2020 REBUILDING CENTER SALVAGE SHOWDOWN

I'm happy to announce that I'm a participant in Portland's Rebuilding Center's 2020 inaugural Salvage Showdown.  My furniture piece is available for purchase by chance of raffle, with funds helping support the non-profits Constructing Hope and the RBC.  Please consider voting for my piece by purchasing a raffle ticket.  The project piece receiving the most raffle ticket purchases will be presented with their SCRAPPY award and bragging rights.

PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS for AARON'S PIECE

IFirst, THE BUILD:
During the Salvage Showdown, up to 8 individuals or teams will compete to build the most interesting/beautiful/creative/weird piece of furniture using only reclaimed materials from the ReBuilding Center. Builders work in their own spaces over the course of one month. Anything (really, anything) is possible!

Then, THE JUDGING:
Finished items will be on display in all their glory from October 17-22 at the ReBuilding Center and posted across our social feeds, where customers and supporters will vote for the winning salvage creation and purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win one of the finished pieces.
Finally, THE WINNERS:
On October 22, the ReBuilding Center will host a live Zoom event where all pieces will be raffled off to eight lucky winners, and the winning creation will be revealed! The winning team will receive The Scrappy, a custom, trophy hand-built by ReBuilding Center staff and guaranteed to be unique.
In recognizing the value of community partnerships, ReBuilding Center will donate 50% of the raffle proceeds to our friends at Constructing Hope to support their mission and participants!

MY ENTRY

The RBC accepted 7 builders, DIYers, artists, designers, and dreamers as Builders in the Salvage Showdown!

We had until October 16th to create a beautiful/weird/unique/unlikely piece of furniture that is at least three feet long in any dimension (three feet tall, wide, or deep).

The finished pieces will be showcased in the RBC store for one week and ranked by community vote. The builder of the winning piece will receive The Scrappy, a custom trophy hand-built by ReBuilding Center staff. Each piece will be raffled off to a lucky winner and the ReBuilding Center will donate half of the proceeds to our friends at Constructing Hope. Final pieces will be displayed in store and online for ticket purchasing starting October 17th.

Raffle Ticket Pricing
1 @ $15
2 @ $30
3 @ $40 (save $5!)
4 @ $55
5 @ $65 (save $10!)
6 @ $80
7 @ $95
8 @ $100 (save $20!)

PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS for AARON'S PIECE

THE OTHER ARTISAN'S ENTRIES

Please show my fellow builders some love for their kind donation of their time and skills.  It's amazing how all of us came up with such different concepts all from the RBC's selection of reclaimed materials.

WOODEN TOP KITCHEN CART - Builder: Adam Zeek | Instagram | Website
HANGING SHELF - Builder: Ashley Krollenbrock | Instagram
LEANING DESK AND SHELF - Builder: Dana Luukko | Instagram
PLANT STAND WITH LIGHT - Builder: Daniel Goers | Instagram | Website
TABLE WITH VASES - Builders: Team Mayest | Instagram | Website
KITCHEN CART WITH DRAWERS - Builders: Team True North | Instagram | Website

For more information about the RBC please visit their website: RBC or drop by their retail location at 3625 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227

source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/2020-rebuilding-center-salvage-showdown

STUDIO MADE FELT PENNANTS NEW RELEASES

We're happy to introduce the Bright Collection of felt pennants.  We make them, here in the studio, using a combination of our print on felt technology and precision laser cutting techniques.  The Bright series has three stock designs and one that you can customize.

The collection features- "HELLO SUNSHINE" which is made from raised cut felt letters on a cream felt background.  The "GOLDEN" pennant is made using our print of fabric technology to feature a happy sunshine and cut felt letters.  The "HELLO GORGEOUS" pennant is printed with a beachy skyline with palm trees and an overlay of printed felt that's precision cut.  The "SUMMER" piece is available as show or you can visit our custom pennant page to create your own using the same curvy script font.  Design your own CUSTOM PENNANT.

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source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/studio-made-felt-pennants-new-releases

Spring Wonderland Display Window Featuring Paper Mache Animal Masks

My client sheepishly made what she thought was a strange request.  "Can we have animal heads for the store mannequins?", adding that she loved it when the big department stores did that for Christmas.  Well, of course I said yes.  That discussion lead to the idea of a Wonderland, minus Alice and all the trappings of red hearts, cards and royalty.  It would be a Spring garden party.

