Pelmet box feature on the newly launched Offbeat Home!

Is it really Monday? We spend a couple of hours in the yard before an oyster roast on Saturday and then we were back at for a good portion of the day yesterday. I feel great but I'm a little foggy today. If we could keep this pace throughout April, I believe we'll have something pretty spectacular for the summer season.

The newly developed Offbeat Home ran a soft launch last week this week is the 'Grand Opening'. I submitted our bedroom pelmet and it is one of the posts live for launch! Head on over and check out the site.

Thanks Offbeat Home! Stay tuned to the site as I have one more little piece being featured this week!

Bon Weekend - Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog

During an Etsy search the other day I ran across this adorable hare. No really, it's really charming, but my mind immediately drifted into Holy Grail territory. If only it had a little more red on it, it would make for a lovely version of the 'Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog'. Someone please give it a good home!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and please don't forget to participate in my first giveaway!

The Accidental Lamp

The accicental lamp arrived yesterday and...we've decided to use this in the corner in question. It was sold sans shade so we'll need to be address that ASAP! I've seen a few of the old lamps with milk glass shades {would need an extra clamp?} and I'm going in search of one. Like the other lamp, we'll clean/rebuild the old socket.



Michael has *suggested* that the other lamp would be perfect in his lab.

Science & Art

The first lamp arrived on Saturday. I gotta say, it's not just a lamp, it's a work of art. Seriously, this is the kind of stuff that makes us giddy and the thought of breaking it down and carefully restoring it to it's former glory is very inspiring. The photos are of the lamp having just been pulled out of the box, so it's a little dusty.



As we suspected from looking at the original photo, the shade and socket are brass. We aren't sure about the neck and base just yet. The Mason's emblem is in pretty good shape. The cord is an entertaining patch job and we would replace it with cloth covered wire if it weren't going on the wall. Then again, we have that second lamp coming in...

The Garden Salad Days

Garden progress! The weather was absolutely uh-mazing this past weekend and we've spent the last three days outside. It's been a while since we've truly felt like we could start something in terms of an outdoor living space. The last two houses were temporary dwellings and we decided not to spend too much energy, or money for that matter, trying to make permanent outdoor features. I can be very impatient and I can easily forget that the garden sanctuary we had in Atlanta took a couple of years of hard work and we had certain advantages, such as no real yard maintenance. I do love container gardens! We moved into this house a little late in the season to really start planting. Top that off with the hottest summer on record and we pretty much hid indoors.

Ok, back to what we've done so far. Our old pond form has been in the garage since we left Atlanta. Today it is comfortably setting in it's new digs. I even have a little animated gif behind the jump of the digging process.



If you click through to the hosted photo on Flickr you can see a few notes I've set up to explain the next phase of work to be done in this section. We're undecided where the second pagoda is going to live. A little history of those two - mom bought them for the front gate of the old family house. When Michael and I moved everything out two years ago, they came with us. Stacey got a great shot of one during the wedding.



We bought 50 x 16" pavers. It took two trips to Lowes to bring these home. We actually need more! We got our workout for the day loading and unloading them. The beers definitely made things a little 'easier' these last few days.;)



This is the very temporary pad. We were desperate for a patio fix and to be able to kick back with some adult beverages and watch the clouds roll on by. When we actually lay the pavers for good they'll have an inch or two in between for moss, herbs and other creeping ground cover. We're about twenty squares short of our {my} desired patio size, but even just two more rows will be nice. The lounge chairs were purchased for our wedding. They were on sale for $25.00 at Target! We considered selling them before our move last year and now I'm glad we kept them. The second pond setup will go in front of the chimney, which is in the left of the photo.



It's a good thing I don't try to keep my nails well manicured. I honestly do not like wearing gloves while playing in the dirt. It's just so therapeutic to feel it, and even caked on my hands.

I'll continue to post progress photos.

Clever Title for Giveaway Needed!

I am thrilled to announce that the incredibly talented Chad Merritt, better known as Mon Petit Fantome, has offered one of his amazing {unframed} prints to one lucky reader! I posted earlier that I was completely taken with 'I Do Not Know Where We Are Going, But At Least We Are Together' and placed it on my wish list for the holidays. It now hangs in our bedroom and I can't stop looking at it!

Want to know how you win this absolutely charming print?

Bon Weekend

Photo edited with Picture Show. Thanks to Lara at Piewacket for that wonderful tip!

