Hallowe'ens Passed....

We've had some great Hallowe'en costumes - and I love looking through them.  I think this year will be the best ever, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see pictures.  In the meantime, some awesome pics from Hallowe'ens passed.....

2003 - Almond Joy & Mounds chocolate bars
(These costumes were only possibly thanks to my room mate that year, Emily.
When I planned the costumes, apparently I had forgotten that I don't actually sew..... )

 2007 - David Suzuki & David Suzuki

 2008 - Jungle Animals + Safari Guide
(Papier Mache hats - pretty amazing if I do say so myself!
I think these were my favourite so far)

Can't wait until this year's addition!
(Check out theSITSgirls for blogging tips!)

Artist Find: Fredrik Tjernstrom

I think the Artist Find series is one of my favourites on this blog. I miss my high school art classes (it's about the only thing I miss about high school).  I painted more in those few years than in the last eight, which really stinks.

So, I find incredible inspiration in works by other artists (and quite a bit of envy, I must admit).  The work of Fredrik Tjerstrom is evocative and dark, but simple and so very effective.

Thanks to AphroChic for the find!

Colour!

 Colour makes me so happy.

I found this little publication at work today and I can't get enough of it!  It is published by AkzoNobel and is the result of international colour trend research by their Aesthetic Centre.  Seriously, I'm in the wrong field.  I could just travel, researching and photographing colour??  Someone should have informed me of this.

Anyway, if you go to the Colour Futures site, you will find two wonderful downloads, the first of which is the finished publication you see above.  The second, and in my opinion, the much better book is the notebook - the making of the colour futures book.  It's basically what I always hoped my journals would like like when I was younger.  Every page is yummy and wonderful and filled with COLOUR and inspiration.  Here is a taste of some of the images.

 

 

Go download it!  Do it.  Now!

Finnish Blog = Wall Art = Idea!

Beautiful.

There is so much inspiration.  Sometimes I am completely overwhelmed at what we are able to 'create'.  Creativity, imagination, inspiration.... I don't know where they come from, but they make life so much better!

And so I love stumbling upon these new creations - wonderful little treasures that make me want to run out of work screaming, grab a paint brush and just paint!

le pre d'eau did that to me today.  This fantastic site popped up on a blog I follow, of which I don't understand a single word.  Keltainen talo rannalla means (I think) 'a yellow house by the sea' in Finnish (another, I think, though this one I'm pretty sure about).  I know, it seems crazy to follow a blog you don't understand, but today's find reminds me exactly why I continue to do so.

Inspired.  That's how this work made me feel.  I even ran the idea past Hubs already and (as long as I don't go overboard, whatever that means) he seems to be okay with the idea of me painting our walls.

(eee!)

Because, let's be honest, as much as I love art, and photographs and vinyl wall stickers, right now I just can't spend the sort of money that it would require to fill our house with beautiful work.

Sooooo..... in order to fill the gaping white walls with something wonderful and energetic and fun... I'm just going to paint on them.  It's not like I can't sand it down and paint over if I mess up or get bored.  That's the best part :)  It's just like a canvas.

Here are some samples from le pre de l'eau - I believe these come in a variety of colours, too.  I had a terribly hard time deciding which to share.  Can you tell??

How unbelievably cute is that?? It's says (roughly translated) 

"Zone of Protection Against Monsters Under the Bed"

Tortoise and the Hare :)  I can't read all of it nor do I know what the rest means

... it says something about running (obviously).

This guy makes me laugh.  I could use this above my computer.

This is the one that triggered something for me.

"Jump from a bridge of stars and dive into dreams."

Progress & SFB (Super Fun Blog)

Wow, we've reached 30 followers - so very exciting!  Our twitter account is also growing and slowly other blogs are picking up on our awesomeness and adding white collar | green soul to their blogrolls.  That sort of support is hugely appreciated and does wonders for our traffic.

I know I've been quiet - but there are exciting things to come.  We'll be moving over into a different domain soon and a completely redesigned site!

The image above is from a fantastic and extremely inspiring, exciting, entertaining (etc!) blog called Design Love Fest by the super fun Bri Emery.  The tag line for the blog is "Where type and images totally make out"  Seriously.... best tag ever.  Go check out her blog!  Also, someone be a dear, go to Knock Knock and buy me the above product so I make it through the day.  (I'm not even aiming for the week.. just the day).

Happy List

I love my pink tights.  My mom brought them back from Belgium when I was in second year.

