Category Archives: Inspiration

Reviving Vintage Charm: Turning a Headboard into an Inspirational Business Sign

May 2, 2024 Kristi

I recently saw a headboard project someone had shared around Halloween and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. A year before I had the opportunity to work at a construction and development company in my area while the position didn’t work out due to scheduling one of the tasks I was tasked with was to redesign their real estate sign that showed who was developing the property. Initially it had me stumped but after seeing this headboard project I cannot help but feel it would’ve been perfect for that project if I was still working there. This project is also good for any business in hospitality, like a retreat center or a small getaway cabin. It’s about taking something old and forgotten and breathing new life into it, transforming it into a meaningful symbol that reflects the essence of your business. This project is a testament to the power of imagination, resourcefulness, and dedication to turning dreams into reality. As you embark on this venture, you’ll discover the joy of craftsmanship, the satisfaction of bringing a vision to fruition, and the inspiration that comes from embracing creativity in all its forms. Turning a vintage headboard into a sign for a business can be a charming and creative DIY project. Here’s a general guide to get you started:

Select a Headboard: Look for a vintage headboard that fits the style and theme of your business. It could be ornate and decorative or simple and rustic, depending on the ambiance you want to create.
Preparation: Clean the headboard thoroughly and sand it lightly to remove any rough spots or old finishes. If the headboard has any peeling paint or varnish, consider stripping it down to the bare wood.
Design: Decide on the design and message for your sign. This could be your business name, logo, or a catchy phrase related to your business. Sketch out your design on paper to visualize how it will look on the headboard.
Painting: Paint the headboard with a base coat of paint in the color of your choice. This will serve as the background for your sign. Once the base coat is dry, carefully paint your design onto the headboard using stencils or freehand painting. Use high-quality paint suitable for outdoor use if the sign will be displayed outside.
Lettering: If your design involves lettering, you can use stencils, vinyl decals, or hand-paint the letters onto the headboard. Make sure the letters are evenly spaced and aligned for a professional look.
Sealing: Once the paint is completely dry, seal the headboard with a clear polyurethane or varnish to protect the paint and wood from weathering and damage. This step is especially important if the sign will be displayed outdoors.
Mounting: Depending on the size and weight of the headboard, you may need to reinforce it or add mounting hardware to hang it securely at your business location. Consider using heavy-duty picture hanging hardware or wall anchors for stability.
Finishing Touches: Add any final touches, such as decorative accents or embellishments, to enhance the vintage charm of the sign.
Display: Hang your headboard sign prominently at your business location where it’s easily visible to customers. Make sure it’s securely attached and positioned for maximum impact.

With some creativity and DIY skills, you can transform a vintage headboard into a unique and eye-catching sign that adds character to your business space. Just remember to plan carefully, take your time with each step, and enjoy the process of bringing your vision to life! In the end, this DIY project to turn a vintage headboard into a sign for your business is not just about the finished product—it’s about the journey you’ve undertaken and the inspiration it has sparked along the way. It’s a reminder that with determination, creativity, and a willingness to think outside the box, anything is possible. As you admire your handiwork proudly displayed at your business location, may it serve as a constant source of inspiration to you and others, reminding everyone that with passion and perseverance, even the most ordinary objects can be transformed into extraordinary works of art.

Articles, Blog, Inspiration, Intern, Reflections, Spirituality, World

A Centered Take on Society

June 18, 2016 Kristi Leave a comment

To my objective vision, today’s society is a living and growing entity made rational and tangible through the five human senses, while attenuating the unknown.

Society cares for the individual only so far as he is profitable -Simone de Beauvoir

Having been raised in western cultural norms, and recently exposed to the radical dichotomy that exists between global cultures, it has become clear to me that accepting yourself while staying true to your passions holds the key to a positive frequency of life. This way, everything can be perfect.

Accept yourself as you are. And that is the most difficult thing in the world, because it goes against your training, education, your culture. From the very beginning you have been told how you should be. Nobody has ever told you that you are good as you are → Osho

This concept has awakened my beliefs to a direction that is not bound by convention. My thoughts have gravitated towards making sense of the world we call home. Essentially, I see truths that point toward many different avenues to achieve the same desired outcome. I believe everyone has a unique and essential perspective of the world. I personally find a great sense of curiosity in exploring these avenues, and appreciating our dimensional gift that is the present moment. Through the experience of natural forms of stimulation such as exercise or practiced gratitude for our existence, we are able to give our body the exact programming and rewards that it is primitively set up to receive in order to subscribe to a positive frequency of life.

