The Colorful Houses of Notting Hill


Friday, March 11, 2016

Oh Notting Hill. How I love you.

Forever memorialized by the Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts romcom of the same name, Notting Hill is a district in west London, located north of Kensington within the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Riddle me this: why can't all cities and neighborhoods start with "the Royal Borough"?

Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan neighborhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and home to the Portobello Road Market.

Very run-down until the 1980s, Notting Hill now has a contemporary reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses and high-end shopping and restaurants, particularly around Westbourne Grove and Clarendon Cross.

Since it was first developed in the 1820s, Notting Hill has had an association with artists and "alternative" culture.



Just Google "the colorful houses of Notting Hill" and you'll feast your eyes upon this lovliness:
So of courseI had to see these with mine own eyes. 
We got off on the Notting Hill tube stop (very convenient!) and I was flooded with memories of 11 years ago. I lived in London for 4 months in the summer of 2005 during an art & art history study abroad with BYU. Notting Hill was "our" tube stop (the one closest to the flat we stayed at) so it was just a crazy rush of emotions and flashbacks getting off and walking around this neighborhood!

We didn't really know where to go, so we just started walking. One of the first things to catch my eye? These ultra colorful doors. SWOON.
After meandering for awhile we eventually found the brightly painted streets and walked along Portobello Road.
Love this color combo.

Portobello Road. I spent many Saturday mornings here perusing the shops back in 2005!
PINK!

The building with the colorful doors.

Mint door love!

How do they pick the colors? How much do you think one of these cost? What if you want to change the color?!

One of the roads right off of Portobello is also equally as colorful and charming.


Hot pink door goals.


I could have spent hours meandering around, finding all of the colored house, but it started raining so we rushed back to the hotel for a nap.
The trees were starting to bloom!
Pick a color, any color, there's probably a house painted that color!


I've said it once and I'll say it again: Oh Notting Hill. How I love you.

Pink Paislee "Oldie But Goodie" Citrus Bliss Layout


Wednesday, March 9, 2016

My first official Pink Paislee blog layout is up today!

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LOVELY, HAPPY & PRETTY

DESCRIPTION: The theme of the week is OLDIE BUT GOODIE so I sorted through my supplies and pulled out the Citrus Bliss collection. So summery and happy! Snow, snow, go away :) Can I tell you a secret? I got stumped on this assignment. Mojo? What's that? So totally gone at first. In fact, I made two layouts (didn't quite finish either) but they weren't floatin' my boat so I put them on top of my scrap cabinet, we went to London on holiday, and the day after we returned I started from scratch and this page was born. Third time's a charm!

JOURNALING SAYS: My little sidekick for three years, we went everywhere together. This is outside the German post office in Graf.

HOW TO: Whitewash a light kraft cardstock background with white paint and dry it with a hairdryer. Cut the Dear Lizzy Rose Filigree Paper (Design ID #47033) from scratch cardstock and use it as a stencil. Watercolor over the stencil, remove the stencil, and let it dry. Place a photo on the top right and bottom left corners then embellish all around with bits & pieces from the Citrus Bliss collection. Journal in the middle of the layout with a black pen.

HOW TO VIDEO: Watch how I created this background in a quick YouTube video (and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!):


SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, wood veneer, chipboard, stickers, die cuts, puffy stickers, acetate shapes: Citrus Bliss by Pink Paislee; Cardstock, adhesive, pen: American Crafts; Dear Lizzy Rose Filigree die cut: Design ID #47033; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo; Paint: FolkArt; Watercolors: Loew Cornell

DETAIL PHOTOS:
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That's all for now!! I'd LOVE to see if you try this technique!

First Projects with Fancy Free!


Tuesday, March 8, 2016

It has been such a joy seeing people start to create projects with Fancy Free!! Available in stores later THIS MONTH!

From Caroline Free, this beautiful embroidery hoop features papers and chipboard in Fancy Free.

This stunning layout by Jamie Pate was for the Pink Paislee blog using lots of patterned papers!

From Ashley Horton - I spy some fun things going on with stitching and the die cuts from a Paige Kit!
 Also from Caroline Free - I love all of the different patterned paper pinwheels!

By Elizabeth Gardner - she'll be guest designing so very soon with Fancy Free and I can't WAIT to see everything she makes!

 These embroidery hoop mobiles from Gina Lideros make my heart go pitter patter! I want :)
Another focus on patterned paper by the wonderful Gail Lindner.

Keep your eyes on this here blog, the Pink Paislee blog, the #ppfancyfree on instagram, and stores(!!) for more inspiration using Fancy Free!

Insta-Lately March 6th Edition


Sunday, March 6, 2016

Pardon the silence... AGAIN!! One of these times we go "on holiday" I'll have posts pre-planned. Ya know, maybe I'll start featuring Fancy Free guest designers? There's an idea! Anyway, here's just a smidgen of what we've been up to lately via my instagram (@paigetaylorevans):

Confession: only one of these mini albums actually has stuff inside... but I've got big plans for the others! Just need about 5 more hours in every day right?!

Janey not feeling so well. She's better now. 

Love slowly filling up this antique stamp holder with modern roller date stamps!

Jane hasn't worn a diaper in over 6 months, but I still don't have the heart to put away the changing table.

Still having fun playing every day with my Heidi Swapp Memory Planner!

Fox and Jane to a "T". So much personality in these little bodies.

Why is she laying on the floor? The world may never know. 

Winter is still here.

"Don't bodder me."

Once about every 2 months I curl my hair. Must be documented.

Trying to dabble more in mixed media on my pages. This is a sneak peek at the first step of one of the layouts that'll be in Paige's Pages 07 at Big Picture Classes in a week!

Scrolling through old photos. Oh my heart were they really this small once?! My how time flies!

See! Look how big they are now! This was on a recent trip to IKEA.

Freshened up my scrapbooking space (aka the living room, ha!) by switching back to all colored boxes!

143 layouts to be put away.

Starting to work on layouts for upcoming classes in Germany and Italy! You can find info about all the classes I'm teaching on my blog sidebar or here: CLASSES & WORKSHOPS.

The wickedly talented Raquel Acevedo took my pictures in Provo this past January. Orange door and a pink flamingo photobomb :)

I heart Grafenwöhr.

I'm one lucky lady ;) 

They've got the right idea for a past snowy Monday afternoon. I totally joined them.

And the reason I've been MIA: last week Chris and I left the kids with our friends (thanks Morgan and Jordan!) and high-tailed it to London to celebrate our 9th anniversary! Huge recaps coming soon :)
Paige Taylor Evans © // Quinn Creatives DESIGN