How to catch a sea monster

How do you do this?

2010-03-29T10:33:00.003-04:00

Good morning! This is the top of a table that I bought here in town last summer. I wish I knew how to get this two-colour, scraped, old, (beautiful!) finish on wood.

Old side table

2010-03-28T11:00:00.009-04:00

Ugly isn't it? We got 2 of them for free when we moved in to our house. Jesse has been wanting to throw them out for years now, so they have been in the basement waiting for a coat of light blue paint and some distressing. I used the original hardware and mixed the blue out of 3 almost empty cans of old paint from our large almost-empty-cans-of-paint collection.

Still haven't gotten around to doing the second one yet!

painting old furniture

2010-01-18T11:26:00.006-05:00

Oops, I haven't posted anything in a verrrryyyy looong time. That's because I wasn't feeling very creative until about a month ago, when bam! All I want to do is take old furniture and paint it pale, distress, and decorate all the corners of my little house.

How ugly is the dresser above? Soooo ugly. It was $10 on kijiji. I decided to paint it blue and add these beautiful handpainted knobs that my sister sent to me from Guelph.

The table above was a $15 kijiji purchase. It was kinda wobbly and cheap feeling, probably Debbie Travis or something like that. I like the curved legs and little drawer.

We have about a hundred half full cans of paint in the basement, all different shades of grey, white, and blue... for real... some of them were here when we moved in to the house. The rest are because we've painted every room in the house about three times in the past two years. I mixed the same 3 colours in different quantities to get the shades you see on the dresser, table, and grey mirror.

I'd like to get a little bench and a small mirror to turn that table in to a vanity.

2009!

2009-01-01T23:41:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year! I love these notecards from nestdecorating. And these. And these...

Impatient

2008-12-29T12:58:00.002-05:00

Waiting, waiting for this perfect Kings of Leon silkscreen poster to arrive in our mailbox. It will go in the kitchen, I think.

I can sew! (straight lines, that is)

2008-12-27T13:38:00.003-05:00

I made a quilt over the holidays! It was the first time I had used a sewing machine, sent generously to me by my Aunt Debbie way back in October. It is not a large quilt, it's the size of a couch throw. It is pictured above neatly folded in half. It was fun to make & satisfying and now I spend a large chunk of my free time looking at cotton fabrics online for my next quilt, and the quilt after that, etc...

tiny warbler

2008-11-16T12:13:00.002-05:00

Look how sweet these are! Handmade felted little guys by Vancouver's Kate Keeler, of Tinywarbler Designs. I found her through this article on the Canadian Home and Country website. How wonderful that this magazine is featuring talented Etsy sellers! I am trying to decide which magazine to ask for a subscription to as a Christmas present, since Country Living really isn't doing it for me anymore (I enjoy the website more than the actual magazine). I'm going to choose a Canadian one this time, and I'm thinking it's between Home and Country or House and Home right now...

100 Bits of the World

2008-09-09T12:50:00.003-04:00

image courtesy of Sabrina Ward Harrison

100 Bits of the World is a truly beautiful and inspiring site. Check it out here. And isn't S.W.H's studio space lovely?

Monday Afternoon

2008-09-08T14:14:00.002-04:00

Mercury glass hurricanes, lovely stuffed owl pillows (via Decor8), Smokestack poster.

Hooray!

2008-09-07T16:39:00.001-04:00

My $15 kijiji mirror!

A self-congratulatory post

2008-09-04T09:15:00.001-04:00

Pearls can be very hard to photograph, especially white pearls, and so I am quite proud of how these photos turned out. It's all about the lighting, you see, and since I have no equipment other than Jesse's old Sony camera that really doesn't take very good photos except for those of the extreme close-up variety, I have to wait for perfect weather in order to get perfect lighting.

Sunny

2008-09-03T09:34:00.000-04:00

Fall is coming, and even though it is my favourite season, I could do with some more hot sweaty weather. Why did summer in Thunder Bay feel like it was only a month long? (Answer: because it was.) Anyway, I'm loving the sunny oranges and yellows in the handmade, vintage-inspired items above. From left to right: musical tags from Royal Buffet, budgie screenprint from Alyoisius, linen pencil cases from Cool Citrus Basil.

