Saturday, October 23, 2010

i collect vol. 6: Sketch ups

My favorite kind of art
aside from the kind I make myself
or the encaustic kind I covet
from Planet Janet

consists of sketches.

Primarily of  places I've been

Goodwill find 2.99

and of course of places I want to go

Sisters Antique Shop find 8.00

I wish I could draw. 
I used to be married to an artist
he couldn't really draw either though

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sought and Found | Driftwood

Did you happen to know that collecting driftwood
on many WA state beaches that you might normally frequent
(ie, those that are maintained by Seattle Parks and Rec)
is illegal?

But that collecting driftwood on WA beaches in general
(outside of Seattle and the many other muni codes you may run into)
is okay?

Well, I'm a law abiding gal
Who mostly hangs out in Seattle
So I didn't think I would press my luck.

Although for the longest, I have wanted to come up with something like this




Gorgeous photos of a WA cabin I almost stayed at
Taken by a great blogger that I follow
but, for the life of me, cannot now peg these photos to

I suggest you visit all 20ish of the blogs listed over there ----->
for more eyecandy like this

And if they are your photos
please (let me know)
and thank you
(for adding another obssession to my list of must haves)


So when I was in Goodwill (over by Southcenter)
the other day
I was on their massive wood and wire basket isle
and my eye spotted this
in the hands of a child

Goodwill $10 Challenge, Bag of sticks


What in all hell would a kid want with a bag of sticks?

Thankfully, her mother had no clue either.
She hollared for that child to put down the bag of sticks

And I may have tripped over someone's cart
whilst making a mad dash to grab it up.

I had already determined that I would spend $10 on this bag of sticks
wrongfully convinced that I wouldn't get out of Seattle
long enough to amass my own collection

Might have.

I am pretty certain that I DID gasp out loud when I saw the price
was 2.99.

And I may have said "Thank you Jesus" out loud, at the cash register
when the sister gal in front of me
turned to me and gave me her 50% off coupon
because they were not letting her use it on whatever she was trying to use it on.

1.50 for all of this

Goodwill $10 challenge, Bag of sticks

I'm feeling all sorts of driftwood art coming on

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Home Decor Fail | Fillable Lamp

Believe it or not
More often than not
I fail

Miserably

At trying to do something or another

I am generally a very lucky girl
Somewhat crafty (whatever that means)
Sometimes artistic
Generally thought of as super smart

But more often than not,
I fail miserably at bringing "the bright idea"
to light.

Case in point

Fillable vase fail
Photo (c) b3 home designs

Not only did I mange to pull the thing apart
and humpty couldn't put it all back together again
I also managed to chip/crack/break off a large chunk
of the bottom lip

Guess rocks were not the best idea for this one eh?

I'll find another and try, try again

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

On Deck | Maser Bedroom Headboard Wall

Not to imply that I am going to build a wall of headboard

But one of the many things I actually love about this place
Is that there is a space for everything
and the blueprint almost dictates just where you would put things
like, our bed
in the nook in our master that says 
"bed goes on this wall"

Master Bedroom Suite
Photo (c) b3 home designs

I love simple like the next gal
But there is something about artwork on the wall
collected over time
that says "lived in"
a bit more than this made up
hotel bed
that never really ever looks like this

Ever

Unless we're staging the place to sell it
That was the HARDEST part about selling our last place
Getting up in time to make the bed

Although, I must say
I always felt so much more grown up
when I came home to a made bed

Interestingly, since the last time I ever made my bed regularly
was when I was 11 years old and living with my tyrant of a military officer stepfather

Ironic.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Found and Used | Bow and Arrow

Remember how I went to the Pac Gal Flea
And I found this stash of goodness

Pacific Gallery Auction House
Annual Flea Market | Seattle | 2010

I blogged about that trip of awesomeness
at b3HD [the original] in this
It was awesome.

But do you see that bow poking out of the stash?
Look closer...

okay, here's a better shot of it


Pacific Gallery Auction House Bow & Arrow get
Annual Flea Market | Seattle | 2010

If you didn't make the jump to read the original post
let me sum it up really quickly for you:

I. almost. cried.
When I saw this set.
I had been on the lookout for an authentic Native headdress
to go in this space
And even though I DO live in the PNW
after having come here from Upstate NY
by way of New Mexico

Somehow, I had managed to never come across one
I was so obsessed
that when I first passed by this very childish
not authentic get up
I was completely blind to it

Then, I was thinking of the basket (that I hung it in front of)
and how maybe I would fill it with something
When out of nowhere, this vision came to me
and I thought to myself
"self...didn't you just see a bow and arrow here somewhere?"

I roamed back over, and when I picked it up
and she told me the price
(you WILL have to make the jump for that story - CLASSIC!)
I think I might have actually shed a tear.

All together, that powder room is coming along nicely

Main Floor powder room

I just need to come to grips with whatever design vision
was in my builder's head
when he put up that mirror.

