Pop - Up Inspiration !

I guess I don't have to say very much do I? Except these won't last very long!

I have long been a huge fan of her watercolor feathers, but these are lovely!

Click THRU to Furbish and nab one of these 

AMAZING LITTLE PAINTINGS!

Sarah Martinez, you have been CRUSHED!

and I ❤ FURBISH!

Insta - Crush !

I am totally smitten with these little

Simone Ceramique "Love Houses" for votive candles 

made in Israel from LINEN & MILK!

Each house is different and signed by the artist.

I ran across them on INSTAGRAM somehow

and went down the rabbit hole of following links.

They are adorable and I want every single one!

The little laundry house kills me!

Catch The Spirit !

Remember last year's little penquin painting that

I created for Alexander Youth Network?

I was honored to be asked to contribute artwork again this year!

Help me CATCH THE SPIRIT of the season by purchasing these

cards and make a difference in these kids' lives!

We have some of them @ Cottage Chic on East Blvd!

(You can also put quite a dent in you gift list while you're there!!)

(@CottageChicCLT ~ instagram, pinterest, and facebook!)

"The mission of Alexander Youth Network is to provide quality, professional treatment to children; irreplaceable components of such therapy are love, affection, and compassion. Each year, Alexander serves over 5,700 children with, or at high risk of, serious emotional and behavioral problems often induced by neglect or abuse. A majority of the “kids of Alexander” come from low-income homes, some are separated from their natural families, and many live in the care of therapeutic foster parents."

To learn more about Alexander Youth Network, go HERE.

 Read more about how you can help and contribute to make a difference.

You can Purchase Holiday Cards or even Donate to the Angel Network.

Here Comes The Season !

My girl, Alanna Cavanagh, has 

a new Holiday Tea Towel available online

exclusively for The Bay!

Walter's donning mistletoe and 

ringing in the season!

No Words . . .

❖ Alabama Chanin ❖
Check out Natalie Chanin on Creativebug

ⓧⓞⓥ

kiss!hug!stitch!
sorry, i'm clearly obsessed!

Cover Girl !

{Just saw this on Melanie Falick Books!}

I've gushed before about my love for Natalie Chanin

and all things Alabama Chanin, so you know my dream girl.

You may have heard me whining on Instagram (@alabamachanin) 

about not participating in her workshops at The Penland School of Crafts.

Her talent sends me to the moon and I've always

said that I want to be her in my next life!

Don't miss this issue of American Craft Magazine!

Off to purchase my copy, cut out the article

and pin it up around me everywhere.

Inspiration at it's BEST!

Confessions . . .

This is why I scroll.

and scroll...and scroll!

For months I've been painting a bookcase/media cabinet that HandyHusband built for the family room re-do. Each phase has been a painful one for this cabinet. HandyHusband's dyslexia got the pieces all flipped around when he installed a drawer for CDs and that was a tearful discovery when he so proudly brought it home and tried to put it together. (Picture HH in the floor, on his back, with a tear rolling toward his ear.) But it all worked out. Back to the workshop, corrections were made, but it was now my turn on the project. I decided it needed to be "decoratively" painted, distressed and glazed. 

Unfortunately, I'm still on the decoratively painted phase...it's a pain!

It takes hours and hours. I'm pleased so far, but I was stuck!

Until I saw the image above this morning on PLAID!

Do you follow their blog? YOU SHOULD!

Images above were gathered from Benjamin Moore by PLAID!

Benjamin Moore Color stories are also a good follow!

Base Molding, HERE I COME!

{sneak peek: I told you he was handy!}

My Crunchy Side . . .

I stumbled onto Maggie Smith's work today.

I like baskets, but I LOVE Maggie Smith's Baskets!

Check out her Willow Exploration!

Maggie Smith is an artist after my crunchy heart!

I'm so infatuated with her sculpture!

Now I'm feeling a HABU kind of day!

  

A little bird told me that TANGLES in Waxhaw has

placed a reorder and will be restocked soon!

This one, Natural Cover Wrapped Cotton, would look amazing in a sculpture!

I've made bags with it and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the texture!

This Fique is another artist's fiber! It's made from Pineapple!

The "Head Tangler" told me she still has some of this.

The colors are amazing!

I don't think anyone else in our neighborhood carries HABU.

So whether you wait for her to restock, or run out there this weekend,

dear knitters, put HABU and TANGLES on your TO-DO list! 

I'll let you know when her order has arrived!

I've said this 1000 times, "No matter what you make

with HABU, it's going to be amazing! It's not about

the design this time, it's about the Fiber!"

My friends at Knit-Purl (Portland, OR) also carry HABU,

which, while gathering that link...

landed me on the new Shibui Linen!

Go look at the amazing colors available in this new gem!