Within the Spring soiree, I designed and created some "Drink Me" potion filled bottles, an "Eat Me" faux cake and arranged it all among a scattering of staked chairs.  All of the chairs, including the upholstery were painted with a tried and true homemade chalk paint.  One dry, a glaze of pastel color washed over the upholstery to give it a fresh Spring feel.  Continued.....

The animal masks needed to fit the mannequins snuggly, so the process of creating them began with my wrapping a head in bubble wrap and saran wrap to protect it while I applied plaster.  I then stretched felt over the wrap, taping and zip tying it to stay.  A healthy coating of plater of paris was applied onto the felt and nuanced to be smooth.  This gave me the base for the paper mache.  After a coating of paste wax to ensure easy removal, strips of paper and tissue were applied with glue.  Features were roughed in with styrofoam and tape wads and applied to the mache with hot glue.  These areas were again coated in mache.  

One of the few nods I gave to the Wonderland theme was the addition of clock hand and key garlands.  These were cut out on the studio laser from 1/8 inch plywood faux painted into mixed metal and rust tones.  The components were connected using hog ring pliers.  The hog rings are like giant necklace links.

A cake was made from foam coated with Plaster of Paris adorned with silk flowers.  Chalk painted frames were decorated with the flowers as well.

Studio made rustic clocks were added in key areas to center and draw focus into the display.  The bottles of potions were suspended down from hanging shelves. 

I think the trim evokes Spring, implies Wonderland and seems magical with the addition of the animal masks.  I'm happy and most importantly my client is very pleased.  

I've been designing the company's stores and all of their fixtures and visuals for 23 years now.  The power of the visuals and the store design has help elevate the store's brand to where it is today.  In this competitive world where it's too easy to order online, hit the strip mall or big box, a brand's identity and the customers experience is of the upmost importance.  You must give the customer something to hold as a gold standard.  It could be any combination of things, but it must be more than just opening the door for sales.  In this store's case, Willows provides quality clothing at affordable prices, is on trend for women of various age and body types.  The customer service is top notch and (wink wink), it has some pretty fun seasonal displays if I may say.

If your brand needs a refresh.  If your store needs a makeover or you're just not sure what gold standard to bring about to elevate your customer experience I am available for consultations and projects.  Reach out on my contact page and tell me a little about your situation.  I'd be happy to be part of your brand success.

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source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/spring-wonderland-display-window-featuring-paper-mache-animal-masks

DIY - BLACK PIPE FOOTBALL GOALPOST

As part of my new wall art and decor collection entitled Blitz, I thought I'd include a do-it-yourself tutorial and shopping list for my pipe goal post. 

Print yourself off a shopping list and head to the hardware store.  While I show it in black pipe, you can also hunt down galvanized and copper plated, if you prefer a different look.  Download below.

Goal Post Shopping List

Or print out a copy of the image below:

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source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/diy-black-pipe-football-goalpost

Football Wall Art & Decor - The Blitz Collection

Announcing the Blitz Collection!  Color is king, in this new series for the football enthusiast.  I wanted to create some pieces that wandered out of the traditional football color palette and introduced more color.  Featuring varied colors of football balls and some colorful accessories, these pieces would be a great add to a more modern home and yet, with the rustic leanings, they would also be terrific in a farmhouse or more vintage styled space.

In this boys nursery design board, I've combined my new black and white Blitz Football Scoreboard with what's trending for 2020/21 and that is big bold gingham.  Combining it with a classic navy and wood tones, the room has sophistication and playfulness thanks to the pop of pattern and text.  The scoreboard wall art is available in archival paper prints and as a stretched canvas of various sizes.

The collection also includes some new pennants we are offering.  I'm excited to make these available using our new print on fabric system.  We can now print custom colors on our felt.

The See the Win motivational quote is available in print and on canvas.

The vintage look Black and White Scoreboard is available in print and on canvas.

The two football scoreboards design, multi colored football art, See the Win imagery and the varsity stripe pennant are available in the Blitz Collectioin.

To make your football decor game an allstar one, you can also find my coordinating fabrics available in my Spoonflower shop.  They have a wide array of fabrics and even finished goods.

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If you are looking for a clever piece of football decor, I've posted a shopping list and instructions on how to make this steel pipe football goal post.  Use it as a bookcase, hat hook or as decor.  HERE.

