architect barbie

Who says architects only wear black? 

I just had to share this with everyone. My friend, Courtney, saw "Architect Barbie" in a magazine a couple of days ago and immediately sent me a picture. This is hilarious.... comes complete with hardhat for the jobsite, blueprint drawings, and the house Barbs designed. What a smartie! Stylish, too. 

While researching more on Archy Barbs, I found the Barbie Shanghai Store by Slade Architecture. Umm, whoever got to design this is a luckbox, and I am super jealous. It's like my childhood dream. Everything Barbie you could ever imagine! Unreal. However, it suddenly closed in March of this year for some reason. Bummer. Check it out anyway...

Fab.u.lous.

an artful invitation

A couple of weeks ago, my sister-in-law, Leigh, approached me with a project. For her wedding some years ago, a friend had painted a mini piece of art onto the wedding invitation and gave it back to Leigh as a wedding gift: a keepsake invitation that was framed and displayed. Leigh wanted to use this idea for a coworker friend who is getting married later this month, so she came to me with the idea since her craft isn't painting. I was up for the challenge. 

Questions:

"What to paint?" - something summery. flowers. what kind of flowers? one flower? a cluster of flowers?

"What colors does the bride love?" - purple. and pink.

"What size?" - something small. something delicate. 

"What medium?" - oil? too heavy. acrylic? possibly. watercolor? depends on the paper. prismacolor pencils? hmmm.. sounds lovely. watercolor pencils? YES.

Decision: 

a pinkish purple hydrangea cluster that would float off of the invitation.

I went outside to take a look at Mom's beloved hydrangeas that the deer keep eating, picked a tiny bloom, and got to work. I love purple. It's such a great color. I used three different shades of it: lavender, rich purple, and a pinkish purple. For the leaf I used a medium shade of green with a dark hunter green. Also, a tiny bit of black was mixed in to darken up some areas. After the drawing was finished, I took a small paintbrush and lightly went over the drawing, blending the colors to look more like a painting. It should be framed with a rich darker purple matting, and I would choose a gold or bronze frame [or maybe high gloss off white]. 

I think that makes for a unique gift! 

ottoman empire

No, no, no .... not talking about the Turkish empire that was the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries, you history buffs. I'm talking about the ground that is getting covered by these classic pieces of furni. Unique styles of ottomans are trending, so don't be afraid to add some flair to a room with these props. From high gloss white, to traditional, to shoe storage, to rattan, to fabric patterned... I can't help but love 'em all. I have to say I am most intrigued by the Lilly Pulitzer Home shoe storage ottoman. I mean, what girl with a ridiculous shoe collection wouldn't want that? So efficient. See for yourself!

love. love. love. You otta get one.

P.S. Sorry I haven't been on top of my blog posting game, followers! Distractions, vacations, volunteering, and job searching stresses have gotten the better of me. I promise more posts very soon!

my first estate sale

An all time fave- Soulshine by The Allman Brothers


Our adventure began this morning with a trip to "the neighborhood" in Newnan to look through antiques, trinkets, old furniture, and other junk at my first estate sale excursion! Mom [the veteran] and I [the newby] entered into an older brick house that smelled of moth balls and old. It wasn't pleasant, but we scanned the house for any potential deals or objects we just had to have. Mom was disappointed about the lack of old tools while I found a charming ceramic elephant and an old chair. The elephant is one of those old objects that can become contemporary in the right setting. It has a signature and an old piece of paper with "Delphi, Greece" written on its underside. We assumed that it had been a souvenir from the couple's travels. I've always had a slight fascination with elephants. I won a Jack Hanna drawing contest when I was little by submitting a drawing of elephants. I was pretty proud of that. The next item up for bid was an old chair with the most heinous cushions I have ever encountered. The wood frame, however, was in strong shape and just needs some TLC. I can see it with a new coat of paint + high gloss finish and new, less stinky, more beautiful cushions! It sits slightly back in the perfect comfy, cozy lounge position. I'm excited about this DIY project. Stay tuned for the results!

I have a feeling I'll want to go to another estate sale soon... And I'll probably need to have my own show.. something like "American Pickers" meets "Devine Design."

lovely little jewels

To go along with the jewelry theme, here's Ryan Adam's Pearls on a String. Check out the new "listen here" Grooveshark widget to the left!

I made more examples of the rings I posted about in "shoulda put a ring on it" and even got as adventurous as moving on to bracelets and earrings! I'm keeping it simple with this continuous jewelry project: only wrapping, no tricky clasps or backings. On these bracelets, I used tiny glass beads in gold and seafoam. I've started collecting different kinds of bead chips also like amethyst, coral, and pearls. Round beads don't work as well on the rings, so I go for the natural and randomly cut stone pieces. I hope y'all enjoy looking at these lovely little jewels, and I will post more pictures as the project continues! 

How cute are those little paws?

ole parí

Double tune day because I couldn't decide:
Joe Purdy - Paris in the Morning
Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un m'a dit

I wanted to add some more photos from the Eurotrip on the bloggle. We didn't have a lot of time to spend in Paris, so we hit the big spots and took a river boat tour at night. Main things I will always remember from Paris: 

• Intricacy of the Eiffel Tower
• Most annoying street peddlers I've ever encountered
• The never-ending Louvre
• The Mona Lisa was a lot smaller than I imagined
• Cheap pashmina heaven
• Listening to a harpist play while overlooking the city at the Sacre Coeur
• Mom's attempt at ordering/eating a crepe

Paris was on the last leg of the Eurotrip and by then, mom and I were in serious need of the English language. You can only travel around feeling like an uneducated idiot for so long. When all else failed, we went to McDonald's. True Americans. Here are some of the pictures I took at the most famous landmark in Paris..

We could have spent months at the Louvre. It was impossible to see everything in one visit, and we found ourselves lost frequently. I love the modern meets ancient aspect of the Louvre Pyramid as the entrance/exit to the museum. 

Ancient Egyptians used to worship cats...

pre.painting

Regina Spector - Us puts me in an artsy, painting mood. And reminds me of 500 Days of Summer. Great movie.

For Christmas, I wanted a huge canvas to paint something abstract on that I could eventually see going above my couch in my contemporary|eclectic|whimsy someday apartment. I've never painted anything that was extremely abstract minus doodles and small studies for architorture class. I have only begun painting on this bad boy, and it's pretty difficult. Putting the first line of oil paint on made me super nervous. The more layers of paint the better, so I'm hoping it will turn out the way it should eventually! But for now, I'm only going to show you the pre-painting, my little feline artist assistant, and my inspiration for colors, shapes, and proportions via photographs I took in Italy [Cinque Terre, Italy coastal town + Sorrento, Italy lemon tree seascape]. 

Look closely, and you can see the outline of Mt. Vesuvius in the background of the lemon tree picture! One of my fave shots of the entire trip!

Check back later to see the finished product: post.painting.