Dia de los Muertos Wallpaper

                                             Just had to share! How amazing is this?

                                                        Dia de los Muertos Wallpaper

Yard Sale Aftermath

Hello, Internet! Long time no blog post! What can I say? I was so busy with my epic Yard Sale and then so busy spending my epic yard sale money that I got distracted! I had a fab bunch of arty display-queen gals helping me set up the sale. Up and at 'em early, we were! We wound up putting out 15 tables of stuff! It was more like an outdoor pop-up shop than a yard sale. I'd advertised the hell outta the thing and by 8:30 we had a line up of about 40 people chomping at the bit to break through the gate. My not-small backyard was fence-to-fence folks!  Treasure-hunters lined up 20 deep to pay for their new schwag, and my cousin (Saucy Miss Scarlet) heard someone say: "They should open up another cashier!" I'm sure it was all she could do to not tell him "This a'int Walmart, motherf*cker!" (We work in retail! Sometimes you just wanna let this stuff out!) Anyhoo, thanks to the hard work of my helper monkeys- Saucy, JQ, ELH, ZA, SH and KH...I made almost $2000! The leftover stuff was promptly picked up by a local community centre whose patrons take what they need from the centre's collection  at no cost to them. What a great idea!

So! What project did I put the yard sale earnings to? My imminent bathroom update? My horrifying, pit-of-despair basement? New flooring? Guess again. I tried, I really did. My plan was to go buy the materials for my bathroom update, and everything I wanted (I. MEAN. EVERYTHING.) was not only out of stock, but discontinued at ye olde Home Depot! That's what happens when you wait 4 months to buy something, friends. The vanity that I love, well, HD's stock says there are two left at the HD near the ends of the earth. Called to have it put on hold (was on hold with "customer service" for 20 minutes.) Went to pick it up. It's not there. "It says we have two." Yeeeeeeessssss? "But they're not here." Super long story short...no frickin' vanity.  And also, the Home Depot on Regent is staffed by a gaggle of effing morons. 

After that debacle, I figured...meh. Free money! I shouldn't feel guilty for spending free money! So, being who I am...I spent! And spent! I bought myself the Rosetta Stone Series for Spanish, some Fiestaware, paid off the rest of my new computer, took the fam out for dinner, engaged Hilary Druxman to make some gold earrings made for my ma, paid all my bills (yawn!) bought myself a sculpture by the ridiculously talented Jordan Van Sewell (and my dad's Father's Day gift) and bought some birthday presents! (As an aside...holy crap June is expensive! Two cousins' birthdays, four close friends birthdays, my baby brother's birthday and Father's Day!) 

Enjoy the fruits of my shopping! Well, the images of 'em, anyway...I had to order almost all this stuff and none of it has arrived so far, except of course for the best piece, the sculpture!

Turquoise Fiestaware

Lemongrass Fiestaware...bright enough to burn out yer retinas, non?

Fiestaware Gusto bowls...I ordered peacock, marigold, scarlet and shamrock! How  I love Fiestaware!

I love learning without having to leave my house. 

Earrings by Hilary Druxman similar to the ones she's creating for my mom, only mom's will be gold with a
teeny- weeny diamond in each.

Donde Es Dios sculpture by Jordan Van Sewell

So...THIS is amazing! A factory cart coffee table DIY how-to from Blissful Bee.

Organizing

It was a mostly-lovely long weekend up here in Canada, which means my extendo-family goes camping or canoeing or out to their cottage while I stay here to look after their pets. This sounds like I'm complaining, but I much prefer the hanging out with animals to the camping (wood ticks!), boating (BORRRRR-ING) and "cottaging" which I find over-rated in every way. Should it take so much work to relax? I think not, but whatever floats your boat (so long as I don't have to paddle it.)

One of the great things about pet-sitting or house-sitting is that you get to see how other people live. And when other people are in a rush to get outta the city for the long weekend, you get to see how they really live! And apparently my family embraces chaos. Both houses where I was pet-sitting were a sight to behold. I'm not judging, in case my family is reading this...(but if they're not reading this I am totally judging!)

