Film Friday - Same Hill, Different Day by Paul Octavious

Today I wanted to share with you all this beautiful short film by Paul Octavious, a photographer and designer who is based in Chicago.

The concept for this film is simple (the best things always are) and it is beautifully shot and relaxing to watch so why not take a minute and a half out of your day to watch this beautiful short film.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

The Dorothy Days X

Film Friday - Adults who live in tree houses

Since my childhood I have always wanted a treehouse. My friend when I was younger used to have the most incredible garden. It had a huge pond with a swing seat next to it, big leafy plants that made it feel like you were entering another world, hiding places and dens but best of all....a tree house!

We spent many summers in the tree house making 'Girls Only' clubs, practicing moves to Spice Girls songs, having water fights and extending the tree house to make it even better!

Next to the tree house was a big climbing frame with a slide and we used to be able to turn the climbing frame around so that the slide could be lifted up to the tree house door which meant you could crawl across from the tree house onto the climbing frame and then slide down onto the swing below which we all thought was fantastic!

Nowadays I would still love to have a little tree house. There is something so magical and fun about having one. My dream is to have a big garden with a little tree house at the end with a studio in. How amazing would that be to be up in the trees and working away making my jewellery? Perfectly peaceful and somehow so much more inspiring being that little bit higher up and that little bit nearer to the tree tops!

So far with my Film Friday films in 2016 I have shown you an animation and a short film about the construction of a mural so today I am sharing with you this short documentary film about adults who live in tree houses.

Would you like to live in a tree house or have your very own tree house in your garden?

Would love to hear from you, please leave me a comment in the comments section or tweet me!

The Dorothy Days

Style Saturday - Updo twisted bun hair tutorial

Holiday Beauty ~ Twisted Bun Tutorial by lucky-ruby

Hello everyone!

Hope that you enjoyed my hair up tutorial that I shared the week before last (click here if you missed it). This week I wanted to share another hair up tutorial with you all. This is another simple tutorial but looks great and could be accessorised with some pretty vintage style hair slides and clips to make the hair up look even prettier. 

The hair up would look fantastic for a special occasion; maybe if you are a wedding guest or are going out for a nice supper but could also be worn as a smart work up-do and will stay in securely for the whole day.

The Dorothy Days X

Film Friday - Elsewhere by Stefaan De Croock

Hi everyone,

Last week for my Film Friday feature I shared with you all a short animation by Tokyo based artist 'Summer House'(click here to take a look if you missed it). Today I wanted to share with you something totally different; a different 'type' of art, a completely different style of film.

The film shows the construction of Elsewhere, a mural by artist Stefaan De Croock in June 2015 in Mechelen, Antwerp.

Elsewhere is part of a wider project in the town. The town of Mechelen invited 10 artists from all over the world to make works of art on the walls of it's buildings.

Elsewhere is a recycled wood mural built from old doors, wooden planks and furniture which was, fittingly, installed on the side wall of an old furniture factory.

The artist behind the piece is Stefaan De Croock who was born in 1982 and lives and works in Bruges, Belguim. He trained in graphic design and this has a strong influence on his work and artistic vision.

He starts by drawing the basic lines and then his drawing becomes fast, spontaneous and even impulsive.

Photo Credit: Stefaan De Croock 

I think Elsewhere is a amazing work of art and I particularly love the beautiful colours of the painted doors and the different textures of the wood.

Please find more about Stefaan and his work here: http://strook.eu

The Dorothy Days X

Kate Clark - Taxidermy artist

Photo Credit : Kate Clark

Today I wanted to share with you the amazing work of Brooklyn-based artist Kate Clark.

She uses clay to sculpt human faces and then covers this in animal skin to make her unusual taxidermy and breathtakingly beautiful sculptures.

Kate comes from a background in arts; her father was a painter and it was originally painting which Kate enjoyed and wanted to pursue. It was not until she went to college that she discovered her love for sculpting.

Kate only uses imperfect pelts in her work. Ones that have holes or rips in and are likely to have been thrown away by other taxidermists. She salvages these pelts and turns them into sculptures which are both unsettling and magically beautiful.

