Rag Rugs

After I posted my last post about Men's Fall Fashion, I looked over at my blog reel and saw that my FAVE design blog's, desire to inspire, most recent post was on rag rugs.  The name of this quirky and country cottage favorite does not do it justice.  In fact, the name "rag rug" is quite a turn-off.  For anyone out there that reads this, let's think of another name for this adorable and wonderful floor covering... but, I digress.  In efforts to become more "earth-friendly," I have begun to repurpose "old" things.  First on my agenda was a way to repurpose old t-shirts into something useful.  Earlier, during the summer, I made a quilt from t-shirts that had been given to me over the years.  But, I still had several t-shirts that, frankly, weren't cute enough to be saved... they were, however, perfect to be cut into yarn that would be crocheted into a rag rug.  Last summer, while living in Austin, my friend Polly was making a rug out of her old college t-shirts and the finished product, which she posted a picture of on her facebook, was AMAZING.  So, I delved into my own project.  I'm not very far in, but I am super excited about the finished project.  AND even more super excited about all the decorating ideas desire to inspire gave me for displaying my own work.  Check out their entire post; these are my favorites:

knitalatte11

katberry

roses&pearls

New Obsession... And Project.

For some time, I have thought about amassing mounted deer, elk, and moose heads for my future home.  I find them beautiful, interesting, and, ultimately, ironic- given my usual design preference for new meets old, with a touch of quirk.  On second thought, maybe it's not so ironic.  However, as I strive to become more animal-friendly, this

just doesn't ring "animal-friendly."  But, something even more simply wonderful has come along and replaced my desire for "real" mounted animal heads.  While browsing the anthropologie website the other day, I found these marvelous papier mache animal head wall hangings:

The problem, however, is that I'm not really looking for an African Motif (at least right now).  I'm loving the papier mache, though.  So, I began browsing for papier mache deer heads.  Lo and behold, with one google search, I stumbed upon this Etsy Website.  Ruby's Lounge makes the most AMAZING papier mache animal heads in a variety of colors, patterns, and species.

Here is my favorite:

Font Love @ Ruby's Lounge $335

I am now super inspired to take a crack at making one of these myself.  After I post this, I'm about to search through the garage for some old, very pliable, fencing wire to start making the form.  I'll post updates as I go... or, if the whole thing doesn't work, I'll just buy one of the creations at Ruby's Lounge!

Have a great Saturday! 

 

Another Lazy Blog Post

Good Afternoon, Friends!

Only 10 more days of wretched, wretched Bar Review.  As Mrs. Hargrave put it so well, my brain is so full that all I have put in it over the past 6 weeks is starting to leak out.  I have taken to taking Benadryl every night so that I can sleep for 7-8 hours without horrific dreams of Oil and Gas Law and who owns redacre, greenacre, purpleacre, or blueacre.

So, while I continue to study who inherits what and try to figure out what a trust is, you should check out this blog: Daniel's Art Blog.


Daniel is a friend from Wylie and from Church who is a super-talented artist and features his work on his new(ish) blog.  Grab a cup of coffee (or iced green tea) and enjoy.  It's a like visiting a museum from the comfort of your desk!

Best Wishes to all my friends who are frantically studying right now!

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Art + Fashion!

Italian Architect Gaetano Pesce has created these shoes for the Brazilian brand, Melissa.

The Coolest thing about these seemingly henious pebble shoes is that you can cut away at the "pebbles" of the bootie to create anything you can possible dream of: flats, peep-toe flats, peep-toe boots, sandals, mary janes... and the list goes on with creativity.  

Apparently the entire Melissa brand is built on plastic shoes and famous collaborations (the Vivienne Westwood like is super-whimsy and fun).  Delightful for the vegan-fashionista in all of us.  Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a pair of these stateside or some of the others of the line:

Like these Melissa + Campana, or 

these Melissa + Vivienne Westwood

A Great Loss.

Some D-bags stole some works of art from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, located essentially in the middle of the city.
Who do they think they are?  Totes Losers.
If you frequent the black-market art market, be on the lookout for these:

Picasso's Dove with Green peas, painted in 1911

Pastoral painted by Henri Matisse in 1906

Olive Tree near l'Estaque painted by Georges Braque in 1906

Still Life with Candlestick by Fernand Leger in 1922

Woman with Fan by Modigliani (1919)

Art. In Cleveland.

I am an art lover.  I love walking through museums and having almost religious experiences when viewing exceptional works of art.  Certain paintings and sculpture have brought me to tears.  I love art.
Having grown up with a mom who studied art history, I would like to think that I'm a bit versed in fine art.  I at least have an understanding of various artists, movements, and styles.  After living in Cleveland for 3 years, I finally visited the Cleveland Museum of Art this past Saturday.
It. Was. Phenomenal.
I admit, I wasn't expecting much.  I figured that there would be perhaps a few good examples of certain movements and a few "important" pieces.  I was extraordinarily wrong.  Not only did the museum have phenomenal pieces by well-known artists, it had AMAZING examples of certain artists' individual periods; and great example pieces of certain movements.  My parents and I walked through the museum in my normal, preferred method: contemporary --> backwards in time.
Each period was amazingly curated, as seen from these examples from the museum.

Van Gogh's The Large Plane Trees (Road Meanders at Saint-Remy)

La Vie from Picasso's Blue Period:  Such a great example of Picasso's blue period AND only one of many Picasso pieces that the museum has.  Each piece clearly depicts the various periods of Picasso's life- from early, to blue, to cubism, and beyond.  Simply Marvelous.

The Dream by Dali- I usually don't like Dali works- they get a bit too surreal and weird for me, BUT this piece is soo Dali and, in my opinion, such a perfect representation of a "great" Dali work.

I urge anyone who live in Cleveland, or who passes through, to visit the museum.  Honestly, this museum is better curated than many of the museums I've been to (including those in Europe).  It's a MUST!