An interesting world

While I was browsing the interwebs one morning, I came across a very intriguing website: Atlas Obscura.  Basically it seems to document any- and everything about our planet which could be considered beautiful, mysterious, horrific and artistic.  You can check out an amazing salt mine in Poland, complete with chandeliers; a beach in Brooklyn covered in tumbled sea glass and pottery; an entire city of pigeon houses - many larger than human abodes; a blood-red waterfall, and the horrifying and heart-breaking Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 

So if you have some spare time and curiosity, I highly recommend this amazingly well-documented website.  Let me know what interesting things you find!

Making art with the sun

Many of you may have heard of a type of print called a "cyanotype" or "sunprint".   Basically it is specially treated paper which, when a resist (image, object, etc.) is placed on it and it's exposed to UV light, a ghostly image will be left behind.   That's really the quick and dirty explanation - I'm sure there's more science-y stuff in there, but that's not how I roll. 

Anyhoo, I happened across this great website that sells pretty much anything you can imagine with regard to sun printing.   I purchased a silk sunprint scarf and, using vintage skeleton keys and escutcheons, made a really pretty and interesting scarf. 

During the process:

And after (please excuse photos, they were taken with my phone after two cups of coffee!):

If you can tell in the "before" shots, the fabric is sort of green and slightly stiff.   After the exposure and the rinsing, the fabric turns an amazing blue with variations from robin's egg to cobalt.  This is a really fun project and would make an amazing gift for someone!   You can visit Blueprints on Fabric for more inspiration and a list of products.

Renewed Effort and a Tree Bed!

Yes, I know it's been AGES since I've posted, but since I'm pretty sure I only have about four readers, I didn't think it was a big deal.  However, since my little boy is in FIRST GRADE now, I have all day in which to discipline myself and post on a regular basis.  We'll see how that goes.  No one hold their breath. 

Today I'm posting about this amazing bed.   See, I have this secret dream (well, not-so-secret anymore) that I'm really a fairy princess living in the human world.  If that were true, then this would be the bed for me!
 

This amazing piece of art is completely hand-made!   Check out these fine folks' website HERE.