New Old Fashioned Way

A big thanks to Knoxville News Sentinel and reporter Ed Marcum for such a lovely article on our home and my art. It's weird to actually see my face in the media as I'm used to my art doing the talking for me. Jon got some great press for his acting as well. So much fun. Well, got to get back to work on my art and my home. See you at the tour!

Victorian Holiday Home Tour

Ok, here's an official invite to view our home and many others in this years 19th Annual Historic Old North Knoxville Victorian Holiday Home Hour. The tour will take place this weekend on Saturday December 1 and Sunday December 2.

Saturday, December 1, is the Candlelight Tour and houses will be open from 4:00 to 9:00 pm. On Sunday, December 2, tour time is in the afternoon from 12:30 to 5:00 pm. If you are planning on hosting please arrive at least 15 min. before tour time (food and breaks will be provided for all who help). If you would like to view a bit of background information on our home you may do so here.

Advance tickets are on sale at all Kroger's (go to the customer service desk) for $9. Or you can purchase them on the day of the tour for $12 at St. Mary's Woodland Avenue parking lot. From there you can park and ride the trolley to the homes.

Hope to see all of my Knoxville friends come. It should be a great way to ring in the season!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Here are few pics of what our Christmas decor is looking like so far. Our good friends Tony and Melissa Marinello came for the Thanksgiving holiday and we worked on creating Sculpey figurines and Christmas ornaments. The head above is from the Sugar Plum Fairy I am working on. Thanks for all your help Tony! Oh and Tony and Melissa also got us the glitter reindeer that I was drooling over. Thanks for such a wonderful gift and such a great time!

Christmas Villages

OK, stop the presses. I just found my absolute dream Christmas Villages (Yes, I want both!) from Room Service Home. Absolutely lovely. (OK, I'll have to work up to it). I also love their Glitter Reindeer. I bet I could make these from plastic reindeer toys and just coat them in glitter, hmm...

I do have a few decorations going on of my own amidst the painting, crown molding installation and other various home projects scattered about in hopes that St. Nicolas and his festive Knoxville home tour goers will soon appear. When I find my digital camera battery charger I'll be sure to share.

roulettes

I really want a roulette for my backyard someday. It would be the perfect gypsy hide-a-way where I could read, paint or be even more indulgent and nap. I love how in France you can rent these and have a little camping trip out in the country.

gypsy and twink

love these birdies from gypsy and twink. so want them for my bird themed kitchen/Christmas decor.

words continued...

More fabulous artwork using words and numbers.

Ida Pearle

I was so happy to see that Ida Pearle is doing well with her paper cut illustrations. I have loved her music and her artwork for sometime now and was delighted to see prints being sold at baby boutiques online, etc. Way to go Ida.

KOVA & T

Love these looks by KOVA & T.

Cool Etsy gift wrap

that will go well with my Christmas theme.

A table set for murder

Last weekend Jon and I hosted a midnight murder mystery party. This is what the table setting looked like. I think the evening was an all out success.

McQueen on Halloween

Sharing the love of Gothic designer Alexander McQueen on this ghoulish holiday.

Butterfly face

Thinking I might want to try this Manish Arora look for Hallween. But how to get the 3-D butterfly half to stick...Any ideas?

And She Blogs...

Hooray! My dear friend Julie Elton has finally joined the blogging world, and what a blogger she is! The gorgeous yet macab decor she has up for Halloween is truly inspiring. I can't wait to see more of her beautiful home. Thanks Julie, what a treat! (I'm nuts about the chandelier btw).

black apples

I had fun last craft night spray painting apples (plastic ones, not real ones) with black spray paint and then topping them off with glitter. I think they turned out well. Such a fun Halloween addition that I think will also go well with my Christmas theme (love those double duty items!).

My Christmas Blueprint

OK, so I think the recent holiday issue of Blueprint will join my list of magazines stripped to the spine. As I've mentioned before we are showing our home on a Christmas tour so seasonal decor is of up most importance this year. I had already decided I wanted to go with a black and white vintage-glam look throughout with silhouettes and cameos. I've been looking for black and white wrapping paper with not much luck. That is why I was super excited to see this down-loadable wrapping paper from Blueprint (now just to fine a large scale printer!). I had also purchased a pink tree to go with the glam look and lo and behold, Blueprint has one on the cover! I'm also a sugar cookie fiend and liked the ideas they have in this issue. Can't wait for Christmas!

Indie Craft Experience

Hello friends of the South! It's time for this year's Indie Craft Experience Holiday Shopping Spectacular in Atlanta. I really hope to make it our there this year. If you wanted to sell your goods, the application deadline is Oct. 20th (tomorrow!). Too late for me but maybe next year I'll get my act together. Should be lots of fun.

Anthropologie love

I just received the latest Anthropologie catalog and wanted to share with you some of my fav's.

words, words, words

I'm such a fan using words, letters or numbers in home design (the graphic designer side of me has always liked the aesthetic structure of lettering). I'm especially loving the way these works of art incorporate lettering in a unique way. Very inspiring.

Frightfully Festive

It's time to get out all of our delightful, frightful decorations in honor of All Hallows Eve. I've been so preoccupied with the Christmas Home Tour that I have only been virtually enjoying Halloween (via my blog). Now however we are slowly adding more and more spooky trimmings to our haunted home.

Halloween on Etsy

Etsy is such a great place to find one-of-a-kind Halloween treats. Above are some of my favorites. You can go trick-or-treating for these goodies at the following shops: Middleburg, Wool and Water, Belle and Boo, babaialainn, Baby Rocks Mohawks, Creatures By Chelsea, Loopy Boopy, Old But New, MemrieMare and Designs by Nana Home.

Matthew Mead

You must check out Matthew Mead's website. It's full of great festive and surprisingly simple ideas for the holidays. I love his down-loadable treat box and his fabulous easy pie recipes!