Emerald

Remember this? Kiera Knightly perfection in the movie Atonement....I'm inspired not only by her freakishly flat tummy, but by this particular shade of green: Emerald.
It's going to be big in fashion this fall, the Middleton sisters are HUGE fans of emerald.




I love a splash of leopard with my emerald, thank you very much! (people.com)




I'm also noticing this trend of mismatched colors, which I think is really nifty. I keep trying to convince a client I'm working with right now that her blue lamp does not have to be the same exact blue as her drapes....she's not buying it. But mismatchey-ness creates some tension that I quite like, do you agree? (glitterguide.com)




Speaking of blue....I am all over the cool end of the rainbow spectrum anymore. I imagine this photo is photoshopped all to pieces, but it's a photo of the Northern Lights, via National Geographic. I want to live in this exact spot, forever. Sigh.


How to work it:




Keep it simple, with white and God's other favorite color-brown. (porterhousedesign.com)
I love that they extended the wall color onto the ceiling. Without all that white, and the ceiling mounted canopty it might be too heavy, but this works!


Just add a pop, and pair it with blue for a summery fresh feel. (blog.hgtv.com)



Stripe it with other shades of green. There's that toothpaste green again! (I recently painted the shutters on my house toothpaste green. I'm nothing, if not committed!) (designsponge.com)

Chinoise' it up! Emerald green is a perfect alternative for predictable red or royal blue, and looks great up against black lacquer... (Lonny Magazine/ Miles Redd)

...or zebra or any other black and white graphic print (bijouandboheme.blogspot.com)

Carrie Underwood, Queen of all things wonderful

all sparkley at the CMA's!

I must admit. Carrie Underwood and I have veeeeery little in common. I've got no pipes, no mile long legs and no luxurious blonde hair. (Let's talk about that hair and where can I get some?) I love love love this girl.

What's not to love? She has got talent oozing from every pore, she seems genuinely nice and humble, she sings about Jesus and glitter is her favorite color. Her only flaw, from what I can see, is that from time to time, she dresses like Mama Judd helped her pick it out, but ever since she fell in love with that cutie she's been dressing a whole lot better! She's taking risks and not doing the 'country' thing all the time. I love some of the sophisticated, bold and modern choices she's been making lately.

at the Grammy's with cute hubby.

performing on American Idol (after she was already insanely famous) .

You want to have crazy legs like Miss Carrie? ( I am currently on the 'crazy legs' workout plan cause I got myself some of those white dress shorts shown above and I've got a hot date with Mike in the big city this weekend).

Here's what you do:

get a set of AT LEAST 1o lb. dumbbells.

Grasp one in each hand and commence with AT LEAST 50 front lunges.

Now do back lunges. (You hate me yet?)

Now that your legs are all good and jello-y....put said dumbbells on your shoulders and do AT LEAST 50 squats.

Set your dumbbells aside and pick up an AT LEAST 15 lb. kettle bell and assume a wide plie position, holding the kettle bell straight down in front and do AT LEAST 50 plies.

Do that every other day, alternating with running or walking on off days.

Soon, you will have crazy legs, as in crazy good. On your big night out, use a self tanner topped with a glitter lotion. You can thank me later!!!! :)

(common sense warning...I am not a doctor so if there's any doubt as to your health and fitness, consult one first)

Time.....is there ever enough?

It's summertime and I am busier than ever!!! (What recession?) Lately I feel like there just isn't enough time, my kids are growing up before my eyes , I'm not getting any younger either, and I am bothered by all the things left undone.

I must look at my cellphone clock 100 times a day, pacing myself, making sure I still have enough time. I'd much rather have a lovely wristwatch like this one! Might just have to find one for my life outside of painting.



There's a lot to love about this room: the funky vintage cabinet AND the huge clock. Although I think I would be CONSTANTLY reminded that I'm running late.





I guess clocks with hands are 'vintage' now. I much prefer them to digital clocks simply relying on the microwave . I really like this entry foyer, it seems an odd place for a massive clock, but it works.
I think the chandalier looks a little too dainty but the rest of the space is uber cool.





I'm pretty sure this is a wall sticker (horrors!) but I would love to see this painted somewhere. I like the cheekiness of it, in contrast with the serious and fancy fireplace surround.








I found this project at Martha Stewart's website...if you want to make your own gigantic wall clock.

Quick trip to Anthropologie--new book!

Last night I took my oldest daughter to the St. Louis airport and while I was at it, I figured *heck* I might as well duck into Anthropologie to see the new walls. Luckily for me, the didn't have a lot of black and white, which is my STRICTEST rule for purchasing anything for my own home. It's not that I only have black and white in my home, it's just that anything new coming in, must not introduce any new colors at all. Anyho....

