Making your home look old again

I found these images on flickr posted by BoomerangThang. These shots were taken with an Argus 75 Viewfinder Camera and they look amazing. When my home is finally all fixed up I want to take some pictures like this.

My Etsy favorites

Check out some of my new Etsy finds.

Marimekko Spring 2009 fabrics

I love the new Marimekko fabric collection. Stay updated with the new products on the Marimekko Blog.

Contest!

I just got my new set of cards printed and they look fabulous! For those of you who want to snag some I will be giving away 3 packs. Please send your contest entry email before February 12th 2009 to jennski_giveaway at yahoo dot com.

Winners will be announced Friday the 13th, 2009. Good luck!

I wish it was spring already...

I keep remembering the great time I had last summer removing all the old bushes and trees from the front of my home. I forgot how much fun it was to stick your hands in dirt. I just bought a vintage sunset book on Ebay and it has some good ideas for mid-century landscaping. I hope spring comes early this year!

Side project: Mobiles

My husband Al and I have been working on a new project. We bought some supplies and we are in the process of making some mobiles. I have a bunch of designs but I really love the one posted above. I'm not sure when we will have them up for sale, but hopefully soon!

New Etsy Shop

Leah Sheely makes a series of artworks depicting the colonial naturalist period from Mid Century Modern and Brutalist perspectives.

Glass & Light

I love these!
Etsy shop Glass and Light makes some amazing stained glass objects. The artist combines glass with other materials like antique beads from Africa, agates from South America, teardrop crystals from Europe and 100 million year old ammonite fossils from Madagascar.

The pomegranate series is exquisite!

Funny Cadbury commercials

Have a good weekend!

Fun with felt

Check these cute items from Etsy shop Soleil girl. It's amazing what you can go with felt!

Walk in closet (before and after)

So I finally put up my cute flower power light that I snagged on Craigslist last June. I didn't like the light that was in my closet, the original pyrex glass panel was missing and it was replaced with an older 40's light cover. I had some yellow paint laying around so I painted some yellow accent walls. The room feels so much cozier and actually a bit higher. I have lots more I want to do with the space, I just don't know what yet lol

Michelle Obama

I think Michelle looked amazing in her yellow dress today. The dress was made by designer Isabel Toledo, it looked beautiful and warm! If only Barack wore a pea green tie...

Three Sisters Ink

I don't know how I'd missed this shop before, but I'm glad I found it. Hannah Bureau, Rebecca Bureau, and Sarah Bazos are the sisters behind the shop. Hannah (the designer) is also an amazing painter, and her paintings can be seen here: www.hannahbureau.com.

Orange kitchen

I'm not sure if I've seen too many orange kitchens, but it's sure nice to have some orange accessories!

Check out my new kitchen print, I can't wait to put it in my own kitchen!

Yay, orange!

Amazing Sticky Tape Sculptures

New cards in the works!

I'm planing on getting some cards made with a few of my newer designs. There will also be a contest in the future, so keep coming back for more updates!

Gray

Home sweet home print now in gray!

Freebie Friday!

Rachel Ray Dog Food (US)
BREATH-A-LICIOUS™ GREEN BONE (US)
Soy Joy Sample (US)
Free Benjamin Moore Color sample (US)
Sample of cream of wheat (US)
Free Quaker True Delights on JAN 16 (US)
Total Cranberry Crunch Cereal Sample (US)
Free Basics Gift Pack Pack for the first 5,000 (US)

Tagged

I've been tagged numerous times but never had the time to actually fill one of these things out. Well here goes.

Lesley Grainer was the most recent person to tag me, sorry for not mentioning the many others who have.

Rules: Write 6 random things about myself, link the person who tagged you post the rules. Tag six people and link them. Let them know they have been tagged.