Mom decided to give herself this LG TROMM set about four years ago and they've been great, but we've noticed that the dryer hasn't been working very well recently. Michael pulled the vent hose off a little over a month ago and cleaned out the caked on lint and such and we thought that may have helped, but no. So today we pulled out the dryer and set about searching for the cause. First we tried to take off the back cover. The many screws come out but the edges are riveted to the sides. We pulled off the top to see if the front would prove as inpenetrable. We couldn't see anything inside the compartment past the giant drum, but we were able to unharness the wire bundles and lift the top electrical section out and up a smidge to get to the screws to the front panel, and then the door screws. Voilà! The front panel finally came off and Michael could see the coils and other workings within the machine. He originally thought that something may have come loose and wet lint was escaping into the compartment and choking the coils, but they were gleaming. It wasn't until he was about to give up when he noticed the small air vents in the back and it dawned on him that we had too much vent hose length in the back. It will recess into the machine and it has been sitting against the vent and not allowing any air flow to the coils, essentially choking the system. We put it back together {not without me forgetting to hand him a piece making us start all over}, vacuumed everything we could and now we're set to see how it works. We've run it empty to see what the temp is and it's at the recommended 175° so we should be in good shape!

I've been a bit absent these last few days as we've been very lucky that mom has been experiencing a few relatively pain free days. The three of us piled into the car on Wednesday and headed up to Brookgreen Gardens, just north of Litchfield Beach, about an hour and forty-five minutes up Hwy 17. We didn't get through all of the gardens, but tickets are good for six days after your first visit! That's pretty friggin' awesome if you ask me. What we did see was really beautiful and we had wonderful time being together. Michael and I took a lot of pictures. I've only edited a couple from then and Monday at Middleton. We stopped in Georgetown for a late lunch along the waterfront. It was around 3:00 and most restaurants were closing to prep for dinner, but we found an incredible Italian restaurant called Portofinos on the Warf. We a calamari appetizer that was the best I've ever eaten and it went down nicely with Moretti from the tap.

Here are three pictures from Brookgreen Gardens so far...

Pegusus.
Granite, 1946-1954
15 ft. 3 in. x 15 ft. 9 in. x 7 ft. 8 in.
Signed: LAURA GARDIN FRASER 1946-1951 SCULPTOR / E. H. RATTI CARVER 1954
S.1946.006

One of the fountain spigots at the Fountain of the Muses by Carl Milles.

Diana. Bronze, designed in 1893, cast in 1979
Unsigned
Cast by Bedi-Makky Art Foundry
Gift of Joseph Veach Noble in memory of Olive Ashley Mooney Noble
S.1990.003
There are multiple statues of Diana throughout the gardens.

Giveaway!
I had really hoped to have gotten this together for this week, but I'm almost ready so I've decided run it next week!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Shine A Light On Me

And the winner of the lighting ideas post is...a vintage gooseneck lamp! One of my old roommates, Shellie, and her husband Marc used to be partners in a restaurant downtown called Market East Bistro. They've long since moved to the mountains of North Carolina and started a new dining venture. Anyway, back at Market East Bistro a lot of Shellie's amazing artwork was featured on the walls alongside other local artists. She scoured many antique/thrift/junk shops for old gooseneck lamps and mounted them on the walls to spotlight the art. I loved the idea so much that I used it over my computer table in one of my lofts in Atlanta {I lived in a few} many years ago. I had an 'ah ha' moment a couple of days after that post and it dawned on me to use the same lighting method for the poster and headed over to eBay.* There were quite a few on the auction block and I was kind of shocked to see how much some sellers were asking for these even for starting bids! I settled on a couple and set our bids. The auctions ended within a day of each other so if I lost the first I'd try for the second.

The first lamp has an owl on the front and back of the base. To the left of the owl on the front is the word 'Science', and to the right the word 'Art'. The Free Mason's logo is in the center of the base and it also features a Greek Key border. Surprisingly, to me at least, the auction ended with only two bids and we were the winners at an incredibly good price. We were stoked and set about fantasizing how it was going to look once we got it in our hands and did whatever restoration it may need. In all the excitement I completely forgot that I had the other lamp set for bidding. Another beauty who's base design that I've never seen before, that of lotus blossoms. Yup, we won it as well for another great price, a steal, even! Below are photos of both lamps that were snagged from the auction pages.




I have no idea which one will go over the poster but I'll be sure to update as things move along!

*This is where I admit that I had completely forgotten Shellie's influence in this lighting choice until I posted about the new lamp on my Facebook. She mentioned the restaurant and I completely facepalmed. Yeah, I think I can be crafty at times but I gotta give credit where credit is due! It was only one of her many wonderful influences.

