multitasking dollhouse

the little tree that had these lights became a bit of a fire hazard, so we put the lights on the house ;) and stuck the dollhouse/christmas bookshelf in the fireplace to counteract the black hole scenario... festive!

wythe blue kitchen at christmas

wythe blue kitchen at christmas
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
after the cook-a-thon yesterday, and before we sat down to the feast, i took a few minutes to make the table a little bit pretty, and i'm glad i did..... the kids seemed a little more happy to stay a while and talk. it wasn't much, as it was just the six of us, but it was beautiful.

i hope your holidays are all you've wished for ~

x lynn-anne

just in case you didn't know: about small, an online zine dedicated to what's new and fresh in the world of little people

need something yummy to do as you're whiling away some quiet time by the fire (or wherever ...)? go here, and have a look at Small magazine.  it's quite delicious.

i especially love the piece on the art of houston based lisa chow, here. and i adore the letterpress calendar roundup, here, just in time for 2011 . . .

i hope you love it, too.

x lynn-anne

at home at christmas

at home at christmas
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
some christmas moments at our house ~
i hope your preparations are going beautifully!

x lynn-anne

our christmas card.

our christmas card.
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
i love it.

all the very best from my family to yours this christmas ~

x lynn-anne

christmas palladian

christmas palladian
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
this is the branch-with-a-sweater caroline was working on yesterday: it's just a fallen branch from our yard wrapped in recycled cloth twine made by a home based business women's collective in india (you can just see the ball of twine under the table) --it's all really fun because the twine is made of recycled worn out sari fabric, and it is different with each unroll . . . sometimes there are even sparkles and sequins. the branch seemed to need some vintage ornaments, which we hung from twine . . .. so pretty, and something different, definitely.

i hope your decorating is coming along nicely!

x lynn-anne

guerilla tree wrapping; or, knit kits for our forest friends

guerilla tree wrapping; or, knit kits for our forest friends
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
we're wrapping a fallen tree branch from our garden with recycled string (made from clean old clothes by home-based women in india, giving these women a chance to make some money) . . . we're going to hang some vintage ornaments on it when we're done, so stay tuned for pics . . . anyway, as we were doing it caroline remembered this sweet image of an elf knitting sweaters for his forest friends - elf design by ian marsh ~

vintage pen and ink fashion ad drawings

vintage pen and ink fashion ad drawings
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
in the 1950s and 1960s, babies and children were always bright, clean and cherubic . . . or at least that's the way they were drawn for the newspaper ads by this charlotte artist, esther fishel, who was creative director at a local department store chain. they were tricky to frame (as i'm sure it never crossed esther's mind that they would be framed), but i reused a few old frames, and i bought a group of really really dirty, diamond in the rough antique ones, and gave them a major scrub -- and sure enough, they were pretty and glittery and gilded underneath. i love having these gorgeous old hand drawn images in old frames ~ so perfect for a child's room. (i framed them for our fergus&me pop up shop this weekend - wish me luck!)

x lynn-anne

who doesn't love a new logo, especially one as adorable as this ?

Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
i am so thrilled with the dancing leash logo for fergus&me created by the super-talented husband and wife --ashley & joel -- graphic/print design team thispapership (check them out at thispapership.com: you'll be so glad you did) -
i can't wait to have them do some more stuff, starting with a logo for my design firm, lakbdesign.

thanks, ashley and joel. you're so talented!

x lynn-anne

what we made this thanksgiving holiday

what we made this thanksgiving holiday
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
we were at a family lake house this thanksgiving, and while it was lovely as always, our usual hiking and boating schedule was interrupted by a nasty cold that made the rounds, so we kept busy by a toasty outdoor fireplace making things, including these bead drop decorations: we just strung old beads and bits of necklaces and vintage buttons and sequins and the leftovers of a bunch of bracelet making kits --basically the contents of a few big mason jars -- on lengths of embroidery floss. they're so sparkly and pretty hanging from this tree, and i think they'll look lovely hanging from a branch in the house as an alternative to more ordinary holiday decor ~

let me know if you try it ~

x lynn-anne

anthro sale

anthro sale
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme

just noticed: anthro has just put a pile of hostess gift-ish goodies on sale - cheap! easy, quick, totally cute.

