Friday Featured Art: Roping the Bear

I was looking for an image by Minerva Teichert, and I found this great painting. It's called Roping the Bear, and it's held by the BYU Museum of Art. I love the '30s style.

Thursday Tunes: Sting: 25 Years

Sting: 25 Years The Definitive Box Set came out on Tuesday. It's 3 CDs and a DVD and includes a hardcover book with complete lyrics. I already have most of Sting's stuff, and I have The Police box set, so I'm wondering if I need to get this, too. At $110 I'll have to think about it for a while... (Maybe I'll just get the highlight CD that comes out on October 18.)

Sundance Jewelry

I found an old Sundance catalog the other day, and it reminded me how fabulous their jewelry is. Aren't these jade earrings gorgeous? And the flower posts are super cute.

Persian-Style Rugs

Pottery Barn has some great Persian-style rugs among their offerings. When my husband traveled to Turkey in June, he learned all about rug weaving. Pottery Barn's versions seem pretty authentic and are imported. (Perhaps I'll have to find out if they're really Turkish!)

General Relief Society Meeting

I hope that you were able to watch the General Relief Society Meeting on Saturday night. It was fantastic! I especially loved President Uchtdorf's talk (of course). You can find the archives here.

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Dishfunctional Designs

Did you see this Etsy seller in Country Living? Dishfunctional Designs makes jewelry from broken china pieces. I also liked the bent spoon bracelets.

Thursday Text: Agatha Christie

Have you read any of Agatha Christie's books? I have not, but I've seen a number of the Masterpiece Mystery episodes of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. After Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the best-selling British author ever. I think that I would like to read one of her classics.

Monogrammed Pillows

I checked out the latest Martha Stewart Living from my library. It had some great ideas. I really liked these monogrammed pillows. See more monogram projects here.

Boden

Are you familiar with Boden? They are a fabulous British clothing company. They do a great job with color, and they have fantastic dresses.

Archicenter

We were in Chicago on Saturday, and we had a chance to stop in the Archicenter. It's the home of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. They do walking tours and river tours, and they have a fabulous shop. It has lots of great books, posters, and quirky gifts like these skyscraper bookends.

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Norajane

Norajane is an Etsy shop that sells mostly stamps. It looks like a lot of them come from Rubber Stamp Tapestry, but it could be a good source for other options. Isn't the sewing machine cute?

Thursday Text: Tears, Idle Tears

I've been in the mood for poetry lately. Here's one of Tennyson's that I love.

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more!

Masterpiece Classic: Sense and Sensibility

My Jane Austen class just finished reading Sense and Sensibility. I really love it. We're now watching the latest BBC adaptation of the book. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I watched it a while back and liked it better than the version with Emma Thompson...

Borders and Frames Download

Here's an example of what Cathe Holden made with her borders and frames downloads. I really love this idea. Check it out at Just Something I Made.

The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor

Have you heard about the big auction? Elizabeth Taylor's jewels are going to be sold by Christie's in December. Here are some highlights of the collection. I love the charm bracelet.

Friday Featured Art: Christ in a Red Robe

One thing that was interesting for me to notice at the Nauvoo Temple was that they have Minerva Teichert paintings hanging in the chapel and the hallways. Of course her works are of a much later period than Nauvoo, but I feel like they fit in nicely. This is Christ in a Red Robe.

Thursday Text: Happiness in Marriage

Here's a quote from Pride and Prejudice. My class will be reading that next...

Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of choice.

So true.

Nauvoo

We went to Nauvoo over Labor Day, and it was so beautiful. Every time we're there I am so grateful that they rebuilt the temple. It is fabulous.

Genealogy Fan Chart

I went to our Family History Center last week and discovered some great features on the new FamilySearch. I'm getting excited about genealogy again. I even made up this fan chart of Jane Austen's ancestry to tie in with my Jane Austen class. So fun.

Friday Featured Art: Huddled

Huddled is a recent painting by Joseph Alleman. It is oil on panel, and I really like it.

Thursday Tunes: Bryn Terfel sings Loch Lomond

I can't believe that I haven't talked about Bryn Terfel already! He is Welsh, and he has the most incredible voice that you'll ever hear. We saw him in concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Christmas a few years back. The latest that we've seen of him has been in the Met's new production of the Ring cycle for their Live in HD series. Here he is singing one of my favorites, Loch Lomond.