Bon Weekend!

I'm off for an extended weekend celebrating dear Aileen's birthday, which is today! We're constantly saying that when we grow up, we want to look as fabulous as these two ladies, Aileen being on the left and me on the right. In reality, we're not far from our goal.


{ I'll be completely honest and say that I cannot remember where I found this image but I believe the AP is the one to credit. If you know any different, please let me know! }

Happy Birthday Husky, I love ya!

The Belle Époque corner.

Still not finished, but a little more progress. We hung the bistro table top we made for our wedding reception, in our bedroom. We used it after the wedding, on our porch, until we moved to the new house last year. We may use it in the same capacity sometime down the road but for now, we want to have in our room with us.

I considered doing a little restoration on the finish as it's taken some dings while in use but we decided that we liked the character it's developed.

On the rocks.

I was doing an image search on Google recently {for what, I can't remember} and ran across Livingstones, created by French designer Stephanie Marin. She got a lot of press a few years ago but this was the first I'd heard of them and wondered how many others hadn't been privy to these incredibly cool and functional designs. They range in size from a small pillow and as large as a couch. There are companion pieces for the outside call Neo livingstones, which are made from neoprene, and garden furniture that look like giant raindrops and are illuminated! They're all listed under 'Collections'.




Brazilian designer Domingos Tótora was featured yesterday on the Alternative Consumer and I can't do justice in describing how amazing his designs are! Not only are they beautiful but they're also made using a certified sustainable process which turns the recycled cardboard into pulp, and then into objects that would certainly be a focal point in any space.



If there are other such similar 'rocks' out there, I'd love the hear about them!

A spoon full of anything...

{ A dram or so of whiskey, that age old remedy. }

Happy Monday! I don't normally like to brag about gifts, but I scored the Tablespoon Measuring Cup from Kaufman Mercantile this past Christmas. It's a lab quality borosilicate glass cup for measuring, mixing and heating. The non-reactive glass makes it ideal to mix small amounts of ingredients and the tiny spout allows for easy pouring. I finally had the chance to take this for a {s}whirl yesterday and I couldn't be more delighted with it and definitely recommend it.

While I was on the Kaufman Mercantile Blog, I saw a post featuring this beautiful antique horn measuring cup. The article describes in detail how these were made and what remedies may have filled this beauty, especially the popular age old elixir, whiskey.



{ The hand carved dose lines are amazing! }

I decided to look for other old measures and stumbled upon this formaldehyde measuring cup.


{ I'm considering making the front image of this my new avatar! }

Item description:
2 oz. tin cup for measuring formaldehyde to water ratio when preparing a fungicide spray. There is an image of a formaldehyde can on the side and the inscription "Kills Smut." It has instructions for mixing with various quantities of water.

It's a tad cost prohibitive for me at this point, but if it's still around down the road I will reconsider! I'm going to continue looking for similar such items and will post them as they're found! I'm always open to supplied links. ;)

Oh My!

Apartment Therapy's 2011 Homies nominations are up and it appears as that a couple of you have nominated this blog! Thank you! I'm not sure if I fit their criteria this year or not, but...if you feel so inclined to add more nominations I wouldn't mind!

Just copy+paste the formatting below!

Name: The Happy Heathen
URL: http://thehappyheathen.blogspot.com/

Bon Weekend!

Ooops, it's Friday again. It's been an incredibly hectic week and I have a few posts saved in draft mode but I want to share them so I think I'll just post photos and quick links here...

Soap Henge via Recyclart.



Urban Knitting via fubiz.



Jennifer Maestre's Prickly Pencil Creatures via Beautiful Decay.



Recycled Volkswagen Micro Bus Pool Table via The Alternative Consumer.



And lastly, How To Describe Your Furniture On Craigslist via Lunch Breath.



Have a great weekend!

I Love You More Than All The Stars...

I've been having going through a particularly rough patch recently and Michael has been absolute awesomesauce in supporting me. He's been instrumental in motivating me to finish the bedroom with him. It wasn't easy on his part but he was successful. This past weekend we built the pelmet for the one window we have in our bedroom, which is actually the FROG.

I love Shanna Murray's decals, especially this one. I wanted to have it in our room so Michael can read it every morning when he opens his eyes, and my thinking was that the pelmet would be perfect place. Yup, I'm very much a romantic geek! I try to support artists whenever I can but dangit, after buying the supplies to make the pelmet base it pained me we could not justify buying the decals from her. So DIY it was!

Now, I don't trust my handwriting these days so drawing the letters freehand was out of the question. It took a day for the 'aha' moment to arrive and I could set about making them. I downloaded the Markus Ink font I and put a stroke/border around the type for my cutting guides. I printed them on full sheet adhesive labels in a series of three pages. Once printed, I sat down and cut out the shapes. I find this kind of work very therapeutic. I used the scraps to cut out the stars would stick to the pelmet front and the stars for the garland were cut from the scrap poster board from the snowflake garlands I made during the holidays. We hung the pelmet and strung the garlands, once I finished sewing them.



Fresh from the printer. | Finished cutting. | Applied to pelmet surface {all edges have been smoothed out}. | Ta-da! | Shooting stars. | Stars detail.