Licking the Plate by Kate Clark

Kate says of her work....

"When encountering my sculptures, the viewer is faced with a lifelike fusion of human and animal that investigates which characteristics separate us within the animal kingdom, and more importantly, which unite us. 

Our current lifestyle does not necessitate physical interaction with wild animals. Yet we revere the natural world and are seduced by characteristics we no longer see in ourselves, such as fierceness, instinctiveness, purity. 

The unexpectedness of the human face on these animals also evokes curiosity. They are obviously reconstructed yet they are not monstrous, they are approachable, natural, calm, innocent, dignified. The facial features are believable and the skin, which is the animal’s skin, has been shaved to reveal porous and oily features that we recognize as our own. The viewer has an intimate relationship with the face and then identifies with the animal, acknowledging the animalistic inheritance within the human condition."

In this short video she talks to National Geographic who filmed her in her studio over a 2 month period.

The Dorothy Days X

Item of the Week - Fairy/ Angel necklace

Hello everyone!

Super excited to share with you my new angel/ fairy necklace which I made just before Christmas.

She has a really detailed bell shaped dress, little wings, a pearl for a head and long dangle chains which adds some length to the necklace and adds to its prettiness.

She is part of a series of three angel necklaces that I have made for my shop.

Hope that you like it!

The Dorothy Days X

Style Saturday - Terrariums

#1 - Faceted Terrarium by West Elm

Photo Credit - West Elm

These geometric terrariums look fantastic when displayed separately or in a collection like shown above. They are available in two different colours; black and gold.

The downside? These beauts are not water tight so are suitable to air mist plants only.

Find them here on West Elm 

#2 Green House Terrarium

Photo Credit: Pottery Barn

When you think of terrariums the first thing that springs to your mind probably won't be this greenhouse style terrarium. So, if you want a terrarium which is a little bit different or perhaps you have a more vintage country look to your house rather than modern then this is the terrarium for you! Instead of geometric shapes in metal this terrarium uses vintage style wood.

I am totally in love with this green house terrarium. The shape and style of it reminds me more of a Wardian Case than a terrarium. The Wardian Case was a kind of early terrarium which was invented by Dr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward (hence the name, Wardian Case). The case was invented in c.1829 in London as a way of transporting plants without them becoming polluted by the smoky city air and as a way to get plants from overseas without them dying before they arrived. 

They soon as become popular within Victorian houses as decoration pieces (and we can see why!)

This terrarium comes in two different sizes and can be found at Pottery Barn 

#3 - Icosidodecahedron terrarium

This terrarium has been beautifully handmade and is available in a variety of sizes and finishes. The terrarium was made by Murat who is a twenty- something year old man from Turkey. He says he " studied psychology and neuroscience but still feed a great interest for crafting, inventing and design". 

Find Murat's beautiful terrarium shop here on Etsy: Waen

#4 - Minimalist Style Terrarium

You can't go wrong with this minimalist style terrarium. It has two compartments so you can make two different collections of plants in one place and it is easy to get into with a little hinged door at the top. If you get bored of having plants in there (not sure why you would!!) it would also look lovely filled with other items such as seashells, candles, pebbles etc.

Find it here at dotandbo
#5 - Terrarium Figures

So you have found your perfect terrarium, now it is time to choose your plants and don't forget your terrarium figures either. You can pick up standard small standing figures for pretty cheap but if you are looking for something a bit more unusual then why not let your imagination run wild and go for something a bit more unusual such as this figure doing a handstand!

There are loads of really cool figures in this Etsy shop which you can find here: 

FaerieNest

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Film Friday - Violation by Summer House

The start of the year is always an exciting time. A time to review the year before and come up with new ideas for this year.

I spent some time this week looking back on some of the blog posts from 2015 and thinking about what posts I liked the most and planning new ideas for the blog (watch this space!!). One of the things I really enjoyed blogging about last year was cool little videos and films that I found.

