A thick haze has taken up residence in my head during what I’m sure is going to go down in the books as my busiest month ever. How is it I always get the most sick when I can least afford to?

I’m just thankful this cold didn’t hit me before the Conqueror Design Awards! I would have been a total zombie – incoherent, grey in the face and leaking bodily fluids. Not quite the person you’d want to see out of a quarantine zone.

The second the haze clears and I can string together complex sentences again, I’ll be putting up a recap post of the evening, along with photos of the finished letterpress certificate I designed and printed for the show.

That reminds me: did you all get one as you were leaving? I’ve gotten a couple of emails from attendees saying they missed out somehow. If you did too, drop me an email with your mailing address and I’ll see if I can find a spare to post to you. I promise to not sneeze on any!

If you’re already a fan of letterpress, I totally recommend attending for the door gift alone: a specially-commissioned, limited edition letterpress print! I’m not going to ruin the surprise, but here are some sneak peeks of what the lovely people at Antalis (holding company of the Conqueror brand) let me cook up for the attendees:

As you can see, it was clearly designed by a typophile, for typophiles.

Look closely – do you see the hint of glimmer?

Yup. Gold edge painting. No kidding.

I hope you’ll come claim one for yourself on Wednesday! Also, if you wanted to hear me talk about letterpress -and see photos of me printing these – my segment starts at 6:00pm.

Remember, you have to register for tickets so if you haven’t done that yet it might be a good idea to click here and get that sorted post-haste!

Ready for more DIY decor inspiration? Since I covered paint-related projects in the last post, I thought we’d try something just slightly more ambitious today.

First up, I have something special for all you crafty hoarders out there with more paper scraps than they know what to do with.

On the left is a wall collage of paper scraps glued to vintage plaques spray-painted white. Sound tricky? It really isn’t, thanks to Better Homes & Gardens‘ instructions. An assortment of cheap plates in different shapes would do just as well.

On the right, we have a wave of paper doily flowers with thumb tack centers. There weren’t instructions with this photo, but all you need to do is to get doilies of different sizes, fold them into quarters and twist gently to add dimension. Then, unfurl them and pin them through their centers with a brightly coloured thumbtack. Ta-dah!

If you’re looking for something a little easier, what about a garland?

Although this photo didn’t come with instructions either, you can learn how to make a multitude of garlands from A Beautiful Mess. Seeing this when I opened my eyes, I’d feel like I was waking up to a secret party every morning!

Last but not least (and definitely not in terms of production effort) is this amazing textured wall hanging.

Doesn’t it look like something you’d see in a fancy boutique hotel? The detailed instructions can be had over at Signed by Tina if you’re interested in tackling this beauty.

That’s all* I have for you today, but the next installment features found or easily procurable items for those of you who aren’t into painting or crafting, so do swing back around soon.

*Notice that nowhere in this post did I talk about toilet roll art. Sure, it’s cheap, easy and eco-friendly, but believe me when I say it’s in poor taste to display the relics of your bodily functions. Even the ones made of cardboard!

This is such a great honor, and certainly one that hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I’ll be speaking alongside design industry greats Kevin Finn and Jonathan Yuen in between the segments of award categories. I’m truly, truly humbled.

I can’t wait to take the opportunity to talk about letterpress and share some of the intricacies of the art form. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about what I do, how I do it, and why it’s worth doing, I hope you’ll come by.

That reminds me: I haven’t started planning my seminar address yet, so if there’s anything you’re personally curious about and would like me to address, I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email via the contact form, and I promise to take on as many suggestions as possible. Ask me anything at all…or, you know, just wish me luck. Because when it comes to public speaking, I think I might need it!

More information and registration/ticketing details are available through the The Conqueror Awards’ official site.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to decorating lately, thanks to a pending bedroom overhaul, and a majority of those thoughts have turned to art.

For some strange reason, Adam and I never got around to hanging any art in this apartment despite the fact that our last place was absolutely covered in our combined endeavors. Even our dog contributed – we had a huge abstract painting in our dining area that was created by dipping Dolce’s paws and favourite ball in paint, and then playing fetch across the canvas. While I suspect we (dog included) have outgrown those adventurous artistic endeavors, I do love the idea of artwork that’s easy and relatively inexpensive. It goes without saying that it should also make an impact and/or be a conversation starter too.

