"I will really feel like celebrating when they are here on earth again"

I'm perennially fascinated by our human longing to see vastly, and the artist's interest in recording that longing. See here for another post on this.

Today, the New York Times has collected some incredible images of July 20, 1969 in honor of the 50 year anniversary of mankind's first walk on the moon. It is really moving to see and read of the exhilaration that people were experiencing that day. This woman's postcard, above, is one example: "The moon's surface is so interesting. I can't wait to see color pictures in Life magazine etc.... What a fantastic thing to see on live TV!... What a day!"

Someone else wrote in about what it was like to be a little boy at the time: "I was only 7, but I did not sleep the whole week! My eyes were trained on Neil Armstrong the whole time."


Photographs taken by the then-22-year-old photojournalist David Burnett; more about his prescient choice to take shots of the onlookers, here.

a view from the milky way: our invites

ahhhh! our starry invites are out... this is part of the image that inspired the verso of the cards, in midnight card stock with pewter metallic ink. true to form, the über-talented elisabeth did an incredible job, as did our fabulous calligrapher.

and silk felt soil has come full circle-- asa smith's astronomy, from which the image is taken, was merely a gleam in our eye when we started; I lucked out, found the entire book on ebay, have been saving it ever since for something really special.

flowers that remind of me of a starry night

as you guys might know if you're longtime readers, i'm getting married in september! our wedding theme is "UP!" ( the monogram of our two first names ), so i'm loving all things glowy, twinkly, night-sky-y right now.

these flower arrangements are so inspiring.....!

first image from Grace Ha-Kim's studio, Vale of Enna (seen at Brooklyn Bride)...& second photograph by michiko kon (via moon river).

globe mobile....

In addition to being sweet in a child's room, this globe mobile would be elegant in a home office above a desk, or in a library nook of a living room. from restoration hardware, $69.

découpage feather tray and more: jayson home & garden

= so. damn. fine.

Mega thanks to the ladies of Shelterrific for this one: a 20% discount on all Jayson Home & Garden home accessories before Dec 24th! more info by clicking here

adore this feather tray ! Other lovely pieces from the home accessories store:
-the sea urchin bowls that I posted about here a few weeks ago...
-some beautiful mother of pearl trays for earrings, soaps, pens, blossoms, candles...

the surreal proportions of Volckamer's 18th c. botanical prints

Thanks to Giornale Nuovo for this incredible feast of startling but yet endearing images from Johan Volckamer's Nuremberg Hesperides. G.N.'s source suggests that these prints, generated from a wintry German countryside, show a longing for the warmth of the Mediterranean that only the wealthy could afford by means of hot-houses and orangeries. ("Hesperides," I've just learned, is a synonym for "the blossom garden culture of the 1650s to 1800s"). The citrus fruits here do seem to have become substitutes for large, looming suns...

I would so much love to have one of these prints to brighten the winter, together with, I think, a Meyer lemon tree.

Ships and swans: constellation illustrations

"argo navis"
"lyra" (lyre) on the left, and "avis" (bird) on the right.

These dream-like illustrations of constellations are in fact details of a 16th century celestial globe (1551), called the Mercator globe, in honor of its maker, Gerard Mercator. I love the subdued colors and the anti-gravity feel of the images.

Images courtesy of the Harvard College map collection.

Here's an example of a 19th century celestial map that I wrote about this summer....so different, yet each so perfect in its own way.

antique celestial map

love this print by asa smith, from smith's illustrated astronomy, ny: cady & burgess 1848.

would love to hang it above the bed... kind of an adult version of the glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars that used to be on your ceiling as a kid!