happy hallow's eve!

on this spooky day i thought i'd share an image of my son at his high school last night. he is involved with the drama club and every year they put on a haunted house, it's really quite the show. this year he wore a suit and a mask and was in the "joker" room. last year he was a dead pirate, as you can see in the first image. when i was walking through the haunted house, last year when he played that pirate, i hadn't seen his costume, so i didn't know which character was him...i had to look at the shoes for identification...then i realized it was my own son! the make up was that good. they will be working on the christmas carol for their next play, should be fabulous. he got the part of jacob marley.

*his high school's drama club was just recognized as one of the top 5 in the country. they put on the play "the wizard of oz" over the past spring and summer. the "WB" network sent a crew to film a documentary of the making of "OZ". if you go to the "WB" network's site on line, you can view this documentary in weekly segments, lots of behind the scenes etc. my son played "hunk" on of Dorothy's Uncles in "OZ" and was in some other scenes as well. fun to watch on line, you should definitely check it out. click on this link to take you there where it's titled "high drama, against all oz"!

so just a share and a scare this hallowee of something halloween-y. hope you all enjoy your day and evening whether your going knocking on doors with little ones for candy, or handing it out...enjoy your treats.

muleh, and lots of rattan.

not even kidding, one for your dog too.



interesting rattan stools, again, just as an accent it adds that element of texture.

"following 4 years in south east asia, owner christopher reiter created muléh (to come home javanese) in 1999 to reflect the harmonious subtleties of asian modern interiors. design talents with an aesthetic focusing on clean lines with rich texture are featured here. rapidly renewable organic materials used in many pieces yield a warmer contemporary feel. traditional crafts of local artisans are applied and therefore restored in producing these modern designs." there is so much more than rattan offered through muleh and to be honest i'm really not a huge fan of rattan, hey that rhymes...back to my thoughts on muleh...but, as i kept roaming around their site on line, the rattan pieces kept calling me to click on them. although i would not want an entire space or house filled with all rattan, which they mix with stainless steel, but a piece or a couple would definitely give you that texture piece your room is craving. muleh is based out of washington d.c. and readily available on line as well.

if every piece in whatever space you were creating, had very soft lines everywhere...throw one of these pieces in and voila! there's your accent piece, your piece that skews the room, that changes the dynamic of the situation. it begs you to believe that it really is comfortable, do not be skeptical it says, try me out and see. so rattan it is today, i never would have guessed it would be a material i'd feature, but then it's a woman's prerogative right...to change her mind!

hidden art.

hidden art offers all sorts of fun platters, plates and accessories.

fabulous pendant light.

jeeves lights.

they call these loopy lu lights!

hooked on these hooks.

i may have to buy one of these for my chocolate shop to display pieces.

how fun would it be to plop this sugar bowl down in front of guests over for tea.

what a fun take on your average fruit bowl!

with it's beginning in 1994, hidden art began as a small open studio of 43 design makers and a decade later has evolved into a unique network supporting over 1,800 design makers and "building links between the creative and manufacturing industries and their clients." hidden art is fun, funky, fabulous and we are fortunate to have them promoting ingenious artists and designers. based out of london, it's a must for browsing new, inventive websites. tons of eye candy on hidden art.

chocolate shop update: the ceiling has been prepped and the painters are there today, the only complication is that they are brazilian, although absolutely nothing wrong with that, they speak very little english and as you all know my anxiety over the sprinkler heads and if touched will put us all in a world of hurt, according to my father! so...many glances back as i left them alone in the shop to paint the ceiling, i'm home trying to breathe and work on homework, classes tonight. enjoy your tuesday, it's raining here and raw, good day to stay inside and eat lots of fattening food! see you tomorrow!

ligne roset.

"live beautifully!" that's their motto at ligne roset. well, dwell magazine has yet again led me to another wowzer of a company and producer of beautifully exceptional products. they never disappoint. another motto ligne roset lives by is that "luxury doesn't have to cost the earth. our philosophy of common sense." from designing their pieces to identifying the environmental issues associated with the product for the duration of its life cycle, ligne roset thinks about it clearly. and gets it clearly. based in briord france but with locations in many countries including the usa, their refreshing designs are right at your fingertips, or at your footsteps if you live close by one of them. a family tradition and business passed down through generations, that love for design, and now in particular a strong focus on the environment as well or in collaboration at least. ligne roset's pieces evoke an ethereal mood, light, airy and a space to plop and breathe. aaaahhh, i'm breathing a little bit deeper just imagining myself stretched out on one of these delights. here's hoping you breathe a little this weekend, if you're having trouble go to their website for some relaxing eye candy! happy friday friends!

