Posts Tagged ‘Design’
STUFF: Fortraits
I get inspired by people who enjoy the process. There is something fun and beautiful about making something with your hands. Sometimes we let a lack of resources stop us from enjoying the creative process, but often times, if we actually slow down, we will notice that the tools we need are all around us.
Commissioned by the True/False Film Festival, Fortraits is a series of four short films by Encyclopedia Pictura.
“…a directing team working in film, art, community building, and agriculture …their unorthodox, hands-on working style often includes direct creation in all aspects of production – writing, designing, painting, sculpting, animating, photographing, directing, editing, composition, and scoring.” – Encyclopedia Pictura
“They are passionate about gardening, farming, construction, villages, augmented reality, science visualization, social ecology, technological empowerment, adventure, and country living.” - Encyclopedia Pictura
Sounds like the kind of people we’d like to be friends with! 
Number two, “Camping Rafts”, is my personal favorite. There is something very quaint and magical about chilling on the water with a good friend and tasty snacks.
What’s your favorite Fortrait in the series? What about it inspires you?
From The Farm 
Learn more about Encyclopedia Picture and True/False Film Festival by visiting their websites.
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GCD: Princess Bride Themed Baby Shower [Invitation Design]
I’ve been holding this design hostage for a while, while we waited (anxiously) for the big day. Some of our dear friends are having a little girl and we got to design the wedding invitations for their shower. The theme was one of the coolest ones we’ve seen in a long time (besides our shower of course!). It was such a joy to be able to shower them with love and be a part of welcoming little Miss. Wiggles (her name remains a mystery!) into this world with love, gifts, and lots of tiny summer outfits (I seriously CANNOT STOP buying stuff for this little girl)!
It was couples shower so instead of playing cheesy games there were fun activities for the whole family! Included was an “As You Wish” decorate onesies craft corner, an “Inconceivable Sundae Bar”, a photobooth with a life size tree (that we had to cut down with a chainsaw just to get in the door), Iocane Powder (Pixie Sticks), a “Cliffs of Insanity” Cookie Cake, Grilled “R.O.U.S.” (chicken strips), along with the movie being projected on the wall. Believe it or not there were actually people who attended who had never seen the movie! Good thing we were able to educate them before baby Wiggles gets here.
Thanks to Karen and Kerry (the brains behind the operation) the shower was a smashing hit and one we will never forget! It has been so fun walking out this next phase of our life (parenthood) with some of our dearest friends.
Maybe someday their baby Buttercup will be calling our little man her “Farm Boy“.
From the Farm
* Review more work like this and others by visiting our graphic design portfolio at Green Couch Design.
Creative Meetup: Defining Home
Home is…
Where Cale is. Where James (our baby) is. Where I rest. Where I feel safe. Where I feel sexy all day without makeup and my smelly pj’s, Where Josie (our dog) snores, where it smells like home cooking, where the sun comes in from the window just so and time stands still, where God speaks to me, where God sings to me, where I dance like no one is watching, where I sing loudly, where I eat more chocolate chip cookies than I should (there is always room for ONE more), where I keep all my clothes, where my family and friends come to find rest, where I cook all my favorite meals, where plum is my favorite color (at least for this season), where my heart is full, I can hide, I can be me, and I can figure out me.
Home holds all of my favorite things.
We recently had another old fashioned creative weekend with some of our dearest friends. Armed with old school pen and paper we doodled, dreamed, then dreamed even bigger of our life and what we really want out of it. In that place of dreaming we kept coming back to our personal definitions of home.
For me, home is a place where we get to do collaborations from our hearts, heads and hands.
A place that celebrates heritage, legacy, and all things local.
A Spirit-led life full of creativity, integrity, and love.
A place that doesn’t let us skip the process.
The definition of home holds all of my favorite things.
How do you define home? What does it look like, smell like, what parts of home do you miss the most when you are gone?
From the Farm
GCD Valentine’s Day Wallpapers: #3
The last saying in our Valentine’s Day Wallpaper Series is one of our personal favorites. When life seems to hit us hard and we are going through a rough patch we always say;
“Take my hand, let’s get outta here.”
As long as we have each other and our hearts are in a good place between the two of us, we can take on anything. The saying reminds us that regardless of how big the task may seem, there is an end in sight, this is just ONE season of our marriage, and it won’t be like this forever.
GCD Valentine’s Day Wallpapers: #1
Cale and I love, love. We love hearing stories about how other couples met along with romantic dates, kisses, and the kind of cute annoying stuff that makes you want to throw up a little. After being married for nearly five years we’ve learned a thing or two about celebrating love. Sometimes it’s not about the BIG date night or how much money you can spend, sometimes it truly is the thought that counts.
