The Dark Arts

I think I may be moving into a darker, odder art phase of life. As we age, Jason and I are getting more and more cynical and I've found myself attracted to prints and graphic designs that I use to worry would pop out of the frame and eat me in the middle of the night.

Because you know, that does happen.

But these. There is something about the work of Berkley Illustration that just calls to me.

Berkley Illustration's Etsy Shop can be found here

Please note, just looking at the images doesn't do them justice. You need to visit the site and read the description of each of these. They give them so much more personality. Let's look at Mr. Orca's description:

Part sailor and part dandy, this orca really likes to keep people guessing. Rather than saying "hello" or "goodbye", he always uses his catchphrase, "pip pip, toot toot!".

TELL me you don't want him on your wall saying "Pip Pip! Toot Toot!" to you every morning?! 

While people around the internet are choosing to be Team Conan or Team Leno this week, one image has popped up a few times. Being very much "Team Coco", I loved this image. Which, of course, lead me to the artist, Mike Mitchell,  and to check out what else he does. 

And what he does is creepy magical!

http://sirmikeofmitchell.com

 Growing up I remember odd art and images on friend's parents walls. Pictures or art that as a child you don't really understand or begin to appreciate. Even today I love walking into people's bathrooms or hallways and finding prints and items that are different. So many houses tend to be overly "done" - decorated within an inch of their lives with the SAME prints and knick-knacks found in model homes around the country. To me, having interesting and odd art and pieces is what people will remember.

While I don't plan on decorating my entire house with scary ice cream cones eating themselves, I can say that I've grown to a point creatively where I would love to incorporate more odd and different objects d'art around my house. 

Do you have odd pieces that call to you? How do you use them to fit into you decor?

Only a month left...

Until Valentine's Day!

While don't I love valentine's day for any real romantic reason (no offense honey!) I love all the "stuff" around it. I love the cards, I love the decorations, I love hearts and pink and red! I love old school conversation hearts and I love Valentine's day chocolate and hand-made paper cards with white doilies. I get the kids special shirts each year and take an annual "valentine's day picture". I also have to stop myself from buying heart knee-socks and PJs... I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to go a bit overboard. 

My other love is cupcakes... so as you may have guessed a cupcake valentine decoration made me dizzy with happiness.

#ds60

I'm pretty easy to please, huh? I picked these up at Target last week for $4.99 each. The little cupcake candles are actually left over from Zoe's cupcake-themed first birthday party.

Zoe's 1st birthday was really my entree into my party insanity. I discovered Jess at Polkadots and Pirates and Hostess with the Mostess. I've never been able to just "have a backyard party" for Lucas either, but this was the one where I outdid myself. And now I can't stop myself. 2 months out, I'm already planning Lucas' "Mad Scientist" 6th birthday.

What about you? Is there a holiday that you love to decorate for? Are there specific decorations that you obsess over?

Living in Color

It's so true that the moment the Holidays are over, our minds immediately head into Spring. While we have barely gotten cold yet here in San Diego, other parts of the country are buried in weeks and weeks of snow. Considering how excited I got when the Nordstrom catalog came last week, I'm sure they just wanted to throw it out the window when they turned the page to see this: 

I mean really, this was almost cruel of Nordstrom's to do.

And wow, I really want this green fedora. I want to plan a trip to Palm Springs JUST to be able to wear this hat.

But then again, I love color. While in the winter and for basics, I will stick to black, I really make an effort to not buy everything in black. The total opposite of my mother, I love color and big, bold patterns.

It could be my ultimate rebellion that I love that 50's 60's patterns and would love nothing more than to wallpaper my house ala The Brady Bunch.

When we first started researching and talking to people about the traditional look of a Mid-Century Modern house, the thing that tuned me off is the stark minimalist feeling of "modern". Thats not me. I'm mix pattern bright color girl. 

I'm like this hat. The brighter the better.

Which was interesting that yesterday's Daily Shoot challenge was about color and framing a picture of your favorite color. Naturally, the color most people associate with me is HOT PINK. Which I do SO love... but my ultimate favorite color has to be Tiffany Blue.

Had I not had a boy first and in desperate need of buying PINKPINKPINK for my baby girl, I would have done Zoe's room in Tiffany Blue and white. 

The way that particular blue jumps when accented with white or red amazes me. The color brings a smile to my face and makes my heart flutter. Yes, it could be the ultimate association (there is nothing better than a gift in a blue box) but I really just love this color.

 #ds57

Getting Things Done

So, whattya' think of the new look? 

Over in these parts, 2010 is the year to get things DONE. We are hoping to scratch some major milestones off our list along with some nagging "to-do's" that have been haunting us. It's already started. My bathroom counter for instance, CLEAN. And I mean CLEAN. I'm actually quite proud of it. And my blog - updated a bit to reflect what I really want to do with it. The garage is next... well, after Jason recovers. But look! Getting things D.O.N.E.!

Today's Daily Shoot was about capturing winter in ice, frost and snow... hmmm... well now that can pose a problem when I'm just begging for a little rain so I can justify getting rain boots! Living in the warmest spot in the country at the moment, I just had to get a little creative.

Daily Shoot DS#53

Next-up in the hopper is Valentines Day. While some may argue that it's a Hallmark holiday I see it as a wonderful time to decorate with hearts and pink and make hand-made cards. Because it's already been 4 days since the last round of decorations came down! :-)

If You Give A Mom A Camera...

If you give a mom a camera, and a directive each day of a photo take, she just may do it.

And on day 5 when she is asked to shoot a reflection in a body of water, she is going to walk outside to the puddle on the sidewalk. And she is going to take way more pictures than needed to make sure she gets the shot that she wants. 

Then her daughter will walk out to see what she is doing. And then the mom will try to capture the reflection of her daughter in the sidewalk puddle. 

And her daughter, of course will be in an adorable outfit, and saying "cheese" like she does whenever she see's a camera (or the iPhone, ha!) and the mom will just have to take a picture of her.

Then her mom, while uploading her daily shot to Flickr, just may look at little closer at the picture, and think of her daughter just one year ago. Which may cause her to look back to her older pictures. Which will find her to find a picture of her little girl taken almost one year ago to date. (Jan 10, 2009)

Which, will cause the mom to get all nostalgic about her BABY GROWING UP. Which means that the mom may feel the need to take more pictures tomorrow...