new cushions from klaus haapaniemi.

i've been in love with klaus haapaniemi AND his animal drawings since forever, so it's no wonder that i nearly fell outta my chair when i saw his new pillows, which have trippy cranes and flowers all over them. seriously, y'all, we aren't even kind of tired of our amazing wedding china and this adorable finnish illustrating nugget has done it again RE: things i need up in my house. i could look at these magical animals ALL DAY, which makes this incarnation in pillow form extra perfect for daydreaming. you can buy these pillows for yourself (or for me) right here.

learn about john baldessari.

personally, i felt LOADS SMARTER (aka wicked smaaat) after watching this video about iconic L.A. artist john baldessari. plus it's narrarated by tom waits.

this is kate spade's apartment, and i haven't been able to confirm it, but i suspect that's some baldessari up in thurr.

i'm a giant (weirdo).

so have i told you that i'm building a dollhouse? emily henderson (blogger extraordinaire and host of secrets from a stylist) has cooked up a wack-a-doo challenge called I'M A GIANT, where a group of design bloggers all build dollhouses. super strange, right? which is why i'm totally on board, duh. you can check out the badassery at any of these blogs:

emily henderson - style by emily henderson

morgan satterfield - the brick house

erin loechner - design for mankind

corbett - girl domestic

nicole balch - making it lovely

jenny komenda - little green notebook

kirsten grove - simply grove

orlando soria (also from SFAS)- hommemaker

and then there are just some random people killing it. hopefully i will fall into this category. but probably not, since there are people like this guy, building a geodesic dollhouse. and all of his own furniture. insane. or this chick, who i think is somewheres in the UK, and not really participating or even aware of the challenge, but who shall be used as a measure of my success.

there is no prize for best dollhouse or anything, which has perplexed the hell out of sugarbear. after shopping online and finding several dollhouses in the $300-$500 category that were PERFECT, i decided to take b-rad's advice and check out the in-person offerings over at hobby lobby, where, in an uncharacteristic display of restraint, i decided to go small and cheap. the selections are minimal compared to the hundreds available at online dollhouse kit stores, but my needs for instant gratification kicked in and i rolled home with the orchard cottage (and the vermont farmhouse jr., which i will return at some point. hey-old habits die hard.). i'm totally making the orchard cottage (desperately needing a new moniker; suggestions welcome) because it was only $30 for the kit and i knew brad would be thrilled with that. vermont farmhouse jr. is massive (and was $100 for the kit) and dollhouse furniture is expensive, so i figured furnishing four rooms (or just building the four rooms) has to be considerably faster and cheaper than the larger homes. for instance, do y'all know the bloggess? i have absolutely no idea how jennifer managed to build and furnish her haunted dollhouse, but aside from noticing how awesome it is, i see dollar signs. SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, here are some in-progress shots of my dollhouse.

this is the floor model. no way mine is going to look this cheesy. i immediately nixed the cheap windows... i mean, idon't want this thing to look like it cost $30.

a very optimistic day one. see all those thin sheets of wood? yeah. full of tiny little pieces that you are supposed to glue together, in perfect sequence, while alternately painting or wallpapering before it was too late. thank heavens i found an illustrated instruction guide online, because the instructions included are just words. see 'em there? on the left? those giant sheets with lots of words, that are horribly undescriptive? the makers of this dollhouse kit are assholes.

the window! aka pieces that all should have been painted first. le whoops. not the first of what has turned into many mistakes.

stuccoing the outside, or as i like to call it, PRETTY MUCH THE FIRST TIME I FELT LIKE I WAS BEING INNOVATIVE. it requires so much concentration just to build this thing that i don't know how much improvising i can do. and let's not kid ourselves: most of my improvising is going to be shortcuts, okay?

boom. stucco'd and painted, although i'm not totes sold on the color. there are millions of tiny shingles that have to be glued on one by one and painted. those shingles are going to blow.

WALLPAPERS. in my living room. every bit as hard as it looks, and if you thought it looked easy, you are probably also in the midst of your own dollhouse project, right? do you want to come over here where we can console ourselves? btdubs, it's the cole and sons woods wallpaper in the terracotta colorway (which is pretty much salmon) with gold metallic trees.

dining room with leather and black cork striped floors. these were going to be some badass kind of tile pattern, like herringbone, but i scaled way, way back on the plan, because i'm not sure if i mentioned this, but dollhouse-ing IS NOT EASY. which is why the living room got woven raffia, and not the wood floors as originally planned.

emilio perez and helmut newton. not lang.

i'm certainly no expert, but space city has some pretty wonderful art exhibits throughout the year, ranging from well-known masters to up-and-comers like this emilio perez show, which was breathtaking and really brought out my inner fine arts degree nerd. sadly, i lacked the $30,000 to bring one of these home, and it's been taken down from CTRL gallery, but trust when i say you need to not miss it next time. speaking of missing it, i referred all weekend to the helmut newton show as the helmut lang show, because i am smart and why is there more than one dude named helmut? anyway, no one corrected me so i'll assume i'm not the only idiot, because even the nicest person has to at some point tell you that you have a giant slab of celery in your teeth, right? anyway, is anyone else in houston going to see the helmut newton badassery at the mfah? PS-if you are hoping to see helmut lang you are going to be so bummed.