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/category.jsp?popId=SHOPSALE&navAction=jump&viewall=true&pushId=SHOPSALE-DINING&id=SHOPSALE-DINING

friday's finds

friday's finds
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
i love the hunt.
adore the sweet old things.
and i'm glad to give them new life.

have a happy sunday ~

x lynn-anne

harry and the potters

it's potter-magic mania around here. --you?

1. Harry Potter "HedPig" Owl Bracelet, 2. Death Eaters and the Dark Lord., 3. Harry Potter like, Magic Wand, 4. Draco Malfoy Mouse, 5. Gryffindor Hand Embriodered Felt Ornament from Harry Potter, 6. Gift wrap, 7. Chester the Post Owl, 8. Hedwig, 9. Harry Potter Slytherin Shield Hand Embroidered Felt Ornament

today's the big day -- unless you've been imprisoned in Azkabahn (sorry!), you'll know that harry potter and the deathly hallows part one opens at midnight. so, in honor of this most important occasion, we've picked out our favorite etsy handmade gifts with a potter-mania bent. (we especially love all the owls, and the house of mouse).

from the metrolina flea, charlotte nc

from the metrolina flea, charlotte nc
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
isn't it funny how your favorite flea market finds end up being the bits and bobs, like these, that you unearth in a furious rummage through the sketchy, damp-ish boxes lined up on a usually outlying muddy scrap of grass by an equally sketchy, disheveled-looking man, who funnily enough ends up being quite nice and quite charming to your naughty five year old -- funny too how what looks like some useless junk ends up having a sweet grace and stateliness to it, as here -

look twice.

x lynn-anne

A Collection a Day, 2010: Day 300

image via lisa congdon, a collection a day

this won't be a surprise if you know me personally at all, but when natasha louise king (she's sweet and amazing!) was at my house styling for country living's shoot, she remarked on the variety and sheer numerical intensity of my collections: need a red accessory for that spot? here's 17 to choose from; need some vintage desk accessories/a charming old dollhouse/pretty dishes/obscure and esoteric pencil drawings/scottie dog figures/chinese papier mache? have that, and that, and those . . . i love so many things, especially old things, and i can sniff them out like a hound dog in search of a bone, even when i'm somewhere you'd think was hopeless in terms of potential for unearthing lovely things . . . . so it was with delight that i discovered SF artist lisa congdon's blog, and with, a kindred soul; A collection A day, 2010.
gorgeous images, gorgeous collections. my favorites are Day 300, "nautical objects and ephemera" ~ lovely, lovely.  have a look!

x lynn-anne
A Collection a Day, 2010: Day 300: "Nautical objects and ephemera."

gosh, i love the pogues.

from halloween to thanksgiving; a designer (not so) secret shortcut.

from halloween to thanksgiving; a designer (not so) secret shortcut.

 
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
 
take your mantle from all out halloween howl-icious (left) to simple and elegant for thanksgiving dinner with the family (right) - here's how: lose the cheesecloth draping and halloween accoutrements, keep the big pumpkin in the fireplace, muster piles of cute and quirky little pumpkins randomly along the mantle, and prop a heart at about one third of the way along . . . easy. fun. perfect. done.

at home today

palladian
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
the light was so pretty ~

tree cosies, or more guerrilla knitting fun ~

anyone out there having a bit of a bothersome day?

take a quick look at these beauties ~ they're guaranteed to make you smile.

i keep wishing that something like this will show up in my neighborhood, but so far, alas, no.

i know i've shared some guerrilla knitting before: i think i'm possibly developing a dangerous obsession.  before you know it i'll be up all night knitting tea cosies for the streetlight outside my house; or possibly tree cosies.  that might be a problem . . .

 image via http://mywonderworldnr1fairytale.blogspot.com/

 

 

image via http://mywonderworldnr1fairytale.blogspot.com/

image via http://mywonderworldnr1fairytale.blogspot.com/

now that's a tree cosy!

