Because the point is NOT to crush one's skull...

The Doo and I have been living together for quite some time now, and for all that time I have had a manila envelope full of antique pictures that I've wanted to frame and hang around our house. Despite the high cost of living in NYC, The Doo and I are living quite comfortably in a large house in Astoria, which is pretty astonishing if you live in NYC. We each have an office, we have a dining room separate from our kitchen, and our living room has a library... not to mention our front porch and backyard. I have The Doo to thank for all of this, because he's been living here for over a decade and our landlords are quite old and sweet and haven't raised the rent much at all. If I told you how much we were paying, you would be appalled.
At any rate, we have a lot of wall to cover, and I have a lot of pictures to cover it with.
I desperately, desperately wanted to put these two images above our bed, but we realized after hanging them that they were incredibly heavy, full of glass, and might crush our skulls when the Metronorth train rattles by—I've always loved the sound of the train, but I might not if it precedes a thoroughly fatal skull-crushing. 

But aren't they absolutely gorgeous??

Most of my pictures were torn out of books (not by me, mind you). I purchased the pages off of etsy for very little—it's amazing what you can get. I also got all the lithographs from A.A. Milne's A Gallery of Children, which are stunningly beautiful. They each have a color scheme that matches a room in our house, and there is one for every room—don't ask me how that happened, but it did. 


I also got these pages, which were torn out of a sci fi book, and I think they are stark and beautiful. Each one has a word printed underneath, like "ice" and "the desert."

We've already decided that they will look best climbing the wall next to the stairs.


The only problem we found is that we really want something above our bed, but everything is glass and we're neurotically afraid of having our heads sliced open. So The Doo suggested a textile of some kind.


Brilliant.


How is it he thought of it before me? I really should be ashamed, as a crafter. The recent pieces I posted by Turkish artist Merve Şendil would be perfect for just this situation.


Of course, a day after he mentions it, this pops up on a blog I follow: 

©Sonya Yong James

That, or something like that, would be gorgeous above a bed. The piece is by Sonya Yong James, a sculptor and fiber artist living in Atlanta. I probably wouldn't make exactly the piece above, but I'm thinking that (over a ridiculously long period of time) I could make my felted lavender hearts in different sizes (and without the initials, obviously) and have them hanging over our bed—not just an homage to our love, but, being filled with lavender, a genius way to surround ourselves in the soothing scent of lavender as we fall asleep.


Yes? No? To The Doo I go!...
... to find out if it's really that good of an idea.


I kind of wish I could just buy one of her pieces; even though I know I could make it, it's gonna be a major butt-hurt in terms of time and energy spent, and I'd rather just support another fiber artist and have it hanging over my bed already.

And, her stuff is just really, really beautiful.

©Sonya Yong James

Happy crafting!


flossie