For the love of swirls... I have a new phone case!

I now have something SO cool in my possession that I simply must share it with you..... you know that I've been selling phone skins and cases through voottoo.com for a while now...  and the majority of the swirls collection are for iphones (which I have never owned... sorry.. long-term, loyal Android user, here)... so imagine my excitement when the fabulous Sarvesh, founder of voottoo.com, sent me my very own case for my new Galaxy S3. 

So many smart phone cases seem incredibly boxy, like they add a lot of surface area. But as you can see from the photo above, this case really doesn't add that much dimension to the phone. 

It has this protective rubber black section that fits snug up against the phone, and the plastic hard case on the outside: 

And the awesome (if I do say so myself) design on the back, which has the artist's name (love that).

I cannot believe how detailed the design reprinted on the plastic, and how sharp and clear it is. Scratch-proof. I even dropped my phone on the fireplace tile last night (woops) and the case held up like a champ. I also like that the design is easy to spot across the room if the phone is sitting on a table, or even in my purse, it instantly catches my eye now and I don't feel like I have to search for 15 minutes just to find it. 

Shipping from voottoo was fast... the case is AWESOME... the verdict: I am a completely happy camper. 

If you are interested in one of the cases for iphone, check HERE. If you have any questions about a particular Android case, you can email here: via@voottoo.com.

My Once-A-Year Sale Is ON

Shamless self-promo here. Letting you know that until Monday, 11/26/12 at 12 midnight Central Time, I'm running a 20% off sale in my Etsy shop. All you have to do is enter the coupon code LASTSWIRLSOF2012 at checkout to receive the 20% discount on everything in your cart. OR, if it saves you more money, use coupon code SHIPMEFORFREE to receive free shipping.

Yep, everything is eligible for 20% off. That includes embroidered jewelry:

Holiday ornaments: 

Need a tree house print?? 

Swirl hoops?? 

 1  /  2  /  3  /  4  /  5  /  6

And these aren't sold through my etsy shop, and they're not currently on sale, but they are too awesome to NOT share. Swirl iphone 5 cases: 

And of course visit THIS SITE for other skins and cases with my designs. 

Happy shopping!! 

Master Bedroom Update

I recently revamped the largest continuous wall in my master bedroom, and I love it so much I thought I'd share it on the blog. Let me remind you of how this particular wall had been for a while. There's a natural ledge on that wall and the previous owners put in stained wooden shelves, so I had leaned several framed pieces of art on that ledge:

A few weekends ago, I was cleaning this room and decided to just hang a bunch of the art so I could actually see it all. 

I will admit that a lot of this is stuff I've made over the years, but the things that aren't mine are numbered and explained below.

1) Framed pressed flowers found at Goodwill.
2) "poop" embroidery from Etsy seller Cappywanna
3) "Shit" embroidery from Etsian OooohStitchy
4) "Sailing Back to my World" Print from Etsian LeiLiLaLoo
5) framed Paul Klee print that found at Salvation Army
6) The framed album cover for Thom Yorke's "The Eraser" 
7) Kitty applique found at Goodwill.

8) Print from Philadelphia artist Chuck Kaiser titled "Walkin the Woo"
9) This is a reproduced painting of Amedeo Modigliani's that I ripped from an old calendar and stuck in a Goodwill frame.
10) This adorable cat fabric is stretched in a hoop and was given to me by Etsian CynicalRedhead


  Hehehe. Let me show you a close-up of the brilliant "shit" hoop by OooohStitchy:

Now I have a question about the curtains. Do I leave them long as they are in the lefthand photo, or sew them shorter like I've made them look in the right photo?

And if I did sew them shorter, I'd have to fill in that gap (with more art, I'm thinking) between the dresser and window, right?

Any thoughts?? It'd be much appreciated!
P.S. I know this wall seems extra busy, but in truth this room is giant, and it doesn't feel so cluttered when you're standing there in person, I promise!

