Colours of Winter

Who would have thoughts there were so many beautiful colours in a winter scene?  I love this photo by Jackie Rueda, as seen on designworklife blog.  Thanks Brooke for the link!

Lovely Linens

Here are the lovely linens I bought at Value Village, most for $0.49 or $0.99.  I thought Ukrainian, but the yellow one could be Hungarian and the one below could be Croatian?  Turns out these are all because of work too - we did a Slavic Festival in November and I did lots of research on pan-Slavic images.  I ended up with embroidery, which is simply gorgeous in Slavic cultures.   (Not that it helped sell any tickets to the concerts - turns out people aren't lining up to see Janacek's Glagolitic Mass!)  The one below is beautiful heavy linen, all hand stitched.  For $1.99 for the set I just couldn't pass it up!  I ended up with two table runners, the round cloth, a linen towel (above on the left), a table cloth, and two pillow cases, plus the set below.  My husband looked at me like I was from another planet...

Day Off

Since I worked right through Christmas, plus most nights and weekend for the past few weeks, I took today OFF.  (Well mostly - I am on call to drive up to Aurora for the press approvals...) So I did what I love best: I slept until NOON (so decadent) and went to my favourite Value Village.  Since this blog was meant to be about admiring not acquiring I used my handy iPhone to capture some of my favourite items.  First up was the bag with the TSO water bottle - my work follows me everywhere!  You really wouldn't think an orchestra job could do that...

 I love his wooden trawler and have been wanting one for a while, and it was only $6 but...I remained strong.  The wooden pitcher beside it is pretty cool too.

 The gumball machine - the Metaxa bottle - the glass canisters.. so much temptation.

 Pretty blue and sunflower pitcher, would look nice in a blue and white collection.

 I love earthenware.

 If it didn't say golf fund... and the sake bottle beside it is cute.  They also had a huge assortment of white milk glass vases, including some large ones that I had the strength to take out of my cart - Shannon - I thought of you!

 So many mason jars!  Big and little - I came home with 3 big ones, couldn't help it.  I love that they said Dominion Jar and Canadian made.

 Um, amazing!  The price tag was ripped so I can't tell you how much but it IS Value Village so it couldn't be much...

 I wanted all 3 of these - the little person wicker chair, the brass magazine rack, and especially that rocker!  In fact, I am still thinking about it.  $15!!  May have to go back...

So many tempting books - I ended up with 3.  I passed on the ones here - I have a ton of William Morris that are better quality and  didn't know how often I would consult the sewing book, although it was great.  And the kids encyclopedia set from 1970 was beautiful.

So what did I end up with?  Well, this lovely pottery pot I thought would look pretty in the kitchen full of wooden spoons, an ironstone creamer, that pretty plate I thought would be nice under a plant (My in-laws have all their china from the Czech Republic in that pattern), and the glass and silver serving dish - something I noticed I was lacking when we had our Christmas party!  I also got a small brass planter, 2 woven leather belts, 3 books, a brown corduroy blazer, and a whole bunch of Ukrainian (or maybe Polish?) linens - I will take a picture when I get them out of the freezer (I got paranoid about bed bugs on the way home!!) But I am still thinking of that rocker...and I forgot to check for yarn...maybe I should go back?  Anyone want me to pick up anything?  :-)

The kitchen is really done. Mostly.

Remember my mostly-finished kitchen with the plywood back? The plywood that may or may not have fallen on the children?  Don't worry, no one was harmed...just a little startled.  Turns out you get what you pay for with dollar store duct tape.  Anyhoo... we got the cabinet in over the holidays!  I just love it, it gives some extra storage and completely finishes the kitchen off.  I was worried that it would take up too much space in the dining room, but it actually works quite nicely.  YAY!  We also got around to putting up some art work which also helps make the place feel a little more cozy!

Please don't mind the mess - my 'photo styling' consisted of moving anything that might trip me while I snapped some photos... So the last step (besides getting the plug put in...heaven forbid we be completely done) is the handles!  I was thinking of plain white ones, but then thought maybe some little crystal ones would be nice, since all the doors on the main floor still have their original crystal handles.  Then there are those mother-of-pearl pulls from Anthropologie that I have been drooling over for years... not sure if I can do brass though, since the rest of the kitchen is so stainless.  I do have that brass light in the sun room though, and it IS a separate room...  What do you think?  Below are my options from Anthropologie, Lee Valley and Ikea (with prices to match!).

I am so excited to have it finished!  Now I just have to find the time to wash it out, along with Dad's cabinet, and unpack those kitchen knick knack boxes we packed up last YEAR!!

I Heart Karen

My friend Karen made this fabulous video compiling all the photos she has take at her desk at work.   I have to say a highlight of my day is to get one of these photos in my email - so a whole video was too much fun! She picked the best music, and I think you will agree has the most beautiful necklaces, hair cut, and smile!  She also has a fun blog.  Conclusion: I love Karen.

Love these blankets

Perusing my much-neglected blogs I came across this image and had to repost - aren't they gorgeous?  The beautiful earthy greys and browns and that quiet diamond pattern make the vivid colours jump!  It's like Persia meets Scotland - or maybe more Navajo?  Whatever.  LOVE.

Seen here.  If you feel the need to send me one, I would like the third one down.  Thanks so much.

My next project

 Now that the Biggest-Brochure-In-The-History-Of-The-TSO is ALMOST complete, I am looking forward to all the things I can do with those extra 15 hours a day!  (After a few days of solid sleep mind you.)  One of the first has got to be this beautiful herringbone cowl featured on Purl Bee.  That texture is amazing.

Sooo snuggly...

Custom artwork

I love this idea, seen in Country Living magazine and posted on Lilly's Notebook.  I think I will try it with the boys photos, but it would be nice with just about any picture, don't you think?  What a lovely wedding gift it could be...