Stop Motion Toast Miracle

Stop Motion Toast Miracle
seriously amazing
you HAVE TO watch this.
x lynn-anne

turn an old globe into a wonder of the world (okay, just a tiny bit of hyperbole there)

laundry
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
something old
something new
something fixed up
something blue

here's an easy project with an old globe . . .

from russia with love, and color~

image via aauumm.ru

every once in a while, i come across someone or something that just makes my jaw drop.  this image was that for me today.  this is the glow-y green bedroom of russian blogger Olga Mazur Tkachuk, who lives in odessa.  here are some more rooms by olga, and you can see more at her blog, aauumm.ru, and on flickr, http://flickr.com/photos/_aauumm_ you won't forget her fabulous tricia guild-esque sense of style:

image via Olga Mazur Tkachuk

image via Olga Mazur Tkachuk

image via Olga Mazur Tkachuk

image via Olga Mazur Tkachuk

tag sale find

tag sale find
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
i had to stifle a gasp when i entered a room full of sort of generic granny stuff at a tag sale last week and came upon this exquisite hand knotted, vegetable dyed, vibrant and stunning old carpet. i'm a complete nut when it comes to animals and birds on carpets. it is just so lovely.

ever had that experience? please share ~

x lynn-anne

august in england

august in england
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme

and a really special, really lovely day shared with beloved people. perfect.

eighteen candles

eighteen candles
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
serious sugar-y sweet story alert . . . feel free to stop reading now, but if you're up for it . . .
can i just say that one of my proudest mom-ments happened when i watched my not terribly domestically inclined oldest son toil over a recipe (for an entire day!) from 'hello cupcake' in order to create this tower of treats for his girlfriend's eighteenth birthday ? . . . seriously, that's marshmallow fluff icing (told you it was sweet!)

anyone want the recipe for marshmallow fluff icing? ah, didn't think so ;)

sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite (just kidding!)

x lynn-anne

it's never too early. be prepared. holiday gift guide begins today.

image via blabla

if you, like me, have little ones on your list, then you, like me, will want to take a look at the most adorable line of fair trade-ish, people and planet friendly knitted toys around today.  purely perfect, handmade in peru, and picked by stylish kids everywhere, blabla's line of soft toys and dolls is practical and pretty: backpacks, and baby clothing, now augmented with the addition of darling paper products, come in various guises and sizes for your gifting pleasure. have fun (i just bought a bunch for the store, and i can tell you, it was nothing but fun!)

all images via blabla

beauty!

have fun with the blablas ~

xlynn-anne

would you be happy if you got this in the mail?

vintage
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme

happy wednesday night --

help me out, guys . . . i spent ages today figuring out a cute font and editing various images (not to mention -horrors- ! spending at least an hour in my local papersource finding postcards and other stuff i really, really needed . . .) and then figuring out how to print this at home on cardstock without creating a giant paper jam like usual (turns out it's easy if you follow directions - who knew?) and what i've got is some -i think- pretty sweet postcards that look like this. i'm using them as thank yous for people who've very kindly bought things at our bricks and mortar shop. so my question is - good? or should i try again? (please say no to that one! ;)

thanks!

x lynn-anne

fall flickr faves

fall flickr faves
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
photos via some lovely and talented flickr friends ~

this is the time of year when i begin to feel the headlong rush toward the sort of fundamental holidays . . . that time when i think we're all forced into this ~ the

hollyberry*sparklydeco*toysgalore*shoptilyoudrop*turkeycooking*guestprepping*seriouslyscaryfrenzy*nightmarethatisthetimebeforechristmas ~

that seems always to define the end of the calendar year, especially for us moms ~ shops shove halloween to the nether regions of the sales floor to make room for acres of tinselly tat, and we feel the weight of our family's elevated expectations on our already sagging shoulders. . .

anyway, this year i say -No- (at least for now) . . . this year, i plan to stay focused, to stay calm, to stay centered in the season - so for now; ~ autumn, i celebrate you.

enjoy the orange ~

x lynn-anne

halloween house

halloween house
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
hello!

