Glass Hurricanes

It's Wednesday- Time to talk about Interiors!

When it comes to designing what goes in your Interior 

or the inside of your home, 

It's ALL IN THE DETAILS.

Today, I want to talk about using Glass Hurricanes. Glass is a nice medium to use to display just about anything that you want. It's great to because if you invest in some great Hurricanes or large vases, it is easy to use them all the time but to change them up with the Season, Holiday or just because you want to see something different. I think I said on an earlier post that you only need to get one item to transform your room. A Hurricane would be one of my suggestions. The height gives you the advantage to make a beautiful display and showcase flowers, candles or something as pretty as Potpourri.It's the perfect decorator's sweet item because they are an interior design "work horse" as: 

"Glass contains, but yet reveals."

Look at the pictures and you can see how versatile and so many great uses you can have with  one great glass container. Here are some of pictures showing the details of what I used in my Mantle article. You can buy hurricanes just about anywhere, I would suggest that you make sure when you buy one that they are a heavier glass. If it's too thin, being a larger object, they tend to break easier. I am showcasing a just a couple of our Willow House Hurricanes as that's what I have at my home and what I've made my displays with. We have even more in our current catalog, they are all very pretty.

Introducing...

Introducing...

The Coronado Stone Pedestal

The Coronado Stone Pedestal  is shown here with the WH Mediterranean Sage Bowl and a ceramic starfish tea light holder. Multi colored sea glass is used in the glass base and a white pillar candle placed on top. The colors and textures of all of the arrangement together leaves you with the impression of the sea. YOu can find it on page 15 of our Spring WH catalog.

This is our newest Hurricane that we currently offer in our Willow House line. I really love the Coronado Stone Pedestal because it is a bit different than the usual glass hurricane. It has a glass body, but the base is almost as big as the body and it is made out of stone with a detailed design and a white washed finish. If you think the picture is pretty, 

you should see it in person.

 The Hemingway Hurricane

We have had this product for awhile and there's a good reason why! This pretty items is just so versatile, you can use it for almost anything. Look at a couple of pictures and I hope that it helps inspire you to get a little creative too!

By the way, I've got more ideas to share about what you can do with these lovelies. But I'm going to save it for another post.

 I'll give you some more ideas too.

This first Hemingway photo shows how a red pillar candle and
matching potpourri can work from Christmas time through  Valentines Day. Find this on page 42 of our WH Catalog

Version Two Hemingway makes us think Spring with Sea Glass
and lovely soft yellow pillar candle.  You could also tie a ribbon
around the middle of this or at the bottom to give it even more detail.

Our third view makes a spectacular display with Winter branches
and potpourri on the bottom to give a base to the display. 

The Galveston Hurricane

I love our Willow House Galveston Footed Hurricanes.
The ironwork gives these just that extra touch of style.
We carry two sizes & they're on page 37 of our WH Catalog

Here are just a few of the many ideas of what you could do with a Hurricane.

If you use Potpourri, I love the Yankee Candle brand, as they have very interesting lovely scents as well as pretty objects inside of there different flavors. I love Pier One for Pillar Candles, they are very nice quality candles and although you may pay a bit more than if you go to the local grocery+ convenience store, they usually go on sale and they are really nice and last a long time.

It's a New Year... Change up the Mantle!

Part One: Nothing is better than sitting by the fire keeping warm and toasty to kill of the wicked winter chill that seeps into your bones. With that statement, I guess it's no secret that I live in the North! While you are sitting by the cosy fire, it is even better if you can have a lovely looking mantle to make everything look so picturesque.

There are a couple of things that you need to consider when deciding what you want to put up there:

• What is your Theme.

• Have a Color Scheme.

• Highlight some of your "Treasures".

• Pick a Style.

Our Mantle at Christmas, complete with Stockings!

(Click on any of the pictures to view them larger.

