ABC Kids Expo...Vegas, Here We Come!

The countdown has begun. Only 8 days left before we're headed to Las Vegas for the largest tradeshow for anyone involved in the children's industry, the ABC Kids Expo. It's a great way for children's vendors and manufacturers to meet with the independent retailers, mass merchants, online retailers and interior designers as well.

I attended this show last year as a "new exhibitor" and it was quite an eye-opening experience! I have been in business for quite a while, but had never wanted to tackle the task of preparing for such an event, not to mention the huge budget that has to be set aside for 8 days in Vegas. I learned so much through that first time experience that I'm taking with me this year. My booth will be bigger and better and I now know what to bring and what not to bring. I'm excited about the opportunities that could come about. Even being a first timer last year, I was still able too catch the eye of the Sears buyer...so who knows which buyers I might meet this year!

I have to admit, though...I'm really concerned about the effect our current economy will have on the tradeshow. While the list of registered buyers is up from last year by over 400 attendees, I'm not sure they're all in the position to make a lot of purchases. Several of my current retailers have told me they won't be attending. But I'm trying to think positively and hope that those who have spent the money to attend, will be ready and willing to spend money on new merchandise for their stores.

I'm also looking forward to seeing some of my friends in the industry. There are so many great people I met last year that I'll enjoy catching up with this year. Another highlight is meeting retailers who, up until now, have only been a voice on the other end of the phone line or an email correspondence here and there. It's great to finally have a face to go along with the name and voice!

Once the show is over, or one day thereafter, I plan on telling you about all of the crazy, behind the scenes planning that goes on for such an event. There are so many rules and regulations that have to be paid close attention to (fire codes dealing with all of your display items, for example, has been quite an issue!). Preparation for a trade show can be a huge headache, to say the least and has sent me into a tail spin on numerous occassions. Let's hope all of the planning pays off! I'll keep you posted and in the meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed that my booth walls pass the inspection by the fire marshall...we jumped through quite a few hoops to find that flame resistent paint! (Not as easy as you'd think!)

Is "modern" nursery design here to stay?

I've been painting wall art for children for quite a long time. Creating murals and canvases of traditional themes have always been easy for me, and fortunately they have always been in style. If a client tells me they want a princess theme in their girl's room, I can whip up several ideas with little thought or effort. Cowboy theme or pirates for a boy's room, piece of cake!

However, there is a strong modern design trend in the home decor market that started sneaking into nursery design just a couple of years ago. Recently, however, this modern design trend has taken center stage and is all the rage in nursery design.

How does a very traditionally minded artist adapt? I've been doodling and painting a lot more than usual recently, just trying to come up with a twist on modern nursery art that hasn't already been done. I've created a few modern nursery canvases, but have certainly not taken the nursery design world by storm with them!

If you haven't noticed, there is already a lot of modern children's art on the market. Much of it, however is done with a computer graphics program where no artist's brush is needed. I don't think I'll be going back to school for a computer graphics degree anytime soon, so I'll be sticking with my paint brushes, thank you! However those perfectly straight, clean lines produced on a computer are hard to compete with when you're painting by hand!

Do I need to adapt, or is this just a passing trend? I once thought that Shabby Chic was just a passing design trend that was only going to be around for a few years, but after more than a decade, it's still holding strong.

What are your thoughts on the modern nursery trend? Should I really be that concerned and focused on trying to create a modern line of children's wall art? Can I compete with these computer graphics artists who have some very cool modern art already in the market? Or should I just stick with what I know best and have faith that there will always be a market for my traditional designs?

I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic. And if you do believe it's a trend that is here for the duration, PLEASE share some of your inspiring ideas with me! If you make a suggestion that is released in our next collection, you'll receive a free signed canvas!

Playroom for Boys and Girls of Various Ages

I'm very excited to have my blog's first "design dilemma" to post about! Hailey recently wrote the following comment:

"I love your blog!! Thanks for all the awesome tips. Please help me. I have three kids (boy 14, girl 7, boy5). The boys are all BOY and my daughter is a little princess. We are trying to decorate a playroom that they can all be happy with. I am going to get a muralist to paint the walls. I don't care for modern design and HATE things that are too cartoonish. Do you have any suggestions? I am at a loss. "

Several factors need to be considered when designing a playspace for any child, (such as storage, storage and more storage)...but when you have boys and girls sharing the same space, as well as significant age gaps between children - well, you do have quite a dilemma!

If at all possible, consider giving your teenager a "cool" space of his own. Whether it be a corner of the larger play room sectioned off, or a seperate room, he will want a place to hang out with his other teen friends without having to trip over half-clothed Barbies! I have a 15 year old son and our "cave" as we fondly refer to it, is set up mainly for him...cool brown leather sofa, aqua walls and a large screen tv, XBox and fooseball table. Teens love to watch movies, sports and play video games together and need a space somewhat removed from the family for those important hanging out sessions.

