Custom order for Mari

I just finished this custom order for a friend in England and I'm working on another order to complete an ensemble purchased a while back. I must admit that I've fallen hard for this piece and I hope she does as well...when she finally receives it!


{ Click image to enlarge }

Saran Wrap Marie Antoinette Style Wigs

Designer Kate Cusack designed these for Tiffany's 2002 Mother's Day window displays for their flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan. I thought it was made from synthetic hair fibers at first.


{ Photo credit: Ecouterre }

Bon Weekend - Happy Blogiversary!

I'm definitely in the celebratory mood as this week was my one year blogiversary! I made my first post was on August 23rd, 2009, and I honestly wasn't sure I would make it this far.


{ Photo credit: butaho on Flickr }

I'm slowly working on adding small design elements (and possibly another color) to the place. It reflects the style we created during our wedding planning process, and this has been an outlet to share our collaborations. I find that to be very pleasing. :)

Tiny Wooden Acorn Speaker

Some of you know my obsession with acorns. So imagine my glee this morning when I went to check today's Pinterest boards and stumbled upon this charming little speaker!



Motz Tiny Wooden Speaker
Made of wood and 100% handicraft products, this Tiny Acorn speaker produces rich sound. Includes a USB connector for charging and a standard jack to connect to audio sources.

$45.99

Joule Thief Picture Light

I bought this light bulb hologram at the hologram shop during my first visit to Amsterdam. It's been stored for a long time as it hasn't been displayed very well because it needs a light source to bring out the image. Michael wanted it in his shop over the computer, so he made this little Joule Thief Picture Light to do the job. After he took these photos, he added a switch that allows him to turn the light on and off. The first is with the lights turned up in the room, and the second is when they're quite low.

Poppytalk Handmade - The Handmade Artist

Ha! Leave it to me to blog my introduction two days before the 'Back to School' market closes! Good thing I'm participating in the 'Mixed Tape' show next month.

I really need to relearn time management skills.

Pelmet Tutorial

We recently finished one of our many slated projects, the pelmet for the dining room. A pelmet is a framework used to hide curtain fittings and to help retain heat inside a room. Pelmets are frequently called top treatments, cornices or valances. However, they differ from other top treatments in that the pelmet is generally a hardened valance or a treatment built over a structure. Some people make theirs with a wooden cover more like a box, or more of a facing, like the one we made.

Inspiration to application

We finished the pelmet box in the dining room yesterday. A more detailed post is coming. I also painted the electrical 'candle' covers on the sconces yesterday. I posted my inspiration photo a while back, and now I have the two for comparison. I'm very pleased with it, but mom isn't sure if she'll warm up to the blue. If not, we'll change it back to black.


{ Credit for photo on left: desire to inspire }

Trunk Show in the Bay Area

For the Bay Area friends...
My very dear friend Aileen's band, Trunk Show, will be performing several shows during the last weekend in August through Labor Day Weekend, and then heading down to Huntington Beach for a show on the 8th..



Aug 27-29 Café Van Kleef, Oakland, CA



Sept 1 Live on Mister Odom’s Bottomless Pit @ Pirate Cat Radio, 5pm
www.piratecatradio.com


Sept 2 Kimo’s Bar & Penthouse Lounge, San Francisco, CA 9pm
www.kimosbarsf.com (w/Damon & the Heathens and Mermaid Bones)




Sept 3 Ghosttown Galleries, Oakland, CA 10pm
www.myspace.com/ghosttowngallery



Sept 6 Kaleidoscope (Labor Day BBQ!), San Francisco, CA 5-8pm
www.kaleidoscopefreespeechzone.com (w/Mister Odom & The Odom Poles and The Lee Vilensky Trio)



Sept. 8 Blue Cafe Live, Huntington Beach, CA

You can hear samples of some of their songs at http://www.myspace.com/whatisinyourtrunk. Most of the lead vocals are Aileen. If your musical tastes include Tom Waits and Nick Cave, then you should definitely check them out!

Bon Weekend - the mad scientist's assistant.

Malkie has been thoroughly enjoying Michael's studio.