It's on Etsy, My Deer!

Happy Monday! I'm a little late posting today as we just got back from another wonderful night at the Inn at Middleton Place. We won the January Photo Contest and the prize was a night for two at the Inn so we took advantage of an early Valentines celebration. I've said it before and I'll echo it today that it's a really awesome place!



This trophy hangs at the Summerton Diner where we had lunch after our demonstation on Friday. I think the entire blogosphere is ahead of me featuring the deer trend in decor and fashion recently, but here's my take on alternatives to real deer trophies.



1. Brooch | 2. Ring | 3. Trophy Deer | 4. Silhouette | 5. Pillow | 6. Mother Nature Necklace | 7. Decal | 8. Pillow | 9. Felt Soap | 10. Jagermeister Penedant

There are several more treasures that I wanted to add to the collection but it would be a mile long, so I'm adding more as text links. I've had my eye on Fable and Fury's Neo Victorian Woodland Raven Stag necklace since I made one of my treasuries a couple months back. This deer stick pin is so adorable. Or how about a bronze deer mount? I would love to sport this striking bracelet! There's also the very popular cardboard trophy by Cardboard Safari. Ok, I need to stop now! Maybe I'll curate another deer inspired post soon.

I am planning to use the photo from the diner as part of my first ever giveaway later this week. Stay tuned!

Battery Leap Frog.

Our adventure started out this morning with a dead battery in our truck. As Michael was letting the car run/charge, the keys got locked inside the cab, even the spare. But wait, we had a clicker! Uh oh that battery was dead too. Michael, thinking quickly, rigs this battery jump and we were able to open the truck!

*Whew*

Bon Weekend - The Mad Scientist's Assistant.

Happy Friday! I'm off to Summerton, SC where I get to play Inga for Michael as he performs a day of Tesla/High Voltage demonstrations at the high school where one of my cousins teaches science. He's done it before at Norcross High School, but I wasn't able to be with him. I'm bringing the camera and hope to get some pictures!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.
{ Image of Teri Garr as Inga from Young Frankenstein taken from a Blue Ray screenshot. I grabbed it from the internet a while back and can't remember where! }

Rien ne me fera vous oublier...Nothing will make me forget you.

The Suitor
Michael and I found this postcard at an antique shop last year. He laughed that he would love to do something like this for me some time*. I forgot to write down what was written on the back {or at least try to decipher the handwritten script} before framing, but I think the front has plenty of sentiment.



*I'm thinking of you right now, Stacey Bode.

Guest Post at Offbeat Mama!

I really adore how Candice {a fellow Charlestonian} decorated her son Brewer's room. So much so that it was featured as a guest post today at Offbeat Mama. Please go check it out!



Also, you should check out Candice's own blog, Ragamuffin Design.

Etsy coupling in our bedroom.

We finally got around to getting a pillow form to go inside the roddy&ginger pomegranate tree pillow cover we won {and which arrived from London} in November! It's hand screen-printed onto white linen and backed with a beautiful grey linen. It's soft and beautiful and it is a welcomed addition to our bedroom. Better late than never, right? Thank you roddy&ginger!

The picture above the chair is an 8" x 10" print of an original papercut from Etsy seller, Mon Petit Fantome and is titled, 'I Do Not Know Where We Are Going, But At Least We Are Together'. I featured one of their papercut prints in my Papercuts & Silhouettes Etsy treasury last year. The partial picture does not do it any justice. At all. The black is thick {for lack of a better word} and the white just pops off the page.

Don't mind the branches...I haven't decided if they're staying in that corner.

They Might Be Giants - High-Voltage Pylon Competition in Iceland.

I stumbled across one of these images on Flickr last night and wanted to share their story. Oh how I would love to see these in around here!

Landsnet, a public company that owns and runs the electrical transmission system in Iceland where 80% of the electricity is from green sustainable sources such as geothermal power, was working with the Association of Icelandic Architects to obtain new ideas for the appearances of the towers and lines. The competition was announced worldwide and the entrants could design completely new looks or they could alter the appearance of existing towers. American firm Choi + Shine Architects sought to create a series of towers that would become monuments in the landscape, something more than just a necessity. The pylons would require only slight alterations to the existing towers. The pylons could also be in configured in different positions, depending on the terrain and environment. If the power lines ascended a hill, the pylons could imitate a climber.

