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!

Rag Doll Alice

Oh and here's a great rag doll by Magda as well. This simply must sit in my entry...one day...

Magda Trzaski

I cut out of all my magazines and save articles that inspire me. Only a few magazines have been stripped to their bindings. One of them is the Paris issue of Romantic Homes and the other is this month's Home Companion. It's filled full of fabulous Halloween inspiration and highlights some great artists. One such artist is Magda Tzrzaski. I've blogged about Magda's work before so I was especially excited to see a full fledged article about her and her studio. It's great spooky fun!

Currently Craving...

...wide collared jackets. These are so delicious I just want to nuzzle up in them and go for a brisk walk in the falling leaves (which won't be any time soon since it's hot and muggy here and the trees are still green). The first jacket I found on overstock (don't you just love the bubble hem!) and the second is by Sweetface.

Room Makeover

Jon and I have been making over our home in anticipation of participating in the Knoxville Christmas Historic Home Tour, and we recently have been focusing on our "entertainment" room. I've dubbed this Jon's room as he's the entertainment/tech guru of the family but I have added a few of my touches. He's always wanted to have a green room (to mimic the study from the game Clue-it's a guy thing I guess) so we went for green (which he painted all himself!). I'm not usually into warm and cozy (I like light and airy) but I really like how this turned out. He wanted a comfortable sofa for watching movies on (I go for thin, streamlined/modern or antique/decorative) as well as a couch bed for guests. We've put his portrait up in the room and it goes great. On Sunday afternoon I made pillows for the room and I'm quite proud of how they turned out (yes I know it's just a matter of sewing straight lines to complete a square but I'm still really excited). Now to tackle the rest of the house before the end of November...

BHG Halloween

I'm head over heels (or 6 feet under in this case?) for the haunted home of San Diego artist Simone Lagies, shown in the Oct. issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Now this is my kind of a frightful fun.

I heart Chloe

What's a few $4-6,000 for the love seat of your dreams? This Windsor Smith and Home Chloe sofa is the very signature of me (minus the price tag). Looks like I'll have to take that upholstery class I've been thinking about and recreate my own version (with all that spare time that i have ;)).

Cambria Christensen

My good friend, and designer/illustrator extraordinaire, Cambria Christensen's work for Martha Stewart's Halloween craft line is out and can be purchased at your local Michaels Arts and Crafts. I love it! I'll have to get these invites as they are especially spooktacular.

What's In Cally's Bag

Thank's Cally (fabulous mom of five who constantly amazes me) for being a sport and sharing your bag with us!
Here's what Cally has to say about what's in her bag:

I swallowed quite a large dose of humble pudding (...um, that might be pie).

Not merely by the amount of stuff that serves an obvious purpose, or two, nor is it the lack of any apparent style, but by the hunk of...well...reality...in all its glory. I hope you're inspired.

1. The bag itself. No designer or trendy boutique involved. Target special.
2. Pretzel sticks, nilla wafers, goldfish, graham bees. Variety is a crucial survival technique.
3. Xango check stub. I get $20 a month, not to mention I'm gonna live forever. If you have any questions about Xango, or the mangosteen fruit, my mom would be glad to answer ALL of them.
4. Slobber samples of Kacie's genetics, dried carefully for preservation on her tag baby.
5. My cell phone.
6. Ultrasound pictures of Kacie, November 2006. I keep them in my bag...for the obvious reason...which is...
7. Samples...tylenol, and various other drugs.
8. My attempt at style...knock off nothin'...just yellow. Target.
9. My favorite thing in there...a rattle Mandy gave Kacie. Love it.
10. Two toothbrushes, sealed. Just in case...of something.
11. Duh.
12. I'd like to pretend I keep track of my grocery totals at Kroger, but really, Joey eats it when I'm out of nilla wafers.
13. 8 oz. supply of Walmart brand baby formula. I know not of breast milk.
14. This is special. This is the pencil I used on my IKEA maiden voyage. I keep it close.
15. To name a few friends...Sting, Feist, Diamond Rio, The Weepies, Veggie Tales, Ben Folds, East Mountain South, Nickel Creek, Bon Jovi, The Fray, Hem, Hannah Montana, Wicked, Phish, Wilco.
16. STicky notes. To leave on peoples windsheilds.
17. Clorox wipes. Neccesary. With lots of kids comes lots of bacteria.
18. My sister Cassy bought me this lipgloss for Christmas. It's Prada. The tin says so.
19. It's a waffle. So what.
20. A picture of me and Jake (5 years ago) with my Grandpa Purnell. And a horse. So good lookin'. My grandpa, not the horse.
21. Hottie mints. Because I am. Target.
22. Dramamine. It causes marked drowsiness. Good times.
23. Who doesn't love Nasa?
24. Um, yeah. Kotex. Target.