wisteria.

handmade antiqued peacock mirror, what a conversation piece.

this moorish chest, inlaid with intricately cut camel bone is stunning, and expensive...but oh my gosh.

bicycle chain frame, fabulous way of recycling the metal. great texture too.

a great little find...translucent bird lamp

treasured sage chinese console.

love this south sea stool. adds an element of texture and thoughts of foreign lands.


help stay organized with this great little side table.

wisteria, formed by andrew and shannon, developed out of a need and desire to bring the furnishings they had both been surrounded by growing up...to everyone else, including themselves. they didn't want to have to wait a lifetime as their parents had to create that home and space that was filled with many interesting and unusual pieces. so they set out to find, furnish and offer to others their treasures. "thoughtful, intriguing, combinations of color, texture and history." all of what surrounded them both as children. wisteria started out selling their finds from magazine ads which progressed into a small catalog, to 75 employees, a fully functioning warehouse (2 children later) and big plans for the future! wisteria is open to working with others in the field, they have a catalog, website and storefront located in carrollton, texas. but if you can't make it to texas, make it to their website for sure, lots of happy hunting!

superieur.

put your feet up.

lounge.

i would split up every room in my house only with these room dividers. who needs walls anyway?

i adore this light board, very clever and unusually placed.

superior and superieur! fascinated by this white line of ethereal home furnishings and room dividers by superieur. large, sculpted pieces that seem to glow in the setting they are placed. based out of switzerland, superieur's pieces stand out without color, without bells and whistles, they just rest in the space they are put and sort of whisper design. soft, inviting design that takes my breath away. warning: each piece would rob you of your retirement but if you have a large retirement saved you may want to at least consider looking! their website has a link to a usa distributor which also looks intriguing in itself called spazia. spazia carries lines from many different designers and offers them close by in new york for your review and possibly purchase. you can download superieur's 2008 catalog from there and drool away. enjoy!

pumpkins, apple crisp and family time.

my son ethan hard at work.


ethan's.

mine.

happy monday everyone! i wanted to share my weekend and hope that you all may have had a similar one, and if not just as relaxing and enjoyable. saturday was spent working on the new shop, tearing out the awful corporate drop ceiling and tiles and fluorescent lights and the entire procedure and i do call it a "procedure", was very surgical. my father having spent years working for the government in washington d.c. sculpted the landscape you see around all of the monuments and smithsonian buildings, he also put in the sprinkler systems. well. although he directed the procedure by phone from tennessee where he now lives, he put the "world of hurt" speech into me about not touching the sprinkler heads, which are already installed in the awful corporate drop ceiling tiles at the shop.

so. i enlisted the help a some very dear and very brave friends to assist in the surgery of the ceiling but remembering that we would all be in a "world of hurt" if one of those sprinkler heads gets even breathed on, never mind touched in any way shape or form. water would develop into a massive flood of which would be biblical according to my dad, via the phone. yikes, so i went shopping with the wives of my brave friends and had to leave the building for fear of a heart attack. all is well so far, but we still have a little more work and near the sprinkler heads, so i'm still in for a repeat procedure.

sunday was family fun day, we were off to keith's farm in acushnet ma. a bit of a drive but worth it, homemade cider,to die-for apple crisp (warm and ready), apple picking, corn picking, hay rides and of course we spent time in the pumpkin patch looking for the "one" that spoke to us. later my son and i carved ours, baked up pumpkin seeds and admired our work. very nice. watched the red sox lose but you know what the rays played their hearts out. all in all a fab weekend, hope yours was too!

reflecting.

2 below are by schoenbuch.

teori.

quodes.

2 mirrors below are by horm, italy.


bd barcelona.

3 mirrors below are by glass italia.



happy much needed and glorious friday...although my weekend is jammed packed with work and fun! and my work is turning into fun transforming my chocolate shop. we've ripped out the corporate blue carpet, taking down the drop ceiling on saturday and toying with what to do with the concrete floor, all in all, very exciting. while in a reflecting mood, contemplating my happiness, i thought it fitting to also reflect on unique shapes that are mirrors. we don't necessarily have to slap up a mirror, framed and centered over who knows what. experiment with the medium which is glass and take it on as art, to reflect the sculpture that you are! what fun.