I'm over at Recreated!

My lovely blogging buddy Lindsey at Recreated is home in NB and asked me to guest post while she is away.  Of course I had to do a New Brunswick-inspired post!  Check it out over here - I will include a little tease for you. :)

An Orange Dress

It is a really good thing that I already had my wedding - there are just too many beautiful ideas and photos out there. I think I would be even more overwhelmed and indecisive than I was when I planned it in 2003.  For example, I didn't even realize that I wanted needed an orange dress until I saw THIS gorgeous number.  It reminds me off that orange dress in Frederic Leighton's Flaming June, a poster of which hung in my room in university.

I love how it illuminates the grey weather of the wedding day, and the bridesmaid dresses and bouquets are no less vibrant.

Plus, I would have to invite all these people to the wedding, because they look so damn cool, which would put me WAAY over my 80 person cap.  Yes, it is a good thing I am already married.

As featured on Green Wedding Shoes (find more gorgeous photos and the whole story there). Photos by Christine Pobke, Wedding Dress: Aurelio Costarella, Found via A Few Things From My Life.

Berndnaut Smilde - Cloud Maker

I have heard the expression "you make your own sunshine" before, but never actually seen someone create their own weather phenomenon - of any kind.  That is until I came across Berndnaut Smilde, who uses water spray bottles, smoke machines, and humidity control to create actual clouds in empty spaces.  The clouds float around long enough to be photographed, then disappear, and the resulting photographs are striking.  Smilde's photograph Nimbus D'Aspremont (below) will be involved in the show Red Sky at Night at the Mercer Union in Toronto from mid-June to the end of July - I hope to catch it before I leave for Alberta!

Found on Booooooom.

I Need Something Icy

Holy Hannah it is hot around these parts.  This thermometer in my car read 39 yesterday afternoon.  Add in that muggy humidity and it starts to feel like the heavy heat is actually pushing down on you.  Ugh.  We are fortunate to have one window unit in our otherwise un-airconditioned house, along with 5 fans. Together, they have made the days bearable, although nights are another matter.  But enough whinging.  Inspiration comes in many forms, and the oppressive heat lead me on a search for pretty, cold blue, icy things.  Even the model's look is icy cold.  (Sadly, it also meant getting Vanilla Ice stuck in my head... sing it with me: Ice, Ice, Baby....)  I hope this cools you down!

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6


Photo # 1 by: Grazia France

Meshu Map Jewellery is SO COOL

OK, this concept and the resulting jewellery are SO FREAKIN' COOL.  Meshu will create a graphic based on geographical points, and then make it in to earrings, necklaces, cufflinks, and more.  It could be all the places you lived as a kid, the stops on your honeymoon, the cities you visited on your first trip to Europe, or all the places you want to visit before you die.  Meaningful without being in-your-face kitchy, the designs are modern and stylish - not words you would normally associate with such a keepsake.  I love the personal subtlety. You can read more about the interface here or plot your own design here. The mind boggles.  What an amazing gift - and would it not be an awesome tattoo?

Found on a Fast Co. Design article by Mark Wilson.

New Rug for the Bedroom

There was an estate sale in the fancy neighbourhood behind us last weekend, so I actually got up early on a Saturday morning (unheard of for me) and lined up outside.  I came home with a few nice things, mostly books and games for the boys.  However... At about 2pm, when I knew it was ending, I decided to swing around and see what was left in case I could do any haggling.  Well.  I left with my car stuffed to the gills (earning the silent treatment from my better half for the good part of the afternoon).  Guys, it was epic.  I got a laundry basket full of Fiestaware for my mom (who has a beautiful collection) for $80.  So many pieces, including a gorgeous teapot and serving platter.

And this rug, above, I saw in the corner on my way out, all crumpled up.  I thought I remembered it as a worn rug from one of the rooms upstairs that had a ridiculous price on it earlier that morning.  I brought it home for $100.  I unrolled it on the front lawn and was temped to do a cartwheel on it.  (Good thing I didn't - after rolling it back up my left eye swelled shut.  I think they must have had a cat!) Part of it was more worn than I thought - but I put that under the bed.  I cleaned it up, put it in the bedroom, and sat back feeling vindicated.

On a roll, I also cleaned up the bentwood chair I had found on the street that had been languishing in the garage and stuck it in the corner, and put up some crisp white curtains.  My teddy bear likes it.

I am thinking maybe I need something less graphic over the bed now - what do you think?  Any ideas?

Free Father's Day Printables from Hello Lucky

I love these great labels and cards for Father's Day from Hello Lucky.  It's a nice way to snazz-up that bottle of wine you ran out and got at the last minute because you forgot Father's Day was coming even with all the advertising because advertising is just noise and now you feel badly that you didn't even force the kids to make a card let alone buy him anything that truly honours what an amazing dad he is but maybe if he drinks the whole bottle he won't feel so sad - don't you think?

Beer labels too. Nice work Ladies - I owe you one.

I Got A New Bathing Suit

Bathing suit shopping = evil.  The downward fluorescent lighting, the translucent skin, the socks... all conspire to make one wonder why the hell you were looking forward to summer.  Best way to kill any small, frightened, and defenceless glimmer of self-confidence. Also best way to feed the beast of self-loathing.  But I digress...