2013 Garden Checklist: February
Ok, so it doesn’t feel super warm out yet, at least not consistently, but gardening is in full swing! Many people are starting seeds indoors and waking up their perennials as spring quickly approaches. I’ve already been out, warmed up the raised beds, cleaned up the over winter weeds, and put in my first run at square foot gardening; not to mention digging up an unexpected crop of carrots! So if your green thumb is already itching for green sprouts or if you’re just one of those people that likes to get an early start here are a few February garden tips to get you going…
LIFE: An Old Fashion Backyard Wedding :)
Remember that Comic Book Inspired Wedding Invitation we designed a while back? Turns out the wedding was just as memorable! We should probably be fare and let you know that it was pretty special since Cale’s brother was the groom. But still! The bride’s Italian family arrived from Connecticut armed with good food and cheek kisses. Paired with some good old fashion Okie hospitality it was truly a wedding weekend to remember. Not only was it a beautiful day but the weekend was full of friends and family.
Here are a few of our favorite moments…
From the potluck dinner served family style to the old records serenading the evening it was truly one of our favorite weddings (outside of our own of course!).
Congrats to the newlyweds!
From the Farm 
GCD: Comic Book Inspired Wedding Invitation
We recently had the pleasure of designing a custom invitation for Cale’s brother and his bride to be! I’m gonna be honest and say we were a little nervous when they told us they were doing a comic book themed wedding. I think we we’re both envisioning a wedding party with tights and capes. Meg was in full support of this since her husband was the Best Man but we both knew the rest of the family would totally disagree.
Once we sat down with Joy and Colin we were able to catch more of their vision for their wedding day and we soon realized that it would be anything but cheesy. They wanted a simple wedding invitation. One that showed off their unique color scheme while connecting the fun feel of their comic book inspired wedding.
To get started we asked them to gather up some of their favorite comic book, video game, and tv inspired quotes and decided to use them as statements about their relationship. Creating a poster/announcement like feel we designed the invitation on an over-sized sheet. It’s large format helped establish the wedding day vibe and takes the guest through a process of reading that is similar to a comic book/strip layout.
Overall we used the modern colors and quotes to convey the quirky personalities of this fun-loving couple. To enhance the feel of their simple, homemade, backyard style wedding we paired the bright wedding palette with a craft paper envelope.
Just for fun… here are the other quotes the couple originally selected:
- “Love is not a strong enough word, I luff you, I lurrve you.” - Woody Allen
- “Inertia forms two thirds of marriages but love forms the other third.” - Woody Allen
- “Allons-y!” (which means “let’s go” in french) – The Doctor
- “Elections are a good deal like marriages. There’s no accounting for anyone’s taste. Every time we see a bridegroom we wonder why she ever picked him, and it’s the same with public officials.” - Will Rogers
- “beep bloop beep” - R2D2 C
- “grrrrraaaaadddddrrrraaaaa” - Chewbacca
- “What keeps her up in the air? Love. You can learn all the math in the ‘verse… but you take a boat in the air that you don’t love… she’ll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down… tells you she’s hurting before she keels. Makes her a home.” - Capt. Malcom Reynolds
Look for photos of their big day coming soon!
From the Farm
* See more work like this and others by visiting our graphic design portfolio at Green Couch Design.
LIFE: Nursery Design Bits
It is safe to say that “nesting” has completely taken over Meg’s brain. We swear she has cleaned drawers that have not been touched in our 4 years of marriage! We’ve learned that somehow when you are pregnant it’s easy to convince yourself that your baby will really care about the wall color and/or what stuffed animals are available to snuggle with. Either way it’s been a good motivation to get on top of the nursery as well as other household chores we’ve had on hold since… we moved in!
Originally we were going to do an entire room with whale/sea decorations (see Meg’s pin board) but decided that, that could get a little crazy REAL fast! As much as we like whales we didn’t want a character themed nursery. Instead we settled for more of an “Adventure” theme. You know… sailing the seven seas, traveling the world, bugs, and a variety of other whimsical things. This was an intentional design decision because we wanted to create a room that our little guy could grow into, not out of in the next few years.
Since we live in a very small farm house (yes, our child is sharing a room with the washer and dryer) we we’re very intentional about not just filling his room with a bunch of “stuff”. Looking at the list of registry “must haves” recommend by Babies”R”Us it’s easy to see how this happens to so many people. Instead we were very intentional about the items we registered for and used most of the toys and cards received as gifts as decor items. This made decorating very inexpensive and more personalized. We love the fact that we can look around and see the many ways that all of our friends and family have contributed to the nursery decor.
(PS If you look closely you might find a sneak peak of our baby boy’s name!)
We looked at several mobiles but thought it would be fun to hang some of our shower cards and favorite art pieces (in miniature form) over the crib to create a custom mobile. This was an inexpensive way to support and purchase prints from local artists, utilize the sweet words spoken over our baby from friends and family, while giving us the flexibility to change things out in the future.
(Hanging Mobile Picture Frame: Blue Seven; 5 Step To The Left Of Your Right Hemisphere Postcard: Samantha Lamb)
(Bow Tie: Handmade from our “Manly Baby Shower“; Leather Baby Shoes: Vintage from Meg’s Dad; Oklahoma A-Z Animal Print: STASH; Oklahoma Cuddle Monster: DNA Galleries; Elephant: Sassy Nasal Aspirator; Plush Boat: Collected Thread)
We wanted an easy storage solution that could evolve depending on the needs of our child and the future function of the space. Cale whipped up this simple 9 Frame Storage Solution from lumber we had leftover in the shop. All the baskets we found were to expensive for our budget so Meg covered used diaper boxes and spray painted them with orange stencils (DIY coming soon… still waiting on a few more boxes)!