If you are not able to give him his own room, simply arrange the playroom in such a way in that he has his own area that is sectioned off by the sofa, bookcases or a folding screen. This area can obviously be used by the younger children for movie watching as well, but will be much appreciated as a teen hang out for your older son.

If sectioning of the room is not possible, then it's important to try to create a space that will encourage the imagination of the younger two children, while not being too "babyish" for your older son. In order to do this, and given the fact that your boys are "all boy" and your daughter is a "little princess", the best mural I can propose is a more realistic looking beach scene.
I'm talking closer to a trompe l' oeil look rather than a nursery mural. In this mural, you can cover it all...cool beach for the older son, adventure for the younger son, and with a large sandcastle painted into the scene, your princess should be satisfied! Add a little pink to the sky to bring in some feminine color that won't offend your sons. Paint in a sand pail here and there, star fish and shells scattered on the beach, etc...

Consider mounting a surfboard on the wall or propping one in the corner to keep it "cool" for your 14 year old. With sandy colored carpeting, the sand mural will appear to have continued across your floor. If your ceiling is paintable, continue the pale blue sky onto the ceiling. The trick is to keep this mural as realistic as possible. Shop around for an experienced muralist. This one is worth spending a little extra money on to get it right, as this type of mural can stay throughout the ages. Even after your children are grown, you can make a cool beach side recreation room for adult gatherings. Add a tiki bar and some fake palm trees and your friends will kick off their shoes and hang out for some margaritas!

Another mural option would be to paint a stone wall effect. Have some ivy vines tendriling down the walls to soften them. With stone walls, your younger two will be able to use their imaginations to make this the space of their dreams. Your son will become a brave knight fighting off the dragons and your daughter will be the queen of her castle! This type of mural won't be cartoonish or too babyish that your 14 year old won't enjoy it as well.

In order to keep this from becoming too lengthy, I've only really discussed mural suggestions, but furniture and STORAGE are very important, as well as the accessories that pull it all together. I can't get into too much of these other than to say that I highly recommend a built-in wall unit for housing the TV, game stations, CD's, DVD's and toys. If this is not feasable, merchants such as Pottery Barn Kids have many wall unit options that work very well.

Thanks again for your comment, Hailey! I hope I've been helpful!
Sherri

Don't be shy!

Okay friends....I know you're visiting regularly, (thank you!) yet you are all too shy to leave comments. In fact, I have a visitor in Arlington Heights, Illinois and some in other places who visit almost daily, and yet no introduction or hello. Don't be shy, folks...I'm easy to talk with! I would LOVE some feedback or at least to begin some rapport. I am not the type who likes to hear herself talk. It's getting lonely on this blog...let's hear from some of you!

Please think about leaving a comment sometime. Let me know what you like, don't like or what you'd like to see for my next children's wall art design. Make suggestions for other topics you'd like information about. My love and background is interior design...heck I've got two interior design companies! Pick my brain about your next design dilemma...anything at all. Leave some tips of your own...I know each of you has your own creative talents to share.

I'd love to hear from you and to make some new friends out there in cyberspace. Some of my best friends are other artists, retailers and designers whom I have met through this wonderful internet....and there is always room for another friend!

Fall 2008 New Releases!

It's here...the Fall 2008 collection of Sherri Blum Designs wall art for kids! With the growing popularity of modern nursery design and modern room decor for children, we've had increasing requests for modern nursery wall art , of course. So we've created several modern canvas designs as well as some traditional designs for those who prefer to decorate their children's rooms in a more tried and true fashion.

We've also had requests for some edgier wall art for kids rooms, and so we've created some "rock star" canvases to satisfy that crowd.

And to round out the collection, we've teamed up with Kelly Kouture who creates exquisite crib bedding for the most posh nurseries. Kelly asked us to create wall art to coordinate with her newest collections: Animal Cookies, Cotton Candy and Luciano.

You can check it all out by clicking here: http://www.sherriblumdesigns.com/pop%20ups/new-releases.htm

Our retailers will have these new items on their sites soon, so be sure to visit them for purchasing.

Enjoy your summer...it's flying by quickly here!

Sherri

HUGE SALE!

Just wanted to let you know that we're cleaning out the old to make room for the new! Several of our 3'x2' children's wall hanging canvases and baby nursery rugs are drastically reduced. Get your favorites now before they're gone FOREVER!

You can visit our retailers on this page: http://www.sherriblumdesigns.com/pop%20ups/OurRetailers.htm
to take advantage of this great sale!

3'x2' child wall hanging canvases were $160, now are only $99!

Children's rugs that were $180 are now only $99!
Get them while they last!

Decorate With Vacation Souvenirs

Summer is in full swing in the Blum household...it seems we're running to swim team practices, lacrosse practices, meets, tournaments, birthday parties and playdates constantly! I am so grateful to have my boys home more and to have quality time with them. However, with that comes the challenge of keeping my business running while doing it! I have to admit, it's only the second week of summer vacation and I'm exhausted! I find myself doing the billing and filling orders at midnight. I literally need a vacation from my vacation!

