The Stuff of Life – Craft Gossip

The most memorable weddings are those that tell a story. The same is true of our homes. In her new book, The Stuff of Life, interiors stylist Hilary Robertson shares stunning images and thoughtful insights on our possessions, and what they reveal about our personalities. If you want to create a meaningful wedding celebration that truly reflects who you are as a couple, it’s as simple as looking around your living spaces and letting the colors, themes, and objects that you love serve as inspiration!

In The Stuff of Life, Hilary shares four methods for arranging the treasured objects and collections that we all seem to gather over time, and later in the book she discusses five categories of collectors and the various ways they approach styling the interiors of their homes. I find myself looking at this lovely book over and over, and I’m thrilled to offer a chance to win a copy to one of our readers! Just leave a comment on this post before midnight CST on Saturday, May 3rd, 2014. Best wishes to all the entrants!

I thought it would be fun to take some of my favorite images from the book and create inspiration boards based on them to inspire your handmade wedding celebrations. I loved the idea of the glass cloches above shown here with a seemingly random display of objects that in fact represent special memories and mementos.

The first board I created takes the concept of the glass jars and turns them into beautiful centerpieces. Gather items that have special meaning to the bride and groom, whether it be favorite books, flowers, childhood mementos, photos, or travel souvenirs, and display them singly or in groups. Click the links below for all the details on the centerpieces shown here.

Cedarwood Weddings

Collage Interiors

Remodelista

My So Called Crafty Life

Unruly Things

If you’re seeking a color palette, look no further than the colors you’ve chosen for your walls, furniture, and accessories! I love the monochromatic scheme of this still life created by landscape gardener and florist Lindsey Taylor, captured beautifully in the chapter “How to Arrange Your Stuff.”

I created a mood board based on the black furniture, neutral accessories, and the soft pink blooms in the photo that creates a marriage of sophisticated minimalism with a soft, romantic vibe. You can do the same for your wedding by taking the time to look at the colors of your home or wardrobe and incorporating those into your wedding decor!

Whether it’s a theme based on your travels or dream destinations,

the objects you gather while beachcombing or hiking,

or the vintage treasures you’ve collected along the way, look around at your home, your hobbies, and your interests for inspiration, and let your personality shine through in the way you style your wedding!

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There’s not much to say about Etsy seller Knotty yites other than if you like pop culture cross stitch patterns this is the place for you. It’s pretty much all they do, and there’s a wide range of fandoms and characters represented.

I first learned about this shop when I was doing Only Murders in the Building cross stitch patterns, and if you like that one the rest of their patterns are similar in vibe. They feature little characters in a lineup, sometimes labeled with the name of the show/movie they are from or with other text.

There’s everything from She-Ra to Ghostbusters, Lost to Xena, Game of Thrones to the MCU. While lots of the designs only cover a few characters, there are some larger ones as well.

Like this “space superhero” alphabet full of characters (and one spaceship!) from the Star Wars universe. The full design is 196 by 272 stitches and uses 81-86 colors (the range being because there are actually two alphabets with some different characters to choose from, or mix and match your favorites).

If you’ve ever wanted to stitch up Katniss and the mockingjay pin, an homage to Cersei Lannister or Jem and the Holograms, this shop has got you covered. Or you can try the X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy or characters from the video game Mass Effect.

Like I said, there’s a wide variety.

If this sounds like the kind of shop you would like, check out all the options at Knotty Bytes. I’d love to hear if you make something from this shop (or if you have already!).

Know a designer who should be in the spotlight? Or are you a designer who wants to share your store? Leave a comment or fill out the form you get when you click on “suggest a craft” at the top of the page.

[Photo: Knotty Bytes]

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