October Roundup...

Congratulations to Missy and Tammy who won last week's Geometric Art Additions Contest Giveaway!

Happy Halloween Everyone! The weather seems like it might hold out for tonight's trick or treat adventures. We get hundreds of kids in our neighborhood-I love it! My kids are little yet-so they make it about a block and then they're done! That's with a wagon too! lol! Ezzie is 5 this year though so things may have changed-the power of chocolate is strong! This year I've got an Army guy (Ez) and a baby rockstar (Roo). I made Roo's rockstar outfit here it is...

Roo's Rockstar outfit

Yesterday Ezzie asked if we could go on leaf hunt so he could collect some stuff and then write down his finds in his journal! It was so cute. I took them for a walk along the Thunderbay River (bike path). It winds around by the cemetery too. We walked through and looked at headstones and talked about things. Then he said "I want to visit my ancestors, are they around here somewhere?" Crazy kids. Anyway here's a few pics of our adventures...

I've decided to do a monthly round-up where I "remind" everyone of the weeks past. It occured to me that so many great things get lost in the shuffle as the days pass. I'm going to add these to pages in my blog too, when I get around to it-which could be a little while! haha! I've linked each week back to it's friday post so if you spot something you like, click the link then back to the older posts from there to find it.

October Round-up...

week one

week 2

week three

week four

Some rooms with a little graphic statement...

REMEMBER THE CONTEST GOES TIL 8PM TONITE-SCROLL DOWN TO THE ART ADDITIONS POST AND LEAVE A COMMENT TO WIN!

I'm pretty happy to have reached Friday at last. This week was so busy for some reason. I'm totally looking forward to some girlfriend/mom time this afternoon with my friend Rox. We have some pumpkin lattes planned and a trip downtown to browse the shops (kid free) Nice. Sorry boys, mama loves you, but you are both too much like your dad (you don't like to shop with me!) :) It's all Jeeps and dirt bikes around this place! Anyway, we are also planning a stop-over at our local Habit for Humanity Re-Store to see if we can dig for any buried treasures. I'll keep you posted!

Geometric patterns and graphic bold statements are everywhere  nowadays. You can pull this look off in a nursery, kids playroom, kitchen or a sophisticated living room. I would've gone on all day posting pics that catch my eye, but I have other things to do and so do you, so here's just a few...

Look at this gorgeous geometric wall! xoxo
Hamilton Design Associates

I see these curtains everywhere right now-love this rug too!
Bitten London Blog

It's Great to be home Flickr

Graphic pattered chairs from It's Great to be Home Flickr

John Willey Flickr

Lil Magoolie blog

the Rug Company

Simply Smitten Blog

Vanessa De Vargas Turquoise Design

Jen's Art Additions and Print Contest Giveaway..YAY!

If you didn't already know, I follow a little format on AF where I pick a weekly topic and explore it further. I find shops, home stuff, artwork, etsy things, rooms and anything else that strikes my fancy-all centered around the weekly topic. This week was geometric shapes and patterns. Every Thursday I post some kind of art piece or craft I've done relating to the weekly topic and today is no exception. This week, however, I'm giving away 2 art prints from the "geometric" artwork pieces I've created
Here's what you do. 

Scroll through and pick the piece you like best and leave a comment telling me your choice.

You have until Friday at 8pm when I close the contest.

Then I'll choose the winner at random-and by random I mean I'll put a bunch of numbers in some sort of vessel and let my 5 year old choose the winners! It doesn't get any more random than that right! haha

2 winners will be announced Monday-Good Luck!

Each piece will be pencil signed and date on front. You DO NOT have to pay shipping-it's 100% FREE!

OK Have a look...

8 x 10 "Geometric Deer"-part original watercolor combined with a digital drawing of the triangle shapes, then layered with a deer silhouette, and digitally altered again.

8 x 10  Art Deco Woodgrain ABC-digital

8 x 10 Geo City original illustration combined with a digitally altered  original watercolor then layered together.

8 x 10 Contempo Bunny digital drawing with a digital edit, layered with a bunny silhouette.

Etsy Artist Finds.... and me finding myself.

Back in early 2007 I discovered Etsy. Life was different then, I was  different. I loved re-furbishing and painting furniture (mostly kid things). I signed up for Etsy but never really got around to making it happen.

