Pinning for you

Hey guys, this is a lazy post - but at least I'm posting! A sweet friend told me how much she likes what I pin, which was a surprisingly great compliment! So I thought I'd share some of what I've been pinning lately.

Hanoi Travel Guide - A Pair & A Spare



This Hong Kong- based fashion blogger usually posts creative DIYs, but I love her travel posts the most. Her recent weekend trip to Hanoi makes me want to pack NOW.

Better Home and Gardens Expedit Hack

With the ikat furniture, hints of teal and massive bookcases, I would pretty much just like to live here, please.

Franish - Oxford Under Sweater Trick

Now why didn't I ever think of that?

Stuff We Ate - Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

We're on a major spaghetti squash bent over at our house. This was a fun switch up from the Italian recipes I normally do with the stuff.

Best Body Fitness - Fully Body Tabata


Wanna sweat? OH, child. this will do it. There's a million free tabata timer apps on the iphone, so get it going!

Pulling the Trigger

I think it really is true: You are what you read. Which worries me when I get into reading profiles of  serial killers... So yeah, I've been reading all these interior design blogs (like Design Manifest, Young House Love and Little Green Notebook) and now I'm constantly looking at old shitty furniture and saying things like "but, look at those bones" and "can't you just see that with a wash of color?" My parents are not happy with all the flotsam I've dragged into their garage. 

But it has such potential!!

Today I came across this lovely pillow on One Kings Lane, another darling of the blogosphere:

I loves it much. It's even reversible:

I'm always afraid to pull the trigger on household purchases. I always think I might find something better and cheaper the next place I look - uhm, I mean at Goodwill. At almost $40 bucks, this pillow ain't cheap. But yesterday my mom said, "You know, you shop at Goodwill a lot. Maybe it's ok to spend sometimes..." And she's right.

So, question of the day, what combination of pillows makes my couch into the living embodiment of the word "Delicious"?

This group is all from the One Kings Lane collection and are obviously made for each other. Nice, but very "decorated."

So I swapped in some trellis pillows from Amazon. The teal is a nice tie in with the painting, if I do say so myself.

That leopard print from Pier One? Fah-bulous, darling. The navy prints from Amazon are nice too. 

Ok, we're really getting somewhere here. I love the grey chevron and the polka dots (all from Amazon) are so cheery!

Ooh, and this is a close tie. Love the navy stripes (from Amazon) - they have some nice beading on the stripes as well. It's a lot more white, though, and white things tend to get dirty in my house. Yep, I admit it. Still love that leopard though.

So what do you think? I leaning toward numbers 4 or 5. I need some group reassurance before I go ahead and pull the trigger on these purchases. What's your vote?

Pillow sources: One Kings Lane, Amazon (trellis, chevron, navy print 1, navy print 2, stripes), Pier One.

Terrariums! Terrariums!

Oh my goodness, you guys: We did it. We DIY'd as a couple, and didn't kill each other. Actually, it was pretty cute. Sexy, too. 

Nah, not really sexy. But cute, yes.

Saturday was the perfect day for Terrarium making. I was so excited, I made a little song that went something like this: "TerrarIUM TerrARium ...God shed his grace on thee..."  The Boy really liked that.

First up, we hit Pinterest and researched our way through the collections of adorable "easy to make" terrarium tutorials for "inspiration." This is a good one. 

We'd been collecting vessels from Goodwill, but The Boy wasn't happy with those offering so we headed to infamous HomeGoods where the variety of reasonably-priced glass goods perfect for terrarium-making was epic. We selected two and rushed over to Lowe's. There, we consulted the experts on what plants to use. Basically, open terrariums (without a lid) are good habitats for drought-resistant plants, like succulents and cacti. For closed-top terrariums, stick with ferns and leafy plants that like moisture. We had one open hurricane vase and three closed jars so we chose a variety of wet and dry plants. 

Here's the materials you'll need:

-Glass vessels (you can use vases, mason jars, bowls, anything really)

-Plants

-Large and small stones

-Potting soil

-Dried moss

-A spoon, wire hanger, or other implements to help you dig/arrange

Then from there, it's pretty easy. 

Wait, let me restate that. The steps are easy, but doing them is not so easy. We fought with our little plants, trying to get them to look perfect. And we cursed the hipster bloggers that made it look so easy. But a little patience and work paid off spectacularly - and it was fun getting our hands dirty!

-Line the bottom of your vessel with large or small sized rocks. This provides drainage. Be generous - it helps the plant stay health and the rocks look nice from the outside. The Boy was very gentle with this step...look how tenderly he cradles his jar!

