Soul Thumping

My Christmas "Yeah!" Countdown: Christmas Bird Houses!

Watching the cardinal feasting from our bird feeder on Sunday, the cardinal being decked out in his brightest red finery of the season, made me think of decorating the bird feeder for Christmas--I held that thought for only a nano second...any longer and I would have acted on impulse.

I can imagine our bird friends gathering at the feeder (aglow with tiny blinking lights, oh, and a wreath), enjoying their sunflower seeds, chirping about their decision to stay here for Christmas this year rather than flying south.  Maybe next year I will festoon the feeder, but the idea did inspire me to search for Christmas bird houses this morning, and viola:

 

From the More Chic Than Shabby blog:

 

 

From Yard Envy, the Gingerbread bird house:

 

 

This picture is from the Christmas market in Hamburg, Germany and I like the grouping of the houses...posted on Diary of a Mad Hausfrau blog:

 

 

Ah, snowy and serene, from Melody Maison:

 

 

From Happy Together, the Sugar Plum bird house!

 

--Fortuitous Observer

 

 

What Animated me Today - Pretty Fabric, That's What!

Wednesday.  When I woke up this morning I thought it was Thursday (you can imagine my disappointment), which gives credence to my crestfallen attitude at only 10:00am.

I found this colorful stack of fabrics from designer Carolyn Gavin (designer for ecojot...I love ecojot journals...Poseidon gave me one year before last for Christmas), and my mood suddenly catapulted back into the land of  H A P P Y.  Wednesday looks a little brighter.

 --Fortuitous Observer

Decorating My Office Space for the Holidays - Oh the Mod Choices!

As I sit here at work today, shoveling candy into my mouth (which is not like me, but Poseidon and I made a trip to the famous Mast General Store in Boone, NC over the Thanksgiving holiday and well, we made a purchase or two), I'm looking around my office space, which is a large cubicle, and I ceremoniously declare it too insipid for public viewing.

I've not focused much on the state of my under-decorated space until now...but  the  holidays  are  in  me  and I'm giddy with excitement and an uncharacteristic desire to bedeck and illuminate in a mod style.

Now, I do have a large blow up green Christmas tree that I purchased many, many years ago from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the blow up Christmas tree is rather mod and Dr.Suess-esque) and I may consider bringing the tree in tomorrow.  I did some surfing and came up with some fantastical ideas for holiday office space beautification and I am putting a plan into motion as I type.  Oh, and I also stumbled upon this beau ideal of a mod Christmas from Alessi (but a bit too pricey at the moment).

This mod Nativity by Alessi is so sweet!

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 12 Suitcase Chair

A suitcase chair, how preciously peculiar is this little puppy?  The chair is by Katie Thompson, a South African designer, transforming ordinary objects into recycled beauties, and this beauty makes my list for most aesthetically pleasing thing I've seen today.

Ms. Katie has an aces quote on her website:  "I love creating functional art from discarded non functional junk."

Photo is from 3rings 

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 11 Yellow Wall w/ Red Door

Dramatically eye-catching are the colors red and yellow when paired, so this photo I found on the sthr site today is my aesthetically pleasing pick of the day.  I know I should be preparing mentally for winter, but I just needed one more sunny shot of color before it fades away until spring.

 --Fortuitous Observer

 

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 10 Bike with Christmas Lights

Just in time for the holiday season, this picture put a smile on my face the size of the Mississippi River and has me in the Christmas spirit today.  Bikes with lights!  How fun is this?  Aesthetically pleasing on an otherwise dull day.

Photo from uniquedaily.com

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 9 Gala Darling

This shade of purple hair makes me happy today, so galadarling (she is a writer, blogger, fashionista, public speaker, etc.) is the star of my aesthetically pleasing post.  I can't enough of this perfectly purple shade of hair.

Photo from galadarling.com

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 5 Swedish Style!

I found a splendid little image this week while perusing the blog of one of my favorite style bloggers, Bright.Bazaar.  Being that I am part Swede myself, I had to share the colorful, aesthetically pleasing photo of Interior Designer, Joanna Flyckt's home in Sweden.

Photo from Skona Hem

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 4 Spoonflower Fabric Swatches

I heart these fabric designs from Spoonflower (Durham, NC).  These online swatches made my eyes sparkle!  You can choose what type of fabric you want the design printed on.  For a small fee you can buy a a little booklet of the fabric types.  They are a print-on-demand fabric shop!  AND...

Spoonflower makes it possible for individuals to design, print and sell their own fabric designs!  You design it, Spoonflower prints it on large digital textile printers (they are large-format inkjet printers specially modified to run fabric).

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 --Fortuitous Observer

Things I Found Aesthetically Pleasing Today - Day 3 Tara Jarmon Fall Collection Photo

I stumbled upon this photo today while reading Calivintage.com and my eyes nearly teared up with like!  This is from the Tara Jarmon Fall 2011 collection (Paris).  I'm not a huge fan of orange because I can't wear it  well (only in the summer when I have a tan), especially when paired with brown, but this is so pretty it hurts, and that is why it made my aestherically pleasing list today.

fashion by Tara Jarmon via calivintage

 

--Fortuitous Observer