it was a dark and stormy day...

click photo for larger size

The day I worked on decorating my mantle the wind was blowing, the sky was dark and the rain was coming down in sheets.  It was the perfect day for spookifying your house.  

I made myself a hot cup of apple cider and went to work.

My theme this year is "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe.

You may remember my "Thom Pixie" from several years back. I simply took a photo of my son as a baby, photocopied it onto card stock and turned him into a pixie.

The wreath was made by rolling book pages and hot gluing them together. I drew a silhouette of a raven on coffee stained paper for the center.

I love the way these Victorian collars turned out for the candle holders.  They were also made using book paper. I stamped out scalloped circles, folded them over the end of a pencil to create little cups and glued them tightly together on a form.

The rats are from the Martha Stewart collection. The glittery spiders that I absolutely love are from Z Gallery.  Sparkly pumpkins and skulls are available at Target. I bought the banner download from House of 3.

I used an entire book to create this mantle. My apologies to the author, but I tired to get into your book. It just sucked.  Better luck next time.

Edgar Allen Poe

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -

Only this, and nothing more.

the issue at hand

The whole thing started out in the garage. I had a desk out there with my hammers and torches and beads and a few friendly dead bugs, which I didn't care for much.

But the time had come for my own space. I commandeered the boys play room. What boy needs their own play room anyway? He's got a big closet.

We went to IKEA and invested in some furniture for my new room. (I like to say "invested" because it sounds so financially responsible.)

And then I outgrew that desk space so we added more. And it was at this point that I decided that the time had come for a full fledged studio. A art/craft room that would inspire me. But the issue at hand was paint color.

I started thinking about all my choices.

I thumbed through a ton of design books.

I listened to the experts and I convinced myself I wanted a subdued color like pistachio.


But the problem is that pistachio doesn't make my heart sing. No not at all. It makes me feel like reading and using big words and watching Nova on a Tuesday night. No, pistachio wouldn't do.

So it was back to the drawing board. And the more I sat in my studio and pontificated (big word because I had pistachio paint chips laying around), the more I pontificated what color would most inspire me, I realized that most of the art already up on the walls had robin's egg blue in it.

And then I had a duh moment and the decision was made. Robin's egg blue is what makes me happy.


When Jenny called to ask what I was up to I said, "Painting, and you're not going to guess the color! Pale aqua blue!"

And she said, "Well I could have told you that. It's your color."

I always thought eggplant was my color, but now I'm going to have to rethink my whole life.

All the above photos are by Lolas Room. Isn't she amazing?

I can't wait to share pics of the finished room. I hope it looks as good as it does in my mind.




1. Angora Bolero Jacket, 2. Pastel Roses II, 3. Untitled, 4. Turquoise, 5. pale blue dot 2, 6. collecting color, 7. Pretty Wrapping Paper, 8. some kind of magic, 9. the perfect fence, 10. a not so glamorous collection of aqua things, 11. Butterfly, 12. Using Texture 01, 13. channelling, 14. TEXTURE-T-150B, 15. Hotel Chatham Paris, 16. ATC Feather Mail (2)

october 1

Good heavens.

I do love this season.

it's beginning to look a lot. . .

like Christmas around our house. I'm feeling very festive.



We have a slight hanukkah slant to some of our decorations. Jesus was Jewish after all.


This week will be full of shopping and baking and hopefully spending time with friends.

j. austinryan- "favorite thing" #9

If I could start over, and decorate Thom's room again, I would use J. AUSTINRyan paintings as my inspiration.

I love anything that looks like classic childhood toys, and these paintings are right up my alley.

Marnie Vollenhals is the mother of three sons and the artist behind J. AUSTINRyan. Before becoming a mother, she worked as the art director of a children's furniture company and developed a keen eye for stylish children's art. She sells her paintings to stores across the country.

Her pieces chronicle the life of her own little dog "Hawk", and his adventures with other animals. Marnie is also open to commission work, which really tempts me to have a portrait of Finnigan done, even though the beast ate my last two protein bars and tore apart a really great bow from Anthropologie while I was away today.

You can find more of J. AUSTINRyan art on her Etsy shop. I am amazed at how reasonable her prices are for original work. If you have a little someone in your life who might love a picture of "Hawk" on their wall, click on over and check out the shop. You can also check out Marnie's blog and see what she is working on.

