February 6, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

Hoarding Covering The Walls

I love stuff. Art. Old relics. Things that hold a memory or recall a moment in time suck me in and keep me there. But I have a small house and a lot of… Stuff. It was only a matter of time before it encroached all over the walls. It is still a work in progress. At my last estimate, I need nine more pieces of art just to complete the two gallery walls in the living room.

I purchased this crewel work of a monkey in a sail boat at the Rose Bowl Flea Market back in July. I bought some clips and hung it by the front door. Shockingly, the sellers wanted nothing extra for the mystery stains. “My husband is so thrilled with this piece,” she says as her face spasms from winking so hard.

My sister and my brother-in-law gave my husband and myself these awesome vintage initials from an old sign (we’re guessing J.C. Penney’s) for Christmas. I love the purple color so we hung them backwards. This also kind of represents our thought process at all times.

My daughter just finished painting this piece of art. It is based on Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. It is her favorite thing she has done. We love our new art teacher, Jennifer Bonneteau. She is amazing. My son made a similar painting. I just forgot to take a closeup picture of it.

The kids did their self portraits again this year. They did the paintings all by themselves at home. I think they did a great job.

Here is where I want to put more pieces of art to complete the project.

I bought this old folk arty game wheel at the flea market. I like it a lot. It was a lot larger than I had thought when we brought it home.

I have an idea to put bookcases up here (better pictures of the niche can be found in this post). We are overflowing with books. I previously put bookcases in a niche in our home here. But I would have to wall in the kitchen on the other side. My husband says we need the extra natural light in both rooms. What do you think?

I want to get a new couch in this room. I am thinking of this sofa in mustard or teal. I also considered a pink, but I think it would be too much. I am definitely waiting for a discount! What home projects are you currently working on? Any new furniture plans?

January 27, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

Craving: Ceramics Teacher

*This post was supposed to go up at midnight on Wednesday, but I just realized that Urban Outfitter’s promo ends today. I wanted to make sure you knew about it before it ended. So, this is Wednesday’s post a bit early.

Sometimes, I just want to be someone else. My heart will always be bohemian, but there is a part of me that yearns for that modern clean look with a bit of an edge. Think the blog Bleubird. I once took a ceramics class. Quite honestly, I have absolutely no idea what we ever did in that class besides gossip. The whole year, I managed to complete exactly one project. It was a very small bowl shaped in a circle with my face. Odd. True. My mom loved it… Although not as much as she should have… For a piece that took me a year to make. Do you know how much gossiping I put aside to make that bowl? At least two hour’s worth. My life might have turned out much differently if I ever did learn who Jeremy was seen in the locker room with.

Just kidding.

I never knew a Jeremy.

Or did I?

Hmmmm. My head is filled with clay.

Anyhoo, the ceramics teacher would come to school every day dressed in the most amazing clothes. All natural neutral fibers. Layered. Nubby linens. Smooth cottons. Overalls. Fun jewelry (the necklace featured is from Miss Ribby on etsy. I have not purchased from her before today when I purchased one for myself and one to giveaway soon). She always had dried clay on her hands. Her hair was shoulder length and curly. She had the most beautiful laugh lines. And always the coolest cotton shoes on her feet. Honestly, I guess the style is not that much different than traditional bohemian. I mean, does it get much more bohemian than a ceramics teacher? It is just more streamlined.

So, my February clothing wants are a bit different than normal. My love for embroidery and princess dresses shall never wane, but it is nice to have a different option. I am looking for loose breathable pieces for the warmer months ahead. There are so many great companies with such pieces. However, with natural linens usually comes a higher price tag. I typically cannot afford the stores that specialize in those clothes. I am fickle and only want to dabble in this style. Therefore I needed pieces that were inexpensive and interchangeable with my regular look. I turned to Urban Outfiiters and was happy with the shapes and prices that I discovered there.

With spring coming, I want cozy easy cotton feet. Urban Outfitters has $15 off $75 that ends tonight. Their cotton Mary Janes are 2 for $20. I ordered some for myself and my daughter. They run true to size and are surprisingly comfortable. I am not sure about their longevity but with the promotion, they are around $8 each, so I am not too worried. I will say the colors online are definitely not true to life. Mine are a much more muddied version, except for the teal with is a pretty bright color. They come in T-straps and cute plain ones. I ordered both. I have only received the T-straps so I cannot comment on the other ones yet.

With easy cotton shoes, comes easy pieces. I also purchased this Denim Shirt Dress (with the discount). I hope it is long enough. It has not arrived yet so I am unsure as to what it will actually look like. I know for this look, I can pair it with cotton shoes or I could easily switch it up with fun boots and gladiator sandals and layered jewelry, if I wanted to go more classic bohemian.

And this jumpsuit was $17 after their promotion. Oh. This could go terribly, terribly, terribly wrong. Urban Outfitters’ clothing runs small. I purchased a size L. I am kind of scared to receive this. I preferred it in black but it was not on sale. I plan on pairing it with my new favorite basic essential, Anthropologie’s Long Form V-Neck Tee. If you never see this romper on the blog, it is because I returned it… after I locked myself in the bathroom and cried while staring at my eighties style romper and my lumps that have sneakily accumulated in the decades since this style became popular. Jeremy never would have let this happen.

If I had an unlimited budget, I also would have picked up The Linen Midi Dress (it states it is linen in its title but rayon in its description). I would get it in beige, cut more of the unfinished hem off and go make a different face bowl. I would like to say it would not have changed at all since the one I made twenty years ago. Hey! This is my clothing fantasy, I shall just pretend it is so. Who will ever know?

