Weekend Project: creative gift wrapping.

For this weekend's project, I decided to add another creative gift wrap idea to this board on pinterest. Rorschach or ink blotting is such a simple way to make pretty wrapping paper for girls or boys, young and old. I stuck to three basic colours, but you can use any hued drawing ink you find at your local art store.  I used a clean glass dropper (from an old bottle of facial oil) to drop a little bit of ink into the centre of the paper.  This is just done on printer paper, which is easy to manipulate, but very messy!  Make sure you put down something under your work that can get ink allllll over it; your hands will get some colour action too (but it washes off!).  Once you've added your drops to the paper, fold it in half ink side in and smooth the ink out.  Open it up to reveal your pretty design!  You'll love it, I guarantee, and it's SO simple!

Beyond the standard gallery wall.

Photo by: Jeremy Greive 2013

check out my latest round-up of creative ways to dress up a gallery wall in your home for JB Est 1979, HERE.

I heart San Remo.

While vacationing in the South of France, we popped over one Sunday to Italy for lunch- crazy, I know! We headed to the seaside town of San Remo, which was only about an hour from where we were staying in France- Eze Bord Du Mer.  It was amazing to watch the scenery change almost instantaneously as we crossed the border from France to Italy.  France was more manicured, clean and ritzy, whereas in Italy there seemed to be more farmland, clothes on the line, colourful buildings in muted tones; a little rough around the edges, just the way I like it.  We parked along the coast where all the kitsch little beach clubs are set up.  It was a dark and moody day, which I think almost added to the charm. I didn't catch the name of the place with the red and orange umbrellas, but I am aspiring to one day sit up on the little rooftop and look out to the Mediterranean.  I loved the colours of all the signage and the attention to detail- wrought iron gates in the shapes of clouds, sunshine (you'll see this motif a lot along the coast of France as well) and zig zagged waves? A ziga ziga ah! Because it wasn't exactly beach weather

spring has sprung.

here

we welcomed the first day of Spring Down Under and it really gave us a show- bright blue skies and warm weather. I'm actually a winter kind of girl myself, but I do love a change of season (and crave it to be like at home, where it's a significant change in smells, air, everything), so I appreciated the sunshiny atmosphere yesterday.  I hope everyone is still enjoying their end of summer long weekend at home! #lineinthestone