Looks like I need to reshoot some of the new pieces, but in the meantime, I did get one uploaded to Etsy...



ETA: Oh hey, I like the new storefront on Etsy!

Studio Transformation

Thank you for the feature Design*Sponge!



All images behind the jump click through to their Flickr hosting, with several notes!

New Pieces

I'll be uploading these to Etsy this afternoon!




{ Click on image to enlarge }

Before | After: Computer Table

We purchased a 1926 Singer 66 sewing machine last year at Goodwill for $9.99. Sadly, we think it's in very poor condition, and we're considering using it for parts for another 66. The veneer on the table was in horrid shape as well. I needed a new computer table, so it seemed as though this was the perfect solution. We pulled the top off, stripped the problem veneer, painted it, and added a new top made from scrap MDF. { All images click through to larger sizes. }

Workbench cover issue solved.

Thanks again to Pinterest for hooking me up with a potential solution for hiding the unsightly storage space under the workbenches Michael built for his studio over the weekend. Some canvas or some upholstery stock, heavy duty snaps and presto! Sassy cover.


{ Photo credit: This is Glamorous }

Michael's lab is slowly taking shape.

Michael made tremendous strides with his space over the weekend while I proceeded to make a fabric bomb go off in my studio. These are a few shots of the little things, which I find infinitely fascinating.



The map of Panama hung above my grandfather's desk until he died. My father was born at Hacienda Cincinnati and while he was still young, my grandfather accepted a job that took him to the Canal Zone. So most of his childhood/teenage years was spent there. It's time crack open Vista Nieve again, which was written by Mel Carriker, who was my father's first cousin. His mother and my grandmother were sisters. I am named after my grandmother, who was in turn named after her mother, Eva Flye. Among our many projects is to scan the countless photos from Colombia that somehow ended up in our family. I don't know if my great grandparents had multiple prints made of the photos for all of the children or what. Sadly, that information is long gone.

Enough about me...

In search of...

Lampshades!
We bought these lead crystal lamp bases at an estate sale several months ago. Michael immediately rewired one and cleaned the glass and metal base. The socket covers still need to be painted and most importantly, we need to find lampshades. Our web-fu skills have not proven very useful in finding anything suitable.

Purchased for $12.00
Left: before
Right: after



Suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Oops! I totally forgot to mention that these lamps don't have harps so the shade would either need to be the type to clip over the bulb or one that has the loop so that it can sit on top of the bulb.

Kitty Beeswax Candle

Too cute!!

Bon Weekend - Fabrigasm

I took mom out yesterday morning to look at fabric to cover our couch cushions. We're getting the reupholstering done for free as we've given our little Carolina Skiff boat and my industrial sewing machine as trade to Rocky, the man who has done work for my mother throughout the years. After we collected several heavy samples at GDC, I headed straight to the silk remnants section to see what was 'hanging around'. We've decided to use silk for the pelmet box we're going to make for the dining room window, and we only need a yard to finish the piece. I also look at the remnants for my work. Higher end shantung will run upwards of $35.00+ a yard just for solid colors and remnants are market down from retail. I don't need much for what I do and a yard will yield several pieces for me. I purchased some fabric for me and we headed over to Rogers Brothers. They're now called something else, but they still have really nice stuff at lower prices than GDC. We hit the first remnant bin and found a lovely piece but it was only about a half yard. that wasn't going to to be enough to finish the box. We found a table towards the back that had large samples on clearance. We found a couple colors complimented the main piece we liked, and grabbed them. I knew what didn't work for the pelmet box would certainly work for me. We've selected two colors that will work for the dining room and I took these delicious pieces upstairs. I find these colors to be very inspiring!



I had to use all my reserves to not flop on the table and roll around in the silk.

Details...

*Sigh* I would love to see Singer come out with a new series of machines with vintage inspired details.


{ Pictured above is my Singer Model 66, made in 1929. }

Dining room transformation, Part I

Now that my studio is finished (I will have an exciting post to share with you very soon!) we can move on to more projects. First up is the dining room. We're trying to save as much money as we can by repurposing some of our old bedroom curtains, repainting our old dining room chairs/reupholstering them with stockpiled fabric, giving our sconces fresh paint, and we'll try to use fabric we already have to cover the pelmet box we're building.

