Murals Transform Bland Spaces in a School

Murals are a segment of my business that I truly enjoy creating.  While their popularity in residential spaces comes and goes like wallpaper, they're always the right fit for challenging spaces in kid oriented commercial and residential space.  I recently completed several new murals for a day school.  The bland off white walls lent little to the imagination and were cluttered with stapled and taped outdated posters, art for the sake of taking up space and store bought pictures which lent nothing to the space.

To date, I've painted five murals within the school.  I've varied each in style, composition and theme.  Hopefully they look executed by different artists, as I want the variety to be that akin to children's books.  No two are the same.

Here are three of the five murals.  I finally got around to taking photos with a real camera instead of the cell phone pictures that are oh so convenient.  I'll post the other two soon.

If you're curious, from my observations, murals are becoming popular in kids rooms once again.  Everyone has tried everything possible with decals, vinyl letters, chevron stripes and posters and the boredom is creating a resurgence in mural popularity.  So break out your paints, its time to lead the trend and not follow!

In the children's storytime stair area I created this magical forest with larger than life flora and fauna.  I rendered this mural in an animation cell style.  I wanted it to look like they're sitting within an animated movie.

To soften the hard inside corner I bridged it with a hand painted cutout of
a luna moth.  The frog is the first thing you see as you come down the hallway.  The kids love him.  He's about 2.5 feet tall.

The indoor play structure area was converted into a farm theme.  The maple wooden needed to be somewhat camouflaged.  I thought it would blend nicely with hay bales.  The owner's office door has been converted into a swinging barn door.

A faux tree trunk was added to the play structure to allow for the painting of a tree canopy on the mural sky.  Sadly, you can't see it in this picture.

In a second staired area, where the students watch videos and share, a storybook style forest was created.  Its soft calming colors lends itself to the low light room.

I sculpted a reliefed beehive, with bees to add a bit of whimsy to the space. 

Designing a Gender Neutral Nursery?

My wife and I utilized the book "how to choose the sex of your baby" with 100% success- twice! We wanted to know our babies "she wee" or "he wee" status before giving birth, but many parents do not. I wanted to know mostly because the nursery design was important. Imagine that...HA! We signed and passed on the book to friends, who did the same. I have no idea where the book ended up. I'd be curious if it's still in circulation and what the success rate is? How about you? Did nursery design play a part in your wanting to know your babies gender?

A gender neutral, but not neutral colored room I designed for a client.  She has since had a boy.

Rainbow-Tastic Holiday Blog Hop

Shake, shake, shake....shake your Blooty!  That song has been stuck in my head ever since I was introduced to the Paint Chip Pals.  Blooty is the little blue guy with the pompadour.  He's one of seven characters created by the fun and fab team of Andrea and Cliff Currie from HandMakeMyDay.com.

Andrea, aka Ms.Craft-tastic is the glitter wielding champ alumni of TLC's Craft Wars, hosted by Tori Spelling.  Cliff, her marital cohort in craft is the self proclaimed meat head that puts stuff together.   In a wonder twins super power moment they gave birth (figuratively not literally...thank goodness) to seven little color ambassadors that they are hoping to share with the world.

They've launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowd fund their new endeavor.  As part of the campaign a bunch of other creatives and myself have been asked to create something inspired by the Paint Chip Pals in the Rainbow-Tastic Holiday Blog Hop.

So, while singing Shake my Blooty, in my off pitch glass cracking way, I crafted a little DIY that's perfect for kid's rooms, craft rooms or as a gift for that special teacher.  It's a monogram made out of crayons.  What paint chip pal wouldn't love that?

Click for Instructions

I've included the Paint Chip Pals and instructions to this Crayon Craft in an extended post about the trend of Super Color and the epidemic of color coma that comes with it.   Jump to it and enjoy.

If you love the power of hand made and support the entrepreneurial spirit, please consider pledging to the Curries Kickstarter campaign and watch your greens turn into a rainbow of colors.

If you'd like a chance to win one of the Paint Chip Pals, drop me a comment below to be entered to win.  Who's your favorite Paint Chip Pal?  What's your favorite trend color?  I'm shaking my Blooty...what song comes to mind for your favorite?

Visit the Rainbow-Tastic Blog Hop hub for more color inspired musings by Margot Potter, Twinkie Chan, Alexa Westerfield and more....

