work!

So I was struggling with today's post because I've been consumed creating PowerPoints this week. But then it dawned on me, I should share my approach to the dreadful PowerPoint—it just might be the creativity boost you need for the workplace.

Although I wish my day was filled with planning the perfect party, in reality most of my work day is consumed with marketing and brand consulting. I tell people, I work where creativity and business intersect, providing Resonant Branding™ for both established and start-up organizations. A niche I've discovered is being able to formulate a company's thought leadership and sale's propositions using, you guessed it, PowerPoint. But more importantly, when creating the PowerPoints I use the principles of Information Graphics in order to transcend words and make complex ideas transparent.

A great example of this is Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Gore had been giving talks on global warming since 1989. His environmental efforts went relatively unnoticed until he created a presentation using information graphics and in turn got a movie deal. In 2007, An Inconvenient Truth won the Academy Award for Best Documentary and Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Now keep in mind, the information graphics were created by the presentation firm Duarte in none other than Keynote - Mac's version of PowerPoint. Duarte is a leader in transforming companies' presentations by showing them that even though everyone can create a PowerPoint, not everyone discovers its true POWER. Most of us forget the importance of defining a clear message, telling a compelling story and implementing creative graphics.

A recent example I did was for The Kurtzman Group. The results of the new brand messaging and PPT were so successful that we even redid the website. The home page features part of the PPT we created. You can also learn more about my branding background and philosophy by downloading my resume and portfolio. (Download resume here. Download portfolio here.) A shameless plug, I know!

I suggest the following reading if you're interested in learning some tips to creating better presentations and having more effective communications:

• Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte
• Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
• Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
• Anything by Malcolm Gladwell, his most recent is Outliers
• The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
• The Designful Company by Marty Neumeier: I love Neumeier's thinking. You should also check out his company website here.

Okay that's my professional creativity boost. Hopefully next week I can go back to sewing or flowers or cupcakes.

Creativity Boost: DIY Coaster Projects

Today I thought I'd share with you some creative DIY coaster projects. I've actually done two of the three (my Criss-Cross Coasters pictured). Once I learn how to knit I'm so doing the Calla Coasters by Purl Bee.

• Quilted Coaster Set: From "Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson, I highly recommend this book, but you can get the coaster instructions for free via Martha Stewart. Very simple, but takes time to quilt. 
• Criss-Cross Coasters: From Allsorts. I created these in under 1/2 hour. Such an easy gift. Recently I made a set of 4 with a matching book cover as a gift (pictured).
• Calla Coasters: From Purl Bee. I LOVE these, but must learn to knit and crochet. I also want to make "Granny Squares" and use them as coasters. I'm planning to take a class this summer!

So go on and be creative!

Window Shopping Inspiration

An evening watching HGTV (amazing Color Splash episode) and recounting my day through photographs.

So here's the deal: I HAD to go to Paper Source today for supplies. (Sure I could have purchased online or gone to Michaels, but I had a free Saturday and Paper Source = fun Saturday activity.) When I got there I realized I should blog about the store because, although you can visit them online, they only have stores in select cities. I had so much fun taking pictures I decided to look in a few more shops that were near by. In the end, I realized that we really can get inspired by just window shopping. I was going to post this like normal, but I have over 40 pictures (this is with editing) so instead I created a photo album.  So come along and shop with me! See photo album here.

Stores visited: Paper Source, Napa Style, Pottery Barn, Borders, Fossil, Wahoos, The Container Store.