{photos taken with my iphone.}

in which my memory astounds me.

due to brain powers that defy my years, i pinned this the other day on my pinterest (srsly ppl, get. on. pinterest. it is like crack for your eyeballs) and then remembered i had recently seen this rug. crazy cube art. crazy cube rug. BOOM. anyway, they looked more similar in my head and the art looks a bit like the rug had a baby with a three wolf moon t-shirt, but i dig it. speaking of three wolf moon t-shirts, check this out. if your name is audrey, laura or carolyn, i need your shirt size. i should mention that the rug is tom dixon, who i recently started stalking after a run-in with one of his peg chairs in fluoro. maybe i will do a post on that (but probably not).

inspiration.

i thought i'd share a new-ish inspirational phrase and personal motto:

if you can't dazzle them with brilliance,
baffle them with bullshit.

i'm considering having it printed on a coffee mug, and then using that coffee mug to drink vodka all day. it's been a rough week. wait, strike that. two weeks. TGIF.
{ass chair via BRAVOS: Spain Arts and Culture 2011. more information on the tour, currently in DC, here.}

rue: the day (not really).

rue | march & april 2011 just just launched, and i don't know about y'all, but i am obsessed with the feature on chicago blogger bailey mccarthy's home. not just because she is from houston and now living in chicago, and i lived in chi-town but now call space city home... it's because this gal is after my heart. first of all, pretty much every surface is wallpapered. dos, she's created a healthy balance of print, color and hilarity. although i do have a framed photograph of john wayne in our guest room, i know we are seriously lacking on the life-sized sheep sculptures around here. i love the painting over the window in the bathroom, i love the smoking cat over the bed, i love the eames and the adler and the vuitton that must have cost a grip. i want all of my sofas to be rich velvety bitches and I WILL STEAL THOSE GUN CHAIRS. anyone who can tell me where to get them gets a bottle of goldschläger and two novelty shot glasses. if this house isn't enough and you want to feel further horrible about how not crafty you are, go ahead and look at this super easy DIY.

rob ryan gives me a toothache of happiness.

and i like it. despite having been on the world's radar for awhile, rob ryan first stole my heart while i was in london visiting audrey. we had taken a day to go to Liberty of London and Drool. On. Everything. (then we took a lunch break at leon, and then we went back to liberty. still one of the best days i've ever had.) i saw a rob ryan tea towel, which was a bit misleading, because rob ryan is not a tea towel maker; rob ryan is a magical PAPERCUTTING artist. as intricate works such as his must take billions of hours to produce, there are now (thankfully) screen printed editions available for the masses, through his shop in london and his etsy storefront. i haven't stumbled upon the treasure trove of information that will unlock the mysteries and answer all of my questions about rob, such as HOW DID HE GET INTO PAPERCUTTING? and WHO WRITES THIS BEAUTIFUL LOVE POETRY? and CAN I HAVE A HUG AND SOME OF THOSE DRUGS YOU ARE ON?, but as far as i can tell, rob ryan has sweeter thoughts than the most romantic person on the planet (*and the occasional burst of heartbreak) and loves nature.  i will seek mas info de rob, but in the meantime, if you are an Anne of Green Gables-loving sap such as myself, you will positively pine for some rob-ry in your life. check out these pieces, and try to keep in mind that they were originally cut from paper with human hands. i typed some of the messages below the pieces so you are able to fully marinate in the sugary sweetness of papercut love.

Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.

You are my universe. Moons circle planets and planets circle stars, stars and galaxies rotate eternally and you and I circle each other for you are my universe entirely and i will always be yours.

I can't forget and I never will you smiled at me and from nothing something came now the world is new to me again I will remember still you smiled at me and now I dream a dream of good.

Can We? Shall We? One day very soon, let us go away together just you and me. Can We? Shall We? Call in sick one day and travel to the sea and hold hands all day. Can We? Shall We? Eat our sandwiches on the train, get drunk on fresh air and come home tired and never tell anyone.... Ever.

I miss being a small girl.

We Had Nothing, We Had Not Much, We Had Enough, We Had Everthing. P.S. Please Don't Ever Let Me Have Too Much.

Every night, at the same time, I pick a star, hold it tight and think of you a thousand miles across land and sea. I feel you in my heart thinking of me. These same stars and this same sky hang over both you and I. In our dreams and in my heart they help us feel less far apart.

Mother of mine, O Mother of mine, Help me please. Tell me why I feel this way.

My home will have no windows, doors or floors, nor bricks or mortar. My only home is in your arms and nowhere else.

No stepping stones for me because I choose to sit on my ladder and feel the icy water flow between my toes and around my ankles. This water is not deep enough to make me feel alive with life and love.

Other planets cannot be as beautiful as this one.

These bells will peal for just one day but in our hearts will ring all winter long.

You were in my head but now you are in my heart. Please stay there forever.

My darling I have never done anything brave in my life. But one day 17 years ago in Birmingham City Art Gallery I leant over and kissed a beautiful girl. I loved this girl so much. Her smile was so sweet & kin and she was so different from any girl I’d ever met before. Yet she seemed so much like me…that is to say…alone. And we were sitting on a bench in a room full of beautiful paintings and I thought now is the time. I am shaking a little bit and it seems to have gone very quiet and I leant over & kissed her on the lips and to my surpise she kissed me back and my heart soared up and up higher and higher and higher upwards into the sky where it exploded like a giant firework. That was your mother.

When I see you from across a crowded room my heart skips a beat. When I get nearer to the place where I think you might be my heart starts to thump-will you be there? Will you be there? Will you be there? And then as if by a miracle, the clouds part and the sun pours out from behind a curtain of grey and suddenly you are there…my throught goes dry, my legs turn to jelly and even now as I write this my hands begin to tremble at merely the memory. I think you have a nice smile. I think you look kind. I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts. Will you? Could you? Be my Valentine?