work in progress- holiday prints

 : : I'm working on a few patterns for the holiday. I'm hoping to have the prints ready and up in my etsy shop within the next 10 days. stay tuned!!

Read More

places around the house

: : if you are reading this, THANK YOU, I know I have been missing lately. I'm happy to see you back here. I wanted to share some photos from our home, these photos from our bedroom are from warmer and sunnier days. the wedding tree was a wedding gift, handpainted by my bestfriend .tina. and her husband. it's the best and most beautiful wedding gift, it reminds us of our day and all our friends and family who shared it with us.

there's in fact a funny story about the tree. I had had the same idea as .tina. and had printed a tree and brought to Sweden, when .tina. saw it she said "anna, why do you always have to be doing everything yourself?". But of course, her handdrawn tree was much more beautiful than my printed one, and it fits so perfectly with the colors in our bedroom.

the oil painting is by my grandpa and the gold flower by me. the framed photos are from my favorite places, rockport beach and our summer house.

Read More

Tour De Floors...

By popular demand, here they are! A quicky tour of the floors in the bath and laundry spaces at the Homestead... In true Bohemian spirit, mosaic floors are kind on the earth (all natural AND recycled goods), artsy yet elegant, VERY inexpensive and will last for generations. Above: Hall bath, leaf design made of beige and slate colored tiles with glass marble accentsAbove: A Lizard guards the Laundry, same beige and slate tiles with glass accents
Above: Muffin scales the edge of the tub in the master bath...this time beige tile is paired with black granite (secured from a broken shipment at a tile store for free!) and glass marbles...
Above, a close up of a spiral in the master room...

We are about to do a mosaic insert for our entry, and because so many have requested instructions, I will put together a video. The process truly is quite simple. Rock On Bohemiana!!!
xo

Read More

Bathroom Vanity @ Ze Homestead: a Bohemiana Gem:)

The Master Bath Vanity at our homestead is one of my favorite things ever - Eddie repurposed the massive china cabinet I had previously used at my in-town home by plumbing in a faucet and adding a simple and inexpensive bowl sink. An antique store find became the mirror over the sink, and a coat of rich gold paint dressed the whole shebang up for a flash of warm color atop our mosaic floor (tile stores are more than happy to ditch broken products)... The hardest part was carrying the cabinet into the room! Results: classic yet creative vibes at budget prices. True Bomhemiosis at work! Mwaah! And remember brotha's and sista's -- ideas are for stealing, so take this one with you to the flea market when it is time to remodel or build your next homestead!!

Read More

Drought and lesser losses...

For hoarder types like me, drought poses certain dilemmas beyond water bills and plant loss. Not that I'm the typical garden-variety hoarder with boxes lining the hallways. I am more of a metaphysical/ mental hoarder. I can't let go of thoughts; never fully rejecting (or accepting) any idea or ideology (which makes me a poor target for conversion by priests, politicians or advertisers)... So when drought strikes, like it has in Texas for the 2011 growing season(s), the mental, physical and emotional gap between 'let it all go' and 'dig deeper' leaves very little room for middle ground or balanced decisions.

I recently turned up a photo from earlier in the summer, taken at a friend's urban wildflower garden - about 1 month into the worst of this year's drought - right as mother nature was starting to show us all what 'lack' really means...

We urban and suburban homesteaders hardly suffered as much as many fellow Texas did this year. At our place, we didn't lose anything to wildfire, nor did we see our animals auctioned off at low prices because we couldn't afford to import hay. We did however lose a good deal of the orchard, and many new additions to the garden that were added this past spring. During the worst of it, I had my head down and faced the storm - dragging drip lines around hour after hour, a flock of chickens in my wake, and despite near constant water application to both plants and animals, we buried a few of our beloved birds. After the rain returned, we saw invasive pasture grass come up in beds over night where we have fought for years to eradicate it...

In the moment, none of that bothered me, and 'dig in' meant spending more than what was reasonable on water when it may have been best to replace some less tolerant plant varieties. But now, it seems to mean 'let it all go', as I look helplessly at dead trees and beds overflowing with cursed bermuda grass... Neither is an appropriate path...

This photo gives me hope -that there are answers, success stories, and options still out there. Our Bohemian Homestead may not be closer to the fully developed farm and sculpture garden we envision it to be some day, but then again, we didn't lose everything and we are quite blessed to still be experiencing a gorgeous fall... Drought, after all, is one end of a scale of measurement; much like the scale the stretches between 'keep digging endlessly deeper' and 'let it all go'. And as surprising as it was to be blindsided by the relentless heat and lack of rain, it is equally surprising to be surprised at all: extremes DO happen.

As challenging as it is for an idea hoarder to do, I have had to overcome the desire to hang onto what I think my garden and homestead SHOULD be. As willing as I am to accept 'messy', 'weedy', and 'unfinished', I never imagined working 'completely different design' or 'reinvented land use' into my mindset. Change is inevitable as we teeter back and forth upon multiple scales of life's measuring sticks - sometimes balanced, and other times tumbling toward one extreme or another... Regaining balance as we look toward the 2012 season means more rain barrels, more wildflowers, certainly more grasses, more soil improvement, and less fretting over the inevitable losses -particularly the loss of ideas. Ideas, after all, are easy to replace -as long as I can make room for "the new" by being willing to cull the hoard. This difficult exercise moves me closer to true bohemiana; for 'balance' and 'going with the flow' of change are central to a Way Kind Bohemian Life... Peace, love, and wildflowers!

Read More