Petersham

2008-09-02T13:02:00.003-04:00

Lovely imagery from the photo gallery of Petersham Nurseries in Surrey, UK.

I'm loving that slightly dilapitated pink chair on the left, and I'd also like to sit down with lunch and a good book in that sweet cafe on the right. Speaking of, I picked up The Thirteenth Tale on the suggestion of one of CC's readers (scroll down to the bottom of this post to see all the favourite book picks) and pretty much didn't put it down until it was finished. I haven't enjoyed a book so much since The Time Traveller's Wife.

simple, shiny & black

2008-09-01T17:43:00.000-04:00

New earrings for the shop this week!

Green

2008-08-04T13:00:00.000-04:00

Find this print of bubbo's caligraphy here...

It's a garden party

2008-07-31T14:29:00.002-04:00

These new ones will be up in the shop soon. Happy weekend!

Jess Gonacha

2008-07-29T13:15:00.003-04:00

I keep trying to inject little bits of pink in to our decor without Jesse noticing, and this one would look perfect on the mantel above our fireplace.

Peonies, again

2008-07-28T09:13:00.000-04:00

I recently bought these gorgeous birthday cards from EnfinLaVoila, and am waiting impatiently for them to arrive :)

2008-07-26T21:07:00.001-04:00

I will be listing these and some other earrings in the shop this week...

tweet tweet

2008-07-24T12:16:00.001-04:00

Cute little handmade, one-of-a-kind cards from the super talented Anna Ruby King of this etsy shop.

tasty suite

2008-07-23T11:34:00.002-04:00

I would use this lamp decal by tastysuite to dress up an unused side table in my guest bedroom!

Everything Is

2008-07-21T13:58:00.002-04:00

Love the bleeding colours in this print by Jen Renninger of pleasebestill. It's from the "365 series", titled so because the artist is making one new illustration every day for a year!! I really admire such dedication.

studio inspiration

2008-07-11T08:56:00.002-04:00

photo courtesy of Heather Bailey

One of my favourite types of interiors to gaze at are the studios of artists. I wish I wish I wish that one day I might have a space that is even slightly as wonderful as Heather Bailey's in the photo above. See more of "The Sugar Shop" on the blog of this super cool fabric designer.

the art of displays

2008-07-10T08:43:00.000-04:00

The work of photographer Trine Thorsen via decor8. I love the way these items are displayed on old shelving and tables, underneath artwork. If I tried to recreate this look in my home I'm afraid it would look junky or just not as nice. Ah well.

print love

2008-07-09T09:17:00.000-04:00

"October" by Devon Kelley-Yurdin at Charming Wall Inc. It's one of the prettiest websites I've been to in a while!

Oh, Martha

2008-07-08T09:25:00.000-04:00

Oh Martha, here are just four of the many diy clipart projects up on your lovely website that I can't wait to try myself...

clockwise, starting at top left:

personalized postcards

strawberry pin cushions

celebration banner

old-fashioned recipe cards

hooray for fuchsia!

2008-07-07T12:48:00.001-04:00

photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

This year I started gardening in earnest (we moved in too late in the summer last year to really get anything going) and I've planted sweet peas, anemones, and peonies that will hopefully all look like the picture above. Sadly I don't think the peonies will bloom this year, but that is normal, right? The anemones have little buds on them now and the sweet peas I grew from seed so they are still quite tiny. I have very high hopes for my little garden.

Monday Morning

2008-07-07T09:49:00.000-04:00

A perfect way to start the week. This little book might be the cutest thing ever. It's made by Kaija, a master bookbinder in Finland who has an etsy shop called Paperiarre, which is Finnish for "paper treasure".

Fontaine Anderson

2008-07-04T13:50:00.000-04:00

I love the themes, colours, and details found in the illustrations of Fontaine Anderson.

You can look through her beautiful portfolio and purchase her art through her website.