Layer on plenty of potting soil. The hipsters will tell you to use special charcoal soil, but the guy at Lowe's said that's just hogwash. 

Remember, you need enough soil to cover the root balls of your plants. 

Didn't know they had balls, did you? Learn something every day.

Start planting your babies! I used a spoon to be civilized but ended up mostly needing all five fingers in the dirt to get a good result. 

I played around with the arrangement, trying to get the perfect little zen garden...

After much digging, giggling, and plant mothering (come on baby, stand up cute for mama, you can do it, there you go!) we had success! Terrariums are go go go!!

Number 1: Desert terrarium (so great I almost wrote dessert!)

In fact, maybe I will call it Dessert - look how adorable that little cupcake of a cactus is! It's surrounded by some other friendly succulents and a few baby rocks. It's going to live on my coffee table and make me oh so happy!

Numbers 2 and 3: 

The Boy's didn't photograph so well, but it's really, really pretty. Look at those great layers of rock, soil, and moss. He's got a couple different leafy plants in there - a reddish-purple one and some variegated green ones.

My second was just a left over bit of the green leafy plant with some moss. So super easy!

Number 4: I made one little baby one with all the leftovers - some moss and a few sprigs of a succulent. Doesn't your voice just go up a few octaves when you look at it??

It's a wittle baby!

So there you go! This was a really fun project and both The Boy and I were equally pleased with the process and the results. He's taking his to the office, and I have one in the living room, one in the bedroom, and I think the baby's coming with me to work. In case you know me personally, you can expect to receive one of these babies for future gift giving occasions. They're easy to personalize and just so cool.

Have you made any terrariums? Braved DIYing as a couple? Discus!!

Screen It

Ready to swoon? 

here

 Just immerse your eyeballs in this glorious room (designed by Nick Olsen). I want to live in there right. now. Look at that amazing screen. The comfy, modern bed. The PERFECT end-of-bed bench. The great graphic pillow. And the palm tree!  (If we're playing passive-aggressive The Voice coaches, I think I would have gone for a metallic lamp and a warmer rug, but that's just me!)

Really, the key piece is that beautiful, exotic-paradise screen. I've always thought antique screens were cool, but never knew how to use them. This. Is. How.

here

 here

And some buy-able options from around the web:

Crazy branding, lovely screen. here

For a Moroccan feel. here

How neat would this be in a boy's room? here
 

Elle Decor has a whole list of best folding screens. Guess this is a thing. here

So, this seems like a very "traditional" look (mainly bc lots of these pics are from "Traditional Home") but whatevs. Everything old is new again, right?

Do you like any "traditional" home decor? Or are you all about the modern?

Share!

The Wall's the Limit

You go, Martha. From here.

As maligned and misunderstood as she is, no one can say Martha doesn't know what's what. I mean, look at that adorable "newly engaged" couple. And then look at those awesome polka dots gracing the walls, sideboards and even the floor of their "engagement party." Not only do they look like a million bucks, they're super easy - metallic contact paper, cut with a circle cutter and stuck to the wall/floor. Bam. 

And look how nice it looks in real life on this office by Joy of Oh Joy!

More dots, from here.

I'm thinking this could be a fun solution for lonely bedroom wall.  One wall as an awesome diptych of prints by my good friend Lauren Cunningham. But the other wall? Nada. And it looks sad. I don't want to paint bc who knows how long I'll be living there (my lease is up in August.) But it would be nice to have a little somethin'-somethin'.

Remember, this is my bedspread.

And these are my nightstands.

I think  I could go for the rose gold dots, like in the picture or even the silver.

Maybe even another shape other than circles? Any thoughts?

Definitely not for the bedroom, but how rad is this chevron pattern made from contact paper? Sabbe Interior design has an easy tutorial here.

Groovy, from here.

Or there are some really cute (non-dentist's office-y) wall decals floating around the internet, like these...

from here

from here. 

Suggestions folks? 

And on another note, how come people like Martha Stewart get blasted in the media and almost lose their companies (she's not doing so hot right now) over white collar crime (which was bad) but scumbags like Chris Brown continue to win Grammy's and have women swoon over them (have you seen the Twitter trends - girls saying Chris Brown can beat them???) 

Something's really wrong here. But I guess it's all about image. Happy homemakers committing investor fraud? Doesn't work. Rapper who beats his girlfriend? Fits right in.

Artist Profile: Mark C. Myers

Isis Among the Ibises

Ok all, I will preface this post by saying it is totally nepotistic. Mark Myers is related to me, by blood, and I hope he gives me another piece of art for posting this. Just saying.