we've been so busy here with halloweenie spooky goings on . . . .thought i'd share . . . .

x lynn-anne

how do you deco for halloween? spooky, or not so?

a halloween hallway
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
i have been thinking about this issue all day, i think ever since hgtv.ca used a pic of teddy hanging halloween letter garland as the lead-in for a similar post. around here, we tend to go the no-so-spooky route -- although teddy asked me yesterday if we could have 'a graveyard with skeletons poking out' (thanks neighbors two streets over!) -- just using pumpkins and cut out black paper bats and that sort of thing.

pretty much like this, actually ~

happy almost halloween!

x lynn-anne

HGTV Canada - Decorating, Entertaining, Real Estate and Renovation Advice, and teddy, on the homepage!

http://www.hgtv.ca/default.aspx

teddy is on the hgtv canada style page, and homepage today . . . and he learned to spell 'halloween', too!

he was quite tickled to see it (and so was i!)

x lynn-anne

the decorated cookie: attack of the zombie marshmallows!!!

the decorated cookie: attack of the zombie marshmallows!!!

these are seriously a hoot. now i know what to do with the giant packet of positively ginormous marshmallows that i bought at walmart yesterday . . . (if you know me personally, you'll probably know that walmart makes me nuts . . . too overwhelming, and too much temptation to over buy giant things we don't need -- see above!)  but i'd never seen such marshmallows.  they could be described as epic.  and i did have a vaguely hatched plan to make some sort of ghost-y thing with them . . . but now i have a real plan: the decorated cookie's too-too-cute zombie marshmallows.  can't wait to make them for teds' halloween party saturday.

don't hold your breath on pics -- it will be a super busy weekend, for you as well as me, i'm sure!

nighty-night!

x lynn-anne

a vintage lite brite light moves from esther's sun porch to my downstairs bathroom

a vintage lite brite light
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
for weeks and weeks, our downstairs bathroom has been making me crazy every time i'm in it -- besides the fact that it always seems in need of a good scrub, or at least a lick and a promise, -- i had come to hate the chandelier (plain drippy crystal, you get the drift) quite passionately. and, bored, bored, bored, i had also removed all art in a fit of bored annoyance.. . . . result: even more boredom and annoyance.
SO . . . . -- what to do? -- well . . . today, i decided to go with the jeu de paume, seriously silly approach. my darling husband rewired this pendant for me -- i adore it, and i think it may even be unique; i call it the lite brite (you know, "lite brite, makin' things with li--ii--ii-ght") light. caroline and i found it a few weeks ago at an estate sale, and it's been sitting around ever since, waiting for a new home. have you ever been to an estate sale where you really get a sense of the person, even maybe relate to her? that's what happened here. esther fishel was a charlotte artist and department store art director who died last year at age 92. she's not well known, but her work is lovely -- c. and i scooped up piles of her fashion advertising drawings (so Mad Men!) and a few of her oils . . . she was obviously making and creating well into her eighties. i love that she made this pendant from a plastic plant pot and those little translucent beads that little ones make necklaces from . . . at any rate, i'm glad that this piece has moved from esther's sun porch to my family's downstairs bath. i like to think that esther would approve, especially as when teddy saw it (and he'd completely ignored it for weeks when it was sitting cold and dark and quiet on the work room floor) he pronounced it "MAGIC" -- thank you esther, and thank you all for reading :)

x lynn-anne

oh, and ps -- those pretty yellow birds and flower pieces are naturalcuriosities.com's spectacular renditions of paule marot's work -- . . . more to come on her . . . she's amazing and suddenly, everywhere.

halloween crafty faves - clever flickr contacts

halloween crafty faves - clever flickr contacts
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme

we're planning a crafty halloween party for teddy and his five year old friends, and while we've got a lot of old favorites and crafty stand-bys, i went looking tonight in my favorite crafty flickr pools for some new ideas. i found these beauties, by some very clever people. you'll find the where, which will lead you to the how and the why and most importantly, the who, if you follow the links below ~ happy not-so-creepy crafting!