(Wellington the Duck: Scentsy; Embroidered Plush Bunny: Custom Gift, Whale: Handmade gift from Meg’s mom & grandma)
In case you don’t remember the BEFORE crib shots we got rid of Bambi and settle with a nice blue/gray base. Cale thought it would be a fun accent to spray paint all the metal pieces orange. As you can see we carried this color combo throughout the rest of the room painting the metal window hooks, coat hooks, and shelf brackets orange as well.
(Wooden Rocking Horse: Vintage gift from Cale’s cousin)
We love books, especially children’s books, so we thought it would be fun to display their covers like pieces of art to fill the space with color. This little shelf Cale customized and set it nice and low for little hands to be able to reach along with a functional placeholder for hanging tiny hats, toys, coats, bath towels, etc.
We snagged this authentic canvas maps with sea creatures and ships as a $10.00 Groupon!
Remember this insane Shaker Style Rocking Chair that Meg’s Aunt found at a Garage Sale for $20.00?! Here is it in it’s completed state! She did a BEAUTIFUL job re-finishing it (Check out her other finished pieces at Ollie Belle Home Decor).
All the sudden those late night rocking/lullaby sessions don’t seem SO bad? Right!?
Our inspiration for the map display came from this really simple Hanging Map DIY at Smile & Wave. Thanks Rachel! 
Josie is STILL trying to make since of all this change!? She’s gonna make a great Nana Dog (you know, like on Peter Pan!?).
Our friends and family filled out this fun prediction calendar for the baby’s arrival (Meg’s not counting any guesses after the 20th… at least for now)!
Oh and of course… here is the shot we probably shouldn’t show. Definitely not “pin worthy” but it’s how we roll here on The Farm! We’re actually using one of the Pedestal Drawers as a toy box. It’s all about making your space work for you and designing it in a way that meets your design aesthetic AND functional needs. Honestly, we are doing cloth diapers so rooming the baby with the washer and dryer might work out after all?!
Meg and her grandma made curtains out of Painters Drop Cloth’s and surged the curtain edges orange to continue our accent color throughout the room.
You would think that re-decorating ONE room wouldn’t take months and months but we are both designers and definitely have our opinions on how things should go down. It’s always a lot of work and a lot of trial and error but in the end it’s ALWAYS worth it. We are really pleased with the space, especially with what we had to work with. It’s crazy to see the transformation of what once was a shared office space is now the place our little man will rest his head. It’s been a process but one we’ve enjoyed and feel like we’ve given our boy a room not just filled with “stuff” but “stuff” with true meaning and function.
What is your favorite detail of the room?
Have a due date prediction you’d like us to add to the calendar?! List your estimated date, weight, length, and time of day in the comment section below!
We’ll keep you posted!
39 weeks AND counting!
From the Farm
CNY: Tim & Kara [Kara Paslay Designs]
This week we are super stoked to be sharing with you another talented and fun loving couple! Not only are they practically our neighbors, living in Tulsa, but they are one super cute and powerful team that truly enjoy working together. In fact, you might have seen some of their fun projects in magazines, blogs, and even TV with their easy DIY’s and functional decor affordable for any budget!
Meet Tim and Kara Paslay with Kara Paslay Designs:
“We do a lot of different creative jobs, all which fall under our business “Kara Paslay Designs.” It is a full time, all consuming business and we love it. Basically, we will take on any job that involves creative design. We do or have done interior design for residential homes, retail design for Anthropologie and other Tulsa boutiques, window displays, we write a daily blog, we host DIY classes, we serve as art directors/set decorators for commercial, TV shows, & movies, and we are in the process of developing our own design TV show!
Q1) What was the inspiration behind starting Kara Paslay Design?
A1) Kara- Growing up I promised myself that no matter what I ended up doing that I would love it. I refused to work at a job that I dreaded every day. There was a problem though- my college days were focused on playing basketball. Around my junior year, I realized that I wanted to do interior design after my basketball days were over, but my college didn’t offer the major. So, I went about the rest of my college days trying to squeeze in furniture redo projects and small things I could take on in my apartment. After college Tim and I bought a home. Tim took a job at a construction company to learn the basics of construction/building so that we could apply that knowledge to our home and one day our business. Meanwhile I worked at home honing different skills- designing and redesigning rooms to create a portfolio for myself. We looked at our home as a hands on learning university where we could get the education that we needed to eventually start our own business.
Tim- I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do out of college, but I knew I needed to try things to figure out what I did and didn’t like. I took on the responsibility of bread winning while Kara was getting established and now the rolls have reversed a little bit. I still pitch in, but with a better understanding of what I enjoy doing, I am working on some projects that aren’t necessarily making money yet, but will one day be an enjoyable (and hopefully profitable) business of my own.
High class design in overalls. It's the simple life of a farm through the eyes of a couple of crazy designers. We call ourselves Green Couch Design and we are Bringing Design Home.
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