Foodism

Photography, Ditte Isager.

Julia deVille ~ Home Sweet Home #8

Julia deVille

Natura Exenterata

pipe dreams

© SANCTUS SABBATI

Mood Board: The Loo #2

Grow where you're planted? That's the question! Although I'd like to move to the West Coast for a while, but I figure I'll be in Chicago for a while longer so I'm going to finish fixing up my humble abode. You may remember my last bathroom Mood board...and here's the latest bathroom inspiration.

Organized Collections ~ Home Sweet Home #7

I know most of you have already seen the"The New Antiquarians" article in the New York Times, which spawned a whole mess of related blogs and press. They're calling this style "The New Vintage". I wouldn't call it "New" though, creative types have been hunting for treasure from antique shops, thrift stores, garage/estate sales and even dumpsters FOREVER! Anyway, I'm a big fan of the Hovey Sisters, I found them after Porter left a lovely comment in my comment section. I followed the link to her blog, which led me to Hollister's blog, and I've been hooked ever since! I love exploring people's collecting habits! Her collection exudes an English Aristocrat/Equestrian Prep aesthetic. Maybe she was a close friend of Ernest Hemingway in her past life. Or perhaps she was an English gentleman in colonial Africa! The Hovey girls are modern colonialists who now claim the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Soho, Lower East Side, and West Side Manhattan as their stomping ground. Neighborhoods that were once burgeoning Bohemian enclaves that are now "occupied" hipster territory littered with pre-gentrification artist types who struggle to stand their ground. I love looking at all the great stuff she buys, the girl has impecable taste! She blogs about it all with such a naive sense of pomp and privilege...I just can't get enough!



"The New Antiquarians" also features Ryan Matthew Cohn. He collects Victorian oddities, taxidermy and bones. He also seems to fancy cast iron elements and rustic and industrial antiques...I love his style! He has an awesome line of leather goods and jewelry. He's opening a men's shop with some friends, called Against Nature in New York. In addition to his own wares, the shop will will carry tailored suits by Amber Doyle and Jake Meuser "Doyle Mueser" and custom denim by Simon Jacob. The opening reception is 7-10pm, Sept. 10th. (159 Christie St., near Rivington St. 212-228-4552)



I'm trying not to buy anything these days! Right now I need to focus on organizing and displaying the things I've already aquired. For example, I'm looking for the the right size glass domes for my taxidermy owl and raven. I have a piles of antique botanical prints and misc. art to be framed. And I need to find a way to display my collection of antique prosthetic glass eyes. A while back, Steampunk Home linked to this home tour from Country Living. I love this look...it's so organized!















I've really paired down over the years, I needed to de-clutter my life! (Or sometimes I just need the money so I sell random things on ebay!) 10 years ago my apartment looked like Morticia Addams's bachelorette pad. Dark colors on the walls, heavy velvet drapes that shut out all the light...total opium den! (I was a rockstar bartender and got off work at 3-4am, I never used to welcome the morning sunshine) My style has kind of shapeshifted over the years, I'm favoring a more modern look these days. My place looks more like a modern gypsy caravan now. My walls are painted white and I love all the light that pours in! I love Stylist, Sibella Court's bohemian-chic loft...it's light and fresh!

A Cozy Woodland Retreat ~ Home Sweet Home #6

Last week I told you about my Urban Sanctuary loft dream...but as much as I love living in the city, it sure would be nice to have a place to get away from it all. I dream of my own cozy little woodland retreat. The cabins below are amazing! I'd actually prefer something a bit smaller so I could focus on the artistic details. This is just evidence that if you really want something bad enough...you can make it happen! Never bury your dreams! The cabin below belongs to interior designer and fashion stylist, Scott Newkirk. It's a 300 square foot off-grid cabin built from salvaged and reclaimed materials. The complex (including an outhouse, guest house, and outdoor shower) sits on about three acres of Newkirk’s 50-acre property. You can read more about it here...



The cabin below has a similar design but it's a Treehouse! This one belongs to Linda Aldredge, the owner of LuLu Organics. There an inspiring and amazing interview about her experience in the woods here...



dream...dream...dream...

