Blogfest 2011, It's all in the wrist!

In case you didn't know, Blogfest 2011 was a huge hit!

Many of our favorite bloggers, designers, and friends traveled to the big apple for a whirlwind tour of the New York City interior design scene.

 

Some may have even hitched a ride from Brimfield!

The fabulous New York hostess and author of Nest, Tamara Matthews Stephenson kicked things off with A Walk In Central Park before Blogfest festivities began!

There were great educational events. I bet they took lots of notes!

Editors-in-Chief from several of the top design and lifestyle magazines:

 Architectural Digest, ELLE DECOR, House Beautiful, New York Spaces, Town&Country, Traditional Home, and VERANDA...

kept their promise and brought attendees the very best of interior design in New York City.

There were parties hosted by A-list designers.

Tours of the New York Design Center. 

Tours of the Kravet and Lee Jofa design studio, and so much more.

 They rubbed elbows with top editors,

design idols,

and friends from across the country.

They were inspired by each other & all that New York City had to offer!

Blogfest said that this three-day trip will leave you breathless.  I'm planning on it next year!

For now, I'll be checking in with a few friends who attended.

They are a fantastic group who are multi-talented & multi-tasking so I'm guaranteed to get the latest & greatest from them via twitter, facebook, and their fabulous blogs below!  I hope you'll visit them too! 

 

 

Hope y'all are having a ball!

all information via blogfest, all photos via Tumblr unless noted

Water Paper Paint

This weekend I spent some time exploring

Water Paper Paint.

It's a charming book written by the artist

Heather Smith Jones.

cover artwork by Heather Smith Jones

I actually came across her blog a while ago and got a sneak peek at the book while it was in the works.  I'm always looking for creative ways to play with paint and Water Paper Paint is full of wonderful ideas!

photo by Rachel Saldana for Water Paper Paint

It's written for all creative types, whether your background is mixed-media, textile art, journaling, or papercraft.  It's a grown-up book full of inspiration and each exercise is written and beautifully photographed entirely from the artist's perspective.

This botanical by the author is what caught my eye.  I love botanicals but I've never tried to paint one.  Until now!

artwork by Heather Smith Jones

My garden is full of bulbs that gave quite a show earlier this spring and now have laid down to rest.  So I thought I'd give it a try.

photo Lisa Porter

I went to the back of the garden and pulled up an assortment. 

photo Lisa Porter

I'll admit that up until now, I had never really thought of bulbs & roots covered in dirt as being all that interesting.

Ahemmmm...Helllloooooo...

photo Lisa Porter

I started photographing them and suddenly Mother Nature had my full attention.  Here's one of many examples that I'll choose from to paint. 

photo Lisa Porter

In the meantime, If you're the creative type, and I know you are, stop by the blog Heather Smith Jones and say hello to the artist & author of Water Paper Paint.

 

The other project in the garden this weekend was to create a place near the potting bench to clean up!

 

photo Lisa Porter

We've had an old galvanized feed bin for years and Gracie has always loved it full of cool water for jumping into on hot summer days. I used the water at the end of the day for cleaning up garden tools & muddy boots.

photo Lisa Porter

Gracie's not so fond of jumping in & out of it anymore and I'm not so fond of bending over and cleaning up anything at the end of the day so using old fieldstone that Collier & I gathered, we built a base to raise it up. We added a spigot & now we have a garden sink!

photo Lisa Porter

photo Lisa Porter

She'll be sure and let you know when she gets a new pool.

photo Lisa Porter

And I'll be sure and let you know how the botanical turns out!

School is out & it's officially summer, painting & blogging time!

I've missed you all,