Ray Villafane Pumpkin Art

Happy Halloween! To celebrate Halloween, I wanted to feature an amazing artist who specialized in sand and pumpkin carvings. Pumpkin carving is definitely an art, but it has been made a little easier for the rest of us with the nifty kits out there now that help the process.

Check out these amazing pumpkin carvings from Ray Villafane of Villafane Studios who takes pumpkin carving to a whole new level. Villafane has been featured on the Food Nework's Halloween Wars, Martha Stewart show, Travel Channel, David Letterman, and has been asked to carve pumpkins for the White House and in Vegas for Heidi Klum's famous Halloween party. His carvings are made from only 1 pumpkin (with the exception when a mini pumpkin is added as a feature).

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween at my house

Here are a few pictures from my house for Halloween. Our neighborhood usually gets a lot of trick or treaters so it is always fun to see what the children dress as. I usually put some out plastic spiders hiding around the pumpkins to (hopefully) scare the kids. We don't do too much decorating for Halloween just a little touch.

Our little Charley with his Halloween scarf.

Skeleton pumpkin my husband carved

Toasted the pumpkin seeds from our pumpkin. Here is the recipe but I had to add a lot more seasoning during the baking process.

Front door decorated for Halloween

Halloween candy (and glow sticks) ready for the Trick or Treaters

Vintage style Halloween decor in our entryway

Caitlin Wilson Textiles

I have been excited to see the great designs from Caitlin Wilson Textiles as I have followed her blog for years, even when she was living in Hong Kong and then making her move to Dubai. Now she is back in the US and has brought some fun, colorful and reasonable prints inspired by her international living taking us from scallop scales in South China seas to architectural inspirations from Byblos, Lebanon, one of the oldest cities in the world.

The beautiful designer, Caitlin Wilson

Most of the fabrics come in pillows 14x20, 16x26, 20x20, 24x24 and 26x26. This pattern is one of my favorites the Souk Trellis which is a twist on the trellis style with an exotic Arab type pattern found in markets and mosques. 

Peacock Scallop fabric inspired by the strong scales of the scallop evoke images of the South China seas.

Tangerine Lotus fabric that carries you to the exotic water gardens of tropical Asia

Jade Byblos fabric inspired by one of the architectural elements in Byblos Lebanon, one of the oldest cities in the world.

Navy Fleur Chinoise inspired by Asian blooms

Coral Tall Chevron inspired by her mesmerizing city experience in Dubai

Bathrooms with Arches

First of all I would like to thank Barbara at Haus Design for the Versatile Blogger award the other day! Check out her blog for great daily inspirations. She currently is living in Germany so her European travels and vintage finds for her store are always great. Her most recent post was Gorgeous Bathrooms and then it reminded me of this post I had started but never finished...bathrooms with arches. I love great architectural details and especially arches for the doorways, so here are arches taken a step further...in the bathroom!

I love the three arches..one for the bath, one for the walk in shower and one for the vanity area from houzz

Beautiful tiled bathtub enclave from House Beautiful

Love this Moroccan inspired bathroom from Cococozy

Subway tile arched vanity enclave from High Street Market

Love this arched bathroom using Schumacher's Albero Floreale wallpaper in Aqua from Schumacher 

Marbleized arch tub at House Beautiful

Beautiful open and airy bath with arches on the mirrors and the tub from Things that Inspire

Love this large arch with a tub and garden view from House Beautiful

Arches in the ceiling lead to the great closet from Haus Design

La Cornue Ranges

I remember the first time I saw a La Cornue stove in person many years ago, I was so intrigued with this piece of art. When I registered for my wedding at Williams Sonoma for some reason the scanner would not the beautiful one at the store. La Cornue of France makes these amazing ranges and cabinetry which have an industrial yet nostalgic and chic look. I love the metal trim on these which comes in copper, gold or silver. I still can't decide what color is my fave! What is your favorite color stove?

Love this black stove with the white cabinetry and ohhh that amazing island from Trad Home

Love this black La Cornue stove against the light blue cabinetry from decorpad

Light blue cabinetry with white stove from Smitten Design

Amazing marble backsplash and a black stove from Pinterest

Another black stove with gold trim but copper pot accents and dark counter tops from The Perfect Bath

Black with silver trim can even look a little modern from Trad Home

Solid silver La Cornue with cabinetry in this Provencial inspired kitchen from Veranda

Silver stove with gold trim, I think this one is versatile from decorpad

My favorite is the copper trim. Not sure I could commit to a blue, but this is just beautiful, from La Cornue

Darker range with gold trim from La Cornue

White stove island with additional cabinetry from La Cornue

Some Fun Colors:

Provence Blue-Williams Sonoma

Gloss Black-Williams Sonoma

La Cornue from Rutland Architectural

Eggplant colored stove and cabinetry from La Cornue