Lofty Dreams ~ Home Sweet Home #5

Ideally, I'd like to have a live/work loft space in the city and a cozy little cabin in the woods. I really miss living in a loft... Unfortunatly, gentrification has infected every last bohemian enclave in Chicago, so finding an affordable loft space is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'm always up for a treasure hunt though, so I know I'll find what I'm looking for when the time comes. I'm dreaming of an old warehouse or factory with exposed brick walls and pressed tin ceilings, exposed beams, wooden flooring that go on throughout a huge open floor plan. I want plenty of room for an studio/office where I can make soap and candles, jewelry, art and pottery. I'd love to have a big play area where my kids can stretch out, let loose and play!



I dream of giant windows with tons of light! I picture the light pouring in over a little wooden indoor greenhouse where I can grow an herb garden. I'd grow common herbs to cook with, magickal herbs for witchcrafting charms and formulas, shamanic plants and entheogenic botanicals that make you "fly" and aid in lucid dreamtime!



I'm going to the Chicago College of Healing Arts next Spring to take a year long program called Foundations in Herbalism. "The program provides an introduction to plant medicine and lays the foundation for further plant medicine training. Students are taught the skills necessary for designing and making herbal formulas, as well as organic growing and wildcrafting of herbs, and the ecological and political concerns of modern herbalism. An integral part of the program is its series of country weekends, where students are given the opportunity to work with the growing, harvesting and processing of botanicals. Hands-on medicine making labs allow students to gain experience in creating their own tinctures, pills, salves, essential oils and more!"



I imagine creating a rooftop garden and keeping bees! Rooftop beekeeping could help to combat colony collapse disorder. Read more about urban beekeeping here...



There are many benefits of a rooftop garden beyond the fact that they can be quiet urban sanctuaries. They add another dimension of green space to an urban scape without taking up an extensive area of land in densely populated places. In some European countries such as Switzerland, bylaws have been passed that new buildings must be designed to relocate the greenspace covered by the building to their roofs. Existing buildings must also comply with the bylaw by greening at least 20% of their rooftops. Read more about "green roofs" here...

The Burrow ~ Home Sweet Home #4

I finally took my kids to see the new Harry Potter movie...we loved it!!! I probably don't need to tell you I'm a huge fan! There's a Harry Potter Exhibition here in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry through Sept. 27th, I'm pretty excited about that too! Anyway, The Burrow, home of the Weasley Family, was featured extensively in the movie! I love that house! Molly Weasley gets the best Mom and homemaker award! The Weasley's Burrow has fueled my obsession for handmade houses! I love the Weasley's kitchen table plenty of room for a big family and and guests! Hmmm...I smell Gypsy soup!



Warner Bros. should set up a website with set details, props and such for the Harry Potter series. There's a great website like that for the movie Practical Magic, where you can check out the interior design details for all the rooms of their magickal Victorian home!

The Burrow reminds me of the famous Handmade Houses of the Northern California woods in the 60s/70s...these homes were photographed and compiled in an amazing old book called Handmade Houses: A Guide to the Woodbutcher's Art. Another great book is Woodstock Handmade Houses My soul-sista, Tamera of Verhext fame, has a flickr set with more photos from these books, you should take a peek...









It also brings to mind the hippie houses of Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen. Europe's largest commune, the self-governing community of Christiania began in 1971 in a squatted military area. A counterculture activist occupation of disused army barracks in the south of the city and has continued for nearly 40 years as a sort of utopian social experiment. More photos and info here...



There's this brilliant man by the name of Lloyd Kahn who wrote three books on the subject of handmade human habitats called: Shelter, Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter, and Builders of the Pacific Coast. If you buy all three books from Shelter Pub you get 40% off only $47.31 for all 3 books!

Make sure to check out the link section of my blog, there's a category called "Eco-Dwellings" where you'll find lots of great links about sustainable and natural building! You can also click on the "Home Sweet Home" label below to link you to my blog posts regarding magickal living!

Kitchen Witchery Update!

