Raw Organic Chocolate and Oatmeal Balls

As most of you know, I am the biggest chocoholic on planet earth, while Laimis is the biggest oatmeal cookieholic.  I have decided to combine the two... and in a healthy way.

This recipe is as easy as it gets and takes no time what so ever.

I purchased some organic rolled oats, raw almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts and dried powdered dates instead of sugar.
Also, a bar of really good dark chocolate with orange peel and a carton of something similar to soy-milk (which is really bad for you because it messes with your hormones), so instead a hazelnut drink.

I put the nuts and oats into the blender and blended all of them a bit until everything was pretty constant, but not too blended, because you don't want to end up with flour. You can decide how much you'd like to end up with... all together I used about a cup of ingredients.

With all the dry ingredients blended together, I started on what will keep it all together; the chocolate mass. I have a tiny little pot for things like this.... it really comes in handy.

I put a little bit of liquid into the pot and started heating it up on low. Into that I broke apart almost half of the chocolate, leaving a row for tempering.
So basically, what ever amount of chocolate square you use, should be covered with the liquid, and in this case, the hazelnut drink. Keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted, and then take it off the heat and stir in another square, if it melts, add another one, and then another one... about the third one won't melt all the way, take it out and put it in your mouth:)

Now, take the warm mixture and add it to your dry mix slowly, a bit at a time, until you end up with something which is easily rolled into a ball, without falling apart.

Which brings us to the next step. Roll a bunch of balls from the mixture you just put together. You're done.

If you want, you can roll the balls in chocolate, or cacao, or coconut flakes... what ever rocks your boat. I just put a hazelnut on top of each one and sprinkled a bit of the dried dates on top.

The best thing about these is that as I said, A. They're really healthy., but B. They fill you up really quickly, so instead of eating an entire chocolate, you'll pretty much be done after two or three of these.

Bon Appetite!

Brought you a lollypop. FEELING BETTER?

This is what happens when you are having entirely too much fun making a graphic... suddenly it's 2am and you don't know how it got there.  Anyhoooo... I have been seeing all these photos of the most adorable owls on Facebook lately, so I thought of making a feel better greening card.  I suppose it could be an owl t-shirt or what ever else just as well.  Don't you just love the pink crochet hat? In any case... it was a blast.  Now that I have the base, I will work on making it look just like I want it to look like... this one is just a quickie.

The Ten Best Interior Design Bloggers

Looking  for blogs dedicated to fresh finds, inspiring ideas, and  a hearty supply of interior design from all over the world? 

Here are the top ten  best interior design bloggers, according to White Horse Digital's Ruth Hoskins. 

1. Abigail Ahern

Interior designer and retailer Abigail Ahern has had heaps of praise bestowed on her; “the woman rocking the world of interiors” and “style spotter extraordinaire’”by The Times. Abigail owns one of the coolest interior design shops in the UK – Atelier Abigail Ahern. She is also the author of A Girl’s Guide to Decorating and has an A-list celebrity clientele, from Robbie Williams to Robert Downey Junior. Abigail’s style is ultra-luxe and fuses vintage with contemporary in an oh-so glamorous way. Her blog does not disappoint, she shares daily insights including recipes, style tips, cool product finds and trade.

We love: Abigail’s blog really does give an authentic insight into the creative mind of a leading designer. Plus the photography is lush – sultry, opulent and seriously lustworthy.

2. Apartment Therapy

The Guardian says; “ordinary readers showing off their extraordinary homes…it’s hard not to become addicted.” This blog/forum is huge, with fresh content posted literally all the time. Somehow it still manages to feel like a community. The main part of the blog is the House Tours, giving an inside peek into hipsters’ homes around the world – truly lust-inspiring and indulges in our voyeuristic dreams. It’s super visual with fun, snack size videos like this one – One minute tip: How to carve a turkey .

We love: The utterly intuitive navigation that invites you to dip in to daily tips and explore the content.

3. decor8

Founded by American award-winning and best selling author and journalist Holly Becker – a serious influencer in the blogging community. decor8 is a blog dedicated to ‘fresh finds, inspiring interiors & ideas for creative living’ and is beautifully designed. The site gets over one million page views per month, 60,000 followers on on Twitter,182,000 followers on Pinterest, 63,000 followers on Facebook and 28,000 following her on Instagram.

We love: The very personal way in which Holly writes makes this site read like a novel – it’s a great example of storytelling.

4. Bright Bazaar

Will Taylor is a self-proclaimed ‘lover of hues’ and his vibrant blog is a breath of fresh air and pays homage to his colour fascinations. A well-known home interiors journalist, ex-Habitat visual merchandiser and blogger since 2009, Bright Bazaar has an incredibly loyal following. His daily posts are as fun as his bright coloured images. His colour cocktails are cute moodboards packed with product suggestions.

We love:  The ten things I learned this weekend category – where Will documents all the things that have inspired him , from out and about photographs, to product picks and inviting Cafes and shops. This is much more than an interiors blog.

5. Bodie & Fou

Perfect Sunday morning iPad fodder, the Bodie & Fou blog is attached to the award-winning online concept store. It was voted in the Top 20 Interiors blogs by Vogue magazine (UK) and is just gorgeous. Started by Karine Candice and her sister, the French pair write about their inspiration, creative interior tips and create luxurious and want-to-buy-now visual guides to their favourite products.

We love: Boudie + Fou’s blog has some of the most beautiful photographs we have seen, curated perfectly to complement the tone of the blog and store.

6. Habitually Chic

Heather Clawson is a decorator, author and photographer based in New York City. Her blog is unashamedly glamorous and gives a glimpse into an Uptown Manhattan life that Gossip Girlmade us all want to be part of. Her posts are visually inspiring and artfully put together. This recent post Bergdorf Goodman Holiday’s on Ice gives us an insider scoop on what’s happening in NYC right now.

