Saturday, April 30, 2011

April Showers, May Flowers

Today was the last day of April...a month that brought Ohio new record rainfall. And yet today was beautifully sunny. I was in awe of the sunshine, and we made the most of it

My alien-shadow waves hello.
Lovely white flowers that have come up back by the garage.
I was on the phone to a friend, sitting outside under our tree in the back yard, and all of a sudden I practically squealed her ear off, and said "FIDDLEHEAD FERNS!!!" I LOVE fiddlehead ferns, and we apparently have them in our back yard. Best news of the entire day, and it was a great day.
Our beautiful tree in the back yard has started to turn green.
We moved one of the day lilies to make room for our new lilac at the corner of the patio.
Corvin enjoyed basking in the sun and by the sun.
Eeeee!!! Fiddleheads!!!!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Gowieyes

When I was a very very little girl, I used to call "butterflies" "gowieyes" (and flowers "oowawees").

For the Dreaming Room upstairs, I just ordered two framed butterflies from a cruelty-free seller on Etsy. Can't wait till they arrive.
And here's a teaser peek at the newest creative project I'm working on for Catty-Corner:

Monday, April 25, 2011

Dawn Treader State Room

Tom and I bought the Blu Ray of Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It has always been my favorite Narnia book and I never did get to the theater to see it, so I was eager to watch it. The visuals were just gorgeous, but I was especially smitten with the State Room inside the Dawn Treader ship. So smitten, that I had to pop the disc into my computer and screen cap the space.

Click all images to see much larger.

Enter through the gorgeous wood and stained glass doors.


The painting of ...I'm guessing Susan?...behind Lucy's head was what first really popped my attention to this space. I'm a sucker for art painted on walls, and a huge sucker for art this BEAUTIFUL on walls. I've tried searching high and low on the internet and the movie credits to find out who did the art on these walls, and all to no avail so far. :(
Written in gold on white above the first mural is "Once a King or Queen of Narnia, Always a King or Queen" in a beautiful medieval font. Ah, be still my heart....
Click this image for a more readable view of the lettering:
I would love to look closely at all of the little objects on the counters.
Lucy turns from a beautiful mural of the famous lamppost. I'm guessing perhaps a picture of Tumnus is to the right of the window? Ah, the window too...(drool)
Behind Edmund's head is a centaur with a horn, rendered *gorgeously* (He was across the room from Lucy, so this is a different mural)

The picture was blurry, but here's another view of the Susan mural with all the gorgeous woodwork.

The furniture behind them is also droolworthy.
Aaaah be still my heart!! The coffered ceiling, the murals, the stained glass, the woodword, the furniture....can I move in now??
Plenty of inspiration in this space for Catty-Corner! If you want to know what I love in decorating, well...here it is!!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Day

In honor of the occasion, I wanted to share with you...

A bouquet of spring flowers picked by my mom and nephew, and given to me:

A BABY GOAT! One of a half dozen or so new adorable babies at a friend's farm.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Roses for a Rainy Friday





Today I stopped by Walmart for a few groceries, and they had a plethora of rose bouquets on sale for $10 for the dozen. They spilled out around the produce displays in a thousand colors, and I admired their beauty, but it wasn't until I saw these lovelies that I could no longer resist.

To me, they are definitely females...fair maidens blowsily displaying their fine frocks. It's hard to tell from these pictures, but in person the blooms are so very full and beautiful. I could hardly say no to them.

They brighten up our dining room table, a room that has gone entirely undecorated thus far. I keep vaguely hinting at this, but I do have massively huge plans for this room...the biggest undertaking of all the artsy projects in the house.

For now, the room is made brighter on a rainy dreary April day by this bouquet of twelve dancing princesses. (could that be...a hint?)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Disney's The Little House, 1952



Many thanks to Content in a Cottage for the link to this wonderful little Disney short film. This is how I feel about my own little house.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Lady in the Meads

In our old apartment, there were only three things painted on the walls: In the living room we had two faeries on the wall behind our television. And in our bedroom we had a quote from my favorite poem, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", painted in gold below an artwork of Hylas and the Nymphs by Waterhouse.