Hello Loves! Hope you all you Mamas out there had a lovely Mother's Day! Here's a little update about my magical kitchen transformation! For those of you who have just recently found me, check out my Kitchen Witchery archives! Anyway, below is a pic from one little corner of my kitchen. See that wood slice with white magick weaving? It's 1 from a set of 2, called: 'As Above~So Below' by Chad of Mon Petit Fantome! (The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are claimed to function by this formula.) He gave them to me as a gift...what a wonderful surprise! I have both of them nestled between a set of 3 antique Black Forest hunting trophies! Love ya Chad!!!



I bought these lovely prints from Caroline Gaedechens! Click here for a closer view They're printed on vintage book pages. I was going to frame them but I found these vintage wooden clip hangers, which I think will look pretty cool!



More inspirations~ On the left: medicine woman, Susan Weed! I really want to take her Herbalism Correspondence Course!



On the right: Cole & Son Woods Wallpaper. I've lost sleep over this wallpaper! I just wanted to cover one wall, but I rent my apartment so I'm not going to invest in something I can't take with me. It's $195.00 per roll, so even one wall would kill me! But there's good news...I found these canvas birch tree curtains for only $29.99 per 2 pack! If you remember me complaining about the ugly blinds in my kitchen, this is the perfect solution! I can create that birch forest aesthetic and get rid of my ugly blinds!

Mood Board #2 ~ Medicine Woman

A few weeks back I did a post called Kitchen Witchery, about transforming my kitchen into a Sacred Space. (I shared pics of my witchy cast iron collection.) I've been trying to figure out what to do with the room...I have stark white walls and cabinets, charcoal colored ceramic tile, an ugly new white fridge, and an cheap looking white light fixture. With the exception of my awesome vintage stove...I hate my kitchen. I do get tons of light which is nice, but my windows need help, the ugly white mini-blinds have to go. After thinking about it, I can actually work with the white walls, so I've decided not to paint. I'm going to fill the room with natural/organic and ethnic elements to soften the sharp modern elements. Here are some of my inspirations for this project:



Photo below by Kat Heyes and her lovely home above...



I LOVE the space below...high ceilings make my heart sing! via Kaleidoscope Eyes





via Verhext! (I need to move to the woods too girlfriend!)

I dream of owning a large detailed painting by Katy Horan like the one below. (click on image to see full size) I bought a set of three small limited edition Gocco prints from her that I cherish!



I already have some great things to work with, so I only have to buy a few things. I need to find a cool vintage hanging swag lamp, inexpensive window treatments, and some shelving for all my herbs n' such. Otherwise I have lots of wooden bowls, nice woven baskets, old wood crates, misc. folk art. This awesome tribal Afgan wool rug that covers much of the floor and compliments the charcoal colored tile.



I have a giant handcarved commune style kitchen table with matching benches that my Dad made in 1971. For my table top, I have the silverware below...look familiar? They use this silverware in the Hogwart's mess hall in the Harry Potter movie!



I'm slooowly making my own handmade dishes...you might remember me posting my tea bowls before they went into the kiln. I didn't use color...it's a white clay which looks grey before firing. I just used clear glaze and they came out a nice creamy white! (I'll post a complete place setting soon.) I picture the table set with beeswax candles, linen napkins, my rock collection I showed you in the last post, quartz crystal clusters, and little succulent plant arrangements in handbuilt pots.



I have tons of glass jars and a nice little collection of vintage/antique jars for medicinal and magical herbs!



I have some very 70's things in my kitchen that I love like a macramé owl wall hanging. I also have a bunch of antler mounts, a large turtle shell, ethnic masks and art that will all tie in with my Medicine Woman/White Magic theme. I think the pieces below have found a home in my kitchen too! I got the owl from Gothic Rose Antiques. I named her Sophia, after the goddess of Wisdom. I got the bighorn sheep skull from my pal J.C. and the antler shed from a homeless guy who used to wash the windows and shovel the sidewalk in front of my old shop. He was a wise old fella with great stories to tell and treasures in his shopping cart. And on his cart he had a cardboard sign that said "Be kind, I'm not a bad guy, I just made bad decisions" I think he was an angel in disguise!