We are in a transitional period with our bodies, in that many demands of modern western culture see no need to fulfill these natural reward systems. Instead, they are replaced with stresses on the acquisition of money and material worth. Unless you are actively pursuing something that you absolutely love and are passionate about, the relatively new prescribed path of life called your job becomes ultimately empty and completely unnatural to the human body and its coordinated psyche.

It is almost as if society has engineered itself so that we can consistently innovate and create new things more quickly and more easily. From an evolutionary perspective, it is almost as if this machine wants to be born, so it has reprogrammed society to live for the machine, rather than to live for the natural human needs system.

We are all on this incomprehensibly large sphere hurling its self through infinite space and time. How come nobody seems to talk about it?

Connect Deeper

If this article resonated with you, check out my lifestyle.

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Art, Articles, Business, Inspiration, Promoted, Reviews, Visual World

3 Artistic Apps to Bring Out Your Artsy Side

December 8, 2015 Kristi Leave a comment

Artistry comes from the soul and is then translated with the movement of our hands regardless if we’re holding a pencil, a mouse, or a stylus. Though the problem with designing anything on a computer is the tedium and imprecision that comes with it, thus a lot of artists still prefer to draw free hand and leave desktop platform to the graphic designers.

Perhaps the best invention that combines art and technology is the drawing tablet and the apps that transform your portable computer into a modern sketchpad. As a contributor of SitePoint notes, a stylus is generally much easier and more comfortable to hold in your hand than a mouse, and allow for an incredible degree of precision in your work?

Here are the top recommended iPad apps for artists:

Paper by FiftyThree
The availability of free drawing apps are quite slim, so if you’re not looking to invest in a mechanical sketchpad, Paper by FiftyThree should work for you. Designed for the budding and the seasoned artists, this beautiful app can be used with or without a stylus.
ArtRage
For a variety of art mediums, ArtRage has got you covered. To transform your digital canvas into spectacular work of art, you’re provided with additional tools such as pens, pastels and even spray paint, along with rollers and palette knives to help you build and blend.
Procreate – Sketch, paint, create
Possible the most powerful artistic app on the market, Procreate is an Apple Design Award winner and has the most amazing resolution, layering system, and 128 brushes for all your toolbox needs. The app is definitely worth more than its price.

To think that your tablet can do much more than your laptop might have been bizarre five years ago, but now mobile tech designers are surprising us with new functions of our devices. Gaming Realms, such as, the group that supplies online slots for Pocketfruity, predicted that mobile usage would exceed desktop usage in 2013, and in plenty of ways, it has, especially now that we can see the versatility of our tablets. And the ability to sketch on your iPad is as authentic as your vision can get from a technological standpoint.

Articles, Blog, Excursions, Inspiration, International, Italy, Live/Work, Realize, Reflections, Residencies, Travel, ◆◆◆

Writing: Of Loss…

May 11, 2015 Kristi Leave a comment

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I went on a walk today. Not too far away, just in the general area. One of the other artists here told me about an abandoned church that was not too far down the road. Having a vague interest in abandoned buildings I was intrigued. Since I didn’t have anything planned today, today was a good day to do some walking.

I ended up almost missing the church because the original path was overgrown with grass and pine needles and dirt. I started my way back up the road until I spotted a overgrown stone stair case and thought that was peculiar, but also thought it was kind of religious looking. I walked up the stairs and down a path that had grapes growing on either side of the pathway. I followed the pathway all the way up into a wooded area and a small towering church came into view. I had found it!

There was two stone benches attached to the church outside and I decided to take a break and cool off a bit. It was very peaceful as it sat back from the road a bit and you could barely hear the traffic that drove by. I got up and walked over to the front of the church. Unfortunately the doors were bolted shut so I couldn’t go in but I noticed some roses growing out of the masonry work of the church and snapped a few photos.