Here are some DIY art ideas that I’ve earmarked for my own decorating inspiration. Two things you will find neither in my list nor my home? Vinyl wall stickers and anything from IKEA’s print department. I hate to say this, but stickers are not art, and IKEA is not a gallery. However, an even better reason to avoid them is that you can do so much better yourself. Look:

Isn’t this a cool modern piece?

Follow the ridiculously easy instructions at The New Domestic and have your own painted and hung up in a couple of hours.

The soothing palette and organic finish of this piece totally hooked me. Can you guess how the pattern was made?

With potatoes! I kid you not. Check out the instructions at Design Haven if you don’t believe me.

Ditto this cheerful artwork from Oh Happy Day. Who would have thought the ugly potato-stamps we made as kids could have resurfaced as something so pretty? I’m pretty sure my mom would have framed a lot more of my kiddy art if the teachers at school had set us art projects like this.

I hope I’ve gotten your inspiration levels up on an otherwise blah Monday. If you’re as excited about DIY art as I am, stay tuned – as the title indicates, I have more tricks up my sleeves and I’m dying to share!

Top photo via Pinterest.

I can’t believe it’s already saturday, but I hope you’re having a lovely one. Me? I’m writing this between print runs and packaging orders for delivery, but it’s not all bad. It’s giving me a mental break from worrying about what to say at The Conqueror Awards! Thank you so much for the well-wishes and topic suggestions, by the way. You guys are the best.

Allow me to thank you with some fun links to explore:

I don’t know what I love more: the quote, or the fact that there’s someone making non-lame motivational posters.

Have you ever heard about Victorian hair art? Creepy but fascinating.

One day I’ll be organized to pack a lunch to work, and it will be in this neat-o tiffin box.

Speaking of food, is anyone going to Savour at the end of the month? It looks like it could be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

This necklace didn’t make it into my neon moodboard last week, but I can’t stop thinking about it. That colour!

As someone who always seems to be running through airports, I can see this this luggage scooter being a game-changer.

Moleskine / artist collaborations always me a wish I was less of a neat freak with mine.

I know Valentine’s Day is long over, but this sleek men’s watch is worth bookmarking. Christmas, maybe?

Photo via We Heart It.

The folks at Seen+Noted clearly agree. Behold, their stunning modern reproductions of vintage typewriter ribbon tins. How gorgeous are these?

And there’s a poster!

Note: Unfortunately, it seems from their related post that these prints and poster were created for a specific event and aren’t on sale anymore. I say we all write in and beg them to print a second run of these for sale – I’d buy one of those posters in a heartbeat, wouldn’t you?

So how does one tap this new trend without it looking like you fell out of the early 90′s? Think about the pops of colour being a surprise – as accents rather than focal points – because when paired with lots of chic, light neutrals, neons are just shocking…in the best possible way!

(L-R) Top Row: Neon dress by Alexander Wu via, Candy buffet via The Knotty Bride. Middle Row: Giraffe favours via Brooklyn Bride, Flowers via Grey Likes Weddings. Bottom Row: Neon edge painting by yours truly! More photos here. Neon seating via The Knotty Bride, Hot pink-filled macarons via Want That Wedding.

Is anyone else out there a total Instagram addict? I can’t go a day without it – part voyeurism, part art, what’s not to love?

You’ve probably already guessed this by looking at the photo, but my partner-in-crime Belle and I made our own March Photo-a-Day challenge, and it would love for you to join us!

Save & share this photo with your friends, and I’ll see you on out there. If you’re new to this, just remember to tag your photos with #marchphotoaday so we can all keep connected. Isn’t the internet awesome?

I just recently got clued into Brian Dettmer‘s intricate book sculptures (via Neil Gaiman‘s twitter, no lie) and had to share. Irony aside, words fail me where describing the brilliance of this is concerned. Plus I think the artist himself says it best:

“The richness and depth of the book is universally respected yet often undiscovered as the monopoly of the form and relevance of the information fades over time. The book’s intended function has decreased and the form remains linear in a non-linear world. By altering physical forms of information and shifting preconceived functions, new and unexpected roles emerge.”

These are just a few of my favourites, but I highly recommend checking out his other pieces here and here