We love: Even though her style is uber-glam, Heather’s style is effortlessly easy-going. No haughty tone here, just the feeling that she is bringing us into her high-shine world.

7. Design*Sponge

Design*Sponge is a legendary design blog run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. Launched way back in August 2004, the site updates between 6-8 times per day and was declared a “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials” by the New York Times. We have long followed this lifestyle blog that serves up a hearty supply of design, craft, product and recipe ideas – creating the ultimate style bible. Their following is pretty awesome too. Design*Sponge currently has 75,000 daily readers on the main site, over 127,000+ RSS readers, 405,000+ Twitter followers and 70,000+Facebook followers.

We love: Easy to navigate and pick out the latest content, we love the design of this blog. It goes against the standard white minimalist look, and is instantly recognisable by it’s fun design.

8. The Selby

..is in your place. Tom Selby is a photographer, director, author and illustrator. The Selby offers an inside view of Tom’s creative, and often well-known friends in their personal spaces. The site quickly grew to daily visitors of over 100,000 a day and spun into campaigns and collaborations with Louis Vuitton, American Express, FENDI and more.

We love: Tom’s portraits not only show off a little black book of friends to die for, but are set in super hipster locations around the world – if this was reality Tv, we would watch it all day long.

9. Lobster and Swan

Sussex-coast living Jeska’s blog Lobster & Swan is a vision of heaven to vintage-lovers. Whimsical and inspired by ancient Britain, bunting and tea parties, the content is varied and creative but always beautiful. Her ever-changing vintage-style home features heavily. She posts her thrift shop finds, home made craft projects (also available through her Etsy store) and more. A great read on a rainy day that can take her readers into a world of sunshine and colour.

We love: The patterns, textures and images create a real vision of a vintage lovers paradise.

10. Door Sixteen

A cute blog from Brooklyn & The Hudson Valley, Door Sixteen is a personal tale of renovating a Victorian House in New York Stats. It’s an inviting story, as Anna shares the small details of her daily life, but makes them sound really interesting – she posts her weekend to-do lists, and music videos she has unearthed. All of this combines with beautiful imagery to create a real-life and extremely readable journal.

We love:  The daily detail of Anna’s life is pretty addictive.

If you are interested in reading more – our articles ‘11 Things Brands Can Learn From Bloggers‘ and ‘The White Horse Blogger Outreach Guide‘

  by Ruth Hoskins

Eco Friendly Homes amongst the Trees

Such a simple idea, yet it blows your mind.  Can you imagine if everyone could live amongst nature, but left no environmental footprint?  Well, that's what Konrad Wójcik pictures the world, and I love it!
Below is an article I spotted online... I think you'll love it.

Danish architecture student and interior designer Konrad Wójcik has devised a concept for a prefabricated tree house that would leave no environmental footprint.

The project, dubbed Primeval Symbiosis (Single Pole House), was designed as part of the d3 Natural Systems 2013 international architectural design competition, which asked designers to create innovative sustainable proposals that study intrinsic environmental geometries, behaviours, and flows.

The home’s designer was inspired after studying the functionality and
“For most animals, trees are the best natural shelters against predators, moisture and weather. Studying its nature allowed me to come up with ideas and solutions to create a completely self-sufficient construction,” he said.

The house can adapt to almost any existing landscape without leaving any footprint.
The name Primeval Symbiosis refers to the connection between the house and its natural environment.
At present, traditional housing developments and urban sprawl necessitate massive deforestation around cities and urban areas. While some recent projects are making partial efforts to reduce deforestation, Wójcik’s idea proposes to eliminate deforestation by creating houses that can adapt to the existing landscape without leaving any footprint at all.

The name Primeval Symbiosis refers to the connection between the house and the natural environment.
The pyramid-shaped building is 16.64 metres high and features only 61 square metres of floor space spread over four levels. The entrance is through an automatic folding metal ladder that connects the ground level to the first level, which is five metres up above the ground.
Levels are divided according to their functions; the bottom floor is the entry level and features access to the house, a mudroom, a storage area and a technical area. Level 1 is the ‘day level’ where the kitchen, living/dining area and the bathroom are located; level 2 is the mezzanine ‘work level’ featuring a desk and a storage area; and level 3 is the ‘night level’ or sleeping area.

Inside the house, alternating tread wooden stairs helps to save space and ensure the interior areas step around the ‘technical core’ of the dwelling, which is like the trunk of a tree, offering structural support.
The structure itself consists of a light wooden frame built around the central pole, and the exterior walls/roof are covered in black Zink, a 100 per cent recyclable material that is highly resistant to weather extreme conditions. Windows are triple glazed to meet the standards required for passive heating and cooling, helping to make the house energy efficient.
Cross Sections.
Cross Sections. (Click on the image for a larger view)
The house’s exterior includes 40 square metres of solar panels  and the house was designed with a 25 degrees slope to maximise its efficiency. The façade also features a natural ventilation system, while below the entry level, a rain water storage tank holds enough water to meet the needs of the house’s occupants.
The Primeval Symbiosis model aims to remind people that nature is wise and that trees serve a purpose, while deforestation hinders the world from an environmental standpoint. The ultimate goal behind this idea is to create a community of these homes that can be located in any natural landscape, nullifying the need for massive deforestation and leaving zero carbon footprint.

by: Mercedes Martty

A Designer Who Renovates The Minds Of Her Billionaire Clients

After you meet this designer, you'll know the history of just about everything in your home.  I thought you might like this article from Forbes India.

Joan Behnke redesigns the homes of the rich and famous by first renovating their minds.