And The Ecote Cocoon Dress in grey. It reminds me of the modern dance scene in “White Christmas.” I just imagine bright fun shoes with it and one of those painted ball necklaces.

Do you ever change your style up? Do you ever crave simplicity? I want all of the easy dresses. I just saw this striped dress and my Want Meter shot through the roof. That cannot be good for my meter or the roof.

Did you take an art or ceramics class? Did you make a face bowl? Do you know who Jeremy was with in the locker room? Again, did I even know a Jeremy? The name is sounding very familiar. Hmmmm. Maybe it was me. Nah. I was in ceramics class. ~~Making a head bowl.~~ Dreaming about the teacher’s clothes.

July 5, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

An Antique & Artsy Date Night

A week ago, my husband and I ventured out on a date. We are always hungry early, and so like the old folks that we are, we decided to leave our house at 5:00. Being the procrastinator that I am, I had not changed clothes for the date. It was 4:45 and I was still in my pajamas…

From my closet, I yelled over my shoulder to my husband, “I have nothing to wear!”

To which I heard a grumbled, “Seriously?”

And then my muffled response, as I choked and gagged on my gluttonous amount of clothes, “I’m just kidding!”

And his muttered-under-his-breath-but-consciously-loud-enough-for-me-to-hear-from-the-bedroom-to-the-closet reply, “No you’re not.”

And he was kinda right. I never know what to wear on a date. I love free-flowing bohemian maxis. My husband likes short fitted dresses.

Never the two shall meet.

I ended up picking this Modcloth dress (similar here) from last year that I had purchased when I went and saw Cindy Lauper (post here and here). It was a good choice, because my husband really liked it.

It was his choice as to where we would eat that night and he picked a trendy little hipster restaurant in the old part of our town. That part of town is now filled with antique stores and gourmet restaurants. My husband loves the hamburgers there. I love the decor.

Look at this chandelier made from honey bear jars. Wicked cool right?

I can’t believe I just said, “wicked cool.” Next thing you know, I’ll be saying “uber”. If that happens, just hang me up with those bears, okay?

Let’s pretend that never happened.

I took pictures of the art on the walls, whilst unbeknownst to me also attracting the attention of the chefs.

I pored over the menu, even though I always get the same thing.

The hamburger.

I had to include the funny picture, because I hate pictures of me eating. Don’t you?

It was a beautiful evening and we planned on just heading home and watching a movie.

Oh! But before I move on, I have to talk about dessert! We had amazing homemade cheesecake. Or restaurant-made cheesecake. All I know is that it was good and made on the premises. I do not like going to restaurants that serve desserts they have ordered from other companies.

We decided to walk down to my favorite antique store. Thankfully, my husband likes antiques as much as I do. Although on this night, he was antsy.

Look at the cool letters with my husband’s and my initials. I want them. Desperately. I think it is kismet that they happen to be our initials. I also love the colors. But they are very expensive. So, I am holding out.

Maybe one day…

Other antiques we liked: an old door. Oh! The colors on this door (but I all ready have this one). Another want. An old toy horse. A really cool tractor part that had the prettiest patina.

Then we made our way outside where unbeknownst to us, there was an art festival going on that had started mere minutes before. The artists were setting up booths and some were doing sidewalk chalk art. The picture above is the beginning of an art piece by my children’s art teacher, Lisa Owen Lynch, setting up her awesome Star War’s Princess Leia drawing. We randomly ran into her and it was neat to see her at work.

Look at her shoes! She is the coolest!

And we left her just as the hair was coming together. She is so talented. My kids are very lucky to get to learn from her.

I ended up purchasing a small bird painting for $30 from one of the artists there. It looks like a strange bird at first, but it is actually two birds. Because of that, I thought it was weird and neat enough for a place in our home. Plus, the colors are great. The artist was super sweet, too.

I love that what started out as a simple dinner turned into a fun antique browse and art walk. There is something romantic about spontaneity. And I treasure when an evening turns out better than planned.

Where have you gone on a date recently? Do you always decide the restaurant or do you trade off with your partner?

July 3, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Head Sculptures

My family and I went to the San Diego Del Mar Fair on Monday and we had a wonderful time. I will have a post coming up soon about the day and the $10 H&M dress that I wore. But while the fair is still going on, I wanted to highlight an amazing find that we discovered while we were there.

They are these wonderful portrait sculptures by Hu Tian. He can be contacted at Hootian at yahoo dot com. I know he can do sculptures based on photos, too, if you are not in Southern California. He is incredibly talented. We are fortunate to have stumbled upon his booth. If you are there this year, it is in the shopping building across from the carousel. I cannot believe what he can create in such a small amount of time.

Each one took about twenty five minutes to make. It was relaxing to sit and watch them coming to life, so to speak, through the clay.

I plan on hanging my sculptures in my living room, surrounding the square arch. They are still drying. It takes four days to cure from the time the clay was created before I can hang them.

The price for these was $52 each, including frame. It was a fantastic price for a really cool piece of a period of time captured forever.

Had you seen something like this before? I had not and it was my favorite thing to discover at the fair.

*this is off topic but I wanted to note it: If you plan on attending the San Diego Fair this year, Costco has the best package. It was $60 and came with parking, four entry tickets, 50 ride tickets, the Passport To Savings book and four free drink vouchers. It was a great deal! We purchased ours at the San Diego Costco on the way to the fair. Maybe a Costco near you also has fair packages for your local fair, if you are not near San Diego.

I shared this on Cozy Little House.

And Savvy Southern Style.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

art

Hoarding Covering The Walls

Craving: Ceramics Teacher

An Antique & Artsy Date Night

It’s The Little Things: Head Sculptures