I'm especially loving the bird-fish image above in the little violin player's dress! Have a happy weekend everyone!

Three things for friday

2008-07-04T11:00:00.002-04:00

from some very talented Etsy sellers...

top to bottom:

duck egg thin jug by White Doll Arts

biscuit bunnies by Flying Star Toys

transparent butterflies by Clear Cut Crafts

the cardboard photo frames that I used for my layout are courtesy of Mandy Mystiques

Anna Whitford

2008-07-03T21:48:00.001-04:00

Sweet little purses from UK designer Anna Whitford, via Junebug.

Come Back Soon

2008-07-03T14:05:00.000-04:00

Fine art photography of the Las Vegas landscape, available in StoopidGerl's Etsy shop. Very appropriate today because my sweetie is heading to Vegas for the weekend!

honeylux

2008-07-03T09:17:00.000-04:00

Lovely vintage-y style letterpress coasters of the birds of northern california over at honeylux.

Mathieu Missiaen

2008-07-02T22:33:00.002-04:00

Mathieu Missiaen is a 26 year old artist in Toronto who will take your boring leather shoes and paint them in to works of art. I can't stop looking at the pumps above! Here he is on myspace and on etsy.

November Moon

2008-07-02T12:38:00.000-04:00

Look at these little sweeties! Cathy Cullis of Etsy shop November Moon handstitches these dolls from a pleasing mix of new and vintage materials, giving each a personality of her own and names like "Joy" and "Peony". Don't you especially love their little shoes?

Valhalla Studio

2008-07-02T09:43:00.000-04:00

Delightful vintage-y design from Dan Padavic of Valhalla Studios in Kansas City.

I like it too

2008-07-01T16:52:00.002-04:00

Two of my favourite things: nerdy little boys and pirates. For real.

Found at i like it too too, an Etsy shop specializing in unique handcrafted accessories made from repurposed materials.

you + me

2008-07-01T09:24:00.000-04:00

How sweet is this hand carved linocut print? It's called You and Me and is part of a limited run of only 50 prints, by Arian of Boston. Lots more cool stuff in her Etsy store.

Harmonie Interieure

2008-06-30T12:17:00.002-04:00

The Harmonie Interieure website is addictive - full of beautiful product photography and plenty of creative genius. Below: Vinyl stickers from the Ornements 2008 collection and a limited edition poster titled "Imagination is more important than knowledge".

Paper Alligator

2008-06-30T09:06:00.000-04:00

Love these cute earth friendly canvas bags designed by Louise Cunningham, an illustrator in Glasgow, Scotland. They are available in her Etsy shop, Paper Alligator.

Jennifer Davis

2008-06-27T13:44:00.004-04:00

Something else to add to my list of "next time I'm in Minneapolis"... visit Gallery 360 to see the works of artist Jennifer Davis.

Found via one of my favourite blogs, decor8.

Jennifer Davis also has an Etsy store and a blog.

vol.25

2008-06-27T09:32:00.000-04:00

Lovely postcards and beautiful product photography by the talented Jessica of vol25...

found via design*sponge

one of my favourites

2008-06-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

I've always really liked the range of colours in semi-precious spinel - pinks, yellows, oranges, and browns...

(These beads are for sale here)

aesthetic apparatus

2008-06-25T19:52:00.003-04:00

I'm loving this screenprint by Aesthetic Apparatus - the tin man hand, the little moose, the fonts and swirls... I can't wait to stop by their store front the next time I'm in Minneapolis!

paper pinhole cameras

2008-06-17T12:03:00.006-04:00

Really? Can it be? We can make cameras out of paper that work?

Find the above camera (and others) at the Corbis Readymech website. Each camera can be downloaded as a free pdf pattern that you print on to "several sheets of good printer paper" and then put together using an illustrated instruction guide of only 14 steps.

(The happy film canisters above are just part of the instruction guide that I especially liked.)

