Ghost Chairs

'The plexiglass chairs have ghost-like forms inside them, created with laser technology.

The ghost is a futuristic concept of a chair, 3-dimensionally captured within the boundaries of reality. It gives you a bit of a dramatic feeling: unbelievable, high-tech, but beautiful.'

See more photos read the full article. >>

Hyperrealistic glass flower models at Harvard

'In the late 19th century, when biologists and botanists from Harvard were sailing all over the world taking specimens of every living creature they could find and sending them back home for study, a very serious problem arose in the accurate preservation of those specimens.'

Read the full article and see more photos at Make Magazine. >>

Helen Musselwhite

Very recently (as in yesterday) I have started playing with Pinterest. More on that later. Thank you Lindsey!

A couple 'pins' added by one of the members featured Helen Musselwhite's pieces. Her stuff is simply...amazing. I stumbled upon her work a while back and I know I had a post either set up or actually published about her but I cannot not seem to find it. So without further ado...


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Bon Weekend

I found this sunset photo we took at our old family home about a year and a half ago. I have no idea why we hadn't uploaded it to Flickr before.


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Shameless self promotion time...

I had an fantastic phone conversation with Stacey yesterday. She allowed me to laugh and cry about how stressed I've gotten about the move. Then, she turns around and posts this to sweeten my day.

I've said it before and I'll say it right now. I love our friends.

I'm really going to miss the wildlife around here...

In-Sync

Let's see if I can line this up correctly...
The day between the Apartment Therapy post and my illumnating post that was inspired by it, one of the AT bloggers posted an outdoor party essentials guide using one of Stacey's photos. Sweet, thanks Susie!

Bookshelf Porn

Once again, my dear friend Aad has provided a link to some wonderful porn.



{ bookshelf porn }

Dandy Lion Press

Thanks to Lindsey, I'm having a Monday Morning Smile myself!

Brown Jackalope

'This hand drawn brown Bunnylope is sitting up and taking notice, is there a whiff of cabbage and carrots in the air or has the dog next door come looking for trouble? No matter, this bunny has horns and it knows how to use them.'

How about Mr. McGreggor?

'There’s a new rabbit in town Mr. McGreggor. This one is a bit tougher that Peter Rabbit or Benjamin Bunny and has no intension of ending up in the stew pot. Farmer Beware!'

There's more at the Dandy Lion Press Etsy store.

Octopus Chandeliers by Adam Wallacavage

I'm delightfully wrapping myself around these lovelies...



See more photos and read the full article at Apartment Therapy. >>

Domestic Bliss - Through the garden gate.

{ Hipstamatic iPhone App Lens: John S | Film: Float | Flash: Off }

We've spent the last few days outside spray painting outdoor furniture and goods. I do most of the sanding (thank goodness for orbital sanders!) and Michael is the spray painting master. One of his college jobs was working at Sherwin Williams. The weather has been simply wonderful and all in all, it's been very therapeutic.

While I'm waiting for Michael to finish, I have been walking around taking photos of various parts of this property. The house is in pretty poor shape, but the land around us is nothing short of spectacular. Some of the photos are good and some have come out a bit iffy. Sitting/standing still is sort of a challenge because the horseflies have been brutal recently. If I'm not mistaken it is their mating time. They'll be quite the nuisance for about a month and then we generally don't hear much from them for a year. I have some favorite spots that I'll revisit over the next week and post to share.

Soon our beloved friend will have a new home to keep watch over.

Bon Weekend - a trip to Fantasy Garden

Mom was feeling up for a run to a few nurseries this morning. It breaks our hearts that she lives in an world of incredible pain everyday, so when she says she's ready, it's go time! I'm so happy to be back in gardening mode while prepping for the move. We bought two hydrangeas at Rosebank Farms and then stopped by Garden Wise where we bought a gorgeous variegated hosta and a Farfugium japonicum 'Giganteum', aka the Giant Leopard Plant. The giant waxy leaves look like a tractor seat. They produce a stalk with yellow daisy-like flowers in the fall.

I follow a blog called 'Garden Porn' that is maintained by Michelle Derviss, who is a landscape designer. These are photos of the 'Pina Colada Garden' in Novato, CA. I believe this is her actual garden. It's about as close to my dream garden as it's going to get. I apologize in advance for the large file weight of the images, but I couldn't just pick a few. I had a very difficult time narrowing it down to just these...




Click to enlarge.

Want to see more?

