trees and branches and nature, oh my!

so, i'm seriously OBSESSED with all things trees. branches, leaves, and birds make me happy.
even my art is all branches, leaves, and birds. just check out the shop if you don't believe me.

and everything i see with birch trees just makes me want to decorate my entire house in the rustic style with birch poles lining the walls and birch tree lamps and candle holders and paintings. the problem is, i've just started to get into the rustic look, and most of my furniture and art is more modern, so i'm not sure how to integrate them during the transition time. i don't have the money to perform a complete overhaul on my open floor plan living room/dining room/kitchen/foyer.

i have this silver panel piece that takes up an entire section of my wall (by carl ash, bought it on ebay), and it fits into my tree obsession, but not really my rustic theme. (don't tell my husband though, it cost way too much money for me to give up on it, so maybe it will be relocated.) my coffee table is the ikea glass/silver one (like the side table shown, i couldn't find a pic of the coffee table.) i also have another panel of brushed aluminum art that i bought years ago, and i just got these really cute paisley pillows in silver and black.what i'm afraid of is making everything look super cheesy by decorating everything in birch trees. for example, birch paintings, birch candleholders, birch vases, birch lamps, birch pillows... you get the picture. i'm trying to go for the rustic look without it looking way too overdone.
here are some of my faves.

from a Country Living "How to Make Candles" tutorial

(coles & sons woods wallpaper from rose & radish)

diy birch table from seeingdesign.com

reclaimed wood dining table from hudson furniture


so what do you think, kids? how far is too far?

gymnastics!

so, guess what!?!? today, i am starting a gymnastics class.
no, i am not 12, i am 25. but it's an adult gymnastics class!
i am not new to gymnastics, i took gymnastics when i was little, and then from middle school through 1st year of college i took tumbling classes because i was a cheerleader. however, that means it has been 6 years and 20 pounds since i tried to do a flip of any kind.
and this is actually gymnastics, so that means beam, vault, bars... things i have not done in probably 20 years. it may sound crazy, but i'm excited. and at least one day a week i will be getting some exercise (yeah, that resolution to work out didn't work so great).
so, wish me luck! and hopefully i don't hurt myself. i am what you may call a klutz. i broke my right arm three times within a two year period when i was a child, and sometimes i fall down for no reason. at my wedding, i tripped on the stairs and had a huge welt on my arm before anything even started. like i said, klutz.

I'm taking a break from working (who actually works on Friday, anyway?) to bring you some pretties that you can lust over like I am!

Things I am in love with today and wish someone would buy for me (nudge nudge):

custom heart -- tree print pillow cover -- by cozyblue on etsy

honeybee soap by luxury falls on etsy

gray purse from piperlime

irish coasters by angelellie on etsy


Happy Friday everyone!

awesome installation art!

the internet has taken me on some crazy twists and turns this morning, and i felt the need to share this awesome video i found.
first i read an article that i think i found through aol that was about favorite websites that you can't live without, and I discovered StumbleUpon, which is a site where you can give it some things you're interested in & every time you click the "stumble!" button it gives you a new article based on what you told it you liked. then you can say if you liked that or not, and it'll refine your tastes every time, kinda like pandora does with your music stations!

so i'm "stumbling" through some art related sites & i get taken to this youtube video of installation artist Joshua Allen Harris. He uses plastic bags to create creatures that come to life when vents or fans blow air into them. check it out:


isn't that awesome? look at the guy petting the doggy:



OK, check out stumbleupon to see what you can stumbleupon!

Prints now in the shop!

Well after a lot of hard work and planning, I have opened the prints section of my shop!

Right now I am using a professional printing company to print on semi-gloss acid-free paper.

Hopefully if this catches on, soon I'll be able to get an Epson printer and save myself the driving back and forth.

So, what do you guys think? Here are my favorites!

Leaves

Bare Forest

Drops on Gray

Why Does It Always Rain on Me?

Love with red heart