Color Coma, the Magic of Color and the Power of Green

You've seen them, I know you have.  Those folks standing in the home improvement store, staring at the wall-o-color wonder, the paint chip display.  They are suffering from what I call chasing rainbows, it's a debilitating sickness of epidemic proportions.  These unsuspecting and ambitious homeowners storm the paint department confident in their plans.  "I'm going to paint my room an x,y,z color...yep I am.  I just need to find the right shade."  They arrive at the paint chip color display and like some kind of hypnotic funhouse whirlygig the sheer amount of color options begins to undermine their confidence and send them into a trance.  Wobbly kneed and glossy eyed, they start grabbing random colors...."hmmm, this fuchsia is nice, wait how about bright yellow...oops can't leave out teal, teal is purdy....that's purdy...p u r d y  c o l o r s . . . l o o k   a t   a l l     d   a         p  u   r    d     y          c      o     l     o      r      s".  The poor victims have drops of sweat and a little drool forming as their color coma takes over.

I bring this up because abundant color is all the rage for home decor and fashion!  Every color is the new black.  So while the rainbow spectrum is hot I encourage you to explore.  But, to prevent a big box mental mush meltdown, I want to introduce you to three ways to improve your color swagger and confidence.


1) PAINT CHIP PALS

 You need a color buddy who will love you regardless of any color mishap or confusion.  My friend Andrea Currie and her hubs Cliff are working to introduce the world to their full spectrum Paint Chip Pals.

Andrea is a powerful force in the crafting community, you may have caught her champion worthy glitterness on TLC's Craft Wars, hosted by Tori Spelling.  She wields glitter like a sparkly ninja.

She and Cliff's characters, based upon paint color cards, are in development as plush dolls and colorful accessories.  You can help Pinky, Gaareen and all their friends paint our world and prevent color coma by visiting the Currie's Kickstarter campaign.  Your support can earn you Paint Chip Pal swag of your very own.  My favorite is  Blooty.

  

 Send some Kickstart-ing funds their way and watch your greens turn into a rainbow of color.  Head over to my Rainbow-tastic Blog Hop post for more info and a chance to win a Paint Chip Pal.

2)  SKIP THE PAINT GO STRAIGHT TO THE DECOR

Avoid choosing paint as a way to bring color into your home and decorate with color instead.   If you have neutral colored walls and want to add more color pizazz then consider furniture, accessories and decor as your palette for rainbow nirvana.

Here I've created a mood board to illustrate how colorful a craft room for you and the family can be with some fun and whimsical hues.  The magic of mixing and matching multiple colors will help you avoid the doldrums of a simple color palette and allow you to explore your inner color cravings.  You've heard practice makes perfect, right?  If you want to play with your own mood boards and decorate your color needful room virtually, there are a ton of great collaging sites to do so, such as Olioboard.com and Sampleboard.com.  

 

Let's play a game of eye spy.  Within this colorful craft room mood board, you'll not only find some Paint Chip Pals, you will find my latest wall art introductions of "Love Knows No Color", "Fill Your Heart With Rainbows" and "Color Outside the Lines".  All of which are available as canvas reproductions from my site and a network of 1500 boutiques nationwide.  They're my vaccination for the colorless lifestyle.

You will also spy a quick an easy DIY project which is my third cure for the color coma.  Craft your way into remission!

3) INTRODUCE COLOR THROUGH CRAFT

Create your very own Crayon Monogram Alphabet Letter.  You'll feel safe and sound playing with your childhood faves the crayon.  Arrange and rearrange them to explore your favorite combinations.  And maybe they'll inspire some paint colors.

This easy to assemble craft can personalize your art space, child's room or is a perfect gift for a beloved teacher.  All you need is some foam core or thin wood panel, crayons, a sharp knife and some hot glue.

Excuse me sir....maam, can I help you with something or bring you a tissue, you're drooling.  Welcome back from your chasing rainbows fever.  I hope my poppy, coral, greeny so you can rest color medicine helped you in your quest for a full spectrum.  

If you'd like a chance to win a Paint Chip Pal for your very own, visit my Rainbow-Tastic Holiday Blog Hop Post.  You'll find out more about these little guys, their creators and can visit more color inspiring posts by other artisans.

