DIY - Jewelry Frame

This DIY project is so easy and it looks wonderful!  Total cost was $5 for the vintage frame.  I had all the other supplies here in my house.

I encourage you to try it out... now, I'll let the pictures tell the story:

DIY - Succulent Terrarium

I got all sorts of crafty today, mostly because I was overloaded with inspiration from some of the beautiful projects and things I've seen on Pinterest.  


My project today was making 2 terrariums with a couple of glass containers I used for my wedding's dessert table.  


I had a variety of things I could have done with those containers: filled them with limes, lemons, or oranges, turned them into hurricanes for candles, or filled them with sand and some decorative seashells.  None of these things really appealed to me (it's been done SO MANY times), but when I saw a few pins on terrariums on Pinterest, I knew that's what I wanted to do.


I followed Martha Stewart's Succulents Terrariums instructions and here are the results:

Such a simple and cheap project!

One of the new terrariums found a home by our kitchen window and next to a lovely Ashley G Woodsman wall art from Urban Outfitters.  


I also want to make a big enclosed moss terrarium later on.  I'm hooked now!

Toy Photo Shoot

Over this past weekend, it occurred to me that the boys need some new wall art for their bedroom and playrooms.  I've seen that they get so creative when they make their Lego bases, that I wanted to capture that as a keepsake of their amazing and unafraid creativity.


So, this weekend, the boys and I did this awesome project where they designed their Lego bases or scenes with their Star Wars figurines and I photographed them.  I loved the results!  They look almost like candid shots one would take of people without letting them pose. 


Here are some of the final shots, some of which will end up in pretty Riba frames hanging in the boys' rooms.  Yay!

Rust Belt Market

I love Ferndale, MI.  With it's indie and eclectic collection of shops, bakeries, grocery stores, and cafes, there's always something going on.  This past weekend was no exception.  The Rust Belt Market opened its doors for the first time, and I could not miss it!  Located in what used to be an oversized Old Navy store in the corner of Woodward and 9 Mile, the Rust Belt's Market just officially made Ferndale my favorite town in Southeast Michigan.

Think of the Rust Belt Market as the "farmers market" for cool, indie artists.  Instead of selling produce, the vendors there sell their amazing collection of handmade and vintage fare.  Kind of Etsy-ish, except less virtual and 100% real life.  Artists and shoppers have a chance to interact with one another, making this a super rich environment for the creative types to thrive in...  An oasis for people like me who are parched for a fresh source of inspiration and tangible sense of craft community.

While there, I discovered (perhaps a little late in the game), Detroit Lives! a group created by Philip Lauri to basically spread the good things about Detroit (high five!) utilizing all sorts of different media.  I absolutely loved artists who project a positive image of the city and Detroit Lives! fits the bill beautifully!

I'm so glad that this place now exists.  I've seen for 10 years now that there is a bustling craft/indie community in the area and the Rust Belt Market is another definitive sign that this community is here to stay. 

New Print - Detroit Water Tower

Today, I'm super excited to have posted a new print at the shop!  It's simply titled Detroit Water Tower and it is an 8.5 x 11 inch archival digital print with some bright colors you may remember from the Swell Papel all-time favorite, and most popular print, Mountain Range No. 1.

Here it is!

Detroit Water Tower Print

This print was inspired by a picture I took when the husband and I went to the D for Dally in the Alley.  I love love LOVE the geometric nature of water towers and the silhouettes they make.  I try taking pictures of water towers when I can but most of my collection is taken while I'm driving and with my crappy cell phone camera, so they don't make it any further than the confines of my phone's memory card.

Anyway,  I had been working on this print since last fall but I wasn't fully satisfied with it so I just left it.  And left it.  And then I got married and became a "bonus mom" and a wife, and a dog owner, and my workload spiked and I... I... I just left it.  Sitting in my little Drafts folder on my computer, this poor little print was finally pulled from the depths of my computer to fulfill its destiny as another print in the Swell Papel collection.  Yay!

In other awesome news, I was contacted by the writer of a very famous wedding inspiration blog to feature our wedding in it!  It hasn't been posted yet so I can't say much yet, but stay tuned!