Tulips!!!!

via flickr.com
Oh Hallelujah! The bulbs are poking their necks out, spring must be just around the corner. Tulips are my favorite harbingers of spring. Not so, the woodpecker who decided to peck on the siding of my house at 7 am. this morning. It was totally a sit-com hour in which the woodpecker would peck, we'd pound on the wall...we would get silence for some random amount of time (just long enough to just about fall asleep) and then he would peck again! I am soooo getting a big rubber snake. Just as soon as he finally gave up....the dogs wanted out. So much for sleepin' in on Saturday!
* footnote: fixing the woodpecker damage was kind of a bigger deal than I expected. Praying there are not termites in my house!
Hopefully the shiny reflective duct tape will keep the little bugger away!

The real inspiration for this posting was the awesome class I took this week: Allover Designs with Cynthia Davis of Wallovers. I fell in love with this Flower Power stencil and bought it for the front hallway. I'm planning on applying the design in a sparkley pearl finish on the Antique White walls. We just need a little pop where the harlequins used to be.



via wallovers.com

That's me in the middle, back row (with the oversmile) holding my tulip sample!!




I found this photo on one of my favorite blogs , a punch of color. I think this is likely a teen's bedroom. It's so crisp and fresh and slightly "Palm Beach Country Club", which is beginning to be my favorite trend.


In my search for 'tulip inspired design' I found another blog I am just obsessed with at the moment...The Lennoxx. Wow! Check out that graphic mural, so fun! I so wish my kids would keep their rooms like this. I guess it would help if their mother had set this example, eh?

Abstract Artistry for Decorative Painters...taught by ME

via etsy

I am so excited to be teaching "Abstract Artistry for Decorative Painters" (and other 'non traditional artists) at Designer Finishes Studio in Warrensburg, IL.
The class date has not been announced yet, but it will be in the month of July. (tentative start date 7/11/2011)
For the last few years I have been marketing my 'custom canvas' service to my clients, with real measurable success. It's exciting to have projects that don't involve ladders or scaffolds or even standing, and I want to share my knowledge and experiences with you, and arm you with an arsenal of techniques to create your own 'custom canvas' service.

This 3 day class will combine 'lecture time' with 'studio time'. Students will create a portfolio of techniques for their own reference and to share with clients, as well as creating one large or two small artworks to take home. I have found it incredibly helpful to have examples of the variety of techniques available when meeting with clients. This notebook will transform your creativity and design process. The cost of this class is $895.00

It is a myth that 'abstract' art is just a little paint smeared around a canvas in about 5 seconds' time. Great art invites the viewer to ask questions, and ponder. It evokes emotions and interest and conjures memories. It has depth and texture and layers and interest. It takes time and thought and planning.

With this information, students will be able to create interesting, intriquing artworks of real value.
Students will learn how to hear their own artistic voice, and no two students will leave class with the same artwork. (all photos property of Elizabeth VanHoutan/Punch & Sizzle/Chicpaint

unless otherwise noted.)

CLASS CURRICULUM (this will be a very general overview of the topics covered)

1. COMPOSITION

Rule of Thirds

Balance

Off Kilter and Skew

Hearing your own voice

Sketching vs. letting the artwork lead you

2. DEPTH

Texture and Textiles

Underpainting

3. COLOR

Because most students have had numerous exposures to color theory, this will be general review about mixing and combining colors.

4. PRODUCTS

Paints and Textures

Metal Leaf and Foils

Papers

Tools

Canvas and Boards

5. TECHNIQUES ON TOP

Glaze

Trowel

Drip

Flood

Crack

Stain

Resist

Stencil/Frisk

Bling

Collage

Stickers and Tapes

Plastic and Bubble Wrap

6. CANVAS COMPOSITIONS

diptych and tripytych

9 patch

crazy combos

7. THE BUSINESS END OF ART

Social Media and etsy

Finding Clients through traditional methods

Certificate of Authenticity

I hope you will think about joining us on this creative journey.

Cheers!

Elizabeth

Blue bottles, Vera and Tarte....my week.

via houseofturquoise.com

from Jonathan Adler: on Happy Chic colors

via Atlanta Home and Lifestyle


via House Beautiful




via quietude.blogspot.com


As my boy Jonathan Adler says, it's " The easiest, happiest solution to any sad and lonely shelf..." in his book On Happy Chic Colors. He was referring to a grouping of blue glass bottles! I have to agree, my darling JA. There's a reason blue bottles were brought to mind.....voila! what I did this week:

This week was crazy. CRAZY!!! I worked out of town, which is always hectic. But this was a commercial project, which meant navigating downtown St. Louis, parking in scary parking garage, using scary freight elevator and working in the lobby of a very fancy Accounting firm with 100s of employees, all questioning where I was going with this. And don't even get me started on the constant loop of Fox News on the flatscreen TV nearby. Fair and Balanced? Heh????

That's a photo of the project a couple of minutes before I left. It's Stuco Lux, in the colorway Azul, with a cobalt blue wax topcoat. I am quite proud of the final results. The color...well that's a perfect bottle blue for you. I didn't pick it, I can't take credit for that. I think the design of this reception area is just stunning. Good on you, Lawrence Group!!! I like the combination of the dark wood and the bright blue.

