Celebrity Apprentice: March 2012

Pick of the Week: Suzani Textiles

I love bright colors, and the Suzani textiles below are absolutely beautiful.

Gorgeous against a clean white linen slipcover, or mixed in with a room full of color,

these pillows are showstoppers!

The front textiles themselves are vintage, while the backs are new silk and have feather inserts.

And while we're on the subject, here is another lovely vintage piece.

Apparently, in Central Asia, embroideries like this made the

perfect groom's gift ... and the bride did all the stitching. Impressive.

Here's a smaller, but still delicately detailed piece.

This one is lovely as is, or can be turned into a pillow or wall hanging.

A close up...

You can find these and other one of a kind items here.

Pick of the Week: Suzani Textiles

I love bright colors, and the Suzani textiles below are absolutely beautiful.

Gorgeous against a clean white linen slipcover, or mixed in with a room full of color,

these pillows are showstoppers!

The front textiles themselves are vintage, while the backs are new silk and have feather inserts.

And while we're on the subject, here is another lovely vintage piece.

Apparently, in Central Asia, embroideries like this made the

perfect groom's gift ... and the bride did all the stitching. Impressive.

Here's a smaller, but still delicately detailed piece.

This one is lovely as is, or can be turned into a pillow or wall hanging.

A close up...

You can find these and other one of a kind items here.

Miley Cyrus plays joke on him Liam Hemsworth

The series exhumed - the style of "Hidden Camera" - "Punk'd" will debut on March 29 and teasers and previews of the episodes already circulating as an audio clip of Miley Cyrus playing a joke on her boyfriend LiamHemsworth.
The audio is accompanied by a visual animation that is as fun as what you are listening. It only lasts 16 seconds, but successfully communicates the idea.

All we hear is a voice proclaiming Miley credibly concerned, "Love is two pi ***** naked people in my car."

WTF? While the contingent that hates Miley and considered a poor role model for teens stick an outcry for his choice of words in this clip, we think is funny.

Can two people naked in the Mercedes of Miley? We're dying to see that and no, not people in costumes of Adam and Eve. We prefer a visual Miley's face as she is acting in order to convince your lover that there are naked people in their mode of transport.

Miley Cyrus, delighted with the success of Liam Hemsworth

The 22-year-old who plays Gale Hawthorn in the film 'The Hunger Games' - in which teens are forced to fight to the death - says his girlfriend Miley Cyrus will face planted on each shift.

"I probably win it. It's a strong girl," he said.

The film, based on the trilogy by Suzanne Collins, has attracted a large following, so Liam has turned to his older brother, Chris, for advice on how to deal with so much attention.

"It's like a blow to the head. My brother has always been a role model for me. I try to learn from him all I can," he told People magazine at the premiere last night in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Miley says she loves to see such displays of admiration for her boyfriend.

- From here we wish good luck to Miley's boyfriend

Pick of the Week: A Good Egg

In the Ukraine, traditional Easter eggs were hand made, meticulously painted using a wax-resist, or "batik"

method. Eggs were saved so that they could be used year after year. While making eggs like this is a wonderful traditional activity, it's a rare person who has time to do this and add to a collection every year.

Enter Pysanky Egg Sleeves!

These sleeves are a fast way to make your own lovely Easter eggs. If you want to save your eggs

year after year, you'll have to drain them of their contents (no one wants a rotten egg, no matter how beautiful!). Each strip has seven different designs that when cut will fit one standard egg. In each

package there are four different strips for a total of 28 designs. Hot water shrinks the sleeve to form

around and adhere to the egg.

Now, if even this sounds like too much work, check out these Hand-Painted Wooden Pysanky Eggs.

They're painted with enamel and colorful yarn is attached to the top, but you can snip it and put them

in a bowl. The work's already done, and these are ready for display!

They're wrapped and ready to go.

You can find these and other Easter decorations here.

Pick of the Week: A Good Egg

In the Ukraine, traditional Easter eggs were hand made, meticulously painted using a wax-resist, or "batik"

Enter Pysanky Egg Sleeves!

These sleeves are a fast way to make your own lovely Easter eggs. If you want to save your eggs

package there are four different strips for a total of 28 designs. Hot water shrinks the sleeve to form

around and adhere to the egg.

Now, if even this sounds like too much work, check out these Hand-Painted Wooden Pysanky Eggs.

They're painted with enamel and colorful yarn is attached to the top, but you can snip it and put them

in a bowl. The work's already done, and these are ready for display!

They're wrapped and ready to go.

You can find these and other Easter decorations here.

Lisa's Pick of the week: River Rocks

One of the things I like best about fine art and crafts is when the artist finds

a common or seemingly insignificant object and repurposes it. I especially

love it when artists do this with natural objects. Andy Goldsworthy
is an artist who uses natural objects in his ephemeral installations.

Here is an example of one of his pieces below. His works are ever changing,

transient, and lovely in their impermanence (and perhaps more treasured because

of it, but that's a conversation for a different post!). This image can be

found in his book Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature.

If you want to read more about Andy Goldsworthy, click here to go to his website.

This piece of Rena Luxx jewelry, lovely and simple like the stones Goldsworthy uses above,

is made of similar material, but the craftsman has turned it toward a completely

different purpose. Instead of being ephemeral, this lariat necklace harnesses

Mediterranean river rocks and brushed gold into a wearable work of art.

Rena Luxx jewelry is all hand-crafted and is considered "Green" in that they

are environmentally friendly and use many materials derived from the Earth,

not usually seen in jewelry. Since founder Carola Seifert launched the jewelry

line in 2000, Rena Luxx has received several international design awards.

A couple more options...

Embellishments...

And the finishing touch.

For more Rena Luxx jewelry (and other fantastic finds) click here.