When interior designer Joan Behnke brought Bob and Audrey Byers to Paris, one of their first stops was the Grand Palais. The petite, silver-haired Californian marched her new clients, self-made health care multimillionaires, through the great hall’s Monet exhibition, using the painter’s work to engage the couple in a larger discussion about fine art. “You have to bring clients along on a journey,” explains Behnke, a soft-spoken 59-year-old. “It’s about teaching people to appreciate what they are paying for.” 

Behnke’s work adorns the homes of some of the planet’s wealthiest people. Her clients pay for six-figure furniture by haute designer Hervé Van der Straeten, weathered antiques pulled from the rickety tables of the Paris Flea Market, rare strains of Carrara marble selected along the steep edges of a Tuscan stone quarry, black lacquered chairs created by artisans in a remote fishing village in Myanmar. More than anything, though, they pay for the stories that come along with these items.

Every fixture, every finish, every decoration positioned inside a Behnke-detailed home comes with an adventure attached. The designer insists that her clients personally play a role in the narrative, whether as an integral part of the sourcing or as a Behnke-educated font of information on what is in their homes. And every step of the journey, from igniting an appreciation for fine art to enabling a client to choose her own bespoke light fixtures at a glassmaker’s studio, contributes to the Behnke brand. It’s an investigative process that may span years and cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars.

On a recent day we visited the Byers’s newly finished 23,000-square-foot Richard Landry-designed château overlooking Lake Sherwood in tony Thousand Oaks, California. 

“I don’t want my clients to just own a personalised piece for the home; I want them to experience it,” Behnke stresses, as we stroll through the mansion. Bob Byers eagerly joins the tour, pointing out a restored antique chandelier found at a Paris street market, reclaimed bricks from Boston’s Big Dig that march along the domed stairwell ceiling, a silky handwoven fabric from Laos that wallpapers the powder room and sliced bottle bottoms that form a gleaming glass collage on the wall of the wine room. The pièce de résistance: The lush black-and-gold home theatre with a glass-panelled strip embedded in the floor to reveal an exotic-car collection in the showroom below.

Behnke’s network of high-net-worth clients—or, perhaps more aptly, collaborators—love her for putting them through their paces. “She always makes you feel like you are the contributor, that you are manifesting your own mission,” attests Thomas Barrack, the billionaire founder of Colony Capital and a decade-long client.

Despite a college degree that included art history, Behnke first pursued a career in modern dance and put in time working on films.  Eventually, she scored a job with design maven Erika Brunson. Her first project: Helping design the Saudi royal family’s estates in Riyadh and other locales. The gig exposed her to high-luxury vendors and specialised sources across the world, stoking a passion for uncovering unusual items and, once she began her own firm in 1999, a desire to spread that passion to her clients.

“I don’t view her as a decorator; she is a cultural scientist,” says Barrack. “She will research little, narrow, unknown tunnels of history on a particular project and then start drilling down. She doesn’t just do research of the period; she has contacts all over the world who help her manoeuver through identifying objects and materials.”

by Morgan Brennan

How to make your rented home special

We all know how hard it is to personalize a rented home, or is it?
Read this article and you'll be amazed how easy this actually can be.

Washington - Three years ago, newlywed Kerra Michele Huerta packed her wedding dress and her two dogs and drove to Washington DC to join her husband in a one-bedroom rented flat.

The designer had no clients and no design network in the American capital. Her budget for decorating her own flat was small. But she threw herself into space planning, flea market shopping, furniture repurposing, organizing and DIY projects, creating a personal, warm place.

Friends were amazed (and, yes, envious) at what she’d done: lined a stairway with several dozen framed photos, maps and artworks; painted the kitchen in black chalkboard paint; turned a walk-in cupboard into a dressing room. Soon she was giving out advice.

Eventually, she needed a bigger outlet for her creative energy and launched a blog, Apartment Envy, to chronicle her frustrations and successes in trying to personalize a soulless urban rental space.

“I figured that lots of people in their 20s and 30s are renting rather than buying. They need budget-minded advice,” Huerta says. “They want their place to look good now. But they also want to be able to take the stuff with them and use it wherever they go.”

Huerta, 30, says being a longtime renter has forced her to be creative and has led her to discover lots of design sources. Her online community chimes in with more ideas, as well as yeas and nays on color choices and furniture placement.

Today, she and husband David Reidmiller, a climate scientist, live in a 52m2 one-bedroom rented flat with a king-size bed and a homely refrigerator camouflaged under a layer of cool patterned contact paper.

Huerta has filled her home with finds from the internet, flea markets and and a bit of dumpster-diving. She hunts for used furniture on online sites for second-hand stuff.

From the reaction, it was clear that Huerta’s ideas are useful for almost anyone looking to create a happy space on a budget. Here are some of them.

1. Dump the mini-blinds. Nothing says temporary rental like clacking blinds. Huerta removed them and put them away in a cupboard. Most flats and townhouses have standard size windows, so it’s easy to find ready-made fabric or woven shades, or even curtains. If you can’t use them in your next home, you can often sell them to the next tenant because they probably don’t want those mini-blinds, either.

2. Add depth to a narrow galley kitchen. Remove cabinet doors to create a custom look and add personality. Not only will it make your kitchen feel larger, but the space will feel cozy and inviting. Huerta removed the doors on one wall of cabinets, painted the back of the cabinets mint and artfully arranged her tableware, glassware and Mason jars of staples inside. (Other cabinets still have doors to hide less display-worthy items.)

3. Maximise empty spaces. Every inch counts in a rental, so that awkward space between the top of your kitchen cabinets and the ceiling can be put to good use. Huerta arranged a row of chunky rectangular baskets on top of her cabinets to store household supplies such as paper towels and coffee filters.

4. Upgrade light fixtures. Rental spaces are notorious for having cheap, unattractive light fixtures. Check with your landlord first, explaining that you want to change them and that you will put back the original ones when you leave. Replace builder-grade ceiling lights with something more modern, such as the pendant with a black barrel shade which Huerta used in her dining area. She chose a blingy chandelier for the raspberry dressing room she created out of a walk-in cupboard.