September's Etsy Favorites

It's obviously been a while since I last posted, and even longer since I've shown off some of my recent etsy acquisitions, so I present to you today some of my new favorite things.

Let's start with a seller, sparrownestscript, that I've featured before. I just adore Emily's bright and colorful shop that so wonderfully shows off her calligraphy skills and creativity. A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to win this awesome moleskin journal, and she personalized the cover:

I'll be honest, this little book has been a life-saver. First, it's wonderful to have for when an idea strikes and I simply must jot it down or quickly sketch it out - the journal has been a collecting point for all random thoughts and design ideas. Second, (and I'm almost ashamed to admit this!) but I never recorded embroidery floss colors for repeat pieces, and now when I make a piece that I think I might want to re-create (such as my french knot hoops, for example), I now have a record of what colors I used. SO helpful. 

These next two items come from the same shop, Blushie. And I bet they're something you typically wouldn't go to etsy for: soap and lip balm. I assure you, etsy has countless sellers that carry soap, shampoo (even pet shampoo), nail polish, makeup, bath salts, oh I could go on and on. I have purchased several different types/scents of soap from Blushie, but the Calendula Castile has been my favorite BY FAR because it's intended for very dry and sensitive skin, and I can tell such a difference from using this. It's truly amazing.



And the best lip balm EVER: Coffee lover. The name sums it up. It tastes and smells ammmaaaazing. I am addicted.


Next, allow me to show you the amazing cat necktie I purchased from fingerstory. Super reasonably priced, well made, obviously dapper.... and considering this was shipped from South Korea, it honestly didn't take that long to be made and sent in the mail. While Conn may not agree, I think this is a damn good etsy purchase:

Okay... you know that jewelry is one of my all-time weaknesses, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I have a few jewelry-related buys to share with you. First is this pair of black lace earrings from seller Arthlin. Gah, these are just so so pretty and light-weight and versatile and I wear them a LOT.

This ring is also something I've been wearing the CRAP out of. It's from NervousSystem, and I have a similar white pair of earrings from them that I showed you in this post. 

The ring is surprisingly durable and has a little bit of a "bend" to it, so it's not so stiff that it would break. It's light and visually kind of strange and wonderful. :) I wear it on the right finger of my right hand but it was tricky to get a shot so here you go: 

And finally, a SUPER pretty handband from one of my all-time fave sellers, the wonderful Sarah-Louise of Branchbound. Normally I am NOT a fan of these type of headbands cause they tend to cause discomfort and headaches, but this one is SO comfortable. I can wear it all day without having to take it off and give my poor head a break. It's just so pretty and I am already trying to figure out what else I need from SL's shop...

Oh look, new headband AND earrings in this shot:

So, there you have it. Some recent favorites from some pretty awesome etsians. You should definitely check them out.... and if YOU'VE had a favorite purchase recently, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. :)

Also, I have a new chair I'm planning to refurbish, so an actual house-related post is coming soon! 

Pinterest State Outline Project

Holy crap, I'm blogging! And the project I completed this morning was inspired by this pin:

I wanted to do a little bit of a different take on this, and when I saw this square board at Goodwill yesterday for just $2, I knew it was perfect for what I had in mind:

It is no secret that I fiercely love love love my home state of Missouri, and my hometown (and current place of residence) of St. Louis. Oh my gosh do I fiercely love the STL. I wanted to make a MO state outline with a very obvious heart where St. Louis goes on the map. Since Missouri fits nicely into a square, I knew a square board was needed.

So I took off the price sticker from the board and spray-painted it teal.

The other materials I needed were cheap-o nails (the ones I got were 3/4" long, and be sure they have the head so the string has something to grab on to) and cheap off-brand embroidery floss in white:

Okay, so here's the process of how I started:

I will say, since St. Louis is on the border of MO and IL, I messed up some of the nails, so the heart outline is goofy. It was difficult to hammer the nails so close together like this. So to help disguise my shitty nails here, I used simple acrylic red paint I had laying around and painted in the heart over St. Louis:

Then it was time to start threading. To begin, I dabbed one nail with fabri-tac glue and wrapped the beginning of the floss around until its frayed end was stuck to the nail, leaving no excess thread. Does that make sense?