Geek Chic - Revenge of the Nerds

 Oh, isn't it cute that little Abby wants to be a princess and Aden wants to be a baseball player?  Those are decor themes we can get behind.  A little Disney gobbledy gook decor and her room becomes a castle.   Paint the boy's room team colors and hang a bat on the wall and it's a MLB paradise.  Brush your hands together, you're done....easy.  Right?  Not so fast....

Well what do you do when your sweet pea proclaims she wants to be a Endomolecularbiologist or your sure to be a little leaguer says Nanotechnological Bioinformatics System Integration Researcher?  Gulp, the silence is prolonged, the stuttering begins and for a brief moment you can hear the squeaking wheels inside parents heads grinding to a halt....errrrrrrrr....klunk.  What?  Sorry, kiddos you're going to have to pick out a predetermined fantastic identity that matches the offerings on the shelves at your local big box store.  Forget astrophysics, come on, don't you want to be a cowboy, Batman, a smells-like -stawberries imp or a one of those 12 inch tall fashion dolls?  Look there's matching sheets!

Times have changed.  While there's no coordinated bedding with accountant or lawyerly like patterns on it, we're seeing the industry mold break in a new direction.  That is one that embraces intellect and celebrates the word Geek as a term of endearment.  If your little one loves to read, enjoys math or questions the wonders of the world with the scientific method, you should be able to decorate their room with those interests.

To fulfill the wish for brilliant mind decor, I've introduced a line of children's wall art that explores inner nerd-dom.  The collection includes ABC and numbers charts in a retro chalkboard style, a new US map and more.

ABC wall art, available from my online shop and boutiques nationwide.

123's number chart available from my online shop and boutiques nationwide.

Genius art for children's rooms

Chalkboard look hand written typography wall art.

Continents Map Wall art available on my site and through boutiques nationwide.

Here's a couple of mood boards illustrating how a room can reflect a Geek Chic attitude.  They're also available for pinning off my Pinterest page.  

Smart Boy's geek chic decor mood board

Genius teen and tween room based around a science theme.

  

Up and Away Nursery - Chic Paper Airplanes, Cool Kites and Haute Air Balloons

My Fall 2012 series of children's wall art has just been released and I'm excited to share three of the pieces with you.  This group entitled Up and Away is a little twist on the traditional transportation theme.  Here I've explored things that float, sail and cruise through the sky.

Racing to and fro, these geometric motif paper
airplanes are filled with color and wonder.
Canvas reproductions are available on my site and
through boutiques nationwide.

Kites adorned with fanciful patterns fill the sky.
Canvas reproductions are available on my site and
through boutiques nationwide.

Patterned hot air balloons float aloft in this children's wall
art piece.  Canvas reproductions are available on my site and
through boutiques nationwide.

The series fits perfectly into the pattern rich and muted color trends popular in children's furniture and textiles.  To inspire you, I'm happy to offer this Up and Away mood board featuring my picks for a little boy's nursery.   Its subtle skyward theme comes through with the addition of adorable cloud mobiles, a sunburst mirror and waving pennant bunting.  For good measure, keep babies head warm with a hand knit aviator's cap.

All You Need is Love - Girl Nursery and Bedroom Ideas

I'm happy to announce the release of two of my latest children's wall art canvases.  These are part of my Flea Market Finds Collection.

The Love Bubbles Canvas speak of love in a rainbow of colors.
Available from my website and boutiques nationwide.

You Fill My Heart With Love shows the many layers of love in
a prism of brilliant colors.
Available from my website and boutiques nationwide.

These and other pieces from the collection are inspired by the folk and hand wrought one-of-a-kinds you would find at Flea Markets.  Whenever I travel, I love to hit the local flea markets.  My love of vintage signage and quirky folk art always has me hunting for my next art treasure.  Within these works, I was inspired to create imagery with that unique art appeal and offer it in a color palette that compliments todays nursery and bedroom textiles.  The sweet sentiment of "You Fill My Heart With Love" is a perfect expression of my love of text and painted word art.

Here you might enjoy two mood boards, one for a nursery and the second a girl's bedroom.  If you are interested in the art, it is available from my website boutique or from hundreds of retailers nationwide that carry my line.  If you would prefer to shop locally, send me your zip code and I'll locate your nearest retailer.  Keep in mind, EmbellishmentsKids.com offers e-consults and travel based design packages for nurseries, kid's and teen room.  See our website for information.

Enjoy!
-Aaron