Illuminating

Having been married for a year now, it may sound a little silly that I still subscribe to some wedding blogs in my Google Reader. Photo shoots and reception details can serve as inspiration for so many facets of living. Once Wed had a recent post of a forest inspired photo shoot featuring the gorgeous vintage style light bulbs (first photo). Knowing Michael is such a big Tesla|High Voltage follower and I'm a big fan of string lights in a garden setting, this was a match made in paradise. Goodness, we only just took down the strands we hung for the wedding (the last two photos) the other day.

Apartment Therapy recently featured an inspiration board with a link to this style of lighting from Restoration Hardware (middle photo). I fell in love with them but at $179.00 for a strand of 25 lights they're a *tad* out of our price range. I'm beginning to think of searching for just the bulbs and replacing the lights on the strands we currently have. Sounds like a wonderful marriage.


Click image to enlarge.
{ Photo credits: 1. Jose Villa|Once Wed | 2. Restoration Hardware | 3. & 4. Stacey Bode Photography }

Charleston Green

It's dark, nearly black and it's a color that can be seen all over the city and throughout the Lowcountry. Joggling boards, porches, shutters, just about any exterior paint treatment that looks black is pretty much guaranteed to be Charleston Green. We used it for the sign I painted, which hung at entrance to Hickory Hill, the old family home.

The story goes that in the aftermath of the Civil War, the Union donated copious amounts of black paint to aid in the restoration of the city. The Charlestonians could not bear to use as it reminded them of both the color of mourning and it was an ineffective way to battle the melting heat of the summer, so they mixed in yellow and/or green paint to create a new hue. I think receiving handouts from 'them damn Yankees' had a little something to do with it. ;)

My mother was mostly sure RustOleum manufactured a version of the color, but I was a tad hesitant. We made a run to Lowe's yesterday and I was quite please to find out the old lady is right! We picked up several cans along with white paint to breathe new life into some tired outdoor pieces. The wood on our front & back porches is treated wood. I'm very interested in seeing if we can paint them Charleston Green sometime down the road.

feather & bone

Lately, I've been loosely following all of the amazing blogs I subscribe to in my Google Reader. I happened to miss this new venture from Nectar & Light called feather & bone. They're really beautiful. I know Aileen would love to have some of these. I know I do!

Here are a few examples:


{ No. 8 | No. 15 | No 16 | No. 5 }

...Life and death. Art and Science.

I spent two incredibly magical afternoons last November hand selecting the specimens in the 'Feather & Bone' collection with the generous support and aid of the Vertebrate Zoology Collections Manager at University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.

There was something spiritual about being in the presence of such carefully cultivated history. Opening the drawers of the specimen cabinets to reveal what hidden treasures - in form of feather and bone - lay within. Hand scribed notes detailing the dates and locations each dated further in time than the last. The light granted me that day washed across the specimens with a gentle touch and ignited the new found power within their feathers, skins and bones - to teach new generations about their history and relevance. Magical.

Each photograph in this series was shot with a vintage Polaroid 680SLR camera. Prints are professionally printed on acid free, archival photo paper with a linen texture. Each photograph is 8x8 inches and is hand signed.

Pickled Southerner

My post the other day where I admitted that I have no love for Azaleas could be tantamount to blasphemy by some. I think I could even hear a faint, "Well bless her heart!". The passion I exhibit in my disdain for that lowly member of the rhododendron family can be equaled in my love for pickled foodstuffs. Cucumbers, beets, okra, carrots, garlic, jalapeños (yeah I eat them solo), watermelon rinds, etc. The hotter the better in my book!

Thanks to a lovely lady at the farmers market we currently have garlic, beets, carrots, and cucumbers in the fridge. I was eyeing some fresh okra at the booth where we got our cukes and tomatoes but got sidetracked by the goat cheese. I make some darn fine pickled okra, if I'm allowed to say. I used give them out as gifts along with homemade hummus and salsa.

Time to pick up some mason jars after the move.

Luisa

I'd like to call it 'le papillon vert' and I think it'd be absolutely beautiful in the new studio. Maybe I'll make enough clams on the 5th to give it a new home.



Made by the wonderfully talented Valentina Ramos.
{ Etsy | Blog }

Here is the listing for Luisa.

Wadmalaw Island

We had to make a run to the dump today (we'll be doing several more before the move), and the county maintains a small facility on Wadmalaw. The island sits across the water from my parent's old place and it's absolutely gorgeous. We took this photo on our way back home. I've always loved seeing this property in different stages of use.



Today is the First Flush Festival at the Charleston Tea Plantation. Traffic wasn't too bad before we veered off to head to the dump, but it was early. We hope to attend the festival next year!

Domestic Bliss - Bounty from the farmers market.