I wrapped the loop of floss around my left wrist, and used my right hand to go across the state and catch on nails randomly:

Here's a progress shot. Unlike my pinterest inspiration, I didn't want my thread to be heading all in the same direction of the heart since it's not in the middle of the state. So, random thread going everywhere:

And when I got to the end of a spool of floss, I used my same trick of dabbing some glue around the nail, and wrapped the excess thread around and snipped off any frayed floss when the glue dried. I used three little spools of thread. 

And ta-da!

 For now, it's sitting in my bedroom. Aside from the problem of nailing the heart right next to the outline, this was a really really easy project. And in all, it prob cost about $5 ($2 for the thrifted square picture board thing, $1.90 for nails, $.75 for embroidery floss.) and took about 2 hours in total? Maybe a little less than that.

I like how the white pops against the teal background, and I especially love how the heart jumps out the most. 

Done any good pinterest-inspired DIY projects lately??

After a Long Hiatus, I Bring You Fabulousness

Whoa.

Uhm.
Hi.


It has been FOREVER since I last blogged and for that I feel very bad. :/ Things have been insanely busy on my end, and I've let a lot of things slide off my plate and I do feel terrible. But I am back with a post about my favorite latest etsy purchases and trades.

What would a HennesseyHouse post be without a cat model?? The first thing I'd like to show you is this fantastic thing called a "cat canoe" sold by the wonderful Jennifer of JennasRedRhino.

My cats freaking LOVE this thing. One of them is always in it when we get home from work. They occupy the canoe all weekend long and on week nights. 

If you have a cat, you know they aren't always thrilled by the things you get for them. They'd be content playing with the plastic milk carton ring, or in regular cardboard boxes, so I am pleasantly surprised they go for something that's specifically intended for kitty naps. :)

Lily is like: GET OUT. IT'S MY TURN. I AM GOING TO IMPOSE MY CHUBBINESS ON YOU UNTIL YOU RELENT:

These next two purchases are from etsy seller LoftFullOfGoodies. I could NOT resist these when I saw them. This circular embroidered felt piece is sold as a coaster, but I just couldn't use it as that - it's too pretty and perfect - I added a little string on the top and have it hanging in my bedroom. It's just so awesome:

I'm not normally a brooch person, but this was too fun and colorful and odd to pass up:

Sofia in Sweden of liten82 approached me about trading some of my art for something from her shop, and I GLADLY accepted. It took me so long to choose just one thing, but I settled on this bracelet, and I absolutely adore it.

Not only did Sofia create this in just a day or so, but she shipped it immediately and it got to me so quickly. I love how easy the button-and-loop closure works:

You can choose from sooo many different bracelet designs and about 15 different leather colors.

These earrings from NervousSystem had been sitting in my etsy favorites FOREVER, so I finally snatched them up and I adore them. They're so weird and fantastic and unique. And for being a plastic, they are surprisingly durable.

Eeeeep, I am so excited to show you this!! It's my fennec fox pocket animal totem from the wonderful Danielle of HandyMaiden.

He sits on my buffet and looks tiny and cute. Can you believe she sculpted this and hand-painted it? SKILLZ.

And finally... FINALLY..... eeeeeeeeeeee! I have had my eye on the amazingly humorous embroideries from WhatParty for months and months, and I have finally purchased one of Stephanie's hoops, and one with dinosaurs no less. :) I haven't even received this yet but I know I'll love it. 

I wish I could promise you that I'll be back sooner with a really exciting post, but I just have no idea. Hopefully it won't take me another 4 months to post, but you never know man. :) Hope you're all well and I especially hope you've made some fun purchases for yourself lately!