5. Don’t be afraid to paint. Understanding landlords will let you paint in your own color scheme if you agree to repaint back to the original color, usually builder white. Huerta says you could also make a deal that if the new tenant likes your color scheme, you don’t have to repaint.

To deal with the nine doors and three windows in her bedroom (there are lots of cupboards), she painted all the walls, doors and trim in a taupe. Now the room looks like a cozy cocoon.

6. Camouflage the unflattering. Is there something in your space that you can’t stand yet can’t change? Adhesive paper can be your new best friend. It’s inexpensive and easy to apply, plus it peels off when you’re ready to move. Huerta covered the old and dented fridge with a grey-and-white geometric print to disguise a hulking eyesore.

7. Treat the bathroom like a real room. You can’t renovate it or change the tile, but you can add some interest to your bathroom. Huerta bought a vintage wooden grape crate online and hung it on the wall for extra storage. Using a tiny Oriental rug instead of a pastel cotton bath rug classes up the place.

8. Create the illusion of architectural interest. Because there were no built-in shelves in her living room, Huerta bought a pair of glass-fronted bookcases to put on either side of her fireplace. To personalize these very basic bookcases, she covered the back of the shelves with wrapping paper.

9. Speak up. Want to make changes to your rental space? Don’t be afraid to ask, whether it’s changing a doorknob or painting a room. The worst thing that could happen is your landlord says no. If you do get rebuffed, negotiate. You can offer to share the cost of an upgrade or pay a bit more in rent. Huerta split the cost of a new stove and microwave with her landlord because the old ones were dated and in poor condition. – The Washington Post

Simplify Your Life

Our lives are constantly changing, because we constantly change.  The chapters keep adding up in the book of our lives, and hopefully, one day, our book will be nice and heavy, filled with priceless experiences, saturated by everything and everyone around us... the essence of who we are now.


Some of the pages turn, yet we barely notice, and others are very clear indeed.  I have heard women say that their 40's are when they truly began understanding themselves, and the best time of their lives actually starts... as I approach that age, with a few years to spare, I can most certainly say that this must be true, and can't wait to get there.

I've decided recently to start living my life on my own terms, and although at first it was a very stressful thing to think about, because change is always scary, as the days go by, I'm more and more centered and I feel that this was the best decision I've made, so far.  Of course, I couldn't feel this way without all the past chapters and so I am thankful for each and every one.

For the past eight years I've been designing spectacular pieces of wrought iron as well as other metals; railings, drive gates, chandeliers, and just about anything else one can imagine.  Pieces ordered by some of the best designers in the United States, for the most spectacular multi-million dollar mansions you can think of.  It's been a playground of "never boring land."  One day a Mediterranean Villa, the next a French work of art, followed by an experience of the Spanish variety, and perhaps something Transitional and Eclectic.  At first, it was hard to no longer be there; working for Potter Art Metal Studios has been a priceless learning experience on so many levels, something to cherish always, especially since it led me to this moment.

Now it's time for a new chapter in my life, and it is clear-cut for sure; I am very aware of what is happening in my book.

I'm currently working on two canvases and both have a very telling story to tell... I'm adding color to and simplifying my life.  I'm not sure how long this new direction will last, I can never guess what will pour onto the canvas; it simply happens and it's always based on what is going on in my life on a subconscious level, I know that much.  I have to say that it's pretty fun even though at times painful to discover what meaning the canvas or sculpture holds, but I'm always willing to take the ride.

Meanwhile, I have a few thoughts scribbling in my head.  I believe that I'm going to start my own line of coffee tables; something no one's seen before.  I have a few concepts bouncing around... can't wait to put them all together.  The other is something I've been meaning to do for a very long time and never got to it; a large scale sculpture, already in my head.  I'm also working really hard on my new home on the web as well, and can't wait to show it off to you.  Life is beautiful; it's time to breathe a little bit deeper.

How to get some Downton Abbey glamour into your home

This article isn't nescesarely about a specific designer, but a specific design idea, nevertheless, if you simply adore the look of Downton Abbey's sets, and would like to bring a bit of the dramma into your own home, you will love this article from The Age, life & style.

Have you been inspired by the lavish sets of the blockbuster British period drama Downton Abbey? Considered injecting some aristocratic glamour into your house?

It doesn't matter if your home is more Kath & Kim than stately manor, you can enjoy the opulence of the Downton era wherever you live.

We asked Australian interior designers for their ideas in recreating the stylish surroundings of the upper-class Crawley family and their servants at the country estate of Downton Abbey from 1912 to 1922.

Melbourne designer Virginia Blue has more than 20 years experience as a commercial and residential designer and runs her own interior architecture and building design studio, Blue Fruit. One of her main areas of work involves bringing heritage properties into the 21st century without losing their original integrity.

“The Edwardian and 1920s style (a la Downton Abbey) is a particular favourite era” she says. “I have just finished an Edwardian property, with a complete overhaul from top to toe, but where the client was very keen to retain and reinstate the original Queen Anne detail.”

The style of this period in Australia was the same as in England but with the use of Australian native flowers, says Blue. "To recreate this glamorous style in a modern home, think of elements which are sumptuous yet simple, with an element of nature in their pattern or shape, and focus on pastel colours with white as a contrast. There are three rules: Simplicity of pattern, obsession with nature [floral patterns and flowers everywhere] and lightness."

Blue says the early 1900s were a time of great change in interior design. “Out went the heavy, cluttered style of the Victorian age and in came electric lights and heating. No longer did walls have to be painted dark green and red to conceal the smoke from coal heating and oil lighting. Instead, pale colours were to be found on walls, celebrating all that was light, bright and clean.”