Besides being a great artist, Marnie is just a really nice person. I love to read her blog entries because she has such a happy fun outlook on life.

Marnie is giving away one of her originals here on Suaviloquy! This piece is entitled "Red Red Fox". It retails for $30. Please leave a comment to be in the drawing. All "Favorite Things" drawings will take place on Dec. 15th. Check back in to see if you are listed as one of the winners.

lewa's designs- "favorite things" #8

You know, I need a room like this. A girl room. A pink, fanciful, good dream making room. And it must have some dandelion wall decals as well, that's the fanciful part.

I found Brittany, the creator of Lewa's Designs, on Etsy some months ago. I have been thinking of where I might put one of her large decals.

This is what Brittany had to say about her work:

My art is inspired by the world around me with influences from nature, children and modern design. I love to create fresh and new ideas to make a room unique and personalized.

To read more about Brittany and her work, check out her blog.

Lewa's Designs can be found on Etsy or at the brand new store here. In honor of the grand opening, Brittany is offering a $10 discount on any order of $40 or more. Use promo code GRANDOPENING. You will also receive a free swirly bird decal with your purchase. Click on over and find something for your little abode.

Leave a comment and you will have a chance to win this 40" Dandelion in the Wind decal. It retails for $35. The drawing for all ten of my "Favorite Things" will be on Dec. 15th.

back in the saddle

Well after having been bucked off, shut down, turned away and locked out by my HP Pavillion a few months ago, I seem to be back in the saddle. The good (?) people at HP sent out my favorite UPS man to retrieve my computer and whisk it off to Compuland, where the magic fairies crawl inside your PC and chase out all the bugs. I hope they got them all.

No more little laptop screen for me! I'm livin' large with a screen so big and vivid it boggles my eyes.

Here's another thing that's new around our abode. I procured some brown construction paper from Thom's fab school and created a "Thankful Tree". I cut leafs from different fall colored scrapbook paper and everyday we write something that we are thankful for on the back of a leaf and then it goes up on the tree. We will read all the leafs around the dinner table on Thanksgiving.

It is so interesting to me to see what the boy comes up with each day. Today he is thankful for pumpkins. I'm hoping that one of these days he remembers that he has parents and is thankful for them. But I'm not holding my breath. After all, he does have my sentimentalities and one of my leafs reads, "I am thankful for cheddar cheese." because I am.

You can still get your name in the drawing for the big bambino giveaway. I'll choose a winner tomorrow!

this witch's brew

Is this torture for a five-year-old boy? Why yes is it, but if ever there was an appropriate time for torture it would definitely be Halloween. And Halloween is in full swing at our abode. I spookified the house last Thursday. (Yes, that is a finger you see amongst the M&M's.) Here's a look.

Ye Ol' Mantle

My work station, or laboratory, if you will.

Our "Rare Halloween Pixie" which we keep on our kitchen table for observation.

I saw this idea on another blog, but I can't remember the address. She used an apothecary jar which looks really great too. Our "fairy" is really Thom at age two.

Thom was a little worried that I had made him look like a girl, no thanks to his father, but in the end he liked being a pixie.

Now go. Go and spread some ghoulish goodness throughout your house. Stuff like this is the spice of life. And if you haven't already, scroll on down and check out yesterday's give away. There are three monsters up for grabs and you have until Monday morning to enter.

i think you need some new jewelry

I've been doing a little homework over the past couple of days. My art class is coming up this weekend and we were asked to find images to use in our college pieces. I, of course, am doing a Chinese theme. Surprise, surprise. I will be sure to post the results of my labors next week. However, if my pieces end up looking like a child made them, as I suspect they might, I'll post someone else's work, and just tell you I made it.

So as I have been wandering around the internet looking for inspiration, as I so love to do, I found this bedding.

Folks, let me tell you that the only thing that is holding me back from ordering this right now is the jaw dropping price tag. Just to give you an idea, see the darling little pillow in the first photo? The one with the heart melting little pagoda on it. It's $79.

(Here's the part where I play on your sympathies.) I think a little girl who has spent the first year of her life in a drab, colorless crib deserves this bedding don't you? I think my little china doll needs this bedding. Think of buying Secondsister jewelry as a donation to my nursery fund.

Cherry Blossom Necklace

I'll be listing this little trinket today. It's only $12. I think you need it.