Over and Out: Happy Halloween!

Photo by Andrea With a Camera

I'm cutting out a bit early today to help the kids into their costumes, watch their school parades, and finish up our Halloween decorating before the doorbell starts ringing. (We get tons of trick-or-treaters, and it's always so much fun to pass out candy or to wander the witch- and goblin-infested streets of our neighborhood with the kids.)

Hope you all have a wonderful night, and a lovely weekend!

More eBay Finds

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Etsy Find of the Day: ShaNickers Tree Stickers

At last, Fall has fallen here. (And despite the heatwave we had last week, I think it will actually stick this time -- it even rained today!) So I'm ready to rekindle my barren-tree fetish, which tends to rear its head about this time every year. There's just something about this particular silhouette that I absolutely love. It makes me feel warm and cozy during these increasingly cool days, and ready to nest for the coming winter.

Etsy seller ShaNickers has a collection of large-scale tree and other botanical wall decals (like Tree in Wind, top, $69) that are surprisingly affordable considering that they'll adorn almost an entire wall with something beautiful. Take a look:

Big Birches, $69

Blossom Tree, $85

Birdie Perched, $46

Branches, $45

Gingkos, $43

Each of the handmade decals is available in a variety of colors, and can be applied not just to walls, but to doors and windows as well. What's more, you can move them from one spot to another without damaging the decals or the surface they're applied to.

Check out all of the decals in ShaNickers' Etsy shop.

Cool Stuff: Wallflowers

If you have a blank bit of wall and no art to fill it with, how about a casual spray of these magnetic Wallflowers from Umbra?

Each mounts to a simple tack-head, and comes in white as well as kiwi green and hot pink.

They're $37 for a set of 25 right here.

Mark Your Calendar: Philadelphia Dog Haus

Admittedly, Philadelphia is a little outside of my normal beat, but I couldn't resist posting these dramatic images from the PSPCA Dog Haus, a designer showcase that's taken over a 20-room Victorian mansion in the city's Chestnut Hill area.

This space, dubbed the Drawing Room, is the brainchild of Philadelphia design studio Made on North American (M.O.N.A.). It's all dark glamour mingled with a lush, seductive strangeness. A little goth, a little Steampunk -- in other words, perfect for some pre-Halloween ogling:

(So Leslie, when are you moving in?)

Take the entire Drawing Room photographic tour right here -- and click here for more info on the Dog Haus showcase, which will be open to the public through November 9. All proceeds are earmarked to help abused and neglected animals in the state of Pennsylvania.

Mark Your Calendar: East Bay Art Happenings

More and more local art openings, it seems, are veering off the standard "First Friday" schedule for new shows. That might be a good thing, because while the Oakland Art Murmur is a blast, it's often so packed that it's all but impossible to really appreciate the art.

I'm super-excited for Seattle artist Katy Stone (top) and Oakland local Yvette Molina's (above) joint show, Tickling Thicket -- which "considers the ephemeral thrills and underlying decrepitude of the natural world." The exhibit opens with an artists' reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, October 30, at Johansson Projects. JP shows never miss, and this one looks amazing: Delicate, luminous, earthy and yet out-of-this world. Tickling Thicket will be up through December 13.

At CCA's Oliver Art Center, Oakland artist and cultural anthropologist Lydia Nakashima Degarrod's Geographies of the Imagination presents "both the emotional dislocation of migration and its transformative power" and invites viewers to explore "the cultural and physical landscapes of their past." The show debuts with an opening reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, and will be up through November 21.

My friend and neighbor, Bedford Gallery curator Carrie Lederer, is part of a group show at Blankspace called Double Exposure. The show features the work of ten local gallery curators -- including Daniel Healy, Rowan Morrison's Pete and Narangkar Glover, and Root Division's Michelle Mansour -- who are also artists in their own right. Lederer's pieces for the exhibit "depict turbulent gardens informed by nature’s riotous beauty." Double Exposure will be up through November 17.

On Thursday, October 30, from 7 to 10 p.m., the Rowan Morrison gallery and bookstore will host a signing and launch party with Oakland artist John Casey for his new, limited first-edition book, Scarecrow, featuring more than 60 "unseen biomorphic drawings from the depths of the subconscious." Casey will also have original art on display in the gallery. (If you're not in the area, Scarecrow can be procured right here.)

Finally, at Compound Gallery on Saturday, November 1, from 6 to 9 p.m., there will be an opening reception for Scott Reilly's solo exhibit, October 9, 1969, in which he exposes "a deeper emotional source that lies within all of his creative expression." The show will be up through December 1.

Good, Uh, Reads: Obscene Interiors

Here's some decorating pornography with an emphasis on the porn: In Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor, author Justin Jorgensen has collected images from online personal ads (e.g., craigslist's unintentionally amusing postings from lonely men looking for some quick, no-strings lovin') featuring "shockingly explicit amateur decorating action!"

No worries -- the naked men unashamedly displaying their wares have been obscured so that you can focus instead on the truly cringe-inducing interiors in which they've posed, and on Jorgensen's tongue-in-cheek commentary evaluating these "graphic displays of aesthetic perversion."

A sneak peek:

This just might be the perfect, umm, stocking stuffer for the design-addict-with-a-sense-of-humor on your holiday list. (Hey -- it's respectable enough that designer Todd Oldham penned the foreword, and literary darlings Dave Eggers and Chuck Palahniuk, plus all-around genius Amy Sedaris, gave the book a thumb's up.)

Obscene Interiors is $15 including shipping right here.

Cool Stuff: Flowie

I'm loving these fresh and pretty hand-screenprinted designs from Flowie, the company launched last year by Bay Area textile designer Yaling Hou. Above: Bela Tea Towel, $22

Bela Pillows, $68 each

Dear Mika Napkin and Placemat Set, $32

Garden Love Napkins, $38 for two

Gerrie Tea Towel, $21

Gerrie Big Tote, $68

Saki Coin Purse, $11

Garden Love Bow Bag, $72

Check out the entire Flowie collection right here (pssst ... use coupon code HAPPY15 for 15 percent off your purchase between now and November 15), and also here.

More eBay Finds

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eBay Find of the Day: French-Style Chairs

Ignore the tacky "Granny Glam" sofa in the background ... These velvet-upholstered, circa-1930s or '40s French-style armchairs are tres chic, non?

Current bid: $550 for the pair. (The auction ends Tuesday evening, October 28.)

Over and Out

Photo by Rokou

Have a lovely weekend!

Cool Stuff: Lealand Eve

I just got an email from Nathan King, who along with his partner, artist and Pratt grad Lealand Eve, recently opened a small boutique and online shop in Sayville, New York. The Lealand Eve Boutique features wares (such as the Turf Tealight Holder, above, $35) from small manufacturers and artisans, and cultivates a look that's "organic and clean, taking cues from the natural environment and adding a whimsical, fairy tale touch."

Take a look:

Lily Hand Vase, $35

Blue Buffet Lamp, $400

Diamond Scallop Mirror, $219

Burl Dippers, $35 each

Tord Boontje Table Stories Glass, $14.50

Sapling Silverware Set, $79

Gold Plate Set, $58

Lace Votive Set, $35

Peruse all of Lealand Eve's lovely goods right here.