Whoops, I started with Maggie Smith and my linkiness turned this into a knitting post!

Sorry nonknitters, that's just how I roll. xov (KissHugStitch!)

A Closer Look . . .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------    -----------------

{Coral & Tusk}

are they cute or what?!!

"Designer and founder Stephanie Housley is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. She has been living and working in New York as a textile designer, specializing in woven fabrics. Stephanie spends several months out of the year in India, designing textile collections. Her experiences with textiles and crafts in her travels have inspired her unique and sensitive handling of color and surfaces. Stephanie started Coral & Tusk in 2007 with her husband Chris Lacinak." ~ from their website ~

{images from Coral & Tusk by Kate Lacey}

Look closely...

they're all hand-stitched on linen!

Closer... see the whale in the pocket... the little crab!

SO wonderful!

These amazing pocket pillows are by Coral & Tusk and 

I discovered them in Selvedge Dry Goods.

When I saw this feather one...yep,

 the to-do list just took a hit!

I'm smitten with the feathers on Selvedge,

but when I hit Google and landed on Coral & Tusk's website, 

there was so much more to love!

THE OYSTER PILLOW! NEED!

The Pirate Patch kills me!!! LOVE! 

Every little boy needs a Pirate's Patch!

From the Lucky White Elephant handtowel to the sparklers, 

I am totally smitten!

Click over to their website and make a wish list!

I don't think we can have his sweatshirt,

but this hedgehog scarf might make it into my cart!

(Guilty as charged... just checked out and sitting by my mailbox!)

I think I should have ordered a pirate patch too, oh no!

I borrowed all of the images for my collages from their website.

If you borrow them, please link to Coral & Tusk as well.

Note to people: My scarf arrived and I'm thinkin' I'm pretty cute! I mean the scarf is...you know. FYI, it's a little darker color than it appears online. Kind of a dark khaki/tanish color. I will sport this year-round like a necklace! Love my hedgehog!

Another Southern Crush !

{if you are an email subscriber, your video may not show up, please visit the blog to see the video}

I teared up when I watched this video!

It's an overwhelming feeling when you watch

a video on someone who is EXACTLY who your dream ME is.

I love how Natalie Chanin is putting people back to work.

I love how it is producing things that are handmade.
I love EVERYTHING about this line!

I've gushed over them before, HERE and HERE.

but I just had to share this video from Etsy's Handmade Portraits.

Natalie, YOU'VE BEEN CRUSHED...AGAIN!

I recently ordered the color cards for their organic cotton.

My needle will be in this soon... Maybe I can figure out a way to

get to a workshop and actually meet her! 

Anybody wanna go with me?

Print Crushing !

Alanna Cavanagh has an online shop!

And look who's in it!

I adore this Brook Brothers Suit Print!

30" x 42" Silk Screen Print on Archival Maidstone Paper

from an edition of 18 signed and numbered prints.

You want one too right? 

And look at her ADORABLE tea towel created for The Hudson's Bay

Follow her WEBSITE, TUMBLR, TWITTER, BLOG & PINTEREST!!!

Y'all, it is hardwork keeping up with all these linky things,

but I love Alanna's work so much, I'm just putting a 

permanent link in my sidebar just in case you

forget and get lost along the way! 

I have a small Dress Judy print and small Scissors print, but

they are so lonely...gonna break down and add to

my collection when BeatDropping graduates from college : )

You should always have a group of three right?!

I'd probably frame that tea towel too!

Information . . .

found on LoraP's Art Pinboard via AllPosters

Will somebody tell this little tid-bit of information

to my HandyHusband ASAP! 

And while I'm sharing Lora's social media

Just saw that Shelly Hamill's Miss Avelon has arrived @ Shain Gallery!

Sculpture by Shelly Hamill, Painting by Mel Rea both @ Shain Gallery CharlotteNC

I am smitten with Shelly's work!

I posted about her back in August ~ HERE ~

Click back to check out that crush, visit her website and

then call me to go visit Miss Avelon @ Shain Gallery!

Love the painting by Mel Rea too Lora!

Well Now . . .

Chair by Matteo Zamboni found HERE via HERE... VERY COOL! Strangely attracted.

I know, I've been the worst blogger.

"Don't just sit there like a knot chair on a log!" 

B'log Chair : ) haha SORRY, couldn't resist!

But just so ya know, Crush Cul de Sac is rockin' full of new pics. I've just had nothin' say, so... that's exactly why I created CCdS. Hop on over and go browse, but while you're there, also check out my others: Counting Stone Sheep and Rooney's Style File.

 

OMG! I just realized Crush Cul de Sac = CCDS (Charlotte Country Day School)!

Oh No! My babies went to Charlotte Latin School! How could this happen? What a trader!