Says Choi + Shine:

Like the statues of Easter Island, it is envisioned that these one hundred and fifty foot tall, modern caryatids will take on a quiet authority, belonging to their landscape yet serving the people, silently transporting electricity across all terrain, day and night, sunshine or snow.

The concept won honorable mention in the competition, and it were one of four winners at the 2010 Boston Society of Architects Unbuilt Architecture competition.


{ All images by Choi + Shine }
To read more about these incredible designs, please visit Land of the Giants™.

It's in the stars.

I found the above image on Pinterest during the weekend. It's the 'All Star' wallpaper from Barneby Gates, the company who makes the gorgeous Deer Damask wallpaper I posted about a while back. It's really beautiful and it made me take another turn in what I'm envisioning for our bedroom walls.

Two things have been certain in my mind since we knew we were buying this house, flat white walls with high-gloss white highlights. I want subtle yet interesting textures in the room without overpowering it. At first I thought about stenciling and couldn't decided between these three stencil designs from Cutting Edge Stencils on Etsy. We chose the first design and ordered it. It's a really wonderful stencil and I want to use it, but we have a few odd angles and several corners { more than four } in the room, and I've been debating whether I wanted to put so much work into right now. I decided to roll it up for another time or another room and then began thinking about doing something freehand. The idea was very appealing but I was beginning to see that the walls are holding up progress in finishing the space. So I went back to an idea that's been greatly influenced by the AMAZING designs of Modachrome Home's wonderfully talented Eve, where I would cut the designs from sticker vinyl. Using this process would allow us to stage the room and begin to feel at home while applying the highlights. I was toying with the idea of something in a fleur-de-lis with freehand embellishments when I stumbled up on the image above. Ah ha! How awesome would it be to continue the stars theme on to the walls? They don't have to be in a uniform pattern and even better is that I won't have to take anything down to apply them!

I think it sounds like a darn nifty idea. And by darn nifty, I mean easy and hopefully painless. I'm ordering the vinyl today and will post progress shots. I don't think it will take too long to complete the project.

OH! We've made a decision on the light fixture from last week's post. We're going the route of eBay and I'll post more if we win the auction. Please wish us luck!

Snarks the Clarks no more.

While Michael went to buy a few parts at Radio Shack, I walked down to Phillips Shoes to drool at their {limited collection} of El Naturalista's. They are having a sale, 50 - 75% off selected shoes. I wandered over to the rack and found the most adorable Clarks clogs. I've needed a new pair of clogs since my last wooden soled pair bit it a couple years ago. I must confess that I've snarked the Clarks in my time saying that they design towards an older audience. Sure, I had a pair of Wallabee's when I was a kid, but their collection was never appealing to me. Well, somewhere along the line they started designing hipper looking shoes and I got older. Worlds collide and wham! I'm sporting a pair of sassy shoes at 75% off!

My feet are very happy right now.

eta - I really should proof my posts better!

Bon Weekend - Lighting Ideas!

Michael and I were in Lowe's yesterday and I veered into the lighting department. I have been thinking about the possibility of mounting a sconce on the wall above the Jane Avril poster to highlight this corner of the bedroom, especially at night or in the grey weather like we're having now. I'm glad I went online to find photos of what we saw in person as two weren't in stock in the store and I really like them. I not saying which ones though.

Anyway, I would love some feedback as to which would look best or if this is even a good idea.


{ Click on image to enlarge }

I really had to bump up the light in this photo as it was almost dark in the room this morning.

I Command Thee...

I first ran across Portland, Maine's design studio Atmostheory's work when I pinned Land.Sea.Air to my wish list. I've this post sitting in draft mode for a while and decided to go back and look through the site. I love the collection but the series of Commands really tickles me as I'm a key command junkie, especially in Photoshop.

{ Close your eyes and open your mind }	{ Please do not copy - create something new }
{ Save me from these fools }

It was a little too chilly to soak in it.

A surprise excursion to Nassau for two nights was the perfect weekend getaway to celebrate a birthday. The weather defied the cloudy forecast to give us clear skies, temperatures in the 70's and a pampering breeze during the day. The Calgon colored water was tempting but a tad too cold for our comfort so we soaked it in from the comfort of our lounge chairs via sight, smell and sound.

I actually brought the DSLR but never took it out of the bag so it was the Hipstamatic to the rescue!



We stayed in downtown Nassau at the British Colonial Hilton, which was built on the site of the old Fort Nassau.



Graffiti along the Western Esplanade, on West Bay street. There was more art but I couldn't get a decent shot from the street.