Saw this cutting board over at Design Sponge which can be purchased at Fine Little Shop >>> how fantastic are these leggings. I would pair these with my moccasins and Jesse's oxford shirt. :)

The leggings and this fine print can also be found at Fine Little Shop  reminds me a lot of  Ansel Adams  and my brothers. I have 4.  Would make a great birthday gift for either of them.

Saw this wall paper 

in my issue of House Beautiful this month. 

LOVE IT!

and lastly: paper horse and rabbit. If I knew sculpture, I would try and make enlarged versions of these in cement for my back yard and garden. Found via Small Happy Crane  These would also make for

a fantastic children's mobile. no? :)

A little pint sized Royal Antelope calf.  They only grow to be 10-12 inches high and will weigh 9-10 pounds. Just born last month at the San Diego Zoo.  sooo darling. :)
images found via handmade charlotte

2 weekends ago I was home all by myself.  Jesse went to Texas for an art manufacturing tradeshow.   I had a huuuuge list of things that I wanted to get done before he got back home.  The main chore being to finally get our place cleaned and organized!  I have noticed that when the husband is at home with me, it takes me a lot longer to get anything done...I think it is because I can get easily distracted and then forget entirely what I was just working on!? Does this ever happen to you guys? Please say yes so I don't feel like a total independent ADD child! : /  Anyways... any moments I have to myself I try and utilize as much as possible.  After the cleaning & organizing was done I quickly got started on home project # 1, which is our dining room.  When I moved into my own place last spring, my mother helped me purchase a cute little vintage dining table and chair set.  It was turquoise - a cute color, but not my favorite color...I had plans to gold leaf the pieces but now that I just got married....there is Jesse's opinion that I have to take into consideration, and he wasn't really feeling that.   So the next favorite color of mine...a dark charcoal gray or light black - whatever you choose to call it.  I decided to donate the two chairs and I replaced them with some fantastic mid-century ones.  :) I think the combination together looks great and more grown up.  Plus, the shadows that the sun produces on the table from our succulents is so artistic and graphic, it looks like a work of art all on its own.

>>> - <<<

After that was complete I then started to work on my china nook.  I want the bottom shelf to be filled solely with pictures of family and friends, so I started spray painting some of the frames I have - gold.... artsy side note: when I layed them on our newly painted table, I loved the light that was hitting them at the moment and thought about how neat it would be to use frames like this as displays for jewelry if one owned a boutique.

Like so .....

Wouldn't those be lovely showpieces - under the right lighting of course.
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Within home project #1: Dining room - the next quest is to find a rug.  Kilim rugs are among my favorites.  Anything handwoven adds such an heirloom quality which then also brings warmth to any space.  I have been having a heck of a time trying to find something within our budget that we both are totally in love with. Other reasons why Kilim rugs speak to me so much is because of the simple yet humble graphic designs throughout.  Which is also what you will find in Native American crafts, Latin America crafts etc. I find so much inspiration in those culture's arts and crafts, that it is easy to see where I get designs for my own art.
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The colors in our dining room are charcoal gray, gold, off white/white and then little pops of eames red, muted blues and mustards and teeny bits of silver. Here is a favorite kilim rug that I found on etsy through pasharugs that would fit so well within that color scheme- the plaid pillow is from sukanart, which I can't stop drooling over and the gold suzani pillow is from jayson home and garden.  I want to make some pillows for the chairs and am thinking that I will have to actually paint them myself...since again >>> budget. :[) I think trying to mimic this plaid on a heavy distressed canvas on one side and then the gold suzani pillow on the other will be nice so I can have two different styles that can accommodate all four seasons.

I was thinking about how to mimic the suzani pillow and I realized that I haven't done my favorite type of quilting in YEARS! That favorite style of mine is the Hawaiian style! lol I feel so funny saying that...but it is the truth!  My ex-husband's mother introduced me to it through some books years back in Japan and gave me one of hers to work from. I love American quilting as well, but there is a different kind of quality that the Hawaiian style offers. Google image it my friends. :)

Black crows and flowers will be the other decorative pieces in our dining rooms.  I am currently looking for different types of crow items and I REAAAALLY feel in love with this vintage target practice crow poster.  Definitely not for shooting animals of any kind but the graphic quality of that crow is fantastic. <- found on ebay.  The two portraits of the black flowers were found at meggyleves.

And this AMAAAAAAAAZING Hawaiin quilt was found at the cute Hawaiin blog: HappaHale.

  Thinking about getting another dog someday - one of my favorites is the Airedale Terrier. I like to think that the Airedale is to men what the Yorkie is to women. :)

This one right above is of President Warren G. Harding with his Airedale Laddie Boy >>> found via Time Magazine  

+ Looking at these photos makes me wish that "Babe" the movie was made into a tv series.  I could easily watch a show about animals living  life on the farm. It would be even funnier if it was made into a comedy...Like Seinfeld, but only with animals. 

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>>> bed time, still stalling <<<

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Friday night some friends and I went to an art opening at Brick & Mortar here in Salt Lake City.

Colt Bowden, a local SLC artist whom I met through my good friend Riley Pack , a dude whose blog you will definitely want to read for laughs, was one of the artists whose work is currently on display at Brick & Mortar for the next month. By the way, if you are wondering what Brick & Mortar is, it is a local skate/clothing shop ---> which stocks some pretty nice threads and accessories for men!  