Or maybe, that was the doing of my neighbor's sister.
Maybe.




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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Faux Edison

I'm not brave
not like lots of girls
in home bloggity blog land

I'm not a fan of powertools
or electricity
or using power tools to put up
electrical thingamagigs

Like lighting fixutures
Or, plumbing fixtures for that matter.

Oh, I'll drill up a picture or two.
But the real stuff, I leave to Mr. Handy.

For now.

That said, I loved the look of Pottery Barn's Edison chandelier
And at the top of the landing,
in our home
there is a fixture cap
which I imagine hides the wires for those brave enough
to install their own fixture
because,
evidently
they ran out of fixtures in our home
and didn't think we'd need one more
in that very obvious space

No biggie.

I loved this nook

Reading Room Nook - Top of the Landing, Pinehurst


You can see the light fixture cap in the ceiling of this photo
It would be great to have a real lighting fixture in that space
you know, to read by
But since I live in the land of the sun/not sun
(just depends on the time of year)
I can get by with natural light from the window
Note that I didn't say "sunlight" because,
well, that stuff needs to be bottled when it shows up here

I digress.

I wanted to make a Faux Edison.
So I gathered the following supplies


Faux Edison Parts | Pinehurst Reading Nook

I found the coil of rope at Goodwill (of course)
But then decided that I wanted the rope with the blue label
from Home Depot
I picked up the clear globe bulbs in three different sizes
from the Habitat Store, Wal Mart and Goodwill
(noticing a trend here?)
I got the bag of gray couplings 
in the plumbing section at Home Depot
and I picked up the eye screws from Home Depot too.

Score Orange!

The craft paints were picked up in the great 
Freecycle paint heist.
Awesomeness.

Faux Edison Bulb Making| Pinehurst Reading Nook


I used a bit of Gorilla glue
and some washers I had on hand
To glue a washer to one end of the couplings
that I had painted black.

On the non-washer end of the coupling
I glued my light bulb to the coupling
Because, they're not really going to light up and all


Faux Edison Couplings and Bulbs| Pinehurst Reading Nook


The washer on the other end was so that I could take this


Faux Edison Step 1,283,789| Pinehurst Reading Nook

and end up with this


Faux Edison All Strung Out| Pinehurst Reading Nook


I used different lengths of rope,
different sized bulbs
and now, I just need to get the guts
to put it on my ceiling

Yeah.  I'll keep you posted on that.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Faux Milkglass

So.
Milk glass is all the craze.

Allow me to show you how to make your own faux milk glass

Faux Milk Glass Vases

What I love about milk glass is the milky (imagine)
consistency of the glass.

What I love about faux milk glass is the clear (imagine, again)
completely see through "layer" of external glass that peeps through to the white stain.

It's awesome!
To get your own, you will need to gather:

some clear, clean glass
some white paint
some patience
and place to work on
(preferably NOT your black granite countertops)

Quilted Glass Vases

I chose to use this set of three quilted glass vases.
I love the texture
I love the shape
I love the trio
Just enough to risk completely
screwing them up

Acrylic Craft Paint

For my paint
I had the choice
between using a white acrylic craft paint
(which we all have in abundance)
or some of the white laquer
that coats all the trim in my house
(which we don't all have, but I do and I love it so boo on you)

I started with the craft paint.

Clean, dry, pour in paint

And it looked...well...milky.
I wanted a thicker coating than what I got here


Streaky acrylic results, go for the lacquer

So I broke out the big guns
Don't hate on a sister.
Rodda paint (a PNW company) is AWESOME!

Rodda Lacquer

Which gave me to die for coverage
as seen in the short vase to the left.

One coat of acrylic and one coat of lacquer later


Faux Milk Glass

For under $5,
($1 each for the vases,
$1 for the craft paint
$1 for your patience)
You can have lovely faux milk glass too.

And trust me, it is so much more fun
to create pieces that fit your style
than to have to hunt for years on end
for a non-grandma piece of milk glass

Not hating.  It's a style.
That I love
My husband, not so much.

Go forth and conquer!

Oh and yeah!
I still have milk glass to give away right?
Perhaps we should jump start that
starter collection of real milk glass
giveaway.


Friday, October 1, 2010

Around Pinehurst - October (Falling for Fall)


There are many things in life that I love:
  • Photos
  • Pumpkins
  • Fall
  • Football
  • Traveling
Whilst there has been little football 
because I live in the land of Suck
(aka, "Not Texas")

There HAS been plenty of opportunity for travel
Plenty of pumpkins in site
Fall is happening all around
And I've got some fave photos 
from trips to the farmlands
which are a lot closer to home now
than they used to be
you know, when I used to live in the hood.

 All photos (c) b3 home designs

Enjoy the weather/season/beautiful colors!
Here's to our first Halloween in our house.
Giggle.

Happy October!