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

snow... again....

so, it's snowing... again... for like the FOURTH TIME this year.
that may not seem bad, but if you consider we only get snow usually every couple years in atlanta, there's seriously something going on with the weather.
global warming or el nino or whatever you wanna call it, something is wrong.
too bad it's not cold enough for everything to freeze, though, cuz then i could go home! it's only getting down to like 34 degrees though, not cold enough to freeze.
booooo.
here's a pic of my front yard, with the hubby and the doggy playing, a few weeks ago when we got a lot of snow.

state of the union (or, of my resolutions)

There's been a little bit of progression with my resolutions, so I figured I'd post an update.

start writing in a journal or online to get more comfortable with my writing style, and then start writing my book, and not quit after 2 weeks, i will write at least 10 pages every other day.
well, i've come up with a couple ideas for some books and have written some notes, and I wrote about half a page of the beginning of a story, but so far I haven't stuck with my 10 pages every other day. haven't done any extra writing.

work out at least 30 minutes 4 times per week. drink more water. quit spending so much money on lunch, eat lean cuisines. take my dog for more walks.
i actually have been working out (3 times last week) and since my car is broken and my husband has been driving me to work every day, i have no choice other than eating lean cuisines and not spending money! yay! and as a side note, i love my dog and wish we were doing more walks but it has been freezing and raining a lot lately. i know, excuses, excuses...

travel somewhere new that requires a plane (hopefully nyc or ireland), also i want to go somewhere with my mom & encourage her to do something exciting in life
my mom and i have planned a trip to go to savannah at the beginning of march! no planes required, which means i guess i need to get my car fixed, but it's something!

take a class for something artsy & crafty, like painting or jewelry making
umm nothing on the horizon for this at the moment.

start reading to expand my knowledge: three things that i want to learn about are: religion, current events (i will read parts of the newspaper i never even glanced at before), and science
well, no newspapers, but i am 1/3 of the way through pride and prejudice, which i have tried to read before but could never get into, and this time i actually am enjoying it!

new year, new habits

so, it's 2010! i've been in a bit of a rut lately, and with the turn of the decade, i am going to make a conscious effort to do things that i want to do (and to actually figure out what it is that i want to do).

i'm reading the book "the daring female's guide to ecstatic living", and it's really great. it basically dares you to dare yourself to do things, so that you'll get out there and live a more fulfilling life. so far, i've dared myself to start doing yoga (which i have done like, 5 times in the past couple weeks), and to write a book (which i have somewhat figured out a sorta plot for).

when i was in school (well, up until college when i quit caring so much), i always was one of the smartest people, and i was good at school. i'm not so sure i was well-prepared for the real world when being smart doesn't tell you anything about what you should do in "real" life. i just haven't figured out what i'm passionate about. i would love to figure out something i'm passionate about and have it be what my job is, but since i'm not sure what i'm passionate about, and i'm not super motivated to just go out and try a million different random things to figure out what i might like, it's just not really working for me.

so, i've decided i'm gonna try. i'm gonna set out some dares for myself and try new things and figure out what i'm passionate about.

i'm gonna come up with 5 things i want to try in the next 6 months, and i'm gonna do it.

1. start writing in a journal or online to get more comfortable with my writing style, and then start writing my book, and not quit after 2 weeks, i will write at least 10 pages every other day.
2. work out at least 30 minutes 4 times per week. drink more water. quit spending so much money on lunch, eat lean cuisines. take my dog for more walks.
   
3. travel somewhere new that requires a plane (hopefully nyc or ireland), also i want to go somewhere with my mom & encourage her to do something exciting in life
   
4. take a class for something artsy & crafty, like painting or jewelry making
   
5. start reading to expand my knowledge: three things that i want to learn about are: religion, current events (i will read parts of the newspaper i never even glanced at before), and science
   

Treasury

I am featured in an etsy treasury of super fun woodsy things (which is so totally me, i love it!)

Thanks to Brydferth for including me! Check her out here.

MIA, i know

yeah, so, i've been a little m.i.a. lately, hey, it happens...
made another sale in my etsy shop yesterday! to someone in atlanta, so now i'm a local celebrity! haha jk.this one! (isn't she cute?)

and i'm working on a few new ones that hopefully i'll post this weekend. i haven't posted any new stuff in a while, i haven't felt like being crafty, just being bored.

i just ordered the "wreck this journal" book, i'm really excited, especially after seeing all the cool stuff other people have done in the flickr "wreck this journal" group.

take a look at some of these awesome ones:
1 2 3 4 5


on another note, madame white is getting a new job! but then she told me she's planning on moving away for a few years (this will be in like 4/5 yrs probably, but still) and that makes me sad.
does anyone wanna be my friend?
i should find exciting things to do. cuz i'm bored.

oh well. guess i'll go to lunch.