Since I feel self imposed obligation to find beautiful rooms for your viewing pleasure,here are two of my favorite blue-ies. Love bottle blue with crisp white!!! designer, James East.



and bottle blue and white and lime green! Sweet!!!!

via athome.idahostatejournal.com
Tuesday, after I had applied my basecoat, I had an entire evening to myself. I finally made it into an Anthropologie!!! I looked at everything, was in there for over an hour, but was really disciplined and only bought books. My favorite one is this one:

Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon

I love Vera and her simple, scratchy sketches. The woman lived the exact kind of life that I want to after my children are grown-- traveling the world,drawing and painting, shopping in local markets, with her beloved husband by her side. Sigh....
Anthropologie had the most amazing Vera print dress....I wanted it sooo much, but I could NOT justify spending the money when I have so many projects going on at home. Berry Months dress via effortlessanthropologie.com

I have loved Vera since I discovered her at a garage sale. I got a Christmas table runner circa 1960-something for a quarter! So glad her designs are being revived by the We Love Vera line at Anthropologie.

My other great find this week was the Tarte Natural Cheek Stain. So it was the best of 2010, so as usual, I'm a little behind, but better late than never!!!
It seems powder blush just vanishes from my face so this is a dream come true. The 'True Love' color gives me a perfectly flushed and fresh look that I really like. And it lasted all day!

Jumpin on the Honeysuckle bandwagon...

For years I swore I would never 'do' pink with my decorating. I was 100 % committed to RED.Maybe it's the kinder, gentler life I'm living, or the fact that my house is now an estrogen palace...but I'm really starting to dig pink shades. Especially Pantone's 2011 color of the year for Home and Fashion : Honeysuckle.
I've had to let this one simmer a little before I could really embrace it, but after pecking around the intertubes for awhile, looking at Honeysuckle rooms, I've decided it's best to reallly EMBRACE it and go all out. Othwise it's just kind of ...pink. And twee. And Paris Hilton, which...oh don't get me started.
I love the Honeysuckle kitchen cabinets, especially with the black countertops and the tiny touches of lime green. This photo is via a blog I am loving , brightboldbeautiful.blogspot.com
I think honeysuckle works because it isn't too sweet, t's got a hint of red violet to it that makes it kind of rockstar. The photo of the cabinets completely sold me on it, and if anyone knows who is responsible for that room, please let me know so I can give credit where it's due.

How great is this honeysuckle carpet in an otherwise colorless room? I am dying over the panels at the windows with the little slices of pink between the pleats. via trendspotter.com

I can't imagine the story board for this room, there are at least 4 different shades of pink going on here. I'd love to see more of that hot pink ceiling. Wow-what a persuasive designer, good on whomever it was! via edgevaleinteriors.com

Alessandra Branca designed this beautiful and classic room. I think the Baskin Robbins color scheme has graduated to classic color combination status.

I'm wondering where I can inject a shot of Honeysuckle, I never thought I'd say this, but I"m thirsty for pink!

My house. What I did today.

Since I started blogging heavily ( that sounds like a medical condition!), my house has been a major disaster. Could be a coincidence, but more likely....it's that we are trying to get this house ready to sell. In my former life, my former life partner was somewhat of a hoarder, an organized one, but still...the amount of 'stuff' he left behind is insane. Today, for some reason, the bookcase was driving me batty. I decided it was time to thin down the collection, organize it and put a new spin on the whole display.
I had already painted the bookcase Sherwin Williams Grand Canal, which is about as straight up Turquoise as you can get. The inside of the bookcase was painted Sherwin Williams Camelback (aka' the boring beige').

The first thing I did was take every book off the shelf and remove all the dust covers. Then I could see the real color of the book. I organized them into piles by colors, and put the 'colored' ones in ROY G BIV order, starting with blue.

On the next shelf, I placed my daughter's collection of National Geographic magazines, and all the black books, as well as a funky ginger jar I bought about 10 years ago.
The uppermost shelf has all the white and off white books and a collection of glass paper weights.

I covered my gardening books in black and white wrapping paper, because their spines were all beat up. I got that huge Avocado green vase at I O Metro on clearance for 20.00. The urn is from Hobby Lobby, as are the grassy balls (again, a possible medical condition!) I tinkered around with this display for hours until I got it right. The addition of a chuncky, black number 4 finished it off. Sometimes it's best to just move the things around in your house, try them out in places you wouldn't have considered.

I liked the rainbow ordered books so much I did it to the DVDs too, although I have friends telling me that is NOT how your organize movies, and that it is sacrilege to have The Godfather sandwiched in between Pirates of the Caribbean and Independence Day.

Feb. 25....woke up to this blog posting at I O Metro's site.
check it out, all about arranging books.
http://iometro.blogspot.com/2011/02/take-it-off.html

You might notice on my rainbow shelf, a blue book with chairs on the spine. It's a re-issue of Jane Austen's Emma.
I have just started collecting these classics with awesome covers. I got mine at Niche in St. Louis, but they are available at Barnes and Noble as well.