“Windows became larger, fabrics became paler; furniture was either highly polished or painted white to reflect the light."

Sydney interior designer Meg Tuckett defines the Downton aesthetic as “glamorous, opulent, confident but at the same time warm and welcoming.”

Tuckett says to get the Downton look choose a strong, rich colour scheme, keeping ceilings and woodwork white. “My favourite white is from Resene, called Alabaster, which works with everything,” she says.

“For the walls choose Starbell, a mellow and warm yellow. If using wallpaper, Ralph Lauren has many beautiful designs in particular Abbeywood Damask in Balmoral Red, from The Archival English Papers 11 Collection.”

Blue agrees walls must be elegant. "Soft pistachio green, lilac, dusky rose, pale peach-apricot or soft grey would all work as wall colours, with timber mouldings picked out in crisp white" she says.

Or she says choose paintable wallpaper, embossed with stylised floral patterns. Alternatively go for a wallpaper of swirling Art Nouveau roses, wisteria or native Australian flowers like waratah and gum blossom below the dado rail, with a matching plain paint colour above.

Choose highly polished timber floors with an Oriental or Turkish rug. “The floor rug that could reflect the paint or wallpaper colours. Whitecliffe Imports have a wonderful selection” says Tuckett.

For a bedroom as grand as Lady Mary's, get a painted or fabric covered three piece screen or use wallpaper and add aged brass studs on the edges, she says. “You could also buy a button backed bedroom chair - something with turned legs. There's a glorious new velvet collection from Ralph Lauren called Velvet Library.”

Blue suggests upholstering a deeply buttoned chaise or armchair in pale lilac velvet, trimmed with pearl grey tassel.

“Add a crystal and brass chandelier, a vintage brass bed made up with white linen, masses of fresh flowers in old silver teapots and the room becomes one of Edwardian glamour.”

So before the start of season four of Downton, scheduled for early 2014, settle down on your new velvet chaise with a cup of Earl Grey and wait for inspiration to strike.

by Sandy Smith

Luk's First Bike Ride

SUCCESS!!!! Luk and I went on our first bike ride together!!! He did sooo good;)))) We ran into another dog and he just kept going;)))) ...all the way around the neighborhood! Poor thing is dead tired;)

How to quickly train your dog not to bark

Luk, my Doberman mix, happens to be quite the vocal puppy when he wants something, like to go outside, again, and again, for no good reason.  Why? because he'll come back two seconds after; he just likes to make rounds on his squirrel territory.

It's become quite a pesky thing, this thing he does.

One day I decided to borrow a trick out of "Mom's Book of Tricks" and put my index finger up in the air saying "ONE".
Then, after he barked again, "TWO"
and again: "THREE"
At which point Luk was grabbed by the collar and calmly walked over to the guest bathroom.

After he came down, he was let back out.

After several trips to the bathroom he put two and two together:

bark = finger in the air
three fingers in the air = time out


Now, I only count to ONE
TWO tops:)
Okay, okay, once in a while THREE is used as well:)

The Advocate Magazine Fun Bit

A funny thing happened this weekend; I get a message from Travis: "was just at the gym doing cardio reading the advocate...saw your quote about Amy Acker:-)"

I was like what???

Turns out, it's actually there... LOL
What a blast!

The Squirrel Incident

Well, Luk finally did it.
He was chasing the squirrels all this time and he finally got one.
The poor thing was pinned to the ground when Laimis and I ran outside to rescue it.
Luk's damages: bleeding from squirrel bites.
Squirrel's damages: freaked the hell out and slobbered on.
The little squirrel finally got up enough courage to move and made it for a tree, but was barely holding onto the bark from breathing so hard and being so shaken by the ordeal. Slowly it went up the tree, barking at me; I made sure it wasn't hurt otherwise. So glad Luk was just "playing" with it like a lion playing with a mouse to show the kids how it's done... I just don't think I could handle a squirrel death by mauling.

I guess it's true what they say about rescue dogs...

I guess it's true what they say about rescue dogs...

I adopted Luk from the SPCA.  The owners had surrendered him; he was an "issue" dog.
The minute he got here, he turned the house up-side-down! ...destroyed 5 pairs of shoes, ate my graphic pen, even nibbled on my couch.  God help those holding the leash if he saw a dog, cat, or squirrel... oh boy... an arm out of socket, a leash pulling kind of dog. Worst of all, a never look you in the eye kind of dog.
 ...with lots of potential.

We have been going on walks, out jogging, to the lake, we learned how to play fetch and learned the meaning of STAY.  Jogs became a pleasure, walks became relaxed, Luk became a companion... a buddy everyone wants.

Today, we went for a jog on a 30' lead; I didn't even have to say 'stay' when he got to the street... he just stopped and waited, I picked up the leash and simply said 'Heel.'  Most importantly though, I can now look him in they eyes and he won't tear away; he'll look right back.

He had so much pinned up energy, he didn't know how to play; he was hurting everyone around him and now he can play... with a two year old... gently.

So yea... I guess it is true what they say about rescue dogs; they really are great.

Can't wait to see what two more months will bring:)

Back from the lake...

"I'm not happy with you right now... I specifically told you that I wasn't ready to go home yet."

Whimsy Dragonfly Wrought Iron Walk Gates

I have always loved designing organic pieces of ornamental metalwork and lighting, especially of the whimsy variety; just because it's so much fun! ...so when my White Rock Elementary School Teacher, alongside her landscape designer Alison M. Betz, waltzed in through our doors asking for two little organic style walk gates, I was over the moon!  (for all the reasons mentioned above, and more)
I have not seen her in sooo many years, yet she recognized me right away... I was shocked!  It was one of the most memorable moments ever!

