a creative mint

Quick Hello

Just popping in to say a quick Hello! I am madly trying to make and paint some crafty items to photograph tomorrow to then show you next week. The series of photos I have been working on has had a very bumpy start and I seem to be second guessing everything I do...Oh well, my creative process is not always a smooth one! Does anyone know what I mean? 

I hope you are all enjoying your week.

xo leslie

Inspired by Japan

Hello friends,

Here are some of the photographs from my column at decor8 -of course I added a few extra to make it interesting for you. As you know these photos are inspired by my recent trip to Japan. I have a serious fondness for Japanese stationary and craft supplies! I also enjoyed looking at fabrics while I was there in the "fabric town" area of Tokyo. My friend Sandy from Cookie Cutter  gave me some great tips on how to find this area and more in her Japan series. 

 

 

 

My inspiration board reflects some new supplies I bought and some studies I did of the alphabet using watercolor and white ink. Of course I have been using my colored tapes on everything. I have bought some online before from Ginko Papers.

 

 

 

Many have asked where to get these lovely printed fabrics and I am sad to say they can only be found in Japan. I bought these at Itoya in the Ginza area of Tokyo. These are small swatches of fabric about the size of a dish towel that are used to wrap up lunch kits or other gift items. I could not resist these gorgeous patterns and love the idea of wrapping a present in them.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by here and I hope you are enjoying your September. 

xo Leslie

 

Color Me Pretty

Hello, If you have time please come over to decor8 for my Color Me Pretty column. I will be back here Friday to post all the images from the column plus a few more. Thank you so much for stopping by and I know I say this a lot, but it means the world to me that you find time to visit here with all of your busy lives. xo Leslie

 

Ode to Cath Kidston

Hello Friends,

I am finally home and settling back into a routine with my little ones. It is back to school time and even though my kids are too little for school it does feel like the beginning of a new year. It is time to start some new creative projects that summer schedules did not make time for. I look forward to sharing them here.

Most of these photographs are from last weeks Color Me Pretty column on Decor8. I love doing inspired color stories like this one -I feel like a design "cover band". I do my take on some of my favorite famous designer's styles. There is a long list to "cover" so I really hope you like these themed posts! 

I made almost all of todays props except for many vintage items that were picked up at a local thrift store and at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. The pink check oil cloth and the blue and white polka dot fabric were purchased at Michael Levine's in downtown LA. The sweet colored glass spoons are from Anthropologie (in the kitchen gadget section). Leave me a comment with any other sourcing questions and I will be happy to share any info with you. 

Take care and thank you for checking in here, you all really inspire me to try and be better. Thank you.

Japan Notes

Hello friends, 

I thought it may be interesting for you if I posted some of my Japan notes in a kind of travel scrapbook format. Something different right? I must admit that all of these photos were taken with my cell phone camera. Just quick shots of little things that I found interesting while running around Tokyo. I took tons of images with my phone but did not want to bore you with too many! It is fun to only carry a small camera when traveling and just quickly snap away at whatever catches your eye. 

I hope you enjoy them and thank you so much for visiting me!