New Creations 7/27

I am working on some new pieces for my show coming up on Aug 6th at the Fountains (6-10)

Rolling Greens

Last week one of my girlfriends and I took a spontaneous road trip to Hollywood. We got up at 5a.m. to be able to drive down and arrive by lunch time. We booked a hotel in West Hollywood and were pleasantly surprised at the minimal traffic, the great foggy weather (highs in the 70's), and the great shops in West Hollywood! We both fell in love with the nursery/home decor shop literally 3 blocks from our hotel called Rolling Greens. We spent an hour browsing the different areas of the shop both indoors and out... Here are a few pictures both from their website and my iphone:

Notice the fab palm inspired sconces and candelabra? Check out my similar DIY project here.



Elegant French Cottage inspired finds... yum!

I loved that one section of the store is an "arrangement bar." They even had terrarium classes and FIDM students studying/working in this store.

Can I just cover my entire house with these tiles and get it over with?


Gorgeous distressed ceramic & concrete pottery pieces.

Shopping, entertainment, and a fun filled night of strolling and eating with friends at Cheesecake Factory @ the Grove in West Hollywood :) I'd say the trip was a success!

New Creations 7/19

Distressed Filigree Quatrefoils


Gold Wire Wrapped Chalcedony Hoops
(Color depends on lighting)



Gold & Cobalt Chainmaille Earrings

BeaucoupBandit.etsy.com

Benvenuti!

I just scored this elegant & aged looking piece of art for the backyard. Benvenuti means 'welcome' in Italian. Coffee time just got a little more European... Time to put the espresso maker to good use!

Fun With Textured Wallpaper

Here is an older project from last month...

Project inspiration for a wall in my house:
Finished Project:
Lantern: $18 at Marshall's
Pottery Hook: $4 at Home Depot
Paintable Wallpaper: Target.com
Actual ceiling tile
(photo taken on my iphone at Depoe Bay in Auburn, CA)


Don't forget to grab wallpaper paste, plastic floor covering, a flat edge painter's tool for smoothing air bubbles, and an exacto knife for hard to trim places.

Casablanca Lantern

I had some store credit to use up, so brought home one of Z Gallerie's Casablanca Lanterns today. The extra large one is a fun statement piece that adds color and texture to any room. I love that it is 3ft tall... tall enough to fit a little ikea table lamp. I'm still perfecting the lamp brightness... it's a little too bright but with some tinkering & altering, I think it will be just right. What a fun accent item for our Mediterranean inspired home!
Casablanca Lantern @ zgallerie.com


With an ikea lamp instead of candles...



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New Creations 7/12

woven bronze beads with white briolettes

sea glass chalcedony wrapped in gold filled wire

gothic quatrefoil shape


peacock blue quatrefoil shell earrings

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DIY Mouse Pad

My Powerbook just turned 6 so it's been around for awhile... the mouse pad starting sticking not long ago so my wireless mouse is now necessary for my sanity. Nowhere sells cute mouse pads that match my decor so I decided to make one with scrapbook paper and double stick foam sheets from Michael's.

(One side)

The project was super quick. I peeled off the sticky foam backing, slapped on a cute sheet of scrapbook paper. I chose paper from Anna Griffin's collection~ beachy and bright!

(The reverse side)

Repeat this for the other side of the foam and voila, a double-sided mouse paper. As a finishing touch I cut off rounded corners to make it look like an actual mouse pad and I added these cute little Louis V stickers I've had laying around to the mouse itself. A posh little upgrade for my good old powerbook :) Gotta love scrapbook paper... it has a million uses!

Trinidad & Tobago

I just hung this print titled "Trinidad & Tobago" in my house this weekend and I'm in love with the colors, contrast, and texture.
The print on the woman's skirt is really fun and ties in both organic and geometric shapes that I enjoy in fabric and accent pieces. I put mine in a black frame with a bright white mat similar to this image from art.com. It really pops against the contrast of my Tuscan yellow/terracotta colored walls.

Using vintage art/travel inspired posters as decor is fun and easy because they are timeless yet very colorful and not too stuffy or generic.

Pineapple Palm Sconces

Stray Dog Designs is one of my favorite sites for quirky, original home accent pieces and lighting! Last spring I used their artichoke lamp for a project inspiration and just recently I've found another piece to inspire me. The "Sam Buffet Lamp" shown below encompasses a lot of elements of design I adore... clean lines, a crisp white shade, and those dramatic palm leaf touches! Unfortunately I can't possibly fit one more lamp or lighting fixture in our house (my husband and I were laughing that we never use any of the built in/recessed lighting our house actually came with). So I used the lamp as inspiration for some existing sconces in our dining room and used some left over material from my Mediterranean inspired chandelier project.

Here I rolled, cut, and molded the crayola clay to resemble the leaves on the lamp/chandelier. It needed to dry for about 1/2 hour so it wasn't too moist/floppy to be molded to the sconce. These little ramekins were the perfect size for drying and shaping the clay.
Here is a picture of one of the sconces minus the candle holder (4 in all). I had previously removed the orange mosaic tile coverings because they seemed to dark/drab after getting soot and buildup on them.
I pinched and fit the semi-dried clay into the cup of the sconce and molded it the way I wanted, and made sure to cover the metal prongs that were previously holding the glass candle holder up.
Ta da!



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Happy 4th of July

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Summertime...

Spending a lot of time on our patio makes me thankful for the space we have! It's quaint, charming, and perfect for our small family. Plus, my husband did all the tile and landscaping himself, so it has extra meaning. That being said, it's fun to look at the designer patios/yards also. Here are 2 designer patio styles I've been drooling over lately. Totally different styles, but I'm in love with both:

First Friday Show

Here are a few pics from my show at the Roseville Fountains- it was such a great turnout this month!