Above is a dreamy example of an actual picture taken with the World Pinhole Camera Day Camera, courtesy of the Corbis photo gallery.

groundwork

2008-06-15T12:44:00.005-04:00

These gorgeous prints of original paintings by Danna Ray are available in her Etsy shop Groundwork. The prints sell themselves (only $20!) but if you need more incentive, ten trees will be planted for each item purchased from her store through a clever collaboration with Trees for the Future.

intertwined

leaving

alpenglow

white and peachy

2008-06-13T18:44:00.003-04:00

Kathryn M. Ireland's guest bed and bath, courtesy of domino magazine.

pikaland

2008-05-14T10:36:00.005-04:00

Each pikapackage is filled with selected pieces of art and illustrations from a variety of talnted contributors. For details and purchase, click here...

Tuesday

2008-05-13T12:29:00.003-04:00

Love this bright, ornate chair against an all white background... via The House That A-M Built

Searching

2008-05-12T18:31:00.004-04:00

I keep searching for vintage fiestaware on Ebay just to look at the different colours and shapes...

Above: yellow pitcher with six tumblers on Ebay

My kitchen addiction...

2008-05-08T09:57:00.000-04:00

Above:

A charming, bright, and airy kitchen complete with plenty of house plants and a great 50's style fridge.

photo courtesy of Marie Claire Maison

Above:

French cafe wine glasses from Mothology

dish scrubbies made by NestaHome

forest-inspired stainless steel cutlery at Topiary

Below:

8"x8" polaroid film print by Irene S. of bluecitrusart

2008-05-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

items I love...

dreamlike lantern at Tracy Porter

leather owl wristlet by Bonspiel Creations

Annie fedora by katieburley

Shierenberg & Van Der Brug

2008-05-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

I saw this picture in June's Food & Wine magazine the other day:

It had a tiny blurb about the tablecloth, that it is hand woven linen made by a lady named Chiara Stella Cattana. I quickly jotted down her website, planning to look it up when I got home. How disappointing when I went to chiarastellacattana.com and saw only text, "Soon online", dated December 2007! So, I tried to use my google skills to find her somewhere else. I ended up at Shierenberg & Van Der Brug, a Dutch website with beautiful pictures. Even when using the Babelfish webpage translator the site is still barely decipherable, but worth visiting just to look at its pretty pages...

Collecting

2008-05-05T14:14:00.001-04:00

Inspired by this article on CountryLiving.com, I went searching on Ebay for vintage glass to be used as vases for fresh flowers.

top left: vintage blue 5-cup measuring jug

top right: Kodak measuring cup

bottom: antique soda bottles with case. (These are my favourite!)

Shiny

2008-05-01T10:25:00.000-04:00

big rock charm bracelet at vivre.com

Esther Coombs

2008-04-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

I spied these on the front page of Etsy yesterday...

Crafty Bird

2008-04-29T12:05:00.001-04:00

When I learn to sew, I want it to be on a sewing machine just like this one...

"Crafty Bird" is a limited edition print of an original watercolor by Geninne in Mexico City. Unfortunately, this run of only 20 prints has already sold out, but check out her Etsy store for more. Below is an image from her blog, one of 20 birdie themed collages that she is making for her own living room walls. Perhaps we can hope to see prints of these in her shop soon?

Untitled

2008-04-28T10:34:00.000-04:00

Look 1 and Look 2 at Shopbop ...

Light blues and whites...

2008-04-28T10:01:00.000-04:00

to match the frost outside...

Have you ever been to the Creature Comforts blog? (You haven't? Go now. Now! It's the best.) Ez, the talented lady behind it all, also has a little Etsy store where she sells handmade notebooks, vintage housewares, and whimsical photography. (Above: 'Aqua and Yellow' and 'Sylvia' prints).

Below is a gorgeous example of Jasna Sokolovic's ceramic work. This fellow Canadian (Vancouver, British Columbia), has created a one-of-a-kind bracelet with reversible tiles on elastic string, available for purchase in her Etsy shop. Check out her portfolio too, especially this super cool 3-D wallpaper...

