Bubbly Blues and Seaside Splash Giveaway

Blogging, here at Primary Graffiti, has opened a lot of exciting doors over the past three years. Some amazing opportunities include becoming a monthly columnist for Really Good Stuff in 2011-2012, Edu Blog Reviewer for Learning Resources and Lakeshore Learning from 2012 to Current, and a Creative Design Partner with Carson Dellosa in 2014. 

I was honored to be among five teacher bloggers selected to participate in a Creative Design Summit this past January. 

Within weeks of being contacted, we were diving into our assigned collections and flying up to North Carolina to stage our collection for a photo shoot.  My go to places for shopping on a budget were Target and Hobby Lobby! You can find most of the nautical themed items from Hobby Lobby.  The curtains and pillows are from Target.

Living on Fleming Island, I knew immediately that I wanted Seaside Splash.  The bright ocean colors were a perfect fit.  As I dove deeper into planning, I found out the coordinates to Seaside Splash were Bubbly Blues.  Drawing on local inspiration, I was confident I could create a whimsical design.

The above image is taken from the lookbook with white circles that are interactive online.  You can click the image to link over to the lookbook.  Once there, click the white circles to receive detailed information on various products.

One of the most frustrating and rewarding transformations was the bulletin board.  Aren't they always?  I'm a perfectionist with a slightly OCD personality which is a disaster in the making. :) I can't explain how many times I changed my background colors to meet the needs of my vignette. 

As you can see, the board turned out great! Or maybe I'm biased.  To ensure my bulletin board had extra pizazz, I combined two dimensional and three dimensional objects.  The turtle and whale cutouts are glued to some styrofoam craft boards which gives the illusion of a shadow.  I used cutouts from the Whale to Success bulletin board set and glued different animals on a colored clothespin.  In additional to the set, I purchased netting and starfish from Hobby Lobby to make the board feel a bit more authentic.  Combining the Bubbly Blues Boarder gave my board the needed contrast.

Pom-Poms are all the rage in a primary classroom.  Our kids are such visual learners.  It's easy to identify locations in the room based off of color or element.  If you walk into my classroom, each pom-pom identifies a team by color.  To add a little more excitement, I used the assorted colorful cutouts from the Seaside Splash collection to accent the poms.  In addition, I replaced the generic string with decorative ribbon from Hobby Lobby! 

Here's a little secret about me, I went to design school and worked for a designer for three years.  With a little background knowledge, I know a few key pointers to help you get started!  Planning a new design can be overwhelming.  When purchasing your materials online, keep in mind the colors are not always true to the picture.  Find a local educational store that sells the materials and take a peek at the collection in person.  I had samples and laid them out.  Once I had in mind the colors in the packet, I turned my attention to the main focal point of my design.  In the case of this vignette, I decided to make my focal point the carpet and reading area.

Keeping my theme in mind, I went on a hunt for a nautical rug.  When I stumbled across this rug from IKEA, I was instantly inspired.  It reminded me of a clown fish. The colors were spot on with the Seaside Splash collection. The orange became my primary color in the design.  My next step would be to find coordinating colors that would be found throughout.  With Bubbly Blues as the coordinating collection, I knew blue with be an accent color.  I would primarily use blue in the design elements. I played around with a few additional colors and knew instantly green would have to be in my design.  The two colors reminded me of the water and seaweed. Having a color scheme helps guide all other decorating decisions.  Note: Don't be scared of patterns!  I'm no expert but I'm aware of what is pleasing to me.  I work to have a mixture of sizes so it's not overwhelming to the eye.  

 Mini Chalkboards found at Hobby Lobby.

When designing the storage shelves, I used the assorted colorful cutouts from the Seaside Splash collection to add a little decorative detail to an otherwise plain fabric drawer.  These tags can be labeled with supplies to identify the objects within.  Using buckets to hold manipulatives gave the design the added spice!

 

Included in the Bubbly are various supplies to keep you organized.  The plan book, grade book, awards, notepad, file folders, lettering, calendar, etc. will add a fun little pop to any desktop. 

Below are several resources that didn't make the lookbook but are included in the giveaway.  I created a communication board with their jumbo library pouches.  Jumbo craft sticks with Seaside Splash Two Sided Decoration worked wonders for keeping students accountable during arrival.

 The behavior chart was 'Oh So Cute'.  Placing the large bulletin board set on styrofoam cutouts for added deminison will allow you to place student names, recorded on bubbles, on clips to attached to the fish display.

I couldn't be more excited about this collection and the design.  You ready for the cherry on top?  One lucky follower will receive the entire collection of Seaside Splash and Bubbly Blues with a value of nearly $200.  Wowzers!  I'm providing various options to ensure all followers have a way to enter! All are welcome to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 As recently pointed out by my sweet friend Tanja at Journey of a Substitute Teacher.

I hope I make it rain money in Vegas the same way I managed to make it rain in the lookbook.

US residents {sorry, not my terms} can jump over to Carson Dellosa's website and enter to win the classroom of their dreams.  Good Luck!