While I was sitting down, I thought about recently how people were leaving the Catholic faith in droves and here is an abandoned church. I thought about my own spirituality and concluded that they weren’t necessarily leaving religion altogether, but perhaps leaving organized religion and focusing on a more personal journey.

The above image was taken just before I walked down the pathway. My artwork is hugely centered around place/the environment as well as loss. At the beginning of this residency, I ran across an article from Orion Magazine by British author Robert MacFarlane and fell in love with the way he spoke about landscape. How his interest in landscape came from something called “landspeak”… describing one’s surroundings using singular words and sometimes phrases. He also mentioned the botanist, Oliver Rackham and wrote this passage about Rackham’s book, In the History of the Countryside.

“[…], the great botanist Oliver Rackham describes four ways in which “landscape is lost”: through the loss of beauty, the loss of freedom, the loss of wildlife and vegetation, and the loss of meaning. I admire the way that aesthetics, human experience, ecology, and semantics are given parity in his list. Of these losses the last is hardest to measure.”

It was interesting to me that this botanist saw that landscape is lost and he describes this loss through beauty, freedom, wildlife and vegetation and meaning. It made me think of my own healing journey from the loss of my job, a close friendship and relationship and more all in the span of two years. It was as if I was loosing myself and regenerating a new self from going through this pain and healing. I am certainly a different person than I was two years ago. I love the above image as it captures the sense of loss I think that MacFarlane was speaking about. Things change and move around and things get lost in the process. I have felt that this residency was the pinnacle of a turning point in my life. I had nothing but work and sleep for 6-9 months and I made enough money to take a month off and live in Italy to work on my artwork. I definitely sense change is coming and something new will come out of this loss. I had been thinking a lot about this close friendship whom I lost this past year and I definitely caught myself missing him.

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Articles, Inquiry, Inspiration, International, Italy, La Macina, Research, Residencies, ◆◆◆

Landspeak

May 2, 2015 Kristi Leave a comment

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by Robert Macfarlane via Orion Magazine

Art by James Wardell

The following article was one that came up recently on my facebook feed via Orion Magazine. It’s posting couldn’t be timelier with my residency in Greve. I have taken a lot of inspiration so far, so much so it’s taking me a couple of days to get through this article! I have never run across an article so inspiring before.

Continue reading Landspeak →

Art, Blog, Business, goals, Ideas, Inspiration, Projects

Believe! in the things you can do

December 23, 2014 Kristi Leave a comment

This is more apt for a New Year’s post, but I feel inspired to write it now. I keep a physical journal on my desk with the word “Believe” on it that I have stored away for use for writing down project ideas. My intention is to use it as an idea journal. But this is for projects only, not necessarily for career goals and accomplishments. I’m getting a better sense of my direction as an artist, where my artwork falls and who appreciates it, and what to do with it and as a result finding opportunities that are more apt to my interests as an artist.

I believe in the spoken word rule, meaning if I speak it before I have solid foundation on the opportunity, I more often than not will loose that chance! So I have given up on the Art Contest series that I was doing in the fall and will just keep quiet on the things that I do submit to – these opportunities below I have no submitted to but plan to.

On facebook there is a nice way to save links now and I have been saving things that I want to do as an artist in the future – gives me ideas to keep busy!

Continue reading Believe! in the things you can do →

Blog, Inquiry, Inspiration, Research, Spirituality

Damanhur Federation

June 6, 2014 Kristi Leave a comment

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Inquiry: Damanhur Federation” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:100%20light%20regular%3A100%3Anormal” el_class=”widget-title”][vc_column_text]I know I have blogged about the Damanhur Federation located in Italy before on this blog, but more and more I’m starting to see it as a prime destination to the continuation of my research. For those who aren’t sure what I research… I research how conscious reality sustains itself through light, sound and vibration. I try and answer questions as to how physical reality is created and sustained… as scientists look through a microscope into matter all they see are atoms and space but yet, our world is full of living breathing organisms. Yes, there are other things that factor into the reality around us (our brains, for example). Recently, scientists have just figured out how to make matter from light. Awhile ago I read an article about how a neurosurgeon was able to reproduce the effects of a coma… in which he experienced a ‘heaven’ like reality. Although, dangerous as one can ‘loose’ themselves in the coma and can never wake, it provides more evidence into the reality that we live in every day. The way this neurosurgeon was able to reproduce the same effect, was through sound. If sound can alter our current conscious reality into something else, shouldn’t that lead to something?

