Eli

Hello again,

I was on a roll with posting there for awhile, but alas it stopped suddenly...and for good reason! I went into the hospital on July 10th because my 'water broke,' and was put on bed-rest for the remainder of my pregnancy and was being closely monitored by the nurses and doctors for risk of infection, etc... Ten days later we had our beautiful baby boy- Eli Robert Collins, born July 17th, at 3:16pm, 4 lbs. 1 oz. and 17.5 in. He was a great size for a 32 weeker, and was perfectly healthy aside from a little new baby jaundice.

Eli had to stay in the hospital for 3.5 weeks to mature and grow and has been home ever since early August, thriving and doing great and making our lives so much better, what joy he brings!! We love him sooo much!!

Here he is:


So precious wrapped up in a swaddle. We love the aden and anais blankets, they are the BEST!! So soft and the perfect length for a snug swaddle.

He is also wearing a adorable penguin hat from Gap Baby. I'll post pictures of his completed nursery this week sometime. Just wanted to check in and say hi and that I'm back! Yay!

Nursery Inspiration

So for our boys nursery, I decided to go with a explorer/nautical theme. Being that Scott and I both grew up in California and love the coast, it made sense to introduce that part of our lives to our son who will be raised in Colorado. After painting the walls a lovely warm cream, we went with a color palette of blues (navy and sky blue) white and cream. We ended up scoring a free, wonderful dark wood Pottery Barn crib and then I purchased the Serena and Lily 'Harrison' Bedding. We have an antique dark wood rocking chair that goes perfectly, but still needs some pillows for both comfort and style. On the walls so far we have some antique prints, one of a sailboat and a set of some old city views that have a 'nautical' feeling to them. I also purchased a super-cute vintage dresser from the Denver 'Paris Street Market' that is refurbished in a cream color and has white seashell drawer pulls. For the most part the nursery is done, I just need to get some additional items for those 'special touches.' These images below were inspiration for the process and a few of the items from Anthropologie may end up in there...:) I'll post pictures of the finished product soon!


Map wallpaper from 'Home Depot'


Harrison Crib Bedding from 'Serena and Lily'


Graham Bedding from 'Serena and Lily'



Curtain, Silhouette and Zinc Letters all from 'Anthropologie'

Summer

Image by Simon Filip, as seen on 'Design is Mine'


Image by Lissy Elle, as seen on 'Design Is Mine'


Don't you just love these tent idea's? Summer always makes me want to pitch a tent in our backyard and make s'mores and tell ghost stories. In a couple years I'm sure we will be doing just that with our little one who should be arriving here in about 10 weeks... Hope he loves summer as much as his dad and I do!

Some Decorating Idea's.....

Hi Everyone!

Here I am again, Ms. Sporadic blog poster.

Some of you may know that I run an antique print gallery here in Denver... and so I thought I would do some cross-posting here.

Please find below 2 links to my work blog that features some great decorating idea's on how to incorporate prints and maps into your home, in a fun fresh way!

xo

http://aradergallerydenver.blogspot.com/2009/04/decorating-with-antique-prints.html

http://aradergallerydenver.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-decorate-with-maps.html

http://aradergallerydenver.blogspot.com/2009/05/mckenney-hall-early-19th-century-native.html

Off to Atlanta

Hi Friends,

Well I am heading out (early) tomorrow am for a work trip in Atlanta, and I have to say that I am really excited about sneaking off to one of my favorite designers shops 'Mrs.Howard.' Here are just a few images of the store-enjoy! And I'll post again next week. Bye!





All Images from Mrs.Howard

The Lace Reader

Hello friends,

This past weekend I finished reading the most extraordinary novel; The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.

It's one of those books that you can't put down and won't stop thinking about after reading. One of the questions they ask in the reader's discussion is: How has lace been used in your family, and do you use it in your home, etc...?

Growing up I remember my mother and aunt using doilies around the house as decorative/ fanciful, side table adornments, but other than that it was not a prominent decorative motif in the home. In college I inherited a pair of lace curtains, and then of course my wedding dress was antique lace, but as far as my home goes... we do not have any lace items, more crochet, quilt type bedding/linens.

Photo by Klea Mckenna


So.... this all got me thinking about lace in the home. Here are a few images I found.


Image found on Bliss

Image found on this is glamorous




Burano tray from Anthropologie

Stitch Encyclopedia Throw from Anthropologie



How do you use lace in your home? Or did your family members use it? Please feel free to send me images you come across. xo

Mini Art History Lesson-Silhouette Portraiture

'A silhouette is a view of an object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. The term was initially applied in the 18th century to portraits or other pictorial representations cut from thin black card.

The word silhouette is an eponym of Etienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who in 1759 was forced by France's severe credit crisis during the Seven Years War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy. Because de Silhouette enjoyed making cut paper portraits, his name became synonymous with these portraits and with anything done or made cheaply. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person's appearance The advantage of the profile portrait is that, because it depends strongly upon the proportions and relationship of the bony structures of the face, forehead, nose and chin, the image is clear and simple, and deviates less from the appearance of the sitter with changes caused by age, weight and illness.

Profile portraits have been employed on coinage since the Roman era. The early Renaissance period saw a fashion for painted profile portraits and many famous people such as Lorenzo de Medici were depicted in profile. Recent research at Stanford University indicates that where previous studies of face recognition have been based on frontal views, studies with silhouettes show humans are able to extract accurate information about gender and age from the silhouette alone.This is an important concept for artists who design characters for visual media, because the silhouette is the most immediately recognizable and identifiable shape of the character. A silhouette portrait can be painted or drawn. However, the traditional method of creating silhouette portraits is to cut them from lightweight black cardboard, and mount them on a pale (usually white) background. This was the work of specialist artists, often working out of booths at fairs or markets. A traditional silhouette portrait artist would cut the likeness of a person, freehand, within a few minutes. Some modern silhouette artists also make silhouettes portraits from photographs of people taken in profile. The work of the physiologist Johanna Caspar Lavater, who used silhouettes to analyse facial types, is thought to have promoted the art.One of the most famous silhouette artists of the 18th century, August Edward, cut thousands of portraits in duplicate. His subjects included French and British nobility and US presidents. Much of his personal collection was lost in a shipwreck.In England, the best known silhouette artist was John Miers, who traveled and worked in different cities, but had a studio on the Strand in London. In America, silhouettes were highly popular from about 1790 to 1840. The invention of the camera signaled the end of the silhouette as a widespread form of portraiture.The skill was not lost, and traveling silhouette artists continued to work at state fairs into the 20th century.'
(from Wikipedia)










I collect silhouettes (well I have a small collection in my kitchen) and think that because of the black and white color scheme and abstraction of the portrait; that silhouette portraiture can compliment most interiors. I have also seen silhouettes come back as a big trend in home accessories, etc... Take a look at some current items:



Totes from mothology


Plate from Thomas Paul


Pillows from Ballard Designs


Hooks from Urban Outfitters