They make me happy on rainy days.

Even when our foyer floor is in desperate need of replacing.

Desire to Inspire Blogroll!

When you have a hundred year old house that needs a ridiculous amount of work little victories are huge vicotries, and even baby steps (as long as they are forward) need to be celebrated. Well, the same goes for if you have an itty bitty blog like I do and you're a newbie like I am.

Today white collar | green soul has been honoured by being added to the blogroll at Desire to Inspire! How amazing is that?? Kim is one of the lovely people at Desire to Inspire and writes the weekly "Monday's Pets on Furniture" column, that Danny was featured on a few weeks ago, among other great posts.

Go and check out their blog - they have some wonderful interior design ideas and can refer you to other great blogs... if I do say so myself.

Needless to say, I'll be starting a blogroll in the next few days.  There are some great blogs I read regularly and there is love to be shared.

Happy Thanksgiving (And Light Fixtures)!

It was Thanksgiving for us in Canada this weekend and traditionally, since we got married and our two families started spending holidays together, it has become mine and Hubs' holiday to host.

Even though the house is nowhere near finished, it is an acceptable space to entertain. Our dining room still needs some paint touch-ups, a vent cover and a few outlet covers, but it's looking pretty good. Oh and a light fixture. I would definitely like a nicer light fixture, but about that in just a second.

Here are some shots of the dining room this weekend.

I love the pop of 'pink' (or whatever colour it is) coming in from the living room!

 There is still quite a bit to do in this room including painting the chairs white and getting some fun cushions.  We are also thinking of painting the hutch white (good idea?) and replacing the hardware.

Our very simple, but pretty centre piece.

 So you may have noticed the rather unfotunate light fixture.  If not, here's a closer peak:

Not loving it.

I have been looking at some chandeliers that might look nice in our space - especially against the dark blue walls.  The door to the dining room from the kitchen will frame it really nicely, so I'd like it to be something worth looking at.  A little wow-factor is definitely required.

The first one I really liked that I saw was the Maskros light from Ikea:

How great is that?  And how amazing would that look against the dark blue walls.  However, and this is a big however, how on earth do you DUST that??? All the little dandelion ends are made of paper, so it's probably not too durable...and depending on humidity and what not, they would probably wilt.  That just won't work.

Next, I saw this AMAZING one called' Dram' from Canadian designer Propellor Design:

Love it!  For our space the colour combination wouldn't really work, but moreso the $6,500 price tag... ouch.  

On a more optimistic note, it's made out of vintage glasses, so Hubs and I were thinking that we could probably make something similar that would be in our price range and it would be the right colour.  We were thinking of clear and frosted glasses that we could get from various vintage stores, and then drilling through the bottom with a diamond bit.  Considering how many other slightly more pressing issues we have at the house right now, it would be years till we will probably get around to doing this.

Recently, a friend pointed me to West Elm (how have I never gone here??)  I found a few fixtures that are.... ready for it... ? Less than $300.  Seriously.  For a unique and beautiful light fixture?? Where do I sign?? 

[Note, these products are not necessarily locally made, but read their policies - there are some interesting aspects of using quickly renewable materials, non-toxic dyes and pesticide-free cotton, as well as working with co-ops in India to ensure that the livelihoods of the artisans are protected].

Here are a few of my favourites:

 I love the simplicity of this Cluster Pendant [West Elm] and it's only $199, though I don't think it would have as much 'umph' in our space.  I think it would get lost.

Well, hello beautiful!  This baby is four feet tall!  Ugh, I love it!  I'm still not sure how on earth you would dust it, but for this much wow-factor at this price ($260!) how can you go wrong?

Sexy close up.

[Long Haning Capiz Pendant, West Elm]

Here is the Large Rectangle Hanging Capiz Pendant, also from West Elm.

I'm not sure which I like best, what do you guys think?? 

(Props to Photoshop for its amazingness despite my lack of refined skills!)

 

I think the long hanging one is my favourite - it's just so much more dramatic!  Hubs is slightly concerned about its length, so we'd have to see if it will fit properly in the space.

Also, seeing as our jars don't have a category for 'light fixture' we'll have to save up for it for the next few months and hopefully get one soon.  Eeeee! Exciting. (Yes, we totally use Gail Vaz-Oxlade's money jar idea and the system is awesome! For my American friends, if you don't know about Gail, just message me, I'd be happy to catch you up!)