Christopher Silas Neal

2008-04-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favourite gig posters so far, I think. I love the muted grays paired with pale flower motifs, and that little man in his chair. The artist's name is Christopher Silas Neal, currently a resident of Brooklyn. His website is extremely comprehensive, and includes writings of the thought processes behind some of his work, including the above Jose Gonzalez poster (I can't figure out how to put accents above the 'e' and 'a'... I'm sorry). It's not for sale (yet?) but Neal does have some prints available for purchase on his website and at Thumbtack Press.

Sweetly imaginative etsy

2008-04-23T10:23:00.000-04:00

Creativity at its cutest from two talented Etsy sellers...

Gerald is a handfelted and handstitchd bunny made by Kezzaroo in Scotland. Described as filled to the brim with soft and squishy filling, he even has a vinyl window in his tummy so that you can see what he had for lunch. Dreamland is a lovely collection of three original illustrations drawn by behappynow in Israel; a tiger, a bear, and an elephant (my fave) going to sleep in little beds made from matchboxes and paper collage.

Katrine K

2008-04-22T09:52:00.000-04:00

I found this gorgeous (love the wallpaper! And the sofa!), slightly mysterious (whose shoes are those? Did she leave in a rush?) print, simply titled "The Shoes", on Etsy after searching the word "pattern". Katrine K is a Norwegian illustrator and artist based in Oslo. Her shop is filled with wonderful things and her blog is beautiful as well.

Happy Monday!

2008-04-21T09:15:00.001-04:00

Jesse and I are both off today, so we've decided to spend it doing yardwork (what we can - the snow just melted) and housecleaning (it had to happen sometime). So, I leave you with a colorful, botanically inspired print by the talented Shelby Healey. It's titled "Five Basic Rules", and is available for sale (very affordably!) in her Etsy store. Also, two beautifully made items that I would love to decorate my own house with: A) small Chantal crystal drop chandelier and B) Moroccan brass door knockers.

Grady Mcferrin

2008-04-18T10:44:00.000-04:00

Just two of his many, many wonderful illustrations....

The Modest Mouse poster and Wilco poster are both for sale on Grady's website. Also very amazing are his wine bottle labels, which you can look at here. I think that if I saw a bottle of wine that looked like those, I would buy it immediately!

Graham and Green

2008-04-17T15:37:00.000-04:00

Ah, online window shopping...

1. hand carved deer head

2. fringed deck chairs

3. ceramic lotus tea light holders

4. raga dress

Three more things...

2008-04-16T16:03:00.000-04:00

1. ottomans from Anthropologie

2. "butterflies" print by Andy Warhol

3. turquoise and gold bangles at Ippolita

Three Things

2008-04-15T13:50:00.000-04:00

a. willow green bloom ring by Twiststyle

b. a coin purse: Japanese mums on violet, by Oktak

c. salad bowl by BranchDesigns

Seedling progress

2008-04-07T16:55:00.000-04:00

I planted about 30 peat pots with rainbow coleus seeds at the end of February. They just started getting colour last week, and I took this picture today. The little guy above is the only one (so far) with yellow and pink leaves. The rest of them are sort of maroon-ish in different patterns. Maybe if they were getting more sun?

Our sweet new kitchen table

2008-04-07T15:06:00.000-04:00

Yes, we have only one chair cushion at the moment.

Tiny people

2008-03-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Emily Martin of The Black Apple always posts shots of her new paintings on her blog before they go in to her shop. The original paintings sell out in about two minutes, but there are prints of the paintings (affordable!) for us to purchase. I really like her newest, titled "Terrarium", above.

My Seedlings

2008-03-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

I started some seedlings at the beginning of February. It might have been a little early but I was too excited to wait.

The little green guys below will one day be cornflower blue Lobelia flowers. Can you believe it?

One day these will be pink peony poppies (!) and cherry tomatoes, in that order.

Spring? Are you here?

2008-03-01T12:44:00.000-05:00

In honour of the snow melting outside my window right now, some lovely green prints from BlueFlipArt. I recently found this site through one of my favourite blogs, Creature Comforts.

"surrounded" print by Amy Kligman, available here.

"waving not drowning" print by Meg Hunt, available here.