THEME: A mantle is the perfect gathering place for setting up a theme. For instance, I bet you all had your mantles decorated to the max for Christmas. I know I do. Every year. Love it. Here's a Picture of it done up for the holidays. But now, the holidays are over and hopefully you are now faced with a clean slate. Using the holidays as your theme again, it's time to get ready for Valentines Day. OR you can use the Seasons as your theme. Right now would be Winter. If you have a special collection, like my mom does of Milk glass, Fenton glass and Lenox Birds, she could use her collection as her theme. 

COLOR SCHEME: Once you've picked your theme, it is time to move on to color. YOu need to have a palette in mind. It can match what furniture you have in the room or coordinate. You definitely do not want to pick something that clashes- everything should compliment the other colors. The only time that that would not matter is if you are going with a color to match you theme. It's ok that you use orange and black when it's Halloween. Just make sure that you use enough of the color together, that it's obvious that it is meant to stand out from other parts of the room. 

This mantle design color theme is picking up on the red colors that took us through Christmas and now through Valentine's Day. I'll give you some close up pictures this weekend of the individual pieces that I'm using. Here are three different versions :

Version One Mantle: Basic with a RED color theme.

Version Two Mantle: Red with a Winter theme.

Version Three Mantle: Sea Blues and Butter Yellow Spring theme.

TREASURES: Treasures are things that you collect because they mean something special to you. Why not show them off on your Mantle? Enough said.

STYLE: Everyone is drawn to a specific type of design style. Whether you love Shabby Chic, French Country, Modern or Eclectic; (to just name a few) each of these different styles also looks better with the way you lay them out. Symmetrical or Asymmetrical. Minimal or Complicated Layers. 

Now there a couple of considerations that could pose a dilemma. One is how high off the ground your mantle sits and how much room you have above the Mantel until you hit the ceiling. Also how wide your mantle is from the wall? Both of these were two huge issues for me as the space between the shelf and the ceiling is not very wide. I chose a large narrow rectangular Watercolor painting to hang above it. Then, because my shelf area is not very wide, it limits how much layering I can do. It's not possible to put many of my lovely treasures up on the mantle as it won't hold them, it's too narrow.

Just make a choice and start to play around with different items that you want to use until you get it to look right. You'll know when you are done. It will just feel right to you.

My last piece of advice to you is that rules are nice, to help you to follow, but they are also made to be broken. Don't be afraid to try something totally different!

My next post will detail some of the different treasures I used in the pieces above.

Until next time- Pam

The Beauty of Designing for the Internet

The best thing about putting your ideas up on a blog, or web site, is that it is organic. What I mean by that can be better explained by the definition of the word organic: developing in a manner analogous to the natural growth and evolution characteristic of living organisms; arising as a natural outgrowth. In everyday language- it means that like a living organism, things on your site can always changing and evolving. Think of a small baby and then think of that same person 2 years later. Way bigger and more knowledgeable and their ability to communicate with people and the amount of people they communicate with greatly expands, if you know what I mean...

So, if you want to share your ideas, a blog is a great way to be able to do that, even if it is just a form of self-help therapy for you to start off with. Every one including the kids are starting them. My 16 year old Alyssa has to make a blog and post in it at least 3 times a month for her Journalism class in high school. A Blog can also serve a purpose too, especially for a entrepreneur or small business owner. You can share your expertise and let it help you expand your connections or network!

Now when I started this back in August, I honestly wasn't really sure how I what I was going to use this for. But being first and foremost graphic designer/art director, I felt it would be a great way to do some graphic design experimentation. You see, more and more, all kinds of advertising design is being used on the internet so for my Ashford Design business, it is imperative that I keep up and be knowledgeable on what the latest trends are. Blogging is Big Business... Yes, Big Business... that made me think about how I could really be able to share my wealth of knowledge about all kinds of design and use it to not only share with others who might be interested, but use it to grow my different businesses.

Now in another post, I will give you some more specific's about what I found out in my "independent study" about blogging, but for now the idea that I really wanted to share this: Design and advertising on a blog is unlike something that you design and print. You can get stuck with a bunch of business cards, flyers, brochures or catalogs that can become outdated very fast. And usually you need to print a minimum amount, or if you print just a few, it is very costly. 

