Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Getting Gothic on Halloween

I have been steadily chipping away at my grand plans for a Gothic/Poe, slightly creepy bathroom. My goal was to finish by halloween, but that is not the case (this will have to do for GPP Street Team Crusade #13). There are some small decorating details that need to happen and the sink and faucet on the vanity must be replaced still. I found an old marble vanity top that fits perfectly and went ahead and bought exactly what I wanted for an undermount sink and faucet. That's all I will say for now...wait in anticipation for the final post.

Much progress had been made since I last posted pics of my materials and some shots of the metalic paint.

The light fixture is by Meyda from their Mica Missions Collection. I wanted a dimmer and orangy glow and that is what I got.


The paint is a Ralph Lauren metallic in Thatcher Green. I matched it with an overall bronze-brown color to match oil-rubbed bronze fixtures that are planned but not in yet.

The birds are the Poe thread in the gothic, slightly creepy theme. Two little black birds cling to the vine-like metal votive holder on the wall and a big black crow stands currently on the back of the toilet.

The key on the back of the toilet was a perfect find! Etsy Storque featured Vital Industries with their toilet decals and I knew I had found another luxurious necessity for the room. I messaged the shop owners and in the end they designed the skeleton key decal for my room specifically, although now the key is available in their store.


Among the materials I laid out last post was lace and a shower curtain. I tea-dyed the lace and then stitched it all onto the shower curtain with turquoise top-stitching. It is splendid!


For window treatments I went with a ricepaper shade layered with a section of brown silky fabric that I raggedly nailed into the woodwork with big, old-fashion nails you find in general stores or Old Sturbridge Village. I tugged at some of the stray threads to make it a tad more ragged.


Here are my birds in more detail. The big crow is sitting on a stack of books (Poe & Dickinson). I want to put her on a shelf at some point. I made her a pearl and skeleton key necklace on satin ribbon to give her a little more humor. When the crow was first in the bathroom it gave both my husband and I momentary heart failure despite having put her there.




And what would a creepy bathroom be without a mirror self-portrait?

When the other major pieces come together I will do a final post. And then there will be other rooms in the house...

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

School, Art, and the Inbetween



My last 2 weeks: (in no particular or cause and effect order)
Shelter building, essays, globe lab, sparking more interest in rock climbing, new routes, knives, expullsion, worry about students, simplifying my goals, frustration, whining, working my butt off on field trip, always the complaining, feeling used, no new shirts, just 3 days with kids this week, dancing with a giant puffy globe, caving soon...but I can't really remember what I did in class 2 weeks ago. If I don't remember, why should the kids?

BUT I have made progress on the bathroom. More on that tomorrow...it is good and creepy and will make a great halloween post. Until the cute kids are knocking on my door...goodnight.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Bluebird Sewanee

This is a beautiful film collage my cousin made as part of a class. It makes me smile and feel contented. It also makes me long for the new life and hope of the spring season. It will come fast enough...and a lot of other beautiful weather before then. Take a minute to see how cute and pretty it is!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

a Hint of Bath

Spent some of this weekend working on my gothic/Poe themed bathroom. I'm very excited about it. Here are some sneak previews of the work.