Despite all of the above, I managed to find this number recently.  I think this has to be one of my most favourite bathing suits I have ever bought.  The twisted top gives the illusion of a bust (work with me...), there are straps to keep me from embarrassing myself, the ruching on the sides (and tummy control technology) sucks it all in, the bottom provide ample coverage and the side can be pulled down over the hips to look like a 40's pin-up suit.  And it is red with polka dots!  Old Navy, my friends.  They had some awesome suits, many on sale.  Just because I'm on a tight budget doesn't mean I have to hide under a towel all summer!

Another Amazing Craig's List Score

My love for Craig's List has been well-documented on this blog - I find it fascinating what people will sell, how they will describe it, and how much they ask for it.  Plus it's like a 24/7 garage sale - with some killer scores to be snatched up!  I cannot take credit for this find, however.  A fellow craig's list addict Claire posted about this piece on her wonderful blog, Take This Sofa, where she does a round-up of Craig's List finds every day.  Just think of the karma points she is earning...

I have long been trying to figure out what to do with this nook by the window.  Since my latest living room furniture configuration, it has been a great place to stick all the plastic toys and train tracks that seem to collect in my house.  But even in carefully sorted clear plastic boxes, the clutter was getting to me.  So I dreamed of something that would fill the long, skinny space, provide lots of storage for toys, and of course give me another surface to table-scape.

Sadly, I am no good at table-scaping, but I love it none-the-less.  And this piece of solid, Thomasville-quality furniture was just what the doctor ordered - it fits like a dream (sliding juuust under the window sill) holds tons of junk, and was $150 smackers!!  I may paint it one day (I am having a light grey obsession at the moment) but definitely not any time soon.  For now I will just light more candles for the gods of Craig's List - and Claire. :)

Dreamiest dream house in Majorca

I think I just move right in to this lovely home on Majorca - those tile floors look very inviting in this sticky heat we are having.  I could just lay down and flatten myself out like a dog... wow, the things you write when you have no air-conditioning...

Again we have my favourite colour scheme of white, cream and wood.  I could look at places like this all day. The couple who live here already had a sleek modern place on the beach, and wanted another get-away further inland.  They found this place, which had stood abandoned for a while and completely transformed it into this snug and cozy home.  I have no problem with people who own multiple homes when they have amazing taste like this!! :)

Oh my goodness I want to jump into that pool so badly......!!!!  Maybe I'll go fill up our new kiddie pool out back and close my eyes while I wedge my butt in between the plastic sides... I'm nothing if not resourceful.

Found via Planete Deco.  Images from Nuevo Estilo.

Lara Cameron Proteaflora Prints

I love these beautiful graphic prints of the protea flower by Australian designer Lara Cameron.  The bright colours, graphic shapes, and striking typeface on the softly graded background are so eye-catching, and the choice of protea is so unexpected (at least for us North Americans).

I had actually never sean a protea until I lived briefly in South Africa (the King Protea is South Africa's national flower).  We lived there during the South African winter in 2000, and one of my favourite memories is when it SNOWED high up in the mountains around Cape Town and everyone went berserk. It was nuts. We joined the throngs of cars and people parading up into the hills to take a look at what was really a light dusting of snow. There were hundreds of people who had never seen snow in their lives, many taking handfulls back to their car (to take home?) while Chris and I watched in amazement.  One of the images that has always stayed with me was people picking proteas and using them to carry the snow back to their cars - packing it in to the middle of these huge, beautiful, strange flowers and carrying it like gold down the hill.  It was just the most bizzarre combination... and it is sort of representative of our experiences living there.  Since then I have always had a strong attachment to proteas!

Lara has a great post about how she came to design these works, and you can purchase eco-friendly prints in her store Ink & Spindle.

Found via DesignWorkLife.

I love you more than...

During craft-time at our house (pretty much a daily occurrence) I usually dive in and do my own stuff too.  Sometimes I get so into it that I may have been known to tersely spit out "In a minute..." while one of the kids empties the rinsing water onto the floor, or his brother's hair.  Ahem.

Yesterday we got out the construction paper, pencil crayons, stickers, scissors, and stamps and made cards.  I made this one for my husband.  I figured it was appropriate since the internet is pretty much my constant companion and his biggest competition for my time.  And I really do love him more.  Honest.

He was underwhelmed.   (I'm not sure he believed me.)

Fantastic Frank sells houses like nobody else.

OK, maybe somebody else out there sells houses this way.  If so, please contact me, because you are undoubtedly awesome. Fantastic Frank is a real estate agency out of Stockholm that styles and photographs its listings in completely unorthodox ways.  Seriously, I have never seen a bathroom countertop covered in fake teeth on mls.

For this particular flat, they decided to have a rock concert in the living room.  And we're not talking fake/hire-some-people-to-look-like-they're-rocking-out staging (which would in itself be pretty damn cool).  We're talking Peter Bjorn and John, going to town, complete with smoke machine.

I love the graveyard of Coke cans on the kitchen table.  Has a boring, run-of-the-mill apartment ever seemed so AWESOME?  It is sold, BTW.

Photos via Ideas To Steal cause I couldn't find them again on the Fantastic Frank site...