A Special Place for Your Kitty

I have to admit I was totally amused by a kitty haven with moose antlers above the entry way.  This is the Cat Chalet available on plasticashop.com's website.  It's made of 100% recyclable cardboard and has everything from a textured cardboard carpet for claw sharpening to other entryway decorations besides the antlers.    And of course, it could be used for small dogs too.

A Chair with Smile Appeal

This chair created by Nathalie Guez is a limited edition of 50 on ArtfulHome.com. It reminds me of a cross between lollipops and Dr. Seuss, which elevates its appeal very quickly.

The artist said that the base is wide to accommodate sitting cross legged. I kind of like that in a chair.

So unfortunately, the price and shipping charges are beyond my means, but if I could, I would put one in my family room. It would make me smile, every time it caught my eye.

Squarbles

I am somewhat enamored by these darling Squarbles by Nicholas Kekic.

Sold in sets of three on Artful Home, the encased colorful canes give a slightly new slant to paperweights.

Seen any glass art that is functional and shows a different creative slant? Please shoot us a link so we can all enjoy it?

The Artful Home Blown Glass Ornament Boutique

It's that time of the year when Artful Home offers up its annual ornament boutique. And each year, I try to get at least one. I love these glass treasures.

Here is a link to this year's line up. (Click Here!) I'd love to hear which ones are your favorites and feel free to post links in the comments section.

I have my eye on one in particular for this year, but we'll have to see if my wish comes to fruition. Feel free to guess if you would like.

Please cruise through the rest of the Artful Home's website. I always see such high quality artisan work, which always provides smiles and inspiration.

See you tomorrow here - http://www/studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Discovering Details

I don't often do double takes, but I did when I saw this brooch by Dawn Estrin and George Wilson.

At first I thought it was a flower inside of two leaves. Upon studying it closer, I saw the two females in the center. Pretty cool.

This silver pin/pendant, (it's convertible), features a photo montage that has been protected by polycarbonate plastic. Swarovski crystals accent the design.

At first the shape of it drew me in. Flowers and leaves with a graphic shape appeal to me. Upon inspection, the creativity and detail kept my attention. You can find this pin (maybe we should call them "pin-dants" on the artful home website by clicking here.

Now I'm contemplating what could I make that needs a second look because of interesting design that needs to be discovered. The concept gets you dreaming, doesn't it?

It's All In How You Look At It- Two Artists' Eyes

Last week, fellow beadmaker, Jill Symons (who makes such gorgeous beads) and I had lunch and visited a local art gallery, The Signature Shop.

This gallery has jewelry, wood, ceramics, fiber, glass and other mediums. Well, as two artists viewing other artists' work, you can be sure we didn't just look at every piece and only say, "that's nice."

What was interesting to me, was the way each of us looked at the pieces. Of course now it's a "I should have known it" moment. Jill pointed out that she and I would look at the same item and get something totally different out of it.

I chose two gorgeous functional ceramic pieces from The Artful Home's website to use as examples of what we would have done. The top black and white Viking bowl I would see as- "Can I make this shape?" and start thinking about forming it on the mandrel, which tools would I need, etc. Jill would first see it as the combination of patterns, the contrast in colors, etc.

And again for the Petal Teapot, she would look at the patterns, colors and I would look at the shape first and mentally figure out how I would attempt to replicate it and after that, I'd notice the patterns and colors. (I'm still trying to work out that handle in my mind. It's really cool and would love to interpret that in glass somehow.)

So when you're looking at an object, how do you view it? This eye opener afternoon has caused me to be aware of what I was seeing versus how another artist was seeing the same piece. I am now trying to view interesting art through a variety of "eyes". Tell me about you. What do you see, and how will you look at life a little differently?