A big thank you to all the "What's in my bag" entrants. I'm working on prints to give to all those who have submitted (or who have yet to submit).

little darlyn girl

My second mail treat came with a custom made esty blanket for Atticus from little darlyn girl (the personal shop of my fabulous older sister who is an amazing seamstress). You can see here that the blanket goes perfectly in Atti's room and that he loves it. Thanks D-lyn! You can see more of her original creations on her shop here. I personally love the peek-a-boo block with loop lovey. You get both together for a killer deal!

Julie Morris

I've had such a fabulous mail week this week! A big thank you to Julie Morris for the beautiful hand made items she sent me. She made this adorable sock monster for Attics, this super cool vinyl skull pouch and hand embroidered this beautiful peasant blouse. I couldn't be more thrilled. Atticus clearly LOVES the monster. He ran off with him immediately. I'll have to get started on her fairy painting straight away. Thank you Julie, you are so talented!

beautiful ceramics

I love these black and white ceramics shown in the March 07 issue of Country Home. I think I'll have to do something like this next time I go to a DIY pottery shop.

Miss Clara

I'm loving the fanciful work of the lovely French artist Miss Clara. She's inspired me to work on a more 3 dimensional scale again. One of the many wonders of Paris was seeing all the dolls and puppet like creations in the shop windows. It's so theatrical and magical. I really don't think we appreciate this art enough here in the states.

I'm dreaming of a white kitchen...

...just like the ones from my massive design inspiration file.














I had been feeling stumped on what my kitchen design style was for awhile now so I decided to save anything that spoke to me. Well, after going through my inspiration file recently, I found one very obvious theme: They are all WHITE.

I have loved the all white and weathered look for as long as I can remember (it was often the backdrop of many a day dream as a little girl). I like this because it must mean it is timeless. I also like the idea of adding some very current and up-to-date elements to that back drop, thus mixing both my nostalgic self with my more of-the-moment, modern self.

Some elements from these pics that I'm craving for my dream kitchen are:

• A large rectangular weathered farm table with either mix and match chairs or modern "Eamsish" style chairs. Just thinking of it make me all giddy inside
• A collection of white china/stoneware (mix of modern and vintage). I've started this already and I love what it looks like. I've also allowed for some white pieces with black embellishments (making my new mer.mer. mug a perfect fit! :))
• Large vintage letters somewhere. I haven't decided what I want them to say yet, or if I want them to say anything at all even. I know that I want at least one letter (preferably "A", because it has such a beautiful structure -and could work for Atticus :)).
• Some sort of chalkboard surface somewhere. I love this idea for many reasons. It's great for menu items, to do lists, and a perfect kid's play surface while I'm preparing dinner. (Wow, that sounds like such a domestic utopia I painted there. I guess I'll have to start making regular dinners for this to ever come true. I'm sure once I get my perfect kitchen I'll magically become the perfect cook, wife and mother ;) ).
• Just a touch of color that could change with seasons. I of course love azure blue and black will be in there in small touches (adding a bit of the glam I love so much). Other times I'd love to add bright pink, red or mustard yellow. I'd do this with seat cushions, place mats, napkins, artwork, etc.
  

Ahh, a girl can dream right? Currently I'm still working on what to do with my natural oak cabinets that my husband has discouraged me from painting white :). (For the very credible reason that we are leaving our house in one year. Time restraints? What are those? You're asking an artist to be practical? :)).