Wicked & Weird: July 2010

D*S nurseries

If anyone is looking for some nursery or kid room inspiration, the always inspiring Design*Sponge has a roundup of nurseries from their many house tours. There are definitely a lot of ideas there!

For lots of amazing ideas, head on over to Design*Sponge.

How About Orange?, THE blog to check for fun and free downloads, has pointed out this amazing printable banner alphabet from Ruffled (designed by Caroline of Two Brunettes stationary shop). They would be great for birthdays, obviously, or any occasion. But I kind of want to do one for each of the boys' names, print them as big as I can, and put them in their room over their headboards. Or maybe hang Welcome! on the front door. Or put Smile! over the mirror... So many options, so little wall space. What would you use them for?

Anna-Wili Highfield

I forget where I first saw these incredible paper sculpture by Australian artist Anna-Wili Highfield*, but once I had seen them I couldn't get them out of my head. She paints archival cotton paper, then tears it up and re-stitches it together around copper pipe. The results are quite magical, I can only imagine how striking they would be in a room. I particularly love the ones that are suspended from the ceiling or attached to the wall, although I would not object to getting one of the others as a gift... I guess you could attach any of them to the wall! Kate, you and I may have to duke it out for the raven.

I thought this little turtle was pretty cute too. She also does some pretty spectacular copper wire sculptures - how amazing would they be in a big loft space?

Natasha and Steve, you need this giraffe.

* I remember now, it was on Black*Eiffel. I love that blog!

Photo styling tips

I did a post on Kim Ludy of Ethanollie and Trampoline back in April after I discovered her amazing photos on Flickr. They still stick in my head as the 'ideal' way to style and take photos. I was thrilled to see this post on Mint featuring her photo styling tips! She recommends 5 C's to help guide your styling - Camera, Clarity, Composition & Crop, Colour, and Consistency. In looking at her photos I would add Texture and Tone as being my two favourite elements of her style of photography - just look at the gorgeous distressed table she sets everything up on. Plus there is innate skill - how else could you make truck side mirrors look as good as in this photo?

She also reveals that she was once a floral designer, which helps in creating amazing shots like this one:

Maybe if I read enough tips online, my photos will get this good! :)

veneer light

Surfing the interweb the other night I saw this incredible light fixture by Tom Raffield and had to show it to Mum. I am looking for one for our sun room, which will be a focal point of the first floor once our kitchen renovations are done. I am not sure this is the one, but it would be kind of cool. The price tag for this puppy really isn't THAT extreme, but still, how thrilled was I to see this DIY from Arounna Khounnoraj of Bookhou on Poppytalk?? Definitely not the same lamp, but really kind of cool, and waaaay more affordable.

What do you think? If you hadn't seen the first one, and saw the second one in my house, would you be astounded and amazed by my incredible talent and design sense, or astounded and amazed at the amount of hours I wasted fiddling with veneer, hot glue, and office clamps when I could have been, oh, flossing, or doing just about anything else more worthwhile?

Spinthread

The necklaces from Spinthread on Etsy have been all over blogland, but I just had to keep it going. Cuban artist Lorena designs and embroiders these incredible pieces of jewelry, and I am bowled over by how unique and original they are. With so many artists and jewellers on the internet now, it is always exciting to come across something so different from the rest. And you know whichever one you get, it is going to be a much-admired statement piece!

And also - she has the coolest clothes and hair! :)

Grand Manan, New Brunswick

Well we just got back from three AMAZING days on Grand Manan island, in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Believe it or not, having grown up in New Brunswick, the was my first trip - and same for my folks! We rented two cottages next to each other with spectacular views of the ocean. The weather was incredible, and we took full advantage. We went to the beach, took some hikes, picked wild raspberries and blueberries, went to the Farmer's Market, had lobster rolls...it was wonderful. I didn't want to bore anyone with a million photos (I only took 350...), so mosaic maker to the rescue! I tell you, New Brunswick is the most beautiful place on earth. Who wants to come visit? :)

Rock On!

I saw these awesome iPod cases made by Lindsay of BraveMoonman on sfgirlbybay today. I made soo many mixed tapes - gosh, who didn't make a million mixed tapes back in the day? For yourself, for your BF, for your BFF - I always chose to further personalize mine by doing a magazine collage on the cardboard insert. I still have a shoe box full of the ones I can't bear to part with. Sigh... oh sorry, you lost me down memory lane for a sec.

So of course I neeeeeeeeed one of these beauties for my iPod, don't you think? The trouble is... which one??

Brooklyn Rehab

I have a major soft spot for whales, evidenced in grade 4 with my science project on whales and solidified by many, many whale-watching trips (including a big group excursion the day after my/our wedding). This plaque is totally calling my name. The rest of the BROOKLYNrehab esty store seems to be whale-less, but is awesome none-the-less, starting with this wicked cool necklace!

I love the idea of these personalize-able napkin rings. They could be the start of a great shower/wedding gift.

You know they say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. So true.

Also personalize-able (is that a word?) is this pretty pin.

And this wooden key is so charming, and makes perfect sense as a nice light keychain.

So many goodies - so many!

The return of the blogger

Wow, that was the longest I have been away from my computer since, well, since computers were invented I think. I had a fabulous visit out west, in Calgary, Canmore, Vancouver and Kelowna. It was epic, and now you have to suffer through the photos - all 3 of you who hung in there, waiting (thanks guys!!).

First up I just had to take a million photos of my Aunt's place in Vancouver. It is maybe 500 square feet, and she has it looking like something straight out of a magazine. She is my design Yoda. It is a shame that she didn't have a WAY better photographer, because I really did not do it justice. And I didn't even get to the bedroom, which was gorgeous, because she let me and my 11-month-old stay there and we messed it up right away. There were just so many details to fawn over in her place. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!