I've decided to try to dedicate no less than one post a week to the subject of domestic bliss. I used to do this a regular exercise in my journal. I think it will keep me motivated to remind myself of the beautiful things we have in our lives. It is easy to loose sight when so many stressors are present.

This week's post of bliss comes from our scores at the farmers market yesterday. Last night we made a cucumber & tomato salad that came from one of the Johns Island growers. We had heated artisan focaccia from Rococco German Bakery, serving it with two goat cheeses from Burden Creek Dairy, a sea salt blend and an 'Herbs de Provence' blend. The Provence blend could have used a little salt, IMHO. We also purchased some chocolate mint, thai basil and rosemary plants. Getting ready for the herb garden.

Another project that's been on my 'must do' list is to make chevre/goat cheese. All good things in all good time, right? That's ultimately what I hope some these posts will accomplish, making me bring some of these ideas to fruition.

After we're settled in the new house I hope to be able to take photos of some of the dishes we prepare. I guess I could take photos of the market goods at their booths with my fun new Hipstamatic app. :)

Saturday Hipstamatic Love

Hipstamatic iPhone App
I must admit that I haven't fallen into the 'Life is Apptacular!' mode. I have very few apps for my phone and all of those are free. I only recently did a major update to my software because my old computer made it extremely difficult to manage it without borking the OS. My goodness, all the lovely new apps I can download and actually use! Flickr, LJ, and Facebook are to name a few. I need to see if they have a Blogger app yet.

I recently discovered the very cool Hipstamatic app, which makes the very crappy iPhone camera tolerable! I decided to venture into the realm of purchasing apps with this fine software. We went to the Farmers Market today and I snapped a few pics. This is going to make for a lot of fun.






Most of these were taken with the John S or Jimmy lenses and shot on Blanko or Kodot Verichrome 'film'. I am looking forward to purchasing more lenses soon.

We all have dreams, some big and some just the right size to make it easy to say 'I can'. One of mine that I've had since I was a young adult is to one day own a 'in need of love' trailer. I'm very happy to be with someone with the desire and skills to apply that love to a tarnished beauty. We've put this dream on hold as we manage more important things in our lives at this time. As I was uploading some new images to my Flickr account I was reminded of a group that I haven't visited in a very long time.



{ 1951 Winnebago with 57 Chevy }

Vintage Travel Trailers on Flickr.

In the beginning.

I thought I'd share a couple of reference photos of the early stages of the garden. These were taken at the beginning of June 2006.


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Seeds of Change.

Gardening was one of mine and Michael's favorite activities. Some of my best memories are from working in the garden all day, showering, opening the loft windows to let out old jazz, louching a glass of absinthe, and then head back out to retire in our seats and enjoy the evening. Below are some images of our loft garden in Atlanta. It evolved from spring/summer 2006 through spring/summer 2007. By autumn 2007 it was a jungle.


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Today I was on the Charleston MLS site looking at downtown listings so I could see their gardens. Strange, I know, but I figured it was the best way to see some beautiful gardens that you won't normally see on the internet. My dream garden will have hardy banana (Musa banjo), elephant ears, spider lilies, ginger, canna (I'm partial to the variegated color combo above), gardenia, magnolia, jasmine, camilla, sago palm, palms/palmettos, bougainvillea & crotons (that will probably remain potted for winter storage), ornamental grasses, hibiscus, angels trumpets, and a variety of fruit trees. Along with those, I can't help but want a weeping willow, our japanese maple, a new bog garden with carnivorous plants and papyrus, and Italian pencil cypresses. We'll also have a side vegetable/herb garden.

The one thing we will NOT have? Azaleas. I cannot describe how much I loathe them. I usually call them 'rat bushes'. Yuck. If you want to come take back my 'True Southerner' card, I'll be more than happy to leave it in the mailbox. :)

Oh SNAP!

I'm two top snaps away from finishing my bracelet/wrist band prototype. I'll post pics tomorrow after I make a supply run.

I recently installed the Feedburner/Feedcounter to this blog. I got so excited the other day when I saw I had a subscriber. Now it's back to 0. As much as I profess to keeping this going for myself, I must admit it made me a little sad. I fully intend to keep moving forward with this, but I am curious...how many of you read this?

Artemisia vulgaris

Commonly known as mugwort. I took these pictures of our mugwort in the front garden. A member of an online community asked to see photographs to help identify what may be mugwort growing in her yard. The pictures she found online caused her a bit of confusion between it and grand wormwood.