We're using Behr's 'Mined Coal' on the walls.




We really wanted to feed the wire for the sconces through the wall, in the same manner as we did the last time we hung them. We decided that the wonderfully full insulation on the inside was a little too much to try to feed wire through, so Michael dug a trough in the drywall and laid it in that. We've covered it with joint tape and will add another coat of drywall compound.

Happy Monday.

Yesterday was my birthday. Michael drove us out to Edisto Beach (State Park) to spend the afternoon, and I'm looking forward to camping there during the fall. On the way home we picked up some Edisto seafood casserole and homemade key lime pie. We couldn't wait till after dinner to bust into the pie. NOM.

Bon Weekend.

Happy Friday! Today, I'd like to take a moment to thank my dear old trusty dress form. I found it about 8 years ago while I was on my daily walk in downtown Atlanta. It was in the window of a clothing store that was in the process of closing that location. I walked in, asked if they'd be willing to sell it. We haggled and a few minutes later I sprinted back through Centennial Park to fetch my car to load her in. She's withstood a lot of abuse through out the years. I'm looking forward to many more Ms. Wolf!

Beer & Pizza

I don't know which would be more fun to operate, this or the Wienermobile.



'the dual keg toting pub-on-wheels sports an aluminum pan with fifty feet of draft coil, two custom taps, inlaid old-growth woodwork bar with a split top for easy access to the kegs, an MP3 sound system modeled after a motorcycle's hard pannier bag, and a back rack capable of holding three large pizzas for the unavoidable crowd that forms every time the bike stops.'

Read more about the Hopworks Beer Bike. >>

LED Mushroom Lights Sprout From Reclaimed Wood

Ma Nature, you are always an inspiration!

{ Found via NOTCOT.ORG }

Mug Shot Greeting Card

Brilliant! This made me laugh harder than I had in a while, as it could easily be Junior in that photo.



Etsy Listing >>

Giveaway: Kiki & Polly

Sweet! Lindsey just posted this exciting giveaway at Lost & Fawned...
'I’m so excited to announce an amazing giveaway with one of my favorite etsy artists Kiki & Polly! Lisa Golightly captures the joy and adventure of being a child in gorgeous paintings. The name is derived from her daughter’s beloved bird Kiki and imaginary friend Polly. Every painting is like a little mini adventure and leave me imagining the story behind the image.

One amazingly lucky person this week will win an 8.5 x 11 print of their choice!'



Want to enter? CLICK HERE!

More studio progress...

My 'crafting' table. This is where the little bits are assembled. I also painted the MDF top yesterday. The one we bought at IKEA didn't fit the stands, so I gave it to Michael and we bought this to replace it. CVS is having a sale on chalk so that was an added bonus!

This morning:


This afternoon:

The rewards of August...

Knowing that the beauty of autumn is just around the corner. Lindsey created a gorgeous complilation of muted oranges and golds on her website, which I can't stop staring at! I can see why it inspired her to create this Etsy treasury.



You know how much I think you rock lady!

Poppytalk Handmade Marketplace

I read many wonderful design and decor blogs in my Google Reader. The inspiration keeps me going on the hectic days. I have to admit that was I completely unaware of the presence of Poppytalk until very recently when my friend Mari mentioned the site in a journal post. Thank you Mari, it was one of the best virtual gifts I've had in a while!

If I'm not the last person on the planet to know about the site, they also run a handmade virtual marketplace called Poppytalk Handmade, which is a 'monthly online street market curated by Poppytalk to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world.'. The theme for August is 'Back to school', and I applied for a spot a couple of weeks ago and I was accepted to participate! I'm tremendously honored to have a 'table' alongside so many talented artists. This market runs today through the 27th and I have the nifty badge in the right column that links to the site.

I'm almost as excited to see my piece made it on the first page of the photo montage promoting the new theme!



Thanks again Poppytalk, I'm honored you like my work! I think this .gif sums it up rather nicely...