When we moved into the new house, and I hung Hylas and the Nymphs on an existing nail behind the living room couch, Tom started asking me when I was going to paint the quote below it. He was quite happy when I started to work on it this past weekend.

These pictures were shot last night at about midnight-thirty when I finally finished the last line of text. It's not the best lighting, but you know how much I love to catch Corvin in the shots of my updates, and he was sitting beside me on the couch so adorably, I had to get a picture then.


We'll likely be putting iron sconces or something similar on either side of the artwork, but I want to find just the right thing. Any suggestions?

And yes, this is the same font I used on the staircase. It's a beautiful font and very pleasant to paint, and I thought using the same one would make the flow from room to room easier/better.

"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is a poem by Keats, and although I always thought it was lovely, it wasn't until I started analyzing it further in college that it became my favorite poem and somewhat of an obsession. The vagueness of the narration makes for a story that can be interpreted so many different ways, and I prefer to read it in a way that is sympathetic to the Lady in the Meads.

I hope to soon start on a short story version of the poem that elaborates on the narrative.

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
And the harvest's done.

I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful - a faery's child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.

I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery's song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said -
'I love thee true'.

She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.

And there she lulled me asleep
And there I dreamed - Ah! woe betide! -
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried - 'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!'

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill's side.

And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Front Porch Portraits

This morning I went and posed for some pictures with photographer Heather at Dawes. When I got home, before I took off the pretty purple dress, I had Tom shoot a couple of pictures on the front porch. Yes, I'm such a new home owner...I have to have pictures with my "baby". :)


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Art Nouveau Spirit


The other night, I got a fire in my head to paint an Art Nouveau style female above the arched doorframe directly across from the front door. So Thursday night I started sketching it out on the wall at 10:00pm and finished it at midnight-thirty.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Warm House






Here are a few shots taken today. Spring just keeps coming!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Geek Cred

Overall, if I had to choose a name for the decorating style of our house, it would be "Victorian Medieval Revivalist" or "British Victorian Arts & Crafts." However, not all of my interests lay in this direction (although a good deal of them do) nor do those of my husband. I speak of....our geekdoms.

I am a sci fi and fantasy geek...someone who has been to at least one sci fi or fantasy themed convention every year for the past ten years (excluding only 2008, our wedding year) dressed in handmade costumes both original and fandom recreation.

Tom is an enormous comic book and movie aficionado, and in fact we met through the message boards on Linsner.com (Joe created the comic character of Dawn). He once owned a comic shop, and is the biggest Spider-man fan I've ever met.

Soooo in among the fairy tale books and the mahogany wood, you may see glimpses of our fandoms here and there scattered around the house, and most centrally located in our "Geek Room" on the main floor. Here are a few examples.

In our living room, beside the tv, below a blue and white tea set, are the framed decoupaged pictures I made for above our apartment fireplace, each showcasing a different fandom. Left to right, there's J.W. Waterhouse (me), Sandman's Death (Tom), Kinuko Craft (me) and Spider-man (Tom)


In front of the frames is the cake topper from our wedding...Spider-man and Mary Jane.


The theme in the kitchen is early 1900s / Art Nouveau advertising. Toward that end, I hope to start a collection of original and reproduction tins from the early 1900s. But scattered in with the old, will be the Spidey.


The small hall wall right outside our geek room features a plush version of one of the door knockers from Labyrinth (a fandom of mine) and a picture we found on Worth 1000 that just too perfectly summarized Tom and me to not frame. (The art is by Bouguereau, modified just a tad)


Just inside the geek room are a couple of great portraits Tom commissioned from our dear friend and talented artist, Erica Hesse.


The video game tv in the geek room is a shelf for Tom's actions figures too. (I love Rex from Toy Story). Behind the tv is a Spider-man movie poster, and a plush Spidey hangs from the curtain.


Spidey and Death figures are displayed on Tom's computer desk.


The top of the bookshelves in there display more figures and fandoms.


We just got a frame for this Origin of Spider-man poster. I think it looks pretty snazzy.


Above our computers...on my side is an awesome Adam Hughes "Women of DC" poster. Above Tom's is Death from Sandman.


Adding a bit of levity to the decor is something I love, and I'm very glad to be with someone who agrees with me.