But the next question is… how to get myself to Damanhur! Grants yes, I suppose I need to do some research on grants for independent researchers and such or try to convert my research into an art project.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sg498_8790gxe”][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Research” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:25px|text_align:left|color:%2311322a” google_fonts=”font_family:Playfair%20Display%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”New Products” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:100%20light%20regular%3A100%3Anormal” el_class=”widget-title”][vc_masonry_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ gap=”10″ item=”basicGrid_NoAnimation” grid_id=”vc_gid:1568586336111-47002366-773b-4″ taxonomies=”579, 632, 631, 580, 582, 581″][vc_custom_heading text=”Other Posts” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:100%20light%20regular%3A100%3Anormal” el_class=”widget-title”][vc_masonry_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ gap=”10″ item=”basicGrid_NoAnimation” grid_id=”vc_gid:1568586336156-c190592e-a7da-4″ taxonomies=”132″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Blog, Inspiration

Round-Ups of Awesome #1

April 30, 2014 Kristi Leave a comment

I’m going to be starting a new series called, ‘Round-ups of Awesome’. I surf the internet a lot, like most of my generation and find cool objects and pieces of information and such. I usually just cross-post them to my K Glyphics page but thought I’d post them here too. So below is just a round-up of things that I generally thought were awe inspiring, or just plain awesome!

This team of researchers who developed conductive paint:

1) Conductive Paint

“The best thing about the material and our approach is that it provides for engagement of multiple kinds of intelligence. We go to a trade fair and an electrical engineer picks this up and starts asking detailed questions. But then someone else comes who knits for a living and they want to make their knitting responsive and their skills and intelligence are engaged at the same point,” said Johnson.

This photograph of a magnified droplet of seawater containing plankton, crab larva, eggs, and other microscopic sea animals.

2) Magnified droplet of seawater (source)

This kinetic wind sculptor, a facebook friend mentioned that this is how she visualized life-force energy:

Post by Landscape Architects Network.

This center for photography in India:
4) Center of Alternative Photography
Goa Center for Alternative Photography is the only organization in Asia region which experiments and practices alternative photography. Goa-CAP is also committed to providing an ecosystem for research as well as R&D leadership in photography.
This beautiful Portuguese word that describes my feels in one word:
5)

This album by Lindsey Stirling:

This research forum on ecology and art:

7) SoilCulture

Articles, Blog, Business, Inspiration

The Rise of Cult Marketing

April 21, 2014 Kristi Leave a comment

I recently watched a video on the story and creation of Scientology performed by its’ creators’ great-grand son, Jamie DeWolf. It gave me an amazing insight on business and marketing and realized that there is a “Rise of Cult Marketing”.

What is Cult Marketing you say? It is a marketing practice where a company develops it’s branding and policies so much so that it starts to imitate a belief system, or culture within its’ consumers. There are many examples of this now-a-days especially with social media. The biggest two I think are Apple consumers versus Microsoft consumers.

In the video DeWolf states, “if you really want to get rich, you start a religion.” In the same breath he says, “if you have facts, all you need is a little faith.” That really woke my mind up. Why? If you think about a large company, say Apple – each company has a certain aura around them. Apple was geared towards the general PC user and wanted to create a user-friendly computer for the average American. However, it’s consumers appear to be more influenced by artists, designers, students, ‘hipsters’ and the average American… Microsoft – while is still used in many homes because the price of PC products are more budget friendly, have consumers who are more into computer programing and electronics.

This practice has gone into cosmetic companies as well, there’s an indie brand called Lime Crime Cosmetics that features bright and high-pay off makeup. The CEO, Doe Deere is notorious for her specific style and visual elements and encourages their fans to follow their styling. I suppose cult marketing is a mixture of style and quality – but the definition of style is usually described as the voice of the artist or designer.