I'm looking forward to a much needed family vacation we have planned in July. No phones, no faxes, no internet and no TV! It will be culture shock...but will be relaxing! So I found it appropriate to share this little article with you. I wrote this last year for another publication and thought I'd post it here to help get all of you through your summer vacation craziness! Enjoy!

Decorate With Vacation Souvenirs

Along with the end of the school year and the lazy days of summer, comes the much anticipated fun family activities and vacations. While on these outings, we often purchase many little souvenirs in the hopes that they will be a constant reminder of what a great time we had on those unforgettable vacations. In reality, those souvenirs often end up tossed in a closet or drawer and eventually thrown away. Rather than randomly purchasing some useless trinkets while on your vacations, with a little planning you can bring home souvenirs that will truly be treasured.
By choosing your treasures wisely, you can not only use the souvenirs to decorate your child’s room, but you will also be providing your child with a much needed summer craft project and educational activity as well.
No matter where you plan to venture, sit down with your child before each vacation to discuss where you are going, the types of activities you might be participating in, the environment and local cultural flavor of the area you will be visiting. A little research on the location should be very educational for your child and will help him or her to set some fun goals for his/her trip activities and should help to build the enthusiasm and anticipation for the vacation. To further this enthusiasm, select a craft project from some of those listed below so that you might plan a bit of a scavenger hunt for while on your vacation. Then when the vacation is over and your project is completed, you will have a souvenir that will stand the test of time and be a constant reminder of the location you visited, family vacation memories, and the quality time spent together creating this lasting treasure. What more could one ask for?!

Going to the beach? I don’t know a family who doesn’t spend much of their beach time collecting shells, sand dollars, pebbles, and drift wood. Use those natural treasures in any of the following ways:

1.Arrange the shells, sand dollars, driftwood and pebbles around a postcard depicting the vacation location and mount them in a framed shadowbox to hang on your child’s bedroom wall. This can be the beginning of an ongoing gallery of vacation memories over the years.
2. This same shadowbox can also be converted into a fun tabletop for a bedside table.
3. Those same beach items can be used, along with some collected sand, to fill a decorative clear jar which can merely be capped off or turned into a unique lamp base.
4. Make a beach treasure wreath by gluing the items on a large cardboard circle or foam wreath form, or use craft wire to attach the items to a grapevine wreath.
5. For an older child, you can make tea candles of the small clam like seashells. Remove the candle and wick from tea candles and place them into your shells and melt them so that they fill the shell evenly. Arrange these on a plate to make a candle garden for your dresser top.
6. Use clam shells as a change holder or for scented potpourri.
7. Create a seashell mobile to hang from the ceiling in your child’s room.


If you have several vacations and various locations planned for your summer, the following ideas will be useful in creating a nice décor item that will tie all of those vacations together or might even help to create a summer vacation theme for your child’s room.

1. Use the photos taken while on your trips or postcards gathered from each location to create a desktop collage by arranging them under a glass desktop protector.
2. Use those photos or postcards to create a mobile or framed wall collage. You might even consider filling out the postcards first with your memories of the vacation.
3. Make a goal of collecting leaves from local vegetation at each vacation spot. Press the leaves and frame each one in matching frames to represent the various vacation locations visited throughout the summer or over the years. You can also label the framed leaves by using a paint pen on the frame’s glass.
4. Collect a pin or charm from each vacation spot to arrange on a bulletin board or in a shadow box to be hung in your room or attach these to decorative ribbons which can be hung on a wall or suspended from the ceiling.
5. Collect stones, shells, twigs, sand, etc. from each location. Once you are home, purchase matching decorative jars to represent each location. Fill the jars and use a paint marker to label the location and date on each jar. Glue a few of the pebbles or shells to the jar lid to add some flair and arrange these jars on a long shelf or table top. This can be an ongoing tradition over the years.
6. Use postcards or photos to decoupage a table top, trinket box, wood lamp base, flower pots or photo frame. Just about anything can be decoupaged!
7. Sketch out and paint a map representing your travels onto a blank canvas floor cloth. Don’t feel that your map needs to be accurate, the whimsical feel of a hand drawn map will add to the charm of the rug. Decoupage photos of your family onto the map representing each location’s best memory. Add several layers of polyurethane to protect the floor cloth. Once dried, this can make a nice bedside rug in your child’s room or made into a wall hanging, and will bring a smile to his face each morning when he wakes!
8. Collect hats from each vacation and display them on a high shelf in his room.
9. Collect t-shirts or pennants from each location. Use these to create a window treatment or duvet cover for your child’s room.

With a little planning, you can ensure that your vacation souvenir purchases will be useful, appreciated and will last for more than just a few days. And when summer vacation is over, your child can relive those fond vacation memories easily by taking a few moments to admire her beautiful vacation masterpiece!