Sweet Smegs

2008-02-20T12:51:00.001-05:00

My dream kitchen has a 50's style fridge in it, like the above image from Country Living.
Fridges from the Smeg UK online catalogue. There is a US website too, but not as many colours are available.

Happy heart day...

2008-02-14T10:01:00.001-05:00

Valentine by EnfinLaVoila

Summer, somewhere

2008-02-04T23:12:00.000-05:00

It's the middle of summer down under, and there's nothing I'd like more than an Aussie barbeque with all-dressed burgers and watermelon raspberry vodka cups (pictured left, image from Gourmet Traveller).

The first time I had an ozzie burger -- in Newcastle, New South Wales -- I was a little shocked by the idea of a fried egg, pineapple slices, canned beets, cheese, fried tomato, bacon, lettuce, AND condiments all on top of a beef patty on a hamburger bun. But is it ever delicious. I could go for one right about now, along with a nice dose of warm weather.

I like the idea of making fresh watermelon juice by blending chunks of the melon and then passing it through a sieve. Can't wait to try it in our summer... let's say, oh, six months from now?

From the studio

2008-01-24T08:55:00.000-05:00

Above are my Glimmer earrings, made from vintage gold colored

filigree, sterling silver, and freshwater pearls.

For details and pricing, see here.

A necklace I am working on.. It's not in the shop yet! Soon though.

Cuisine

2008-01-23T18:06:00.001-05:00

This is just one of many beautiful images from the Marie Claire Maison website.

Fantasy Shopping

2008-01-23T15:46:00.001-05:00

Clockwise from top left:

tourmaline silk blouse, 12th Street by Cynthia Vincent at Net-a-Porter

sapphire, ruby, and pearl necklace by Reinstein Ross at Katy Beh

18K small hoop earrings by Ippolita

journals with gold leaf detail from Papaya

blue topaz ring by Marie-Helene de Taillac at Twist Online

madly boots in grey suede, Steve Madden

pink tourmaline ring by Marie-Helene de Taillac at Twist Online

pink spinel swivel ring by Marie-Helene de Taillac at Twist Online

erin skinny jeans, A&F

Beach Cruising

2008-01-22T10:50:00.001-05:00

I need this.

I spent the morning searching for beach cruisers on EBay. Seller Ampco21 has the above bike in his store in seven different colors! Though I like mint green the best, I would also enjoy a trip to the market on the pearl white or baby blue bike.

A Good Morning

2008-01-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

Fact: Coffee tastes better when drinking from a handmade mug.

The mugs are made by Melissa Older, who sells beautiful pottery in her Etsy store. Each item is hand thrown and fired in her Skippack studio.

The rose earrings are mine, made from Thai silver flowers soldered to handmade sterling earhooks. They are available here.

I'm Hungry

2008-01-16T12:49:00.000-05:00

Comfort food, clockwise from upper left:

Multigrain Pasta with Salsa Verde and Haricots Verts

French Onion Soup

Pork Chops with Sage-Cider Cream Sauce

Chicken, Broccoli and Asparagus Stirfry

All four recipes are free at Epicurious.

Wall Candy II

2008-01-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

I felt like my last post didn't do justice to the Feist gigposter from Largemammal that I absolutely love. Check out their very lovely website, where they have many concert posters featuring some great indie acts available for purchase.

Below is more work by Shino Sarihara. I'm not sure why I went for an aquatic theme today, but there is more(fish unrelated) work for sale here.

Shino also has a beautiful website, and I like how its front page features this big guy:

Wall Candy

2008-01-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

I love colorful artwork on neutral walls....

From top left:

"Flotsam and Jetsam" by Colin Johnson at Thumbtack Press. $60, Limited Edition of 50.

"To Fly, Flew, Flown" by IceKubi on Etsy, $22.

"Be Mindful" by Penelope Dullaghan at Thumbtack Press, $25.

Feist screenprint by Largemammal. $20, Limited Edition of 95.

"Blow" miniature print by Shino Arihara at Thumbtack Press, $15.