We looked through our books and she pointed to a design she really liked.  I took the components she was absolutely in love with and designed exactly what she was looking for.  In the creation of the design, I had to keep in mind that her two adorable powder puffs (she has two beautiful Bichon Frisé girls) could't practice at their escape artist ways, so I added plenty of scrolls toward the bottoms of the gates.  The bushes will actually grow taller and cable wire will be stretched between the two gates so that the pups can't escape.   We then decided that a dragonfly would be a perfect addition to the wrought iron gate design, and she asked if the wings could be made of glass.  I also added a cute little bug wondering around one of the stems.

And voilà!  A whimsy design full of organic wonder was born!

written by:  Izabela Wojcik

Your personal ornamental metalwork and lighting designer

at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, TX.

Make Your Own Fresh and Delicious Butter (in 3 minutes or less)

I decided that I really wanted to try making my own butter, so I went for it, and it worked!
And... I decided to share the recipe.
ENJOY!

You need:
- a mixer (with a whisk attachement... I have not tried the traditional mixing attachement; I'm assuming it will work, but it will probably take a bit longer... not sure)
- heavy whipping cream
- bowl (tall glass dish is my favorite; no splashing or odd reactions)

Now just whip it like you'd be making whipping cream, but continue until the liquid separates from the butter and squeeze it out.

Voila!  Your own, home-made butter!

(ps. you can add a bit of salt if you like your butter salted)

Hula Hoop for releasing muscle knots

Todd Steele, my massage therapist, has suggested a Thera Cane, which I finally purchased at the Casa Linda Natural Grocers, but you can buy it online or other places I'm sure.  In any case, after using it on my shoulders and neck and back while watching an episode of So You Think You Can Dance, I felt like I just got the best deep tissue massage ever!

However...

I didn't like the way it felt on my arms, so I thought... how about a heavy, padded, hula hoop??  I ran out and got one!  It breaks apart into several pieces and gives you a great workout, and yes, it worked!

Since I happen to be a metalwork and lighting designer, I sit by a computer screen all day long and constantly work my fingers and hands with a graphic tablet pen; this creates lots of muscle knots, which are no fun at all.

First, let me just say that after spinning the hoop up and down my arms for a while, the constat, smooth pressure of the heavy piece started to work my muscles until they began releasing.  Red blotches giving off heat started popping up where ever my knotted muscle trigger points were being indeed triggered and released; nothing happened in the places where there were no issues.  How could I tell that the places which needed releasing were being triggered?  Because those were exactly the places where my muscles were sore in the first place.  It's important to add that the hoop is quite thick and is wrapped by foam, so none of this hurts.  I will wait a few days and do it again... meanwhile... I really took a liking to the mighty hula hoop and in the short time I played with it, I have gotten slightly better at keeping it up on my mid-section.  I do believe that the hula hoop will become a friend of mine...

The thing about Todd... [myofascial release]

Sometimes, when you look for something or someone, they just kind of stumble right into your life... well, that's exactly what happened with Todd.

Let me back up a bit... (or if you're in a hurry, skip to the next paragraph)

I work for Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, TX; have been working there for over seven years now. Several years ago, the fine motor skills I perform with my graphic pen started to wear my body down.  Why? Well, I basically sit in front of a computer, all day long, drawing something, designing on Adobe Illustrator, manipulating images on Photoshop... basically, performing lots of fine motor skills with my right hand.  Doing such tasks makes my entire right arm over-rotate to the front, my shoulder to tance up, my right side to tense up, and the list of what goes wrong with my body just goes on and on... not to mention that sitting down for long periods of time has been proven to absolutely take a toll on my body.  That list goes on as well; early death, blood clots... not pretty... and I do it to myself all day, every day.  Call me mad.  Perhaps I should re-think this self mutilation one of these days... for now, I am ignoring it for the sake of having fun designing high-end custom ornamental metalwork and lighting.  I work with the best interior designers in the business, play with other people's houses and money, and live creativity on daily basis.

I suppose that I could just go back to painting and sculpting... one of these days I will sit down and poner upon this, but for now, back to Todd.

A few years ago this got very, very bad... to the point that I couldn't unscrew a water bottle; no kidding.  I decided to get help.  I went to the doctor, had all sorts of x-rays, tests, etc performed, and ended up in physical therapy and massage...  I'm just going to say that none of it worked.  Well, the aerial yoga and cirque fit arts, which I tried after the failure of massage and physical therapy, did amazing things as far as strengthening my body, but I still kept having these work-related problems.  I really believe in aerial yoga and cirque arts, but that's a topic for an whole other post... if you have no problems, do it for sure!  It's amazing how far your body can get.  But, back to Todd... I really felt that no one was addressing the entire problem... everyone was focused on "The problem".  I felt like someone needed to focus on my entire body, which I felt was really out of it... and that's when I ran into Todd Steele, LMT.  Quite literally, he appeared out of no where... he certainly wasn't supposed to be at the dinner I was attending with a friend.  If your'e looking for a wonderful myofascial release massage therapist in Fort Worth, who may also see you in Dallas, I'm just going to go right ahead and post his number here because I think that everyone needs to get to know Todd.  (817) 927-0114

This is Todd Steele, and Todd's philosophy is very much like my own... strengthen the body and the body will take care of the problem.  "The problem" apparently had a whole lot to do with me doing what I am doing, which caused my muscles to shorten, which caused a systematic disfunction of my muscles, which of course caused a lot of pain as well as restriction of motion.

A bit about what Todd does: Well, he uses myofacial release to cure the actual problem; he accomplishes this by relaxing the contracted muscles, lengthening them, and stimulating the facia to stretch out to where it should be in the first place.  This also increases the blood circulation to the starved muscles and releases the muscle knots.