Mark Myers, born in Indiana, raised by two wonderful teachers (my grandparents), alongside one troublesome brother and one bratty sister (my mother). Works as an art teacher in Texas. Creates art inspired by.... well, I'm not quite sure. So I asked him.

The Four Riders

Mark, your work deals with images and symbols that reference a host of global cultures. How does a guy from small town Indiana become so well-versed in this type of iconography?

Answer: I was well versed in a traditional Liberal Arts Education. That curriculum provided me with the foundations for an encyclopedic curiosity that has continued to inspire me through all my years. I have not as yet had the opportunity to travel and experience all the cultures and traditions that I have embraced as an academic and as an artist. I read, I study, I observe, and I learn. Every person and different culture I encounter is an invitation to learn more about the family of man.

Procession of the Cybernagas

Globalization makes it possible for us to interpret and recognize iconography from around the globe. At the same time, images like the McDonald's golden arches and Mickey Mouse become new, global icons. What is your feeling about this process?

Answer: I am intrigued with the phenomenon of the world wide web and telecommunications, these two most ubiquitous expressions of expanding globalization, which may be responsible for erasing cultural distinctions. Ironically, they may also be our best vehicles for preserving those distinctions and passing them on to future generations. There is in my view, a great need today for a system of symbolization that can address a new emerging world view of humankind’s greater cosmic purpose and the individual’s place in the changing landscape we are creating.

I'm in love with the painting you gave me last Christmas, The Dark Design. It's definitely a hot topic at my house during parties -can you tell me anything about the story it tells?

My living room, proudly displaying MCM artwork.
I think I could use one or two more, right ?

Answer: That painting is from quite a few years ago and represents a breakthrough after a long and difficult creative dry spell. I discovered the works of Joseph Campbell and his theories on comparative mythology, metaphor, and religion. His work was a revelation to me. The painting depicts a map of an alternative dimension of reality derived from a Yakut Shaman. The shaman climbs the celestial ladder from the mundane world, across the bridge of the Milky Way, to different spirit dimensions. He returns via the same pathways bringing new knowledge he has acquired to his social group.

Ok, let's talk about the frogs. I hear that was an obsession for a while?

Answer: Those paintings represent my fascination with the natural world. I have always loved the natural sciences. I spent many happy hours as a child looking through a microscope. Poison arrow frogs, butterflies, carnivorous plants, whats not to like about all that ? I feel blessed that I have been able to retain the same sense of curiosity and wonder that I had as a child. I think we have lost a lot of that curiosity; we've gotten intellectualy lazy.

Starfish

Your art reflects so many places and cultures. Where have you traveled, how has traveling affected your art and where would you dream to go?

Answer: I have been very much the armchair traveler. As an artist and an academic I have never had the means to travel as I would have liked. I hope to address that as I enter my second 50 years of life. Regardless I continue to keep an open and curious mind. Places I would love to visit...Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Bali, Indonesia, Lascaux, France, Borobudur, Java, Brazil, Peru.

Thanks Uncle Mark!

* All Images via Mark Myers. Prints available here.

Old and New

Everything old is new again.

Traditional baskets from the American Southwest ...

Basket Weaver, from here

Become modern interior design installation in South Africa.

From here, via Pinterest

Neat.

All Around the World

So hot right now, from here via Pinterest.

I have a serious thing for maps and globes. I don't really care about their utility-factor, except for the rare times I need to remember exactly where Burundi is. Mostly I like the idea of just looking at their lovely colors, reminiscing about favorite countries and pondering just how much the world has changed since the USSR, Rhodesia and Yugoslavia existed.

Though sometimes I want to put on a blindfold and throw a dart at them, just to choose my next trip destination...

Anyways, maps and globs are having a big moment in the design world right now. This I know not because I am any kind of mover or shaker in that world, but simply because I have a lot of free time and spend that time reading design-y blogs which inject useless words like mid-century regency, greige, and bananas (as an exclamation) into my vernacular.

Artsy-cool, from here via Pinterest.

Love the wallpaper/map combo, from here via Pinterest.

My ab-fab, from here, reposted everywhere.

All of these interiors make me desperate to embark on a map/globe hunt throughout every nearby flea market and thrift store (and maybe some unsuspecting people's attics.)

And if I happen to find a not-so-truly vintage map or less-than-perfect globe, I may consider it for one of these reincarnations.

DIY globe clock, from here.

Use the other half to make a globe bowl, from here.

Emily Henderson's family of globe-men for the holidays.

British artist TerrorDome makes these sweet, customizable collages of couples - cut out of maps of their childhood homes. awwwwww.....



psimadethis.com created this neat map-tray tutorial.



What do you think? Eager to add some maps or globes to your home? Where should I go to find my own ... I wantsssss it!