Art On The Grand

This weekend is Art On The Grand in downtown Farmington. Grand River will be closed to traffic and full of awesome artists' booths including Lilacpop. I've made a lot of new jewelry pieces and will have brand new metallic prints available as well. My booth will be on the corner near Starbucks. Hope you can come!

Shopping For Images Through The Eye Of The Lens... Not Too Shabby

We're continuing The Lengthy Grief Therapy Tour through NOT TOO SHABBY  and I'm quite certain The Man is probably relieved that I've taken up the Hobby and Art of Photography so that I'm now mostly Shopping for Images through the eye of the lens to share here in the Land Of Blog rather than actual Retail Therapy Shopping! *Winks*  I'm finding it deeply satisfying to just Photograph items that otherwise I'd  be tempted to buy, would Love to own, but cannot or should not right now... or perhaps ever... or wouldn't have a place for... or isn't the Style I'm decorating in right now but which captivates and intrigues me regardless.  I feel somewhat like a Journalist of sorts seeking out that next Story to relay and write about with images to go along with the random musings of my Life, my Loves and my Community.  Or what I've discovered via the vastness of cyberspace that I'm excited to pass on to others and share...

I also know how much hard work it entails that my Friends who own Shops and do the Show Circuit spend countless hours at.  Seeking out and bringing us the Beautiful Found Treasures and Hot items that are the current desires of those who decorate and collect. Creating the fabulous Vignettes that are an Art Form in and of themselves and should be captured as Still Life through the eye of the lens so that many can enjoy the fruits of their Labor and those images are not fleeting but preserved to enjoy again and again long after the display is gone and the items have moved on to new Homes!  Promoting our local individually owned and specialty small Businesses that we Love to shop at and offer so much more in the way of OOAK and personalized finds with Character and History than the mega retail chains and mass produced pieces ever could.  Hey, you might run into someone you know working at a chain store but the Hospitality of Small Business is sorely lacking in the way modern retailers and conglomerates are geared to serve the public and churn out their wares cheaply and in mass quantities.

So if you're enjoying my Grief Therapy Tour around Town and my recent score of images I shopped for through the eye of the lens at NOT TOO SHABBY... come back tomorrow... and I've STILL got the Special Reveal coming up that Kim and Katie are going to Wow us with this Summer... and I'm so thankful Kim graciously allowed me to spend hours restoring my Soul and Spirit during a difficult time... while photographing their fabulous Shop and consoling me like only Friends who care can...

Dawn... The Bohemian

I'm back from Centerparcs

I'm back from our short break to Centerparcs Heijderbos in Holland, near the German border. We had a great time there, the weather was really nice :) We also went on our bike to Germany the look for the Essence holographic collection but too bad I couldn't find it there :( Most of the time we spent in the swimming pool, walking/biking, shopping or in the Jungle Dome. The Jungle Dome is this great indoors tropical playing jungle for kids (well as an adult you can have fun too ;)) with all kinds of animals living there. It's sponsered by the WWF. This blog post I'll show you some photo's of our short break, most of them or from the animals because I just love animals :) You can click on all photos to enlarge them.

My Centerparcs nails from my previous blog on the photo with my new friend the Toucan. He was soooo sweet we visited him everyday to pet him ♥

My boyfriend and I in front of the Centerparcs sign/logo.

Me in front of our apartment door, me walking back to the apartments in the Market Dome and we playing a game of pool :)

My boyfriend and I next to the pool table in front of the House of Games.

Like I said I'm an animal lover, so ofcourse we also visited the "childrens" petting zoo :)

A gorgeous peacock, me and the rest of my family (I see no difference I totally blend in haha), a hugeeee bunny and some little ones and this cute donkey.

There were a lot of baby goats soooo sweet :)

Some turkeys those animals are ugly and funny :)

One of the best things from Centerparcs are their subtropical swimming pools. We spent quite a few hours there each day.

Acting crazy under water (you can dive there with some goggles and watch the aquariums under water, on the other side you can see the aquariums normal so we had to take some pictures), my boyfriend on the big slide and me in the main wave pool.

Also very famous are the wild water rapids (courses), here you can see me go :) (yes my nails survived the entire week well ;))

I already told you about the Jungle Dome here a lot of pictures from it, it was one of my favourite places to go, but it was really hot in there....you really got the idea like you were in a tropical rain forest.

