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I am really into chandeliers recently. I can’t decide if they are overly ornate or just beautiful. I suppose I don’t really need a reason to like something, but some things feel like they need to be defended. Chandeliers are one of those things.

I should clarify that it isn’t all of them that I enjoy. I seem to only love those dripping with crystals and scroll after scroll of iron. They need to be heavily ornamented and richly detailed to catch my eye, but there can’t be a bit of practicality in their design. The recent resurgence of traditional design in chandeliers has been a welcome relief from the recent decades of horrid lighting pieces. The brass & glass monstrosities that earned a place in some of the nicest homes of the 70s and 80s are painful to look at and the shaded country cousin of the real thing is only marginally better.

If you’d asked me a few years ago, I would never have thought that I could love such a thing as a chandelier. Perhaps it is the fact that despite its hugeness, the chandelier transcends social boundaries. They seem as welcome in the dusty homes of the famously wealthy as they do in run down apartments of struggling, albeit stylish, artists. They appeal to the nouveau riche and to those just trying to make ends meet.

And maybe, I like them just because they are deliciously tacky.

Great chandeliers to check out:
http://www.insideavenue.com/89500.html
http://www.insideavenue.com/kechbyar.html
http://www.insideavenue.com/89551.html
http://www.insideavenue.com/cachbyar.html
http://www.insideavenue.com/trchbycuco.html

I tried to make chandeliers my theme for this past Christmas. Unfortunately, finding chandelier items was rather difficult. As soon as Christmas had ended, we received a lot of chandelier themed items at work. Hopefully, my love can last until next year, when I will be all set. If you like things that are a little extravagant and a bit tacky, check out Michaels.

Images: photo by Monty Lov (via Unsplash); design sketches for various chandeliers

Featured Image Art: photo by William Krause (via Unsplash)

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My newest obsession. Amy Butler is a designer with some amazing lines of fabric and paper craft supplies. I discovered her designs last week (though I had seen them before — I just didn’t know that they were designed by her). I’ve been working on some art for my wall. I want to wrap a canvas in fabric and add a large letter in the center. There are three of them, which will spell out the word “sly.”

All parts of this took a long time to decide on. The longest part was the fabric. I was browsing through magazines on my lunch break during one of my last days at Borders. On the cover of one was a tablecloth in a great damask pattern. I thought it would look great, but assumed that it would be difficult to find something like it. I purchased the magazine anyway.

Inside, I found that the cover story was not only about the fabric used on the tablecloth, but about Amy Butler herself. All the projects were based on designs in her fabric line for Rowan fabrics. As soon as I got home, I searched for the fabrics online. Of course, the ones I liked the most were very difficult to find. But I eventually did. I found Duck Egg Acanthus (the one from the tablecloth) and Teal Acanthus on one site and Olive Acanthus on a different site. I ordered plenty of each to make sure I would be able to use the extra length for pillows, curtains, etc to bring everything in the room together.

The other day, I received the Duck Egg & Teal. These are the softest cotton fabrics I have ever felt. Although they are not nearly as wide as most other fabrics, they are of such great quality and beauty that they are totally worth buying. I am reserving quite a bit of each for use later, but still using some for accents in the living room.

Now, I am on the search for Amy Butler papers for scrapbooking. At Michaels, we sell the album in the Olive Acanthus pattern. I don’t really want a busy patterned album though. I would rather have the paper to use inside.

amy butler’s website
purl’s amy butler collection
crafty planet’s amy butler collection

Images & Featured Image Art: designs from Amy Butler’s “New Belle” collection