Ever since I made this post about a collection of Native American art, I have become interested in Inuit block and stone printing, something they learned from the Japanese in more modern times. This art catalog on ebay's cover really struck me. I've always been a big fan of this kind of printing in general and the primitive look of it, but I particularly like the Inuit focus on aspects of nature and abstraction. The stark quality of the style seems to lend itself especially well to what I imagine is a fairly stark life on the frozen tundra.
Well, trawling the internets today I found Lauren Manoogian's unique and amazing leather jewelry. I am so into the freshness of these pieces, the fact that they would look great with pretty much everything, and heck, I just love a good bracelet...
It would be so fun to stack a few of these on my wrists! So many of the styles I found were out of stock. They must be flying off the shelves at fancy stores! There's tons of color variations, too. I wish I had found out about these sooner. They probably don't fit my wrists anyway since, as previously noted, they are maddeningly a bit larger than most...and also, oh yeah... I'm on a buying moratorium for the moment...
Oops, I did it again...No, I haven't been listening to Britney Spears (god forbid). I bought another Navajo rug. (Here's the first one I got.) I really wasn't supposed to spend any money...but it was pretty cheap and I couldn't resist. I really want a house chock full o' these suckers someday, and seeing as our apt is super tiny, I have pretty much have achieved that goal till we move somewhere bigger eventually!
And, to be honest, I broke my spending rule because the more I continue to decorate the space around me and my family with things that I love and that speak to me (and the bf and his son), the more I (and hopefully they) enjoy each day and time spent in our apt! It brightens my days and cozy-s up my nights! It seems so silly but it's absolutely true. Thinking back, I didn't really experience that in my childhood home, so this is a relatively new revelation for me.
Growing up, neither of my parents was into decorating for the simple sake of beauty or even personality (they still aren't). We just had what had been inherited or was plainly useful (and they kept everything forever). I have a complicated or maybe just odd relationship with "things" perhaps as a result, something that has been changing in positive ways over the past several years. Anyway, beauty and connection make such a real difference, not just when it comes to ethereal things in life like relationships (as I was taught when I was young), but also when it comes to "things." They really do. I realize that most people probably knew that all along! Ever since my bf and I moved in together 5 yrs ago, I feel like I am creating a real HOME for the first time, and home is extremely important to me. (My sign is Cancer.)
Now I will be on a for-reals shopping moratorium for a while, but that won't stop me from looking around...hard not to since I spend so much time online for/during my 2 jobs...and it's almost just as fun to look anyway!
Back when I ventured to the mall a few weeks ago, I saw an older lady rocking effing amazing snake earrings! They totally worked, too. Loved it, and haven't forgotten. These cobra earrings are not really similar to what she had, but they're still bad ass.
I can't have a post without some turquoise somewhere, can I?
I give my parents a lot of credit -- they got my brother and I out and into the wilderness, even in cold and foggy weather, almost every weekend growing up, even when we were teeny tiny. They are huge hikers, and even spent their honeymoon partially in Yosemite (other part in Carmel Valley), the site of some of their first times spent together in high school, camping and backpacking, naturally.
Anyway, we were always at play in West Marin, whether it was at one of many beaches collecting shells and driftwood or in the woods collecting pinecones and feathers. My family is intricately involved in the nature that surrounds our particular part of the world and there is nowhere that feels more like home to me than out in Inverness, Bolinas, Lagunitas, Woodacre, Pt. Reyes, Bear Valley, etc.
As a result of those by-gone days, I have a serious soft spot for the 70s-era hiking gear my parents gleefully sported, and it's coming back into vogue lately it seems, at ridiculous prices. But it's fun to look, isn't it?
Ah, domestic life. My typically mellow bf actively hates our shoe "storage area" (if it could be called that -- more like where they are tossed chaotically by the door), and called on me to find some sort of basket that can contain them.
They come in a gigantor size that would be perfect for sweetening the normally banal task of door-side shoe storage! And just look at 'em, so cute! It has been established that I love texture, color, and anything rustic and handmade and this hits on all levels, plus it's flexible for a tight space and goes with my Ghanian baskets. Pricey, to be sure, but being part Portuguese myself, I kinda can't resist.
This winter just keeps rolling along, even here in SF, and even though it's April already! It's freezing yet again today and I find myself nursing a cold, drinking hot chocolate, wishing I could curl up in bed and mulling over this cozy looking sweater from the always awesome Violet Folklore. This is the kind of simple get up I would wear, oh, every day!
While on our recent trip to LA, we stayed in lovely Venice Beach, and of course that means we took a bike ride over to Abbot-Kinney, one of the main shopping streets there. Surfing Cowboys was far and away the most amazing spot along that drag. Truly to die for vintage furniture, and -- sparking my interest, of course -- an exceptional collection of vintage Native American jewelry. So exceptional, mind you, that I had to be dragged away and am still thinking about the pieces, most too small for my larger-than-average wrists and fingers. I was informed by the staff that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's daughter is the one who selects and brings in their incredible Native American pieces. Like her parents, gal's got taste for days!
All these pics are from Surfing Cowboys' website -- I didn't take any pics inside myself...too shy!
It's very possible that I've gone too far this time, but bear with me here...
We took a little jaunt to LA this past week to see some friends and family, and while there, the bf and I went to a place called Olvera Street, where you can find an array of Mexican crafts, mostly of not super-great quality; I still had a fantastic time there (and came away with two pairs of awesome leather shoes!), and one of the sudden visions I had involved getting this ceramic toucan you can hang from your ceiling, imagining it in our bedroom...
Maybe I spent too much time in the Tiki Room at Disneyland as a kid, but this little guy seemed like such a fun thing to have in a bedroom! Now that he's home though, I am realizing that one side of my room, above our bed, is decorated like this mostly, fairly subdued and going for a lodge-y feel. Fitting the toucan in is a bit head scratching.
The other side of the bedroom wall, the one we face from the bed and clearly where the toucan would end up, has a super brightly colored Otomi embroidery (kind of like the one above, only much better), several witchy Huichol yarn pieces and other assorted ephemera. So you see, the two halves of the room don't exactly, er...go together, though both make me extremely happy (luckily, the bf goes along with it!). I've been trying to bridge the gap, not make it greater...Would the vibrant and sorta silly Mr. Toucan just take it too far over the top? I'm mulling it over.
After all, if we don't use the poor guy in our room, I'm sure he'll have a happy home in my stepson's bedroom!