In herbal lore, it has been widely used for protection. In remedial practice, it is used as an emmenagogue, which regulates/promotes menstruation. Mugwort has been used to flavor beers, before the introduction of hops. As a nervine, Mugwort is valued in palsy, fits, epileptic and similar affections, being an old-fashioned popular remedy for epilepsy (especially in persons of a feeble constitution).


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Happy Mothers Day!

Unfortunately, I don't have any older photos of my mother on this hard drive. I need to scan them. So, I'll post this photo taken by Michael at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, about four years ago.


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Poppy!

DIY Graphics

I've shown our invitations before, but I have never shown the idea I had for our address labels. Time slipped away from us while getting them ready to mail so we ended up addressing them by hand with a silver pen. I was very pleased with how they turned out. When I started brainstorming ideas for our 'day after' photo shoot, I decided to go ahead and mock-up how I originally wanted the labels to look.


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The envelope lining is from a roll of vintage wallpaper I won on eBay.

Bon Weekend.

Happy Friday everyone! It's been a good week here. My new computer arrived early in the week that has made it much easier to post here again. The flip side is that I'm on it so dang much that I'm falling behind getting some new pieces started for the Lowcountry Etsy Artist Market on June 5th.


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Saturday, June 5th
Lowcountry Artist Market

Music Farm
32 Ann St
Charleston SC 29403

Etsy.com inspired Event featuring anything and everything Handmade, Vintage, and Local.

On Saturday, June 5th, the bands, lights, and music generally filling the Music Farm will be replaced by handmade jewelry, vintage clothing, customized home goods, and a variety of talents from all over Charleston.

The Market will be open from 10:30 am until 5:00 pm. Featuring upwards of 40 vendors, the Market will provide a variety of local jewelry artists, vintage clothing dealers, custom children’s clothing, home and fashion accessories, as well as artwork – all from the Charleston community.

The Music Farm will have the bar open, so patrons can enjoy beverages while they shop.

Kristen, the event organizer, has also set up a Facebook event.

New Piece

I realized that I hadn't uploaded any photos of one of my new pieces that actually sold at the Inman Park Festival. I only got a couple of decent photos during the rush of the last day before we left for Atlanta.



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I'm going to make another similar to this, as no two can be exact. :)

Elsita | Elsa Mora

I'm wondering if I'm the last person on the planet to discover her, but I absolutely LOVE Elsa Mora's work. I don't have a favorite, but this papercut really stood out for me.


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{ Etsy | Main Blog | Papercutting Blog | Flickr }

Make: Online : Custom engraved bamboo iPhone cases

Make: Online : Custom engraved bamboo iPhone cases

Urban Rose | rebecca3030

I fell in love with these gorgeous necklaces some time ago, but have been rather selfish by not sharing them.


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{ Source | Source | Source | Source }

Enjoy!

The Botanic Collection

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The Botanic collection created by Bolon - a environmental flooring company is a revolutionary breakthrough, weaving vinyl flooring with environmental care. Botanic contains a new plasticizer which, in turn, is based on renewable raw materials originating from plant extracts.

The visual concept around Botanic, reflects nature’s variety of organic architecture and wealth of detail.

www.formuswithlove.se/botanic

Graham & Brown Wallpaper

Then again, if we had the budget...


{ Source | Source }

This so very much what I've been envisioning for several years for a dream idea.

{ Source }

White walls

This is the best shot we have (courtesy the Charleston MLS) the room that we'll make as our bedroom. Notice the small window. I'd love to eventually take it out and expand the opening to something wider, but that is so low on the priority list.

Anyway, some of you guys know that we're not afraid to use a little color, but I am seriously thinking of going white with this space and painting something/stencil in a white gloss for subtle texture. We'll then use bedding and pillows in lush fabric, and artwork to bring color into the environment.

Present:



Last year:


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We're planning on installing hardwoods throughout the entire upstairs, starting in our room and the studios first. This will come after some immediate bathroom changes, and after we save some money.

Thriving

Remember our living centerpieces?

I was delighted to hear from our dear friend Beth on our anniversary, telling us that the centerpiece she took home with her is thriving and he hoped our marriage is as well. I love our friends.

Happy Birthday!

I know you've seen this photo a million times, but I love my virtual goosings! A very happy birthday to the lovely Ms. Stacey Bode!


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{Photo credit: Stacy Bode}

Domestic Bliss

A very happy belated Beltane wishes to everyone! We spent our anniversary yesterday by going to the weekly Farmers Market at Marion Square. We picked up a few small delectables, and wandered into Thackeray Farms' booth where we purchased two bunches of wheat. It's a gorgeous shade of green. I took this picture early in the morning and of course, I had to tweak it so that it looks nothing like what sits in front of me. :)


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