Books are a great way to add a shot of color and culture. Have fun with it!
Via The cultivated home

want it, need it, have to have it!!!!

Part of the fun of blogging is just writting about whatever the heck I want to. Today, since the as yet un-named foot injury is beggggging me to sit down and shut up, I am doing a little armchair shoppin'. Window shoppin' that is.
I really want a big orange handbag. Not just because of Mike's beloved Illini either. Orange is the new neutral, I've heard, and I'm starting to believe it. Everything looked great on the walls in my orange laundry room. Now that I've painted it 'camelback', which is a fancy word for 'beige'....everything looks pretty much 'meh'.... I swear, I am going to need therapy soon, having a hard time dealing with all the newly neutral walls in my getting- ready- to- be- sold house.
These 3 selections on these 3 celebrities probably cost more than I make in a month, so ima have to wait until 'orange is the new neutral handbag' comes to Target. (via Instyle.com)

I am CRAZY about these gift stickers from theplaidpen.com. Since I try to keep a few rolls of black and white polka dot wrapping paper around at all times, these would be absolutely perfect. I wonder if it would be too vague to have this printed "Especially for your from a VanHoutan " since it's a revolving door of birthday parties around here. One of my best childhood friends is the creator of The Plaid Pen....do be a dear and check out the site. It's loaded with adorable personalized paper goods.
Okay. I think we have a winner! This chevron rug is from rugsusa.com and right now they are offering 20 % off and no shipping! Sweet!!!! In my dreams I would get a Madeleine Weinrib wool dhurrie, but in my reality I have 4 kids and 3 dogs, one of which is a yorkie, so ....yeah. Polypropylene.
Damn you La Mer and your addictive FREE SAMPLES!!!!!!! A few weeks ago, my bestie Sherry and I went to St. Louis for the day and spent at least an hour at the La Mer counter in Nieman's where Sherry managed to get a whole bunch of free stuff for the both of us. (She has mad skills!). One of those free samples was for La Mer Moisturizing cream. In the space of the last couple weeks, I have turned back into a baby zygote. Upon further investigation, I cannot afford to buy an actual jar of this.
Jonathan Adler. Potter. Genius. Must. Have. 39.99 at the Welldressedhome-store.com


Spring is coming, followed by the best time of year, Summer!!!! In the fall and winter, I am the queen of the statement necklace, but warmer temperatures call for something lighter, that I can just put on and leave on until Labor Day. Ever since I saw a Roberto Coin tiny tiny tiny cross on a friend at a party, I have been trying to find one tiny enough to appease me. This one, at etsy, has THREE tiny crosses! I wonder if I could get her to make me one with FOUR tiny crosses? allisonwindsor1@ etsy.com


Now that I am staring 'sensible shoes' at eye level, I am reconsidering a collection of flats. Being a shortie, I do so love a heel. My darling boyfriend informed me last weekend that he doesn't even care if the heel is high enough to make me taller than him!!! My God, could you have sent anyone more perfect???? I think not. But I've also been sent a foot injury, so..... Anyway....this snazzy little collection here is exactly what I'm after. I feel like I've been looking for a yellow shoe for 2 years. I have a pair of yellow gladiator sandals, that I love love love, but I need a dressy flat to mix with dark denim. The sparkley silver in the middle would be so fun for date night and the print would be great to mix with other prints, like a polka dot skirt or cardigan.
via Instyle.com

Another great thing about blogging, now that I've found all these great things and included them in a blog post, I kind of feel like they're mine!

paint that ugly sofa

Let's say you have a sofa or chair, and it has really great bones.... but it's upholstered in something really ugly...and you're on a budget and re-upholstery is either too expensive or just too tedious. Well, you can paint it! Depending on what kind of fabric you have, there are a couple of different ways to go about this, which we will discuss in a bit. First I want to inspire you with some of these great finds.
blugirlart.com
blugirlart.com

blugirlart.com


Mackenzie Childs


This chair is a combo of paint and fresh upholstery, but still so fun! via tuffetlady.com




www.lilmagoolie.com
www.livingcreatively.com

I am CRAZY a bout the idea of just letting the kids go crazy with paint pens! And I love how this totally casual and funky sofa is in an otherwise formal room.
(You would need to paint the fabric first, directions will follow )

Most likely your great boned piece of furniture has some kind of nubby upholstery. If this is the case, you can use a specific spray paint for fabric to create this look. The underlying texture or pattern will still show through, but that could turn out to be an asset, like these chairs below. This homeowner sprayed plum fabric spray paint over a crewel fabric. Personally I think the before is great, but the colors weren't working for their decor and the chairs were FREE so, what the heck!
via diyhomedecoratingideas.com



Jen, at Little Green Notebook , spray painted these X stools, hiding the former Granny/Santa Fe style upholsterly. They look totally chic and fresh now.


If you have a flat fabric, like chintz or cotton duck, you can actually paint the fabric with regular latex, interior paint. I have done this myself, and I have a friend who has done it as well, so trust me, it works. Use semi gloss paint and a 3 inch whizz roller. It will take multiple coats, but what you end up with is a great leathery kind of look. Over time, the paint will crack a little, but that will just add to the leather look.