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*** Hello! This blog was written from 2010- 2014, Find me and my current work now at www.LauraBurkhartCreative.com ***
Showing posts with label entertaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entertaining. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Love it / Live it: Green Waters [Barnett Newman]

I've made it no secret here that I'm a bit partial to the work of the American Abstract Expressionists and there is just something about the bold, color-drenched canvases of the color field artists in particular that I just can't get enough of. I realized that while I post one of my favorites, Mark Rothko, all the time, I haven't given much play to the other master of the movement, Barnett Newman...

"Painting, like passion, is a living voice." -Barnett Newman

"A painter is a choreographer of space" -Barnett Newman

Barnett Newman's works had a much more linear structure to them, filling the canvases to the edge with saturated hues then applying his 'zips' like streaks of light. I've been incredibly influenced by Newman's works, often feeling like the addition of a single vertical or horizontal line creates that sense of completion in the painting I've been searching for. This piece, 'Dionysius' painted in 1949 is one of my favorites with it's deep blue-greens and now you can set the table with the same delicious palette with these plates from Anthropologie, I'd love them for any season, pulling from the turquoise for a summer soiree and the deep indigo and olive for winter...Enjoy!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Love it / Live it: Navy Ikat

Good Morning! Thursday happens to be one of my favorite days of the week, the work week is coming to a close, the weekend is still ahead and it's the one night my man and I actually have off together, so tonight we are headed to the Capitol Hill Art Walk to find some fresh inspiration to bring right back to you! Now I'm wishing Spring would actually get here and I could rock this gorgeous look...
coco+kelley, dandelion
But alas we are still in the dead of Winter it seems here, so instead maybe I'll do some entertaining with this fancy dishware...Enjoy!

Monday, April 4, 2011

D.I.Y. Northwest: House Warming Party


Good morning readers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Having finally felt ready to show off my pad and desperately wanting to get in some quality time with my favorite people, I hosted a little house warming soiree. As you may remember we recently painted our central wall a deep turquoise with a gold accent and we finally just put up some of the favorites of my man's record collection. To add a little drama to the living room I snagged this black and white Jackson Pollock print and framed it of course in gold....

My closest friends and family warmed the place up, including miss Ladybird herself and we received some amazing house warming gifts as well...


Entertaining expert Kelley Moore gave us the perfect Salt + Pepper shakers by Jonathan Adler. Jake and I not only have a serious affection for birds but we had been on the look out for Salt and pepper shakers for months. And working for Kelley has taught me how to be quite a swell hostess if I do say so myself...

Inspired by the color palette of our pad, my mom and I teamed up to put a personalized spin on the cupcake...

Starting by mixing the colors I wanted, I added white frosting to make the lighter shades of each hue. I'm no baker but the feathery dessert definitely made it feel like a party...

Of course it wouldn't really be a party without a signature cocktail (via Kelley's entertaining wisdom) so we took a stab at mixing one up and it was a huge hit...

The beauty of Sangria is that you can literally wing it with the proportions which is exactly what we did. We made our own minty simple syrup by boiling water and dissolving sugar in it then adding mint leaves. We put all the ingredients in in the above order and let it all soak for a few hours before the guests arrived, when we were ready to serve it up we popped the champagne and added it in. It was the favorite drink of the party and it was so much fun to have fruit to munch on at the end of every glass...Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Working Girl...2.8.11

As most of you know, my life got a bit more hectic and a lot more exciting a few weeks ago when I landed a job with Seattle's Lifestyle Expert, Kelley Moore. There has been so much going on here (and in NY and LA) with projects, events and segments (watch Kelley on the Nate Berkus show) that I could not even begin to share it all with you here but I do have a little close-up of one of Kelley's gorgeous tablescapes in the middle of Bellevue square...
The challenge was to put together three tabletops using only items found in the Bellevue Collection to be on display for a month in the center of the mall. Each table is paired with a stunning piece of Art as well which of course I love. This was my favorite table with the layers upon layers of texture and gold, and the pop of pink in the flowers and menu cards were just the right finishing touch. Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Love it / Live it: Juice it Up

Well as you know this has been a huge time of change and transition for me and I am thrilled to begin sharing with you all the exciting new developments in my life. I am thrilled to have been hired on to work for the fabulous and incredibly talented Kelley Moore and will be bringing you the backstage look in a new series here very soon. In the meantime I am getting excited about the upcoming launch of the new online lifestyle mag High Gloss in which Kelley will be dishing out her Entertaining wisdom. And since I've been thinking in glossy pinks and oranges....
Gorgeous fashion shots from Fashion Squad mashed up with this deliciously juciy glassware from Zara Home ..hope that's enough to wet your appetite for High Gloss and get your creative juices flowing today, Enjoy!