While I was there, I saw this dress. Ohmygosh! That would be so perfect to wear to Arts in Central Park ( if I the jury likes me and I am awarded a booth), but at $188.00 I couldn't justify it's purchase on this particular day.



It's a WE Love Vera! ...no wonder I like it.

I also finally got my hands on the book DECORATE by Holly Becker, founder of Decor8.
It's a scrumptious book,which I have not gotten to READ yet, but the weekend's comin'!

Amy's Awesome Anthropologie Abode

Sorry I've been away awhile but I can't wait to show you what I've been working on.
It shall be called "Amy's Awesome Anthropologie Abode...." but Amy has requested I not photograph it until it's all put back together. Humph, Amy. Ye know not how impatient I am. Well here's the inspiration anyway:

Laila bedding from Anthropologie. It's way cooler in person. There's a limey green diamond print in the back ground and the whole thing looks very Ethnic/Art Deco.

Tomorrow I start the stenciling behind the bed. I will be using the harlequin trellis stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils, in black on a gray wall.
I have already painted the walls Sherwin Williams Mega Greige and the tray ceiling SW Freshwater and the crown mould is SW Tricorn Black. ( I really can't wait to show ya'll!)

Here's the stencil pattern that will look so amazing in black!


My second oldest daughter is graduating from 8th grade on Friday ( in a dress my parents would have NEVER allowed) and we are having 30 (plus or minus) 8th graders over to the house, which for some reason has had me working on two paintings for the dining room for the last few nights. I inspired myself with THESE paintings for the aforementioned Amy. These are in her library and remain unnamed. One of my friends suggested "Cluster Pucks" which cracks me right up. Anyway, I am making a version for myself in hot pink, aqua, red, yellow, white, lime and black.
Just a reminder, I am now teaching my Abstract art techniques, click here for info.



Last week, I treated Amy's library to the Sherwin Williams Quartzstone finish in the Cardboard colorway, with a glitter glaze applied over the whole thing. ( Glitter is not showing in the photo, but I use Lowe's Granite Glitter additive in gold and silver, 1 packet each, mixed in with a gallon of glaze. Apply by rubbing on vertically with a big car washing sponge.) One thing about the Quartzstone finish....I have yet to have one match the color swatch, just so you know, don't leave the store without having them tweak it! We had to add a ton of Maroon tint to get ours to be the right color.



The week before that, I created this wall finish in her dining room. I will be sharing this recipe with my followers when I get a moment- Become a follower and get free recipes too!

I'm having fun in Amy's house, Amy is awesome!

Fun at the Renaissance in Schaumburg

Hey hey! I'm back from my fun little getaway to Chicago. The real reason for this trip was to buy a chandalier at IKEA, but I also got to spend a little time with my BFF since first grade, have an awesome dinner with my honey as well as a Sunday morning workout and brunch for Mother's Day. We stayed at the Renaissance in Schaumburg and it is just gorgeous. Here are some of my favorite lobby shots.

Above, you can see these crazy mesh canopies that are hanging from the ceiling over several seating areas. I want to know who sells these ideas, because my clients are frequently scared of funkylicisiousness. I need some pointers in selling funk.



I'll take one to go, please!


That is one funky chimney!

Ceiling in the Sam and Harry's restaurant. I think this is really cool, but it kind of reminds me of arteries.


I love the idea of this. Some other people loved it to, cause some of these were missing off the wall. People suck.
I love these little metal blooms that were planted between two back to back sofas. If only I had a soldering iron, I'd make one of these!

Me and my honey snuggling on a big yellow chaise. There was someone sleeping on another couch, so why not, right?

Mike snapped this shot of me in a purple egg chair....no that photo is not edited, it's just that I'm having so much fun, I'm actually glowing!! (okay I'm totally joking, it's edited all to heck!)

Color to re-consider : toothpaste green

There's a color that keeps jumping out at me....it reminds me of old fashioned Aim toothpaste. It's fresher than turquoise,greener than 'tiffany box', and way cooler than sage. It's got a definite vintage vibe. I'm diggin' it.

When looking at my Ben Moore fandeck, it's somewhere in the 589-599 series, like "Spring Fresh-591" or "Brookdale Gardens-599"

What do y'all think? "Good"? or "Uh-no".





This is a little greener than Aim toothpaste, but I still like it. Maybe this would be considered 'pistachio'.

the chair is spot on. Not sure I love the wall color with the chair though.


A couple of lighter versions follow, one with a tinge of gray. If you are thinking of painting a whole room in this color, you might want to consider graying it up a smidge. When I was in college, the former occupant of my bedroom had painted it a color most accurately described as 'the bottom of a swimming pool. In Miami. In 1945." It hurt my eyes to be in there. A touch of gray would have upped my GPA, that's for sure.