Knitting Inspiration...

On a lark, we went and saw Young Victoria this week. If you haven't seen it- GO!

- Now this is not a movie review, but rather a little gushing of girly inspiration I gleaned from the movie, for my own knitting projects no less!

Young Victoria, wears a lovely amethyst plaid gown several times during the movie! And it was my favorite of her many beautiful costumes. (oscar nominated for costume design I'm sure!). And of course I could not find a picture of said dress- so this one will have to suffice, although imagine it as more subtle than this...

ANYWAY- my point is, now I want to knit a plaid hat, weird perhaps, ambitious, yes.

Here I go and I'll let you know how it develops!

My B-day promo on Urban Knitfits!

To Celebrate my upcoming Birthday on Jan 17th- I am throwing out a little promo in my Etsy shop! Buy one item and get One wrist band free with your purchase! Choose from the patterns and color, and indicate the size in your order!

Above: my OXOX V-day band.


Lilac wrist band the Y cable.

And the y cable in green!

The promo end at midnight EST on the 17th!

NEW on GRAYDAY.etsy.com

A steam punk inspired- corsage!
Seamstress corsage.
Two hand painted pillows- 3 more to come in this genre! Still assembling! Here's the link!

Orange you glad you're in my kitchen?

Over the years I have ripped out pictures of yellow and green kitchens with large faded built in book shelves, crazy hutches, deep sinks etc- and put them in my dream kitchen file in my larger "home ideas" file... And now, although still renting and unable to paint, I have found myself with a blue and orange kitchen! It's the Orange Kitchen Aid we registered for two years ago that really set this whole thing in motion! Then came the Martha Stewart recipe box and matching flour and sugar canisters. Thus the color theme was set. So naturally when we moved in I made orange curtains with turquoise bows! How did this happen!? And now, after Christmas I have some new Orange elements to add to the mix, it might be beyond my control at this point!

(above sit our new antique Lobster salt and pepper shakers next to our ISIS Ceramics teapot.)

The second orange present of the season- a funky vintage orange swan, surly something one would never see in the wild, but only in our kitchen! It holds the random power cords- for my camera and ipod, since all computing takes place in the kitchen.

I do have other vintage elements in the mix to balance out this growing color scheme. Here I use vintage tins to house our cooking utensils. This was an improvisation after our glass Anthropologie one was knocked over... sigh. Originally I purchased a whole slew of these to use as center pieces at our wedding reception- to house the flowers. Very Colorful and it's fun to reuse them in our kitchen!
Here are one of our many shelves since our rental only has ONE cabinet. And behind them are the orange curtains.
Since we have two little built in shelves in the kitchen, I have had fun making little scenes on them in order to avoid a cluttered mess of measuring cups etc. Here I have an antique family pitcher, next to a friend's handmade fruit bowl, a family picture and a little ORANGE- esque figurine. And behind all that a tiny painting by my great grandmother- which fits perfectly in the little corner!

Thanks for stopping by my orange Kitchen, next time I'll bring out the tea pot and well have a cup!

Let's go to the MOOoooovies! (or rent them anyway...)

I've been knitting a lot this year between my etsy shop and Christmas presents, I've had some time to "sit around"... As a result I've seen a lot of movies recently and I wanted to share my list of recommendations, after all winter is almost made for staying in and catching up on your netflix queue.

So here it is:

I've Loved you so Long- with Kristen Scott Thomas- a foreign film that is very moving and was really lovely to watch. (although if you tend to only like upbeat movies, I wouldn't recommend it- I'm talking to you Dad) Kristen's character spent the last 15yrs in prison and moves in with her sister and their family after her release. She wrestles with her past while striving to begin her new life... the new people she meets are caring and reseptive, it was really touching.

Elling- A Norwegian film that is totally quirky, funny, absurd and a little awkward. About two socially awkward male adults who are institutionalized- one for being a Momma's Boy and hiding in his closet from the Police after his mother passes away, the other is obsessed with "The ladies". They are soon thrown out of the institution and the govt gives them their own apt where they have to try and engage with the real world. A cute story about friendship and growth.

Paris Je T'aime- A french film made up of 5 minute short films from different directors and actors- all on the topic of Love- the setting Paris. I REALLY liked this movie and highly recommend it!

O'Horten- another Norwegian film, about a retired train conductor and his journey to redefine himself after he retires, sweet, and quirky.

The Garden- A documentary about the largest Urban garden in the US- in LA, and it's fight to stay a community garden. Oh the politics, reminded us of THE WIRE.

The Wire- Speaking of... We were late to jump on this band wagon, but were so happy we did, we watched all of the seasons back to back and once they were over, walked around like parentless children, not sure what to do with ourselves! PREMISE- Baltimore life- the relationship btwn cops, drug dealers, shipping yard, politicians and the media. (without giving too much away) But with any good story you like both the bad guys and the good guys and with each death no matter which side, you grieve.

North and South- A british mini series taking place at the turn of the century (1900's) when a family relocates from the south of England to the industrial North. How they adjust to their new surroundings and the people they meet... IE if you love Pride and Prejudice- you will love this love story!

Paper Heart- an "indie" film (some would say- "my generation") with Michel Cera and Charlyn Yi- a "documentary" on love where Charlyn interviews actual couples and individuals to find out if she believes in love, all the while as her own love life begins to bloom! ALSO there is this song- "Magic Perfume" That they write and play together that is really funny and cute...

Valentino: The Last Emperor- Enough Said! It's a documentary on Valentino it's a remarkable look into his life, legacy, fashion and self tanner!

June Bug- With Amy Adams, Embeth Davidtz and a whole great cast- Embeth plays an art dealer who travels south with her new husband and meets his small town family Amy being one of them... very cute, a little funky but ultiamtely very sweet. And I think one of Amy Adams' best roles!

Away We go- About a couple's journey to find a new life and a community where they can raise their future child. Very sweet, funny, good soundrack- and a "green" production where they shot basically in one location, no paper plates, local food etc! Plus you can't go wrong with Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski

anywho, that's it for now- I've gone all the way back to the summer on my netflix queue...

Happy watching!

Winter Wonderland: via email from the UK

My Uncle just sent me these pictures of their Farm in England. As some of you may know, the weather in the UK has been very intense of late and here are some magical and frigid pictures to prove it!

On a walk through the fields.

Detail shot of ice on the hedge.

The sheep, like penguins huddle together.

And their dog Ruby finds a patch of sun to warm herself in. My Aunt runs her bussiness ISIS ceramics on their farm, and as you can imagine their surroundings provide much inspiration for her hand painted ceramics. I wonder which scene will show up on a lamp or platter next? Here's the link to her site.

Get Organized for the New Year

Here are two new wooden collage dishes as part of a series in my grayday etsy shop! January is all about getting organized! SO here's to it!

Gold crab in a pink dish- $12.

Dutch flowers in Mango- $12.

Sneak a peek!

So I've been busy working on my New Year's resolutions this final week before I return to work tomorrow... and the biggest to do on the list is my revamped website!

I wanted a "catch-all" - which had blogging capabilities and all my artwork and galleries of all my DIY projects and past decorating things... all in the hope to better market myself for freelance work in all or most of those fields!

So- eventhough it's still under major construction, I thought I would give my blog readers a sneak peek since I have been so incredibly tardy with this blog as a result.

For now I think I will still blog mostly on this forum- as blogspot is such a great community... but there will probably be blogging on both just so you know.

So without further ado here it is- my new website!

ps- I will be transferring my original domain name to the site asap, and will let you know through this blog once I do!