On a blog or web site, you can constantly be changing what information you are sharing, even after you first share it, revisions and updates are a snap to do. You can also change the theme, style, look, sound and intentions of it pretty easily too. And this is a good thing! 

If you have been following me since I first started Create and Decorate, you will know that I have had at least 4 different formats and designs. I now have another name, Design Spark. Part of the reason that I felt the need to change the name is that too many people were messing up typing in the name and not finding my blog. So I worked on more names and felt that Design Spark would be a good replacement. 


I have finally expanded my ideas on what I will share in this blog. In a nutshell, it has evolved into a much better and more rounded space and I hope that you will continue on this journey about design with me and that I will be able to inspire you about all kinds of design.

It's Time to Dress Up... the Mantle

Part One: Nothing is better than sitting by the fire keeping warm and toasty to kill of the wicked winter chill that seeps into your bones. With that statement, I guess it's no secret that I live in the North! While you are sitting by the cosy fire, it is even better if you can have a lovely looking mantle to make everything look so picturesque.
There are a couple of things that you need to consider when deciding what you want to put up there:

What is your Theme.

Have a Color Scheme.

Highlight some of your "Treasures".

Pick a Style.

Our Mantle at Christmas, complete with Stockings!
(Click on any of the pictures to view them larger.)

THEME: A mantle is the perfect gathering place for setting up a theme. For instance, I bet you all had your mantles decorated to the max for Christmas. I know I do. Every year. Love it. Here's a Picture of it done up for the holidays.
But now, the holidays are over and hopefully you are now faced with a clean slate.
Using the holidays as your theme again, it's time to get ready for Valentines Day.
OR you can use the Seasons as your theme. Right now would be Winter. If you have a special collection, like my mom does of Milk glass, Fenton glass and Lenox Birds, she could use her collection as her theme. 
COLOR SCHEME: Once you've picked your theme, it is time to move on to color. YOu need to have a palette in mind. It can match what furniture you have in the room or coordinate. You definitely do not want to pick something that clashes- everything should compliment the other colors. The only time that that would not matter is if you are going with a color to match you theme. It's ok that you use orange and black when it's Halloween. Just make sure that you use enough of the color together, that it's obvious that it is meant to stand out from other parts of the room. 
This mantle design color theme is picking up on the red colors that took us through Christmas and now through Valentine's Day. I'll give you some close up pictures this weekend of the individual pieces that I'm using. Here are three different versions :

Version One Mantle: Basic with a RED color theme.

Version Two Mantle: Red with a Winter theme.

Version Three Mantle: Sea Blues and Butter Yellow Spring theme.

TREASURES: Treasures are things that you collect because they mean something special to you. Why not show them off on your Mantle? Enough said.

STYLE: Everyone is drawn to a specific type of design style. Whether you love Shabby Chic, French Country, Modern or Eclectic; (to just name a few) each of these different styles also looks better with the way you lay them out. Symmetrical or Asymmetrical. Minimal or Complicated Layers. 

Now there a couple of considerations that could pose a dilemma. One is how high off the ground your mantle sits and how much room you have above the Mantel until you hit the ceiling. Also how wide your mantle is from the wall? Both of these were two huge issues for me as the space between the shelf and the ceiling is not very wide. I chose a large narrow rectangular Watercolor painting to hang above it. Then, because my shelf area is not very wide, it limits how much layering I can do. It's not possible to put many of my lovely treasures up on the mantle as it won't hold them, it's too narrow.

Just make a choice and start to play around with different items that you want to use until you get it to look right. You'll know when you are done. It will just feel right to you.
My last piece of advice to you is that rules are nice, to help you to follow, but they are also made to be broken. Don't be afraid to try something totally different!


My next post will detail some of the different treasures I used in the pieces above.
Until next time- Blessings!
Pam