Noas'Libellule {dreams of vintage interiors}

Allo Allo Allo! It is Friday, yes it is! And that means bring on the weekend! Thanks for everyone for commenting on yesterday's post about blogging, interesting to hear all of your experiences - and welcome to my new followers who made the jump from Lynne's blog!

I mentioned on Tuesday that we were in Brittany over the weekend. We went to a couple of vide-greniers (bad and good ones) - literally emptying-your-attic fairs or flea markets. I am not necessarily into thrifting per se, it is more about the shopping experience. I tend to buy stuff for the house rather than stuff to wear (I like to try clothes on, and it is not easy in the middle of the street). The hardest exercise is to look at each object individually and not as part of the display in front of you. So it can take hours to find 5/6 items. Anyway here is what we bought:

A Concertina Wooden rack for the bathroom - after a little makeover session (there will more to come on this soon, I hope) this will be perfect, just trust me on that one. You can find similar ones here.

50s French regional maps and a Paris-Match issue dated 1952 on the bank crisis in France - plus ca change, ...

I love the details of the outskirts of Paris map - check out the font guys (we thought it was hand-written at first), the Michelin logo - I really love this map.

So what am I going to do with these beautiful maps? Well pinterest gave me a couple of ideas on how to display them. I really like the display of maps in the staircase. But I was hoping to have the maps in our second bedroom... SO many possibilities. I really want to display the Paris map opened (- not sure how much this is going to cost me to frame it) as it would be a shame to hide the font and the colours of it.

If I ever were brave enough to cut them out - I wished I was a bit more adventurous on this side - I would definitely consider these little projects - how beautiful are these! maybe I will just have to buy them ready-made (although they are super-expensive...).

So guys, what do you do with your flea markets purchases? Are you into clothes or vintage interiors, or both?? Would you display your maps or go for some decoupage?

Noas'Libellule {dreams of interiors}

Hi again... So did you join the Blogging Worldwide List? So apart from making stupid faces to the camera, I also spend hours browsing through interior design websites and magzines. I love the beginning of the month, when all my favourite magazines are out.

I am not very good at defining my style (airy, full of light, vintage, with personality, not too cluttered, homely though) - but I KNOW that I fell in love with this space.

I love the colourful touches on the white canvas created by the walls, white painted floorboards and sofa. I love the use of chunky, distressed material - that coffee table is so simple and beautiful. And also the reference to travels. Not sure about the giant anglepoise lamp, what do you think? Anyway, the best bit about this room is this...

Do I need to even explain why... (please tell me someone photoshop the view, it is just too beautiful!)

So guys, do you LOVE it? What is the best bit? Would you add anything?

{3 Ways to the Vintage Effect} Noas' Libellule Photography How-to

Hiya, happy Wednesday!! This is when my week ends and my weekend starts (well at 5pm tonight). Off we are to the Peak District for a wedding and a romantic long weekend away. Cannot wait!

Today I thought I would do a very quick tutorial about vintage-looking pictures. This is something I have been trying to do for a while (although considering how easy it is, clearly I had not tried really hard in the past). And I think I have made good progress.

For those who are baffled by photoshop (me, me, me!), these tips do not require photoshop (phew!) - although check out the blogs that will tell you how to do with photoshop for people much more advanced than I am!

Two of the ways of achieving the look are free! The third one is not ... But not too expensive.

There are other ways to do it, I am sure, but I am probably not registered with the sites - there are so many sites a girl can manage.

So here we are, my original picture is the one I took at the wedding last weekend.

It is alright but a bit boring.. let's shake things up a bit.

1. Using Phixr and The Cross Process effect

This is really simple. You log onto Phixr (free), you upload your picture (very easy), choose the color effects option in the menu on the left handside (sepia picture), and choose the cross-effect in the sub menu. Ta Da! You can adjust the contrast and the brightness as well as the opacity of the picture. In the example above I only used the cross-process effect.

2. Using Picnik and the 60s effect

Log on to Picnik (through your Flickr account) (it is free for some effects), upload your picture, select 'edit', you will see the tab CREATE at the top. Choose EFFECTS, and then the 1960's option. They have an option to round corners of the pictures, you can choose. Ta Da'! You are back in the 60s!

3. Using Picnik and Curves

You know the drill, you upload, go to edit, and select CREATE, this time select ADVANCED. You want the CURVES option. This is the most advanced way to achieve because you can change the red, blue and green curves. You can also select the pre-set cross-process blue curve or red curve effect (see above for the pre-set blue option).

In Curves, Select CHANNEL. For both the red and green lines (which are done separately), you'll need to drag the line near the top up a little diagonally, so that it's hardly under the grey (the middle) line. Near the bottom of the line, do the opposite. What you're doing is adding red to the highlights and subtracting red from the shadows. (You're doing the same for the green.). Select the blue channel now and do the opposite of what you did to the red and green lines. Go near the top of the blue line and pull the line down diagonally, therefore subtracting blue from the highlights. Now go to the bottom of the line and pull the line up diagonally so that you're adding blue to the shadows. Play around a little bit to achieve the desired look.

And.... The Polaroid Look

In CREATE in Picnik, select FRAMES and Polaroid (free). Ta Da! This picture could have been taken at my parents' wedding in the 60s! So guys, when are you give your pictures the vintage look? You know you want to...