Everyone knows about muscles and muscle knots, but what the heck is fascia, right?  Well, it's a structure of connective tissues that surround muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, bindig different structures together while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other.  When fascia is screwed up, muscles can't freely glide and stick together, then shorten... nasty problem to have, trust me.  (I was going to post a photo of what fascia looks like, but it's pretty icky looking since it's always shown on a cadaver, so I'm just going to say google it at your own risk)

Here is a link which explains a lot about myofascial pain syndromes 

So, what did Todd do for me?  Well, on top of my problem, I also mentioned that I had really bad posture.  Todd determined that I needed 20 sessions to get the problem under control.  He did not start by working on "The problem", and quite frankly after a few sessions I started complaining about it, at which point I was told that he can take care of my discomfort right now or we could continue with the plan, which was to work on different lines of fascia apparantly.  I grumpily accepted that he knew what he was doing and quit complaining, and just went with the plan.  Todd also mentioned that there might likely be setbacks in the entire process, which I was not willing to accept at all.

Well, he happened to be right about all of it.  There were setbacks, but the plan was working!  There was a steady climb up the hill.  My body started straightening, I started standing up a lot more straight.  I started sitting up in my car instead of completely caving into the seat, my chest started coming out to the front instead of creating a front "U" with my houlders... the list just goes on.  I always ask my hubby: Do I look straighter?  "Yes, you do."

My fingers also are back to working just fine as well!  I can open picke jars with the best of them!

It's really interesting how he does this too.  He'll follow the line of facia "Today we'll work on the deep front line"... make me get up and walk around the room, and my entire sense of space and body is completely different then it was just a few minutes ago.  Then he'll say "Okay, looks like your right leg is still longer, and you're still rotated to the right... lay back down on the table, this time put your knee up in the air"  Then he'll fix the other side and all of a sudden the overly curve in my lower back is straighter and I feel an inch taller.  My head is more level and I look ahead instead of looking down.

A fair warning.  If you continue doing what you are doing, like I am, you'll have to start developing skills to combat the effects of what you are doing.  The simplest thing, of course, would be to drop the habit in the first place.  The bad news for me is that what ever Todd keeps fixing, I keep breaking.  Well, sort of... I mean, things progressively get better, but not as fast as they would have if I would just quit messing it up.  The good news is that I'm slowly learning what to do to break it less and less.

Thanks Todd!  The thing about you is that you rock!

An XClussive Garage To Die For!

I've seen some pretty impressive homes with quite the impressive garages attached to them, but Lamond Jack of XClussiveGarage certainly takes custom luxury garage design to the next level!  On top of his gigantic, ultra elaborate garages, he's currently working on two parking spaces in Brooklyn NY.

This sounds like absolutely not a big deal, right?  Well, the two parking spaces inside the Brooklyn condominium building are going to get quite the treatment!  Venetian plaster, limestone stamped overlay on concrete, crown moldings, artwork on the walls, our beautiful lanterns, and the list just keeps going...  My job? Designing the ornamental metal partition which will protect the contents of the parking spaces, plus two gates, behind which Lamond's client will safely park his exotic cars.

UPDATE!
Great news!  Lamond loved my design, but the gates still have to be approved by the condominium board... we're all keeping our fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed!  I'm really excited about the entire idea!  Plus, Lamond put a huge smile on my face when he wrote "...If they don't then we will submit it to other clients.  I would hate to see a Wojcik design not be produced! too beautiful!"

Here is the before:

Here is a taste of what will happen happen in the space:

And hopefully, soon, I will post the actual space!

Before you go, I've got some eye candy for you by XClussive Garage:

written by:  Izabela Wojcik

Your personal ornamental metalwork and lighting designer

at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, TX.

A tasteful baby shower gift

Oh boy! Look what I found! The baby shower trinket I custom made for my sister and had cast in pewter... I completely forgot about it!  I believe that I'm loving it even more today then I ever did before... I guess it's because it has been a while and I had a chance to get it out of my ultra self criticizing brain, which means that now I can look at it as if someone else had done it.

Anyhow, I made a bunch of them and threaded a lovely pink ribbon through the hoop, creating a bow.  They were a real hit!  Actually, when it comes to special gift giving, it really pays to be an artist and a designer.  I can design exactly what I want and then produce it just the way I like it!  The guests could later put them on key chains, or around their necks.

I think that if you're looking for something beautiful and really different for your baby shower, a custom piece like this is THE a way to go.

I made sure that if the guests chose to use this gift as a pendant on a chain, they could do so without it being so specific to this particular baby shower, but at the same time, the present did have a deep meaning to my beautiful sister.

I love finding my designs on Houzz.com

I love Houzz.com
Houzz happens to be one of my all time favorite places online.  I love it so much that I actually invited Liza Houzman over to our studio when she was in town.  (Didn't work out so well for me because I ended up sick in bed with the flu, but heyyy... at least everyone else at the studio got to say hello.)

In any case, I was surfing Houzz the other day and happened across this gorgeous photo by Harold Leidner, a Dallas landscape architect, which shows off his wonderful landscape architecture, and also happened to catch the drive gate and exterior lanterns I designed for the property and which we custom forged for our client.

I clicked on it, and all these other fabulous photos started popping up... so, I thought I'd share them with you.

Mediterranean Landscape by Dallas Landscape Architect Harold Leidner Landscape Architects.  Custom ornamental metalwork and lighting by Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas.  The interior designer on the project was Kelli Otey.

Here is a photo which captured the copper and wrought iron gas lanterns I custom designed for the Mediterranean style estate.

We also designed and forged this exterior wrought iron chandelier.

And this shot shows a peak of the beautiful tail lanterns which we matched to the rest of the exterior lighting.



Of course we made a whole lot more for the home, but it sure was fun to see bits and pieces here and there on Harold's Houzz page.

written by Izabela Wojcik
Your personal ornamental metalwork and lighting designer at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, TX.