Now, I don't have kids, so I'm sure I can't fully understand how much of a bloody mess they make. My dad says my almost-13-year-old brother is like a hurricane, destroying everything in his wake, and I definitely caught a glimpse of that this weekend. I'm gonna call it "Katrina-Chic." The thing is, my dad has a big, beautiful house, lots of storage space and a whole whack of storage cupboards...which haven't been set up yet. It was all I could do to leave the house as it was, but I assure you, I will insist he invite me over for an organizing-party very soon. The other house I was visiting had been left in a hurry, and with two kids, two dogs and two cats I imagine it's a daily battle just to maintain ones sanity. I did their dishes, so they wouldn't have to come home after a lovely weekend away to 2 hours of cleaning. (See? I'm not always a selfish wanker. Just usually!) And I learned something! KIDS = TUPPERWARE. So much Tupperware!

For me, organization is the key to living easy. I am the first to admit that my house is only about 70% clean, 60% of the time (I could build an extra cat with the amount of fur on my stairs right now) but I'm crazy organized. I know where everything in my house is at any given time. My baby blanket? In that white storage box with vintage Barbie, who's wearing a super slutty outfit! (Everything is sluttier with no shirt.) That cheese knife with the sheep-bone handle that we got for our wedding (makes a great gift for any vegan!) It's in the drawer with the chopsticks. My husband's old head shots? In the lidded basket on top of the shelves in the office. (And oh! my! God! I laughed til I cried when I first saw those. C in a tux with a trumpet, C dressed like an Irish thug...absolutely priceless.)

With the amount of stuff I have, I have to be organized, or you're gonna see me on the next episode of Hoarders.  I really do believe in the old adage "a place for everything, and everything in it's place." It takes a little bit of work to get a system in place, but it makes your home run so much more smoothly.

Here's a link to a home-organization website, which is full of helpful tips, if you're feeling like now's the time for conquering the clutter: Organized Home

And here are some photos that make me feel calmer just lookin' at 'em!

Chick looks so excited to be organized! Could just be the mom-jeans, though.

From Classy Clutter...I love it.

Filing cabinets of any kind would be good....Mario filing cabinets would be better.

This makes me feel mellow! 

Clever.

What I wouldn't give for vintage industrial lockers!

Desire to Inspire

One of my favourite blogs, Desire To Inspire has posted a couple of photos of my uber-kittens on their weekly "Pets On Furniture" column. Thanks, Kim! Now they're famous. Well-deservedly famous!

Mario Brothers Bathroom

Holy Effin' Crap, you guys! You MUST check out the bathroom over at Woo Home.

ONE UP!

Wallpaper!

I was hanging out with my little cousins a few days ago, blowing their minds by making them watch Labyrinth.  I've seen that movie 100 times (I don't think that's an exaggeration) and I never really paid attention to the wallpaper, probably because I was too distracted by David Bowie's junk. (Seriously, WTF is up with that?) But this time I noticed the William Morris-esque wallpaper in Sarah's house, and my thoughts turned to decorating. Then I had a dream that I was wallpapering over a window, and then I figured "Blog Post!"

I've never had wallpaper (that wasn't 50 years old and painted over by generations of renters) because I figured I had too much art work to put on patterned walls and the paper and the art would detract from each other. But maybe there'll be space in my next house? If there is, I will hire someone to put it up. I'm awfully crafty, but when we moved into our house I did buy some paint-able, embossed, polka-dotty wallpaper from the Debbie Travis line and things did not go well. Words to the wise: Don't try to wallpaper by yourself. Or with my husband. Had we been married at the time, we may have been divorced by the time the wallpaper paste dried.

Here are some great wallcoverings that might be worth the aggravation! But first....

Honestly...what the fuck?

William Morris design. 

William Morris.

William Morris.

William Morris.

And another William Morris. These papers and similar are available here.

Greta Jade by Villa Nova.

Close up of Bengale toile by Manuel Canovas.

Saw this Schumacher wallpaper on an episode of Sarah's House, where she used it to grand effect in a powder room.

Love this tree print by Lee Jofa.