Colt did a whole series of bearded men made from skateboards.  It was fantastic! And, I bought a piece which I can't wait to get and hang up in my place.

 The bearded man at the top that has the "sold" sticker underneath is the one I purchased. When I walked into the space I instantly knew that was my guy! :) 

+ Also, I think Colt took these photos? + 

Before I forget:  How I came to know Colt was super random. Last summer when I moved to SLC, I was riding my bike around like normal during the day [probably running errands or what not] and Colt's wife Abi happened to snap a picture of me on my bike which he then took and turned into one of his paper pin wheel collages.  [I am at the top right] Well then my friend Riley whom I had met not too long before that day had said he thought he saw a picture of me at his friend's apt. in one of his works of art.  Riley showed me and it was indeed me! Then Colt and I became friends etc. etc.  - thee end - 

And lastly, I just want to add how excited I am for Thanksgiving. Halloween is a fun holiday but Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorites. As I get older I find myself loving them even more because the feeling to serve others is so strong during this season. Plus, having a holiday that is based totally around thinking about what you're thankful for is pretty awesome.  What I mentioned at the beginning of my post is just a rant, and I will get through it and hopefully things will get better.....really, my life could be a whole lot worse - and I am so thankful it isn't.  

+ Good night friends, it is almost 2 am and I think I am now ready for bed. +

My friend Juidiith Clawson showed me the latest cover of Pier 1 Imports catalog last week! Such a great cover, no?  Juidiith was saying how this would make a great Halloween costume, I couldn't agree more.

I love drawing foxes. period. nuff said. 

   But I also like paper mache foxes!  I made this "Fantastic Mr. Fox" last year in commemoration of Fantastic Mr. Fox coming out and for my first dinner party I threw out here in Utah. 

I was so in love with how he turned out that I decided I needed to make a mantel for him to hang above.  So I made a paper-mache fire place mantel as well.  One of my favorite craft projects thus far!

Gosh I LOVE fall and nature! That wreath above the mantel was easily made

from twigs just tied together and simply hung. Then I took my red maple leaves that I had collected and dried days prior and glue-guned a tiny drop of glue on the twigs and stuck the leaves on.  So simple and delicate.  It was great for last years fall... 

Ta Da! Thee finished product.   Click HERE  to see the original post on my MAN blog MEN FOLK  

This was in the apt I was living previously before the one I am in now. :) I just realized my new place doesn't have a fireplace..... :(

 

Hey friends! Hope you had a great weekend! .

So last Thursday I went to the Utah State Fair with my boyfriend Jesse.  

Second year in a row, and was not dissapointed! ;) 

 Here are some things I saw:

The farm animals [especially the baby pigs] were so funny!

It was neat to see children with their animals and taking care of them.

Then I almost cried [happy tears] when I saw the kids section of artwork... all the drawings totally cracked me up!  There were some impressive works of art for sure [bear pictured] but my favorite one of all was this self portrait!  A famous fashion illustrator someday! I hope! :)

Since moving to Utah I have gotten to see 3 rodeos! Yeah, I love them... I can totally picture myself as a cowgirl wearing a sparkly cowgirl hat, and entering in the barrel races!  The music they play as the ladies race around make my heart beat so fast....I feel so inspired when watching them, I can only imagine the adrenaline they must feel when riding that fast! Reminds me of one of my favorite movie's "Blue Crush" and when Kate Bosworth's character is in the huge surfing contest at the end of the movie...makes me want to take up surfing....but then a week goes by and I get back to my quiet drawing self. :)

Seeing the cowboys with their hats over their hearts made me cry... :/  I love living in America!

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These past couple o' weeks I have been dipping tons of sticks and branch disks in paint!

I have currently become obsessed with dipping things... I had a funny idea the other night: It would be fun to open a boutique one day full of things dipped in paint! I'd call the boutique dipped...and I would

do custom dipping! Come one come all...you got it, i'll dip it! 

I have also been covering leaves/sticks & pinecones in glass glitter. OH MY GOSH, the sparkle that glass glitter produces is just insane... You just gotta get your hands on some of this stuff...my picture sadly doesn't show the kind of twinkle that I see in real life... 

After getting home from work today, my very creative + funny + inspiring & giving friend Juidiith Clawson came over... I am helping design her website.  Jude brought me some cherry tomatoes, pears and peaches from she and her husband's home.  After she left I went in my kitchen and saw that she had lined the fruit up! I cracked up and had to take a photo! If you have a lot of the same thing, try lining them up one day...things look pretty in a line, no? 

While Jude and I were working on her site, we were eating some of the cherry tomatoes and admiring their adorable cuteness! Their tiny star leaflets! These would make fabulous earrings if covered in gold! The stems could be the posts! Just a thought.  We didn't get to talking about pears and their bellies of sweetness...but if we did, we would have so many good things to say about them!

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Fashion Week Favorites:

Band Of Outsiders   Spring/Summer 2011

[ I always want to say Band of Horses! ha! lol]

I seriously could buy a collection every season of color blocked pieces.  I don't know why, but they never get old for me....

mkay...this lady needs to hit the hay now! See you tomorrow. ;) xo