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Vintage Red Football Scoreboard Sports Wall Art Decor

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Football Scoreboard - Vintage Black Wall Art Decor

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Personalized Felt Pennant- Spirit Stripes with Sports Font.

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Personalized Felt Pennant- Old School Composition with Felt Letters

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Personalized Felt Pennant- Football Varsity Stripes with Felt Letters

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Personalized Felt Pennant- Football Field Team Number with Felt Letters

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Sports Art - See the Win Prints and Canvas Wall Art Decor

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Football 32 Home Art

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Football Playbook X & O Wall Art

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source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/football-wall-art-decor-the-blitz-collection

Tropical Boho Store Window Display

Who doesn't love a good tropical vibe?  My latest installation for my client Willows, in Vancouver Wa. was a bohemian tropical trim.

My client and their customers enjoyed the live plants, making them well worth the trip.  You see, Willows is in Vancouver, Washington just across the river from my home base Portland, Oregon.  Neither of these cities can play host to tropical plants, it's far too cold in the winter.  You don't really see great quality plants at the big box stores, so I needed to come up with some other option.

So I hit the nurseries in Phoenix, Arizona and Palm Springs, California with a U-haul.  I partnered the trip up with some other business.  I rented a truck and began my quest for tropical boho beauties.

I'm an avid gardener and a bit of a tropical denial plant enthusiast.  I'm my Portland garden, I've gathered as many tropical looking plants as the garden could hold.  Many of them are knocked back severely if we happen to have an extreme winter but otherwise bounce back from our more mild ones.  Anyway, I've learned a lot about tropicals and selected varieties for the store that would endure the intense window light and the drier humidity of a store environment.   I also incorporated timber bamboo into the displays.  As a matter of fact, the timber bamboo is from my garden.  After a decade plus of growing freely, there were some great 3 and 4 inch diameter pieces to harvest.

The addition of macrame added a bohemian charm to the displays.  There are a ton of great macrame tutorials online.  I found them easy enough to follow and I think  I came up with some simple yet fun pieces.  The lanterns were from different sources.  They were originally table top lanterns with glass votives to hold candles.  I tore out the inner workings and nailed in some plywood bases to hold a lamp socket.  The 10 ft. wiring follows the weavings and turns them into hanging lanterns.  

The tropicals were planted in various pots and planters.  To accentuate the curated tropical theme and throw in a bit of on-trend garden love, I created various pot stands from a white oak and teak.  They smelt so good when I made them.  There's nothing better then the scent of wood shavings.

It was amazing how much the plants grew during the 3 month display.  The store was looking so lush and event had the fragrance of the tropics.  You see, I also dangled a real pineapple in a macrame hanger.  The fruit gave off the perfect aroma.

In one of the displays I also included a baby pineapple.  It was a great novelty to have a growing pineapple in a Northwest store.  It continued to thrive but didn't grow to more than 3 inches wide or so before it started to ripen on the "vine".

The boho tropical themed summer display was a hit.  My client loved it and the customers were surprised and delighted.  

If your visuals need some help or you need some fresh ideas, I'm available for consultations and/or I can provide you information on my visual display services.  Contact Info

source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/tropical-boho-store-window-display

Sports Wall Art and Interior Decor for Boys, Tweens and Teens Released! - The Rough Game Collection

With its loose illustrative style, black and white imagery the new Rough Game Collection is an exciting one to reveal.  I've had a love for monochromatic design and until this series never really explored the idea.  It was fun working within the boundaries yet exploring the unlimited ways to interpret a black and white theme.  The collection ended up with 10 images including baseball, football, lacrosse, soccer, golf, basketball, hockey, a general trophy piece and an abstract scoreboard.

The Rough Game Collection

To round out the collection, I've also created a fabric series via Spoonflower.com.  My customers have requested more and more fabric, as they like to create their own accessories like pillows, bedding and gifts.

The Rough Game Fabric collection via Spoonflower.

Among the art, you'll find a personalized name plaque that can be customized by name and a black canvas pillow.

Sports Wall Art and Decor by Aaron Christensen

I've had requests for inspirational pieces, which are a rarity for me.  Not that I don't like inspiration, I just love to have text as a visual piece and not to be "read" literally.  But, in this case the art lent itself to a couple fine pieces, available as poster prints.

VISIT MY SITE FOR ALL THE DETAILS AND OTHER PIECES AVAILABLE IN THE GROWING COLLECTION.