Each artist or designer has their specific style and technique to create their art, and when a company is born and grows, it takes on an image (brand) of it’s own as well – that the artist or designer has created based on the company’s policies and beliefs.

In this day and age of social media, it becomes clear that consumers become followers (or “believers”) of the company’s product and image. If you find a good company or product that you want to invest your money in you become it’s “follower”. Just like in a religion has it’s followers.

If you create a stigma or personality around your product, and believe in it strongly and market it as so and make it convincing, you’ll attract the same type of thinking in your audience/consumers.

Marketing isn’t just about advertising your product and trying to convince your consumer that it’s the best on the market, marketing has become more about creating a following and that following will be your returning customers. It is something that artists who are musicians who are active in the industry have always known – create a following and the rest will follow you.

Art, Blog, Excursions, Inspiration, Mystical Life, Projects, Spirituality, Travel, ◆◆◆

The Healing Center in Beverly

November 30, 2013 Kristi Leave a comment

Today I visited Joanna at the Healing Center in Beverly and we talked about a future partnership with my Kirlian Process and my studio space at Cabot Street Studios. We talked about potentially getting my research into workshop format and using the Healing Center space as well as Studio 19’s space for workshops and presentations.

We also talked about literally working with the life force energy as well, since Joanna is a Reiki Master and knows how to work with the energy we thought about trying to capture and visually express the differences of a charged object with Reiki energy and a regular object. I also talked about some of the things I had been struggling with and we decided that Reiki should be the next stage in my healing process as well.

Blog, Inspiration

Photocessorize

February 15, 2013 Kristi Leave a comment

This week I bought myself a camera upgrade (a nikon d3000) for my photography. 2 years ago my dad bought me a nikon p80 and at the time he said that he was interested in the camera when I finally get a better one. So this week I finally got myself an upgrade!! Woot! Macro photography here we come! For Valentine’s Day I regifted the Nikon p80 for my Dad.

I’ve been on etsy searching for camera accessories!

After searching google for dslr camera bags that haven’t spark my taste the prices range from anywhere between $25 – $100. In this case I think its all about personal style here. So I’ll post some options from etsy for you that will be affordable yet stylish!

‘Photoccessorize’ by moonmystics

DSLR camera bag accessories and more! 🙂 Items here don’t exceed $65.

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

Ideas, Inspiration, Spirituality, Symbols

Incorporating Perfume Bottles into Ritual/Meditation Work

December 23, 2012 Kristi Leave a comment

Avon Silver Fawn Charisma Cologne Bottle In Orginal Box by SentimentalWhimsy via etsy

Etsy has these cute little perfume bottles of animals. Stylistically they aren’t my thing, something I would buy to display on a shelf because generally speaking they are a bit tacky (in my opinion). I tend to combine ideas into new ones and have been thinking on a spiritual level lately and thought I could use these cute animal bottles in my rituals/meditative work for the sabbats. I’m currently looking at an owl bottle for Candlemas/Imbolc in February. I’d wrap up the ritual supplies I used in the bottle and carry it around with me.

Candlemas Animal Symbolism: Bears, eagle, groundhogs, owls, ravens, sheep, snakes, stags

Ostara Animal Symbolism: rabbits, hares, robins, dragons (associated with eggs the earth and fertility), lambs, chicks

Beltane Animal Symbolism: Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard, goats, rabbits, honey bees

Litha Animal Symbolism: butterflies, caterpillars, sea creatures, wren, robin, horses, cattle, satyrs, faeries, firebird, dragon, thunderbird

Lughnasadh Animal Symbolism: Griffins, Basilisks, Roosters, Calves, Centaurs, Phoenix

Mabon Animal Symbolism: dogs, wolves, stag, blackbird, owl, eagle, birds of prey, salmon & goat, Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaur, Cyclops, Andamans and Gulons.

Samhain Animal Symbolism: Stag, cat, bat, owl, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion, heron, crow, robin

Yule Animal Symbolism: yule goat (nordic), reindeer stag, squirrels, yule cat, Sacred White Buffalo, Kallikantzaroi-ugly chaos monsters(greek), trolls, phoenix, yule elf, jule gnome, squirrels, wren/robin

Using these Animal Symbols in our meditative/ritual work we call upon their energy to help us in each season.