So.....*drumroll*.....this year each Friday I will be posting a new short video or film and I picked Friday so I could call it Film Friday....catchy right?!




The first piece I wanted to share with you is called Violation and is by an artist who goes by the name of "Summer House".

He is based in Tokyo and has worked for clients such as Mercedes Benz, Toyota and Wired Japan.

5 things about Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, 1942, Oil on Canvas, Art Institute of Chicago

#1 The work was finished in 1942 and was sold to the Art Institute of Chicago for $3,000 and has remained in the collection ever since. The work was sold after Hopper and his wife, Josephine attended the opening of an exhibition at the Art Institute. They spoke with the director of the Museum of Modern art who was fond of another of Hopper's paintings and Jo urged him to go to Rehn's gallery (where Nighthawks was being displayed for sale) to see the painting. Subsequently it was purchased by Daniel Catton Rich, the director of the Art Institute of Chicago who was in attendance that evening and went to see the painting at Rehn's.

#2 Nighthawks influenced the look of the film Blade Runner. The director Ridley Scott repeatedly showed the painting to his team stating that he wanted to capture the same kind of look for the film.

#3 - Although invented at an earlier date, the late 1930's - early 1940's saw the commercialisation of the fluorescent light. In 1938 four different size tubes were put onto the market and these new lights were advertised at exhibitions including the New York World's Fair and the Golden Gate International Exposition held in San Francisco. The fluorescent light is what gives the diner the bright, eerie glow that contrasts so starkly with the dark of the street corner.

#4 Edward Hopper's wife, Josephine, kept a journal which Edward would sketch in and add technical information to the pairings and then his wife Josephine would then add additional information to the painting about the painting's theme. This gives us an insight into Hopper's intentions for the pairing.

#5 The work has been parodied many time including in on the Simpsons, Tintin and Peanuts.

Hope you have enjoyed reading more about this beautiful painting.

The Dorothy Days X

Make Up Art Pinterest board

Hello everyone :)

Wanted to share with you all one of my favourite Pinterest board that I made, perfect for all of you who love makeup art or need some make up art inspiration. Hope you like it!

The Dorothy Days X

Follow The Dorothy Days's board Makeup Art on Pinterest.

The first Monday of the year = songs about blue dinosaurs!

Hello everyone,

Hope that you all had the most wonderful Christmas and New Year! As lots of you are heading back to work today after being off after Christmas I wanted today's blog post to be fun and uplifting so have been thinking for a few days about what I could post.  I thought about posting an inspirational quote to start the year or something about positivity but neither felt quite right.

After much thought I found just the thing.... a song about a blue dinosaur who is feeling cold in January but all is okay because a blue alpaca falls in love with him! Beats an uplifting quote any day ;)!!

Enjoy and hope this made you smile!

Have a great day :)


Blue Dinosaur (2014) from Luiz Stockler on Vimeo.

The Dorothy Days X

Item of the week - Wanderlust globe necklace

Hey everyone!

I had a hard time choosing what the first item of the week for 2016 would be! In the end I decided to settle on this globe necklace to be the first item of the week as, as cheesy as it sounds, I feel like the world is my oyster this year!

The necklace is brand new to my Etsy shop having listed it just before Christmas. It is on a long chain which reaches just under boob length and looks super cute when worn with a cute dress (but also equally nice with jeans and a top!).

Perfect for anyone with serious wanderlust!

My favourite thing about this necklace....the globe turns!! How cute is that?!

The Dorothy Days X

Style Saturday - Hair up tutorial

Hello everyone :) 

Hope that you all had a fantastic New Year!

Today's Style Saturday post is this beautiful hair up tutorial. If, like me, you are not very good at doing hair ups, this tutorial would be perfect for you as it is simple to follow and won't take very long to do! 

The Dorothy Days X

Happy New Year from The Dorothy Days

To all my wonderful followers. Wishing you all a very happy new year :). I hope that 2016 is all that you dream it will be.

Thank you so much for all your support in 2015, I really appreciate each and every purchase, comment, tweet, feedback etc.

Looking forward to the year ahead!

The Dorothy Days X