Instead we got slammed by the wave of recession sweeping across Michigan and rapidly to the rest of the country. My husband worked for Chrysler and you know-that didn't turn out so good! lol-I can laugh now, but we nearly lost everything we had-except each other. 

Included in the loss was my creative spirit. You know, life has a way of forcing priorties on you and at the time all my creative juices were being poured into figuring out what the hell we were gonna do! We lived on the road for over 2 years chasing work in my husbands new field. First we stayed in hotels then in our motorhome. Ezzie was just a year old at the time. We were like modern day Okies (ala the Grapes of Wrath).
Now when someone says- "What do you think you'll be in doing in five years?" It sounds cheesy to me-I just laugh! Seriously? We had a brand new house, 6 gorgeous, wooded acres and in an instant we were living in a hotel room in some other state! Still, I felt blessed. I was with the 2 people I loved the most, having some really cool adventures, and we were executing a plan.

Years later when everything calmed back down, and we bought another home, I started thinking about me again. The things I love, the things I want to do. I rejoined Etsy, began blogging, and started cultivating my dreams. I realized how special it was to be able to connect with a community of creatives like me, who were pursuing their passions the way I had dreamed of doing. That's why I love to feature Etsy shops in my Wednesday posts. I hope it doesn't feel too much like a commercial, it's just something I really believe in! SUPPORT HANDMADE!

OH YEAH- Remember my art print contest starts tomorrow so be sure and check that out and you could win some fare for your area--from ME!:)

Here's a few artists that are packing a geometric punch.

Check em out...

ZIPPER 8 LIGHTING:








NENA VON:

THE PAIR A BIRDS:

 LAMPSHADE DESIGNS:

Pinterest Interest....

Ahh--there is nothing like a little eye candy over on Pinterest! Literally I'm a junkie over there. I have  a hard time saying good-bye! It seems like a blink and I start thinking "oh man, I've gotta feed the kids!" hahaha!. But seriously, you can really fritter your day away pretty easily looking at all the pins and repins! I went searching for some graphic pieces to go with this weeks motif of Geometric patterns. I found a great blog called Modish and she told me about a great site called Some Prints where I found these bold art prints that I just love!

CONTEST ALERT: I've decided to have a little art print give-away! One lucky reader will win an 8.5 x 11 art print from me that goes along with this weeks geometric theme! Here's what we'll do-starting on Thursday after I post my Art Additions, leave a comment and tell me the art print you like best from the selections I post. I'll do a drawing and announce the winner on MONDAY! Good Luck!!!

Have a look...

Monday Inspirations...not so (plain) geometry...

You need not be a mathematician to appreciate geometry these days. I love the bold statement, pop of color and simplicity of modern geometric patterns. They look great and are super fun in kids rooms too! This week I'll be exploring some shops, art and rooms that have brought geometry out of the classroom and into the home-room.

Check it out...

1. Geometric pillows-Thomas Paul $75 Burkedecor.com
2. Coral and Bamboo Pendant lamp-$850.00 ABC carpet and home
3. Geometric Wallpaper-Graham & Brown-BurkeDecor.com
4. Grey Hollywood Bedding-Jonathan Adler
5. Mini Planner $10 from Poketo.com
6. Modern Geometric patterned Coffe and Tea sets-Huset
7. Modern Rugs from--By Second Studio
8. Cubes on string- Ferm Living

Friday Rooms...ending a week of feathers

Well it's the end of the week of feathers here on AF. What were some of your favorite feather things? Would you put feathers into your decorating scheme? Feather themes are kinda cool to change out with the seasons. My sister-in-law loves them in her Christmas tree. She has a gorgeous feather boa she wraps from the top, then accents the rest of the tree with natural elements and colors like rust, gold, and green. It's really pretty.

 I'm planning on spending the weekend reading Grace Bonney's new (signed edition)of her book "Design*Sponge at Home"-yay! So now I'm leaving you with some inspiring pics of spaces and products that have incorporated feathers as an element of design. Maybe you'll be inspired to put a little feather in your nest!

Have a look...

Wisconsin cabins from the The Lettered Cottage

Apartment Therapy

House Beautiful

Parlour Blog

Elle Decor

Alexander McQueen "Feathers" rug-The Rug Company

Apartment Therapy

Parlour blog-Portfolio work

Juju feather art via Parlour Blog

 For a cool Tutorial on how to make a
JUJU FEATHER HAT, check out this link to Design*Sponge!