Hi-End Custom Metalwork on a Budget

If you have an appreciation for hi-end custom metalwork and lighting, but are on a budget, don't get discouraged... good things can happen to those who are willing to sit down and discuss things with their designer.  I have been designing custom metalwork and lighting for over seven years, which makes me kind of an expert on what to do in order to end up with a pretty piece of metalwork at a lower price.  In our business, it all comes down to the time it takes to custom forge a piece.  It doesn't really matter how large it is, or how small... sometimes the smallest and simplest looking piece takes far longer to make then something which is larger and more elaborate looking.  The key thing in designing on a budget is flexibility.  Just by changing a type of scroll end on a stair railing, or using a different material for a lantern body, or simply by doing a different finish, money can be saved.  So next time you've got the perfect piece in mind, which turns out to be out of your budget, have a talk with your designer, tell them what your budget actually is and give them the opportunity to figure out if your goal is attainable after all.

This wrought iron pendant is a perfect example of custom design on a budget.  You could have brought me an idea for a round fixture with side panels rised to arches and this fixture would have cost twice as much as it did.  Custom round glass is expensive to start with, and shaping it costs even more, not to mention that we would have to put even more work into rounding the metalwork which the glass would be set into.  This 28" tall and 15" wide pendant ended up costing $2150, and included solid brass leaves and finials and a lovely German Antique glass.  It's a fixture which will look great for generations to come, just like all of the fixtures we have been building for almost a 100 years; nice, heavy, well built pieces, designed and forged to your specifications.  There's a real difference in the way our pieces look and feel when compared with other metalwork on the market.  As Benjamin Franklin pointed out, "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten."  There are lots of nightmare stories we hear from time to time, so I'd like to also point out that we actually stand behind our products and won't drop the ball on you.

So lets get creative... Hope to see you soon!

Izabela
Your personal custom ornamental metalwork and and lighting designer at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, Tx.

Ornamental Metalwork and Lighting Designs by Izabela Wojcik... The Process...

I always get this question:

"What programs do you use to design
with?”

I have to say that I do not use only one
program... depending on what I want
to do, I will utilize a pen, a pencil,
markers, Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe Photoshop, and even clay or
paper cutouts... what ever it takes
to get my point across.

I hand drew the lantern on the top left
corner, I used Illustrator to create
the chandelier design on the top right
corner, and used Photoshop to create
my business card; the sconce on the
back wall was not in the original
photo, I superimposed it.  I also used
Photoshop to superimpose the gate
between existing columns to show my
client what it would look like.

Finally!

Took Luk to the park today.
He kept circling around and keeping one eye on me today.
When I was leaving, I just got up and started for the gate...
He was next to me in a split second and heeling all the way out!!!! ;)))
This pup is smart;)))

Another Visit from the El Centro Interior Design Students

Our now annual visit from the El Centro Interior Design Class was a blast as always.
We got lots of very intelligent questions from the students, they were amazed at the level of artistry at Potter Art Metal Studios, and the class left with smiles on their faces and comments such as: "This was our best field trip of the year, thank you!" ...and who can ask for more then that?  They especially enjoyed the huge tree gate we are currently working on.
A few days later the most adorable card came from the entire class, with a "Thanks a latte" Starbucks gift card... I just about died... isn't it sweet?  I love our precious students, and even worked with one on a project already!
A big thank you to Anita Watson of El Centro for organizing yet another fabulous trip!
Hugs!
Izabela

Meet the newest member of our house!

Meet the newest member of our house!
Isn't he adorable?

Puppy sooo tired after a run which ended in a mud bath...

I think that perhaps I'd like Luke to be spelled Luk.
In any case, Luk and I went jogging this morning and he was politely running right next to my leg most of the time.
(What an improvement from yesterday's super bad leash manners he had straight out of SPCA... Poor thing finally got to relax and not sit cooped up in a cage all day long;)

ROCKITECTURE 2013

It's that time of the year again!

The invitation to ROCKITECTURE 2013 is beautiful, as always, and we have decided yet again to donate a hand-made piece for the silent auction in support of our wonderful Architecture Center.  Custom designed by Izabela Wojcik of Potter Art Metal Studios, and hand forged by the artisans of Potter Art Metal Studios, this adorable wrought iron writing utensil stand will add whimsy to the desk of the winner of this one of a kind piece.   Design details: rose and leaf.   Donated by Richard Potter of Potter Art Metal Studios.

ROCKITECTURE 2013 is benefitting the Dallas Center for Architecture and guests will join some of the top designers, architects, builders, photographers, and just about anyone else who simply loves architecture.

An evening of great design in the stunning and recently restored Federal Building and Post Office, including Judge Sarah T. Hughes' historic courtroom, will be a hit for sure!  It will be a night of stylish cocktails, bites, tunes, and a silent auction especially curated for lovers of great design and architecture donated by us and other local and national designers, artists, and architects.

Hope to see you there!

Izabela

Rustic Pine Cone and Needle Fireplace Screen

The things we can do with metal... it's just incredible.  I designed this custom, wrought iron, fireplace screen for one of my favorite clients; she's just so sweet.  I matched the screen to a pine cone and needle fandelier we hand forged for her a few years ago, and I am absolutely in love with it!
The pine cones, the needles, the texture on the stems... it all just looks so real, and everything is scrolled in such an artistic way; it's exactly what I had in my mind when I drew it.  Our metalworkers simply rock!

If you are looking for ornamental metalwork for a cabin, a lodge, or just your lake house, a design like this one would fit right in.  We custom design and make fireplace screens and tools, table bases, railings, chandeliers and fandeliers, vent-a-hood covers, and just about anything else you can think in metal.  Drop on by our Dallas showroom, and I'll be happy to design something just for you.  We are located right next to the Dallas Design District, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding us.

written by: Izabela Wojcik