1. I'm originally from Tewksbury, Massachusetts and my husband Al is from Venezuela.

2. My favorite tv shows are Flight of the Concords, Calfornication, Scrubs and House.

3. I have a male orange cat named Floyd, who was named after the big dog in the sleep number commercial.


4. I love Vietnamese food and I'm so sad I no longer live near any Vietnamese restaurants.

5. I love plants, especially the christmas cactus. I get so happy when they bloom, I have a big plant that's about to bloom soon and I'm so excited. :P

6. I'm sure you have all wondered about my name, well Jenn Ski is short for Jennifer Skoropowski. In High School people started calling me that and it just stuck.

Tag you're it...

Jennie Dee
Thomas Wold
Cathy of California
yumalum
Angela Liguori
Anna Weiss

Craigslist finds (Boston Area)

$100 Mid Century coat rack (Salem, MA)
Click here for listing.


$30 retro desk (Haverhill, MA)
Click here for listing.

Playing With Air

New at CB2

I really like the new Teepee dining table, it wood look wonderful in my kitchen. Also the wonderful people at CB2 have made a more affordable version of the Nelson Swag desk called the Swoop Desk. Not as amazing as the original but a nice alternative.

Yay! I have my pendant light back!

I really missed my old white pendant light, the one I had in my old apartment. So I decided to find a way to use it in my new home.

Well, I was finally able to put it up, even though I have ancient recessed lighting cans in the celling. I researched online and found a recessed light conversion kit that allows you to hang pendant lights from recessed lighting holes. Thankfully it was sold at my local Lowes home improvement store. The kit I got included a cheap pendant light, so my husband had to perform surgery on it to make it work with our lamp. It's really only meant to hold lightweight and small pendant lights, but the glass globe on my light broke so it's not too heavy anymore. I don't think we could have used it if our lamp was much heavier than it is.

If you like my vintage pendant light, Ikea has started selling the BRASA, which is pretty similar to mine.

Have a good weekend!

Bedroom

So last night I bought some gray paint called brushed aluminum from Benjamin Moore. I painted the high wall behind my bed, it's subtle but it helps tame that big wall. I also finally put up the cute vinyl decal that I bought months ago. It looks great above my bedroom door. Now I just need some art for above the bed. I really wanted to put up a bunch of framed art scattered on the wall but the wall is made of concrete and I don't really have a way of experimenting with nails. I will keep you all updated.

Danish designs at Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters is on a roll taking old classics and making them new again.



Some of my favorites:

4x6 Giant Drops Tufted Wool Rug

Bungalow Sofa

Mid-Century Sofa

Wingback Silk Headboard

Jet Set Storage Bench

Midcentury Chair

Stitchy McYarnpants

Debbie is the curator of the Museum of Kitschy Stitches, an on-line (and now in print) gallery of notorious knits. Debbie also has an Etsy shop Stitchy McYarnpants, where she takes old magazines and vintage fabrics and gives them new life.

I found these on Debbie's Myspace page, what a hoot!

Michelle Caplin

Michelle Caplin takes old photo's and gives them a new life. Check out more of Michelle's prints on her Etsy page.

Also check out Michelle on Design on a Dime

Mid-Century Monday!

Today we'll look at the "Janus" walnut coffee table, designed by Edward Wormley and manufactured by Dunbar in the late 50's.



The table is 17.25" (43.8cm) tall, 18.75 (48.6cm) wide and 77" (195.6cm) long. That's longer than... a really tall person! Wormley designed these for the Dunbar company in 1957, as part of their "Janus" furniture line. It's hard to find a good picture of the top of the table, but those are actual Natzler tiles inlaid on there!



What to look for:
Dunbar was a top-notch furniture maker, so the overall quality of the craftsmanship on these tables should be quite high. Look for Dunbar tags or labels on the underside. The legs should taper inwards slightly, and the tabletop sides should taper in steeply toward the underside. Loose joints, cracked tiles, etc. bring the price down. Some light wear is OK.

Cost:
At auction, depending on condition: $3500 - $6000

Etsy shop Katrina Kaye

Trina and Andy are a husband and wife team working together to run their full time Etsy business, katrinakaye. They use beautiful vintage patterns to make pillows, bags and much more. The pillows above are a steal at $35!

Be sure to check out the Storque interview on Katrina's shop titled "Quit your day job"