x lynn-anne

1. owl, 2. Oh, Hello Dere, 3. Wild Max, 4. VICTORIAN GOTHIC HALLOWEEN TAGS Hang Tags Gift Tags PLUS BOOKMARK Digital Collage Sheet - 0083, 5. Halloween matryoshka dolls, 6. Happy Halloween from TADA*s Revolution, 7. Googly eye Halloween wreath, 8. Halloween Friends, 9. halloween broom treat bags

wythe blue room in autumn

wythe blue room in autumn
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme
no school today, so we stayed home -- apart from a trip to the pumpkin patch, which was quite entertaining -- and dragged out the halloween things. i'm not a big fan of skeletons and stuff, and today, i managed to keep it to warm fall color and witches. oh, and a few faux crows.

when i'm trying to create a mood in a room, i tend to pull things from other spaces that have the right colors, the right textures, and the right shapes. that way, you get a fresh feel without spending much money -- here, i pulled this sort of heavy console from the living room, left the ballard designs stella mirror that's been there for ages, and popped in a pair of vintage 1970s brown knight chess piece lamps (i bought these at a flea market in cincinnati in september; the burlap shades from target were an easy, wheaty, kind of harvest-feel option). the curve of the horse's neck echoes the arc of the mirror . . . charming. and that tweedy orange grandpa chair is a tag sale find (scrubbed to within an inch of its life!!) . ....

pretty, individual decorating is fairly easy and achievable. almost like paint by numbers.

more to follow on this!

wishing you the happiest of fall days ~

x lynn-anne

Having trouble uploading treasure hunt finds to the blog today -- this is an experiment;)

an october moment

colder weather has finally happened here in north carolina, and, predictably, caroline and teddy have been busy this week after school rummaging recklessly under-the-eaves for our gigantic stash of halloween stuff, as well as debating the relative attributes of pirate, ghost, and viking costumes . . . . and every day, they've begged for me to get everything out to decorate the house for halloween . .  . .  but i just haven't been able to do it.  it's madness, really, boxes and boxes of faux crows and black candles, and all that sort of thing -- and i will get there, but not till this weekend, at the very earliest.  so, in the end, i relented a bit, bought a pumpkin or two, and found a couple of stone ones from africa in my work room.  so this is it so far for fall; more to come, i guess.

so where are you on the big halloween deco question?  all the boxes, or just a few?  i'm not sure yet.  stay tuned . . . :)


ps: what do you think of that bright, bright blue chair?  i brought it home from the shop  -- it's one of a pair.  i really like it.  some brave soul 'redid' it around 1970, i think -- painted it, and upholstered it in white-ish pleather with brass tacks.  let me know!

x lynn-anne

just in case you didn't know: about houzz.com, a treasure trove of design inspiration

i got a message today from becky, who i know from her work on hatch, the design public blog, about Houzz, a site stuffed full of amazing pics of inspiring rooms, with quite a few clever little gadgets besides (try the Buzz. it's fun.)  i'm sort of ashamed to say that i had no idea about Houzz -- how did i miss it?! weird! but, i'm pretty well addicted at this point.  love finding cool stuff that other people so sweetly share.  and i'm sharing some of my stuff, like the recent shots here . . .

okay, maybe not that last one.  you've heard of trendy designers and their 'pop-up' stores, like whats-her-name's at Montauk?  well, this is teddy's pop up art studio.  seriously, i was busy making globe mobiles out of recycled cloth string and old globes, and stringing these flags into a garland, and this table had migrated out of the living room to make room for something else, and it just seemed like the ideal place for a kindergartner artist to ply his craft.  fun.

a new old chair

a new old chair
Originally uploaded by lakbdesign/fergusandme

a new old chair

i spent my sunday afternoon painting this old chair (used up a bunch of little paint pot samples from farrow & ball -- mixed together, the paint became a pretty swedish blue-grey) . . . then, we covered the seat in an old piece of quilt top -- it's pretty, i think.

it was a lovely day here in north carolina; perfect weather to revamp an old chair outside on the driveway ~

i hope your weekend was just as lovely.

x lynn-anne