I'm still looking forward to buying something from Shanna down the road, particularly these!

Attachments

Ever so slowly our trinkets and tidbits are beginning to see the light of day. Some have been packed away for these last seven months, and some since the previous move which was a year and a half before that. Did I mention that since this time in 2008 that we've moved THREE times?! This last move really took it out of us in so many ways and I think perhaps that is the reason why it's taken us so, so very long to finish working on our {upstairs}space. I think I may have forgotten how attached I have become to some of these objects, how some can transport me back in time. The small painting at the back of the photo was purchased in Tiburon when we lived in Marin County for a year in the early 70's. I smile when accessing the incredibly large vault of wonderful memories from that time. I was very young but the memories haven't seemed to fade. The jar in the front was my grandmother's. She was an extraordinary person and I hold on to those memories with a very firm grasp. Others are gifts from my beloved and they too remind me of the beauty in life. We have many more to unpack and I'm looking forward to finding where each piece will have it's place in our bedroom.

What are some of the things that spark good memories for you?

Bon Weekend.

I cannot believe it's Friday! Here's to wishing we could gather with our friends that have been snowed/iced in all week in a more desirable locale.


{ Image grabbed from Dornob. }

We're working on the pelmet box for the bedroom and I'll post photos of those next week.

Bon weekend!

Do Want!

The are multitudes of entertaining usb hubs for whatever strikes your fancy. Come to think of it, I personally have never seen a Death Star version. Anyway, I saw this today and it made me smile and add it to my wishlist.



Aphrodite USB Hub

Now if they'd only bring back Hubzilla, this time as a USB hub.

Rad Tea Party

I want to have a Tea Party using Eileen Braun's delightfully whimsical tea pots.



From Eileen's homepage:

My ceramics work is based on wheel thrown and then altered forms which take a playful biomorphic turn to animate themselves. Many have developed a haughty attitude and yet beckon you to touch them.

But wait, she makes more than just teapots! Fantastical bowls, vases, jars, salt & pepper shakes, etc. Too many to link to so please just go have a look.

Originally witnessed at The Mud Bucket.

In the tune of 'Rubber Ducky'.

Saucer pendant, you're the one
You make bath time lots of fun
Saucer pendant, I'm awfully fond of you
Bo-bo-bo-de-oh...

We made more progress in our bedroom yesterday by hanging our beloved $8.00 Nelson Saucer Pendant Lamps. Here is a snapshot of what I call 'boob lamps' before we started painting.



But before we could get that accomplished, we needed to clean off some serious ick. They've gotten progressively dustier over the last several years {and being stored for 7 months now} and even had bird poop on one of them! A bird got into the house - it flew in through the torn porch screen and through the open door - just before we moved last year and must have been in our bedroom for quite a while before we found it perched atop one of the lamps. Poor thing was terrified.


{ I have no idea why the pendant looks so small while Michael is holding it. Maybe it's because he has giant bear paws! }

Happy Monday!

So many friends are blanketed in a winter wonderland this morning. I looked out the window and there's NO SNOW. In Charleston, can you believe it? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you. We finally addressed the paint situation in our bedroom yesterday and will finish up other odds'n'ends in there today. I'm a tad embarrassed we let it go so long. Pictures soon!

I found these blankets yesterday via Pinterest and had to share them.



{ Photos by Flickr user The Yarn Geek. }

Keep warm!

Bon Weekend - A bouquet fit for a giant.

I had another post written up but decided to go with this burst of color for today. Vintage brooch bouquets have become increasingly popular with brides these days. I just happened to be searching through the favorite photos of various photographers on Flickr last night and I stumbled upon photos of the Flower Tree in Place Antonin Poncet. It is the work of Korean artist Choi Jeong-Hwa, and was installed during the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Lyon, in 2003. The sculpture is made of stainless steel and painter with a polyester resin, measures 6 meters with a total of 85 flowers of polyester resin. There is another tree in Shanghai. It was his in concept, but it was not built or designed by him.

From what I can gather, it then traveled for a couple of years before taking permanent residence back in Lyon.



{ Both photos taken by Flickr user Simon Downham. Click on images to view larger. }

Oh, and I was very excited to finally got to see photos of my friend Suzanne's DIY brooch bouquet yesterday.

Connect the dots.

When I first looked at the larger image below, I thought it was a new take on pointillism. In a way, it is. Ohio artist Christian Faur creates these pictures using crayons. He starts by scanning a photograph and then pixelates the image. The crayons are then placed in a grid before they're placed into a wooden frame. Personally, I think they're very well done!



{ All images by Cater News Agency }

Continue reading about Christian's work at the Daily Mail. >>

I wish I had a clever title for this.

As well some clever copy. However, I believe this stands on it's own!


{ From 826DC - The Museum of Unnatural History by Oliver Munday. }

Happy New Year!

We just got back from having breakfast at our friends Lilla and Foster's house and we're resting up before heading over to our cousins house this afternoon. We've had a serving of Hoppin' John and collards with more to go!


{ Photo by Aliceblueblazes on Flickr. Click image to enlarge. }

Here's to wishing you and yours a healthy, happy and prosperous new year!