Wanderlust

Found out about a great new site that is British based for last minute hotel bookings in England and Europe. I read about it in the September issue of Travel and Leisure. http://www.laterooms.com/
Man, am I itching for a European jaunt....
Additionally, http://www.zoombu.co.uk/ allows you to calculate the best way from one city to another.

Happy travels!!!

Suncatcher Designs

What do you think of when you see beach glass, shells and other whimsical baubles....? Vacations..or more specifically beach vacations. Those are some of my favorite kinds. I think you always have memories of them, at the least as a child. There is nothing better than that of sun, surf, sand and the glorious sea.  I love the water, it can be rivers, lakes, streams, but really nothing is better than the sea.
Someone who has as much passion for the beach, is using that as a basis to design some of the most unique bracelets I have seen in years.

Suncatcher Designs utilize found beach glass and seashells, along with gemstones, beads, crystals, and other great baubles.(The beachglass mostly from Hawaii and shells from many places, as far as Australia by the designer herself).

One of my dear friends has been designing these bracelets for over the last five years and I had never seen them until earlier this month, and can I tell you, they are FABULOUS!!!! She is an Aussie that calls Austin home, by way of California, Connecticut and Hawaii. It was in Hawaii that she and a bunch of fellow military wives started collecting beach glass and designing jewelry. Each bracelet is one of a kind, as many of the items are not man made or were reproduced.

You can see pictures below of some she recently sold to a boutique in Turks and Caicos(British Virgin Islands).  I just had to have one, so I can't wait to see what she comes up with for me. Soon she will showcase her designs via  Etsy. If you are interested at all, contact me and I will put you in touch with her.

Photo Courtesy A.Sanchez

Photo Courtesy of A. Sanchez

Photo Courtesy A.Sanchez

Lonny

Just a quick note to say that the latest issue of the online magazine Lonny has just been published.
Enjoy!!

Will be posting soon--more about our project completion, beautiful beach glass bracelets designed by D. Estrin and much more!

http://www.lonnymag.com/Home.html

Isn't it ironic...we did not plan it...

Just had to share...as many of you know, we are working on the final touches to our main project this year so far. In doing so, we found out that something we had done as part of our art installation had put a smile on some very special people's faces.  As you can see below, there  is a darling couple standing in front of a photo wall we designed as a part of the buildings main activity area. Mr. and Mrs. Pittman happen to be the Pittmans of the sign you see above their heads, and to add to the story, they are going to be some of the first residents of our fabulous project.

Photo courtesy of a+k design

The sign is from their dry cleaning business in downtown Belton, which has been open for 64 years. What they may not know is that their sign was what started our inspiration for the photo wall. We fell head over heels for the sign, mostly due to our love of the simplicity of the sign design, the very vintage look of it, and the colors. That day the sun was shining, the sky had that blue color and against the sign, we loved it!! This began our series of photographs taken in downtown of various businesses that have been around for decades and some wall murals of various types. We did the series as a nod to all that we thought gave downtown Belton it's unique flavor, in hopes the residents would agree. Little did we know that the Pittman's would eventually be immortalized. 

Well it made us smile, so I just wanted to share.

It goes to show that you can take anything you have a passion for and turn it into art for your own personal spaces, it can be anything(flowers, people, places or just a series of items you love) I just takes a little time to shoot, and you can buy an inexpensive frame and pre-made mat, and wha-lah(original art)!!!

What will they think of next...

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 10-20 years, everyone has heard of "blackboard" paint, it's been a tried and true solution for those that want to draw on their walls without worry (with chalk) and for children's rooms its a no brainer. Well now there is a solution that has taken that to the next level.

I read about a version of this paint in the June issue of Interior Design, that I just got(go figure). DesignTex sells "write up" h2o which is a clear, water based dry erase paint that can be done in various colors and ready to use in 7 days from application and has a shelf life of 2 years, if properly stored. The product can be used in LEED certification. Though DesignTex is known for commercial projects, I can see so many other uses for home. How fun would it be to use on a home office or children's room wall, or even school or health care. It should be much cheaper than most dry erase boards and sky's the limit on the application area size.

Another company that sells a similar product is MDC Wallcoverings, they sell tabrasa by ideapaint, which was launched last year.  Ideapaint has other dry erase paints via their site also. They do not offer the paint in any color, just 5 neutral hues, but I have no problem with that. They show many uses both commercial and residential, including painting a refridgerator door and furniture. One thing I did not realize is that traditional white boards offgas formaldehyde. This company has won several awards also. I ordered a sample, so I will let you know what its like.

It's been so long...

Sorry about my lack of posts, we are 2 days away from our major install at our retirement home. We load up a van tomorrow and get starting bright and early on Friday. We are psyched and have been waiting about a year for this to be completed. We will install at various times throughout this month, so I will post when I can.

One thing that happens at the start of each month is the delivery and purchase of magazines, love them, can't get enough. I read online magazines, blogs and love to recieve the real thing in the mail. So yesterday was Canada's House and Home and the British Living, Etc. House and Home had a blurb about something we have purchased, and LOVE...so as a slightly late "To Do Tuesday" we highly recommend Ikea's Solig table lamp and pendants. They were at my local Ikea about 2 months ago and we literally bought the last two(A has one and I have one, she has black and I have red). As far as their website, they are still out of stock, darnit, would have loved a pair.

So the 411-The lamps are outdoor, solar powered little gems that are as stylish as they are green.
Key features as per Ikea.com-Runs on solar cells that transform sunlight into electricity; helps you save energy and reduce your environmental footprint.

Solar cells transform sunlight into electrical energy - requires no electrical connections.
Uses LEDs, which consume approx. 70% less energy and last 20 times longer than incandescent bulbs. I have mine right now on my desk, but would be great for an outdoor dinner party.
Photo is from http://www.ikea.com/
 
 

A glimpse into our project

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, been very busy on our current project, amongst other things, thought I would let you see the models we have just finished(albeit some small things). The 2 videos show our studio and 1 bedroom models. Enjoy!