Some of the animals there, gorgeous birds, big fishes, some kind of small deer and really pretty ducks (this one was hatching some eggs as you can see).

My boyfriend and I in the Jungle dome, he in a cave, me climbing some rocks and holding a sign which says DON'T FEED in Dutch and German...lol we are crazy I know ;)

There were also many pretty birds flying there.

Having fun at the rope bridges, like I said also fun for adults :)

They also let it rain inside, to make the environment realistic for the animals who live there. A real tropical rainforest.

Me sitting in a monkey chair and on this throne of the inhabitants of the rainforest.

Some flamingos and other birds.

Every morning around 10:30 it was feeding time :) Here you can see my friend the Toucan a parrot and this adorable some sort of squirrel, he walked really funny and was soo cute to watch him eat and drink ♥

I really liked the Toucan he was just tooo sweet and so soft, and as you can see he liked to be petted he closed his eyes like he was really enjoying it.

The Toucan was really tame and sat on the most crowded places, everyone petted him also children. Here is my boyfriend petting him.

Just a photo of my new friend ♥

And ofcoure I had to pet him myself too....he was soooo soft :)

Next blog will be about nails again ;)

xoxox

Edit: nobody of the Centerparcs staff noticed my Centerparcs nails and I'm not the kind of person that goes showing them to everyone so I had no comments on my nails ;)

More Salvaged Items Sourced With Care

Yes... two Posts in one day... but you'll understand why by the end of this Post... I need Blog Therapy even more than I needed Grief Therapy after what happened in the wee hours of this Memorial Day Morn... 

We're still continuing my Grief Therapy Tour through NOT TOO SHABBY and we'll be remaining there for the next few Posts as I share more Salvaged items sourced with care. 

I was so captivated by this particular Style of Decor and Theme that I spent a great deal of time photographing this room of the Shop.  I pondered why this Style is drawing me like a Moth to a flame and I realized that it reminds me of walking into an abandoned building or room... perhaps of a Commercial Building or Old Home... that has been shut up for decades... as if Time has stood still and everything is as it was all those years ago in that particular Era... and now you're the first person beholding it again after the long absence of human habitation.  You see, I'm one of those Junquers and Scavengers that is thrilled at the prospect of entering an old abandoned place and discovering what it still holds waiting all those years to be discovered!  It magnifies and intensifies the Thrill Of The Hunt for me x 1000!  I enjoy being transported back in Time through a portal where Time has stood still after a long abandonment and rediscovery surrounds you and you can imagine all the Stories and History behind the scene and each piece... the folks that might have owned or used it all in it's day... and why they suddenly left it all behind?

Kim and Katie are Masterful at recreating those types of images, scenes and vignettes with the Found Treasures of this Style. Artfully arranging it as if you're entering one of those old abandoned sites and discovering the objects left behind and waiting just for you to discover and capturing the very essence of such a vision.  Which is why I could wander through their Shop for HOURS... and did this particular grief stricken day... as each new room and section of the Shop is dedicated to a different Style and Theme so you can visit many different 'Worlds of Decor' all in one stop... from Shabby Chic... to Hollywood & Shabby Glam... to Industrial & Salvage Style... to Junk Style... Garden Style... Architectural Salvage... French Country... Retro & Vintage Style... it's all there under one roof... just waiting for you to peruse and 'score' for your own Special spaces... so come back tomorrow and over the next few days to behold and enjoy even more at NOT TOO SHABBY in Phoenix...

Dawn... The Bohemian

*And on a very upsetting Note, my original intention to Post a Memorial Day Tribute with Photos I Hoped to take from a Historic Cemetary was sidelined when we were Burglarized in the wee hours of this Memorial Day Morning and I had to spend most of the day filing Police and Insurance Reports, cleaning up the ransacked mess and re-securing our Property!!! *Le Sigh*  For any of you who have experienced this type of violation you will appreciate the range of emotions that comes with this type of crime... and the fact that not everything is replaceable and your sense of Security and Privacy is totally violated.  So this was not the wonderful Memorial Day weekend I had planned out... what with Rat Boy's passing and now this... but Life goes on... and so shall we... and my Beautiful Distractions and the Land Of Blog soften the blows Life sometimes throws at us...*