Knowing as you do my infatuation with the macabre, you'd know I couldn't end this post without showing you this  graphic skull print available at Designer Wallcoverings.

Dark Shadows

Just a quick post, as I'm about to clean out my linen closet in anticipation of my Yard Sale! (Seriously, if you don't hear back from me by tomorrow, someone send a search and rescue team. A hot search and rescue team.) It was an odd weekend, this one! I was invited to a gospel show at a Baptist church and thought since I'd probably not get another opportunity to go to one, I'd check it out. My friend T and my cousin Saucy Miss Scarlet and I went together (despite the concerns of some friends that I may burst into flames upon entering a church.) The choir and their band was great! (Wah-wah peddles at church?!) I won't get into the set played by the amateur religious rock band, which was at least mercifully short....maybe there IS a God. We made it out after the show with no incendiary instances, had a snack at Stella's and popped by work (Prairie Sky Books) to take a photo of my latest window display. What, did you think I only decorated at home?  Warner Brothers was kind enough to send us passes to the advance screening of Dark Shadows next week (there are definite perks to my job!) and we are awfully excited! In appreciation for the passes and because of my undying love for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, I cobbled together a goofily macabre, vampy window display. Hope you like it. And I hope you'll go see the movie!

The Great Purge of 2012

Steady, now. I'm going to do it. I'm about to start the Great Purge of 2012.
Some of y'all know that I'm planning a yard sale, and I intend to get rid of a LOT of stuff. And what better place to start than my studio? I figure if I start huge (the biggest room with the most stuff in it) it can only get easier from there. I'm a little scared of the time it's gonna take, plus I'm going to have to be very firm with myself. Am I ever really going to use two industrial paper-cutters, a 10 pound box of ugly wood beads or a bag of dolls heads? (Wait! I used those when I sewed a whole bunch of 'em onto the hem of a shirt for my Lady Gaga Halloween costume...) Wish me luck. It's about to get real up in here...

UPDATE: I cleared out one shelving unit in 3 hours. 2 big tubs for the yard sale, though! I was very strict with myself. Time to do another hours worth. I can't believe I thought I'd finish the whole room today!

UPDATE #2: It's two days later. I've filled almost 5 72-litre bins with stuff, just from the studio! I also pulled 100 dvds off the shelves and sorted through and priced all the jewelry I'm saying adios to. And I just threw out a huge recycling bag full of magazine clippings, sketches, greeting cards, etc. Why was I keeping this stuff?!

Chairs!

After my last post about the Pasha chair, I started thinking about how I have a bit of a chair fetish. I could write a whole blog about 'em! But I'll just stick with one heavy-on-the-photos-post. Man,  I LOVE chairs! Sitting is AWESOME! Hope you enjoy these picks. You and your ass can thank me (or curse me) later.

The Skull resin chair by Pool UK. Just a concept piece, not mass produced.

A classic! The Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck.

Another Starck, the Mademoiselle chair.

The Eero Saarinen Tulip Chair.

Another Saarinen classic, the Ball Chair.

And the hanging Bubble version.

The Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair.

The Eames moulded plywood lounge chair for Herman Miller.

I see these all over Mexico, and would love to bring one home...alternatively you could by the Acapulco chair.

I've always called these banana chairs, and found one once at a yard sale for $50...then left it on my balcony, cuz I was too lazy to unscrew it from the roof. You can find similar chairs here, or try your luck yard-saleing.

While I don't really like leather furniture, I do love traditional equipale  chairs from  Mexico.  These ones are often made from pig leather...ewww, bacon-y. You can find similar ones here.

Once again, the Pasha chair, by Pedrali.

I've always loved round settees! I'd look on ebay, or in antique stores for a similar one,  but if you've got an extra 9 grand lying around, you could try Windsor Smith for a similar piece.

I know I said I don't like leather furniture, but you might! And this Safari Camp chair by Ralph Lauren is so beautiful.

Loving this new Reclaimed Boat Chair from Anthropologie.

The Opera chair by Casmidy.

The Skeleton Chair by Michael Aram

Suzani print chair from Graham and Green.

If you like these chairs, you may enjoy the book 1000 Chairs, by Taschen.