Becoming your own interior designer!

Links:  Moontea Artwork, Artist from Grand Ronde, Oregon
Flickr by me:  Always at Home

I have been a collector for all of my married life.  In fact when I was in college, my bulletin board was covered with pictures of art torn from magazines.  I was becoming my own interior designer back all those years ago.  I always feel a personal connection with the things we have laying about in our home.  I think that for those of us that cannot afford a designer or are not willing to give up the control in our home, the things you surround yourself with should reflect where you have been and what you have seen.  If you are using a designer, it seems to me that he/she should be aware of your taste, lifestyle and most of all, memories.  After all, without memories, I don't think a home has a heart.  And our artwork and decor should tell a little story about our life.

So I guess I have a very defined philosophy about what I collect.  Everything we have on our walls or shelves is there because it is the physical embodiment of a person I knew or travels or even just family.  If you walked around our home and stood before the artwork I could relate a story about each item.

Sometimes the found object is beautiful when I find it and the memory is a by product of the experience.  Sometimes the occasion is so important the artwork is found just so we won't forget.  It has always been that way.

Cactus Fruit by Always at Home

Our Sunday market is starting to have that fall feeling about it.  If you come early in the morning it will be misty and the colors of fall will fill vegetable and art booths.  I love this time of year.  When I found Moontea Artwork at the market on one of those days, I knew I had to have a piece of their cloth art.  The look of the linens reflected the feel of an autumn market.  I ordered a table runner for the dinning room table we have owned for 40 years.  When the artist and I missed each other at the next Sunday market I was afraid my memory linen had just moved out of my reach.  I emailed Moontea and they put the runner in the mail that day and I paid out of my paypal account.

Berries linen runner and napkins from Moontea Artwork.

I had a number of designs to pick from but this designed called simply "Berries" reminded me of a photo I had on my flickr account.  I called my picture "Cactus Fruit".  The photo was taken in Arizona in the fall of 2009.  I haven't seen the cactus do this again so it must not happen every year.  It was something I had never seen before! I can almost feel that fall desert air on my face when I look at the photo.  When I looked at the design on the linen that memory was in my mind.

I opened the package that very next day and found not only the runner but 4 napkins as well.  Kristin makes the tea towels, napkins and runners using linen and simple block prints or silk screen prints.  Each one is a work of art with that individual look I value.  Mine came just in time for me to set my table up for fall.  It is gorgeous.

So now I have added another little something to the story line I call my home.  I think this is the only way to collect beautiful things!  Don't you?

b

NOTE:  The tea towels are only $14.00 and make a beautiful placemat or covering for an end table.  Shipping and Handly is $-0- in the USA.  You would need to contact the artist for prices on special order items.

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From flickr to your travel blog...how to add pictures!

Columbia River Near Arlington, Oregon
image by b

I have already written about our trip home from Arizona last spring. This picture is one of my favorites from this trip. I love windmills and stop to take pictures anytime we see them along the horizon.

That is not the information I want to share with you today. For those of you that love to write a travel blog, you know that pictures are an integral part of the whole when you tell a story. Blogger has a wonderful picture loading function that really does make it so easy. Many times though, I want to use the pictures I have saved on my flickr site (torristravels). It saves the time it takes to go through over a thousand images to find just the right one.

Last night I was adding a couple of pictures when I discovered a HTML function on my flickr account that allows me to add a a picture by copying the code and then just inserting it into my blog (click on Edit HTML just above your post page, add code from flickr and go back to compose. The image should appear on your post page.)

The secret flickr button is located on the page that opens when you click on the image in your flicker home page. The picture will open and just above it you will find options for your use of that image. Right in the middle is a + sign with the words "all sizes" When you click on this, your image will appear, choices for the size you want are given and below that is the HTML code that you can copy and paste onto your blog post page.

I have given you the large and medium images so you can see the differences.

Hope you find this useful.

b

If you want to use my pictures, you will need to ask for permission.
I will add...do not change your flickr account pictures that you are using on you blog...they won't come here on the blog if you do. Trust me-I know!!!