not your father's hunting lodge trophy

I know that the trend has been going on for awhile, but I really like the faux taxidermy busts. I've never gone hunting, and I don't condone hunting only for sport, but these heads are the sort of trophies that I want hanging on my wall!

They seem perfect for this harvest season, but I'm not sure that I'd ever want to take these down. I'd just drape a heart garland over it for Valentine's Day or clip on an American pin for Independence Day. Nick doesn't really like the lifelike animal busts, but I don't think even he could say no to the leather moose or beaded doe, although it's the professorial hippopotamus that holds my heart.

1, 2, 3, 4, 

don't worry, be happy

Has anyone else noticed that October has become a little slumpy. Not in a bad way, but I've blogged a lot less and so have some of the people that I follow which has been fine with me since it's given me some more time with that cute boy of mine, creating art, skipping and of course doing homework.

You may have guessed that, due to my lack of posting, school is busy right now, but I'm loving it. (For the most part.) I have really loved my readings, my photography assignments and the chance to develop and figure myself out.

And meanwhile, we finally hung some of the art that we do have and it's amazing the difference that such a small change has made. It feels more like home. Also, I got a new lens that I'm loving and still experimenting with. Life is pretty darn good.

project mode

I wanted to end this week with something tranquil. But I haven't been feeling particular tranquil these days. I have a midterm to take later today, a messy house to clean (SO MANY DISHES!), homework and work-work, pictures that I want to take, errands I have to run and lists of my to-do lists. I'm not very stressed about any one item but I am feeling more focused--in project mode. So, I hope that you have a productive weekend. Or not, depending on your mood. 

This is one of my to do list items for our home. Find an awesome rug or kilim. Does anyone know what the difference is between a rug and a kilim?

1, 2, 3, 4

succulent potting for plants

Still plant hunting.

We bought some nice herbs over the past weekend--lemon thyme and rosemary. I still want to buy some basil and then I will be cooking with fresh herbs instead of the three-year-old dried variety. I'm dreaming of rosemary fries, pesto sauces and lemon thyme fish and chicken.

These are some planters that I've found on Etsy. But hopefully with the skills that Nick has been acquiring in his ceramics class he'll be able to make something that our plants will love calling home.

1, 2, 3, 4

well, you can go and hang

Now that the paint is dried we can hang our art. This is our third place that we've lived since we've been married but we've never fully let ourselves settle in. And, although we know we won't be in our current place very long either, we're determined to make it a home and not just the place that we sleep and eat at between work and school.

As I've been searching for specials pieces for our home I've come to the realization that decorated walls can really make a big difference (my Pinterest boards are full of gallery style walls of art) but art can be expensive. I wish that I could barter with some artists--I'll make you dinner 5 times, organize your closets, teach you Photoshop, or design a website in exchange for one "real" piece of art (I'm not above manual labor. We're students, which equals money poor, but that doesn't mean we don't have skills.)

This is some of the art that I wish we had to display. 1, 2, 3, 4

P.S. This site is meant to get "real" art into the hands of people like you, affordably. People like me need to eat and feed a giant.

paint your walls gray and the world will look better

Our house is in a bit of disarray but I'm so proud of little pieces of it (especially our lovely, hard-earned walls) that I decided to shove some piles to the side and show you what we have so far.
In order of appearance:

A lamp! I told you I was looking and I found this beauty in Salt Lake last weekend! It was the score of the century since I've been wistfully looking at similar ones for weeks. They were out of our price range (plus shipping!) but this one was even better than many of those.

These are our walls. You can't quite tell, but the left wall is an accent color in elephant skin and the right one is painted in classic silver. Our walls are pretty much the pride of our home. At least in my eyes. The tablecloth is an awesome blue/purple/green vintage one from my mom and sitting on top is a vase from our wedding decorations with dried lavender.

Our rocking chair nook where we talk and gaze out the window at our view of beautiful sunsets along with our small collection of art they we need to figure out where and how to hang. Suggestions are welcome. As are introductions to further art to make our life more visually stimulating.

Well folks, that's all for now on the home front.

Two trips and three fabric stores later...

Nick is my biggest champion. I can't make something, be it with food or fabric, without him telling anyone and everyone about it. You would think that with all that non-stop and probably unwarranted praise I would be less of a braggart. But.... I'm not, so you guys get to hear about it.

I have finally entered the sewing world! I made my first two pillows (with tons of help from my friend, Devaun) on Saturday and finished two more on Monday. Wahoo! It was so fun. We didn't have the patience necessary to look up a tutorial or anything so we just sort of wung it. (Winged? Wang? What is the past tense for wing?) And it turned out surprisingly well. I hand-sewed the buttons on the backside with elastic dohickys yesterday while watching the Kennedy's (awesome mini-series if you need something interesting life-sucking, but hopefully accurate and educational show to watch on Netflix.) I have one last pillow that I am going to make. It will be a little different from the others, zippered vs. envelope closure, but so cute. I am modeling it after one that I saw on etsy. I'll post a tutorial on how to make the bow pillow soon.

I have recently learned two things: 1. Decorating and interior design are fun. 2. And I can sew!